The Girl Next Door Part 2-Steve Harrington

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Steve's POV

"I'm the girl next door. That simple."

The look on her face when she said that was stuck in my head the rest of the night. During dinner, my mom caught me being weird.

"You okay?" She asked.

"Yeah," I said, not even convincing myself.

"What's on your mind?" She pushed.

"Y/N," I blurted out. I cleared my throat, looking down and pushing the peas around my plate.

"The girl next door?" Mom said with a small chuckle. "Why are you thinking about her?"

"I umm," I hesitated. "I drove her home from school today."

"You got home after 5," Mom said slowly. "Wait, was Y/N still at the school that late?"

"She was tutoring some kids," I shrugged. "When I walked out of practice, she was sitting on the bench. She said her mom was on her way, but it was late and I didn't feel right leaving her."

"I'm glad you offered to drive her home," Mom nodded. "People are still going missing. Mrs. Nelson from the laundromat told me her neighbor went missing. She's the town gossip so who knows if she's right, but still. We need to be careful. It would've been horrible if something happened to Y/N."

"Is this the girl you followed around like a puppy in elementary school?" Dad said, smirking at Mom.

"I didn't follow her around," I stuttered. "You guys wanted me to keep an eye on her, to keep her safe, so I did."

"We didn't tell you to keep an eye on the neighbor's daughter," Dad chuckled. "You made it your life mission to protect that girl."

Something next door caught my eye. I looked over to see Y/N moving around her kitchen.

"It made me sad when you two stopped hanging out," Mom sighed as she started to clear the table.

"She's a sweet girl," Dad said as he stood up. "A little shy, but that's not surprising since she's constantly home alone."

Y/N's dad is a cop and her mom works at the hospital. Both usually do the afternoon shift or the night shift, which means Y/N often goes home to an empty house.

When Y/N and I were in elementary school, my mom and I used to pick her up after school. She'd come over and eat dinner with us so she wasn't alone. She'd stay and hang out with me until one of her parents came home. Sometimes, she even stayed the night if both of her parents were working the night shift.

All of that stopped in middle school.

I stayed at the table as Dad went upstairs and Mom started doing the dishes. I looked back over at Y/N's house to see her standing by the kitchen window. She must've been doing the dishes.

As I watched her, I thought about our last conversation.

"I'm simply the girl who grew up next to the infamous Steve Harrington. You don't have to act like we're best friends."

I opened my mouth, but she kept talking. "Our parents are friends, which is why you felt like you had to give me a ride home. It's also why I got in the car. I don't want you to feel like you have to talk to me at school or sit by me at lunch."

"I'm sorry," I finally got out.

"I'm the girl next door. That simple."

Y/N wiped her hands on the kitchen towel and turned on her heel. I watched as she left the kitchen and went upstairs.

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