The age old story of two best friends falling in love...
... Only, one's a lab experiment with an entire Upside Down hunting her down, and the other won't leave her side, no matter how hard she tries.
steve harrington x fem oc / season 2 o...
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chapter eight final grrrl!
🖤
IT WAS A SHITTY NIGHT IN THE LIFE of Ruby Brenner; she got home around three and went straight upstairs to remove her makeup, running herself a bath. It always makes her feel better, surrounding herself with warm water, letting herself float, weightless, her problems slipping away... But the problems always come back, and as she drained the bath, she had two things on her mind. Two boys, in fact.
Steve Harrington and Billy Hargrove.
She tries to replay what happened in the gym earlier, Harrington punching Billy in her defence. She thinks about what Billy said to her, how much of an asshole he was, and really, how much of an asshole she was to Harrington. She thinks about what he said, how he didn't like who she was anymore. That stung, she has to admit. But she thinks about her dream of being Snowflake Queen... She stops being the girl from the lab when she achieves those things...
But maybe there's some truth in his words. Sometimes Ruby does dream of a life where she doesn't worry about what everyone thinks about her. She loves the idea of being the hottest, the most popular, the girl with the cutest boyfriend, but she knows that'll all go away when she goes to college next year. Part of her wishes she could let go of this desire to remain on top, but she doesn't know if she can. She almost feels like she's in too deep, now.
Ruby washes her face, and applies her cream. She watches her face in the mirror, how with every year she inherits more of her mother's features. Rosemary Brenner was a gorgeous girl, and Ruby prides herself on having her face, but it makes her sad sometimes. What would her mom say, if she was here today? Would she comfort her about Billy? Or would Ruby even be in this situation, because surely if her mom's alive, Ruby was never an experiment? Would her parents be together still? Would her sister live with them, too?
Her heart pangs at the thought of her little sister. She never knew she had one until last year. She was a lab experiment, too, but she was stolen from them. That's when her mom went crazy, and ended up dead. Ruby tries not to think about her little sister, because it upsets her too much. She doesn't even know if she's alive now.
Ruby looks at herself in the mirror, and asks herself, Would Mom be proud of me? She considers everything, and thinks truthfully. She reflects upon how she's handled Billy, how she spoke to Dad earlier. Most importantly she thinks about Steve Harrington, her best friend for years, that she discarded because he wasn't cool anymore, and her bullies for friends didn't like him anymore. She thinks about that, and she knows her mom wouldn't approve.
Ruby sighs. What is she supposed to do, though? Give up popularity for him? Be normal? What's the point in that? Part of her wishes she could talk to Harrington about it, but she knows he won't be interested... She understands, honestly. She doesn't know if she'd forgive herself.
