Love Is A Battlefield (A Stranger Things/Steve Harrington Fanfiction)

Chapter Seventy-Two: Definitely Not Nothing

I tried my best to focus on the game, but I couldn't tear my eyes away from the Chrissy Cunningham,or shift my thoughts from my dream and the possible implications of it.

It wasn't long before Steve started to notice that I was distracted.

"Ok, what's the deal?" He asked, his eyes shifting between me and the game.

"What deal?" I asked, pushing my hair out of my face as I finally tore my eyes away from the cheerleaders to glance at the players on the court. 

"What deal? Gee, I don't know Riley, maybe the deal where you asked me about Chrissy Cunningham and then you haven't stopped staring at her since? Or maybe its the fact that these bleachers are incredibly close together and I can actually physically feel how tense you are?" I shook my head.

"I don't really want to get into it right now." I said, pretending to be focused on the game. Steve put a hand on my shoulder, turning me so that I had to look at him. 

"Is this because of what we talked about earlier? About you dumping all your problems on me?" He asked. "I thought I made it clear that-"

"No, no, its not about that," I said, looking over at Chrissy again, "I just...it very well could be nothing, and I don't really want to talk about it just in case it is." 

"You really think its nothing?" He asked. "And before you answer that, need I remind you that you checked your bag earlier today, which you only do when you get Upside-Down related feelings."

"Yeah, but I get those all the time. I'm traumatized, certain things trigger me, so I've been wrong about those feelings before." He shot me a skeptical look. I sighed. "Look, I'm sorry. I'm getting all wrapped up in this, and this is supposed to be date night. I'll try to calm down, so let's just forget about it and have a good time, ok?"

"Ok..." He said, putting a hand on my back and rubbing circles between my shoulder blades, "But I don't like the fact that you're avoiding this. If you're worried about something, I want to know about it." I nodded.

"I will keep that in mind." I pulled his hand off of my back, grabbing it and intertwining our fingers. I took a deep breath, trying to actually focus on the game instead of Chrissy. 

~~~

Once I put my mind to it, I surprised myself by actually being able to relax. I was actually invested in the game. It was close, with us being behind by six points and one of our starters getting injured right at the start of the fourth quarter.

That is, until we put Lucas in, and the scores began to steadily rise on either side of the court. We had ten seconds left in the game and we needed a three-pointer to win. 

Jason, the captain of the team took the shot, but the ball bounced out of the basket, and with time running out, it was beginning to look like we were going to lose. That is...until Lucas got the rebound.

"Come on, Lucas, shoot it!" I screamed, grabbing a handful of Steve's shirt as I bounced up and down excitedly. He lined up his shot, tossing the ball up just as the final buzzer rang out across the gym. The ball bounced off of the rim and into the backboard, positioning it perfectly to fall through the net and get Hawkins the 3-points that they needed to take the championship for the first time in twenty-two years.

Steve and I cheered, hugging each other excitedly as the players and cheerleaders alike surrounded Lucas, lifting him up into the air and chanting his name.

~~~

"Oh, that was beautiful! Beautiful game!" Steve exclaimed, his arm wrapped around my shoulders as we headed out to my truck. I laughed, nodding in agreement when I saw a flash of green in the corner of my eye. I glanced over at it to see, who else, but Chrissy Cunningham walking across the parking lot, a Hawkins cardigan now covering her cheer uniform. It was the same cardigan she had been wearing in my dream.