BLOOM//steve harrington

THREE

THE DRIVE BACK FROM THE POOL WAS SILENT AND AWKWARD. The sunset had bathed everything in lavender, and Vivian was staring at the floorboard of Steve's car, chewing her nails. Billy had gotten to her, despite how hard she'd tried to push it away. This is exactly what she hadn't wanted. To be mocked. 

Steve's gaze was trained, unwavering, on the road in front of them. Vivian wasn't quite sure where they were going. She was nervous to ask; she was nervous to break the tense silence between them. 

"Is Robin gonna hang out with us tonight?" she asked, testing the waters. Steve shook his head minutely. "Not tonight. Said she felt bad about making things weird yesterday." Vivian's heart fell slightly. "Well, she didn't know-" "I know, I told her. She still felt bad." 

"Where are we going?" Vivian asked quietly. Steve sighed, pushing his hair back. "I don't know, I figured I'd take you back to the mall to get your truck. Then we could hang out or something." Vivian nodded and said nothing. 

During those years of silence between them, it had been hell to watch Steve parade around with his endless stream of flings, and even worse, hear about it through the grapevine. About what he did, with whom, who wanted to be with him, and who wanted to be him. And they hadn't even really known him. It was awful; Nobody could pay Vivian to go back. 

But was this any better?

Steve was chewing his lip, frowning at the road, the sky dimming more and more by the minute. The silhouette of the mall loomed in the distance, the neon lights forming a hazy glow around it. Vivian felt her fight-or-flight instincts kicking in; all she wanted to do was run away and hide from this gnawing discomfort between them. 

They'd hardly fought before when they were just friends; for some odd reason, Vivian had assumed that once the whole hating-Steve fiasco inevitably blew over and they rode off into the sunset, life would be candy. It'd be how it used to be. They just got each other. They were Vivian and Steve. 

And now this. Vivian still loved him, of course. But wherever they went, it was like there was some weird cloud over them, raining down tension. They'd had good times this summer so far, but that elephant in the room was always present. And clearly neither of them knew how to get rid of it. 

"Are we okay?" Vivian asked meekly. Steve glanced over at her, forehead creasing in thought. "I don't really know what to say to that, Viv," he admitted, his gaze locked on the darkening road in front of them. "I wish I did." "Me too." She couldn't really blame him for the lack of an answer; Vivian wouldn't have been able to come up with one if she tried.

The mall parking lot wasn't empty, but it was sparser than it usually was, and Vivian's truck sat alone in the far corner. Steve pulled up next to it, putting the car in park. Vivian's stomach turned over, dreading the tension to come.

Steve looked at her, a slight expectancy in his eyes. "I'm sorry, Steve," Vivian mumbled, and his face fell, just barely. "I just--I can't do it. Not tonight." Her voice cracked, and she cringed inwardly. "Can't do what?" Steve questioned, hurt. "I can't hang out tonight. I just need to be alone. To think."

"Think about what?" Steve asked, picking at a loose thread on his shorts absentmindedly. "Just everything," Vivian offered halfheartedly, knowing it wasn't enough. "Babe-" Steve started, but Vivian shook her head. He only ever called her that when they were arguing. He'd been calling her that a lot lately. 

"At least kiss me goodbye," Steve murmured, and Vivian's heart nearly cracked in half. Her pride was the only thing holding it together. Vivian leaned in to kiss Steve, brushing a stray piece of hair off of his forehead. She kissed him, a little absently, and he shook his head. "I just wanna know what's wrong," he pleaded.