Joe Keery+His characters imagines

| Rose - Steve Harrington⁹ |

Warnings: none?

Word Count: 2.1k

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Part 9

It's been months now and I've been in and out of courtrooms, trying to get Fiona and Jesse custody of Freddy and me. No one had told Freddy yet because we decided it was best not to until there is a definite decision by the judges. So far, things had been seeming to go well. My dad was pissed which likely wasn't going to help his case.

Today was the last day of court. After months of all this bullshit, trying to convince the judge that Fiona and Jesse would provide a better life for my brother and I than our father. I was ecstatic and hopeful. I woke up bright and early, got all dressed up and Steve drove me down to the courthouse for the final time. I met up with Fiona and Jesse beforehand to talk for a moment, then went into the courtroom.

I thought things were going well until my dad's lawyer started talking. I quickly lost all hope in that moment. I could see it on the judges face. He wasn't going to let us be with Fiona and Jesse. And I was right. He said there was no point to move Freddy and me with them because my dad was still clean. I was absolutely crushed.

Once we were out of the courtroom, I broke down crying. Fiona and Jesse, who were also upset, were there to comfort me. They said they'd come to see us as much as possible which helped a little but I was still devastated.

I said goodbye and headed out to Steve's car. Steve was in the courtroom during the hearing so he already knew what happened. I saw him leaning up against the side of his car and ran over to him, falling into his arms. He held me up, brushed his finger through my hair, and kept reaffirming to me that everything was going to be okay. It didn't feel like it though.

As we were driving to Steve's house, I felt a switch flip inside me. I was no longer sad. I wasn't anything. I was completely numb.

"Can you take me home?" I asked.

"What? Are you sure?" Steve questioned.

"I just want to go home please," I said.

"Okay, yeah, that's fine." He said with confusion.

The car eventually pulled up to my house and parked.

"Are you sure you're gonna be okay alone?" Steve asked.

"I'll be fine, Steve," I answered.

He leaned over the center console and placed his hand on my cheek, pressing his lips to mine. I kissed him back for a moment before pulling away slightly.

"I think we should break up," I whispered.

Steve moved out of my embrace to see if I was kidding. "Wha- No, you're just saying that because of today. It's all gonna be okay, just-"

"Steve." I stopped him. "I'm not good for you. You have your whole life ahead of you. And I don't want you to spend that trying to fix me.
I love you and I know I always will but, I'm not who you deserve to be with."

"Rose, we are not breaking up. Go get some rest, we'll talk tomorrow." He said with tears in his eyes.

"You're gonna find a beautiful woman who's gonna treat you ten times better than I ever have."