Say Anything | Steve Harrington |

Ch.14 Questioning

November 12th, 1983
Hawkins Police Station

   Once the cuffs had been put on Jonathan's wrist, he fell silent. It was like they had turned him into a shell of the person he once was. He had calmed down drastically since he had been pulled away from Steve and thrown into the back of a police cruiser, but then again, who wouldn't? Nancy couldn't begin to understand what happened, or half of the reason why Jonathan had grown mute throughout the ride to the station. But I knew... Jonathan and I could read each other like an open book; it's a twin thing.  He was upset with himself. Even though it felt right in the moment, he shouldn't have acted like that. If he hadn't done that, we wouldn't be here.

   Once the cops had gotten us to the station, they only uncuffed Jonathan for a moment before locking him down to one of their desks so that he could be questioned on what had happened and why he had seemingly started the fight.

   Releasing an annoyed sigh, I rested my hands against the officer's desk as he continued to take notes on his pad. "Can you please just let him go? I mean, come on it was just a stupid fight." I complained from my place beside Jonathan as he sat silently in his place, he hadn't even tried once to plead his case; just waited for the sentence.

   "It was a stupid fight. But your brother made it serious once he assaulted a police officer." Holding back my scoff and resisting the serious urge to glare at the officer in front of me, I leaned back into my chair quietly as the man continued to question Jonathan who, of course, remained silent.

   After the officer had heard all he wanted, he left Jonathan and me sitting at the desk, while Nancy left to find ice for the developing bruise on Jonathan's cheek. "You know, out of all of us, you were the last person I expected to be put in cuffs," I mumbled from beside Jonathan as he rested his chin against the desk. "Will's a sweet kid and all... But he's always been too passionate about everything. You, on the other hand... you've always been the collected and mature one out of us."

   "That isn't funny..." Jonathan mumbled, speaking to me for the first time since he had been arrested. "No, it's not funny. None of this is, you know why? Cause, you've always said that you'd be the one to change the way everyone thought about the Byers' name. And instead-- Instead we just keep giving them what they want. What they expect of us."

   Jonathan released a heavy sigh before barely turning his head to the side to look at me from the corner of his eye. "And what if I can't? I can't change anything... Maybe I am just like Lonnie... A screw-up." I shook my head and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. "You are a lot of things Jonathan, but you are far from a screw-up. I can promise you that the people that care about you, like really care, would agree with me."

   The two of us sat quietly, Jonathan's mood rising only slightly until Nancy walked back into the room with an ice pack in hand. "Found some ice..." As she took back her place next to Jonathan and held it out to him, while he awkwardly shot a look down to his shackled hands. "Right, here..." She mumbled under her breath and held the ice against his cheek for him.

   Though others would view Jonathan's slight movement as only leaning towards her for the ice pack, I knew the tell-tale sign of that shift, he wanted to be closer to Nancy. And even though Nancy seemed to only view Jonathan as a friend, I could tell by his gaze that he completely adored her. I think Jonathan has always had some sort of feelings for Nancy in the past, but she never really talked to him and he wasn't the type of person to just strike up conversations with people.