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

Chapter Twenty-Nine: I Need Steve Harrington

When I got back, the house was a wreck. The bookshelf was topped, the couch was scooted over way too far, and all of the windows were busted, with glass littering the floor. Dad was standing in front of the windows, hammering boards over them. My eyes widened.

"What the heck happened?!"

"Why don't you ask her?" He asked, nodding towards our closed bedroom door. I just looked at him, walking over and turning the knob, only to be met with a force that was keeping it from turning.

"El, its me." The force released, and I opened the door, closing it behind me to see Eleven on the floor in a corner with tears streaming down her face. "Oh my gosh, what happened?!" 

She didn't answer and I stood up, walking back into the living room to face Dad. I crossed my arms, waiting for an explanation.

"She left," He explained, "She left the house, a woman and her daughter saw her." I glance at Eleven. "So I grounded her. She used her powers on me, so her consequences got worse, and then she shoved the couch into my legs, screamed and shattered all of the windows."

"Oh my gosh." I pushed my hair back, walking back into the bedroom and crouching down beside her. "Eleven-"

"He promised..." She said quietly. "Nothing ever changes."

"That might be true," I said gently, "But El, you know how dangerous that was. The bad men probably have every phone in the area tapped, they probably heard that woman call the police, so they know you're still in the area. That could lead them straight to us, and do you know what would happen if they found us? That puts all three of us in danger." She turned away from me, hiding her face in the wall. I stood up. "Ok...clearly, you just need some alone time...we'll talk about this in the morning when everybody has calmed down, ok?" She didn't answer,  and I left the room, shutting the door behind me. I sighed. "Look, Dad-"

"Don't start." He said, hammering a board over the broken window.

"Excuse me?"

"If you're about to come out here and lecture me about losing my temper and being to hard on her, I'm not in the mood. She put all of us in Jeopardy! She used her powers against me, Riley! I'm not the one at fault here!"

"I didn't say you were-" I started.

"Yeah, not this time, but its my fault every other time, right?" He asked. "If given the option, you're always gonna take the kid's side, I'm always gonna be the bad guy!" 

"What are you talking about-picking sides?!" I exclaimed. "All I have ever done is try and help you guys see eye to eye-"

"Yeah, because that's what you were doing when you put those ideas in her head!" He exclaimed. "Where do you think she got that idea?! She probably heard you talking about me never loosening the reins the other day!"

"So this is my fault!?"

"Well it's not mine!" I shook my head.

"I can't..." I blew out a breath. "I can't handle this right now." I grabbed my keys and my bag, walking towards the door.

"Where do you think you're going-"

"Out." I said, opening the door and letting it swing shut behind me.

"Riley! Riley get back here-"

"NO!" I screamed, turning around to face him. He stopped on the porch, looking at me in surprise. "I have just had one of the worst days of my life, and I am not going to stand here and be yelled at just because you and El had a fight! My gosh Dad, it is not my job to take care of everyone in this freaking family all the time! This is not my fault, and its not my issue to resolve, its yours! Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go talk to someone who will support me on my crappy day instead of giving me more to worry about." I turned around, getting into my truck and driving away without a moment's hesitation. I knew exactly who I needed to talk to, and despite the fact that my instincts were telling me it was a bad idea, I really didn't care in that moment. Right now...

I need Steve Harrington.

~~~

When I pulled up to his house, his car was the only one parked outside, so I assumed his parents were out of town. I rang the doorbell, wringing my hands and trying not to have a breakdown while standing on his porch. The events of the past several days were starting to catch up with me, and it was getting harder and harder for me to get a hold of myself with every passing moment. The door opened and Steve appeared, his eyebrows drawing together in confusion when he saw me.

"Riley, What are you doing here?" He asked. Before I could answer though, his face morphed into one of concern as he saw the look on mine, "Are you ok?"

"I um..." I trailed off, looking away from him as tears filled my eyes, not yet falling but making it difficult to see. "I'm sorry, I know its late, but...I didn't know where else to go and...Um..." I looked down at my feet as my voice broke. "Can I come in?"

"Yeah, yeah of course you can." He stepped aside and I walked in, quickly wiping away the tears as they began to fall. "What's going on?"

"What isn't going on is probably an easier question," I whispered, "Um...I just have a lot of crap going on at home and a lot of residual effects from the Upside Down, and now I have Will to worry about to, because I was supposed to protect him, and I feel like I'm supposed to take care of everybody, but I can't take care of everybody and..." I trailed off, feeling the familiar sensation of anxiety squeezing my heart and making it difficult to breathe. I could feel my body begin trembling and I began breathing harder, signalling the beginnings of a panic attack.

"Riley?" Steve asked, coming over to me and putting a hand on my arm. My breathing only escalated, coming out shallow and raspy, and I looked at Steve, wanting to tell him what was going on but I was too scared to stop breathing in order to talk. I put a hand over my aching chest, attempting to calm myself down. Steve led me over to the couch, lightly pushing me onto it and sitting beside me. "Are you having a panic attack?" I nodded. "Ok, ok um...just focus on breathing, ok. Just breathe. Its gonna be ok, alright? Um...let me tell you about my day, would that help? Distraction?" I nodded again. "Ok, um...it was pretty crappy, if I'm honest. Billy was a complete jerk in Basketball practice and then Nancy showed up and we talked about what happened yesterday."

"How...how did that go?" I managed to ask.

"Well basically, she said what you said, that she was drunk and she didn't remember saying it," I nodded, "But after that...I told her if she didn't mean it, to tell me that she loved me, and...she couldn't, so...I think we're done."

"I'm so...sorry, Steve." I breathed. He shrugged.

"It is what it is. It happened." He looked up at me. "Speaking of 'happened', has this been happening a lot lately? The panic attacks?" 

"Yeah...I feel like I'm losing it, like...any day now its gonna progress from me feeling like I'm dying to actually dying." I said, my breath beginning to slow down. "Its just...there's a lot of stuff going on right now..."

"Like what happened on Halloween?" He asked. I nodded, taking my hair out of its ponytail in an attempt to alleviate my now-present headache. I leaned my elbows on my knees and held my head in my hands, weaving my fingers through my hair. "You know I don't think I've ever seen you with your hair down."

I surprised myself by chuckling, looking up at him again.

"I'm sorry you had to see that." I said, leaning my elbow on the back of the couch and resting my head against my hand. He shook his head, resting his arm across the back of the couch too as we turned to face each other.

"No, I'm glad you chose to come here. I'm your friend, I want you to come to me if you need something." He said quietly. "You know...I'd even go as far to say that you're my best friend."

"What would Tommy H. say?" I asked, causing him to laugh and roll his eyes.

"Shut up." I chuckled too, averting my eyes to my other hand, which was picking at a loose string on my sleeve. I stopped as Steve reached over, placing his hand over mine to stop me and drawing my eyes back to his. "What's going on, Riley?"

"I..." I pulled my hand out from under his, instantly feeling guilty for the way his hand on mine made me feel. "I wouldn't even know where to begin."

"Start with what happened on Halloween." He stated.