Groveling was an understatement. It took Steve 2 weeks of groveling at school, after school, on the Wheeler doorstep, on the phone, before Christine would even look at him. Finally on exactly 2 weeks since the Colorado trip she let him speak...and boy was it terrible.

"Christine please be reasonable about this okay? Why don't you understand?"

"I understand just fucking fine Steve! Okay?! You used me for a quick screw and then when I wanted more you had to put an end to it. That's fine. But at least spare me the bullshit act about you caring about me okay?" She slammed her locker, shaking her head as she took a few steps to get away from him. However he was quick to grab her arm, pulling her back to the lockers and looking at her with pleading eyes.

"Don't say that. Come on you know I care about you. And it wasn't a quick screw— what are you even saying?" Steve was wondering where all the animosity was coming from, but at the same time he knew he deserved it, he had messed up big. Christine looked down at the hand that was gripping her arm, quickly pulling it out of his grasp and giving him an intense glare.

"Do not touch me." She said in all seriousness, Steve looking at her with furrowed eyebrows as he realized just how angry she was. Her eyes shifted from him to the people in the hallway, a few of them glancing at the heated exchange between the two of them.

"Please just can we talk about it? Can we please try and work this out? You're my friend Chris." Steve said, wondering if he would have to get on his knees to beg in a moment. However her paranoid eyes were quick to flick back to him, and she mulled over the thought for only a second before letting out a frustrated groan.

"Fine. Fine. Your house after school if that's alright with you? I'd say mine but I wouldn't want you to run into Nancy there." Steve closed his eyes at her dig, letting out a sigh as he figured he deserved that. He gave the girl a short nod, confirming that that was fine. By the time he opened his eyes she was gone, and he wanted to rip his hair out. God, she was so frustrating.

:::

Christine sat in her car in front of the Harrington home, going over what she wanted to say. She felt a permanent pit in her stomach just from being here, she really didn't want to talk. She didn't want to spend an entire afternoon forgiving him, listening to him, being next to him. She hated him. He had used her whether he saw it that way or not and she felt nothing but that. She didn't want to listen to him talk about how she was inferior to Nancy, how she just wasn't her. She was sick of it. Of the thought. Of her. Of him. She had never wanted to back to her dads more than she did right now.

Steve opened the front door of the house, his face troubled and nervous. He needed to say the right things, he needed to salvage their relationship. Maybe they couldn't be together but he couldn't imagine her not being his friend anymore. No way. Everything was riding on this conversation. He could not lose her.

He struggled to look directly at her, but he was rather relieved when he heard the car door rather than the car driving away. Before he knew it she was standing in front of him, her arms crossed over her chest and a frown stitched onto her face. He led the way inside, the familiarity in the house that usually welcomed her now making her feel cold and unwelcome. She was pretty pissed.

They headed up the stairs, Steve pushing his bedroom door open and letting her walk through, the boy closing the door and pressing his back to it as she stood by the foot of the bed.

"Take a seat." Steve broke the silence, the tension in the air very thick.  He finally could look fully at her face and he was hit with a wave of emotion. He was still reeling from what they had done, haunted by the afterthoughts and the memories. He had feelings for her, without a doubt. He thought she was an amazing beautiful woman inside and out and he couldn't get enough of her, but  yet he was trying to let her down easy. It didn't make much sense. But he was prepared to beg and plead for her forgiveness.

"Christine I'm sorry. I said and did some pretty hurtful things and I have no excuse for them. I shouldn't have said them, I shouldn't have hurt you, and I shouldn't have blamed it on you. It was my fault too, okay? " Christine was alarmed by his words, how he carried them, how he said them and meant them. She met his eyes as he stood in front of her, but she wasn't able to speak due to the fact that he spoke again. "I want to talk things out. Okay? I don't want to lose you. You're my best friend."

"I don't know how easily I can forgive you Steve...you made me feel like I was enough for you until I gave in and then when I finally did you told me it wasn't going to work. This is the exact reason why I didn't want to the entire time. I didn't want this to happen." Christine moved her eyes away again, and her lips somehow deepened in her frown.

"I know. I know alright? I screwed it up. I just...I wanted it so bad and I still do. Listen to me... I still do. But something felt off." Christine was quick with a reply, her head clouding with his words from the other night.

"And then for you to bring up Nancy.... that was low. You know how I feel about her. You know how she-"

"I know." Steve shook his head, closing his eyes and feeling like an idiot.

"So how do we fix it? I want it fixed too you know? I'm not just mad for no reason. I hate being mad at you. But you hurt me. You took something from me and I thought we shared it and you hurt me. I don't let people in like that. I haven't—it's been a long time since I've done that." Christine said, eyes meeting his once again. He could see her wavering trust, he could see her nervousness and he thought it was strange how he could see her so clearly. He had never seen a person this clearly.

"The only thing I can do now is ask for you to forgive me. We can't move on if you hate me."  Steve said, using his hands to gesture toward her. He didn't want her to hate him.  It was the farthest from what he wanted.

"But what happens when we move on? We go back to just friends? Nothing? What is the goal here?"

"I....I'm not over Nancy. I thought I was—and I tried to be, but I'm not. But—but if you want to we can try. I'll try and be-" Steve admitted, his eyes closing again as he told the truth about his feelings.

"No. If you're not ready you're not. And I—I cant be second to Nancy. I can't." Christine said, shaking her head at him.

"So what are you saying?" Steve asked, taking a leap and sitting down beside her on the bed. Her leaned forwards, turning his head to look back at her for her answer.

"We're gonna put this on hold. Go back to friends, but I need you to promise me we can be normal again. Okay? I'm gonna give you the time and space you need to get over Nancy. And maybe...maybe one day it'll work out. Just...now is not the right time for us." Although she was right, Steve couldn't help but feel the pain from her words. He knew she was right, but he wanted her to be wrong. He wanted her to be wrong so bad that he almost protested...but he didn't. He had a curious thought, his face falling as he thought about his blossoming love for her.

"But what about how we fee-"

"It'll fade." Christine looked at him with hurt, with love, with pain and suffering. She closed her eyes for a moment, and when she reopened them it was gone, and her eyes were empty of all emotion. "Just say okay."

"Okay." Steve was surprised by how gracious she was being, by how she was putting everything aside so that he could heal. This fact made it even harder for him to move on. They sat in silence for a few moments, both of them feeling their hearts break together as they realized just how bad this hurt. After a few more moments of heartache Steve mustered a broken smile, turning to look at her with furrowed eyebrows. "Friends?"

He offered his hand to shake, this action aiming to solidify their agreement. Christine looked over his face a few times before she looked down at his hand, tears gathering in her eyes as she realized what it meant. She was willingly signing her happiness away, willingly letting him go even though she didn't want to. But she could not share with Nancy. And he thought she deserved someone who would be all in. She bit her lip to keep it from trembling, her hand raising from her side and enveloping his. She shook it, a bittersweet agreement between them. It was not the right time.

"Friends." She affirmed, giving his hand a solid shake. He looked down at it with a solemn smile, not at all happy with the agreement but satisfied enough. He pulled his hand from hers and ran a hand through his hair before another thought hit him, the boy not sure if it was the best time.

"By the way...prom is coming up. Do you want to go together? As—as friends or whatever?"

"Yeah."