The next morning had been a frenzy of packing their things and getting  in the car, the two wanting to make it home before it was too late. For a majority of the ride the two talked like nothing had happened, Christine in a seemingly great mood  and Steve joining her. It was only when they settled into silence that the thoughts crept back into their heads, leaving the both of them as bundles of nerves.

They were rather close to home when the sun began to set, Steve  letting out a sigh as he realized they had to talk about it. Christine had her knees pulled up to her chest in the seat, her head dropped between them so he couldn't see her. He reached across the middle, grabbing her knee and her attention, the girl looking up at him with a nervous smile. He returned it, his eyebrows twitching together as he gave her a nod, letting her know it was time.

"Alright Steve. Where do we go from here?"

"I don't know." Steve said, genuinely meaning his words. He had no clue, and that was the part he was dreading talking about.

"Listen...what we did—it wasn't a mistake. I meant it Steve. I really did." Christine said, deciding to just proceed with honesty. She didn't want to lead him astray in any way, she knew he would benefit more from the truth instead of her beating around the bush. Nancy had hurt him bad, and she didn't want to act like her.

"No it wasn't-it wasn't a mistake." He said, nodding to her words. He thought about if he meant it though, if he truly 100% meant it.

"Then what's next?" Christine stared straight ahead, Steves silence starting to make her feel like maybe something wasn't just all right here. Her mood seemed to shift, the girl furrowing her eyebrows as she looked over at him. He glanced over at her, Christine feeling a surge of hurt go through her as she caught the guilty gleam in his eyes.  She could tell that it was off now, and she started to worry more for her own feelings than for his. "Is there a next step Steve?"

"I don't know." He answered warily, making sure to look away from her. He hated confrontations such as these, he had had talks like  these with other girls before, girls wanting something more. But this one was serious. And she actually mattered to him.

"You don't know. You don't know?  You gotta give me something better than that. We fucked our whole friendship for this." Christine was starting to get defensive, because the silent change had given her enough motive to believe that she was about to get her heart broken.

"I didn't ask you to kiss me last night." He said, instantly regretting it as soon as  he heard the tone of her next sentence.

"What the fuck?" He knew he had made a mistake now, judging by the way she turned her body in his direction. "Yes you did. You quite literallt asked me. Did you seriously just say that?"

"I'm just saying that it wouldn't have happened if you wouldn't have kissed me."

"So you didn't want it to happen?" Christine asked, furrowing her eyebrows in confusion as she thought back to the night before.

"No I- I did it's just that-" Christine cut him off, her face full of shock and disbelief as she shook her head in absolute astonishment.

"Are you seriously going to act like I came onto you first? You- the movies! You tried to kiss me at the movies and I told you that we were better off friends and-"

"But at the Christmas party you were the one who tried to kiss me! Don't act like it was all me!" Steve raised his voice, defending himself against her judgmental face. She gasped at that, lifting her hands and starting to.

"Okay fine. Mind flayer, me. Movies, you. Christmas, me then you. Hike, you. Pool, you. Sounds like more you then me." Christine said, raising the corresponding fingers for each of them. Steve had no reply, the two of them settling into a tense silence as Christine shook her head and turned towards the window. They sat like that until Steve pulled into the Wheelers driveway, her eyes sticking to the house as she spoke again.

"So you didn't mean it. And there is no next step. And you're not gonna give me a reason. And you're going to throw everything away, everything for nothing. Sound about right?" She spoke calmly between them, Steve looking over at her and her looking over at him.

"What were you expecting Christine? Huh? Did you think that we would do something and then just move right into something else? What about Nancy?!" The real reason finally identified itself, Steve not seeming to catch it as Christine felt the words hit her heart. She now realized exactly why he was so resistant towards her. The mention of Nancy enraged her, the girl putting up her walls and choosing no more vulnerability as she felt like a knife had stabbed her through the heart.

"Steve I know we did not sleep together and potentially ruin our entire friendship just so you can tell me we can't be together...because of Nancy." Christine was seething, hoping internally that that was not the case. Steve shook his head, gripping the steering wheel and letting out a sigh.

"It's not because of Nancy it's just—it's wrong. What is she going to say when she finds out?" He said, his eyes glancing towards the house.

"When she finds out what? That we like each other? That we could be together?"

"Yeah." Steve said, realizing he was really really blowing his chance. He felt wrong for including Nancy, but she had been his primary worry the entire time. Christine saw this as a betrayal, knowing that she was treating Steve better then Nancy had and she was still second to her.

"It doesn't matter what she thinks Steve! She left you for Jonathan! Why are you still so worried about what she thinks?!" Christine raised her voice, the girl gesturing to the house as she felt her heartbeat accelerate. He was hurting her, hurting her bad and he knew it and he just kept speaking.

"I'm not! I just—you're her cousin." He seemed to not have a forthright reason, leaving Christine to speculate, her eyes widening when the answer revealed itself to her.

"I know that this is about."

"Oh what's it about?" Steve said in a semi-condescending tone, his own blood boiling and his chest burning from the comment she had made about Nancy leaving him for Jonathan.

"This is about the fact that you don't want Nancy to know that you've moved on and aren't waiting forever for her anymore." She said, making Steve scoff as she spoke again. "Well guess what Steve...I don't want to give her the wrong impression! I don't want to make perfect cousin Nancy think that you're not still waiting for her! Don't worry about it."

Christine ripped the passenger door open, unbuckling her seatbelt quickly and jumping out of the car. She stalked towards the house, Steve quick to get out as well, running after her as he felt wrong about just letting her leave. He felt an internal panic, he had screwed this whole thing up, he had said it all wrong.

"Don't get too close to the door Steve. Don't want Nancy to see you. I really wouldn't want her to think you're not an option anymore."

"You're not being fair about this!"  Steve pleaded, begging her to see his side.

"I'm not being fair?! Steve it wasn't just a kiss okay?" Christine dropped her voice to a whisper, her anger melting away and her hurt revealing itself. He immediately felt guilty and wrong, not knowing what had come over him and why he had told her those things in the car. He did want to be with her, he was pretty sure he was already in love with her, but he knew deep down that he wasn't fully over Nancy.

"I'm sorry." He pleaded, begging her to believe him, watching as tears filled her eyes. He could feel his chest giving him physical pain from making her cry, something he had said he never wanted to do. 

"I trusted you. I gave myself to you in a way that I can't get back and the worst part is that I believed you felt it too. I thought you felt it too." Christine pushed the front door open, shaking her head as a single tear slipped down her face. "Don't call."

She closed the door in his face, Steve feeling as if his heart was walking away from him, leaving him empty. He wondered why he had such terrible luck with women, why he couldn't just get over Nancy. He wanted to give Christine all of him, 100% but he knew he couldn't and that was why he had shut her down. Steve shuffled back to his car, letting out an irritated sigh as he realized her things were still in there. He still pulled out of the driveway, wondering if he had just lost her for good.