"But like the dude literally took pictures of her naked from my back yard. So yeah I broke his camera, but I feel like that was warranted considering he was creeping on her."

"So he took pictures of her naked and she still hangs out with him. Dude he took her home tonight. That's kind of worrying." Christine said, watching as Steve paced back and forth.

"Exactly! But then when I did it she got mad at me. What am I supposed to do? Let her get creeped on? And yes I know I did something bad after I saw them together but... I tried to fix it. I've fixed it. She forgave me and I did the right thing." Steve said, thinking back to the movie theater and the alleyway. He could almost feel the pain from getting punched in the face, but he tried not to think about that as she spoke.

"What'd you do?" Christine asked curiously, her eyes continuing to follow him as he stopped and looked at her. He ran a hand over his face, shaking his head before speaking.

"Those awful friends I had, they got into my head and convinced me that Nancy was an awful person and so I came up with an idea and I wrote very publicly that Nancy was....that she was a slut. But it was— I didn't mean it and I never would. I don't know why I did it but I did and all I can do is own up to it and apologize for it." Steve said, feeling guilty again as he thought about it. He began to pace again, his hand running through his hair as he spoke.

"But then I tried to get her back and I found her...at Jonathan's house. And then-" Steve cut himself off, knowing he wasn't allowed to say what happened next. "—does Nancy really not love me?"

"I don't know Steve." Steve sat down on the edge of the bed, his back facing her as he put his head into his hands. "But you need to think about your worth here. If Nancy doesn't love you, you need to do yourself a favor and confront her about it. Don't let her keep shitting on you and then never getting anything back. It's about your worth Steve. If she can't reciprocate your love then she doesn't deserve you. Then you deserve better."

Steve heard her words, but the thought of having to confront Nancy sounded completely terrible. He couldn't let her break his heart sober, it was ridiculous, he wouldn't be able to handle it. But he also knew that Christine was right, if she didn't reciprocate his love then he didn't need to stay with her.

"I mean we've been together for awhile now, almost a year and I really, God I love her and she can't have been faking it the whole time right? She loves me right?"

Steve was met with silence, his mind reeling as he continued to pace. He thought of the possibility of Nancy having been lying to him all along, of her never loving him and just leading him on for as long as she had been. He felt like his heart was ripping in two as he contemplated it, his voice breaking as he let out his next words.

"Right? Hello? Christine? Righ-" Steve cut himself off when he looked over at her, his mouth closing when he spotted her. She was asleep on the bed, her eyes closed and light snores falling from her mouth. Her lips were slightly parted, her chest rising and falling gently as she peacefully slept. Her arm was above her head, her fingers slightly twitching as he shifted to look at her. Her other arm was resting on her stomach, her fingertips touching the sliver of skin that was showing from her shirt that was riding up. Steve let out a sigh, the smallest smile going to his lips as he stood from the bed. He grabbed a blanket from his chair and threw it over her, walking to the end of the bed and grabbing her foot. He pulled her shoes off and then pulled the blanket down to cover her feet.

Steve rounded the bed, sitting on the edge and pulling his own shoes off. He looked back at her briefly to make sure she was still asleep before he pushed his pants down, quickly grabbing the pajama pants that he had laid out on his dresser. He pulled them on, the boy pulling his jacket off and once again glancing at her to make sure she was asleep. He pulled his shirt off, grabbing a t-shirt from his dresser and pulling it on as well. Finally, he headed back towards the bed, sitting down and then looking at the girl behind him.

He contemplated what to do now, not really that tired because his mind was reeling from thinking about the possible end of his relationship. He felt bad, knowing that he literally was with another girl instead of Nancy, but this wasn't like that, and he had no inclination to make it like that at all. He still figured that if things  between him and   Nancy worked out, he probably should keep his late night endeavor with her cousin to himself.  The possibility of things not working out between them made his stomach turn, he couldn't imagine losing her, but Christines words about knowing his worth and doing what's best was something that was sticking to him. If Nancy didn't love him, he needed to do himself a favor and leave instead of wasting all his energy on someone who didn't feel the same for him.  Steve felt a tear slip down his cheek and he was quick to wipe it, shaking his head as he made sure to repeatedly tell himself not to cry.

"You okay? You getting tired?" The sleepy voice beside him made his head turn quick, Steve finally laying down beside her, nodding his head as she turned onto her side to look at him.

"Yeah yeah...I'm tired." He said, putting his hand under his head and then giving her another nod.

"Alright. Goodnight Steve." His name rolled off of her tongue, her sleepy voice making his heart leap as he looked at her. It became surreal to him how bad this would look if Nancy found out, but he found himself happy that he wasn't alone. Happy that Christine was there at a time when being alone wasn't even an option.

"Goodnight Christine." He said, looking very closely over her face. He watched as her lips twitched up only the slightest, the sound of his voice being the last thing she heard before she fell back asleep. His eyes traced over her skin, her lips, her eyelashes and the curve of her nose. He could see faint remnants of Wheeler in her, and he wondered for a moment why he felt so naturally drawn to her. She was right earlier, he could really see them being great friends. She had already let him spill his heart out for half the night about Nancy, who Christine really didn't seem to like, her dislike bordering on hatred.

Steve turned from his side, laying on his back as he tried to think of what he was going to say to Nancy. First off, there was no way he was going to pick her up in the morning, absolutely not. Second, he needed to get Christine to school without Nancy finding out, so that when he talks to her, that's not one of the things he has to explain. He felt guilty once again, thinking about how upset he is about Jonathan taking Nancy home, but also realizing he had taken her own cousin home, and then instead of actually taking her home, took her to his house and spent the night with her. However, they were only friends and Christine wasn't a creep who had taken naked pictures of Steve and still somehow simultaneously somehow stolen his girlfriend anyways. Jonathan Byers was nothing but a villain in Steve's head, he was what was standing between Steve and Nancy.

Steve closed his eyes, trying to fall asleep and to stop stressing out, but his brain didn't seem to get the memo. He laid awake a little while longer, the man starting to toss and turn a little bit.

"Steve." Christine spoke, her sleepy voice coming back out as he looked at her. Her eyes were open but droopy, she was tired and he wasn't helping by moving every two seconds. She lifted her arm a little,  Steve wondering what she was doing before she spoke again. "Please come here."

He now realized what she was wanting, Steve not quite sure if this was crossing a boundary. Before he could even decide whether or not he was going to come closer to her she grabbed him by the back of the head, pulling him closer and laying his head on her chest. She ran a hand through his hair, Steve seeing that this was quite comforting and maybe just what he needed.

"It's all gonna be okay. Go to sleep." She said, whispering the last part as she held his head against her chest. He continued to run her hand through his hair, Steve closing his eyes as he listened to the sound of her calm and steady heartbeat under his ear. Finally he gave in, moving the rest of his body closer to her and letting her comfort him. His eyes began to droop soon enough, her heartbeat putting him to sleep as her fingers started to drag across his head. He figured this was okay, no boundaries were crossed because this didn't feel wrong at all, this felt perfectly right and he did feel a bit better. As he fell asleep he thought of one thing right before he did, his heartbeat spiking. Nancy.