Chapter Five: Champagne Problems

Annie's legs pumped as she sprinted down the hallway, slamming into the doors to open them. Her eyes didn't deceive her- the figure out in the field was Will. And he didn't look so good.

"Will!" Annie yelled, running over to him. When she got there- right in front of him- she saw that he stood completely frozen in place. "Will?" She started lightly shaking his shoulders. She tried calling his name again. Nothing was making him move.

A second later, Mike and Lucas were running out of the school. "Will!" Annie's head turned quickly to see the boys approaching. "What the hell happened to him?" Mike asked amusingly when he got there.

"I- I don't know! I saw him out here like this and he's not moving or responding! What's wrong with him, what's going on?" Annie yelled at them. She was scared. Mike and Lucas shared a look, clearly knowing what was going on with him. "What's happening?" she yelled again.

They ignored her. "Go get the others, I'll stay here with him," Mike told Lucas, who nodded and ran back inside. Finally, he looked at Annie. "Go! This doesn't involve you!"

Annie's jaw dropped wide open. "The hell do you mean by that? I found him like this and I used to actually be friends with him- how does it not concern me! Besides, I refuse to leave until I know he's okay!" she nearly screamed in his face.

She was dead tired of being walked on, especially by Mike Wheeler. He had been getting on every last nerve, even almost making her cry and that was a huge no in her book.

"'Used' to be, meaning not anymore! You're just going to get in the way!" Mike yelled back at her.

"I'm. Not. Going." Annie looked away from the pissed look on Mike's face and back to Will. He was scaring her. She tried shaking him lightly again, calling out his name to see if he responds.

Suddenly, people were sprinting out of the school, and Annie recognized Mrs. Wheeler to be one of them. "I just found him like this!" Annie yelled at them as they all approached.

"I think he's having another episode," Mike followed up. Annie looked at him, confused on what the hell that was supposed to mean.

Annie finally moved out of the way when Will's mom came barreling to him. She started doing some of the same things Annie had and she could cry at the desperation in Mrs. Byers' voice.

Somehow, Annie found herself right beside Max again, holding onto her trying her best not to cry. "Oh god..." Annie whispered as nothing worked on helping Will.

Max held onto Annie, too, just as scared as she was. She had no idea what the hell was going on, didn't know what would cause something like this. Her brain tried to come up with explanations for this 'episode', like possibly PTSD from disappearing last year. She bets that would be pretty awful.

Will's eyes suddenly opened and he gasped, scaring Annie and causing her to gasp as well. Everyone stood still for a moment, not knowing what to do. Mrs. Byers brought Will into a hug and held onto him for a moment while we all stood around and watched.

It felt like forever before someone said they should get their things from inside and that Will needed to go home and get some rest. Everyone weirdly followed Will and Mrs. Byers back into the school, they all grabbed their things, then followed them back out the front.

Will went with his mom in her car and they stood and watched by the door. "Okay, that totally freaked me out. That not freak you guys out?" Max asked the group. Annie couldn't manage words, she just nodded her answer.

"Two episodes in two days," Lucas said. Completely ignoring the girls.

"It's getting worse," Mike added on.

Annie was tired and she obviously didn't pertain to this conversation, so she decided she wanted to leave. She'd check the high school parking lot, just in case Steve was still there, but was fully ready to walk home.

She released her hold from Max, who looked at her questioningly as she walked off. "See you later," Annie mumbled. God, she was so tired of everything.

Not getting very far, a hand grabbed her arm and turned her around. "Are you okay?" It was Max, it was always Max. Annie didn't know where to smile or scream at the butterflies she felt.

Masking what she really felt, Annie just nodded and gave a small smile. "Yeah, just want to go home."

Max nodded and let go of her, watching as she walked away. Knowing her own ride was gone, Max prepared herself to skate home.

~~

When Annie got home, she dropped everything right at the door and left her shoes there in favor of going to her room and sobbing for the rest of the night. She didn't even see if Steve was home or if he was out doing something else. At this point, she didn't care, she just needed to go up to her room.

Before she could start her sob fest, she needed to see something. On the bottom shelf of her bookcase, she had all of her journals, diaries, and old school notebooks there. She pulled out each diary and flipped through every page, scanning the words for proof. The proof she wanted wasn't there, but the proof she was terrified of was.

In every single diary she found what she needed to know. Hell, even her thoughts and feeling from the last few days were all she needed to know. But she was scared- god she was so scared because this is wrong. She wanted to scream until her throat was raw and she physically couldn't anymore.

Annie Harrington like girls.

It was wrong. It could make her the laughing stock of the middle school. It could make her family the laughing stock of the whole town. They'd have to move if they didn't vandalize everything first.

Oh god, would... would someone kill me for this?

Every thought became too much, she couldn't handle this anymore it was terrifying and wrong and she'd just have to change herself she couldn't be like this.

As Annie moved from her spot by her bookcase, she spotted parts of her Barbie costume in her closet and thought of Max. Max. Annie had a crush on the new girl Max who just needed a friend. She could never be normal around this girl, because every time Max was next to her she gravitated to the redhead. Whenever Max's hand brushed her arm or she linked her arm with the brunette's, she got butterflies that soared in her stomach.

Her vision blurred as tears came to her eyes. She'd never get the chance to have an actual relationship, not when she didn't like boys. She'd never be able to date Max Mayfield, not in this time.

Annie couldn't stop the onslaught of tears and ugly sobs, they just came out. Her bed was too far away, she just curled up in a ball beside it and leaned up against it, sobbing. Her knees were up to her chest and her arms were wrapped tightly around them. Her head buried.

I can't do this oh god I can't do this.

Her mind was so clouded, she didn't even hear the person come into her room and jumped when arms suddenly wrapped around her. Annie lifted her head up and there was Steve, kneeling on the ground next to his sister, holding her in a hug.

He had been in his room when he heard the front door open and close, following by the thump of things on the ground. Instantly he knew it was Annie, and was going to ask what she was doing after school, but needed to finish a stupid math problem first before he lost his train of thought. It went out the window anyway the second he heard her crying. That was maybe the worst sound in the world for him.

Steve got up from his homework spot and hurried into his sister's room to find her on the ground beside her bed, sobbing. He did the only thing he could think of: hug. He knew Annie loved hugs, because they were a safe space. She once told him, "Nothing bad can happen when you're in a hug. That's the best place to be when you really need help."

"Steve?" she croaked, her throat already scratchy from crying. His head was behind hers so she couldn't see the reaction on his face. His shoulder was right next to her, thought, and she leaned on that.

It was a few more minutes of this weird hugging position on the ground before Annie finally felt words form in her head and a desire to have her big brother's help. Gently, she started pulling away and Steve knew exactly what that meant.

They adjusted to where they were both sitting on the ground, backs leaning on her bed. Annie had both of her knees tucked up to her chest while Steve had the closer leg to her extended and the other leg up by his chest like hers.

"What happened?" Steve asked, starting the gentle conversation. He honestly couldn't remember the last time she was like this. Maybe after Will's disappearance?

Annie sniffed and hesitated briefly before sighing. "It's kind of complicated..." she started. She was scared to tell Steve. She loved her brother and was that this would scare him away, that he'd think she was a disgusting freak. Out of everyone, she could not lose her brother. Never.

"It's okay, Annie, you know you can always tell me anything," he said quietly, and he moved his closer arm around Annie shoulders for a side hug.

She took a deep breath and let it out shakily. She was going to do it, she was going to tell him the truth.

"I... I think there's something wrong with me, Steve. I don't like boys," she started, hoping that's all he would need to piece it together.

"Well that's okay, you don't have to like boys yet. You're still a kid and still growing up," he offered.

God bless him. Annie thought. "No, Steve. I don't like boys but..." she started. "I like girls." Her voice turned to a whisper at the end, and now that it was out, the tears came back and started to drip down her face. "I'm not supposed to and I do and I don't know what to do because it's not right and I can't..."

"Hey, hey, hey," Steve whispered, and brought his sister back into a hug. She buried her head into his chest and started to cry out loud again. He rubbed comforting circles on her back and let her breathe. "Annie, there's nothing wrong with you. There never was and there never will be."

Annie wrapped her arms around Steve and hugged him back because this was the least expected outcome but the best of them all. The fact that her brother supported her without hesitation made her heart soar.

"Do you wanna tell me about her?" he suddenly asked, and Annie had calmed down enough to pull away and not be a sniffling mess. She gave him a confused look, as if asking what the hell was he talking about. "Correct me if I'm wrong here, but someone made you realize this, right? It didn't just bop you in the head today letting you know, 'oh, by the way, you like girls'."

Annie snorted and covered her face with her hands. "Oh my god really?" she groaned through her laughed.

Steve laughed too. "Oh come on! Now we can have girl talk- we've got something else in common!" The Harrington siblings were a laughing mess on the floor on Annie's bedroom, flopping on the ground and holding their stomachs from how hard their laughing.

As Annie started to calm down from her fit of laughter, she thought about Max and subconsciously bit her bottom lip. "She's amazing," she said quietly, but Steve could hear over their newfound silence. "She's new around here and is just... she's so cool. She skateboards which is epic and she likes my drawings I do in class. I want to try and draw her maybe but it feels kind of weird to do that."

Steve smiled at everything his sister was saying. He had an idea of who it was, he remembered the new redhead over last night getting ready for Halloween. There was a way she looked at the redhead that looked familiar to him. Now, he knows what it was.

"I just... god she's amazing. She's always there holding onto my arm or me holding onto hers. And every time she does, I just feel these butterflies, Steve. It's such a cliche but it's so real and I'm here going through it," she kept explaining. "I just wish 'she' were a 'he' so I could actually have a chance with her..."

Steve sat up and pulled Annie up from where she was laying. "Come on, you don't know that. I mean, there's always a possibility, right? Maybe... I don't know, look for the signs and stuff, you know?" he offered.

Annie sighed and looked down. "Steve, someone could do something really bad to me if I ask the wrong girl. I'm scared Max might be the wrong girl. And if she is..." Annie didn't want to finish that thought.

"But what if she is the right girl? I don't know, isn't there a discreet way we could see? Maybe drop a hint or two?" Steve offered.

She wanted to burst into laughter right there. "Steve, I love you, but I'm not you. I don't think I've ever flirted in my life, how do I drop hints that aren't glaringly obvious?" she asked, joking at first, but getting more sincere at the end. This was the only way for her to confirm what she thought.

There was a silence as Steve thought. Teaching his little sister how to flirt with girls? There were lots and lots of layers to work through on how successful it would be. He sighed and looked at the clock Annie had in her room, noticing the later time.

"How about we worry about that tomorrow and spend tonight making you feel better, yeah?" Steve offered. Annie was going to reject it, saying she was better, but Steve kept going. "I'll order in some food and we'll watch Footloose."

She stopped in her tracks and smiled. "Well, when you bring Footloose into the equation..." Annie trailed off, smiling brightly.

So, that's what they did. Annie got it set up, getting popcorn and candy out and ready for after they eat their dinner that Steve was ordering at the same time. Annie insisted on waiting until the food got there before starting the movie, wanting to minimize the amount of distractions that might happen.

It was a great night, Annie thought as she leaned on Steve's shoulder watching possibly her favorite movie of all time. Of course, there was still the ache of truth in her heart whenever she saw Kevin Bacon flirting with Lori Singer. She didn't think she'd ever be in either of those spots.

But her problems were small, especially in comparison to Will. God, she hoped he was okay.

A/n: I loved writing this chapter and I hope you enjoy it as much as I do :)