FAMILIAR ↳ STEVE HARRINGTON

nine.

Christine Wheeler had drank an insurmountable amount of alcohol, her thoughts blurry and her vision not at all dependable. She had to use the bathroom but people had been cutting her in line for awhile now and she decided she should probably just head home at this point.   She had given up on finding Billy after she had seen him standing by the keg again, and she couldn't even think about alcohol at the moment considering how sick she was feeling.

She made her way through the crowd at Tinas party, her cup still in hand as she watched a guys push past her frantically. He flung the door open, blowing chunks onto the front yard and making Christine cringe as she looked away. A guy walked past her, giving her a short tight smile as she stumbled out of the door.

Once the fresh air hit her it became abundantly clear that she was beyond shitfaced, her stomach starting to churn at the temperature change. She needed to sit down or she was going to die, or at least that's the thought that went through her head. Christine stumbled to the side of the sidewalk, barely putting up a fight before she landed on her ass, a ridiculously relieved sigh leaving her lips. It wasn't long before she gave up on trying to stay upright, the girl laying back in the grass and closing her eyes.

She tried to catch a single thought, all of them seeming to center around how much she was missing home right now. Going to parties like this with her actual friends, knowing everyone and actually being able to enjoy herself without being absolutely gone. Now she knew she wouldn't have had a good time if she wasn't as drunk as she currently was.

Christine reopened her eyes, a huff leaving her lips as she stared up at the glittering stars above her. She found a strange drunken solace in them, almost as if they were there for only her to see. She wondered if anybody else was experiencing what she was experiencing at the moment, such sorrow and beauty reveling in the stars.

Christines attention turned to the front door opening again, a familiar face being the one who opened it. She didn't even try to sit up as he began to walk past her, his face red and pained as he stormed away.

"Steve?" Christine voiced, the man in question turning his head to the side to look at the girl. She was in horrible shape, sprawled out across the ground and looking a little red from the alcohol. He walked over, bending over beside her and furrowing his eyebrows.

"Christine are you okay?" He asked, looking her over. She nodded, looking over his face and making him realize just how gone she was. He contemplated what to do, if he should be mad at her by association to Nancy after what she had just said to him. But he knew that Christine didn't like Nancy all that much, so he couldn't be mad at her for their relationship apparently being bullshit. He decided, letting out a sigh of defeat before hovering his hands over her."Alright it's about time we get you home."

"Steve . Steve...wait." Christine said, pulling him by the arm so that he was falling a bit. He accepted his future now, realizing he too would be laying in the grass in just a moment. He welcomed this temporary distraction from the physical pain that was starting to build in his chest as he thought about the fact that Nancy didn't love him. He closed his eyes for a moment  as his back hit the ground, surrendering himself to Christine Wheeler so that his night might not end in tears and hatred. "Steve...look at the stars."

He opened his eyes, following her instructions and looking up at the beautiful array of stars in the night sky. Before long he was a bit entranced by them, glistening and shining right before his eyes but still too far away to touch.

"Look! There's the Little Dipper." Christine said in a mystical tone, pointing above her at the Little Dipper. Steve followed her fingertip, seeing the constellation for one of the first times and smiling as he was actually able to see the formation.

"Wow." Steve said,  his eyes tracing over the stars again and again. There was a peace in being here, he wasn't sure if it was her or the stars, but he was calm, although his world had began to start crumbling.

He was pulled out of his thought by Christines face covering his vision, the girl having sat up and leaned over him. She gave him a genuine smile, the boys eyebrows twitching slightly as he tried to return it. But once he dwelled on the thought of a smile the possibility was gone, because he thought of Nancy and how much words really did hurt. Christine noticed the pained look on his face, her smile dropping as she continued to lean over him. She contemplated what to say, her intoxication not contributing at all to her attempt at not fucking up this conversation.

"You said something about getting home?"  Christine said, knowing in her heart that this was the right thing to say. Steve's eyes traced over her features one last time before he nodded, sitting up and standing almost immediately.  Christine held her hand out for him, Steve taking it and pulling her up, the girl stumbling the second she was on her feet. Steve caught her before she fell,  his arm going around her waist as he led her to his car. She seemed to get the gist of where they were going, pulling out of Steve's grip and starting to jog towards his car.  Before he could stop her or catch her she tripped over the rocks surrounding the mailbox and plummeted to the ground. She hit it quick, a groan immediately leaving her lips as Steve watched on.

"Help me." She squeaked out,  Steve unable to hold back the laughter in his throat. He let out a short laugh, making his way over to her and helping her up.  Her hair was covering her face as she stood, Steve stabilizing her with his right arm and lifting his left hand to help her push the hair from her face.  When he could see her entire face again he laughed again, his hand on the side of her head as she looked at him with some sort of mock anger.

"Why are you laughing?" She asked, closing her eyes and letting out another groan. This question actually made him think, why was he laughing? At a time like this he shouldn't have been laughing at anything, the love of his life had told him not 5 minutes earlier that she didn't love him. So why would he be laughing? The answer came in the form of the girl in front of him groaning again, she had made him laugh.  She had momentarily made him forget about his troubled love life and instead given him the opportunity to break away from his sour mood for a moment.

"I'm sorry...you're just funny. Now let's get you home."