bringing a topic up to the table that no one’s talked about : steve’s guilt.
steve and barb weren’t close at all because of stupid high school status quo. he stuck to his friend and received endless shit for being into nancy, so barb was a no-go. barb was also hesitant about steve on the other side of the spectrum. he’s popular, known to sleep around, and a bit of a party animal - the exact opposite of nancy. so, why would those two reasonably work without crashing and burning? it’s an understandable concern.
the last place barb was seen before she disappeared was steve’s house. his pool, to be exact. sure, he was tipsy. and honestly, he didn’t care if barb wanted to stay or go. he’s not going to lie about any of that. he had absolutely no opinion of barb until it was too late.
now, he can’t look at that pool without a million questions running through his mind. he could have just invited her to stay inside. he could have called someone to come pick her up. he shouldn’t have left her at the bottom of the stairs. he should have done more to protect her simply because she meant the world to nancy. he should have given her a chance. if nancy loved her, then he was sure that he could grow to love her as well.
steve’s grief isn’t spoken about in the show, necessarily. not when it comes to barb, at least. he shouldn’t grieve her because he didn’t know her, but that only makes the pit in his stomach hurt worse. he knows that every single day he’s alive, he’s going to have to apologize to barb for not doing more. but he’s also going to vow to protect nancy fiercely. it may be something he has to answer for when it’s his time, but he’s going to spend the rest of his life making up for the most selfish mistake he’s ever made.
