Chapter Text
The rosy-cheeked girl shot Nancy a parting smile as she swung her leg over the windowsill. Wind billowed in from the outside, fanning out her blonde hair and rustling the curtains. The picture was almost comical as she straddled the window ledge, holding herself steady with her chapped hands. The city lights behind her cast her in a sporadic glow, washed with yellow.
“Meet me tomorrow?” she asked Nancy, who stood back in the hotel room, feet sunk into the plush carpet, cool summer air causing her to shiver in her pajamas.
“Same time, same place?” Nancy asked, running her hands up and down her arms to warm herself.
“If you’ll have me.”
“Of course.”
Nancy watched as the girl threw her other leg over, only holding herself up by her arms. At first glance, she had appeared scrawny, but Nancy had learned that that sentiment was far from the truth. This was evident now, the muscles in her left arm flexing as she shifted her entire weight to the one side, using her other hand to blow Nancy a kiss.
The city’s sounds continued below—horns blaring, voices talking, somewhere a car alarm going off. For Nancy, the noises seemed far away, her attention transfixed on the girl, watching as she let go of the window and landed on the metal stairwell with a clank.
Nancy walked across the room to look out, her heart fuller than ever as she waved down to the figure before.
Lifting a hand up in a farewell, the girl said, “See you tomorrow, Nancy Wheeler. Don’t forget about me!”
Nancy laughed, the noise crisp and clear, rising above the ambiance of the city. She was still smiling to herself as she pulled down the window and closed the curtains.
As if I could ever forget about you, she thought.
No, Nancy would never forget about this. This moment, along with many others from this week, were etched into her brain. She didn’t think she could lose them even if she tried.
April 5, 1986
“Nancy! Dinner!” Her mother’s shrill voice jolted Nancy out of the memory, back into the present. She was seated at her desk, notes for her final exams ahead of her. Blinking, Nancy looked at the clock. Sure enough, dinner time was approaching. She hadn’t gotten as much done as she thought.
Shaking her head to chase away the last of the fleeting memory, Nancy pushed herself up from the chair.
Stop dwelling on the past, she thought. You’re just going to get hurt.
But lately, those weeks in New York have been all that Nancy had been able to think about. It’d only been a week since Nancy visited hell itself. It was senior year, already filled with stress, and she’d spent all of spring break trying not to die. She was supposed to be thinking about scholarships and paying for her first semester of college, not about life and death.
It was all so much. Ever since eighth-grade, college had been Nancy’s top priority. Everything had been leading this year. It was almost hard to believe the time was finally almost upon her. She was going to college.
And Jonathan was not going to be there.
Nancy shook her head. Thinking about Jonathan was not any better than thinking about New York.
Her hand slid down the banister as she descended the stairs. Nancy had been in this odd headspace all month. She had been reminiscing about New York, regretting Jonathan, and even thinking back to Steve. Lately, a thick cloud had settled in her brain, making it impossible to think straight or be happy.
Whatever, Nancy thought again. Get over it.
Nancy stopped in the middle of the staircase and closed her eyes, envisioning a box. She took one step and put New York in the box. Another step, and in went Jonthan. Another step, Steve. The scholarship essay she’s worried about followed. What she was even going to do about college.
By the time Nancy reached the bottom of the steps, all of her worries and regrets had been neatly packaged away—a trick she taught herself in eighth grade.
“Oh, there you are, Nancy.” Her mother caught her eye from the kitchen where she was tossing a salad. “Dinner’s almost ready. Why don’t you set the table?”
Nancy agreed and set about putting out the plates, cups, and silverware on the table. Despite all of her efforts, her worries began sneaking through the cracks. As she placed a fork on the table, she was transported back to the last time her and Jonathan spoke.
“You didn’t even apply?” Nancy asked, again, even though she knew the answer. “Not at all?”
Jonathan shook his head. They were sitting outside on the porch of the Byers house. They were still waiting on news from the hospital. They didn’t even know if Max was okay, and Jonathan was talking about college?
“No,” Jonathan said, again. “I’m sorry. I should have told you, but… after everything that’s happened… I can’t leave Mom and Will. I have to take care of them.”
Nancy pinched the bridge of her nose. She understood where he was coming from, but he’d been lying to her.
“You could have told me!” she cried. “We could have worked it out. I would have worked it out.”
“Well, maybe I just didn’t want you to do this!” Jonathan stood up, starting to pace.
“Do what?” Nancy spat, feeling a little insane. Her brain was still wired with adrenaline, itching for fight. “What am I doing right now?”
“You know,” Jonathan gestured wildly. “Acting like you know everything. You would have told me to apply. You wouldn’t have agreed with me wanting to stay in Lenora. Don’t lie to me, Nancy, I know you don’t like the idea of me going to community college.
Nancy sighed. “I didn’t say that.”
“You don’t have to. I know that you’re thinking it.”
Nancy couldn’t argue with that, not really. But she was… surprised. Emerson was still in California, at least if they decided on the Los Angeles Campus. Jonathan’s dreams used to be NYU; Lenora Community seemed like a huge jump.
Did she think that Jonathan’s talents were wasted at Lenora Community? Of course she did. Community college was for people who didn’t care to try, and Jonathan was never someone like that. Sure, he didn’t have the best grades, but he was smart. He could have gotten into Emerson if he had just tried.
But he didn’t try, and he didn’t trust her enough to even talk to her about it. And Nancy couldn’t really blame him.
Nancy pulled herself from the memory before she got too sucked in. It was a nasty argument at the end of a horrible day. She took a steadying breath before starting back on her task. Thankfully, she was able to keep all the rest of the memories in the box as she continued helping her mother with dinner.
Mike, Holly, and Nancy’s father joined the dinner room right as her mother placed the roast on the table. Holly was chattering away about a bug she’d seen at recess, her father started talking about politics, Mike huffed in disgust at the sight of brussel sprouts, and her mother apologized for the quality of the roast.
“I’ve really done it this time. It’s overcooked and too salty.” Karen Wheeler smoothed down her skirt as she slipped into her seat. “The brussel sprouts should be good though.”
Mike made a gagging noise into his hand.
“Now, don’t be like that Michael,” Karen shook her head in disapproval.
“It was this big!” Holly held her fingers about two inches apart. “Mrs. Martin said it was the biggest centipede she’d ever seen.”
“That’s nice, dear,” Ted Wheeler began to cut his roast with a thinly disguised look of disgust on his face. “Did you see what that new mayor is planning on doing in our town? I swear, Hawkins used to be the place to raise a family.”
Mike continued auditioning for the role of disgruntled teenager with an eye roll and another complaint about the vegetables.
Watching the scene play out was almost comical to Nancy. It’s like someone took the stereotypes of a typical middle class suburban family and shoved them all into one house. It would have been hysterical if it wasn’t so depressing.
Nancy felt as though she was observing her family through a lens, merely an outsider looking in. She hadn’t felt like part of this family for a long time. This last year, Nancy had felt like a shell of her past self just going through the motions.
Ever since Jonathan broke up with her, Nancy hadn’t been sure at all about what she wanted, about who she even was. And, to be entirely honest to herself, she hasn’t been sure about that for a while. Maybe it started when she realized that she didn’t love Steve… or when she realized that she didn’t love Jonathan either. Or maybe it’s been that way since New York, and it’s only catching up to her right now.
Whatever the reason, Nancy had been floating these days. She kept herself grounded by staying busy. Editor of the school paper. 100+ hours of community service. On track for valedictorian. But these domestic moments with her family reminded her of everything she’s not. Of everything she couldn’t see herself ever becoming.
Nancy couldn’t imagine growing up to become her mother. Spending hours cooking dinner only to end up apologizing profusely for the quality of it while your teenage son complains about brussel sprouts. Waking up everyday next to an apathetic husband to care for the same ungrateful family. No, Nancy couldn’t imagine it. That couldn’t be her life.
It’s not that she didn’t think anyone could be happy with a simple suburban lifestyle, but Nancy knew that she wouldn’t. The white picket fence, green yard, happy husband, and 2.5 children wasn’t her idea of the American Dream. She didn’t even know what her dream would be. Nancy couldn’t remember the last time she felt truly happy.
No, that’s a lie.
Nancy could remember exactly the last time she felt this happy.
But she wasn’t supposed to be thinking of that. She wasn’t supposed to be thinking of any of this.
Shaking her head, Nancy tried to shove all of these thoughts, feelings, worries, and regrets back into her mental box. She blinked away the last bit of memory to find her mother looking at her expectantly.
“Oh, sorry.” Nancy smiled apologetically. “What was that?”
“I was just talking about how different it’ll be next year,” Karen said fondly. “We’ll all have a hard time getting used to you being out of the house. Time passes so fast. It seems just weeks ago that we were welcoming you into the world. Now in a year, you’ll be off to college, meeting your own man, and eventually having your own babies.”
Nancy tried to not let her distaste show on her face. She gave her mother a tight smile, gripping her fork just a fraction tighter.
“Just as long as you don’t date another Steve Harrington,” Mike added.
“I liked Steve.” Karen shot Mike a glare.
“So,” Nancy said, desperate for a subject change. “After dinner I was planning on heading to the library to research for the scholarship essay I’m working on.”
Ted nodded in approval. “Yes, college education isn't cheap nowadays.”
The conversation dissolved back into the way it started. Ted complained about politics, Karen apologized for the meal, Mike whined, and Holly rambled about her day. And Nancy—well, Nancy wasn’t paying attention anymore. She drummed her fingers on the table and put all her concentration into keeping her mental box closed.
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Arriving at the library felt like coming home. It wasn’t so much the fact that it was a library—while Nancy enjoyed books and studying, she wasn’t someone who would hang out at the library for fun. But Nancy always felt better when she was busy. Having a task meant that she could stay focused and in the right headspace. And today, she was going to be busy with research.
Nancy claimed a table in the corner and set out all her notebooks and previous findings. She was nothing if not meticulous. A color coded to-do list lay on the top of her stack.
“Doing homework on a Friday?” a voice sounded behind her. She spun her head around to find Steve Harrington standing with his hands in his pockets and a friendly smile on his face. Next to him stood Dustin Henderson, holding a large stack of comic books.
Nancy smiled at him—although it felt a little forced. “Yup, although that’s not unusual for me. What are you doing here?”
“Good question,” Steve chuckled. “Sadly, this kid”—He ruffled Dustin’s hair eliciting a noise of protest from the boy—“wanted really badly to go to the library today.”
“I had to,” Dustin said, in a voice entirely too loud for a library. “This comic came out a week ago, and the library took forever to get it. I wanted my mom to buy it for me, but nooo, I had to wait for the library.”
Nancy smiled a little to herself. At least, Dustin seemed unchanged despite all the Upside Down messing with his whole childhood. Nancy wished she could be that normal. It felt like she was falling apart.
But that process started before the Upside Down.
Put it back in the box, Nancy.
She shook her head in an attempt to shake out of it.
“That’s nice, Dustin,” Nancy gave him a small smile before turning back to her work.
Steve didn’t seem to catch the hint and sat down across the table from her, Dustin wandering away to the stacks.
Nancy’s fingers tightened around her pen. She wasn’t sure why Steve’s presence was grating her today. Maybe because he was supposed to be in her box. She couldn’t think about him because then she’d think about dating him and how it ended and how it never compared to—
Back in the box, Nancy Wheeler.
Nancy gave Steve a tight nod, before turning back to her notes.
“So, what are you working on?” Steve asked, friendly in an honest way that made Nancy almost feel bad about how much he annoyed her right now
“A scholarship essay,” Nancy said, trying not to be rude.
“Ah.” Steve sat there for a few more lingering seconds before finally recognizing that he was not wanted there. He slid out of the chair awkwardly, gave her a small nod goodbye, and headed over to where Dustin was pouring over his new comics.
Nancy tried to do her work, but everything was falling out of that stupid box.
What happened with Steve.
How it ended with Jonathan.
And New York…
Nancy was laying on the floor, a gentle hand making circles on her arm. She turned her head slightly, making eye contact with the girl next to her. Nancy gave her a soft smile and continued to stare into her green eyes. The girl stared back at her with the same expression before crossing her eyes and sticking her tongue out, dissolving them both into giggles.
They rolled around the floor laughing so long that eventually the laughing itself became the joke. The rough carpet scratched at Nancy’s bare legs, her pajama shorts not providing her any barrier.
Wiping happy tears from her eyes, Nancy sat up so her back was against the wall. The girl copied her, sitting beside her and leaning her head onto her shoulder.
“Let’s do this forever,” she said softly.
“Sounds good to me.” Nancy reached out to cup the girl’s cheeks before pulling her into a long kiss that tasted like strawberry chapstick.
Nancy pulled herself out of the memory and tried her hardest to focus on the task in front of her. But it was useless. The good mood she’d had while walking into the library was ruined. She sighed and continued to work on her essay until the library closed, while the contents of the box leaked out.
April 6, 1986.
Nancy pulled open the glass door of the food pantry. The bustling sound of workers, volunteers, and hungry families greeted her.
The food shelter had always been on this corner, yet ever since the Upside Down caused cracks everywhere, more people needed the extra support. The influx of activity left the food shelter understaffed.
Nancy, just like any high school junior or senior in the area, saw an opportunity to get community service hours. While she had already been accepted by her top schools, many scholarships due in the spring looked at the leadership qualities of applicants, and how much they helped their communities.
Nancy was nothing if not a go-getter. This whole earthquake experience would make a good personal essay, and adding a couple hundred words about how she was able to help others during this time would be beneficial.
“Thank you so much for helping,” the smiling lady with the clipboard said. She looked to be about in her thirties, already with smile lines etched into her face.
Her name tag read Nancy, which stuck Nancy as ironic. Here Nancy Wheeler was, helping because it would look good on paper, standing next to Nancy Who Works at the Food Pantry, who chose helping people as her career. Nancy felt like an imposter as she donned the faded blue apron with a nameplate that read Volunteer. As she tied the string around her waist, she heard a familiar laugh across the room.
Looking up, Nancy made eye-contact with none other than Jonathan Byers—her freshly ex-boyfriend. She fought the urge to look away and gave him a small smile. Jonathan wore the same blue apron and was helping an older lady fill boxes with food.
Of course Jonathan would be here helping. It just made sense. He was a nice person, a good person, someone who genuinely wanted to help others. He would help Hawkins, even though he wasn’t staying. Even though his family was going back to California later this week.
Jonathan gave her a tight smile in return and went back to work. Nancy tried to ignore the pain in her chest.
It wasn’t Jonathan’s fault that they broke up. If anything, it was Nancy’s. She was mad at Jonathan for lying to her, but she couldn’t deny that she had been distant. More than distant even. The word Jonathan had used was ‘unavailable’. Nancy had been annoyed when he’d said this. “Of course, I’m unavailable,” she had cried. “We live across the country from each other!”
But it was more than that. Nancy knew it, and Jonathan knew it. Nancy had never been available, so to say. Even when they lived in the same small town, there was a gap there, a divide. Nancy wasn’t sure what was wrong with her. She had loved Jonathan, she had cared about him, but she couldn’t be like every other girlfriend. She couldn’t love him the way that he had loved her. She didn’t know how to do that.
So it had ended.
Just like her and Steve had ended.
She didn’t know what to feel about it.
“So,” Nancy Who Works at the Food Pantry said, pulling Nancy Wheeler out of her thoughts. “In the past, we’ve normally focused only on food, but with the recent tragedy, we’ve started to collect both clothes and personal hygiene products as well. Your job will be to fill personal care pouches. Just grab one item from each box.”
Nancy nodded and got to work. The monotonous assembly line motion normally was the sort of thing that allowed her to fixate her mind on a task. Grab an item, stuff it in the bag and repeat. Grab, stuff, repeat. Grab, stuff, repeat. Normally she’d get lost in this rhythm, and let her mind fade away, but this time her mind wandered and she followed it. All the way back to New York…
The girls sat facing each other on the bed with their legs folded under them. In the center of them was a cake box. ‘Happy Birthday, Melissa’ was written on the cake in swooping, sloping cursive letters.
“Who’s Melissa?” Nancy asked.
“Don’t know, don’t care,” was the reply. “I think we’re both Melissa today.”
“Happy birthday to us then,” Nancy said, scooping out a chuck with her fork.
“Wait, wait, don’t eat it yet!” The girl pulled her hand back. “We have to make a wish first.”
“There’s no candles.”
“You don’t need candles to make a wish.”
“Yes, you do.”
“Says who? The wish police?”
“Fair point.” Nancy smiled at her fondly. “What do I wish for?”
“I can’t tell you what to wish for! That ruins the wish. Wishes have to stay secret.”
“Who's the wish police now?”
“It’s not policing, it's just common wish etiquette.” The girl scooped up her own piece of cake and held it up next to Nancy’s. “Do you have your wish?”
Nancy thought about it.
I wish for more moments just like this, she wished.
Nancy nodded at the girl.
“Okay, I have mine too.”
“Now what? Do we eat the cake? Does that seal the wish?”
“No, I’m pretty sure we feed the cake to each other.”
“Oh, is that how it works?” Nancy asked with a smirk.
The girl returned the grin. “Pretty sure.”
“Okay, wish police, open up.”
Both of them were dying with laughter by the time the cake had been eaten. As Nancy laid back in the bed, breathing heavily with cheeks that hurt from smiling, she repeated her wish. I want more moments just like this one. I want this moment to last forever.
After leaving the food pantry, Nancy walked home. Not sure what to do with the constant spiraling in her head, she tried to focus on something tangible and began running through the main points of her scholarship essay again.
It would be good to make the main focus of the essay this tragedy. With some excellent writing on her part, she could turn a traumatic moment of hers into an optimistic essay that showcased both her hard work and her strong character. Scholarship committees loved personal essays, and Nancy would make sure this one feels deeply personal.
Even though she’d be leaving out a lot.
She’d be leaving out everything.
Vecna. The Upside Down.
The most defining traumatic moments of her life, and she can’t even use them to win money.
Nancy sighed. This wasn’t really helping.
“Nancy Wheeler!” cried a high pitched voice, pulling Nancy back into the real world. “Is that you?”
Nancy turned around to find Sharon Clement, a girl from Steve’s graduating class. They both had yearbook and journalism together and participated in a lot of honor’s groups. Last Nancy had heard, she went to Yale to study.
“Sharon,” Nancy answered kindly. “How are you? What are you doing back in Hawkins?”
“Oh, well, the earthquake.” Sharon stopped a couple feet away from Nancy and patted down her skirt. “It would have felt wrong to leave my parents here all by themselves. Not to mention, it’s just so strange. There aren’t any fault lines here. There shouldn’t have been an earthquake at all.”
“Yeah, it’s weird,” Nancy agreed. You have no idea just how weird it is, she thought to herself. “So what’s new with you?”
“Oh, I switched majors. Instead of majoring in Political Science, I decided English was a better fit. And…” She grins widely, holding out her left hand to reveal a shiny diamond ring. “I’m getting married! Can you believe it?”
Nancy, in fact, could not believe it. Sharon had always talked about doing something great in the world. She was going to be a politician; she’d always claimed that there weren’t enough female leaders in the world today. She was going to be a powerful lady who would change the world.
Instead she was getting married. And majoring in English.
Nancy knew it was a little unfair of her to think this—Sharon had a right to do whatever she wanted with her life. It wasn’t like majoring in English was bad or that getting married was stupid. It was just…
Nancy had always looked up to Sharon. Sharon had had dreams and aspirations that had nothing to do with a little house and a picket fence and 2.5 children. If Sharon couldn’t follow those dreams herself, how is it that Nancy would be able to?
Nancy came out of her thoughts to find Sharon waiting for an answer, still holding up her wedding ring.
“That’s great!” Nancy smiled wide, hoping that Sharon wouldn’t catch the falseness of her excitement. “I’m so happy for you!”
“Don’t worry,” Sharon said. “Your time will come soon too.”
Nancy laughed awkwardly at that, not sure what to say. “So how do you like Yale?”
Sharon spent a couple more minutes gushing about Yale, her fiancé, and her wedding plans. After a while, Nancy had to politely excuse herself so she could get home in time for dinner. Yet on her walk, Nancy couldn’t stop thinking about it.
She looked down at her own left hand, imagining a ring on it similar to Sharon’s. It felt wrong, somehow, her skin itching as if she was trapped. She wanted a forever person, of course she did. But everything she’d ever known about marriage didn’t feel very romantic. What was wrong with her? Why didn’t she want what every other girl wanted? And why couldn’t she get out of her stupid head?
Nancy, now even more despondent, could feel herself drifting away. It reminded her of the months after New York, when all she could do was think about what had happened and relive each moment over and over again. She could feel those memories creeping up on her, yet dwelling on them wasn’t any good.
Why had she felt so happy there? With that girl? Why couldn’t she feel that with Steve or Jonathan?
Nancy didn’t know.
Walking home, Nancy tried her hardest to come back to herself, to focus on her plan for the future—to look ahead instead of back.
But Nancy couldn’t. She didn’t want what she was supposed to want. She wanted a future where she was successful, where her success wasn’t just measured on her relationship status, but she didn’t want to be alone.
The idea of not getting married was almost as bad as the idea of getting married. She wanted to do great things, but she didn’t want to do them all by herself.
Her thoughts drifted back to New York.
The wind billowed Nancy’s skirt as the girl and her stood on the roof.
“This is crazy!” Nancy shouted. “What are we doing up here?”
“We’re in New York!” she shouted back, matching her energy. “We have to stand on a roof at some point. That’s like what people do.”
“I don’t think that’s a thing,” Nancy said, softly, moving closer to her space, breathing in the soft scent of strawberry chapstick.
“I’m pretty sure it’s a thing,” the girl said, pulling her arms around Nancy.
They stood there, intertwined and tangled together, smiling softly at each other, breathing the same air.
“We should just stay here forever,” Nancy said.
“Oh, Nancy Wheeler, you sentimental romantic.” She swatted her playfully on the arm. “You want to stay, swaying with me on the rooftop, dancing to imaginary music.”
“Oh, shut up,” Nancy said, pulling her in for a kiss.
Their lips fit together perfectly. Nancy must have been a real big romantic because she thought that their lips must have been made for each other.
The girl pulled away, breathless. “I want to stay with you forever too.”
Nancy’s lips came crashing back into hers in lieu of an answer. This time the kiss was more rushed, less sweet.
It was hard to believe that they had met only two weeks ago. It was hard to believe that this was going to be their last night together. Nancy felt like they had known each other forever, and she really didn’t want to go home.
She couldn’t imagine continuing her life while knowing that she could feel this much emotion. She could care this much about someone. She didn’t know it was possible.
She didn’t want it to end.
So in this kiss, she put all her cares and emotion. With every noise she drew out of the girl, she held her tight knowing that this night was their last night, and then it would all end.
“Nancy?” came a voice, pulling her out of her fantasy and back onto the street.
Nancy looked up, why was she doing this to herself? Why was she torturing herself with the memories? Turning towards the speaker, she found Steve Harrington, the man she just couldn’t escape from, and Robin…
Her brain short-circuited a little.
“Uh, hi, Steve, Robin,” Nancy said, flustered.
“Hi, Nancy,” Steve said. “Are you walking home?”
“Uh, yeah, I was—I was helping at the food pantry.” Nancy wasn’t sure why it was so hard to string her words together.
“That’s cool,” Steve said. “Robin and I were just taking a walk together. Might see a movie.”
Nancy nodded politely, but her brain was spinning.
She remembered the last conversation she had with Robin. It was during the Vecna situation, in a rare moment where Robin actually acknowledged Nancy. She had assured Nancy that she and Steve were just platonic, with a capital P.
It seemed like Robin wanted her to get back with Steve. The whole conversation had been awkward, and Nancy didn’t really understand the point.
But that didn’t matter, right now was one of those precious few moments where Robin wasn’t ignoring Nancy and was instead fixing her with a piercing stare. Nancy couldn’t pass up this opportunity.
“So, Robin?” Nancy said, uncertain. “Do you wanna, like, maybe, meet for coffee sometime? We can… chat.”
Robin narrowed her eyes. “Yeah, maybe,” she said eventually, but her tone made it seem like maybe was never going to happen.
Nancy nodded awkwardly and decided that this was probably her cue to leave. She said her goodbyes and continued on her way, pretending she wasn’t listening as Steve tsked at Robin.
“Come on, why can’t you guys be friends?” Steve said, and Nancy could almost hear the disappointed head shake that he accompanied with it.
“You want me to become besties with your ex?” Robin said incredulously. “Let’s go, if we want to see that movie it starts in like ten minutes. Hustle.”
Steve grumbled at that, and the two picked up the pace, leaving Nancy behind again with her own thoughts.
And if Nancy was feeling bad before, it’s nothing compared to now. She fought the urge to scream or throw something and instead walked back to her house, she’d gone so slowly that she’d probably missed dinner.
She couldn’t handle this anymore.
It was too much.
Her stupid box wasn’t doing its stupid job.
Her brain kept drifting back to memories of New York.
Opening the front door to her house, Nancy was greeted by raised voices and tears.
Great. Her parents were fighting again. Just what Nancy needed.
“Honestly, Ted,” Karen cried, voice thick with tears. “If you could just get your head out off your ass for second—”
“Don’t talk to me like that, Karen!” A thud came from Ted’s hand colliding with the wall. Nancy flinched.
Nancy crept past them and up the stairs. She needed to get out of here. She needed to be alone.
At the top of the stairs she was met with the distraught faces of Mike and Holly.
“What’s going on?” Holly asked, thick tears rolling down her cheeks.
“Nothing you need to worry about, sweetie.” Nancy leaned down to kiss the top of Holly’s head, before turning to face Mike. “Did you guys already eat dinner?”
Mike nodded. “Mom was pissed that you weren’t here.”
Nancy sighed. “Yeah, okay. How about you both just go to your rooms. They’ll be done arguing eventually.”
“Can—” Mike cut himself off before trying again. “Could we all go into your room?”
Nancy took a long look at Mike’s face. It had been a long time since he had expressed any sort of positive feelings about Nancy. They used to hang out in Nancy’s room all the time, but then Nancy got older and so did Mike and they never did anymore.
Nancy often wondered how Mike was handling things after the Upside Down. It had to have been hard on him. Hell—his girlfriend was a superhero with powers to rip gates to other dimensions. Nancy needed to have a long talk with him.
But… not right now. Nancy was emotionally fried. She couldn’t do this. She couldn’t do anything. All she wanted to do was curl up in her bed and sob.
Everything was just too much.
“Sorry, Mike, I… just need to be alone right now.” Nancy gave him a soft smile. “Another time?”
“Another time.” Mike’s face fell and Nancy almost felt bad for not agreeing.
Regardless, Nancy pushed past Mike and Holly and entered her room, letting out a deep breath before collapsing onto the edge for her bed. She couldn’t ignore it anymore, couldn’t avoid it. She laid back and let the memories flood her.