pretty damn good babysitter;

Steve hung onto Charlotte, hoping his presence at her side would give her a small bit of comfort. Though he had seen the monsters before, he was still shaking. They had weapons, but the monsters were powerful. Maybe even too powerful for the pair to take on with a bat and, well, whatever she had in her pocket. “It’s sort of from the secret lab? We...we call them demo-dogs. They come from, you know, the Upside Down. And the opening for that is, uh, in the lab. So technically, they’re from the lab,” he rambled on, as if his words would help them at all. “It’s going to be okay, though. I’ve taken them down before. We’re going to be fine,” he said, as if he even believed those words himself. 

Nancy’s eyebrow lifted in CONFUSION at the sound of the knock at the door. It was too early for Jonathan to be stopping by to pick up Will, and even in weather like this the other boys always made their own way home. Her dad was passed out already in his armchair while her mother had newly uncorked her second bottle of white wine as she finished icing the newest batch of gingerbread men from the oven - clearly they weren’t expecting any more visitors tonight. Nancy’s heart rate immediately sped up, her mind racing with horrible possibilities of who it might be. Things had been quiet for almost two months now, but that didn’t mean they were OVER. What if it was the police here with more questions about Barb she couldn’t answer? Or one of those people from the Lab, trying to silence the people who knew too much of the truth? There were endless possibilities her stressed mind could conjure - that was the problem with being too smart and too aware of EVIL in the world…

With her mother yelling from the kitchen to get the door before their guest froze to death, Nancy didn’t have much of a choice about finding out. She cautiously got to her feet and inhaled deeply as her hand made contact with the doorknob. 

But when Nancy swung open the door, all that anxiety melted away into happy surprise. “Steve…” she breathed, eyes widening by the second as she took in the sight of him. He looked like he was practically ready to topple over with the stack of gifts in his arms, the mountain so high she could barely see the smile on his face. A mountain currently getting snowed on, threatening to RUIN the beautiful wrapping paper. So Nancy quickly ushered him inside, helping him to deposit the stack onto the small nearby table in the entryway so he could get his coat off. “Wh-what… what is all this?” she asked, still eyeing the presents before turning back to her boyfriend with a cautious grin. 

Nancy seemed frozen for a short moment, obviously not expecting him to come over so late at night. Maybe he should have been more cautious, but he knew how the Wheelers operated. Her mother and father wouldn’t be too observant right now, so it was perfect for some alone time. Even if the snow was starting to really come down. He followed her inside, gently placing the large stack on the table and shrugging off his coat. He felt terrible, tracking snow inside in the sneakers that weren’t exactly made to withstand such a snowstorm, so he kicked them off as well. 

Steve’s fingers had found the camera strap a while ago, fiddling with the lose strings hanging off of the strips of fabric. It was an absentminded gesture, something comforting as he poured over his chemistry notes. He wasn’t going to pass this test anyway, but people kept telling him he at least needed to try. 

“Why don’t you ever take pictures of me?” he finally asked the boy sitting across from him, his eyes rising from the sheets of paper spread out on the bed. It wasn’t an accusatory tone, merely curious. “I mean, you don’t have to answer that. It’s totally fine. It’s your film,” he finally continued, the words seemingly pouring out of his mouth.

The snowfall had picked up as Steve was on his way to the house, but not enough to make him turn back. Slick roads were nothing; he had fought more to make it to Nancy in the past. His BMW pulled up outside of the Wheeler home, a journey it had made plenty of times in the past. But the thought of who was on the other side of the door still made his face light up. 

A generous pile of gifts were scooped into his arms as he made his way to the front door. His sneakers soaked, he was careful not to slip on the pavement. There was no way for him to tell the snow would have started accumulating this quickly, but it didn’t matter. His parents didn’t expect him home anytime soon anyway. It didn’t take too long for the door to open after he gently knocked, careful not to drop any of the presents. “Surprise,” he said cautiously, wondering if this was too much, if he should have given a warning. But it was too late now.

STEVE .

The fridge door hung wide open, cool air pouring out into the kitchen around them. The small light bulb cast strange shadows over the thing in question, the dog that had been kept for the purposes of scientific discovery. Or at least, that was what he’d been told by Steve, who was standing with a few feet between them, shoulder to shoulder. This was apparently the kids’ doing, and of all the messes they’d had to clean up over the past year, this really was the strangest one. The hole in the wall, the Christmas lights and lamps, the map of Will’s colouring … That was truly nothing. This, this was a thing that had very nearly killed them all, if hadn’t been for the timely appearance of Eleven. Brown eyes were locked on it, a dead stare, which he could only break after a beat long moment. He turned his head towards the other boy, expression still as he exchanged a quick glance to gauge his thoughts. “So – what d’we do?”

@fawcettsprayed / sc .

YOU DON’T HAVE TO LIE TO ME.

Fuck. Nancy hadn’t thought she was being that obvious, but apparently she was as bad of a poker player as her baby brother. It wasn’t like she was lying to him to be CRUEL, or because she had something to hide. She was lying because she wasn’t even sure she knew what the truth was. Her truth, anyways. Her mind over the last week had been making WILD swings from pole to pole. Sometimes she was more angry than sad, others it was the complete opposite. She’d go to bed blaming Steve for Barb, but wake up blaming herself. She wanted nothing to do with the comfort her mother clearly wanted to offer her, and then would find herself crawling to her mom’s side on the couch to watch tv together. She … didn’t know what she was feeling anymore. Other than CONFUSION.

Nancy reached over immediately to take the hand he’d offered her when he wondered aloud about himself, threading their fingers together and squeezing tight. Desperate to comfort him, and feeling like a HYPOCRITE for being unable to let him do the same for her. “… I’m sorry.” she murmured after a few quiet moments, eyes still lowered to the car’s carpet underneath her feet. She ran her tongue over her lips subtly, as if moistening them would somehow loosen the knot that was blocking her thoughts from escaping her throat. But of course it didn’t; it wouldn’t, not like this. Not when the anguish was so FRESH, and the sensation of having Steve at her side in such a concrete way was too new to trust. Or at least, too new to understand yet. What would it be like to lean on him? To open up to anyone, to let the darker demons she BARELY had on a leash come out and be seen by the world? 

“… I’m sorry, I just can’t.” she tried to explain, shaking her head lightly. “Not… not yet. I WANT to. I think. I just … can’t right now.” 

Steve was slightly nervous that he wasn’t doing enough for her. What did it mean, now that they were dating? Should he be offering more of himself, trying to take more of the pain away? He had seen exactly what she had, but he hadn’t lost a friend so dear to him. There was no way he could understand what she was going through, even if he wanted to. And God, did he want to take every ounce of pain away from her. He couldn’t find the right words to say; hell, had he ever been good at words? But maybe just sitting at her side would be enough right now.

Nancy shook her head at his question. She wasn’t sure she even knew what she would say that she hasn’t said before. The main thing that mostly came to mind was that she missed her best friend, but that was a given. She sniffled then, trying her best not to start crying again because if she started up again, she wasn’t sure she’d be able to stop a second time. 

“No, I don’t know… I just,” She sighed and leaned her head against his shoulder and held his hands a bit tighter. “I just need to be held I think.” That wasn’t going to stop her grieving, but it would be momentarily comforting. 

ARE YOU GOING TO BE OKAY, NANCE?

Leave it to Steve Harrington to ask one of the very few questions she didn’t have the answer to. Nancy sat back immediately, wiggling loose of the hand he’d placed near her hip like it had shocked her. She couldn’t explain it, but there was a safety in separating herself from his comforting gestures. No matter how much she CRAVED the physical reassurance, the literal support that his arms offered… she couldn’t let herself have it. Nancy immediately turned her head, lowering her gaze to the worn carpet of Steve’s BMW under her feet - as if she hoped the answer would be scrawled there, so she wouldn’t have to try and think of one for herself. Or rather, have to try and think of what LIE to tell.

Because what was she supposed to say? NO; no, she didn’t think she’d ever be okay ever again. Her whole world had been turned upside down in one horrific fell swoop overnight; she practically felt like she was preparing take her first steps on an alien planet, and not like she was simply strolling back into her childhood home. But how was she supposed to tell him that when he was looking at her with those eyes and clearly wanted nothing so badly in the world as he wanted to hear she’d be alright. So Nancy sighed heavily, bringing a light smile to her lips before nodding. “… Yeah. I’ll be fine.” she finally answered, turning those big blue eyes on her boyfriend once more. 

BOYFRIEND. The word felt odd rolling out in her mind, she couldn’t imagine how weird it was going to be to say. But maybe that fresh new title of his was a player in all of this - she might not’ve lied to her FRIEND or a CASUAL HOOKUP … but Steve was her boyfriend now. And she wanted to be as perfect in real life as he clearly believed her to be. Even if that meant she had to swallow back other pieces of herself to do it. 

When Nancy immediately pulled away after he asked his question, Steve already knew what her answer was. She wasn’t going to admit it to him, but she wasn’t okay. Hell, he didn’t even know if he was okay. She wouldn’t even look at him, and he knew there was something a little off. He reached out a hand, giving her the option to take it or not. Maybe he just wasn’t what she needed at this point, but what did she need? What did any of them need?

      despite how much she acted as if him coming over was such a hassle, nancy found it endearing, like he cared which was what made her so drawn to steve harrington. it had been a hard measure of weeks, between their break up, her collective feelings about EVERYTHING going on - nancy just had to wrap her head around everything, especially where she stood with steve. “i…” she paused, he cared and it made her feel SO guilty for everything she put him through. “you’re…sweet, yeah - did you want to come in ??” nancy told him sweetly, stepping inside to let him through. “must be nice huh? actually coming in through my front door for once?” 

“I don’t even know where to start. There’s a crazy guy in a hood stalking people and some have ended up dead. Murdered. Done.” Betty was terrified, it was as simple as that. It felt like no matter what she and her family did, there was always a chance that she would be next on the list. Especially when her phone started ringing, like it did more often than not these days.

His offer to come get her made her chuckle a bit amidst her tears, shaking her head even though she knew he couldn’t see her. “God, do I want to say yes to that question. I can’t have you coming here though, you can’t be put in danger like the rest of us.”

“What kind of fucking town did you move to?” Steve asked, his brow furrowing. Of course, with Hawkins overrun by monsters half of the year, he shouldn’t be surprised. But Betty was supposed to be safe from all of that. She moved away, and the only reason that he had come to terms with it was because she was supposed to be okay. 

Nancy couldn’t help but laugh quietly at the expression on his face when they pulled back from their embrace, the both of them still breathing hard. He looked so unabashedly HOPEFUL, even in the face of all the death and destruction they’d barely left behind them at the hospital. Like their lives hadn’t been changed forever, and things really WERE just as simple as asking out the girl he liked. Nothing else to think about, no one else to care about. It was like a whole other world from the one they now lived in… and for now, for this stolen moment? Nancy didn’t hate it. 

And god, it felt good to laugh. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d done that - maybe at his party, fully clothed in the pool without a single care in the world. That night, although only a few days prior, felt like a LIFETIME ago. She barely even recognized the teenager who had been so consumed with getting the popular boy and his friends to like her… that she’d abandoned her best friend. A friend she would NEVER see again… 

And yet here with Steve? Right now? Those problems didn’t exist. Nothing existed outside his car, and the two of them. It couldn’t; she wouldn’t let it. Not if it ruined a rare moment of happiness in her ever-darkening world. “… That’s a YES, Steve.” Nancy clarified, nodding her head. She couldn’t move very much, with his loving hand cradling the back of her neck. But she didn’t want to, so it didn’t matter. All she wanted was HIM - to be lost in him, lost to the outside world, even if just for a few more minutes. So she leaned back in and kissed him again, a small exhale of relief escaping her lips just before they connected with his.

Steve couldn’t let himself think about anything else right now. He couldn’t think of all that they had just seen, of what it meant for Hawkins and for them. Right now, thinking about all that just seemed overwhelming. And why would he worry when he had Nancy right here? As horrible as it sounded, she was the only one on his mind right now. So when she said yes, when she finally gave in to what had been inevitable from the very beginning, he let himself relax into her. 

It took him a while, but he was finally beginning to see why nothing else had worked out before Nancy. He never saw himself as worthy of anything resembling a relationship. Not just with Nancy, but with anyone who seemed to stumble across his path. With Nancy, however, things just felt right. She seemed to want this as much as he did, need this as much as he did. And for right now, that was enough.

                G O D, of all nights to leave her alone with her younger sister, her parents really did pull a number on her, making her babysit when she had almost five exams in the upcoming week - senior year was drawing close and it had its troubles, between her break up with Steve, her break up with Jonathan, the fact her reputation was all over the place throughout Hawkins High for having two boyfriends in the span of six months. But, that didn’t stop SWEETHEART Nancy Wheeler from keeping her head down in the books, psychology, calculus, history and other classes that were keeping her GPA from being perfect. The familiar headlights appearing through her living room window, thanking god Holly was sound asleep at this point otherwise, she’d be spending another hour reading childrens storybooks to get her to sleep ((thanking god Holly was a deep sleeper)). Closing her text book shut and skipping over to the door, her eyes squinting at the sight of Steves car in the middle of her drive way. “STEVE ???” Nancy mustered in a soft tone, her arms crossed against her torso - sure, he was probably the only person who she was happily willing to stop her studies for. “What on earth are you doing here, do you know what time it is ???” it wasn’t like she would fight him on it - she missed him, more than she should. // @fawcettsprayed

               NERVED as she turns the dial, it’s a route she’s taken many times before, but this time it’s foreign.  this time it makes her stomach churn as she awaits an answer from the other end. it’s funny, at least she tells herself, how this used to be so habit —- yet now just making a call off puts.  it’s the second the phone clicks! with the pick up that her voice cracks, “ steve? ”

@fawcettsprayed ( sc. )

@fawcettsprayed​ gets a post-finale(ish) starter

Her fingers moved seemingly of their own accord, scrolling down and selecting his name without consciously thinking about it. Too much had happened that night, too many revelations and discoveries that Betty knew she would have to muddle through, process in her own time. And the idea of a brewing civil war? It made her wish more than anything that she was back at home, her real home in Hawkins.

“St-Steve?” she breathed out at the sound of his voice on the other end of the line, his simple hello causing every wall she had convinced herself to build to come crashing down in just a moment. “Everything is falling apart.”