yesss Nance shovel talks Will!! i like to think that at first, she doesn't really mean to, because she KNOWS that guy! he's like, the sweetest kid out of the entire Party. and when she first found out that Mike and Will were dating, she just shrugged and went about time. she doesn't think much of it.

it's a whole month later, once things between her and Jonathan have calmed down enough, and they're back to being friends, that he mentions off-handedly, that he might want to speak to Mike.

like, don't get him wrong! He knows Mike's a sweet kid who'd never intentionally hurt somebody. but Will's happiness means a lot to him and as his brother, the duty falls to him.

and Nancy just sits and thinks and she's like Yeah, sure you can. She doesn't really think much of it. Like, dads give boyfriends shovel talks all the time, and in Will's case, it's Jonathan so she's not really all that worried. but then Jonathan looks sheepish and he's like I've seen him grow up alongside Will, Nance. I don't know how to shovel talk him because I can't be mean to him, but I also can't get the point across otherwise. I need help.

And Nancy thinks for a bit and she's like What if I did it for you? Like, we're siblings. We practically hate each other's guts. We get into fights all the time. Being mean and knocking some sense into him is like second nature to me. And Jonathan, ever so grateful to Nancy, agrees.

When Nancy gets back home, she goes up to Mike's room and asks to be let in. And Mike, who's in a surprisingly good mood for someone who has a math test the next day, lets her in. Now, Nancy is a journalist. She knows not to jump straight into the topic, so she beats around the bush a little.

She asks him about how school has been, how things are with the Party, if they're planning for a graduation trip and stuff. And Mike, a little bit distracted by studies, answers in monosyllables and low hums. But then she asks him about his relationship with Will, ready to broach the topic of I know that you like him a lot, but please don't break his heart, he doesn't deserve it. If you ever hurt him-

And Mike lights up.

His entire face transforms in a way she's almost never seen. A childlike wonder in his eyes and a huge smile on his face. His cheeks go a deep shade of something between pink and red and he just sighs in that love-struck way teenagers do.

And Nancy?

She could cry, actually. Because sitting in front of her, is an unguarded, happy, free version of her brother she has never seen before and he looks so precious in this moment, so in love and happy that Nancy can't bring herself to say the words to him. She prepares herself to lie to Jonathan the next day and pray to the gods that Mike doesn't actually end up hurting Will in some way.

But then Mike turns to her, tears of happiness in his eyes, letting out this absolutely giddy laugh and he's like "I love him so much, Nance."

And just that sentence. Just the way he said it is enough. Nancy practically breaks, grabbing Mike by the shoulder and pulling him into a tight hug, wrapping him up in her arms. And he's so happy, so gone in his love for Will that he doesn't even mind, instead hugging her back just as fiercely.

Nancy is suddenly hit with an image- something she thought would be impossible. An image of Mike, wrapped up just like this in her arms, but instead of smiling and laughing, he's weeping. He's crying his heart out, shoulders shaking as tears of hurt and heartbreak spill down his face. So in pain that he can barely breath.

And something in Nancy goes cold. Because what if. What if Will hurts her brother? Her baby brother?

And this, she decides, with a surge of protectiveness, must be fixed. As much as she trusts Will, he still needs to know that if Mike ever ends up crying because of him, Nancy will hunt him down.

(And isn't that quiet a revelation?)

So later, when Mike has gone to sleep, Nancy sneaks out to the Byers house. Jonathan opens the door and she asks if she can speak to Will. Jonathan understands, and while he'd rather she not, he knows how she feels.

(and she's always been more fiercer than him.)

So Nancy drags Will out to sit by the front porch, using the same tactics she used on Mike. But this time, she doesn't ask about the relationship, she tells him, point blank, what she'll do to him if he ever hurts her brother. Her baby brother.

(she's very scary. She thinks she should've toned it down slightly.)

but instead of quaking in his boots, Will looks happy. He stands up and then crouches down on his knees in front of Nancy, looking at her earnestly. and he's like, "I'm so glad that you did not consider me above this. Thank you for treating me like any other boyfriend out there, you don't know how much this means to me. And I swear to you, if I ever drive Mike to the point of tears, I'll actually kill myself before you get to me."

She's touched. Glad that she did something right. They hug about it and talk a little more. Eventually, the topic shifts to why Nancy brought it up, and while she's a little skeptical about telling it to Will, she starts talking about her relationship with Jonathan.

Somewhere along the way, she tells him, we lost sight of who we were. We lost sight of who we fell for, chasing something that was never for us. We wanted different things, but we never communicated that with each other. In the end, despite not wanting to, we ended up hurting each other. I don't want you and Mike to end up like that. The love you have, isn't like ours, but any rose flower will wilt if it's not given enough care.

Will is looking at her with awe in his eyes. Nancy feels a little like a role model.

Please never stop loving each other so deeply. She tells him. Please never do. You mean so much to my brother and I don't want to see him hurt.

Suffice to say, Will never hurts Mike and Mike never hurts Will because Nancy was right. They love each other too much to be able to stand to see the other hurting.

wow, that was a lot, but I think the rest of the Shovel Talks would go something like this:

Will - Lucas, Max, El, Nancy, Karen (whew, that was a scary one), Dustin and Holly (ohmygod that girl can be scary)

Mike - Lucas, El, Dustin, Jonathan (it lasted two minutes), Hopper and Robin (because obviously)