#Does this count as Taylor Swift slander | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

burgundybmw · 2 years ago

Text

You Belong With Me

MASTERLIST

Pairing: Nancy Wheeler x Fem!Henderson!Reader , Nancy Wheeler x Jonathan Byers (Temporarily)

Word Count: 7,334

Warnings: Love Triangle, Jonathan slander (I love him as Will's brother, but hate him as Nancy's boyfriend), and I think that's it?

Summary: Barbara Holland, Nancy Wheeler, and Y/N Henderson were the closest of friends growing up. They had sleepovers, braided each others hair, and spent hours talking and giggling on the phone. Y/N loved Barbara, and so did Nancy, but the two girls always had a rather intense friendship beyond the trio. That all changed when Barbara died, and it only got worse when Nancy started dating Jonathan. You see, Y/N Henderson was in love with Nancy Wheeler, and seeing her with Jonathan Byers ate her up inside. Their friendship was doomed from the moment she saw how she looked at him.

Over a year passes and Y/N makes new friends, tries to forget about the girl she spent years dreaming about. She gets a job at the ice cream shop in the mall alongside her new best friend Robin, a girl who understands what's she's going through, and Steve, the ex-boyfriend of the love of her life. Y/N wishes that was the strangest thing that happened to her that summer, but Hawkins always has a bad habit of bringing back stranger things.

Author's Note: I saw a trend on TikTok where you use a bunch of filters and write a fic based on what you get. Here were my results: Sibling- Dustin Henderson/ Love Interest- Nancy Wheeler / Best Friend- Robin Buckley / Rival- Upside Down Monsters / Trope- Love Triangle / Other Person In Love Triangle- Jonathan Byers / Random AO3 Tag- Hurt/Comfort / Random Quote- “he always had been, and always will be, somewhat of a menace to society” / Taylor Swift Song Inspo- You Belong With Me /

This is the fic that resulted in those filters, hope you guys enjoy! Also I'm an idiot and accidentally deleted the original post, whoops! Thankfully I saved it on Word!

Scoops Ahoy wasn't a terrible summer job. There were some good benefits, like free ice cream, and getting paid to hang out with her best friend. There were some not so good benefits, like dealing with rude customers, and wearing that stupid sailor hat. However, the one thing that Y/N Henderson thought about the most was seeing Nancy Wheeler with her boyfriend Jonathan Byers, pointedly avoiding looking into the mall's frozen confectionery joint. Whether that was a benefit or not was still up for debate.

The thing was, Y/N hadn't spoken to Nancy in eight months. If you were to ask her two years ago, she'd tell you that you were crazy. Y/N and Nancy were best friends, closer than blood, but that wasn't the case anymore. They stopped being that close after Barb died, and they stopped speaking all together when Nancy told her she was dating Jonathan. Y/N could remember the fight like it was yesterday, the day her heart shattered in a million tiny pieces.

"What the hell are you talking about?! I thought you were dating Steve! When did this happen?!" Y/N was so confused, Nancy had been giving her radio silence since Halloween. They had gotten into a brief argument when Y/N said she wanted to go to Trina's Halloween party. Nancy had thrown a fit, told her not to go. She didn't understand why she was so upset. It was just a lame high school party. Nancy said the last time she went to a party with a friend Barb died, and that shut her up real quick. Both girls held onto the guilt of their friend's death. Nancy for hooking up with Steve and asking Barb to leave, and Y/N for refusing to go in the first place. This fight wasn't like the last one, this felt more personal to Y/N.

"I don't see why you're so mad. Why do you even care that I'm dating Jonathan now?" Nancy replied, rolling her big doe eyes at her. They were in Nancy's room, she asked Y/N to come over that morning to talk. She didn't know what she was walking into when she crossed the threshold of the Wheeler house, but this certainly wasn't it.

"Um, maybe because he took creepy pictures of you half naked?! I mean holy shit Nancy, that's so wrong!" Steve might have been a tool, but he wasn't a creepy stalker. Y/N remembers watching Steve break Jonathan's camera after he found out about the pictures. Nancy got so mad at him for it, and for the life of her Y/N didn't stand why. If Nancy was her girlfriend she would have punched Jonathan square in the face for invading her privacy like that, but Nancy wasn't her girlfriend, and never would be.

"He apologized for that..." Nancy started before Y/N interrupted her.

"Ugh, barely! And you forgave him way too quickly for it. That was such gross boy behavior I can't even begin to tell you. Also, pretty sure it's very fucking illegal." Y/N really should have known better. Nancy had been giving hints about Jonathan for the past year, telling her he wasn't so bad. It didn't matter, she would never forgive him for what he did. The only reason she forgave Steve was because he didn't actually spray paint that garbage on the theater, and cleaned it up himself after dropping Tommy H and Carol as friends. The fact that he let her punch him in the face too helped.

"He wasn't trying to take naked pictures of me, he was trying to find his brother." She was still trying to defend it, like that was a totally reasonable thing to do.

"He still did it though! And he developed the photos anyway! How can you not only justify that, but defend it! Besides, when did you even break up with Steve, I thought you guys were fine?" Y/N didn't want Nancy with either of them, but if she had to pick at least Steve was somewhat decent. Dustin idolized him, and Y/N couldn't hate someone her brother loved so much.

"Halloween... I think." Nancy murmured, she was fiddling with the end of her sweater, something she only did when she was nervous or lying. Y/N knew all of her tells, she knew Nancy like the back of her hand. She smelled shit, and Nancy was full of it.

"You think. How do you not know when you broke up with the boyfriend that you've been dating for a year?!" This wasn't like Nancy. The Nancy she knew was confident, so sure of herself and everything she did. This Nancy was timid and shy. It bothered Y/N to the core.

"Well, we didn't really formally break up. It was more like we fought and just decided to not be together anymore. It was an unspoken thing." Unspoken. How the hell do you break up with someone unspokenly.

"Was that before or after you hooked up with Jonathan." Y/N couldn't control the venom in her voice. She knew it was wrong to throw that in her face, to imply what she did, but in the moment she didn't care. How the hell did Jonathan Byers earn Nancy's affections when he didn't even fucking know her, and she couldn't.

That was the root of the whole thing. Y/N could never be objective when it came to Nancy's relationships, not when she wanted to be with her instead. Y/N Henderson had been in love with her since they were kids. She fell in love with Nancy when she still wore her hair in pigtails, and hadn't stopped since then.

No one knew she was gay. She never told a soul. Not even Dustin, who she shared everything with. She used to feel bad about keeping the secret, until she noticed Dustin keeping secrets from her too. Ever since Will disappeared, and then come back 10 days later seemingly back from the dead, everyone Y/N cared about started keeping secrets from her. It was starting to get on her last nerve.

"Oh don't you judge me Y/N. You don't even know what it's like!" Nancy yelled, getting the same pissy attitude her brother had.

"I don't know what it's like? Really, Nancy? I know that I would never go out with a boy who did something like that!" Y/N was yelling at her. She hated yelling at Nancy, but she just wasn't listening to her.

"Oh it's so easy for you to say that Y/N! So easy for you to talk out of your ass about how boys are!" Nancy's voice was louder now, getting right in her face with it. She hated it, she hated Nancy looking at her like she was being ridiculous. Nancy was in the wrong, not her.

"How boys are?! Christ Nancy do you even hear yourself! How the hell wouldn't I know! That's all you've been talking about for the past two years!" She was so sick and tired of hearing about this stupid shit. Sick of arguing over it. It was all so stupid.

"Well it's not my fault you don't like boys!" Nancy screamed, and then it was silence. So quiet you could hear a pin drop. She hit the nail right on the head with that one. Threw the one thing in Y/N's face that she'd been terrified about herself for as long as she could remember. Y/N couldn't look at her, couldn't speak to her. She just walked right out of Nancy's door, slamming it shut behind her. They hadn't spoken since.

After that fight, Y/N started walking home in the rain. She was too afraid to call her mom to her pick her up, she didn't want to explain to her what happened. She walked in the rain until she crashed into someone on a bike, they were whipping around a corner as she was crossing the street. It was Robin Buckley, a girl she was in band with. They didn't speak that often, but knew of each other's existence.

When she crashed into Y/N, she started rattling off apologies, telling her she was trying to pick up maple syrup for her french toast but got caught in the rain. Robin noticed that she was crying, and when she asked her what was wrong, Y/N let the floodgates loose. Right there in the middle of the street. Nobody around to hear her confession in the storm. Y/N told Robin everything, that she was gay, in love with her best friend, how said best friend just broke her heart, and even though she was heart broken, she knew that she would never stop loving Nancy Wheeler.

After she was done, the panic settled in. The weight of what she just said to a near stranger paralyzing her with fear. Until the unexpected happened, Robin laughed. Not a cruel laugh, or a making fun of her laugh. It sounded like relief. That's when Robin told her that she was gay too, that she didn't think she'd ever meet another gay person in all of Hawkins in a million years, and yet she literally crashed into one. Both girls laughed in the rain, before Robin asked if she wanted to come over her house for french toast. Y/N agreed, and they've been best friends ever since.

They spent the rest of the school year glued to the hip. Robin would wax poetic about Tammy Thompson and Vickie from band, and Y/N would vent about Nancy Wheeler. They'd stand next to each other on the bleachers with their ridiculous band uniforms on, whispering to each other between music numbers. She would watch Jonathan and Nancy take pictures of the cheerleading squad, and Y/N would dream about the day that Nancy realized that he wasn't good for her. That she would wake up from whatever fantasy she made up with him, and find that Y/N was the person she was really looking for. The one who had been there for her the entire time. Who knew her better than she knew herself. She knew it was just a fantasy, you can't make someone love you. Especially another girl.

When the school year ended, Robin and Y/N decided to look for summer jobs together. They both applied to the new ice cream shop in the mall, and on the first day they both realized that they weren't working alone. Steve Harrington also got a job at Scoops Ahoy, and when he saw her he was instantly relieved that he was working with a familiar face. Y/N was surprised he was so excited to see her, considering what she did a year prior. Steve had told her that he deserved it, and to let bygones be bygones. Robin wasn't too thrilled at first, but both girls couldn't help but enjoy working with Steve.

She got to know him better those first couple of weeks, and he kept begging her to tell him about what Dustin was up to at camp. It was sweet, how much he cared about her brother. That's what really sold Steve to her. She saw how much he changed over the past year. He was still a bit full of himself, but he wasn't the tool she made him out to be. The only fuck up he made was when he asked why she wasn't hanging out with Nancy anymore, but kept his mouth shut when she gave him the iciest glare she could muster, colder than the ice cream freezer they used daily.

Today, Y/N was up at the front counter reorganizing the to go cups, when she heard a ding from the bell behind her.

"Ahoy! My name is..." Y/N started before she realized who was standing there. Nancy Wheeler, alone, in all of her glory. Her heart was pounding in her chest, Nancy was the last person she expected to walk into Scoops Ahoy. The words were caught in her throat, as she stared helplessly at the girl in front of her.

"Hi Y/N..." Nancy sounded awkward, unsure of herself. A similar tone she had the last time they spoke all those months ago. Y/N didn't like it then, and she didn't like it now.

"Uh hi, um, what are you doing here?" Y/N asked, there were plenty of other ice cream shops in Hawkins. She knew that Nancy purposefully avoided this one, she saw her speed walk past the entrance every time she came to the mall.

"To get ice cream?" Nancy replied lamely, she was fiddling with the bottom of her shirt. Lie.

"We both know that's not the real reason..." She really wished Robin and Steve would come back from their breaks soon. She didn't want to be alone with Nancy.

"Look," Nancy sighed, "I just wanted to, um, talk to you? If that was okay?" Y/N couldn't wrap her head around why. It had been months of radio silence, walking around school like they were strangers, why now? Before she could respond, Robin walked into the front door of the ice cream shop, completely oblivious to the girl at the counter.

"Y/N you would not believe who I just saw fall flat on their face in the food court!" Robin began before realizing they weren't alone. She looked between Nancy and her, raising her eyebrow as a silent question: Are you okay?

"Hey Robin, would you mind running the counter for a bit? I'm gonna go on break now." She had already taken her break, but she hoped Robin would understand what she really meant to say.

"Are you sure you wanna go now? You usually take them later?" Robin was giving her an out, knowing all the complicated details of her relationship with Nancy, she was such a good friend to her.

"Yea I'm good thanks." Y/N replied as she took the sailor hat off of her head. Robin nodded and switched spots with her behind the counter. Y/N started walking towards the door, Nancy following closely behind. Once they made it out, Y/N lead Nancy to the employee's only hallway of the mall, she wanted privacy for the conversation they were about to have.

"Okay, so what did you want to talk about?" Y/N asked, trying to present herself as calm as a cucumber, but inside she was a nervous wreck.

"I wanted to apologize... What we fought about, God, it was so stupid. You were right, and I was being a shitty friend." Nancy's eyes were glassy as she spoke to her, the threat of unshed tears just over the horizon. Y/N couldn't stand it when Nancy cried, it always broke her heart a little bit each time.

"Yea, you were being a shitty friend," Y/N began, "but so was I. I shouldn't have thrown what happened with Jonathan in your face like that. It was wrong, and I'm sorry..." Instant relief flooded her veins. It was as if a massive weight was lifted off of her shoulders. She didn't want to be angry with Nancy anymore, not for something she couldn't change. It wasn't right.

"You weren't wrong though... What happened between Steve, Jonathan, and I was messy. I was just insecure about it and lashed out at you..." Nancy took a deep breath, willing the tears to stay back. "You're my best friend, and I pushed you away. I've been so lost since Barb died, and I didn't even consider your feelings too. I was so selfish. I saw you walk in the halls and ignored you because I was too afraid to talk to you. I thought I broke us..." Y/N didn't know when he brain made the decision to hug her, but her body moved to do it as soon as she heard the first sniffle. She hugged Nancy tight, the smell of her floral shampoo an old comfort she had nearly forgotten about.

"You didn't break us. You know I'll always be here for you Nancy. We had a bad fight, but it's going to be okay" Y/N ran her fingers through her friends hair, the soft curls wrapping themselves between each digit. She could feel Nancy sink into her, not an inch between them.

"I missed you so much Jellybean..." Y/N's heart soared at the old nickname. Nancy started calling her that in kindergarten after she got a jellybean stuck in her ear. She didn't remember how it got there in the first place, but the nickname stuck too.

"I missed you too Fancy Nancy..." She could feel her giggles against her chest, and as much as it ached, she knew everything was going to be okay. Whatever happened in the future, she knew that she wouldn't leave Nancy's side, never again.

Weeks went by as the girls picked up right where they left off. Like it was easy. Nancy would come by Scoops Ahoy on her days off and update her on what was going on in her life. What Mike and the kids were up too, how her relationship with Jonathan was going, and her new job at the Hawkins Post. Y/N hated that they weren't taking her seriously, and told her as such.

"Those stupid man-boys wouldn't know a good story if it flew right under their nose. You're way too good to be dealing with that shit, I'm sorry they suck" Nancy chuckled over her vanilla ice cream, always with rainbow sprinkles.

"Yea, but it's a good job to put on a resume. Thank you for saying that though, Jonathan just doesn't get it when I talk to him about it" Y/N had to fight the urge to roll her eyes. She hated the dull look on her face when she would talk about how the men at the post treated her, or when Jonathan disappointed her.

"He's a guy. Of course he doesn't get it," Y/N began before she could tell her mouth to shut up before she reveals too much, "you know, you have a smile that could light up all of Hawkins, and I haven't seen it since you started working at the post with Jonathan."

"I'm fine Jellybean, promise" But she knew Nancy better than that. She wasn't fine, and Y/N didn't know what she was doing with men like that. Men who didn't listen to her, or understand where she was coming from. She didn't deserve it.

"Whatever you say Nancy..." And that was the end of it. Nancy changed the subject, and Y/N had to pretend that her heart wasn't pounding in her chest. When Nancy walked out the door, Y/N turned around to see Robin's concerned face. Steve wasn't back on break yet, he always took it when Nancy came to visit, so they were alone in the store. Not a nosy customer in sight.

"Are you okay?" Robin asked as she filled a small cup with S'mores Galore, her personal favorite.

"I will be. It's nothing new, I'd rather have her be in my life talking about her dumb boyfriend than out of it" She knew she was being a bit unfair towards Jonathan. He might not be her favorite person in the world, but she couldn't say he was all bad. Y/N knew what it was like to be an older sibling without a second parent in the house; it was hard and you had to grow up much faster than other kids. Jonathan was an excellent brother to Will, and a great son to Joyce. He just made shitty choices and decided to date the love of her life, so she allowed herself to hate him just a little bit.

"Yea I guess... but you know I'm always here to talk if you need to. It can't be easy hearing the person you love talk about loving someone else. I only had a crush on Tammy and it nearly destroyed me watching her look at Steve the way she did, I can't even imagine what it must be like for you. Sounds like pure torture." Y/N loved Robin's honesty, but sometimes her comments hit a little too close for comfort. It could be torture, but a torture she could endure.

"It is what it is. Who knows, maybe when I go to college I'll find a girl who actually likes other girls... I could finally move on from her..." Deep down she was afraid nobody would hold a candle to her best friend, that she would have to settle for second best. The thought kept her up at night.

"You and me both sister" Robin chuckled. A part of her wished she could have fallen in love with Robin instead, a girl who could actually love her in return. They tried kissing once many months ago, it was the first kiss either of them ever had. At first it was a peck, and then they tried making out a bit to see if anything would happen. Both girls decided that it just wasn't right for them, that they didn't feel any type of spark. They both decided to stay platonic best friends, with a capital P as Robin so lovingly referred to it. No awkwardness followed the kiss, something Y/N appreciated whole heartedly. She didn't know what she would've done if the kiss ruined their friendship. One friendship break up was enough for a life time.

"What are you girls talking about?" Steve asked as he walked into the front doors of Scoops Ahoy.

"Nothing you need to worry about, dingus" Steve rolled his eyes at the familiar nickname and got back to work. Completely oblivious to the conversation they had before. It was better that way, Y/N didn't know how he would react if he knew the truth. That not only was Y/N Henderson gay, she was in love with his ex girlfriend.

"Oh by the way Steve, Dustin comes home from camp tomorrow." A massive smile spread across his face as he bombarded her with questions about her brother. She neglected to tell him that he was coming by the shop the next day, Dustin had told her he wanted to surprise him. She didn't know how and when her brother and Steve got so close, but you would never hear any complaints from her.

Y/N was sitting on the couch in her sailor uniform when she heard a pounding at the door. She didn't have to be at Scoops Ahoy for another couple hours, and she had the house to herself. Dustin was at the mall with Steve, a place he spent most of his days recently, and her mom was out running errands. At first she thought it was her brother, probably freaking out because he lost his house keys again, but to her surprise it was Nancy at the door. Her eyes filled with tears and smudged mascara.

"Oh my god Nancy what happened?" Y/N didn't hesitate to wrap her arms around her friend. She hadn't seen her this upset in years, not since Barb died.

"I think I just broke up with Jonathan..." Nancy sobbed. She hated the brief flash of joy she felt when Nancy spoke, it wasn't fair to her. Y/N nodded and held her hand as they walked up to her bedroom. Once she sat Nancy down on her bed she ran downstairs to get her a glass of water and box of tissues. When she finally got upstairs she found Nancy looking at the picture of the two of them right before High School started on the nightstand. Barb had taken the picture, and it was one of her most prized possessions. Y/N ignored the flutter in her chest, Nancy looked at that photo with such fondness it nearly tore her apart.

"Tell me what happened..." Y/N said as she rubbed circles on her friend's back, doing as much as she could to comfort her.

"We got in a fight... I got us both fired from the Hawkins Post because of a lead I had. I know it's a good story Jellybean, but they just wouldn't listen. Jonathan was upset because he needed the job, and he basically called me spoiled for not understanding why he was upset. As if I'm stupid..." Y/N knew about the Byers financial situation, and it definitely wasn't easy, but she wasn't about to tell Nancy that.

"Like I get it, his family doesn't have a lot of money, but he could always get another job. I will stuck being belittled because I'm a woman for the rest of my life. He basically defended how they treated me because they got him a job! Like he didn't even care how I was feeling! And when I told him how humiliated I was, he just told me that the real worlds sucks! That I just had to deal with it!"

"Are you fucking serious?!" Y/N was fuming now. It was one thing to be ignorant of how Nancy was treated at her job, it was another thing to be complacent and tell her to lay down and take it.

"Yes! He sounded just like the assholes at work! And god, when I told him I shouldn't have even bothered venting to him in the first place, and should have gone to you instead, he nearly lost it!" Y/N's chest felt tight, frustration, aggravation, pride, and lovesickness swirled inside of her.

"What did he say?" She whispered, not trusting her mouth at the moment.

"That's the crazy part, he just told me I should just date you instead if you're the only thing I talk about! He kept saying that I was obsessed with you! That during our entire relationship all I cared about was Y/N Henderson! I mean, Jesus, he accused me of being secretly in love with you!" Nancy rambled, and Y/N swore her heart stopped. Hope bloomed inside of her, that maybe her feelings weren't unrequited after all. She was scared, terrified of letting herself feel that hope. It was a dangerous thing.

"Why, uh, why would he say that?" She swore her tongue tripled in size, it was nearly impossible to speak.

"Hell if I know! Of course I love you! You're my best friend! That's totally normal! I even told him that, I said it wasn't my fault that he didn't have a friendship like ours!" Nancy rambled, her mouth running a mile a minute, "Like of course I want to be with you all the time, especially after our fight! God Jellybean, you don't even know, all those months of silence nearly killed me. It felt like my heart was ripped out of my chest. I cried myself to sleep almost every night. I didn't cry that much after Steve and I broke up, or in the car on my way here. When I said it felt like I broke our friendship, it's because it broke me. That was more of a break up than any relationship I've ever had!"

Y/N didn't know what possessed her to do what she did. Every fiber of her being was lit up like an electrical storm. She didn't think, didn't hesitate for a second, before she pressed her lips against Nancy's. Y/N could taste the strawberry chapstick she always wore over her lipstick, could feel the soft curls of her hair as she gently held her face. This was the feeling she was looking for when she kissed Robin, the instant fireworks, the spark. It was everything she ever wanted it to be, until she realized Nancy wasn't kissing her back, and then reality sank in. She pulled back to see her best friend, the love of her life, look at her like she was a stranger. Her eyes were wide, eyebrows shot up to her hairline, and her mouth was wide open in shock.

"Oh my God... Holy shit Nancy, I'm so sorry. I, I, I don't know what came over me! I'm sorry, please don't hate me!" Y/N pleaded, but Nancy just continued to stare at her. The silence was deafening, and she couldn't take it. So Y/N did what felt best, and ran right out the door. She grabbed the keys to her car and drove right to Scoops Ahoy, nausea and fear nearly consuming her. She had kissed her best friend. Nancy knew she liked girls. It felt like the end of the world.

As it would turn out, her kiss with Nancy wasn't the worst thing to happen to Y/N Henderson that day. In fact, it wasn't even in the same ballpark. When she rushed into Scoops Ahoy, she found her brother, Steve, Robin, and Lucas' little sister Erica forming a plan to defeat Russian spies that broke into Starcourt Mall. Dustin yelled at his sister for getting involved, something he desperately wanted to avoid. Y/N yelled at him for keeping secrets, and Steve told them both to shut up while they were stuck in some secret elevator underneath the mall.

Hours passed like that, the five of them in the elevator. Y/N forced her brother to tell her everything, that she wouldn't allow anymore secrets between them, and he did. He told her about this girl named Eleven who had psychic powers and came from Hawkins Lab. He told her about the monsters that came out of this alternate dimension they called the Upside Down. He told her about how Will was trapped there for 10 days, and how they all got him back. He told her how this Eleven girl had closed the gate, and that apparently Russians were plotting something underneath Starcourt mall. Her brain was overloading with information, and it took her almost an hour to come to terms with it. Robin had made a joke and said she was just as clueless as she was, but she didn't feel like laughing. Once she figured it all out, she smacked her brother on the back of the head for lying to her, and hugged him so tight with the fear of potentially losing him.

Y/N Henderson had started her morning like any other day, but it ended in a nightmare of kissing Nancy Wheeler and getting drugged by Russian spies. Dustin and Erica had helped them escape, but Y/N was too delirious to be of much help. They sat them down in the movie theater, until Steve thought of the brilliant idea of leaving. Now, the three of them were puking their guts out in the Starcourt bathroom.

"The room stopped spinning for me, is it still spinning for you guys?" Robin asked in the other stall.

"Holy shit. No." Steve replied.

"All good over here sailor scout!" Y/N shouted from the last stall.

"Do you think we puked it all up?" She certainly hoped so, puking was never fun.

"One way to find out, hey Steve?" Y/N asked.

"Yea Miss. Henderson?" She chuckled at the nickname.

"Ask me a question, let's play honesty hour." Steve took a moment to think of something before he spoke.

"When was the last time you peed your pants?" Normally, Y/N would have been grossed out by the question, but she couldn't care less in that moment.

"I almost peed my pants today when I kissed Nancy, does that count?" The bathroom became so quiet you could hear a pin drop. She knew she should have been terrified by what she revealed, but the Russian truth serum's euphoria remained in her system. Robin slowly dragged herself over to the stall, her eyes wide with surprise. She knew the depth of what she had just revealed, and was afraid for her. Steve crawled underneath the stall wall to sit next to her by the toilet, a matching surprised look on his face.

"You kissed Nance?" Y/N couldn't stop the words coming out of her mouth even if she wanted to, a bastardized confession inside the ceramic walls of the mall bathroom.

"Yea, I did. Her and Jonathan broke up and he accused her of being secretly in love with me. I was so psyched because duh, I've been in love with her since we were like 5, and so I kissed her like an idiot. Nancy didn't look as happy as I was, and I think I totally destroyed our friendship beyond repair. All because I fell in love with my best friend, who's a girl, a very pretty girl, but you know that Steve. You dated her. Also, I hated you a bit when you dated Nancy, but if it makes you feel better I hate Jonathan more. He sucks. He always had been, and always will be, somewhat of a menace to society. He took pictures of her half naked like a weirdo, and I wanted to punch him in the face. I still want to punch him in the face. I know he's like half way decent, but I still want to punch him in his very punchable face. All because he managed to snag Nancy Wheeler and I can't, because I was born a girl, who's gay, in fucking Indiana. It totally sucks. I wish I could have fallen in love with Robin, and I'm sorry Robs, but kissing Nancy was wayyyyyyyy better than kissing you. Not that you're a bad kisser! It was objectively a nice kiss, but it's because I only love you like a friend and I love Nancy in a I want to marry you and carry your children kind of way. I know that's impossible, and it makes me sad. I think we'd have cute babies. I'd hope they'd have curly hair and Nancy's nose, but my eyes and smile. But hey, I would even settle for her not telling the world I'm in love with her and completely destroying my life. Small miracles and all that jazz..." When Y/N stopped speaking, Robin thought it was a good idea to add her own word vomit confession too. She was such a good friend, and super fucking awesome for not leaving her alone with all of that.

"Do you guys remember what I said about Click's class? About me being jealous, and like, obsessed? It wasn't because I had a crush on Steve. It's because she wouldn't stop staring at him..."

"Mrs. Click?" Steve interrupted, but Robin smoothly continued.

"Tammy Thompson. I wanted her to look at me. But... she couldn't pull her eyes away from you and your stupid hair. And I didn't understand, because Steve would get bagel crumbs all over the floor. And he would ask dumb questions. And he was a douchebag. And- and you didn't even like her... and I would go home, and just scream into my pillow..."

"Oh..." Steve replied softly, "Holy shit"

"Holy shit" Robin and Y/N said at the same time. Steve took a moment to think, his eyes focused on the wall behind Y/N's head. Both girls waited with bated breath to hear what he had to say, the nerves finally sinking into them.

"I'm sorry I sort of stole both of the girls you guys liked. I get Nancy, Y/N, she's a total package. But Tammy Thompson? Seriously Robin? I mean, she's cute and all, but she's a total dud" Steve scoffed.

"She is not"

"Yea, she is. She wants to be, like, a singer. She wants to move to like, Nashville and shit" Y/N giggled to herself at the banter between Steve and Robin, instant relief flooding through her. Steve wasn't mad, or upset, or hateful. He was cracking jokes, just like he always did. She knew why Dustin adored him so much, and now she sort of adored him too. They were all laughing together, making fun of Tammy Thompson and her muppet voice, when Dustin and Erica busted into the bathroom.

"Okay. What the hell?"

They all tried to sneakily escape from the Russian spies, but it was no use. They were heavily armed and trained to dispose of them. The happy-go-lucky feeling was long gone, pure fear and anxiety replacing it. It was all of blur, one second they tried to sneak out the front doors of the mall, and the next they were all hiding behind one of the food court stands. That's when they heard the sound of a car crash, and looked up to see a young teenage girl Y/N didn't recognize and the rest of Dustin's friends. Then she noticed that Jonathan and Nancy where there. Her brother was overjoyed to see everyone, but she couldn't join him with the celebration. When she first made eye contact with Nancy, she couldn't discern the look on her face. It only made her panic more.

They all started talking about Russians and monsters, but Y/N was numb to it all. She was laser focused on Nancy, who was pointedly ignoring her again. Pure, unadulterated heartbreak devoured her soul. She went back to Jonathan, the kiss meant nothing, that had to be what had happened after she ran away. Y/N couldn't focus too much on her own feelings before the young girl, who she now knew as Eleven, collapsed onto the ground. That was the beginning of the end of Starcourt mall.

Y/N watched as the place she used to work caught aflame. The paramedics were attending to her wounds, but she was numb to all of it. She witnessed first hand of the monster that lived inside the Upside Down. It would haunt her nightmares for the rest of her life. They all fought it with fireworks and flames, anything to help Eleven defeat it. It was pure chaos, and filled with death. Chief Hopper and Max's brother Billy perished at the hands of the Mind Flayer, the name of the monster Dustin had supplied earlier. Y/N hadn't spoken to Nancy throughout the fight, too preoccupied with the task at hand, but now all she could do was watch as Nancy and Jonathan spoke in the distance. She couldn't hear what they were saying, but she could feel her heart break more when she watched him hug her. The paramedic placed the last bandage on her and told her she was all set to go. Y/N jumped at the opportunity to run away, she couldn't stand seeing anymore of Jonathan Byers rekindling his flame with Nancy. She didn't get too far before she heard Nancy shout her name. Y/N kept walking, ignoring the siren's call, before she felt a firm grip on her arm.

"Don't run away from me again" Nancy reprimanded, her eyes lit up from the fire a short distance away. Y/N refused to speak, she had enough truth telling that night to last a lifetime. Nancy waited a moment, waiting for her to say something, before she sighed and let go of her arm. It took every ounce of Y/N's strength not to run away.

"I'm driving you home" It sounded like a command, and she knew better than to argue with her, so she nodded and made her way over to Nancy's car.

The girls drove in silence as they made their way through Hawkins. Y/N was barely paying attention to the road, too focused on calming herself down. A million and one thoughts ran through her head. Why was Nancy driving her home? Did she not hate her? Was she taking her to Lover's Lake to dump her body? That last one was far fetched, Nancy wasn't a murderer, but she did see her wield a gun like she was born too. Crazier things have happened. Y/N was lost in her own head, and didn't notice when Nancy parked the car. She finally looked up from her lap to take in her surroundings, they were in the parking lot of a playground. Y/N didn't know why Nancy had taken her there instead of her house, but she didn't think she was gonna kill her anymore. Burying a body at a park was a bad idea, and Nancy was too smart for that.

"Do you remember the day we met?" Nancy asked, finally breaking the tense silence.

"Yea... it was here..."

"We were 4 years old. I had fallen off the swings and hurt my knee. You ran up to me and asked if I was okay, and I could barely answer you because I was crying so hard," Nancy chuckled, a fond smile on her face, "You got down on your knees, the denim overalls cushioning the wood chips on the ground, and kissed both of my knees. You said your Mom did it whenever you had a boo boo, and that love makes the pain go away..." Y/N was shocked she remembered all of that, they were both so young. The memories were old and blurry, but they were still there in her mind, and they were apparently crystal clear in Nancy's.

"Yea... Why are you bringing this up?" Y/N wondered, unsure where Nancy was going with her line of questioning.

"I think it was then..." Nancy paused, taking a moment to catch her breath, "I think that's the moment I realized I was different. I went home to my Mom and Dad and told them I met Y/N Henderson on the playground with Grandma... I told them that you loved me and how I wanted to marry you..." The nausea in her stomach was replaced with butterflies, that feeling of hope rushing through her. What Nancy was telling her, it sounded all too close to a confession.

"My Dad immediately shot me down of course, said girls can't marry other girls, that it was wrong. My Mom just told him I was confused, that it was just how little girls are. My Dad was satisfied with that, and I was too. I mean, parents aren't supposed to lie to their kids right? I was just confused?" Nancy turned to face Y/N, her eyes focused and sure, "I lived by that for years. Every time I looked at you a little too long to be normal, I just wrote it off as that's just how girls are. That it was normal to love your best friend like that, but it's not isn't it?" Y/N shook her head, no it wasn't, there was nothing normal about it.

"I liked boys too, still do, and thought I was satisfied with that. I thought I was satisfied with Steve, satisfied with Jonathan, and I very well could have been... If I never met you" Nancy reached for Y/N's hand and squeezed it tight. She was shaking, but her face was strong and determined. She didn't realize how much she missed that look on her best friends face until that moment.

"I always compared the boys I dated to you, Jellybean, and none of them could compare. You're the one that makes me laugh, even when I'm about to cry. You know my favorite songs, and you know all of my dreams for the future, and you were the one who was there all along. I was confused for so long, until the moment you kissed me. It was like a lightbulb went off in my head. I realized that it was something we could do, that it was something I wanted. I'm sorry I made you wait so long for me to catch up to what you already knew, but now I know for sure..." Nancy leaned over towards Y/N's seat, inches away from her face, and spoke the words she's wanted to hear for over a decade, "I belong with you Y/N Henderson"

Nancy leaned in and kissed her. She kissed her like she was finally coming up from air after she was drowning for so long. She kissed her like she was something to savor, slow, soft, and sweet. Y/N could feel her toes curl, her body singing with every moment of her lips against Nancy's. They kissed each other in that old playground parking lot like they had all the time in the world.

It was pure bliss, like something out of a love long.

A song Y/N never wanted to stop listening too.

261 notes · View notes