#nancy wheeler x yn | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

bagsybaggins · 1 year ago

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Chapter 8: Strange Feelings

[Previous Chapter]

YN opened her eyes, looking up at her ceiling, a sense of something wrong tinting the air. She inhaled softly, turning her head towards her nightstand and looking at the clock. Groaning at the time, she rolled out of her bed and rubbed her eyes. She closed her eyes, listening to the sound of Dustin and Mom fawning over Dustin's costume.

'Dare-'

Opening her eyes she looked up, turning to the end of her bed. She frowned, her fingers curling into her blanket before she shook her head. Standing up from her bed, she yawned as she walked towards her door, opening it and hearing Mom ask to see Dustin's 'pearls.' As she turned towards the living room, she paused as she felt a shiver crawl up her spine. She looked to her left, towards the basement door, an feeling in her brain pulling her towards the door.

"Dare-Bear! Why aren't you ready for school?" Her Mom said, breaking Dare out of her staring match with the door.

"Sorry Mom, woke up late."

---

"No, Nancy-"

Nancy leaned against her locker as she looked at me. "Come on Dare, you can't just not go."

I look at her from the corner of my eyes and raise my brow. She sighs while rolling her eyes.

"I mean you could, but I want you to be there Dare. So you can stop me from doing anything stupid."

I pause for a moment, my hand still on my notebook before I sigh. "I'll think about it, okay?"

She smiled and opened her mouth to say something, but I interrupt her.

"I mean it, Nance." I close my locker, turning to her with my books in my arms. "I'll think about it, but you know how I feel about parties. If I don't go, you can't be mad at me. It always ends up the same way, with a bunch of drunk people and stupid mistakes."

She stares at me, her smile drifting slowly, and then she nods. "Alright, that's fine. Just give it some thought, and call me when you decide okay?"

I smile and nod my head. "Will do Nance. I'll see you later."

I brush past her and head to my next class, knowing that if I turned to look, she would be watching me with a frown.

I knew she wasn't mad, but she wasn't happy either. If Barb was here, she would've gone and I would be either at home or with Dustin trick or treating. That's how it always went. And I didn't want to change that.

I sigh heavily as I turn into my next class, my eyes drifting close as I try to calm down my brain. Stopping it from frying with overthinking. From trying to think about what could happen if I went, what could go wrong. About what could happen if I didn't go.

"Shit!" I exclaim as I run into somebody, my nose hurting from hitting their chest.

As I rub my nose, I open my eyes and look at who I had run into.

The new guy, Billy I think his name was, smirked down at me. My eyebrows furrow as I look at him in confusion, before I shake it off.

"Sorry, didn't see you there," I mutter, taking my hand off my nose.

"Course you didn't see me there, you had your eyes closed." He said, crossing his arms and leaning in closer to me.

I raise my right brow before smiling thinly and nodding my head. "Yep, you're right. My bad."

I try to brush past him but he puts his hand on my left shoulder, stopping me. I turn to him and he smiles down at me.

"Sorry, I think we got off on the wrong foot. I'm Billy Hargrove, and you are?" He asks.

I stare up at him, my nerves buzzing underneath my skin before I sigh. "I'm YN, YN Henderson. You're Max's brother, right?"

He raises his brow before nodding his head, snapping his finger, and pointing at me. "That's right, you're the one who had called out her name our first day here. In the parking lot, right?"

Nodding my head I smile. "Yeah, that's right. She's awesome, kicked my ass at a few of the arcade games."

He pauses for a moment, his smile frozen on his face as he looks down at me. Then he laughs and his smile stretched wider, leaning in towards me.

"She's always been good things like that. Say, are you going to the party tonight?"

I hesitate to answer as the bell rings, and I chuckle awkwardly. "I'm not a fan of parties actually. But, if I'm there, I guess you'll see me."

And I push past him with a smile. "It was nice talking to you!" And I head towards my seat, him watching me before he left the classroom.

---

Dare sighed as she sat down at the normal table for lunch taking off her hat, crossing her arms on the table, and resting her forehead against them. She closed her eyes, breathing in for a moment and letting herself relax.

"Hey, Dare-Bear."

She huffed as she felt Eddie sit down beside her. "I thought I told you to not call me that."

His laughter caused her to look up and glare at him.

"Just because you tell me to not do it, Sweetheart doesn't mean that I'm not gonna keep doing it." He grins as he leans his head on his hand, looking down at her.

She rolls her eyes, turning her head so she faced him, but didn't lift her head from her arms. "True enough, Edward."

Eddie visibly pulled back, his face scrunched up in a frown of disgust. "Don't call me that, ever again."

She cracked open her eyes, lifting her brow. He sighed and nodded his head. "Fine, no more Dare-Bear."

She smiled.

"But I'm keeping Sweetheart then!" He exclaimed, lifting his index finger as if to make a point.

She sighed and lifted her head. "Fine, I'll allow it."

Eddie grinned before leaning his head back on his hand. "So what's up with the long face Sweets?"

Dare paused, glancing at him before sighing and resting her chin on her hand. "Nancy wants me to come to the party tonight."

Eddie raised his brow, nodding his head. "And I take it that you don't want to?"

Dare huffed before shrugging, leaning back and her hands dropping to her lap. "No, not really. But, I don't want to go trick or treating this year either." She turned to him. "But I also want to make sure Nancy doesn't do anything stupid, like puke in the bushes."

Eddie cringed, agreeing with her with a nod of his head. "Right, right. So what do you plan on doing?"

Dare hesitated before slouching over in her spot. "I guess I'm going to the party. Not like I have anything better to do, you know?"

He shrugged. "I mean, you could always hang out with me."

Dare smiled and grabbed her hat, putting it back on. "True, but how about you come along! We can just hang out there, making sure to disappear so we don't have to get involved with whatever happens."

Eddie paused, his lips thinning as he looks away from her. Dare laughs as she nudges his shoulder with her own.

"Come on Eddie! Who knows, it might not be a shitshow!" She smiles widely as she pokes his side. "Don't leave me to the wolves Eds!"

He groaned, throwing his head back and brushing her hand away. "Fine, FINE! I'll go."

Dare let out a cheerful whoop, her arm slinging around Eddie's neck. "YES!"

Eddie laughed, hugging her back briefly before pulling away, his ears a bright red beneath his hair.

"Yeah yeah, don't act so excited. I doubt you'll even notice me, I tend to blend into the background." He coughed as he looked back at her.

Dare smiled and shook her head. "Guess I'll just have to go and find you, now won't I."

He grins at her, nodding his head. "Guess you will."

---

"Nancy-"

"No, Dare. You look great like this!" Nancy exclaimed as she put on some eyeliner on me.

I glare up at her before brushing her hand away, looking over at the mirror. I pause before nodding my head and shrugging. "Alright, you're not wrong."

She grinned at me as I stood up and walked to the door. "Steve driving us?" I ask, turning to her as I put on my hat.

"Yes he is, but don't wear the hat-"

I stick out my tongue and turn back around. "Not happening Nance, either the hat stays or you go with Steve without me."

She huffs as she crosses her arms, her brow raised at me. I cross my arms, mimicking her. And soon enough, she folds and rolls her eyes.

"Fine, you can wear your hat." She looks back at the mirror, fixing her little ribbon. "You do know that this is a costume party, right?"

I hum as I look down at my attire, shrugging quickly. "I'm dressed as Sarah Connor, or at least I tried to dress as her. So I'd say I got my costume as close as I could to the real thing." I look back at her, raising my brow. "And you are?"

She looks at me, but before she could say anything, there was a knock on the door.

"Nancy! Steve's here!" Mrs. Wheeler said through the door, and I sigh.

"Coming!" Nancy called out before giving me a look. "Just try to enjoy tonight, alright?"

I look at her as I nibble on my bottom lip, before nodding. "Alright, I'll try. Just don't do any stupid shit, alright?"

She smiles at me, nodding her head as she hooks her arm around mine. "Of course not."

---

Dare sighs heavily as she finally escapes the heat of the dance floor, going into the backyard that wasn't as crowded as it was inside. She blows a strand of hair out of her face, adjusting her grey jacket so it was rolled up to her elbows. She pulled at the collar of the peach and white tie-dyed shirt, grimacing at the scratching of the tag in the back.

She paused for a moment, looking over the crowd of people in the backyard, drunkenly dancing to the music. She didn't exactly know how long she had been separate from Nancy, but she knew that Steve would keep her safe. Dare frowned again, not seeing any good familiar faces that she had wanted to see.

Towards the edge of the fence, Eddie stood with his arms crossed. He couldn't believe he was there, but he knew why he was. He sighed for what seemed to be the hundredth time before he finally noticed the person he had been searching for. Only, she hadn't noticed him.

He took a moment to focus on her, standing on his toes and moving around people to catch a clearer look at her. He smiled when he realized what she had worn as her costume. He glanced down at himself, the warmth creeping onto his face as he remember what he had decided to wear. And they were matching.

He had gone as, in his own style, Kyle Reese. From the Terminator movie, they had gone to see together almost three days ago. And she was Sarah Connor, but wearing the same hat that she always wore.

He grinned a little wider as he watched her flip off someone who had obviously bumped into her, her frow visible from there. The feeling in his stomach fluttered again as she crossed her arms, leaning back against the house. He inhaled sharply as her gaze drifted over where he was.

But the butterfly in his stomach started to sink, as her attention was caught by someone else. Billy had approached her, smiling as he recognized her. And she returned it, though not as widely as he had.

"YN, you're here. I'm glad you could make it." Billy said as he leaned his right arm on the house. "I guess you arrived a little late, you weren't there when I was announced the keg king."

Dare laughed and shook her head, her smile thinning. "No, must have just missed it."

Her eyes drifted over the sea of people in the backyard, before Billy leaned in closer and blocked her vision.

"What's on your mind? Can't stand the sight of me?" He laughed, his smile faltering just ever so slightly.

Dare's eyes widened before she shook her head rapidly. "Oh no! I was just, worried. I couldn't find my friend, and I just wanted to-"

Billy chuckled and nodded. "To look after them, right?"

Dare paused before smiling softly. "Yeah, it's what I do."

Dare flushed a soft pink as Billy leaned in more, a smirk drifting across his lips. "So would you take care of me too?" His hand pushed her cap up from her face.

Her brows twitched downward at his words, confused she asked, "What-"

But before she could finish her sentence, Billy kissed her.

Eddie felt his heart drop to his stomach, hell to his feet. He knew that some part of him wanted to scream, to pull her away from him. But he didn't. He couldn't. His fingers clenched tightly into a fist, his eyes narrowing as he glares at the two. But then he remembers.

She wasn't his.

Eddie exhaled and turned away from them, walking back towards the gate to leave. He paused for a moment, looking back at the two, before walking out.

Dare leaned back, her eyes wide and her cheeks a bright red as she parted from the sudden kiss.

"Why'd you do that?" She asked softly, her voice in disbelief.

Billy smiled as he leaned back toward her, his hand cupping her cheek, and his thumb touching her bottom lip. "Because you're adorable."

Dare blinked at him before reaching up and pulling her cap down, stepping out of his reach. "I should go check on my friend."

He laughed as she scrambled towards the door, not missing the redness of her cheeks.

"I'll find you later YN." He called after her, causing her to pause and look back at him. "You still need to take care of me, right?"

Her throat tightened and she looked away from him, trying to blend into the crowd as she tried to go back inside. But as she looked towards the fence, she stared at the back of someone who was walking away. She felt like she knew them, but she couldn't put her finger on it. But she recognized the coat from the movie. Someone had been her Kyle, and she didn't get to meet them.

---

"I don't understand Steve! What the hell happened?" Dare yelled as she followed him to his car.

"What do you want me to say, Dare?" He said as he turned around, looking at her with his eyes slightly red. "She told me she wasn't in love with me. Said that it was bullshit, that I was bullshit."

Dare gaped at him before frowning heavily. "What else happened Steve?"

Steve shook his head with a scoff, his arms hitting his sides. "Nothing else happened-"

Dare glared at him, her finger poking into his chest as she pointed her finger at him. "I know Nancy, Steve! What set her off, what else happened?"

He paused for a moment before sighing, looking down at the ground. "Barbra's parents, they're selling the house because they need money to try and find Barbra."

Dare's eyes widen as she takes a step back, her shoulders slacking. "Oh."

Steve nodded, not looking up from the ground. "Yeah."

She put her hands on her hip looking back at the house that was still lively, before looking back at Steve. His eyes were red, and his sniffling made her sigh.

"You should head home Steve-" He looked up at her, his eyes darting back to the house for a moment.

"No, I need to take-"

Dare shook her head, putting her hand on his shoulder. "No, Steve. You need to go home, wait until tomorrow when she's sober okay. Then you can talk to her. I saw Jonathan in there, and I'm sure he'd be fine with taking her home. But right now, you need space okay."

Steve frowned heavily, opening his mouth to argue before Dare covered his mouth with her hand.

"Go home." She glared at him lightly, waiting for him to nod his head.

"Fine, I'll go." He sighed as he pushed her hand away. "Do you need a ride?"

Dare paused, frowning in thought before sighing. "I should get back, or maybe try to find Dustin and them."

Steven nodded his head, sniffing one more time as he wiped the corner of his eyes. "Then, umm, hop in."

---

I sighed softly as I looked out the window as we drove by the many trick-or-treaters. I glanced at Steve from the corner of my eyes, frowning when I see him wipe at his eyes again. I bite the inside of my cheek, before mentally kicking myself.

"You can drop me off here. They're over there." I say, lying through my teeth.

He turns to me before looking ahead and nodding. "Alright." He said softly.

I huff and smile as he pulls to the curb. "Thanks, Steve. And, give her time. I'm sure everything will work out eventually." I grin lightly as I open the door and step out.

He nods his head, not looking at me. "Thanks, Dare. You're really nice."

I shrug. "It's only for my friends. Have a good night Steve."

I shut the door after hearing him repeat it back, waving at him as I walk in the opposite direction. He pulled away from the curb, driving off towards his home before I groan and turn around and head towards my house.

I walk through the sea of trick-or-treaters, laughing to myself at some of the silly costumes. Most of them were heading home, their bags full or because of their own curfews. And I knew that the boys were on their way home too. And as I turn the block, not too far from my house, I notice something strange.

I frown as I continue walking down the street, my hands shoved into the pockets of my jacket. As I get close to the edge of my street, the blue figure turned toward me. Hesitating to step forward, I glance around at the nearby trick-or-treaters, noticing how they didn't spare the figure a glance. Swallowing thickly, I push the growing fear down, taking another step towards the figure.

As I decide to ignore it, pretending that it wasn't there, I feel the fear bubble as it turns and follows me after I had passed it. I didn't look at it, nor did I hear its steps. But I could feel it following me, somehow I did. Turning my head ever so slightly, I try to get a look at it from the corner of my eyes, but a car passes by and the figure is gone.

My nerves are buzzing beneath my skin, and I couldn't ignore the feeling anymore. I turn down my street and run towards my house, ignoring my lungs as I feel them constrict. My feet thumping against the ground, and my heart pounding in my ears doesn't block out the feeling that it was still following me. Watching me.

As I turn to the front door, my hand on the handle, I look back. But there was nothing. I heaved and wheezed as I shuffle into my pants for my inhaler, my eyes glancing around for the blue figure. And even as I manage to calm my asthma down, the figure was gone. And the feeling had faded away.

I sigh heavily, placing my inhaler back in my pocket and opening the door. Relief floods through me as I walk into my house, my eyes drifting to my mother who had fallen asleep on the couch. I smile as I walk toward her, grabbing the remote from the side table and turning the tv off.

"Taking care of your Mom as always." I hear a voice say, one I hadn't heard in a long time.

I let the remote fall from my hands as I turn my head towards the sound of the voice. My eyes widen in panic and horror as the blue figure steps out of the kitchen doorway, and into view.

My father smiles at me, his body a strange see-through blue. Like from Star Wars. His eyes drift to mine, and his smile falters for a moment. His brows furrow as he takes a step closer and points to himself.

"Can you see me, Dare-Bear?" He asks, and I inhale deeply.

And then I turn around and head straight out the door. I ignore him calling my name, jumping down the steps, and grabbing my bike.

"Dare- YN wait! We need to talk if you can see me-"

"I am not talking to a figment of my imagination Dad!" I pause as I look at him, before shaking my head. "This isn't okay."

He calls out for me as I peddle down the street, with only one destination in mind. To the one person who I knew I could count on. Hopper.

---

I had seen his car speed down the street from the road I was about to turn on. And I failed to get him to stop. And after chasing him, for what seemed to be hours, I caught up to him. His car was left on a trail deep in the woods, I could see the cabin not too far from the car. And after I stopped and used the rest of my inhaler, I decided to take my time with actually getting to the door.

"Why is he all the way out here?" I mutter to myself, huffing as I drop my bike next to his car.

As I walk towards the house, I notice a small flash near the ground. I frown before moving my head back and seeing it again.

"Is that a wire, or a spider web?" I ask, before kneeling and putting my hand out.

My eyes widen as I feel the thick wire against my fingertips, and I launch myself backward. I sit on my butt, staring at it in confusion before inhaling deeply.

"It's probably nothing." I stand up, stepping over the trip wire carefully, and then walk to the house.

As I walk onto the wooden porch, I hear footsteps on the other side of the wall. I quietly kneel, trying to creep to the door, feeling like something was off. Maybe my gut was just going haywire, but something wasn't right.

Kneeling in front of the door, I listen in on what was going on inside. The tv was playing in another room, but heavy footsteps were moving around in the living room. I frown heavily before I reach into my pocket and get the bobby pins from it. I swallow down the lump in my throat, slide the pins into the door, and slowly try to pick it. I could feel the cold October breeze against the back of my neck and against my cheeks as I heard the audible click, and how it went silent on the inside.

I quickly turn the handle and push the door open, climbing to my feet before raising my hands.

"WHOA WHOA HOP! IT'S ME!" I yell as I was met with the barrel of the gun. "It's just me Hop, don't shoot."

He stares at me in disbelief, before lowing the gun and putting the safety on. "Jesus Christ Kid. You almost got yourself killed! Why the hell are you here? Did you follow me?"

I slowly drop my hands to my side and shake my head, before nodding. "Yeah, I followed you. But for a good reason! I needed to talk to you about something! I saw-"

"No, Kid you need to go home. You can tell me tomorrow-" And he tried to push me out the door before the door opened behind him.

We froze as I looked over his shoulder and made eye contact with someone else who I thought was dead, or gone. But she wasn't blue like he was.

"Hopper, what the fuck?" I say slowly, turning to him in disbelief.

---

I cover my eyes as I try to digest what he had just told me. How he had been hiding her for months. How she had been with him for months and didn't tell us shit.

"Look, Kid. I understand that you're upset-"

I scoff and shake my head, lifting my hands from my face. "No Hop, I'm not upset. I'm angry and confused. Because I don't know what is going on with me, and now you’re adding this-"

"Whoa whoa whoa. Hey, what do you mean you don't know what's going on with you? What's going on with you?" He asked as he kneeled down in front of me, with Eleven to my right.

I fiddle with my fingers before I look at him again.

"It's crazy Hop. I think I might be going crazy." I whisper, my voice breaking as I feel my emotions starting to boil over.

He frowns and shakes his head. "You're not crazy, why would you think you're crazy Kid?"

I exhale deeply before sniffing slightly. "I saw Dad."

He paused, his face frozen in confusion and disbelief before he frowned again. 'What do you mean, you saw your Dad?"

I inhale deeply as I cross my arms and lean back against the couch. "I was on my way home, from the party. And I saw him, on my street. I didn't recognize him because I didn't get close to him. I felt like I was being watched, so I ran home. And when I walked in, he was in the kitchen so I didn't notice him." I pause as I look back at Hopper. "But then he said, 'Taking care of your Mom as always.' And I just froze."

Hopper rubbed his hand over his mouth, nodding his head.

"And then, we made eye contact. And he asked me if I could see him. And I just ran, Hop. I just ran away, because I was scared. I was remembering that night when I had- had found his body. And I just kept remembering that he was dead, and gone. He's gone-" I blink as my eyes begin to sting and tear up, and Hopper quickly brings me into his arms.

"He's dead, so why am I seeing him, Hop? I shouldn't- I can't." I sob as he comforts me, his hand on my back as he tries to calm me. I could feel El's hand on my shoulder as he patted my back.

"It's alright Kid. Calm down, it's alright. You're safe. Just calm down, take deep breaths." He inhales, and I struggle to copy him. "In and out Kid."

I close my eyes and focus on breathing in slowly, hearing him count down from three. And then we exhale before he nods his head. And we just breathe for a minute or two.

"Better?" He asks, and I nod my head pulling back and wiping my cheeks.

"Yeah. Thanks." I whisper before he nods his head.

"What did he look like exactly Kid? Can you tell me if anything was off about him?" Hopper questioned, no doubt wanting to figure out what was happening.

I nod my head. "He was blue and see-through. Like a Star Wars ghost. And he," I paused as I frowned, trying to remember how he looked. "He looked like the way he did before he died. No bullet wound, no blood. He looked normal."

Hopper sighed while nodding his head, standing up. He rubbed his chin in thought before I stood up.

"Hopper is there a chance-"

He shakes his head. "I don't know Kid. But if you see him again. Tell me, alright? I want you to call me."

I slowly nod my head before crossing my arms. "Can I stay here with El? Just for tonight?"

He stares at me before nodding his head with a huff. "Fine, alright. But be sure to not tell anyone, alright? We can't have them learning that she's still alive."

Looking down at El, I nod my head. "Alright, will do Hop."

---

Dare yawned as she opened her eyes, the new day arriving, and a feeling of dread settling into her stomach. As she sat up on the makeshift bed on the floor beside El, she looked over at the girl who was sleeping peacefully. She sighed and slowly got to her feet and opened the door. Hopper was already awake, and he turned to her as she walked out, shutting the door behind her.

"Morning Kid."

She smiled thinly before nodding. "Morning Hop."

He looked at her as he popped some Eggos into the toaster before he place some on a plate in front of her. With a frown, she shook her head and pushed the plate an inch away from her.

"No thanks, Hop. I'm not hungry." She muttered before clearing her throat. "Can you take me home? I need to get ready for school, and check on Dustin."

Hopper stared at her for a moment before nodding with a sigh. "Alright Kid."

---

I inhaled deeply as I stepped out of Hopper's car, waving him goodbye before he stopped me.

"Remember what we talked about."

I nod my head before turning back towards the front door. As I push my keys in, Mom swings the door open and pulls me into a hug.

"Oh, Dare-Bear! I was so worried about you! I almost called the Wheelers to see if you were staying at Nancy's!" She exclaimed loudly in my ear and I force a thin smile onto my face.

"I did Mom, just didn't feel good so I headed home," I say as I pull back from her hug, my eyes drifting towards the figure I had seen the night before.

"You ready to talk?" He asked gently, his arms crossed as he looked at me.

I sigh and push past Mom. "I think I'll stay home today Mom. I'm not feeling well still."

"Oh alright- Would you like me to make some soup?"

I shake my head. "No, I just want to rest Mom."

I walk into the hall, looking back at Dad before Dustin opens his door.

"Dare! You won't believe what I found-"

I close my eyes as I open my door. "Not now Dustin, please."

And I close the door behind me before collapsing on my bed and closing my eyes.

I inhale deeply and open my eyes, noticing Dad standing in front of the door.

"Alright," I say as I sit up, crossing my legs and turning to him. "What the hell is going on Dad?"

#stranger things #eddie munson x yn #eddie munson x henderson!reader #eddie munson #eddie munson x reader #eddie munson x fem!reader #yn dare henderson #hawkins #steve harrington #nancy wheeler #jonathan byers #will byers #mike wheeler #the freaking rebel #chief hopper #eleven

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pappydaddy · 1 year ago

Text

surprised (n.w.)

a/n: wow, there are not a lot of tags for nancy! also, ngl, i am hoping you lovelies like this one bc i think i could have done a lot better so sorry if it's not the best!

tv show/movie: stranger things | pairing: nancy wheeler x fem!reader

requested by the lovely @echos-scomplink as part of my 900/1k follower celebration (thank you so much lovely!!) i hope you enjoy it💛!

synopsis: y/n's girlfriend and friends have been acting weird, she just can't figure out why

warnings: fluff | secrets being kept | anxiety

navigation | masterlist | taglist sign-up

Her friends had been acting odd, which really wasn’t that surprising when she really thought about it since they were oddballs to start out. What really made her step back and be suspicious was her girlfriend starting to act odd. Nancy was usually very straight-forward, blunt, goal-oriented. She stressed the importance of communication in the relationship, was an open-book with her, and never-ever strayed far from her routine unless it involved two things: something very very dangerous and important or anything to do with her job as a journalist.

But, this wasn’t anything to do with her job as that’s usually breaking news coverage where a story breaks and she needs to start a deep dive of investigation (which earned her the name Nancy Drew with their friend group). But, Nancy isn’t running off to the archives, the library, or the office in the early hours of the morning and spending all day there right now so it couldn't be work. And, as far as Y/N knew, there wasn’t any type of Upside Down creature threatening the town right now so it couldn’t be that.

She was truly stumped and it was bugging her. Not because she was insecure in her relationship and thought Nancy was cheating. There would be definite signs of that. But because she didn’t know what was going on and she didn’t like that. Y/N is an incredibly perceptive person, a trait she often cursed especially in times like this where she overthinks everything. Because of her perceptiveness, she needed to know what was going on at all times and if she didn’t, she spiralled.

“Hey, what’s going on up there?” Y/N was pulled out of her thoughts by her friend, Robin. Robin stood in front of her as she sat at the cafe table - their mutually agreed upon meeting point. Y/N blinked, a little stunned by the sudden intrusion.

“Oh, um,” She hummed, gathering her purse as she stood up. “Nothing. Just thinking really.” Y/N shrugged it off. If there was something going on, her girlfriend was going through great lengths to hide it because it took Y/N this long to notice two months worth of odd behaviour. So, obviously, Nancy has either become incredibly lax in her secret keeping, or whatever it was, Nancy was getting ready to reveal it.

“I bet it’s about the new job you’re starting,” Robin theorised about what had her friend so distracted. “You’re nervous, a perfectly normal human reaction to this situation, but of course, it’s you so you’ve probably thought yourself into a tizzy meaning you were in the middle of an overthinking spiral.” She determined, talking a mile a minute as they started to walk towards a random location.

Y/N really wasn’t sure what Robin had planned for today, all she knew was that she had asked her to hang out for the day. Y/N had agreed, knowing that she and Robin were interested in the same things meaning whatever Robin had in mind, Y/N probably liked. “You know me so well,” Y/N shook her head. Technically, Robin did get the overthinking spiral part right. “And I thought Steve was joining us?” She asked, her brows furrowed at their missing friend.

Robin waved her off. “He suddenly had ‘plans’,” She put air quotes around the word ‘plans’ with an exaggerated eye roll. “Something about some party for some girl. You know how he is, any chance at getting a date.”

“I see.” Y/N hummed, narrowing her eyes at her best friend. While Robin might be an oddball, she was an oddball Y/N knew since freshman year. An oddball who knew Robin’s deepest, darkest secrets. An oddball who hid in isolation with her throughout high school in fear that someone would find out that they liked girls. So she knew Robin. Which means, she knows that she knows something she’s not telling her.

“But I am sure you will see him later, he’ll come running back to us with his tail between his legs when they all shoot him down.” Robin shrugged as Y/N followed her lead.

“I see.” Y/N hummed again, earning a look from Robin. The way her blue eyes flicked nervously confirmed it. Robin knew something that she was supposed to keep a secret - one of her biggest inabilities. It was only a matter of time before the secret came spilling from her friend’s chapped lips.

Robin cleared her throat, eyes darting to look in front of them before they widened. “You know what,” She asked suddenly, her hand shoving Y/N towards the building next to them. “I think we should go in here!”

“Robin, this is an event hall-” She was cut off by her friend, shoving her towards it again. “Ugh,” She groaned, stumbling away from Robin’s hands as they reached out to shove her again. “Fine, I am going! I am going!” She relented, walking up the concrete stairs to the hall, eying Robin suspiciously as she brushed past her to lead the way.

As her friend opened the door, she could hear the echoes of Nancy’s voice instructing people to keep quiet and warmth bloomed in her chest. A surprise. It wasn’t a secret per se, but a surprise. “Come, this way.” Robin waved to her to follow her.

Smiling to herself, Y/N decided to play along, not wanting her girlfriend or friends to know the surprise was spoiled. “What are we doing here, Robin? We didn’t book a room out.” She asked, sounding slightly stressed to try to sell the part. Silence filled the hall other than the soft creaks of the floorboards when the hidden friends shifted.

“I just wanna see something in this room-” Robin waved her off, walking into one of the event rooms, flicking on the lights. Once the light turned on, everyone jumped out, yelling “surprise”. Even though she was expecting it, Y/N jumped slightly, looking around the now lit room with all her friends and family there.

Nancy stood right in front of her, a cardboard party hat (that matched everyone else's) on her head and a wide smile on her face. A large banner was hung on the far wall spelling out a hand painted “congratulations” in Y/N’s favourite colour. “Congratulations on your big job! We’re so excited for you!” Nancy beamed, nearly tackling her girlfriend in a hug.

Instantly, Y/N wrapped her arms around her as well, stumbling back from the force of the hug as Robin clapped happily beside them - mostly proud of herself for keeping the secret and pulling off the plan. “You really didn’t have to do all of this, Nancy! This must have taken you months and a load of money!” She gushed, looking around the room in awe, taking in everything. All Y/N’s favourite party foods laid out perfectly, several different drinks (some homemade and some store bought) on another table, each decoration handmade or picked out with the keen eye of her girlfriend.

“Nonsense! This is a big deal, Y/N. You deserve to be fussed over,” Nancy playfully scolded her. Y/N nodded, knowing it appeared playful, but Nancy meant it. She had made it her personal mission when they first started going out to make sure Y/N knew that she deserved the whole world and nothing short of it. She was the reason Y/N even applied for this job - without Nancy she probably would have just passed on the opportunity with a shrug and a muttered “like I’d ever get that job”. “And I made it a surprise party! Were you surprised? You looked it! I actually think I got you this time!”

Y/N smiled sweetly, nodding. “I was definitely not expecting this, I love it.” She confirmed her surprise, pulling Nancy in to her by their conjoined hands, pressing a sweet kiss on her lips, earning another round of celebrating cheers from their friends and family.

“Good,” Nancy smiled at her once they pulled away, eyes alight and dancing with joyfulness and pure love. “Gives me more practice when I surprise you with a ring.” She winked, her finger softly playing with Y/N’s left ring finger causing a trail of goosebumps to travel up her arm. It was decided (informally) that Nancy would be the one to ask Y/N to marry her at some point in their relationship and both of them just ran with it.

“I can’t wait to be surprised again.” Y/N whispered back. Not to hide their love, but because her heart was so light and happy that she was scared to ruin this elated feeling by talking any louder.

#pappydaddy #pappydady's 900 follower celebration #pappydaddy's 1k follower celebration #nancy wheeler #nancy wheeler x fem!reader #nancy wheeler fics #nancy wheeler x reader #nancy wheeler imagines #nancy wheeler imagine #nancy wheeler fanfic #nancy wheeler fluff #stranger things imagines #stranger things series #stranger things 1 #stranger things #stranger things fanfiction

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strangerthingsfan-fics · 2 years ago

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Everyone found out quick steve Harrington x Fem!henderson reader

Warnings-kissing,swearing

You and Steve have been trying to keep your relationship on the down low like secret make out sessions at school sneaking out secret dates when you drop dustin off at the wheelers for the night but one night everyone was sat in a circle playing point to the person who ____ and it was a really fun game dustin was defo ready to put you both so was everyone else so they was making the game sound normal

“Point to the person who loves dnd the most” Mike said

They all pointed at will and Eddie

“Point to the person that won’t ask out a girl even though she returns fast times at 53 mins and 15 seconds” Steve laughs

“Right fuck off harrington” Robin groans as everyone points at her

You was sat next to Steve with your hands very very very close and Dustin noticed doing a little guys look with his eyes and Dustin was so excited to put you guys he was the one doing it dustin smirked so bad and now the time has come to out you and Steve that you guys are dating Steve’s just given you his hoodie because you was shivering so now was the time

“Point to who loves yn the most” dustin smirks proudly at himself

Everyone pointed at Steve and Steve acted clueless until

“Right fuck it I love yn henderson the most” he shouts out pointing at himself

“I love you more Harrington” you smile

“Your make out sessions arnt exactly quite Harrington” dustin points out

“Oh steve I love you oh Steve” Nancy points out

Steve kissses you and you kiss him back turning into dustin shouting to split it up

#stranger things #steve harrington #steve harrington fanfic #steve harrington x reader #steve harrington x you #steve stranger things #steve harrington imagine #steve harrington x fem #steve harrington x henderson!reader

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morganwrites12672 · 2 years ago

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Hello! Can you write a Robin Buckley x Sinclair!Reader. Where reader is hiding Robin from her siblings when she snuck Robin one time. But her siblings keep coming in and wanting stuff. Eventually erica and lucas caught the two which end in relentless teasing about readers girlfriend!

Thanks! :)

OMFG YESS!!!

Robin Buckley x Sinclair!Reader

You anxiously looked down the hall. No sight or Erica or Lucas, thank god. You rush back into your room and shut the door as quiet as possible.

You then go over to your window and help Robin in. She smiles and flops on your bed. You press a quick kiss to her forehead and she melts.

"I mean, I understand not wanting to tell them about me. The teasing would be completely relentless, do you remember the time we spent locked in the elevator? She was ruthless. If those Russians didn't get us, she would have," Robin blurts and you can tell she is anxious about getting caught.

"That's not why, they think I'm straight," you say and robins jaw drops. It was kind of obvious you weren't into guys.

"That's fine, we don't ever have to tell them. We can just be roommates," Robin says and you smile before pressing another kiss to her lips.

"Y/N," you hear a scream from down the hall. Shit, it was Lucas. You quickly hide Robin in the closet and she groans as she notices how cramped it is. You whisper a sorry before running back to your bed.

You grab a magazine, right as Lucas opens your door, "I need help. It's an emergency," he blurts and he is half ready for a date.

You groan," It's just max. She is cool, just more cologne and candy," you say and give him a small smile and thumbs up.

He nods, "Do you like the shirt?' he asks. It was a light yellow sweater. A light yellow sweater?

"Stop trying to dress like Steve, he might be hot," you grimace at the words. Steve Harrington was about as hot as Nancy's mom. That was a lie, you only spent the summer with Robin at the pool so could both gawk at the hot moms, Steve was about as attractive as, well any other guy, "But he was a pretty big asshole. He is nice now, but you were always nice. Wear a white Tshirt and a wind breaker," you advice and he blushes before running off to go change.

You quickly ho Robin out of the closet and you both sit on the bed. her hair is slightly mused and she still has a smile.

"Steve's hot?" She wrinkles her nose and you can't help but kiss it. Steve was not hot. Not at all.

"Haha, no but his ex is," you say and Robin blushes. Nancy Wheeler was way to hot for Harrington, she was to hot for men.

"We could see if she would be into a poly," Robin teases and you blush. Nancy might be hot, but you only had eyes for your girlfriend.

"Okay, fine." You press a kiss to her nose again, "How about her mom?" You smirk as Robin hides her face. You still get a glimpse on her crimson blush. She had a big crush on Mrs. Wheeler, I mean, who didn't?

"It's not my fault these ladies are hot, like really hot," Robin says and looks up at you. You both have light reminents of a blush on your cheeks.

"Okay, fine, but are we going to get caught?" Robin whispers and you can see the anxiety on her face. You smile and press a kiss to her lips.

"YN," you hear a voice yell and Robin half rolls under your bed, if Eric came around she would be found.

"Yes," you ask completely exasperated. You were literally an adult. If you could find a cheap apartment you would love away from these hellions.

But college was awful close to home, and no apartments near there were in your price range. So, you settled for being a 19 year old living with your parents.

"I can't find my hair brush, did you take it?" Erica demands and you get nervous. You quickly hop over the bed and grab the brush before handing it to her.

She groans and snatches it before storming out. She had been in the area to see Robin, thank God she didnt.

Robin rolls out from her spot half under the bed, as you shut your door. She flips on the floor and is tired of hiding as you sit next to her.

"Sorry," you whisper and apologize with a kiss. You are both being risky. Completely in view of the door as your lips collide, Robin -

"I KNEW IT!!" you hear Lucas yell and jump away from Robin as your two idiot siblings stand in the door way.

"I can explain," you blurt and Erica just rolls her eyes and places her hands on her hips before Lucas starts speaking.

"I knew you were hiding someone, but why Robin?" Lucas asks, completely confused. Erica just gives him an even more confused look.

"They don't like guys you dipshit," Eric scoffs and then looks between you and Robin, "Why Robin? I always see you making good goo eyes with Nancy," Eric says and you and Robin both blush.

"Because Robin is gay, and Nancy is not. Wait, no I would choose Robin anyway," you say and Robin has to be dramatic.

"so if Nancy was gay you would leave me?" Robin asks and Erica makes an 'ooohh someone's in trouble' noise before your siblings run out and shut the door.

There would be endless teasing tonight, but until then.

You press a kiss to Robins lips, "I swear you are the only one for me," she rolls her eyes before kissing back.

Reqs are open! I write for a ton of characters so don't forget to check out my pinned post!

#robin buckley x female reader #robin buckley x reader #robin buckley x y/n #robin buckley x fem!reader #robin buckley x you #robin buckley fluff #sinclair!reader #Robin Buckley x Sinclair!reader #stranger things 5 #robin x reader #robin buckley

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xreader001 · 2 years ago

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Fun story idea💡

I hope some one likes this

I hope some one wants to make this into a story

Stranger things

Billy x reader

(no king billy, no Neil, no trauma)

You are YN wheeler

The older sister of Nancy, Mike and holly

You're parents had a shot gun wedding when they found out karen was pregnant

You were your parent's least favorite while Nancy did everything perfect and brought your parents nothing but joy hope and honor Mike was a genius and Holly was the baby

Then there was you. You did your own thing

You listened to heavy metal you were an artist and dreamed of moving to California and you didn't plan on going to college

When Billy moves to town he quickly becomes the most popular kid in school (no beef with Steve)

He makes friends with Eddie through same music interest and shared classes

Eddie works in a mechanic shop and he managed to get you a job practically begged even though you're not a mechanic you get paid to answer the phone check the mail pay the bills all the stuff Joe your boss hated doing and you used the money to save for California

This is were you meet billy for the first time. His car needed work or so he said but it felt like Eddie wanted you to meet him

(Eddie is secretly playing match maker)

At first glance billy is hot but your not impressed. He comes across as cocky and arrogant. Even Eddie is internally cringing knowing that he was putting you off

But billy is spurred by your refusing to be baited you were more challenging than the other girls in Hawkins

So you and Eddie and billy hang out more together and you start to see a more relaxed less showy billy

You start to like him

He discovers your dream to move to California to live in the city and visit the beach and he knows then that your the one

Your and billy fall in love in a fluffy mushy scene and planning on moving to California together ❤️

#billy hargrove #billy x reader #fluffy #no king billy #story idea #stranger things #Eddie Munson

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sanguineterrain · 1 year ago

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hii i absolutely adore your writing!!!! are you taking requests?? if so …could you write steve harrington x newby!reader one? where after yn finally after months grieving her dad’s death, she starts working with robin and steve in scoops ahoy and maybe she’s little jealous how steve always tries to “impress” and flirting with the girl costumers and she’s been through a tough time since her dad bob the superhero died but ofc steve helped her though all this but she’s still sometimes quiet and sad and not really her usual self. she lost both of her parents, she probably won’t be her usual self ever again but she has steve but she has these nightmares about steve dying in upside down and she’s been acting weird ever since she had those nightmares. (she was always has been the shy, introverted girl but when she’s around her few friends she can be her self). she loves him so much it hurts and she’s scared bc he’s also her first boyfriend and she never thought she would’ve love someone like this and she knows about his history with nancy wheeler. robin has enough and she has steve what is going on with yn and steve makes it right. also i thought it would be cool if yn lived with the byers family after bob died?

Hi nonnie, I'm only accepting requests for dc characters right now! I hope you find someone who'll write your prompt 🥰❤️

#inbox

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quixoticall · 8 months ago

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This Could Get Ugly Track 5: The Beginning of the End

Summary: It's 1983 and The Downsides need another lead singer and you just happen to need a band--it's a perfect match. The only issue? You have to pretend to be in a relationship with your bandmate, Steve Harrington, but you can't help but be drawn to the band's broody guitar player.

pairing: s.h. x fem!reader, e.m. x fem!reader, j.b. x n.w.,

warnings: ANGST, drinking, drug use, smut, oral and fingering f receiving, p in v sex, the Harringtons make an appearance.

a/n: It has been a while my loves! If you've been following me at all, you know I've had a rough month. I really, truly appreciate every single one of you who has reached out and checked in! I appreciate you! This chapter is extra long to make up for lost time and it contains smut. It's my first time writing smut, so hopefully, I did not disappoint.

wc: 11.2K

MASTERLIST🎸

PLAY PREVIOUS TRACK 🎵

APRIL 28th, 1984 PHILADELPHIA , PA—THE UPSIDE DOWN TOUR

If you wanted to be technical about it, the whole thing started with Argyle.

The two of you were backstage, sitting outside the dressing rooms killing time during the opener—some local band that you weren’t previously familiar with.

You had always appreciated Argyle’s ability to be friendly with everyone and float above the tensions, that was the case especially now when things with the others seemed to have fallen apart a little.

You were sitting next to each other on the floor, backs against the wall, as you were running him through some of the songs that had made the preliminary list for the next album and asking for his input while he threw a bouncy ball against the opposite wall. You liked working with Argyle, he was out of the box, creative, and one of the most technically skilled band members. You had been sitting with him for only 30 minutes and he had already made one of your songs infinitely better.

“What’s the move tonight, dude?” he asks you, nonchalantly as you scribbled down some of his suggested changes.

You shrug in response, “I dunno, I might just go home and sleep after this, maybe work on the arrangements for this—” You wave your beat-up notebook in the air, and he scoffs.

“You like never come out with us anymore,” he exclaims, “I miss when we all used to party together, dude. Now you are all dropping like flies and it’s not as fun anymore!”

It was your turn to scoff at him, “Please, I was never the life of the party, Argyle, c’mon.”

“Are you kidding, dude? People would always show up in droves to see you. Plus, you’re like totally fun. Remember when you and Steve did karaoke in Austin and you both got on the bar? That was totally cool.”

You chuckle at the memory and concede, “Yeah, that was pretty fun, but you still have everyone else!”

“Well, you took my dude Eddie too,” he points out without malice.

“What do you mean?”

“He hasn’t come out since St. Louis—keeps saying he’s gonna stay in just in case you want to write with him.”

Of course, this is news to you. You hadn’t taken up Eddie’s offer to write together since he had spurned you in Missouri (and since he starred in a very vivid dream of yours). It wasn’t that you didn’t accept his apology (presented in the form of a ridiculously large flower bouquet) it was that thing would have been far too awkward at this point.

It wasn’t that you had a crush on him necessarily, you were pretty sure that mantle was still taken up by Steve to some extent, it was more that there was an undeniable sexual something between the two of you below the surface that your dreams had made obvious and you didn’t trust yourself to be alone in a room with him without wanting to rip his clothes off.

Obviously, giving in to your desires was a bad idea for a multitude of reasons but chiefly, because:

a. It would wreak havoc on the band.

b. You were certain Eddie wouldn’t reciprocate your advances.

But then… you had heard what Argyle had said.

“Wait, are you saying Eddie has been hanging out after shows just on the off chance that I may call him?” You confirm incredulously.

Argyle nods in response, “Yeah. Did you put a spell on him or something?”

“No,” you respond wryly, “I’m not that type of witch, I’m the bad kind of witch.”

“Well, you definitely did something to the dude, he’s been obsessing over whether or not you hate him and keeps trying to get me to ask.”

This takes you aback completely. Eddie caring so much what you thought of him that he’d be willing to ask Argyle, of all people to discreetly scope that out seems improbable so you continue to probe.

“What do you mean by that?”

“Well, he obviously thinks you’re pretty and he’s just been waiting around for you to call him up, and he cares a lot about what you think of him, which is weird because last time I checked he kinda hated you—no offense.”

“How do you know all this?” You ask, ignoring the offense.

“He told me, duh.”

“Have you told anyone else this?”

“No one else has asked,” Argyle says plaintively.

“Well, how about we keep all of this between the three of us, then?” You propose.

Before the drummer can confirm, the thundering applause signaling that the opening act had wrapped up cut the conversation off.

Neither of you has the chance to continue the discussion before being rushed onto stage by a harried and high-strung stage manager.

Without knowing, Argyle had invertedly changed the course of everything.

***

EDDIE: We were in Philly. It was a great show—probably one of the best of that tour. The audience was feeling us the opener was sick and we were just gelling for what felt like probably the first time. It was like we were all finally on the same wavelength if that makes sense. No more guessing what the next move was or fighting to keep up. It was like we were finally learning to trust each other.

***

The Philly show was electric, all the elements had come together perfectly. You and Steve were particularly reveling in it. You spent most of the night singing into the same microphone, lips inches from one another, your hand grasping the back of his neck, fingers carding through his hair, and eye contact unbreaking. At one point, you were certain by the way he had captured your bottom lip under the meat of his thumb, that he was going to lean in and kiss you on the mouth, a barrier that the two of you had managed to maintain this whole time.

The audience must have had a similar thought by the sounds of their cheers—a sound that seemed to have shaken both you and Steve from whatever spell you had been under because the next thing you know the pressure of his thumb was gone and his eyes were turned away from you and towards the crowd.

The rest of the show was spent similarly—the two of you toeing the line and the audience following your every move. It was easy to get addicted both to the applause and the intimacy.

After the encores were sung and the last bows were taken, though, Steve was back to barely being able to look at you.

The only time his gaze does flit to you, ever-briefly, is when you politely decline Argyle’s invitation to go out after the show.

“Come on dude, you said you would come if I looked at your song,” the drummer gives a half-hearted attempt at bargaining which only makes you giggle.

“I never said that Argyle,” and truly you hadn’t, “I said that I couldn’t go out because I had to make those changes you suggested.”

In response, Argyle begins to boo you, loudly and the others join in eagerly.

You roll your eyes playfully and bid goodbye to Argyle and the rest of the band when you part ways for the night and you notice that other than yourself, Eddie is the only one missing from the boisterous group but you try not to think too much on it.

Your efforts to push all thoughts of Eddie out of your mind seemed to have the opposite effect and it was like the thoughts themselves were digging their heels in and had found your mind to be a welcoming home.

You had made the song changes you had told Argyle you would and even tried to make some progress on your plethora of unfinished songs. As it turned out, you worked slower when you wrote alone.

You knew that as the remaining tour dates dwindled and the band’s return to LA drew closer, you eventually would have to approach Eddie again to write together. It was indisputable that whatever the two of you produced together was almost always better than what you accomplished alone.

How could you possibly approach him when you could barely look at him without dying of mortification? With Steve, at least, you could get some of the sexual energy out on stage, but with Eddie you didn’t have the same luxury and it stayed bottled up.

All of this, along with Argyle’s words from earlier in the evening made focusing nearly impossible and you gave up on writing all together, deciding to call it a night and head to bed. To your chagrin, the better part of the night was spent tossing and turning trying to evict the thoughts and ideas that had begun to formulate in your mind fueled by a lack of sleep, stress and desperation. And suddenly, you had an idea.

Admittedly, it was not a very good idea. It was actually probably a very bad idea. A ruinous idea even. And yet, you found yourself pulling the covers off yourself and stumbling into a pair of slippers, perplexed by your actions. You wondered, as you blearily shuffled down the identical hotel halls why you weren’t trying to talk yourself out of this idea—one that you were certain was going to change everything. Perhaps you were itching for a new thrill. Or maybe you were as selfish as everyone seemed to believe. Maybe it was the poison that had settled in your heart before you were old enough to know better, insisting that there was no other option for you. Or maybe you were giving yourself far too much credit and you were simply horny.

Whatever the reason, it brought you directly to Eddie Munson’s door.

***

EDDIE: I swear I thought I was dreaming when I saw her there, standing outside my door in this tiny pajama top and even tinier short. They had little cherries on them. I remember thinking they were so cute. Her hair was all a mess. I thought that was cute too.

After probably 5 minutes of us standing there in the doorway, I finally got my brain to work enough to invite her in. She seemed nervous at first. Sort of paced around the room, not saying anything for a while and then—I swear to God—she asks, “Do you want to sleep with me?” out of fucking nowhere. If I hadn’t been there myself, I would’ve never believed it. Hell, even telling you now, part of me thinks I made it up.

My brain short-circuited because I couldn’t even respond. I just stared at her with my jaw on the fucking floor, trying to remember what the signs of a stroke were.

***

“Are you serious?” Eddie spits out, voice hoarse with shock at your overly-direct question.

You nod, wordlessly, trying to ignore the panic that has begun to set in.

“Why?” he presses.

You shrug, which he doesn’t find sufficient because he nods along, trying to draw the reasons from you.

“We both like sex,” you explain, clumsily, “and I find you attractive and I think you find me attractive, too—” he nods feverishly at this—“so why not have some fun?”

You try to say this last part enticingly but aren’t sure you pulled it off until you see a flush play itself across his pretty features.

“Why me? Why not Harrington?”

Even though you had anticipated the question, you can’t help but steel yourself as you respond, “Because we like each other enough for it to be fun but not enough for either of us to get attached.”

You watched, with bated breath as the thoughts played out over Eddie’s features and when you see a flash of what could be hurt you entertain for the briefest moment, the idea that maybe someone could get hurt but the thought is pushed away as a lazy grin begins to spread over his face and a newfound cockiness color his features.

Suddenly, he is much closer, and the space between your two bodies draws thin.

“Now?” he asks.

“Yes, now,” you squeak out as he encroaches in on you, fingertips grazing the bare skin on your hips.

You take a step towards him, moving to stand flush against his hip, invitingly and weave a hand through his unruly bed head curls. You want him to know how much you want this—how much you’ve wanted this. It was inevitable really, there had always been a tension between the two of you. Whether it was the hot friction of dislike , the bold spark of creative partnership or the hot embers of sexual tension, the two of you burned for one another just the same.

He leans in for a kiss when your impatience gets the best of you and you rush to meet him halfway.

He tastes like cigarettes and cherries, a taste you revel in as his lips move languidly over yours. Suddenly, he takes your bottom lip between his teeth and lightly tugs, and a moan tumbles out of you.

“We can’t tell anyone,” you mutter into the kiss and it goes unacknowledged.

The cold of his rings meets your nipples through the thin fabric of your strappy pajama top and your body arches in response.

The kiss is broken you are left gasping for air. Eddie wastes no time in attaching his lips to your neck, his tongue tracing over your collarbone hotly.

The straps of your top are shucked of your shoulders and the fabric bunched down towards your middle and a trail of kisses following in its wake.

Your knees hit the edge of the bed, and the hands in your waist guide you down in a fluid motion.

Your eyes flutter as wet kisses are peppered over your breasts.

“Come on princess, let me hear those pretty noises,” Eddie murmurs into your skin, his hot breath covering you in goosebumps.

A heady moan escapes you, almost on command. It would’ve embarrassed you if you still had the decency to care.

A trail of kisses and suddenly Eddie is thumbing at the waistband of your shorts. You nod fervently when his eyes suddenly trail up to find you, but that’s not enough for him.

“Come on, baby,” he teases, “tell me what you want.”

You throw your head back in frustration and want and Eddie takes this lapse in response to run his hand sloppily over your clothed core.

“So wet,” he murmured, “so pretty.”

You let out a desperate laugh at this and his eyes are back on you, expectantly and any resistant you have dissipates.

“Touch me, please,” you sigh, half plea, half demand.

It’s not a hard sell because your shorts and underwear are gone in a flash and cold rings are pulling your thighs wide open.

You reach out towards Eddie’s curls for purchase, gently tugging him closer to your core, hoping he’d get the message.

A moment of clarity cuts through your haze and suddenly you’re pulling him up by his hair, forcing eye contact.

“No one can know,” you insists.

He’s all half-lidded eyes and dazed smile when he’s looking at you.

Leaning in to grab his jaw in your palm, you pull him close. This is important.

“Eddie, no one can know. Promise me,” you repeat again.

He nods in agreement, even though his expression leads you to believe you could’ve asked anything in that moment and he would’ve readily acquiesced.

“No one can know,” he affirms before hitching your body closer with a harsh tug on your thighs and disappearing in between your legs, mouth latching hotly to where you need him the most.

***

EDDIE: We started sleeping together that night. A no strings attached type thing. We had to keep it a secret. She didn’t want to hurt Harrington’s feelings which I understood. He was a good guy and anyone could tell he was head over heels for her.

And she was just… well, I guess she was just afraid. We were kind of the same in that way. Couldn’t hold onto anything without crushing it into dust.

***

MAY 1st, 1984–STATEN ISLAND, NY—THE UPSIDE DOWN TOUR

Eddie’s hands are curled around your thighs, keeping your body balanced on the flimsy tour bus bathroom sink. His silver rings dig into the soft flesh of your thigh in a way that you are certain will leave bruises in their wake.

You have to be quiet, you know that. Even if the rest of the band had taken a quick pit stop between Philly and New York to explore the Staten Island Zoo and the likelihood of them coming back this early was low, it wasn’t non-existent . This left you stifling your own moans into the back of your hand as Eddie rocked into you languidly and delicious.

Your hand moved to steady itself behind you as he lets go of your left thigh and places the pad of his thumb on the soft flesh of your clit, causing you to forget nearly everything.

He seems to anticipate your next move though, because his mouth is quickly on yours, tongue gliding over your bottom lip and effectively keeping you quiet.

The angle of his hips meeting your core and his nimble fingers worked together to bring you closer to your release.

“I can feel it, baby, you’re close aren’t you?”

You nod feverishly, eyes screwed shut, “Yes, so good Eds. I’m gonna cum,” you manage to squeak out.

“C’mon pretty girl, look at me,” Eddie instructs firmly, but you can tell by the strain in his voice that he’s not too far behind, “wanna see you when you cum.”

You force your eyes open and he rewards you by pressing his unoccupied thumb into your bottom lip which you greedily take into your mouth.

Your release washes over you in a wave and you watch moments later as Eddie finds his own.

The two of you are left panting for a few moments as you try to steady yourselves. Once you find your bearings, you lower yourself from the sink and adjust the sundress that was so carelessly shucked to your hips and Eddie busies himself with disposing of the condom discreetly.

Turning to the bathroom mirror, you make an attempt at taming your haphazard hair and fixing your smudged lipstick before making a move for the door.

“Well, that was nice,” you offer before spilling into the tour bus’s common space.

“Wait,” Eddie cries out as he’s still adjusting his belt, “where are you going?”

You shrug nonchalantly in response but don’t turn around, “Back to the girls’ bus.”

“You don’t want to… you don’t want to stick around maybe? We could do some writing?” Eddie sounds out of breath when he asks but you chalk it up to the sex.

“Better not. It might look suspicious,” you explain as you take the stops down from the bus, two at a time.

“Right, wouldn’t want that,” Eddie squeaks out and you smile back at him, grateful for his understanding.

“See you later, Eds.”

Eddie doesn’t say anything back, but when you look back after having boarded your own bus, he’s still standing on the bottom step, eyes still on you.

***

EDDIE: Let’s get the record straight about something though, I didn’t steal her away from anyone. She is her own person first of all, not some thing to be stolen. And second of all, she came to me first. Not the other way around. And! She and Harrington weren’t even really seeing each other. So, other than the lying, it truthfully wasn’t that bad.

But then again, does the truth even matter? Especially now? After everything?

INTERVIEWER: It does to me and to you too, I think, otherwise you wouldn’t be here.

EDDIE: Has anyone ever told you you’re too smart for your own good?

***

MAY 3rd, 1984–NEW YORK CITY, NY—THE UPSIDE DOWN TOUR

It was easy, really, to keep your fling with Eddie a secret from the rest of the band. Most of them were barely paying attention to what you were doing anyway.

Nancy and Jonathan were once again preoccupied with waiting by the phone to hear from Jonathan’s mother, Joyce. Will’s condition had once again worsen and the two were on high alert.

Robin and Steve were busy sightseeing and pointedly only talking to you when necessary. They weren’t hostile, per se, (or at least, Steve wasn’t) but they also made a point to not invite you to their outing. You want to tell them to be wary of the paps since the city is crawling with them in a matter akin to cockroaches but you know better than to try to tell Robin what to do.

Argyle, for his part, is in his own world.

The two of you were essentially in the clear barring rehearsals, shows and any stray public appearance. Still, you couldn’t help but want to take precautions.

***

EDDIE: She would never sleep over. You know, after. She was too worried about what would happen if Steve or anyone else went looking for her.

It shouldn’t have bothered me as much as it did, she—we had made it very clear that this was a purely physical thing but, well, between you and me kid, I always knew it was never gonna be like that. At least not for me. I was in deep for way longer than I had realized.

***

Long, skilled fingers trace patterns along your naked spine. The movements are comforting, calming, you almost find yourself lulled to sleep. Except you know you shouldn’t—that you can’t.

Your eyes flutter open as you fight against the sleep that sets in. This isn’t your bed, you remind yourself, and you feel that in the brush of the sheets against your naked body that definitively do not feel like the sheets of your bed merely a few doors down. It’s a silly thought, truly, these sheets are probably the exact same as the ones on your bed and more so, you haven’t slept in your bed, a bed that is truly, strictly your own in years . Still, this does not feel quite right.

You will your body to stir, working actively against every nerve that is telling you not to move from the warm, comfortable haven you had found and the warm body next to you but you know better. This is a dance you’re familiar with: they ask you to stay but don’t really mean it and if they do it’s only to squeeze another quick fuck in.

“Why don’t you stay?” Eddie grumbles into your shoulder even though both of you already know the answer.

“What if someone comes looking for me, huh?” A question for a question, “it’ll be hard to explain to Hopper why I’m naked in your bed.”

“Bullshit. You’re one of the only ones Hopper doesn’t have to keep tabs on,” Eddie’s only partially playful in saying this.

“I miss my bed,” you rebut, plainly and the guitarist pouts in response.

“This is like the same bed, dude.”

“ ‘Dude’? You’ve been hanging out with Argyle way too much.”

“Whatever,” Eddie dismisses as his hand travels down along your spine to circle around the rise of your hip to the front of your body to pull you closer against his chest and you squeal.

His skilled fingers travel down to the apex of your legs and two of them swipe through your still-wet heat making you jolt. You’re still sensitive from earlier in the night and Eddie is using that to his advantage as he swipes over your clit.

You moan at the contact and your hips canter forward embarrassingly quickly.

“Don’t want to leave now, do you?” Eddie teases as he moves away from your clit to tease your entrance and you mewl in response. Before you know it a pair of lips are attached to your neck and two fingers are slowly, deliciously rocking in and out of your core. A hand moves up to grip Eddie by the hair as you moan.

“Just like that, please keep going.”

You feel Eddie’s length begin to harden against your back as his pace quickens and his thumb circles your clit bringing you closer to your third orgasm of the night.

“No fair,” you pant, as you feel a tightening in your lower stomach. “You can’t keep me around by giving me orgasms.”

He laughs at this, full-blown guffaws. “There’s no rule against it,” he says as his tongue slides over the shell of your ear. His fingers curl inside you and you gasp at the sudden pressure before succumbing to the feeling. Your release washes over you, unexpectedly and you cry out.

A few seconds reprieve give you a moment to come back to earth. You sigh contently feeling Eddie’s harden length against the swell of you ass.

It would be impolite to leave him hanging.

***

EDDIE: Not that I could complain about our arrangement.

***

You had fallen asleep. Accidentally, of course, but erroneously still. You realize this far too late as the harsh red numbers of the hotel room alarm clock blare at you angrily: 11:52 AM.

You scramble out of bed, covers flung in the process and you make a grab for your clothes that litter the floor. The sudden, frantic movement had inadvertently awoken the man sleeping next to you and you could hear the sleep in his voice as he tried to grasp the situation.

“Woah, woah where’s the fire, princess?”

“It’s nearly noon!” you respond, panic clear in your voice. “I accidentally fell asleep and now it’s almost noon!”

Your mind is overcome with worst case scenarios and conclusions that are easily jumped to as you imagine how this late morning can turn into your downfall.

Eddie tries valiantly to calm you down to no avail. You had done the one thing you said you never would: you stayed the night and now you didn’t know what to do with that other than panic and rush out the door half dressed and fully angered with yourself throwing a paltry goodbye to a very disoriented Eddie over your shoulder as you did so.

You try to fix your hair in the elevator along with your harried breath. Most of the band wake up late into the day, you try to remind yourself, especially after a night out.

It was not unusual to be walking the halls of your hotel room at this time, but you still felt overwhelmingly nervous walking back to your room in a way that you felt obviously gave away that you were coming back from a night of raunchy sex.

Your heart dropped to your stomach as the elevator doors slid open to reveal Steve Harrington waiting outside your door. This is what you were afraid of. Certainly one look at you and he’d know exactly what you were doing and probably with who and that would spell the end of the Downsides, you were sure of it.

You didn’t say anything as you exited the elevator and slowly made your way over, hoping to prolong the moment before everything came crumbling down as much as you could.

A few steps in and you had caught Steve’s attention. When he looked at you though, it wasn’t with anger or disappointment but with nerves.

***

STEVE: My parents moved around a lot after I left home. Indianapolis, Chicago, Phoenix in the winter and Bridgeport in the summer, you know, regular rich folks shit.

It’s not like I could ever go back home but when they heard the band was planning on making the stop they wanted me to visit them and they wanted me to bring my girlfriend to meet them. I hadn’t wanted to ask then, things were kind of awkward between the two of us, but they kept insisting. It’s like they didn’t believe I could’ve bagged a girl like her and they were willing to call me on it. So, I had no other choice but to ask.

***

You understood where Steve was coming from, truly, your own parents were rich and demanding. Plus, something about seeing your fake boyfriend waiting at your door after a night sleeping with someone else really made you susceptible to his request.

And really, there wasn’t a universe where you would say no to a request from Steve Harrington, so of course you were going to meet his parents.

***

MAY 6th, 1984–NEW YORK CITY, NY—30 ROCKEFELLER PLAZA

“So I heard you’re meeting the in-laws,” Eddie plops down in the makeup seat next to you

You’re backstage at The Nightly Show with Chris Palmer, getting ready for one of the few media appearances Hopper had managed to schedule during the band’s short stint in the city.

You can tell by the pinching between Eddie’s eyes and the snarl in his tone that he’s not in a good mood. You chock up his demeanor to the same thing that has dampened yours: the upcoming interview.

The lack of media appearances had been a welcomed change during the band’s time on the road and the adjustment back to them have been rocky. You, for one, are on edge at the idea of having to sit down with the smarmy, sexist, Chris Palmer who, on his late night show, had already taken a few swings at you for laughs and the thought of him having the chance to do so to your face, made you sick.

Which was why you barely responded to Eddie’s attempt t goading you and instead, shrug in response, tightly, “I guess.”

His eyes flit over you and his demeanor shift to one approximating concern. “Hey, you doing okay?” He moves closer, but not enough for it to be noticeable to anyone but you.

“Yeah,” you try to smile but it comes out a grimace, “just out of practice I guess.”

“Well, if it’s any consolation, I have an extra copy of Baldwin that I brought on accident if you want a distraction,” the book flashes in your periphery and this time your smile comes out genuine and unprompted.

While you can’t be one hundred percent certain, you’re familiar enough with the guitarist’s ways to know that this was no accident—he brought the book with you in mind.

You make a grab for it but have to keep yourself from leaning in for a hug at the risk of the others’ scrutiny and your makeup artist’s ire. Not knowing how else to communicate your appreciation, you give his shirt a quick—and hopefully discreet—tug. He seems to catch your drift because his fingers graze yours purposefully as you move your hand away.

The brief touch shoots electricity through you.

“Thanks,” you murmur before watching him jaunt away to his spot between Argyle and Jonathan, both of your moods seemingly lifted, if only for a moment.

You’re grateful for the distraction although it barely keeps your attention and instead end up thumbing through the pages anxiously to the chagrin of your makeup artist who is clearly relieved to pass you onto hair once the final touches of lipstick are applied.

You thank her profusely before moving next door where, to the surprise of exactly no one, you’re sat next to Steve. Or at least you think it’s Steve you’re sat next to given how little you can see through the thick mass of hairspray clouding the air.

“They don’t call me ‘The Hair’ for nothing, right?” He says when you catch his eye through the fumes.

His hair stylists laughs a little too hard for your taste and you can’t help but roll your eyes.

“I thought you hated that nickname,” you say, settling into your chair, ready to play your part as the doting girlfriend.

He shrugs nonchalantly, “there are worst things to be called.”

You scoff in response, your previous concerns regarding tonight’s host bubbling up again, “I am sure there are.”

Steve turns to you fully now, offering a charming apology to his stylist that leaves her a giggling puddle, and you can feel his eyes scanning you in assessment.

He suddenly reaches over to the vanity in front of him, “The vending machine in the hall is totally broke, it gave me four candy bars. Do you want one?”

You look over at the bars in his hand which he has fanned evenly and is waving as if they’re a wad of cash and you grab one out of his reach.

“These are my favorite,” you point out as you smooth a hand over the wrapper, remembering all the times you would raid the vending machines at venues or backstage before an interview for them.

“I know,” he says, impishly.

“Harrington, be straight with me, is the machine really broken or did you get me my favorite candy bar just to butter me up?”

He nods, self-satisfied, like a little kid happy to be caught doing something that they’ll know they’ll get away with. Your joint hairstylists coo in adoration at your dotting “boyfriend” and you can’t help but roll your eyes affectionately.

“You seem a bit nervous,” he explains, “and candy usually helps.”

You exhale a laugh at this and admit that he’s right, “candy usually does help,” before nibbling on the bar carefully for the sake of your lipstick.

“So, what’s up?” He asks after a beat, while the hairstylists are preoccupied cleaning their tools, “are you nervous about doing our thing again?”

He says the last part with an overly-dramatic eyebrow waggle and you giggle.

What do you mean?” You ask, avoiding his glance.

He almost rolls his eyes at this but catches himself, knowing better.

“You just seem off, like nervous almost? But not in the usual way you are nervous about interview, but like different. Normally you’re just nervous because you overthink it but now it’s like you’re dreading it.”

You snort at the way he saw right through you.

“It’s stupid but, Chris Palmer has made jokes about me in the past, you know, about my dating history and things like that and I’m not really looking forward to hearing what he has to say tonight,” you explain, bashfully.

“What do you mean? Do you and Chris know each other?”

“No,” you respond, shifting uncomfortably in your seat, “he just is, you know, one of those comedians who pokes fun at celebrities and he loves making fun of women who ‘get around’ or whatever and well, that was my reputation before you… and the band.”

You see realization dawn on Steve’s features, it’s almost like he doesn’t believe anyone could ever be mean to you. Realization quickly turns to anger.

“And you think he’ll make fun of you tonight in the same way? In front of everyone?”

You shrug at this, “maybe, he’s not exactly known for taking it easy on his guests, but I’m used to it, it’s annoying though.”

Steve shakes his head aggressively at your dismissal and bolts up from his char, “No, I’m going to go talk to Hopper or something, have him tell Palmer’s people he needs to cool it or we won’t perform.”

He’s marching down the hall now, purposeful and quick. You make a beeline after him running ahead to cut him off.

“Woah, hey, Steve, you do not need to do that.” The last thing you want is the band being labeled as difficult to work with this early on.

Standing in front of him with your hands flat on his chest, you suddenly become very aware of all the eyes peaking out of the different green rooms to watch the exchange curiously, band mates and crew alike.

Steve grabs one of your hands lightly in his and gives it a tepid squeeze.

“I’m sorry but I am not sitting up there tonight and listening to anyone say anything bad about you. That’s just not going to happen, okay? Please trust me, I won’t do anything crazy, I’ll just talk to Hopper and we’ll figure this out. I have your back, remember?”

You study his face as he says this and are caught up in the earnestness etched into every corner of it.

“Okay,” you finally say, softly and back away from his path, “thanks.”

And you watch him go.

***

STEVE: Hopper hadn’t known about the Palmer thing. He wouldn’t have booked us if he did. When I told him, he was pretty peeved and we immediately went to go talk to the stage manager—some smarmy guy whose name I don’t remember.

Told us essentially, that it was no use, that Palmer wrote his own material fresh before each show.

Well, after that, Hopper and I track down Palmer in his dressing room and, you know, we give him a shake down. Old school style. Like back when Hopper was on the force. … he did most of the shaking down, don’t get me wrong, I was definitely going to get in there, but he seemed to really enjoy it. Plus I had just gotten my hair done.

***

When Steve reappears in the green room half an hour later, Hopper is trailing him smiling giddily.

Coming up to your side, Steve wraps an arm around your shoulders and leans into your hair to murmur, “We took care of it.” The giant grin Hopper is sporting lets you know that they had and you exhale a sigh of relief, curling a hand against his bicep gratefully.

You spring back a few seconds later when you feel Eddie’s heavy gaze from the spot he occupied next to you, eyes boring into all the places your body is touching Steve’s.

You can sense Steve’s confusion at the lost contact but before anything else can be said or done, the stage manager appears to move escort the band to the sound stage saving you from having to navigate the complex social dynamic of interacting with your fake boyfriend who wants to be your real boyfriend and your band rival turned friend-with-benefits. Gratefully, you allow yourself to believe for the first time, that maybe luck would be on your side and tonight wouldn’t be so bad.

***

NANCY: Do I think Chris Palmer had a personal vendetta against her? No, not going into that night, anyway. I think he was just a misogynistic idiot who didn’t know what to do about a talented and beautiful woman who also did whatever she wanted. His mind couldn’t wrap around that.

That was true for a lot of men back then. And now too.

JONATHAN: It felt like Chris had a personal vendetta against her.

***

The first half of the interview went well enough.

The band was welcomed with great fanfare and everyone filed towards the couches in the center of the stage next to the large mahogany desk Chris sat behind. You and Steve were, of course, together at the forefront and you could hear the collective cooing when he helped you down the platform.

The interview started out mild, questions about the tour and being on the road. Thankfully, Steve took the helm for most of them with the band weighing in throughout.

To your surprise, Chris directs his next question to you and Eddie.

“You two are the newest additions to the band, how has the transition been coming from working as a solo artist and from a band of a whole different genre to the Downsides and what made you want to make the change?”

The question was surprisingly insightful which took you a second to process and come up with an answer that wasn’t “Well, Chris, we were forced to join The Downsides at the risk of our careers ending completely.”

Eddie beats you to it, “The royalty checks are better than they are when you’re in a metal band for one—“ it takes the audience a second to realize this is a joke, but when they do the laugh pays off— “but honestly, I like the stability. What they don’t tell you, kids, is that too much rock and roll can be bad for you.” He says this part directly to the camera with a devilish grin.

“What about you?” Chris turns to you once the laughter subside, “do you miss being a free agent?”

You ignore how pointed that feels and smile in response.

“Not at all, the band has been super welcoming and there’s something really rewarding about working together to make something great happen.”

“Don’t miss your old duet partners at all?” The host needles.

“No, not really. At the risk of sounding cheesy Chris, I think I found my forever duet partner,” you punctuate your response with a pointed smile at Steve.

The audience eats your response up but you can tell that Chris is not ready to let it go. Luckily for you, a well-timed commercial break saves you from further questioning.

When the cameras start rolling once more though and the segment is reintroduced, Chris flashes you a wolfish smile.

“So, does this mean you’ve settled down a bit more, now that you’re a one-duet partner type of gal?”

The question makes your throat run dry because you know that there’s another, much tricker question behind it.

“No, not at all. It’s nice to be a part of something,” you respond placidly.

Chris barely lets you finish before launching into, “well the press sure does miss writing about you! Did you know that, in the last year, you were one of the most mentioned stars on Subrosa, popping up a total of 65 times only rivaled by one Evelyn Hugo in 1967.”

You don’t really know what to say or where this is going but the feeling of dread in your stomach grows.

“In fact,” he continues, “why don’t we play a game that we cooked up with the help of your Subrosa mentions?”

Games were something Chris did with his guests pretty frequently and they varied in execution but in nature there was always something a bit embarrassing to them and tonight was no exception. But instead of going after the band as a whole, this game was targeted specifically at you .

It was a guessing game, “Simple enough,” Chris touted as his assistants bring out giant blown up headshots of various male celebrities, guess which of the men you had been involved with according to the media and which ones you hadn’t been. The joke of course was that you had been linked to all the men whose pictures had been provided.

The looks of shock on your bandmates’ faces perfectly countered the one of self-satisfaction painted on Chris’s smarmy face.

You felt Steve stiffen beside you, leg twitching as if he was getting ready to stand up and leave. Or punch Chris. Before he can, you place a stabilizing leg on his thigh and giving a squeeze. You didn’t want this to diverge into a fight and you refuse to let this vile man make a fool of you on live television.

“Well, this won’t do,” you smirk at Chris. “You only have half of my list out here, Chris! You’re missing quite a few other fellas. I thought you wanted to make this difficult.”

“Oh?” The host is clearly not expecting your response but has no choice to lean in since you clearly have the audience’s attention, “and who could we possibly be missing?”

“The crown prince of Monaco, for starters,” you respond, evenly, “and the entire Harlem Globetrotters ‘83 starting lineup—“ the crowd guffaws at your clear exaggeration, “—and most importantly, this guy,” you reach over to grab Steve’s chin and affectionately squeeze his face. At this, laughter turns into applause and from where you are sitting on the shared couch, you see Chris’s jaw tighten.

“Is there anyone who’s hasn’t made the list?” he cries, trying to turn the joke back on you.

“You, for starters,” you respond playfully, and then add before he can say anything, “but who knows? Maybe this band thing doesn’t work out and in a few years time I’ll become washed up and lower my standards and you and I can give it a shot.”

Before Chris can retort, Steve cuts in with an over-exaggerated, faux-jealous, “what about me?” That kicks off a jokey bit of banter between the three of you that takes the show all the way up to comercial.

***

NANCY: There was a second part to the game.

ROBIN: Yeah, that second thing was just mean. It was essentially the same premise as the first guessing game but instead of guessing different men she had been associated with, it was different nicknames she had been given by the media. They were not very nice names either, “Siren of the Strip”, “Heartbreak of Hollywood”, “Pop Music’s Maneater”, you get the gist.

Of course, like with the last “game” the joke was that it had been all is them.

***

The names had been a surprise. You didn’t know how to react and neither did your bandmates although you’re pretty sure you can feel the heat from Eddie’s glare from the other end of the set.

Still, you kept your cool and immediately admitted that all of them seemed familiar and instead turned the conversation into criticisms of each of the names, which was gaining too many laughs for Chris to try to stop it.

“See this one I don’t like at all,” you say, pointing to Malibu Minx that had been professionally printed on a giant poster board in newspaper font.

“Whys that?” The host asked wolfishly.

“Malibu Minx? Are you serious? Anyone with half a brain knows I’m from the Hills, not Malibu. Honestly, it’s a little insulting.”

“Come on, they can’t be that different,” Chris still plays along, even though your comment did not go where he wanted it to.

“Not at all! The Hills is where all the directors and actors live, Malibu is where divorced dads take their kids during their monthly weekend visits. It’s like, here on the east coast… well, I can’t think of an East Coast equivalent. Chris, help me out, where do you take your kids during your monthly visits?”

***

ROBIN: You should’ve seen his face when she said that.

NANCY: His first divorce had just gone public a few weeks prior. Guess it was still a sore spot. Not that he didn’t deserve it, he did, but he wasn’t used to his guests fighting back like that. The rest of the show was… tense and then after the show ended Palmer lost his cool.

STEVE: Honestly, I wanted to punch the guy since he brought out his stupid little games, but I was willing to leave things as they were that night, especially after she had put Palmer in his place, but we get backstage after the show and he starts yelling at her about having “embarrassed” him or something like he hadn’t essentially called her a bunch of names on live tv. Before any of us could even do anything though, Hopper had him pinned against the wall, saying stuff like “I thought we had come to an agreement about the jokes, Palmer.”

He gave him a good shake down, you know how intimidating Hopper can be. Plus Chris looked like he had never been in a fight in his life so he was shaking in his boots immediately. Security had to come to get Hopper off of him and we were all thrown out after that.

ROBIN: Yeah, we were never asked back after that not that we would’ve gone back.It was a shame for him, really, that 1984 episode of The Nightly Show with Chris Palmer was one of the most viewed episodes in the ten years he was on the air.

***

You return to your hotel room in the early hours of the morning, after having gone for celebratory drinks with Hopper and the rest of the band. Everyone had been thoroughly impressed with the way you had held your own against Chris and even previously-icy Robin seemed impressed and warmed by you.

You hadn’t had much of an opportunity to talk to Eddie throughout the night, something about the undecipherable expression he wore most of the night had left you curious and you couldn’t help but wonder if maybe hearing your entire history splayed out like that in front of him and the rest of the world had soured you and he no longer wants anything to do with you.

As you’re getting ready for bed, the ringing coming from the hotel phone jolts you.

“Hello?” You breathe out, harried and confused into the handset.

“Hey, I didn’t wake you did I?” Eddie’s concerned question statics over the line.

“No,” you respond, relief coloring your tone, “What’s going on?”

“Nothing, really, I was just thinking how hot it was when you told that dickbag off and I was wondering if you’d be up to me showing you that.”

“Showing me what, exactly?”

“Showing you how hot I think you are. If you’re up for it, of course?”

25 minutes later, with Eddie’s face buried messily in your pussy you’re near inching closer to release when you hear him muttering into the soft skin of your thigh while two of his skilled fingers begin pumping in an out of your tight heat.

“You know, if I didn’t know better, seeing you all hot and desperate to come on my fingers like this would make me think you are a minx.”

Hearing him call you that so low and growly, left you burning all over and you keen into his hands. Knowing his words had the intended effect, Eddie smirks into your thigh and speeds up his fingers.

“Only for you,” you respond once you can find your voice again.

Eddie give a low moan at this and in an instant he clamors up onto the bed and moves to replace his fingers with his dick.

“Say that again,” he challenges as he swipes his tip through your folds and you cry out.

“I’m a minx for you,” you nod along to what you’re saying, hoping that it makes him more eager to stop teasing and finally push inside you.

He does exactly as you hoped and pushes his hips into you hungrily, setting a punishing pace, “Only for me right?”

You nod along, fucked out and on the verge of coming agian, “Yes, only for you, Eddie.”

You don’t make it back to your hotel room that night either.

***

MAY 11TH, 1984–BRIDGEPORT, CT—THE UPSIDE DOWN TOUR

“Are you sure the’d still want to meet me?” You ask Steve one evening, brushing your hair standing in the doorway of the door that separated your hotel room from his.

“Yeah, of course! Why do you keep asking that? Wait… do you not want to meet them anymore? It’s okay if you don’t,” Steve is already trying to hide his disappointment.

“No,” you rush to correct as you follow the sound of his voice to the bathroom, “it’s not that at all it’s just that, well with all the Minx stuff in the news, I worry that maybe they won’t think I’m worthy of the Harrington brood or whatever.”

You’re of course referring to the drama that had followed the band’s appearance on the Chris Palmer show where Chris had given an interview to Subrosa after you had affectively embarrassed him on his own show calling the band talentless and you worthy of every bad name that the press could call you and more.

In response to the interview—and partially inspired by your encounter with Eddie following the interview— you had gotten the word ‘Minx’ embroidered on the back of your favorite suede jacket which you made sure to wear to all of your subsequent interviews and media appearances for the rest of the band’s time in New York.

“First of all,” Steve begins, rubbing shaving cream over his chin “neither of my parents would ever dream of reading a gossip magazine and even if they did, they hate Chris Palmer, always said he was too ‘blue’ whatever that means. Plus, historically, dinners with my parents haven’t been the most enjoyable affairs, so having you there would really mean a lot to me.”

You smile understandingly at him through the mirror and suddenly the whole domesticity of it all strikes you. In another life, the two of you could’ve simply been a couple discussing meeting one another’s parents in the bathroom of a shitty apartment the two of you shared.

The fantasy is interrupted abruptly by a bright cacophony of knocks at your door.

“That must be Eddie,” you explained, “he’s coming over to write.”

(He really was.)

With all the fucking the two of you had been doing, writing music had fallen to the wayside and as the end of the tour was insight and Murray’s quota of songs still not met, which meant you had to get writing.

You scramble over to your door and let Eddie in. He almost leans in for a kiss but catches himself when he notices the open door leading into Steve’s room where he is very much watching the interaction with prying eyes.

The two nod at each other in greeting. You linger in the middle between either sides the awkwardness tangible in the air. You look at Eddie’s urging eyes and then flash back to Steve whose puppy dog gaze and newly received information about his parents make you do something that is surprising even to yourself.

“Do you want to help us write, Steve?”

The situation is awkward at first, especially with the glares Eddie seems to shoot you and Steve’s shy insistence that he’s no good at writing music but eventually, after two bottles of wine, the tension subsides, at least a little.

Eddie and you had presented Steve with a few songs that were very close to done but just needed a bit more work on the melody hoping that maybe he had suggestions.

He scans over a song that Eddie had primarily written, “Wild Ride”. Steve had an idea for a rhythm that could match the song and before long, he and Eddie were fully invested, both of them bent over their guitars trying out the rhythm and shooting notes at each other. Arrangement was definitely not your strong suit, however, you were more than happy to watch the two guitarists work

Steve was fascinatingly somber when it came to writing. He would play the notes over and over again until he found what came next, treating the whole thing like a puzzle that needed to be solved and running his hands through his hair when he was particularly stuck on something. His eyes would close while he was thinking, his lashes fluttering on his cheeks and then blinking open prettily when he had finally thought of a solution.

Eddie was much less delicate and would play around with notes, sometimes scrapping what he had all together and starting new. He tucked a pen behind his ear and was constantly scribbling and crossing out. When he focused on playing, his tongue would stick out from the corner of his mouth a bit.

They worked well together, never talked over each other, and were always willing to listen to what the other had come up with. As Eddie would write notes down in his notebook, Steve would lean in really close, so they were almost cheek to cheek looking down at the paper together. It almost seemed like they’d forgotten you were there and you were too busy refining some lackluster choruses to notice.

Eventually, they hit a wall in their writing and more drinks were ordered through room service, and soon the three of you are sprawled across your bed, drinking French 75s and watching a late night marathon of “Night Court”.

“Hey Harrington, you excited to see your folks soon?” Eddie asks during a comercial break.

You turn to look and see Steve grimace at the question. You know Eddie means well in asking, but the question ruffles Steve nonetheless.

“Not really. We were never really close on account of them sending me away to boarding school when I was eleven and then when we were together my dad’s favorite pastime was criticizing me and my mom’s was drinking,” Steve says, finally, “seeing them once a year is probably the most I can stand, honestly.”

A beat of silence settles over the group before Eddie finally speaks.

“Sorry to hear that man. If it makes you feel better, my folks weren’t exactly parents of the year either,” Eddie responds.

“That sucks, I’m sorry.”

“Don’t worry about it, my uncle took me in. He’s a great guy. What about you, Princess? Were your parents the perfect image of love and support?”

You scoff. “Barely. I went back to their house right before the tour started, to get some of my things, and they thought I was breaking in and called the cops.”

“Well,” Eddie bristles, “looks like being a terrible parent can happen across all tax brackets, huh?”

“Yeah, we kinda got fucked over, a bit,” you say and the other two murmur in agreement.

The three of you stay silent for a bit, processing what had been shared and how to possibly move past such a heavy topic.

It’s Steve who finally breaks the silence, “Do you guys think Dan and Christine will ever get together?”

“Oh, yeah.” “Definitely.”

***

“This restaurant is obscenely nice,” you shift uncomfortable in your chair, taking in the surrounds and the unfamiliar unease of being somewhere where you felt out of place. Of course, you had grown up in fine dining establishments in California, but East Coast wealth seemed like a different beast entirely.

“Yeah, tell me about it,” Robin huffs next to you, “but what else can you expect from Stan and Carolyn? They’re obsessed with letting everyone know how rich they are.”

She of course, had the advantage of knowing Steve’s parents after over a decade of friendship and it made sense that Steve, wanting as much of a buffer between himself and his parents during this dinner, had invited her along as well. So far, she had only been a little hostile towards you which was a personal victory.

The two of you spot Steve entering the restaurant at the same time along with two middle-aged companions that, based off resemblance alone, you knew were his parents.

Steve’s father had the same starkly defined chin and nose as his son, but none his face didn’t turn up into a natural smile like his son. He stood stately and stern, eyes surveying the room with little interest. His wife, Steve’s mother, was made up of refined, delicate features offset by the bright eyes that were clearly passed on to her son. Her entire outfit was meticulously perfect in a way that almost seemed artificial.

Steve introduces you with fanfare and pride that you don’t consider yourself worthy of but you smile along anyway and graciously shake Mr. Harrington’s hand and exchange dotted cheek kisses with Mrs. Harrington.

You exchange niceties and think to yourself maybe they won’t be so bad.

“Stan, Carolyn, it’s so nice to see you again,” Robin grits out through a tight smile.

Carolyn pats her on the shoulder in response and says,, “Please dear, call us Mr. and Mrs. Harrington. We’re out in public after all.”

***

ROBIN: Yeah, Carolyn and Stan hated me. It was like they could smell the gay on me. Or the poor. From the moment Steve had invited me over to spend spring break with them in the Hamptons they did not like me. They despised the idea of their son’s best friend being some scholarship kid whose parents were public school teachers. However bad they were to me though, they were far worse to Steve, which is why I ever even bothered going to these lunches. I didn’t want him to have to suffer through them alone.

***

“Sorry we’re late,” Mr. Harrington drawls as the three of them take their seats at the table, “our idiotic son forgot to bring cash for the valet.” His statement is punctuated by a mirthless laugh and you can tell by the matching expressions on Steve and Robin’s faces and the way Mrs. Harrington makes a grab for the bottle of wine on the table that this level of disparagement is normal for the Harrington household. You remember the comment Steve had made a few nights ago about his father’s favorite pastime

“Don’t worry,” you respond with a smooth smile, “we’re so used to having drivers back in LA—“ a lie “—I can see why Steve forgot about valet. Although, I’m sure you both know what that’s like.”

Mr. Harrington stalled. Everyone at the table—including you—knew that the Harringtons were nowhere near wealthy enough to afford personal drivers but if there was one thing insecure men, like Stan Harrington would never do is admit that they couldn’t afford something.

You were familiar with these types of ego games from your youth, although you took no pleasure in them.

Your youth was spent tucked into your mothers skirts during luncheons and tea and fashion fittings, listening as the women would eviscerate each other with laser-edge precision. If there was anything your mother had taught you was how to sow the seeds of insecurity in someone and although it did not come naturally, you could make an exception for Stan Harrington.

***

ROBIN: It was easy to forget most of the time that she came from money but damn, the way she handled Stan that night made me think that some politician was missing out on having her as their cutthroat third wife. It was like watching an artist paint or someone do sleight of hand magic. He would say something mean about Steve and she would just turn it right back around on him but she would be smiling and batting her eyes the entire time. Even with that though, it wasn’t an easy lunch to get through.

***

“It’s so nice that Stevie was able to make something of himself through his little music,” Carolyn fawns. She means well, for the most part, but the four glasses of wine she’s downed during the last twenty minutes makes her words come out just a tad but demeaning.

Her husband sneers in response, “You say that now, Carolyn, but soon he’ll be back here asking for a spot in the firm.”

“Hopefully not too soon,” you giggle in response running a hand alongside Steve’s arm, “the studio wants us recording our second album as soon as we get back and then we’ll be touring again and we’ll need him for that.”

“But darling, you can’t possibly expect to do that for the rest of your life,” Mrs. Harrington sighs, “eventually the two of you will want to settle down and have children, live a normal life.”

“Well, yeah Mom, but that’ll be a long time down the road—“

“Making music is our life, we don’t want to ever stop—“

You and Steve halt your explanation once you realize what the other is saying. The two of you exchange blank, confused looks and it’s not until Robin says, “I’m sure that they’ll decide what their next move is when the time comes. We still have plenty of time.” That the two of you jolt back into the conversation.

“Right,” you add, “plus with the royalties deal we just secured on this new album, we will be pretty stable financially.”

The rest of the lunch is spent fielding Mr. Harrington’s questions about financials and Mrs. Harrington’s questions about grandchildren. It’s exhausting but the three of you come out mostly unscathed.

The five of you part ways outside of the restaurant, and not a moment too soon. The wave of relief that washes over the three of you once the Harringtons have been sent on their way in a taxi is palpable.

You and Robin offer to buy Steve a drink for having survived the lunch and Steve offers to buy the two of you a drink as a thank you for playing roles in that. Soon, one drink each turns into multiple rounds of drinks spent recounting all the agonizing points of the lunch.

This leaves the three of you stumbling into your hotel in the early hours of the evening, completely and utterly drunk. You ride the elevator together, a mess of laughter and then bid goodbye to one another in front of Robin’s door. She’s ready to sleep off the drinking and you do not blame her.

This leaves you and Steve to stumble back to your joint rooms together.

“You know, seeing you today having dinner with my parents and my best friend almost made the whole thing feel real,” Steve says lowly, standing in your doorway.

“Steve don’t,” you plea softly.

“I just don’t get it,” he cries in response, “we would be so good together. We are good together: we have so much in common and we just make sense, everyone thinks so except for you. Just… tell me why wouldn’t you give us a shot?”

You’re in your room now, perched on the edge of the bed , teary eyes focused on everything in the room other than the man who stands in front of you.

“Steve that’s not fair. It’s just never going to work, why can’t you accept that?”

“Because I’m in love with you,” Steve blurts out, “and I know I may not be your first choice, but if you give me a chance I will prove that I’m good enough—“

“Steve, stop please don’t say that, you’re plenty good enough for anyone,” you stand now, to face him.

“Just not you,” he says devastated.

“No, listen, it’s not like that. I just, I don’t know if I can be with someone in the way that you want me to, okay? You want someone to eventually settle down with and I’m not that girl. I’m the fucking Minx for God’s sake not someone’s future wife. In another life maybe, we could’ve made each other very happy, who knows? But in this one, I can’t be what you want.”

The two of you stand there in silence for what feels like an eternity. Finally, Steve moves, walking past you to sit in your vanity chair.

“Is there someone else you have feelings for?” He asks, timidly.

“No, no,” you insist. “I told you, I don’t do that.”

He laughs mirthlessly in response, “I think you’re wrong about that. I think you’ll find someone, maybe not now or in a year or in five years, but eventually you will find someone and they will make you want to try and you will love them and I will have to watch you fall in love with them and we will both realize I was just not worth it.”

PLAY NEXT TRACK🎤

Taglist: @rexorangecouny , @persophonekarter @mystargirl-interlude @brinleighsstuff @thegaysaretired @nothing2-see @harrysvirgogf @Prior-antidote @stardustofyesterday @buckleyverse

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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.

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