It was January 1984, Eleven had just returned. Nancy was happy for the girl, and even more so for her brother, but she was terrified that the monster might follow El back into existence any day now. She wasn't present for their disappearance, but Mike had recounted the events to her multiple times.
El pinned the beast to the wall and in destroying it she had vanished as well. But now that Eleven was back Nancy was worried what that meant for the Demogorgon...
"Don't you think it might still be out there?" She asked Steve while curling up next to him in her bed.
"No way. Whatever that thing was... Wherever it came from... I don't think it's coming back." He sounded so sure. But it did little to ease Nancy's concern.
"I didn't think that Eleven would come back either though." She told him. "I thought she was gone for good and she just showed up a few nights ago..."
"That doesn't mean that monster is going to come back. You're worrying about nothing."
"You're probably right."
"I'm definitely right." He smiled at her. He had a nice smile, and incredible hair... But something about the way he dismissed her fears bothered her.
...
The next morning Nancy woke from the sound of her bedroom window sliding open. As she sat up in bed, Steve turned around to see her rubbing her eyes. He walked back to the bed and gave her a kiss.
"Morning." He said.
"Were you going to leave without saying goodbye?" She asked.
"I didn't want to wake you. You're so beautiful when you're sleeping."
Nancy remembered something Jonathan said to her when she asked him why he'd taken her picture.
People don't say what they're really thinking. But if you capture the right moment... It says more.
She got the feeling Steve wasn't saying what he was thinking. Most of the time he told Nancy she was beautiful she got that feeling. Like he was deflecting, or just saying what he thought she wanted to hear.
"Where were you going?" Nancy asked.
"Just headed home so my parents don't freak out when they find my room empty." He kissed her again. "Also so that your parents don't freak out when they find out a boy spent the night in your room." She smiled. "I'll come back later, we can hang out today."
They said their goodbyes as Steve stealthily vaulted over the window sill onto the roof, and hopped down onto the Wheeler's front lawn. Nancy watched from the window as Steve jogged to the other end of the cul-de-sac and got in his BMW which was parked on the side of the road. He cranked the engine on and waved goodbye before pulling away and rounding the corner.
Nancy neglected to tell Steve about the nightmare she had that night. She decided to tell someone else instead.
...
"Donald called me in for an extra shift this weekend." Joyce said as she pulled on her coat and picked up her keys. "Is Will up yet?" She asked on her way out the door.
"No, I'll wake him up when breakfast is ready." Jonathan said. He flipped a large pancake and barely catght it back in the pan.
"Ok, well have a good day. I'll be back before dinner." She said closing the door behind her and walking to her car. Jonathan could still hear the engine of her Ford Pinto pulling out of the driveway when the phone rang.
He turned the heat on the stove down and momentarily abandoned his pancakes.
He lifted the cordless phone from the dock. "Hello?"
"Jonathan?"
"Yeah... Nancy?"
"Yes. Can we talk?" She sounded nervous, almost scared.
"Uh, yeah sure. What's up?"
"Can I... Could you just come over here?"
Jonathan grew more concerned. "Um... I'm making breakfast, can you come to my house?"
"I don't have a car..." She reminded him.
"I'll come pick you up." He offered.
"Ok."
"Alright, see you soon." Jonathan hung up the phone, turned the burner off completely, and picked his keys up off the counter. He shut the door behind him and walked with a sense of urgency. He didn't know what it was, but there was something wrong in Nancy's voice.
He got in his car and drove along the Byers' long driveway. He drove through the woods past Hawkins Lab. He drove past Dustin's house, and Lucas's.
The front door opened when he started pulling into the Wheeler's driveway. He leaned over to open the door and Nancy walked quickly to the passenger seat.
"Thanks." She said as she sat down and pulled the creaky old car door shut.
"No problem... Are you alright?" He backed out of the driveway and drove back home.
"I think so it's just... Well you know how Eleven showed up Thursday night?"
He nodded, taking his eyes off the road for a second to study her expression.
"Well I can't help thinking about that thing... If she could find her way back, what's stopping it from doing the same."
"I'd be lying if I told you I haven't thought about that too." He admitted.
Relief filled Nancy, somehow she knew Jonathan would understand. "Thank you. Steve thinks I'm being paranoid... But it could come back couldn't it?"
"I don't know..." He said.
It wasn't quite the comforting words she wanted to hear, but he was honest. Jonathan had always been honest with her, it was one of the things she liked best about him. They pulled into his driveway and the car came to a stop infront of the modest building.
They left the car and Jonathan held the door for his friend, his best friend, his only friend really... Nancy and Steve had tried to include him, the other kids at school were hard to be around for all of them since they fought a monster together, but he still didn't get along too well with Steve. It wasn't his fault, he didn't even dislike Steve, but something about his hair and the way he talked and the car he drove and everything about him just didn't sit right with Jonathan. To put it simply, Jonathan saw through Steve's bullshit.
"Want a pancake?" He asked turning the knob on the stove back to medium heat.
"Please." Nancy said taking a seat at the dining table.
"So what's going on with you? Besides the fear of a possible impending monster attack." Jonathan said. "I know we haven't spent as much time together as we used to. How's Steve?"
"He's good... I think."
"How are you?" He asked taking his eyes off the pan and meeting Nancy's, clearly more interested in her answer to this question.
"I'm... I'm ok. I had a nightmare..." Nancy said.
"I'm sorry." Jonathan opened a cabinet, removed a plate, and set it on the table infront of Nancy. He slid the pancake onto the plate. "Was it about the monster?"
Nancy nodded. "Steve he... It's like he isn't worried about it coming back. But whenever I close my eyes I see it. I know it's coming back. I feel it."
Jonathan rubbed his hand through the hair on the back of his head, contemplating the right thing to say next. He poured more batter into the pan. "Even if it seems like he's not taking this as seriously as he should, Steve really cares about you..."
"You're taking me seriously. You care about me too..." She said watching him carefully.
Jonathan's face grew warm. "I do..."
"I care about you too." Nancy said standing. She took a step towards him. "Sometimes I think..." Her gaze drifted to his chest, she gulped, finding the courage to say what she was thinking. "I think I chose the wrong person." She said, her eyes meeting his again. Now they were both blushing. She stepped toward him again.
Jonathan's heart was pounding, her eyes closed and she leaned in. Before he knew exactly what was happening, Jonathan was having his first kiss. Nancy's lips were soft and warm. He had thought kissing was silly, he didn't really understand why people did it. Because it was what you were supposed to do with someone you liked? Because you felt like sharing your germs or spit? Now he understood, it was more than pressing your lips against someone else's, there was something almost magical about it. He realized his eyes were wide open in surprise and decided it would be best to close them as Nancy had. He was filled with an overwhelming urge to hold her, to protect her, to be there when she was scared or sad or angry and needed someone to talk with. It was the feeling he had when he pulled her out of that tree in the woods between his house and Steve's, the night he stayed in her room and slept in her bed, the night he fell in love.
When they pulled apart the urge was overshadowed by guilt. "I'm sorry." He said.
"Sorry... Why?" Nancy smiled at him.
"You... Have a boyfriend." He turned back to the pan, the pancake was burning slightly so he flipped it.
"But I-"
"I'm not going to come between you again..." Jonathan interrupted.
"You're not coming between us... This is my choice." Nancy said turning him around. She reached her hands to his cheeks and took his head in her palms. She tilted his head ever so slightly, and tilted her own the opposite direction, pulling him into another kiss.
Jonathan pulled away. "Nancy... You like Steve."
"I like him... I don't love him." She said.
Was she was implying what he thought she was? "Nancy. You're confused. You just think you want what you can't have. You're sabotaging your healthy relationship with a guy who you care about, because the grass could always be greener. But trust me, my grass isnt half as nice as Steve Harrington's."
A tear rolled down her cheek. "Are you finished?" She asked. Jonathan just watched her, it looked like he was fighting back tears too. "I'm not confused. I know what I want, and I want you. Your 'grass' is greener, but you're too much of a social outcast with shit self-esteem to realize you're worthy of love. You're kinder, more empathetic, more honest, smarter, a better listener, and a better person... Than anyone I know... And I love you... I love you Jonathan Byers..."
Jonathan was stunned. There was a steady tone in her voice that told him she meant all of it. And he believed her. "I love you too... I've loved you since that day in the woods."
She smiled, still crying. She pulled him into another kiss, longer, deeper. He wrapped his arms around her waist and held her thin frame against his body. She held his neck tightly kissing him again and again.
"Woah..." Will said from the edge of the hallway.
Nancy pulled away from Jonathan and wiped tears from her face, they both looked at the younger boy. He yawned and then walked to the table, taking a seat where Nancy had just been sitting. "Is this for me?" Will asked no longer looking at Nancy and his brother, instead his gaze was trained on the pancake on the table
"Uh, sure." Jonathan said. "Want two?"
Will grinned. "Ok." He said.
Jonathan held the pan upsidedown over the plate. The slightly burnt pancake fell onto the other one.
"How about some eggs?" Jonathan offered.
"Pancakes are good." Will said. "Where's mom?"
"She got called in to cover someone's shift." He explained.
Will nodded, pouring maple syrup over his steaming plate.
Nancy started to ask, "Did you see-"
"You two kissing? Yeah I saw." Will said taking a bite of pancake. "It's about time."
Nancy giggled. "Yeah, I guess so."
Jonathan cooked two more pancakes and he and Nancy joined Will at the table.
...
*Knock Knock*
The Wheeler's door opened. "Steve!" Karen said. She looked around behind him, a puzzled look forming on her face. "Where's Nancy?"
Now Steve shared her look of confusion. "She's not here?"
"I thought she was with you..." Now she looked concerned. "She left pretty early this morning. Before breakfast."
"Really? Did she say where she was going?" Steve asked.
"Just out. I assumed..." Karen trailed off.
"Ok well when she's gets home will you have her call me?" Steve walked back to his car.
"Ok I'll... I'll do that." Karen closed the door.
...
"Thanks for breakfast." Will said standing. "I'm going to play some D&D." He rinsed his plate in the sink and said bye to Nancy and his brother. When he was gone Jonathan took his and Nancy's plates to the sink. She got up and followed him.
She hugged him from behind and whispered in his ear. "Now what?"
Jonathan felt goosebumps on his arms and the back of his neck. "I don't know." He said turning around.
"Well I have an idea or two..." Nancy said placing her hands on his chest. She kissed him again. He put his hands on her hips. Nancy's hands drifted. She ran her fingers over his sides and his surprisingly firm stomach. She felt his back and crept her hands down, grabbing a handful of his butt.
Jonathan pulled back. "Wait..." He said. Nancy looked disappointed. "Have you talked to Steve yet?"
"No." Nancy said taking a step back and looking at the floor. "Not yet."
"Well... I don't think we should kiss... Or do anything else... Until you do." Jonathan said. Nancy laughed. "What?"
"You're just so different..." She said embracing him again. "And you're right. I'll tell him today." She was nervous, but she knew it was the right thing to do.
