It was a cloudy November day when Nancy and Mike piled into the car with their things and began the three hour drive to Smarton, Michigan.

Mike was standing at the edge of the street, right in front of his school, when Nancy pulled up and honked her horn. Rolling down the window, she yelled, "Hurry and get in, I had a late dismissal."

Dragging his backpack and duffel bag, Mike scrambled over to the car. "Took you long enough," he said, "This bag is heavy."

"What did you pack, bricks?" Nancy accused, heaving both bags into the backseat. "You know we're only there for two nights, right? I don't think you're going to need anything more than a couple changes of clothes. Maybe your toothbrush."

Mike shook his head. "You never know."

Nancy rolled her eyes. "Whatever." She reached into her pockets and pulled out fifty dollars. "This," she said sharply, "is all that I'm giving you. It covers lunch for both Saturday and Sunday and dinner for tomorrow night. If you have any extra, it comes back to me. And I expect to be paid back in full."

"You got it," Mike agreed, shoving the cash in his pocket. He leaned back into the back seat and began rifling through the bags. "What sorts of stuff did you bring?"

"Don't look in my stuff, creepo," Nancy said, grabbing his shirt and yanking him away. "And put your seatbelt on, I don't want you getting hurt."

Mike smiled teasingly up at her. "Aw, you do care about me," he said sweetly.

Nancy clicked her tongue. "No, I just don't want either of us to end up in the hospital. Because then parents are called. And if we weren't already dead, mom and dad would kill us."

This seemed to satisfy Mike. He leaned back in his seat and began to hum along to the radio. He's just a poor boy from a poor family; spare him his life from this monstrosity.

"Wow," he mused. "Our life is crazy."

Nancy raised an eyebrow. "Uh, yeah, kind of an understatement."

Mike continued. "I mean think about it. Two years ago we were just normal kids. I was playing Dungeons and Dragons with Dustin, Lucas, and Will. You were dating Steve and doing boring teenager stuff. Now we're experienced monster hunters, I'm dating a girl with superpowers from a secret government facility, and you're dating...Jonathan Byers. That might be the craziest part of all."

"Haha. You're hilarious, Mike."

He frowned suddenly. "Hey, what's the date today?"

"November 5th," Nancye replied. "Why?"

Blowing the hair out of his face, Mike sank further into his seat. "Tomorrow is the two year anniversary of Will's disappearance," he said solemnly. "I hope he's doing alright."

"I'm sure he's doing fine," Nancy reassured. "He's with Joyce, after all. I think that's what matters."

They were quiet for a few minutes, each preoccupied with their own thoughts. The Indiana countryside zoomed by, each mile reminding the Wheelers what exactly they were headed towards. Nancy felt a smile began to grow on her face.

"So, Mike," she said finally. "We haven't talked about you and El at all. Ever. Not since that night at the school when we fought the demogorgon. You told me you didn't like her. Was that a flat out lie?"

"We really don't have to talk about this now. Or ever," Mike said awkwardly, turning a brilliant shade of pink.

Nancy laughed. "So you get to poke and prod into my dating life but I can't even ask a simple question? What kind of world do you live in?"

"I didn't poke and prod," Mike argued.

"You used it for blackmail against me," Nancy said flatly. "I'd say that I get to ask you any damn questions I want."

"Fine," Mike groaned, "yes, it was a lie. Right after I told you that I kissed her and asked her to go to the Snowball Dance with me. But then she got blasted into another dimension and after that she was kept under lock and key by Hopper, so we didn't really get a chance to go through with anything until the next year."

Nancy's expression melted into a smile. "That's adorable," she said happily. "I can't believe you didn't tell me about that."

"Yeah, well, you lied to me, too," Mike defended. "Remember? I asked if you liked Jonathan and you were all like, 'Uh...no, he's just a friend, I don't like him like that, I'm a big liar and a hypocrite for criticizing my brother about not telling me about his love life.' Remember that?"

"I don't think those were my exact words," Nancy said with an eye roll. "And what are you talking about? I told the whole family once I started dating Jonathan."

"Apparently, I'm not a part of your family, because you want to know how I found out? Will called me and said he caught you guys making out in front of their house. Do you know how scarring that was for him and also for me?"

"Wow, alright," Nancy said, "I didn't realize how touchy you were about this."

"Where are we going, again?" Mike asked, swerving away from the line of conversation they were headed down. "You've told me jack shit about this plan other than we're meeting them halfway in between."

"First of all, language. Second of all, it's this town called Smarton in very southern Michigan," Nancy informed. "We're staying at Snowy Inn."

Mike stared out the front window. "Are you and I going to be in a room together?"

"Yeah, it's the first time I'll be seeing my boyfriend in a month and I'm going to share a room with my little brother. What do you think, genius?" Nancy asked. "Jonathan and I are going to stay in one room, and you and El are going to be right next to us. With a double. Don't get any ideas, alright?"

"Hypocrite," Mike repeated.

"Hey, I'm the one paying for all this, so I get to do whatever I want, got it?" Nancy said sharply. "Besides, you're fourteen."

"Whatever," grumbled Mike, leaning back into his seat as they hurtled down the highway.

0

0

0

YES I LOVE MIKE AND NANCY WHEELER. A lot of this was honestly stuff my own little brother and I would say to each other haha. They are so, so fun to write about! And I'm very excited to finally have a reuniting of the kiddos in the upcoming chapters! Thanks to everybody who's followed, favorited, or reviewed!