El was completely passed out, her head nestled against Mike's shoulder. They lay curled up beneath a blanket, wedged between Dustin on one side and Lucas and Max on the other. Mike was drifting in and out of consciousness, waking each time to check on El and gently adjust her pillow. He ran a gentle hand through her hair.

"It was incredible," Jonathan murmured. He sat by Nancy, gripping her hand tightly and laying across her legs. She rubbed her thumb in a soft, circular motion on his hand, urging him to continue. "One moment, the room was quiet, and the next, the door was blasted in and both Aleksandr and Nataliya were on the ground, completely knocked out."

Nancy smiled. "I'm sure it was amazing. I'm just happy you're alive and safe."

They were all crashed at Steve's place, whose parents were out on a week-long cruise in the Bahamas. Calls had been made to all parents, who thought their kids were each at a different friend's house.

It was almost four in the morning. Steve and Robin were in the other room, talking with low voices and hushed concern. Nancy had tried her best to fall asleep, but every time she started to drift, sudden images of Jonathan being dragged away shot through her mind. Each time, she had to wake up and squeeze his hand or stroke her thumb across his cheek.

El's screams still echoed in her head, as well. She didn't know the younger girl that well, but imagining any fourteen year old subjected to the amount of pain that she had was unbearable.

"Hey, Nance?" came a quiet voice from the kitchen.

She looked up to see Steve, leaning against the doorway. He glared at the floor, his gaze hard and unmoving. "I'm glad we got them back safely," he said. "It was close."

"Yeah. It was," Nancy replied.

Steve let out a sigh, then looked down at Jonathan, who had closed his eyes and was apparently fast asleep. Then he turned around and walked back towards the kitchen.

She looked up. "Steve?"

He faced her.

She offered him a small smile. "Thanks," she said.

He hesitated, then gave her a slight head nod as he retreated to continue talking with Robin.

"Are you guys cool?" Jonathan murmured, sending a quick shock through Nancy's body. She looked down at him, rolling her eyes at the smirk on his face.

"You shouldn't be pretending to sleep just so you can eavesdrop," she reprimanded with a small chuckle. Then she shook her head. "I don't know. I think so. We haven't talked much since...well, since last year."

"Right."

Nancy leaned her head back. "Two years ago, you know what I was doing? I was stressing about a Chemistry test. And whether or not Steve would like my new dress. It all seemed to critical."

"Now you're running from Communist Russians. I get it. I was just working extra shifts at the General Store," Jonathan said. "That and photography. Sometimes I would take a break from brooding and make a mixtape."

Nancy grinned. "Now you're running from the Russian government with Nancy 'the Slut' Wheeler."

"Hey," came Steve's voice from the kitchen. "I heard that. And I'm sorry. For the three hundredth time." Robin's laugh echoed his comment.

Jonathan and Nancy looked at each other, then giggled. As they stared at each other, faces bright for the first time in a long time, Nancy examined every crinkle, every inch of Jonathan's face that she had grown to love so much.

She lay down next to him on the couch, entwining her arms around his neck, breathing in his familiar scent. "You should get some sleep," she whispered. "You're probably exhausted."

"You know, I haven't been sleeping well," Jonathan admitted. "Not since we left Hawkins. Whenever I get into bed, it's just...it feels empty. I can't manage to drift off."

Smiling, Nancy said, "Well now you've got me here. And I'm not leaving until you actually go to sleep." She nestled her head right in between his shoulder and his cheek, feeling his breathing against her hand on his chest.

Soon, both were fast asleep, content for the first time in a long time.

Steve watched from the entrance to the kitchen. The dish rag was back on his shoulder, hanging limply and lifelessly. His face was shadowy, his eyes seeming to glaze over as he stared at the two of them, happy and blissful in their sleep. Something stirred inside him, nasty and miserable.

Robin came up and stood next to him. She put a hand on his shoulder, the other on her hip. "Don't worry about it, dingus," she said. "They're happy. And soon you will be, too. I'm sure of it."

Nodding, Steve turned around. "I guess so. Maybe. I'm not so sure anymore."

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First of all, cute Jonathan and Nancy. As always. I've kind of started to focus more on them because I figure that Mike and Eleven are so popular that they get enough attention (but there will still be a lot of them in this story, don't worry). Second of all, I feel like I shouldn't have to say this, but Robin and Steve are also going to be strictly platonic. We love a good supportive LGBTQ+ ally. Anyway thanks for reading yet another chapter! If you could leave a review to let me know what you like, that would be so amazing!