A/N: Hey everyone! Thanks for checking out my story. :) I recently marathoned all 3 seasons of Stranger Things in about 2.5 days and I just can't keep my mind off of it... I can't believe it took me so long to finally watch, but I'm here now and I guess I have no choice but to stan! Over the course of the series, I felt a strong draw toward all of the older teen characters but mostly to Jonathan and Nancy. They're just so cute together, but it seems to me like most of the fandom is kind of indifferent to them... I guess I kinda understand because after they became official, they kinda did more stuff in the background, but it still makes me a little sad. There aren't too many fan works out there centring around Jancy, so I decided I would just make my own and hopefully others might too! Jancy fans, now that we're all trapped inside the house and season 4 is postponed, let's do something with our time. Whatever cool artistic thing you do, keep doing it, but make it Jancy please! LOL

I should probably mention that even though this story is intended to take place after the events of the main story, Stranger Things hasn't actually ended so I'm making a lot of guesses about the resolution of season 4 (and... maybe another few seasons?). I'm going to try not to go into too much of the canon lore so that maybe this fic will still be enjoyable even if it ends up contradicting canon by accident... That said, all ships that are canon as of season 3 or foreseeable into season 4 are included here.

I'm posting this on a few different websites (FFN, AO3, Wattpad, Deviantart... probably under the same username) partially because I'd like to get as much feedback as I can and partially because there will be a little bit of reader participation in this story which you can find details for in the author's note at the end of this chapter. Please leave your feedback as it's super helpful and I hope that you enjoy!

Friday, May 15, 1987

Robin sighed as she stared at the pine-tree shaped air freshener hanging from the rear-view mirror of her beat-up old red Toyota. Over the past week, she had deduced that Steve was the one who normally went on these rushed and secretive outings, but today Keith had him re-stocking shelves. That meant he would be sorting through the pile of miscellaneous returned rentals that had been left there backed up for way too long which meant that he would be taking a later lunch break than usual and that of course meant that Nancy had no choice but to ask Robin for help.

Even as she sat there in her car, Robin didn't buy their excuse. Their mutual friend did most of the talking in hushed whispers while Keith threw suspicious glances at them occasionally from over the shelves. Supposedly, it was something about a PMS related emergency. Robin was cool, Steve had tried to assure Nancy beforehand over the phone. If they had shared the truth with her instead, she wouldn't tell anyone and she wouldn't think it was too crazy to be trying this yet again after having done it three times already... But she just couldn't bring herself to allow him to tell her the real reason why she needed a ride. That was Nancy for you. She just had to be absolutely sure before she could to any conclusion, whether the matter was her own issue or the judgment of one's character. Her private information was something she kept in a vault for which herself and her most trusted confidants had the key and Robin just hadn't reached that stage yet. Nothing against her, of course. Robin seemed nice, but the two of them really only knew each other through their mutual friendship with Steve. Sharing something like this with an acquaintance just felt so... awkward.

She still couldn't figure out why Nancy hadn't just asked her boyfriend to drive her (surely, he was well acquainted with her hygiene products considering they'd been living together for a while), but after getting over the weirdness of it all, Robin found that she actually didn't mind running this little secret errand for her friend-of-a-friend so she refrained from asking. Robin loved her breaks with Steve and she wasn't exactly looking forward to eating lunch without her bestie. Who else would lament with her about the single life? Sing their favourite bands out loud without a care in the world about who heard their awful karaoke? Hook her up with her fix of the Devil's lettuce and laugh about absolutely nothing while only getting high enough to last the lunch hour? Nobody other than her boy, Steven J. Harrington, of course! But today, Steve was too busy for that, so this new mission would have to fill up her hijinks quota for the day. The whole mystery convenience store run sounded kinda fun at first, but now, 20 minutes after arrival, she had officially finished her sandwich and heard Englishman in New York on the radio rotation twice. Parked in front of a convenience store that was a little out-of-the-way compared to the one where Joyce Byers used to work (why didn't they just go there?), Robin sat and absently watched a gaggle of stay-at-home moms out with their pre-school aged tots in the park. Not exactly her idea of entertainment. Robin could hardly imagine that being her life, but hey, it floats some people's boats. Still, she was bored. She was more than bored. She was bored out of her mind. She should have been high as a kite and messing up Steve's stupidly perfect hair that always seemed to fall right into place right now. What was taking Nancy so long? It didn't take 20 minutes to grab some tampons and Midol, maybe even a chocolate bar. Even if she had decided to use the store's tiny ladies room, she should have been back by now.

Suddenly, the passenger door swung open and the car bounced slightly as another person entered. Speak of the Devil... thought Robin. "Hey."

"Hey," Nancy replied, not even glancing up and instead looking intently at the glove compartment as if it were about to come alive.

Suddenly, looking at the expression on Nancy's face felt uncomfortable. It held a strangely high amount of concern given the supposed situation. Suspiciously, Robin noticed her passenger had no shopping bags with her either. She could only venture a guess. "Did they... not have your brand?"

Nancy's rouged lips curled into a not-so-convincing smile as she tried to choose the briefest answer possible. "Oh no, I, um. You know, cramps."

Robin inhaled and nodded. "Ah, that sucks."

The two of them sat in awkward silence for a beat before Nancy suddenly took her purse again and reached for the car door as if she were going to make a break for it.

"What are you doing?" asked Robin.

The brunette had to think fast. "You know, I think I forgot something. Jonathan wanted me to pick up something for him. Do you mind waiting a little longer?"

"I mean, yeah. That's cool," Kinda... Robin didn't want to pry, but Nancy's bizarre behaviour made it so hard for her not to ask. "You look a little flustered."

Shit. The other woman's smile became tighter as she tried to wave the accusation away, one heeled pump already outside of the door. The lying that she had had to perfect in high school was less effective right now for some odd reason. That combined with the fact that Robin was so very observant made this especially difficult. "No, no, I'm fine. I'm just really crampy right now. Don't worry about it."

Nancy stepped out of the vehicle entirely, handling her handbag rather roughly in her rush. "I'll be back in a minute."

Robin sighed back into her seat as she watched the brunette hastily make her way back into the store, her purple dress swishing behind her. She was contemplating whether or not she would really have to wait here for another 20 minutes until she saw it. Her brain couldn't even register what it was at first as she leaned over the pick the thing up off the floorboard. Whatever it was, it wasn't her's. It must have fallen out of Nancy's purse when she grabbed it so suddenly. Robin stared at the thing in her hand and when she finally realized what it was that she was holding, everything finally clicked into place. Realizing now why this whole trip had been so weird, Robin grabbed a tissue from the box up front and laid the thing down on top of it and that on top of the arm rest. Just then, Nancy exited the little store, face slightly flushed after interacting with the same nosy cashier yet again (why didn't he just mind his own goddamn business?), and marched toward the car. She re-entered the vehicle in a huff which she quickly tried to mask, but she wasn't quite fast enough for the blonde's hawk-like eyes. "I got it. We can go now."

"Uh," Robin pointed at the thing between them awkwardly. "You dropped something before you left."

Nancy looked from Robin to the thing on the tissue and paused. Suddenly, she regretted not throwing the damn thing away in the trash. She had meant for it to be the last one, the one she would finally show to Jonathan at home later when she confessed the real reason why she had been missing lunch with him, but she just couldn't accept it. Usually, Nancy was quite good at accepting the truth, even if it was disastrous. She was used to it by now after everything that had happened in her life. But something about this was just different. This had nothing to do with scary monsters or the existence of some terrible alternate dimension or some shady group of people trying to exploit it for their own gain. This was something more personal. She had learned over the years to face impossible challenges head on, things that only existed in Lovecraft's worst nightmares, but somehow these private matters were no easier to handle than they'd always been. How could this, a rather typical event in any mundane life, really be scarier to her than people-eating monsters or Russian assassins or possessed civilians hellbent on assimilating her into their hivemind?

Two little red lines taunted her for being too afraid to accept the truth this time. At this point, she admitted, it wasn't just a false positive, but she always had to be sure. Nancy wrapped the thing up in the tissue and stuffed it deeper into her bag alongside the new one she had just bought. That would make five now. Even that nosy cashier noticed.

Nancy muttered her thanks as Robin pulled out of the parking spot and just nodded back, preparing for an awkwardly silent ride.

Pulling into his normal parking spot, Jonathan cut the engine on the same old ride he'd had since high school and stuffed his latest mixtape into his pocket before he went about gathering his equipment from the trunk. Mr. and Mrs. Wheeler had mentioned buying his girlfriend and himself a new car for their new life together. The 1971 Ford Galaxie 500 was so many years old and was already showing signs of unruliness back when Joyce was having Jonathan practice driving in circles in the lot outside of her workplace. A second-hand buy, it started out as a family vehicle for Joyce and her two sons, then it became Jonathan's when his mother upgraded to her Ford Pinto, then it bafflingly took on the role of get-away vehicle during the hectic years of his teens when Will was missing and he'd first started talking to Nancy. Now, he too might be upgrading soon thanks to the Wheelers, but he would miss his old clunker dearly. Sure, it was annoying when it would give out at random times, but he had started to enjoy being a do-it-yourself mechanic and working on its issues. The old thing didn't run quietly at all and bumps in the road would cause his tapes to skip, but the low rumble of the elderly engine reminded him of cool summer nights when he needed some alone time and cruising aimlessly with the window open was just what the doctor ordered. It can be hard to change sometimes, even if it's arguably for the better.

And yet his life had done nothing but change for many years. Almost paradoxically, Jonathan had become so used to instability during those years that the constant shifts almost felt like stability in and or itself. Once upon a time, he was a quiet, artistic loner with only his family to rely on, but his group of allies suddenly seemed to balloon in no time at all with some of the most unlikely people risking their lives for his brother. His days once consisted of going to school, working, and finding time for Will and his hobbies; then, he was fighting monsters and going on long road trips with this girl he never thought he'd be able to confide in before. There was once no such thing as magic besides the kind that would happen when he and Will were locked in their own world with nothing but music and each other; but then there was an innocent little telekinetic girl who longed to know of that world which was seemingly only enjoyed by normal people like him. And when she lost her father figure and they moved states away from the only town they ever knew, that girl had suddenly slid perfectly into his little family unit as his new little sister who at first would just look at him like she wanted to say something before shyly looking away, and then eventually, El (or Jane as her schoolmates in Maine had called her) became comfortable with asking him all of her boy-related questions. Why did Mike sound so weird over the phone? Should she be mad about the fact that Caroline Meyers was his lab partner instead of Dustin? Why wasn't he responding to her letters as quickly as she wanted (but of course, this was usually because she'd forgotten to check the mail)? Will found the boy talk annoying (he just wanted them to hurry up so they could start playing with the new Atari 7800 the Wheelers had sent for Christmas), but Jonathan was warm and patient and he didn't mind it when she would lay in his bed and air her teenage grievances while he sat at his desk. He would ruffle her hair and laugh at how adorable she was while he planned out how he and Nancy could finally move in together. He really did have a soft spot for these kids. He remembered El crying and making him promise to call them when he finally did move away from Maine and back to Hawkins where rent was still cheap despite developments. Will cried too. And Joyce. They all cried a bit, to be fair, as if they wouldn't follow soon after him.

Life was nowhere near as fast paced as it had been, and somehow that was the hard part. Even with how much nicer everything was, returning to normal life (a better normal) after the chaotic years of his youth just wasn't that easy for a reason that Jonathan couldn't quite understand. With El and Hopper, his family was bigger and closer knit than ever. He was living with a woman who loved and cared for him (he even found the thought of marriage rapping on the door of his mind and begging to be let in every now and then). They both had jobs working for a magazine that had just opened its head office in Hawkins (the lead photographer at their old newspaper gig liked Jonathan's work so much, he was willing to overlook what happened and act as a reference for him – and Nancy too, Jonathan pleaded). It wasn't NYU and their apartment was tiny and their landlord was a bit of a douchebag, but life was finally good. Jonathan knew he should have been happier, but something was wrong and it wasn't external. It was something inside of him. There was something about living constantly on edge for so long that just... changed him. Really, Jonathan figured, his brain had just been fooling itself in feeling so comfortable with instability. It was something he taught himself when his father left and it was what kept him alive all those years, but now, it seemed to have no purpose other than to make him and Nancy nervous in the dark, suspicious of sharp corners, pause when the lights flickered. It made Jonathan subconsciously check to make sure the magnets on the fridge were working. It made Nancy wake abruptly some nights to make sure she hadn't been transported to a dimension where he wasn't sleeping beside her. The two of them still went to the gun range whenever they had time and money, mostly so that he could practice since she had an almost naturally great shot. He was thankful that she was so talented, but an urgent need inside of him drove him to improve. The handgun Jonathan had basically stolen from Lonnie all those years ago was still in its place in the glove compartment of the old Ford Galaxie 500. Just in case. Joyce used to say grimly that the way he would absently test the magnets when he lived with her reminded her of those soldiers who don't come back home the same way they left.

When Jonathan reached the front door of his apartment, it felt almost as if he'd just been placed there. He was so lost in thought that he'd managed to drag his photography equipment across the front desk and up the elevator to the third floor without his notice. The heavy bag certainly didn't feel this absent when he was at work, dragging it around after his boss and setting up its contents. Whatever. He shook it off, fished his keys out of his pocket, and set the bag down underneath the coat rack so he could take his shoes off.

"Nance," he called as he knelt down to untie the Adidas sneakers Nancy had given him for his birthday. "I'm home."

In the bathroom, Nancy nearly jumped with a start from where she sat on the closed toilet lid. She was so preoccupied with her thoughts that she hardly heard the door creak open.

"H-hey, babe! Be right there," she called back. Quickly, she stuffed the used test into the cabinet under the sink behind an unopened box of condoms. She just wasn't ready to discuss it yet.

Making her way down the short hallway decorated with the pictures she'd taken herself with the Polaroid instant camera Jonathan had gifted her one Valentine's Day, Nancy saw her boyfriend setting his borrowed camera equipment in the tiny closet near the kitchenette. She remembered that Jonathan had an early shoot Monday morning and his boss routinely had him take the work equipment home the night before a morning job so they wouldn't have to stop by the office. He wouldn't get to drive her in to work, but that was fine. She'd already arranged for a coworker to pick her up on their way. Slowing down, she nearly tiptoed over to him as he struggled with the duffle bag.

"How was work?" she asked, peering over his shoulder slightly.

"In a word, chaotic," her boyfriend grumbled.

Nancy winced. "Was Micah on your back again?"

Jonathan sighed at the mention of his boss' name. "He booked us back-to-back today. I was running around, setting things up, adjusting lights, you name it. Then we packed it all up, went to the next location, and did the same thing all over."

After years of shitty coworkers and even shittier bosses, Jonathan had developed a pretty high tolerance for bullshit. Luckily, he always knew how to float to the top of the brown river and just tread for as long as he needed to before getting into his car and driving home. Not that he hated his job – far from it. But Micah could be demanding, especially under stress, and while Jonathan would never challenge him (and thus possibly forfeit the chance to move up), it felt good to vent to Nancy every once in a while.

Remembering a particularly amazing little turd from that day, Jonathan turned slightly from where he was crouched to glance up at his girlfriend.

"Oh my God, Nance," he said in an exasperated tone that let her know he was about to unload. "One of the models just complained the whole time she was there. It was always something. Her water wasn't cold enough. Her tea wasn't hot enough. The shoot was taking too long. She didn't like how the softbox made her look so we used the beauty dish but she didn't like that either so we used the umbrella... And each time she demanded changes, I had to set the shit up and put it away, set it up, put it away..."

He groaned, still adjusting the camera equipment so that it could fit into the tiny closet among their belongings.

"Ah, a primadonna," stated Nancy.

Jonathan chuckled. "You have no idea."

Once Jonathan had arranged things to his liking, he stood up from where he was and made his way to her, greeting her with a smile and short kiss. Nancy found herself smiling against his lips as if the thoughts swirling in her head mere seconds ago had all evaporated. It was hard not to feel safe and comfortable when Jonathan was around. His aura was like a thick fleece blanket and the smell of him reminded her of crisp leaves and mint tea.

"Anyway, enough about her," Jonathan held Nancy against him and looked down at her, his forehead nearly touching her's. "How've you been feeling?"

"A little better," she lied and it wasn't the first lie she'd told him this week. Every day for the past 3 days, she and Steve had been making the same trip to the same out-of-the-way convenience store where she would buy yet another pregnancy test, avoid the same cashier's accusatory looks, use the test in the same store bathroom, and get the same two red lines each time. Positive. Every time afterwards, Steve would drive her back to the office and try to convince her to just tell Jonathan already, but she couldn't do it yet. Those tests are not foolproof and she had to be sure, so she made up excuses as to why she was going elsewhere instead of spending lunch with her boyfriend (and their typical group of colleagues too). It wasn't too hard to lie because she had actually been sick. When she could no longer eat certain foods without retching was when Nancy first became suspicious. She believed herself that it was just a stomach bug at first, but then when she missed her period, a panic set in. What baffled her was that she was on the pill and took each dosage diligently. What could have caused it to fail?

The shower. That's what it was. It must have been that one time; that one single time when they tried it in the shower. Jonathan had never owned a proper shower in his life (his childhood home only had a bathtub) so he had voiced (in his own sly way that everyone but her would think impossible for him) the idea of "christening" the thing so to speak. She should have known it wasn't a good idea, but something about quiet, thoughtful Jonathan Byers playfully seducing her, leaning on the shower door with his head cocked back just slightly and staring right through her with dilated pupils, made her body ache all over for him. Even thinking about it now made her heart flutter. Needless to say, the experience brought out something exciting in them that neither had ever seen before. Maybe there was something about the angle or the water flowing between them... Nancy was no gynecologist, but she and Jonathan hadn't done much out of the ordinary before (they had more or less found what they both liked) and the one time they tried it from the back, she was vomiting up her breakfast weeks later? Perhaps there was some kind of connection there. She would ask her doctor about it some time; the same doctor she'd claimed to have had an appointment with that day.

"So what did Dr. Martin say?" inquired Jonathan. His arms still embraced her midsection and pulled her into him.

"He gave me something to calm my stomach," Nancy fibbed. She had picked up some Pepto-Bismol to help cushion her story. Lying to him felt bad, but things were... complicated. "I'll be fine. I'll just take some of that and try to relax."

His grip on her loosened as she gently broke away, heading toward the tiny kitchenette with an exacerbated look. "Oh shit, I didn't get to start dinner yet."

Usually they would both come home together, but on those odd evenings when they didn't, whoever came back first would typically start preparing their meal. In her rush to take her fifth pregnancy test, it had completely slipped Nancy's mind. She made her way toward the small blue fridge which was covered in decorative magnets with more Polaroids and peered inside.

"Sorry, Jon," she sighed. "I totally forgot. Um, let's see..."

Before she could start making suggestions, he was suddenly right behind her, gently grabbing the hand that held the fridge open and pulling her away. "It's alright. Why don't I make dinner tonight?"

"What? But you've been out all day," protested Nancy. "Aren't you tired?"

"Well yeah," Jonathan grinned with a shrug. "But it's no big deal. I'll just throw something together. Besides, you're the one who isn't feeling well."

She looked up at him with an expression of guilt for more than just having her boyfriend work in the kitchen after he'd had a very long day running around after his boss. Not that Jonathan wasn't used to that. He had usually ended up making dinner for his mom and brother after a shift at his shitty line cook job in high school since Joyce's shifts often ran late. He was used to it, Nancy knew, but that didn't mean his life shouldn't be easier now that she was around to bear some of the load.

"No, I'm fine," Nancy insisted. "I'll make dinner."

"Nancy." Jonathan was using that tone of voice he'd perfected over the years when he had to fill Lonnie's role of older male figure for Will. He'd had to use it on El sometimes too. Every once in a while, it would slip out when he was talking to someone closer to his age. Even Joyce had heard it at least once. It was this stern but soft, almost fatherly tone that didn't command but instead came from a place of concern. His hands had slipped around her shoulders now and were gently guiding her out of the kitchen. "I've got this. Go rest up. I need you to get better, okay?"

As if she didn't feel bad enough. God, why does he have to be such a sweetheart? she thought.

Nancy ended up reading in their shared bedroom instead of watching Miami Vice on the sofa in the small living room. She didn't want to have to watch Jonathan whipping together one of his mom's famous casseroles just a few feet away when he should have been taking a relaxing shower (although she did love his casseroles). Her mind kept wandering back to the cursed little thing underneath the bathroom sink and then to her midsection. Absently, Nancy placed the book down beside her and ran her hand across her stomach. How surreal it was to think that somewhere inside, there could actually be a piece of her joined with a part of him; something that would become an entirely new human being in just a few months. That's when realization finally set in. She was going to be a mother. And Jonathan, a father. For the first time that week, her lips curled into a smile at the thought of it – at the thought of tiny little feet and messy little hands, a playful little laugh and soft dark hair. Maybe they would have Jonathan's eyes, a warm umber like swirling hot chocolate. Maybe they would have her button nose that Jonathan loved to place kisses onto or the freckles which Nancy herself had borrowed from her own mother and that her boyfriend thought were so cute. Maybe they would have Joyce's wavy hair that wasn't really apparent on Jonathan at all until it passed his shoulders (as he'd worn it in middle school). Truthfully, any mix of the two of them would be so absolutely perfect to her. She could fall in love with that person without ever even meeting them.

But then Nancy opened her eyes and she was back in the same dingy old apartment; the one with the crack in the bathroom wall that they were constantly pestering their landlord to take a look at. The one with the air conditioner that would sometimes just quit on them in the middle of a heat wave. The one that they had agreed to put up with for a while in order to increase their shared savings. It's true that a big part of Nancy was so unbelievably happy at the thought of being pregnant with Jonathan's baby, but she also thought of their finances. When they first moved in together, they had a sit-down so that Jonathan could teach her about budgeting, a skill that had been essential for him growing up. He wanted to make sure they were on the right track because he'd been having to deal with these adult issues since about 8th grade and he knew what happened when things were off track. Worse, he'd seen it. Nancy grew up blissfully unaware of the hardships faced by people whose lives just danced around the poverty line. He never rubbed her face in it, but he needed for her to understand... to keep them both safe. The two of them made plans together. They had begun mapping out their future for at least the next few years. Sure, Nancy thought, the way things were going, they would probably have the marriage talk at some point and children would definitely be a part of that, but this was too soon. There was so much in the world that Nancy believed Jonathan deserved... Things that circumstances had deprived him of in childhood. If she wanted to go to university, all she had to do was arrange it with her middle-class parents. If Jonathan wanted to go – and oh boy, did he ever – he had only what they'd saved to fall back on. Jonathan was smart, talented, passionate, and willing to wade through whatever bullshit he had to if it meant achieving his goals (hell, he'd always done it before). Jonathan Byers deserved to go to school, and if money was the one hurdle he couldn't jump – if a surprise pregnancy was the one hurdle he couldn't jump – then that would be a damn tragedy.

Nancy turned onto her side and covered her mouth to catch the sound of her sobbing before it could make its way down the hall and into the kitchenette.

Tuesday, April 28, 1987

It's hard to describe just how dark and alone it felt in that place.

Of course, having been there so many times, she was used to it but it took a long time to adjust after her very first visit.

It was cold, just barely cold enough to send a shiver through her tiny body. Everywhere was black, but somehow unlike any sort of darkness she had ever seen elsewhere; a type of darkness that shouldn't be real. It was less that is was the absence of light and more that it was the absence of anything. A void. Absolute nothingness. Beneath her feet, there was always some sort of liquid. She could hardly ever see it and she couldn't even fathom what surface she might be standing on, but it was always there, lapping against her skin and making her steps feel unsteady. Somehow in the absence of everything, there was still this – this world that she could only enter when the lights and sounds of the tangible world fell beneath her. It was here where she had encountered it – the creature from the tear in the fabric of reality; a terrible and unholy place at first, but later, a useful tool once she learned to master it.

El took a step forward, the liquid bending around her foot and sending ripples that seemed to stretch to eternity. Glancing about her, she couldn't understand why she was here. The last thing she remembered was beating Will's high score at Ms. Pac-Man, a fact that he lamented over until it was Hopper's turn to use the TV. She had contemplated calling Mike again to wish him good rest, but she stopped herself before her hand reached the phone. Was she calling too often? Will just shrugged when she asked. He was no help at all when it came to romantic relationships. It was too bad she couldn't just ask Jonathan about boy troubles whenever she wanted anymore, but she made a note to talk to Mrs. Byers about it in the morning.

And then she went to bed.

Yes, that's right. She did go to bed. El hadn't consciously used her astral projection powers, so why was she standing there in that place?

Suddenly, the void seemed to distort.

Cau ght-..-. circ-es...

Startled, El stared frantically about her into the vast abyss. Try as she might, her eyes just could not find the source of that noise, so she forced her heart to steady itself as she focused. A breath in. A breath out. In her mind's eye she could see herself standing alone like a beacon against the nothingness. A swallow. A breath in. A breath out. Show me, she thought in a whisper that evaporated as soon as the void touched it.

Th-... G o sl-...

El's eyes shot open the second she heard it again, but still could not catch the source of that sound. Her heart was pounding in her chest and her glances around became more rapid. Panic set in shortly after confusion did. What was that noise? Why was she here? Why did the abyss seem to twist and break as if the strange sound were biting and clawing at it? Please stop! I don't want to be here!

I.. lo- st.- w-...

-T im..e...

The void churned and ballooned in front of her as the sound became sharp, stabbing against her eardrums. Instinctively, El's hands clasped over her ears in an attempt to block it out, but the noise just kept ringing and the emptiness kept twisting. Stop!

-all ca-... w-.. ait... Tim e-...

Suddenly, there she was.

El looked up, tears stinging her eyes. The first thing she saw was her red hair, like fiery starlight against cosmic nothingness. Then, she noticed the familiar gown. It was just like the one El herself had been forced to wear back before the day that the air of the outside world touched her face for the first time. The girl was slightly taller than her, barefoot, and stood with her back facing El. Somehow, the cacophony around them could not reach her. Instead of chaos, the void about the girl remained pure, uninterrupted. There was a great calm that wafted off of her even as what appeared to be blood dripped slowly down one leg before disappearing into the inky depths below them.

T-..e...

Before El could do anything, the girl whipped around to face her, extending her hand in El's direction, desperation in her eyes as she called El's old name.

"Eleve-"

Immediately, El jolted upward and found herself in bed, exactly where she last remembered being. It took a while for her to realize she was safe. Sunlight was shining through her window and the familiar sound of static was crackling beside her. El turned slightly to see the purple clock radio which Dustin and his family gave her for Christmas. Images from the night before made themselves visible again in El's memory. She had left the radio on and must have fallen asleep without shutting it off. It seemed that the signal had broken up at some point during the night, but through the static noise, she could vaguely make out the end of Time After Time by Cyndi Lauper.

Her breathing now steady despite her bewilderment at the night's events, El swung her legs over the side of her bed and wiped off a trail of blood trickling from her nose.

A/N: So you made it to the end of chapter 1! Thanks for reading this far. :) I like to try to have the next chapter of whatever I'm writing prepared before I publish the current one so hopefully, I'm finished or almost finished chapter 2 and maybe working on chapter 3 right now. I'm going to aim for weekly updates, but please be patient if that ever changes.

On to the reader participation portion!

I need help from all of you in deciding the details regarding Nancy and Jonathan's baby. I'll need a name and a sex so please leave your suggestions in your review. What I'm thinking is that I'll just choose the name I like best among whatever feedback I get from all of the sites I post this on (and I'll probably think up a middle name myself based on that). As for the sex of the baby, that'll be more of a vote. Just include in your review whatever you want and I'll tally up the votes from all three websites. For the name, I'm looking for something that makes sense given that this is a kid born in the 80s. It doesn't have to be from the top common names for the decade, but I think it should make sense given the timeline and the culture. If I don't end up getting any reviews at all or if none of the names fit with the setting, I'll probably just end up choosing something myself... But I really hope it doesn't come to that! lol

So! Summary of what I need...

a given name for the baby which makes sense given the setting (you may also submit a list of possible names and names for different sexes)

a vote for the baby's sex (tallied between the sites I post this on)

I'll post the name of the reader whose name suggestion I end up using. I'm not sure which chapter the birth will happen in yet, but once I know, I'll post when I'm done collecting votes and names.

Anyway, hope you consider participating! I also hope that you're enjoying this story so far. See you in chapter 2!