This chapter takes place between season 1 and 2 when Nancy and Steve start dating again. Enjoy!

They're Your Favorite Right?

(Nancy)

It's been about a month since everything went down with Eleven and the demogorgon, since Will was brought home, since Barb was confirmed dead and since Steve saved her and Jonathan's lives.

Jonathan has become an unexpected… friend? Maybe he would eventually be more. She would be lying to herself if she said she hadn't thought about Jonathan like that. He was nice, maybe a little quiet for her but it didn't really matter since he hasn't made a move. She's beginning to think he just likes her as a friend.

Her relationship with Steve has been over since the whole slut shaming incident. Thankfully no one in school has given her a hard time about it like she they would and she had a feeling Steve had something to do with it.

He has apologized a million times and she has forgiven him but she doesn't know if she should start a relationship with him again. He hasn't asked for her to be his girlfriend again but she knows he wants to. She likes Steve. She always has and he did save her and Jonathan's lives and that certainly more than made up for any stupid movie theater incident but the real reason for her hesitation is Barb. She died at his house, at his party while they were… Nancy feels guilty thinking about it. It was so wrong. She's not sure she could move passed the fact that her best friend died at her boyfriends house and it was her fault. Could she go back to that house? Go back into that pool? Nancy shudders just thinking of it.

School seems so lonely now without Barb. Jonathan has been a good friend but she can't talk to him about the same things she used to talk to Barb about.

Nancy had been struggling to sleep for the last month. It's basically impossible for her to go a whole night without having a nightmare. She was so tired and she knew her grades had slipped slightly over the last month but today she was determined to get her life back and she was going to start with going to the library for her lunch period to catch up on some studying.

(Steve)

This was the day Steve would ask Nancy to be his girlfriend again. He knew he didn't deserve a second chance but he selfishly wanted one anyway. He needed to make her see he has learned from his mistakes and he doesn't want to be that asshole with asshole friends anymore. He brought her her favorite flowers and chocolates and planned on begging her to give him another chance. He wants to prove he's good enough for Nancy Wheeler.

At lunch Steve looked around for Nancy. She usually sat with Byers in the corner of the lunch room but he was there alone today. Steve figured if she wasn't in the cafeteria the next best place to look would have to be the library.

Nancy found herself dozing off while studying and unsurprisingly she had the same nightmare about Barb that she had every time she fell asleep.

Nancy felt herself shaking and screaming for Barb and she jumped awake from someone gently shaking her shoulder.

"Whoa, whoa, Nance, it's okay it was a bad dream. You're okay." Steve tried to soothe her but he looked just as frightened as she did.

Nancy felt like she was having a panic attack. Tears were streaming down her face and she felt like she couldn't breathe.

Nance it's okay, calm down it's okay, you're okay. You need to breathe." Steve said trying not to sound panicked but failing.

"I can't." She struggled to say.

"Sure you can. Here just breathe with me." Steve wrapped his hands around hers and pulled them to his chest and he took a slow deep breathe through his nose and out his mouth.

"Come on Nance. You got this." Steve encouraged.

Nancy relaxed slightly and was able to take a breathe and another and another until they were breathing deeply together.

Steve relaxed once Nancy was breathing normally and no longer crying.

"Thank you." She whispered to him.

Steve shrugged. "It's what I'm here for. I always seem to show up in the right place at the right time." Steve smiled at her softly.

Nancy nodded looking down with a blush.

"You know, I get them too… Nightmares I mean. Sometimes I dream that I didn't go back into the Byers house in time and you and Jonathan were both killed."

"Are we ever going to be able to move passed this?" She asked him afraid of the answer.

Steve wished he knew what to say or at least make up something to comfort her but he just told her the truth. "I don't know." He said softly.

Nancy wiped her eyes and finally moved her hands off his chest.

"What's that?" Nancy pointed at the floor.

"Oh" Steve quickly bent down and grabbed his flowers and candy that he dropped when he got there and saw Nancy having her nightmare.

"This is the uh, reason I was looking for you in the first place. Umm, sorry this isn't exactly the best timing but… here." He handed them to her nervously.

"They're you're favorite, right?" He asked her with a nervous smile waiting for a response from her.

"How did you know?" Nancy smiled wiping at her eyes with a small smile. She took the flowers and chocolate from him.

"You mentioned liking Lily's once and I've never seen you eat any kind of candy besides Reese's pieces." Steve shrugged like it wasn't a big deal.

Nancy smiled at him. Nancy knew he cared about her and she truly cared about him too. Maybe it wouldn't be a bad idea to give their relationship another chance. A few months ago she would have passed out at the thought of THE Steve Harrington just knowing her favorite flowers and candy let alone giving them to her. She felt warmth creeping up her face and genuinely smiled for the first time in weeks. She put the gifts down on the table and wrapped her arms around him in a tight hug.

Steve hugged her back surprised by the display of affection. Steve was the first one to break the hug. He took a step back and cleared his throat. "Umm Nance I know I was a jerk, no, not even a jerk I was the worlds biggest asshole. What I did was humiliating and inexcusable but that's not me. It never was I was just too much of a coward to tell off Tommy or Carol. I promise I'll never act like that again no matter what. You can trust me. I know you couldn't count on me before but you can now and…" he ran a nervous hand through his glorious hair. "I understand if you don't want to give this another chance." He gestured between them with his hands. "I probably don't deserve one, but I care about you so much Nance and I would like to try again… if you'll still have me." Steve looked at her with his big worried eyes.

"Okay." Nancy said smiling at Steve's obvious nervousness.

"Really?" He asked in surprise as a big smile spread across his face.

Nancy nodded and got on her tippy toes and kissed him on the cheek.

"I care about you too Steve and I forgave you for the movie theater a long time ago. I'm tired of letting what happened with the upside down hold me back. I just want to move forward." Steve nodded in agreement. "And besides how could I say no after that speech? How long have you been working on that for?" Nancy teased causing him to blush.

"About a month." Steve admitted wrapping his arm around her waist and pulling her closer.

"It was good." Nancy admitted as they closed the gap between them and their lips met in a passionate kiss.

Steve's stomach grumbled in the middle of their kiss and they broke apart giggling.

"Sorry." Steve said sheepishly.

"I'm kind of hungry too. We still have a half hour of lunch left. Let's go before you pass out from starvation or something." Nancy teased him.

"Ha, ha." Steve mock laughed.

(Nancy)

Nancy didn't feel so lonely anymore as Steve wrapped his hand around hers smiling at her like she hung the moon.

Nancy knew she was riding the high of Steve's sweet little speech and gifts but she was feeling optimistic about their relationship.

Maybe eventually she would be able to talk to Steve about Barb. Maybe he could help her, he was the only other person that knows the whole story. She wasn't ready to talk about it yet so she pushed it from her mind.

They made their way to the cafeteria and she felt happier than she had in a month. She could do this. She could move on from her mistakes. She refused to let them get in the way of her happiness. She could do this… right?