No real set continuity from the show, I'm imagining Joyce being a little younger like early 30s, Nancy would be 18.

Nancy and Joyce fluff.

Please review!

The tea kettle sang off key, Karen Wheeler took it off the burner, poured two cups of Rose tea at the kitchen table; she hadn't seen Joyce Byers after her third child, Holly, of course their boys were good friends but Joyce was a single mother and always working.

Karen's oldest, Nancy rushed through the kitchen with her book bag, her mother felt like she was becoming a ghost around there, with prospects of college she realized just how fast the time had gone.

"Nance! Tea?"

"Uh, no time, gotta study, Mom, thanks."

Nancy ran upstairs, she felt guilty sometimes about keeping her in the dark, about what was really going on in their little town but how would you react if you found out monsters were real? The creepy lab in the woods was evil? Joyce arrived before seeing Nancy, she was one of the only adults to know what was going on behind the scenes, the veil dropped from her eyes, she too found it difficult keeping her mouth shut, people already thought she was weird, she didn't need everyone thinking she was off her rocker.

"Hi, Karen!"

"Joyce, please come in, the rose tea is ready."

Joyce heard some commotion upstairs, "Someone else joining us?"

"Oh, that's Nancy. She just got home, I think she might be studying."

Nancy took the two revolvers she had in her book bag and set them on her desk, of course her favorite one, the 9mm had to jam again when it was really needed, this had been happening a lot. It was hard keeping any weapons hidden in her bedroom with all of the snooping she knew her mother had to have been doing. She got help from Johnathan Byers creating a dummy drawer in her desk to hide them, he'd joke about hiding one inside of her stuffed animals but the thought of ripping one open was kind of traumatic for her. She'd changed so much over the course of high school that she barely recognized herself anymore, most of her family probably didn't either. The good girl next door, not what you would expect running around doing what she was doing.

She knew she had to cram for a test but she was tired, killing something that has no name from another dimension with no proper name can really take its toll on you, she could see the bags under her eyes more and more these past couple weeks, maybe she really shouldn't get so involved, take a break but she knew that wasn't going to happen. She was thirsty but she really didn't want to go downstairs and make awkward small talk, if she was quiet enough maybe they wouldn't notice her.

"Hi, Nance!"

Not even through the threshold of the kitchen.

"You remember Joyce."

Nancy smiled and waved, "Hi, Mrs Byers."

Of course both had seen each other countless times over the years, not only because of the horrors of Hawkins but because she was friends with her son and they kind of dated. Joyce didn't look so tired, she looked great, maybe they weren't pushing her too hard at the grocery market.

"Hi, hun."

Nancy went to the cabinet to grab a glass, feeling eyes on her the entire way over, "I was just talking about how she used to babysit you and Will."

Nancy frowned, she couldn't really remember, "She did?"

"Yes, back when I was still working."

Joyce seemed to know Nancy really didn't want to gab about the past, "You were very well behaved compared to other kids in the neighborhood."

"Oh," Nancy felt kind of embarrassed, she wasn't sure why, maybe it was because as a kid her mother would always find her making a mess or wanting attention, "Well that's a relief."

Karen smiled at both of them, Nancy couldn't help but notice a third tea cup set next to Joyce even though she clearly told her she wasn't interested.

"So, where are you planning on going for college?"

Nancy swallowed some water first, "NYU."

"Oh, that's great. That's where Johnathan is planning on going. Journalism, right?"

"Um, yeah."

Joyce smiled, she knew so much about her from her son, "That's amazing."

"Nancy couldn't stop talking about you back then," Karen chuckled.

Nancy knew that was her cue to leave, nothing good was going to come after saying that, no matter what, that was a signal to abort.

"She was so cute."

Defiantly time to leave, she took her glass of water and headed for the stairs.

"I swear she had the biggest crush on you!"

Nancy almost tripped and dropped the glass, she did not just hear what she thought she did!

"Mom!" Nancy exclaimed through gritted her teeth. What was she even doing right now? Trying to scar her for life?

Joyce's eyes widened, she was not expecting to hear this, all she could do was smile, she raised an eyebrow at Nancy, "Wait, really?"

"Yes, she sure did," Karen smiled and turned to her frightened daughter, "Remember, Nance? You told me you thought she was so beautiful and how you wanted to live with her?"

Nancy stretched her face, she wanted to shed her skin and escape, this was a nightmare beyond belief, she had no clue what to say to get out of this other than to just laugh and say, "Nope...I...I don't...well, nice seeing you, I really have to go...study!"

The two women watched the poor girl race upstairs.

Nancy knew her mother could be too much sometimes but this really took the cake, all she could think of other than her science book was what else they were talking about, maybe Karen was bringing up other humiliating stories, showing pictures of her in the family album.

After Joyce was long gone, Nancy confronted Karen as she was cleaning up, "Nancy, you just missed Joyce."

"Mom? Care to explain? I mean, what the hell?"

"What? Oh, you mean the whole...that was so sweet, she thought that was adorable."

"Well, I don't!" Nancy snapped.

Karen saw how serious she was, her little red face, "Ok. Want to talk about it?"

Nancy folded her arms, "You have a friend over for the first time in forever and you take the time to embarrass me?"

"Embarrass you?"

"Not to mention making things up!"

"But I didn't make it up, sweetheart. You really did say those things."

Nancy was taken aback, "I really said I wanted to live with her?"

"Yes. You were so innocent. You told me you were in love."

Nancy gave her head a shake, this had to be the weirdest thing that had ever happened to her; that was in at least the top ten.

"Well, whatever that doesn't really mean anything. But now she's going to tell Johnathan, so wow, mission accomplished ruining my life!"

"Oh, honey, she's not going to tell him. Plus he'd be so jealous."

Nancy rolled her eyes, "Are you only doing this because we broke up?"

Karen laughed, "He's a nice boy. He's your friend. So is Steve, right?"

Nancy sighed, "Yeah. We agreed we'd be better off. I don't know I just felt so strange dating them."

"So, maybe it's time for someone new."

Nancy scoffed, "Yeah. I'll give Joyce a call. Sure she's free."

"Excellent idea! I'll ring her up," she took the wall phone off its receiver.

"Mom, I'm joking! Please tell me you are too!" Nancy jumped to grab the phone from her, Karen placed it back.

"Only half."

"Half?"

"Nance, I think it could be good for you. The both of you."

Nancy couldn't be any more confused, was she dreaming? Did Ron Sterling take a turn writing her life? "Dating Mrs Byers? Joyce? Johnathan's mother? Another woman? A woman much older than me?"

Karen giggled, "I knew you would think it sounds crazy."

Nancy felt like she had to be the parent, "Are you on drugs?"

"Nance. I'm an open minded person. You're two smart, independent women, you're a fighter. She's a provider. I think you'd really hit it off."

"Ok. Cool. Maybe we can be friends. Things in common. That's still weird but..."

"No, take her on a date," Karen smiled as she put dishes back in the cupboard.

"Mom, I'm not a...wait is she? No, she couldn't be. She has two sons."

"Nance. She had a very unhappy marriage. Many women are closeted and trying to live a life people expect of them, I read this recently. Plus hey, don't knock it till you try it, right?"

Nancy didn't want to probe, she didn't want to dig up her mother's past but she did wonder why she was so obsessed with the topic.

Nancy shook her head, "Let's pretend we didn't have this conversation."

She went back to her room, she knew Mike would be back soon, maybe with word on their next move.

3 WEEKS LATER

Nancy was out of ammo, she was overwhelmed by the spiney monsters with no faces, large black SUVs pulled up, she needed to find a place to hide, she ran inside the Byers' house, she found Joyce holding open a closet door, "In here!" Nancy had no options, she ran for it, Joyce sealed them in. They stayed quiet, shoulder to shoulder, they could hear the sounds of Dr Brenner's men firing at the unearthly creatures that had gotten loose from the lab. They could hear each other breathing, they needed to take their minds off of this somehow.

"Hey, how'd you do on that test?"

Nancy had almost forgotten, "B+."

"Hey, not bad."

"I normally get As. I've been dipping to Bs and Cs all year."

"Hey," Joyce sneered, "Still way better than I was in school," the long silences were a lot to bear, "Thanks for keeping Will safe."

"You're welcome. I'm sorry about all of this."

"Like it's your fault?"

"It almost could be. I have the worst luck," Nancy paused, "Do you know this is the most we've ever said a word to each other?"

Joyce thought about it, in all of the crazy situations that happened over the years, her and Hopper would team up with the kids, she couldn't really remember genuine conversations.

"Yeah, I guess it is," Joyce pondered, "Wow. Even when you were seeing...Sorry, I feel so detached sometimes."

Nancy shrugged, joked, "It's all part of the work."

Joyce giggled, "You are so brave to be doing this. Way braver than me."

"I don't know about that," she said, taking a deep breath.

"Hey, if I ever had a daughter, I'd be amazed if she was half as amazing as you."

Nancy could've blushed but she was so on edge she wouldn't have noticed, "Sorry about how weird I was the last time you saw me."

"Hey, I probably would have acted the same."

"I just don't understand my Mom sometimes. She says the most insane things."

"She just wants to make sure everyone is happy. Comes with that gig I guess."

"Maybe when this is all over, you wanna hangout?"

Joyce frowned, looked at her like she had a piece of food on her, "Like on a date?"

Nancy stammered, Joyce's loud brown eyes staring at her made her feel so small, "Er, no I..."

"Kidding," Joyce grinned, "I'd love to hangout. I never get to do that with anyone."

Nancy smiled, relieved she didn't come off as awkward as she thought.

Some time passed but both decided to stay put, Nancy noticed Joyce shivering, "Hey, are you cold?"

Joyce held herself, "Little bit."

Nancy took her coat off and held it out to her, "Here."

"Nancy no you probably need it more than me." Nancy wasn't taking no for an answer, it was a big puffy coat so it was enough, "Thanks."

Joyce noticed Nancy shaking, if not from the cold it had to be her nerves, she took her hand in hers, giving it a light squeeze.

To be continued!