EVERY BREATH YOU TAKE | Stranger Things.

VIII. Family Lies and Truths

THERE WAS NOTHING MORE FUN THAN WALKING THROUGH THE WOODS TO MEET JONATHAN.

Daisy wanted to complain... she really did but decided to do it inside her head to not bother the girl right next to her with her excruciating complaints. Nancy looked to be enjoying the trip more than she was because the small hint of a smile was plastered on her lips.

"Thinkin' bout Stevie boy?" Daisy asked and laughed lightly when Nancy's eyebrows shot up immediately.

"You really do have a way with words," Nancy responded, her tone sarcastic and jokingly.

"So I've been told." Daisy smiled. She glanced at Nancy once more and said, "Can I ask you something?"

Nancy quickly nodded. "Yeah, of course."

"Be honest, 'kay? Did you think I was flirting with Steve at his stupid hangout party or whatever?" Daisy asked, looking down at her shoes and kicking and nearby leaves. "And don't be shy to tell me things."

The Wheeler girl walked silently, choosing which words to spit out first. "No.. no. You guys are friends and I know that, so I don't have a reason to feel that way. Yeah, it did look intimate but... I didn't get hurt over it."

"Oh." Was the first and only word to leave Daisy's mouth at that moment. Her fingers brushed over the material of her jeans, feeling how the fabric went in lines but didn't look like it from the outside. "Steve and I aren't friends - at least I don't consider him my friend."

"Why?" Nancy questioned curiously. "You guys hang out and well.. act like two friends."

"He's a dick!" Daisy blurted out, laughing a bit to ease up the uncertainty. "And the incident with Jonathan just upped him up on that scale. No offense." She directed the last two words toward Nancy. "Also, I only hang out with him because — I don't know, actually."

"None was taken," She sighed. "But, seriously, what happened between you and Jason?"

Nancy began regretting the question as the seconds passed and Daisy hadn't even spoken a single word, rather directing her eye-line to make sure they knew where they were going.

"I never liked him." That sentence shocked Nancy. "Not the way you're supposed to like your boyfriend anyways. Every time he got drunk... It was the only time he ever liked me, you know? Felt more burdening than fun. But it's over now, so.." Daisy looked at Nancy with a small smile, saying in a sing-songy voice, "I'm free."

The couple had always made it out to look as if they were in love and would make it out of high school to tell their kids a story about them meeting and being high-school sweethearts, but the more Daisy admitted the faults in the relationship, the more she realized how fabricated they truly were.

She didn't like to show how much it actually hurt her when he would talk to other girls and that merely resulted in Daisy attempting to rile him up by talking with guys, but she changed her mind almost immediately. And that dragged their relationship to become distant and airy, almost evaporating into thin because of how nonexistent it became.

"Don't worry about it," Daisy looked to Nancy, her expression lighter. "I feel freer now — well, this whole new thing is beginning to make me feel.." She made a motion as if she dropped a weight onto her shoulders. "But let's get this done with, shall we?"

"Better than nothing," Nancy added.

"That thing — whatever it is, looks terrifying," Daisy commented, shivering at the thought of what they saw in the picture and even worse when they might see it in person.

Nancy immediately snapped her head towards her when a string of curses left Daisy's lips in a rushed hurry, hopping on one foot before settling down on the crunchy leaves. She began rubbing on her ankle when Nancy leaned down to check it out.