I'll take care of you

Welcome home

-STEVE
Nancy parks the car. 'Thanks, Nance.' I smile. 'Yeah, no problem.' She says.
'No, thanks for everything: helping us with Dustin, visiting us... I really appreciate it.' I say. 'So... We should go for a drink later.' I really miss Nancy, so even a drink would help. Nancy smiles. 'Yeah, totally, I'll call you. Bye, Steve.' She gets in the car and drives away. 'Jonathan and Nancy are still together, don't forget it.' Dustin raises his eyebrows and we walk to the door. I grab my keys and open the door. As soon as I opened the door, we hear: 'SURPRISE!!' Dustin and I don't know what's going on, but as soon as we see: Lucas, Max, Robin, Eddie, Mike and Erica, we smile at each other and hug everyone. 'Jesus, this was quite an adventure. Are you guys okay now?' Eddie asks after hugging Dustin. 'Yeah, fine.' Dustin and I give each other a little high-five. 'We're just gonna take it slow.' I sigh and sit down. Dustin sits down next to me. 'No more adventures.' He says. I smile and nod. 'Not yet.'

'Bye everyone!' Dustin yells. He closes the door and sits down on the couch. Everyone's finally gone after a few hours, but I'm still waiting for Nancy's phone call. That little annoying voice in my head keeps saying: "She's not gonna call."  But I just have to be patient. 'When do you think she's gonna call?' Dustin asks, like he read my mind. I put my face in my hands and sigh. 'I don't know, man.' I mumble.
Just that moment the phone rings. 'Shit.' I almost fall standing up, running to the phone. 'Hey, this is Steve.' I say. Dustin is laughing on the couch. "Shut up" I mouth to him. 'Hey, Steve. I was thinking about what you said. What about tomorrow, around 12, get some lunch, I don't know..' Nancy says on the other end of the line. 'YES! I mean, yeah, sure! I'll come around.' I yell from excitement. 'Cool! See you tomorrow, Steve.' Nancy hangs up. 'YES, YES, YES!' I jump in the air and run to the couch. 'Steve, calm down.' Dustin laughs. 'I sigh with relief and sit down.
'Dustin, what should I wear?' I ask. 'Just, what you normally wear, Steve. She likes you the way you are.' Dustin stands up and walks to the stairs. 'Come on, we're gonna take a look.' I follow him upstairs.
I open my wardrobe. It's messy, but there's a lot to wear. 'What about.. This one?' I hold up a striped shirt. 'I like it. Do you feel comfortable in it?' Dustin asks. 'Yeah, it's a great shirt.' I say. 'Then this is perfect.' Dustin closes the wardrobe and we give each other the little high five again.
'I'm not really hungry, by the way. So if you're gonna cook something, just cook for yourself.' Dustin says walking out of the room, to his own room. I walk down stairs and sit on the couch with a bag of chips.
I think about tomorrow. Maybe I shouldn't eat a bag of chips right now. I stand up and put the bag away.
I'm just gonna get some sleep. I walk upstairs and slowly open Dustin's door. He's sleeping already. I smile and close the door. Then I open my own door, brush my teeth, go to bed and close my eyes.

'STEVE! Come on, man. You over slept!' Dustin jumps on my bed. 'Jesus Christ, Dustin.' I look at the clock. 'SHIT!' I jump out of bed and get the striped shirt. 'You still have 20 minutes.' Dustin laughs and walks out of the room. I put on the shirt, brush my teeth and do my hair. 'Perfect.' I run downstairs and eat a banana. 'Bye Dustin. Stay home please. I'm home in an hour or something.' I close the door behind me and get in the car. It's 11:59. I start the car and put on some music. This is going to be perfect.

I ring the doorbell. Nancy opens the door and smiles.
'Hey, come in.' She says. I step inside and look around. It's still the same. 'So, where are we gonna go?' She asks. 'I think I know something. What about Enzo's?' I ask. Nancy nods, puts on her jacket and we step in the car. 'Alright, let's go.' I start the car and drive away. 'So, how's Dustin?' Nancy asks.
'Great.' I answer. 'And his arm?' Nancy keeps asking.
'Fine, it's healing.' I turn left. 'Good, great.' Nancy looks out the window. 'How are you?' She has a lot of questions. 'I'm fine. How are you?' I ask back.
'Could be better, I'm worried about Eddie.' I turn right and stop the car at Enzo's. 'Wait, we'll talk inside.' Nancy nods and we get out of the car. When we get inside, we can sit down next to the window. 'What do you wanna drink?' I ask. 'I'll get a milkshake.' Nancy answers. 'Me too, vanilla?' I ask.
Nancy nods. The Uber arrives at our table. 'What do you guys wanna drink?' He asks. 'Two vanilla milkshakes, please.' Nancy says with a big smile.
The Uber nods and walks away.
'So, you were worried about Eddie? Why?' I ask.
'He's acting strange.' Nancy says. 'He hasn't eaten anything for the past 3 days. I don't think he's happy. Maybe you and Dustin could help.'
I start thinking. 'Do you think... maybe he's cursed by Vecna?' I ask. Nancy looks at her hands. 'I... don't know.' She says. 'We'll pick up Dustin on our way back, go to your house and talk to Eddie.' I say.
Nancy nods. The Uber comes to our table. 'Here's your milkshakes.' He places them on the table.
'Thanks, I'll pay.' I say. I pay for the milkshakes and we drink them silently.