The Stancy Files

Chapter 4: The Battle Aftermath

Countless things went wrong that day...

The Hawkins crew stole a house and car in one fell swoop.

Jason Carver and his buddies showed up at War Zone. He didn't treat Nancy so nicely.

Robin foreshadowed defeat.

Eddie Munson died. He gave up his life to defeat Vecna.

Jason and his friend, Andy, showed up at the Creel house. Andy pinned Erica to the ground and threatened to hurt her. Jason tried to kill Lucas.

Jason Carver died. He died a villain, not a hero, which Chrissy would have despised.

The gates opened. The Upside Down started to pour into Hawkins.

Max died. El brought her back to life, but Max did die. She went into a full-body cast. A coma.

The Hawkins crew felt defeated, diminished. They had lost almost everything. Steve, Nancy, and Robin had almost succeeded. But somehow per usual, the villain didn't die. Vecna got away.

The group had split. Lucas and Erica went directly to the hospital. The others who were left went back to the Wheeler's. They couldn't go back to Max's trailer. It was all too fresh to feel so many emotions, and there had been a huge earthquake.  

Everything was chaos. But one key moment was embedded in Nancy's mind. In the Upside Down, all alone, with only Steve. Robin had been freaking about passing a tree before. But Steve had thanked Nancy for breaking up with him. She was left speechless, but her mind dwelled on it when they were away from the Upside Down. Steve had practically told her he loved her. He told her that she was the one in his daydreams, even now. They had split up almost two years ago. It hurt Nancy that she had been so ignorant of it before. She thought he was happy where he was. But it made more sense now. It hurt too much to be around her when Jonathan was around. Seeing her with someone else, when he wanted that to be his future. Nancy did love Steve and Jonathan. But if she was being honest with herself, it was always going to be Steve. Looking back on it, she hated how her relationship with Jonathan had begun. She hadn't cheated on Steve, thank God, but she almost had. It wasn't fair how she ended things. She was too caught up in her own thoughts and guilt to think of her own boyfriend at the time. Jonathan had made Nancy think she wanted to be different. She did want to be different, but she and Jonathan had hardly even been friends when he told her that she was just doing the same thing as every other teenage girl, rebelling, going with the popular boy, and having the nice house down the street in the same neighborhood as everyone else. Jonathan didn't have a right to say shit about Steve, but he did. Now, even two years later, Steve hadn't said a judging word about Jonathan other than Nancy wondering if he'd cheated on her. And it wasn't directed towards Jonathan anyways, it had been directed towards Nancy, trying to make her see how much she was worth. She didn't know what to do other than break up with Jonathan. Apologize to Steve. She didn't want to date Steve right after breaking up with Jonathan, but she did want to spend more time with him and get to know him better now that he had grown up so much. She had a good amount of history with Steve, but more importantly, she had so much love for him. It made her sad inside to know she never really told him that.

Memories flashed through her mind. Steve sneaking into her room and helping her study, Steve wearing sunglasses inside and sneak-attacking her at her locker, Steve wrecking Billy's car when he had tried to kill her, and of course, Steve saving her from Vecna. All of these good memories started with one word. Steve. Not Jonathan. Not anyone else. Just Steve. Steve Harrington.

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2 DAYS LATER

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      Jonathan was now back in Hawkins with Mike, El, Will, and his new friend, Argyle, from California. Everyone was hugging, at peace for just a moment in time. Jonathan wanted to kiss Nancy on the forehead, but she slid away before he could. He told her they couldn't risk contact. Couldn't risk contact? The air felt humid and Nancy's breaths got shorter. She couldn't even think. He promised to tell her everything, but she knew that was a lie. Mike would tell her, but Jonathan kept secrets. He had been for months. "Hey, hey, are you okay?" Her boyfriend asked. Nancy knew Steve had to be watching them, and Robin as well. She looked down at the paved driveway, everything that had gone through her mind the other night came back to her. "Could we... could we talk inside?" She asked, not willing to look Jonathan in the eyes. They walked in silence, past Robin and Steve, and everyone else, even Nancy's mom. The two walked to Nancy's room to have some privacy.

"Nancy, what's going on? I know it wasn't an earthquake. I told you, I'll tell you everything. But what's going on?" Nancy shook her head, trying to focus on the carpet in her room as thoughts flew 'round and 'round in circles in her head. The curly-haired brunette spontaneously decided to look up, directly into the boy's eyes. She had to be brave and do this the right way. "I know you've been lying to me, Jonathan. I know it. And... you haven't been here. You're keeping secrets and lying to me! You of all people know that you don't do that in a relationship! I can't do this anymore, Jonathan. I can't. I really can't." Nancy Wheeler took a deep breath before her last words as Jonathan Byers's girlfriend. "It's over." Jonathan's mouth fell open in shock, anger, and confusion. "What? So I leave Hawkins for less than a year and you get back with Steve? Really, Nancy?! Of all of the goddamn people in Hawkins, you're back with Steve Harrington?" Nancy was now furious. "This has nothing to do with Steve! You have been lying to me! You have been keeping secrets! And it's your fault that I broke up with Steve in the first place because you're the one who pressured me into it! I can't believe we even became friends, Jonathan! Because you really are a jerk and have to ruin anything good that happens to anyone else besides yourself!" Jonathan was appalled. He stormed out of his ex's bedroom as she fell to her knees, on the verge of tears. When Jonathan stomped out of the Wheeler house, he glared at Steve. He turned Argyle around forcing him back into the Surfer Boy's Pizza van and grabbed El and Will away from Dustin. He didn't want anything to do with Nancy Wheeler. She had stabbed him in the back. 

As soon as Robin saw Jonathan stomping out of the house, she knew something had happened between him and Nancy. She stopped Steve from going up to see her, and reassured him that she would take care of it, but told him not to leave yet. As soon as Robin opened the door, she rushed up to Nancy's room to find her friend sitting there in silence, knees curled to her chest, not being able to speak a word. Robin sat next to her as she gave Nancy a shoulder to cry on, even though only two tears struck her cheeks. Not sad tears, but angry tears. Jonathan had blamed her for cheating when in reality she hadn't done anything. He had been lying. Keeping secrets. He knew what being in a relationship with Nancy would be like, and he hadn't been treating her the way she deserved. Nancy had refrained from calling him a cheater because she didn't know if it was true, she had only been speculating. But Jonathan had gone on to have the ego to say she had been cheating. It made her feel so used, and like she was worth nothing. Robin and Nancy didn't say anything to each other but just stayed in each other's company. Nancy finally broke the silence. "He said I cheated with Steve. He blamed it all on Steve," she said, heartbroken. "You know you didn't though, Nance. I mean... Jonathan's just angry. And dumb. A very dumb boy. A selfish boy. One of the many of their species. It's okay. You know the truth and that's what matters." Robin said, reassuring her friend it was the boy's fault.

They sat in silence for a little while longer, but eventually decided they needed to get up, go out, go do something. Steve and Dustin were still at the Wheeler's, now downstairs in the living room, talking with Mike and Mrs. Wheeler. Robin walked down the stairs first, then Nancy, both looking more determined than ever. "What happened, Nancy?" Her mother asked. "We broke up," she replied, emotionless. Karen rushed over to her daughter, giving her a quick embrace. "Oh, Nancy, I'm so sorry, honey! What happened?" Nancy shrugged her mother away. "I broke up with him. He's been lying to me. Keeping secrets. I can't be in that kind of relationship. He was a jerk, mom." Robin walked towards the boys, giving the Wheeler women a little privacy.  Steve couldn't take his eyes off of Nancy. Was she okay? Had Jonathan cheated on her?

Steve Harrington needed answers.