The Stancy Files

Chapter 11: The Co-Workers

"Steve!" Nancy shouted. She ran over to her friend, who lay unconscious on the ground. Dustin started to freak out while Robin ran over to Steve's side as well. "This is bad! Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit! This is really bad!" Robin looked over at her younger friend who was pacing in between the two vicious boys. "Go get a doctor or nurse or whoever is around!" She shouted over at Dustin. He frantically ran towards the other wing of the school. Nancy held Steve's unconscious body in her arms, whispering to him. "It's going to be okay. Just stay with me, Steve. Stay with me. You're so strong. You can do this. You can do this." She repeated to him, over and over again. 

Minutes passed by and Dustin came back with a nurse and two doctors. The school had decided to keep more on campus since the earthquake and so many people had been so severely injured. The doctors took Steve back first while the nurse stayed with Jonathan, making sure things weren't too bad. The doctors made their way back quickly to pick up Jonathan and ushered Nancy, Robin, and Dustin to come with them. Steve was injected with a needle in his right arm to make sure he didn't wake up right away. The doctors waited for Jonathan to wake up because his injuries were less severe. "What did you do to him?" One doctor asked him. "You're lucky you got so injured, Mr. Byers. We would've called the cops if you hadn't been." The other retorted. Jonathan's anger did not fade away during the fight. "It's his fault! He's been trying to steal my girlfriend!" Nancy stood up, appalled. "I broke up with you, Jonathan! I've told you a million times by now, Steve had nothing to do with it! I broke up with you because of your fucking actions! He should've been fucking slapping you around, not this!" The nurse shook his head, annoyed by their childlike behavior. "I don't know what happened between you two, but I can tell Miss Wheeler is telling the truth. And you both need therapy." Dustin pulled Nancy back into her seat. "Just ignore him, Nancy. He's probably stoned or high." "Like that makes any of this any better," she muttered to herself. 

After getting treatment for his wounds and an injection to wake him up, Steve's eyes fluttered open. He was still a little out of it. "Nancy?" He asked, trying to focus on the curly-haired brunette staring down at him. "Hey, it's okay, Steve. You'll get better, I promise. And Will is going to talk to Joyce about sending Jonathan off back to California." Steve moaned, feeling hurt all over his body. "Why did he do this? He treated you like shit. And you're so  much more than that." Nancy played with the tips of his hair. "He's stupid and jealous. But don't worry about all of that right now. Just get rest," she said, lulling him back to sleep with the sound of her voice. Steve's eyelids became heavy and he fell into a long, deep sleep. 

Nancy spent most of the day at school worrying about her friend. Robin called Keith at Family Video to let him know Steve wouldn't be going back to work for the next few days. Nancy offered to call him, but Robin immediately said no, because she knew about Keith's little weird crush on Nancy. But she couldn't stop Nancy from insisting on taking Steve's shifts at Family Video. She didn't even work at the place, but couldn't help but feel guilty about why he was missing work. Keith gave Nancy glazed-eyed looks all week long, but she ignored them. 

The next Saturday, Steve came rushing into the store, now that he was finally doing better. "I'm here to work now, Nance. So you don't need to take my shifts anymore. Thank you for doing that, by the way. But please don't do it again. Keith has a creepy obsession with you and it's going to wreck him now that I'm back." Keith heard his name being mentioned from the back and walked up to the front, spotting Steve. "I'm here to take my shifts back!" Steve announced hopefully. Keith shook his head, tsk tsk-ing. "So sorry, Harrington. But you've been replaced. Nancy Wheeler works here now. You're fired." Steve shook his head, blatantly disagreeing with the statement. "No, Keith. She was covering for me. You can't fire me. I know someone who knows a lawyer who will sue your ass if you try to fire me." Keith eyed him. "Ok. Fine. I'll let you both take the same shifts. But you're not getting as much money and I'm not letting her go." Steve rolled his eyes, but he knew in his mind Nancy wasn't going to quit just because of a weird man. She pulled through the hardest situations, always coming out on top. "Fine. It's a deal." 

Keith walked away, feeling as if he had won a great victory. He wasn't being sued and Nancy Wheeler wasn't going anywhere. Nancy, on the other hand, was unphased. Instead, she was curious about Steve. "What lawyer were you talking about? You don't know any lawyers." He chuckled. "Oh, yeah. Max said she knows a good layer a while back." Nancy raised an eyebrow, even more curious. "Max threatened to sue you? What in the world did you do to make her so angry, Steve?" He ducked his head, feeling sheepish. "When you and Robin were visiting Victor Creel, she threatened for me to take her to drop off the letters at her house. And then the graveyard. That's how Vecna almost got her the first time. Because I let a lawyer scare me." Nancy began laughing so hard she almost fell over. "You were scared... of Max? Steve Harrington, you never cease to surprise me and make me laugh!" He stared at her, intensely. "Thanks, Nance. I'm glad I can make you laugh." 

She looked up at him with a warm smile. "So, you're feeling better? I'm sorry about everything the other day. Jonathan is a really dumb person sometimes" Steve shook his head, reminiscing. "So am I. I wish I'd never fought back." Nancy shook her head, trying to empathize with the boy. "You had every right to. I mean, he was an asshole. Still is, by the way. I wouldn't come to any more assemblies." He gave a little pout. "So now that Jonathan is back I can't even stop by the school to visit a... good friend?" That made Nancy chuckle a little. "Yeah right... a good friend." 

Steve had enough of the faking around. "You know, I've been thinking about what Robin said. About you know... the two of us. Just like this all the time. Not really dating." Nancy looked up at him. "Yeah?" He nodded. "Yeah... I mean maybe we could go out. For real this time, ya know. No Robin or anyone else... just us." 

Nancy smiled at Steve, egging him on. "What are you asking me, Steve?" He met her eyes, hoping for the best. "Do you want to go on a date, Nance? I dunno... this Friday. Does Friday work for you? Only if you want to, though. I don't want to... never mind." Nancy smiled and couldn't help but let out a laugh. "Friday works great for me, Steve. And you don't have to... you know... get so nervous about it. We like each other. You don't have to be afraid of me. It's just me." Steve smiled at the most beautiful girl he had ever seen as his heart jumped inside his chest. "I'm glad it's you, Nancy. It feels right this time. Real." 

Just as they were having a moment, Keith popped back into the picture. He wagged his finger around in Steve's face. "No. You two aren't dating, Harrington. Co-workers can't date. And Nancy is your co-worker." Steve rolled his eyes. "And she's yours too, Keith. Betcha didn't think that through either." Keith stopped in his tracks, realizing the high school praised golden boy was right. He turned to Nancy as breathless as a turtle, and then back to Steve. "You're fired, Harrington." Nancy turned to Keith, face like a stone. "If you're firing him, I'm quitting." Panic flickered across the video store owner's face. "No! Don't do that! I uhh..." A crease formed in between his eyebrows. He turned back to Steve. "You're not fired, but you have to not date her, Harrington! It's against company policy." Steve rolled his eyes once more. "You don't get to decide what's what. And for all I care, screw company policy. Family Video has no company policy, Keith. And you can't just pull some lies out of your ass to cover it up." 

Nancy agreed not to date Steve in front of Keith, but they started to whisper once he left. "Nance, what are you doing?? You can't let him get to you. Now we have a lose-lose situation on our hands here!" Nancy looked up at him with a bright smile on her face, about to fall into a burst of hysterical laughter. "Steve, I just said that so Keith would go away. You don't have to get so heated up over it." He lifted his hand to his head. "Naaaaance," he whined. She laughed. Looking back at the clock, Nancy realized their shift was over. "Oh shit, I gotta go." She kissed his cheek before rushing out the door. "I'll see you Friday!" She shouted.

Steve Harrington watched as his long-lasting dream was becoming a reality once more.

Nancy and Steve were back. 

And they weren't going anywhere.