The Stancy Files

Chapter 12: The First Date

Friday had finally come and Nancy was beyond excited. She was in Max's room finishing getting ready when a knock came racketing on the door. Max smiled up from the couch at the door to her room, which was slightly opened. "I think you know who that is." Nancy blushed and gave her friend a small smile. "Yeah..." She didn't know what to think because of all of the nerves and excitement rushing around in her stomach. Steve hadn't even walked in the door and Nancy already had butterflies. 

"Max, let me in, will ya?" Steve shouted in a deep voice from the outside of the trailer. She rolled her eyes and went to get the door. "You shouldn't make a crippled person get the door, Steve. It's rude." He gave her an annoyed look. "You haven't been crippled for the past two weeks. And two broken arms isn't exactly... crippled." Max knew he was just joking. That was both of their ways of coping, making jokes. Perhaps that was one of the reasons the two got along so well. Nancy walked out of Max's room. Once Steve had his eyes on her, they never came off. Max gave Steve a serious look as he and Nancy walked out the door. "Be smart. And don't be home any later than 10:00." He opened his mouth to rebuttal with the younger girl. "10:00? Come on, Max! That's hardly any time at all. And you're not either of our parents." Max blinked, unphased. "10:00, Steve. You have four hours. Don't bring her home any later. Or I'll sue you. And so will Nancy." Nancy looked back at Max, grateful for such an over-protecting friend. She had to laugh a little at Max's comment. "Hey! Don't bring me into your sibling arguments!" Max smiled. She'd always wanted a big brother like Steve and a sister like Nancy. Steve was a better brother than Billy had ever been, not that Billy had even been her brother. Basically just a housemate. But she'd never had a sister. Nancy was like that to her now that she was living with Max and Max's mother. It was nice. 

Steve took Nancy's hand, pulling her away from the trailer, towards his car. "Where are we going?" She asked, curious about what he had planned for their date. "You're gonna love it, Nance. Trust me." Her eyes flickered to his, with a hint of humor in them. "I'm assuming Robin helped you?" Steve rolled his eyes with an enormous grin on his face. "Yeah, yeah. It's not like she can stay away from stancy." Nancy raised an eyebrow. "Stancy?" He shrugged. "It's Robin's 'ship name' for us. Ya know? Steve plus Nancy... equals stancy. I dunno where she got it from but I don't hate it." He started the car as she started laughing. "How in the world does she come up with these things?! Her worldly knowledge baffles me sometimes." Steve nodded, not disagreeing with the statement. "Apparently her parents were like big travelers and experiencers before she was born. Or something like that. I don't really remember." 

They drove for a while longer, talking together like flirty friends. From the right window, Nancy saw a sign she'd hardly ever seen before. Leaving Hawkins, Come Again Soon. She gasped looking over at the driver. "Steve! You're going to get us in so much trouble!" A little smile played on his lips. "Don't worry, Nance. We're not going much farther. But I'm not taking you on our first date somewhere in Hawkins! You know how nightmarish stuff is there right now!" She rolled her eyes sarcastically, feeling touched by the action. "And how are you going to explain this to Max? It's not like we haven't been on a date before!" He shrugged, turning the wheel left. "Eh, I'm sure I can come up with something." They drove on a road with deep green trees on either side of them. "Wow, this is beautiful," Nancy remarked. Steve smiled while watching her stare in awe of the greenery. "Yeah, it really is."

 Finally, he parked his car by a little patch of grass. Nancy stepped out, in even more awe than before. Even though she loved people and reporting on the things of the world, nature had its call on everyone. That included Steve and Nancy. Steve lifted the hood of his car and pulled out a basket, a picnic basket, and turned to the girl. "You hungry?" She nodded with a smile on her face. "Starving." The two ate in peace together as the sky turned all sorts of colors: blues to pink and purples, to red and orange, to the deep dark black color of the night sky. "I knew you liked to spend time outside, that's why I brought you here. To watch the stars. And the sunset." Steve said, looking at Nancy, with the purest facial expression. She laid on her back to gaze up at the sky. "You're incredible, Steve. Really. The most thoughtful person I've ever met." He laid back next to her, mimicking her actions. "Not as beautiful as you, Nancy Wheeler." She smiled as they snuggled closer together, lying there in peace and silence. "I've needed this for the longest time, Steve. It's the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me. I mean it. Thank you. For this," Nancy said as she intertwined her hands with his. "Always, Nance. I'll always be here for you." Steve replied, kissing the top of her head. The longer they kept their eyes on the sky, the heavier their eyes became. And then they closed, as the two fell asleep listening to the sounds of nature.

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Nancy opened her eyes to the brightness of the sun peering down on her and the sounds of early morning birds chirping. "Oh shit! Oh shit!" She sat up almost immediately and began to nudge Steve to wake him up. "Steve! Steve! We're going to be so dead! We fell asleep!" He slowly began blinking his eyes open. "Nancy? Wha- What time is it?" She lifted her hand to her head, worrying frantically. "I don't know! We have to get up! We have to go! We fell asleep and Max is going to murder you!" He groggily sat up. "Oh, shit. Yeah, we better get going." Nancy stood up first, pulling Steve to his feet as fast as she could. "Steve, come on! She's going to murder you when she finds out we fell asleep! We have to go now!" They scooped the picnic basket and their belongings and ran to the car. Steve got in the car, turned it on, ushered Nancy to get in, and put it into drive. The drive back to Max's trailer was a lot faster than it had been from it, which Nancy was exceptionally grateful for. Steve pulled up to the trailer and they both hopped out, running up to the door. He knocked once and the door flung back. Max was standing there, staring at Steve, with no words. "10:00. I said 10:00! Not 8:00 in the morning! Where the hell were you guys? I've been awake all night!" Nancy defended him right away. "We went outside of Hawkins to a park! It was just a picnic and we were watching the stars. Lost track of time and fell asleep. It's okay, Max. We're here now. We're here." Max was not amused. "I almost called your mom, dude. I didn't, which is good, but I almost did." She turned to Steve, still angry. "And why were you outside of Hawkins?! That's the most fricking insane thing to do ever with everything that's been happening!" Nancy didn't give time for him to speak and defended him right away once more. "He did it for me! Okay, Max? All intentions were good. Pure. Don't get angry at him, please. I needed it." 

Max eyed her friend. "You needed to go have a picnic with Steve?" A small smile played on Steve's lips, even though he knew what her response would be. "No- I mean having him there was really nice. But I just needed to get away from Hawkins. From the monsters. From the madness." Max was still a little confused. "And you told Steve that?" Steve shook his head. "No, no! The date was my idea. Don't blame Nancy." Max nodded her head. "Yeah, okay. But next time, you're not going out of Hawkins, okay? Only if you take me with you." "Yeah, yeah. I promise. Not unless we take you with us." Steve said. A laugh escaped Nancy's mouth. Max had let them off the hook so much easier than she had imagined. She would've stayed there with him longer if she knew Max would be this chill about it. Looking up at her friend, she proposed a question. "So, you don't mind if we go leave and do something else the rest of the day?" Max shrugged. "As long as you're back around 6:00. I'm gonna be with Lucas and El most of the day anyways." Steve flashed a charming smile. "Like 6:00 in the morning?" Max rolled her eyes. "Nice try. 6:00 tonight. Don't be late." 

Steve and Nancy left the porch. He flashed her another smile. "So, what do you have in mind, Nance?" She looked up at him with shining eyes. "Anything. Everything. As long as it's with you."