The Stancy Files

Chapter 21: The Sleepover

Robin sighed. "Steve, it's getting really late. How in the world am I supposed to get home?" Nancy looked up from the floor. "I can drive you! I love driving!" Steve shook his head. "No, no, no. You're too drunk for that." He turned to face Robin. "I can take you, but Nancy is coming with us." His girlfriend frowned. "I'm not drunk. You are. You can't drive." Steve helped her up from the couch. "Come on, Nance. Let's go take Robin home." A smile spread wide across her face. "I can drive on the way home!" Steve shook his head as a little laugh escaped his mouth. "Let's go, Nance."

On the way to Robin's house, Nancy fell asleep in the back seat of Steve's car. Robin tried to wake her once they got to her house. "Nancy, wake up. Nancyyyy, wake up! Steve will let you drive." Steve rolled his eyes, and once he was parked, he swung open the back doors. "Nance, come on. You gotta get up." Nancy's eyes fluttered a little. "Steve-" He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her out head first to her feet. "Come on, you just gotta walk to the door and back. Then you can sleep all the way home." Nancy delusionally shook her head. "No. I can drive. Robin said I can drive." They walked Robin to her door and walked back to the car. Steve helped her climb into the back seat as she slowly became sober.

Once they were back at Steve's house, he pointed to a room. "You can stay in here. It's my parents' room but you can use whatever you need to. They're not here." Nancy wasn't as tipsy, but still a little. "Why am I staying here? Your room is upstairs." Steve shook his head. "Not tonight, Nance. You have school in the morning and I have work. And it's already kinda late." He kissed her on the head. "I'll see you tomorrow." As he walked away, Nancy mumbled, "I love you." Steve turned around with a warm smile on his face before going upstairs. "I love you too, Nance."

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During the middle of the night, Steve's door creaked open. He saw a pretty shadowed figure standing before him. "Nancy?" He mumbled. "What are you doing awake?" She walked over closer to the side of his bed. "I- there was a sound. I don't know what it was and I got scared. The last time I was here-" Nancy couldn't finish her sentence. Steve needed no reminder of everything that happened with Barbara Holland. He groggily climbed out of his bed, took Nancy's hand, and walked down the stairs with her. 

He looked out the window. Something wasn't right. Outside, something was very wrong. Abnormal.

The couple walked outside of the Harrington's house together. Nancy's nightmare had become a reality. Spores of all shapes and sizes- the kind she had seen two years ago- fell down among them. It was like a sheet of snow. The ground was covered in ugly yellow spores. Steve's arms wrapped around her firmly, wanting to protect her. 

Nancy muttered what all of their friends had dreaded since that horrible night a month ago. "He's back. Vecna's back." 

Steve watched in awe and horror as his girlfriend said something else. "What if he comes back for my family? For Mike- and Max- and-" He couldn't fathom what this was going to do. "No, Nance. We're going to fight him. We'll kill him. Whatever it takes." 

The terror in their eyes was evident. 

This was only the beginning of the end.

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Nancy and Steve went back up to his room, wanting to stay with each other out of fear. She fell asleep on his shoulder after he had fallen asleep.

The next morning, Nancy woke up to a welcoming aroma coming from downstairs. She trudged down the stairs, yearning to do anything to take her mind off of their current situation. A happy, smiley Steve waited for her with bacon and eggs. "Morning, Nance." He said before kissing her cheek. 

They sat down at the family table together. Nancy rubbed her eyes. "Don't you usually pick up Robin around this time?" Steve shook his head. "Nah, it's usually later. Plus I'm waiting for you too. But I like it this way." She blushed, but he could tell her mind was still on what had happened the night before. "Hey," he said, taking her hand. "It's gonna be okay. You graduate next week and then it'll get easier. Summer. And I'll see you a lot more- working and not. How about we go somewhere? Y'know, just the two of us. I mean we'll both have graduated and I mean it's not like we have super huge priorities here. For a week or so? Just go away. What do ya say?" A smile appeared on Nancy's face. "I would love to, Steve, but you know we can't. Not until everything here is... finished." Steve still had high hopes it would happen. Maybe not now, but in the future. "Alright, Nance. I'm taking you up on that." 

After breakfast and Nancy getting ready, the two went to pick up Robin. The girl smirked at Nancy. "You feeling better?" Nancy smiled and nodded. A spur of silence poured into the car. Robin couldn't handle silence. She eyed the two lovers. "So, how did you sleep last night?" Steve's face fell. "Horribly." He mumbled. Robin stared down at her best friend. "Yeah, why's that?" "The spores," Nancy answered, with no emotion on her face, staring blankly out the window. A line creased in between Robin's eyebrows. "Spores? What spores?" Nancy turned, with both eyebrows raised, to face her friend. Steve and Nancy looked at each other anxiously. The rest of the way to the school, they explained what had happened last night.

Once they got to the school, Steve and Nancy walked in together, while Robin went off on a hunt to find Vickie. Steve held on to Nancy's hand tightly as they walked through the doors and leaned closer to her to whisper something into her ear. "If anything happens or just, y'know, things get bad here, call me. I'm not afraid to fight." Nancy nodded as they made it to her locker. "I don't think anything will happen with Jonathan or Melissa, but if it does, I promise I'll call."
And just like he had walked in, Steve kissed his girlfriend and walked out.