I HATE U, I LOVE U | Nancy Wheeler

The Upside Down

Dakota eventually did go back to the school after Robin fell asleep, only to find Nancy and Jonathan were not there. He found the children quickly, "Where are Jon and Nancy?" he asks frantically, thinking the worst.

"I- Uh- We don't know," Mike speaks up.

"You- What do you mean you don't know?" Kota looks at him. Lucas speaks up from beside Mike.

"We don't know where they went. They were here.... then they weren't." Lucas explains.

"...You lost my other brother and Mike's sister? How the fuck did you manage that?" Kota growls.

"Look- We just- We're sure they're safe,"

"Hm, that's odd. Didn't you also think Will was safe?" Kota responds to Dustin's statement.

"Think they went with the chief?" Dustin asks.

"No," all heads snap in El's direction. Mike speaks up.

"No, what?"

"Demogorgon," Eleven says, her voice laced with fear.

"Well, we can't just sit here and wait around," Mike says.

"In case you forgot, we're fugitives and we have undercover agents after us," Lucas shakes his his head.

"Yeah, and we still don't know where your sister, or Kota's brother, is," Dustin reasons.

"El can find her," Mike says

"I still think we should stick with the chief's plan," Dustin says, his gaze never leaving the youngest Wheeler.

"I agree, we can keep El out of sight and we can keep her safe. Besides, she's with Jonathan, she'll be fine," Lucas agrees. Kota looks at him.

"Her being with Jonathan does not give the effect you think it does," he shakes his head.

"Yeah. She's kinda badass now," Dustin adds on to Lucas' statement, ignoring Dakota completely. He turns, walking away.

"Where are you going?" Mike and Kota voice at the same time, Kota with a hint of amusement. "I thought we were sticking to the plan!" Mike calls out.

"I am - I am. I'm just gonna go get some chocolate pudding. I'm telling you, Lunch lady Phyllis hoards that shit!" Kota shrugs as he and Lucas follow after Dustin. The trio rummage through the fridge before Dustin holds one up, "I found it! That bald faced liar, always saying she's out!" Kota grabs a whole bunch of them as Dustin turns to look at him, "You can quit the act, by the way."

"What?" Dakota tilts his head, "Dustin, what the fuck are you on about?"

"The act. You act like you hate Nancy. You like her." Kota feels hat rising to his cheeks as he shakes his head quickly.

"N-No, why would I like Nancy Wheeler? I-I don't," he stumbles over his words slightly.

"Whatever helps you sleep at night," Dustin shrugs. He and Lucas put their box of pudding cups in front of El, grinning. "This'll chare your batteries right up!"

"Guys! Guys!" Mike rushes back in, "They found us!" Kota immediately goes into a more protective mode. He rushes the group out the kitchen as they all run like headless chickens.

"Shit! Shit! Where do we go?!" Dustin yells.

"I don't know! But they knew we were in the gym!" Mike exclaims. Just as they're about to reach an exit, three officers with guns open it and push through. Kota, acting quick, jumps in front of the kids, in case the officers were to shoot.

"Leave her," a voice speaks up, El on the ground drained, it's Dr Brenner. He steps forward and Kota stands protectively in front of them again, but Mike, with his big mouth, just has to say something.

"No! We're not letting you have her! You'll have to kill us!" Kota glares at the younger boy as if to say 'what the fuck is wrong with you?'

As the officers drag El, four more officers grab Kota, Mike, Lucas and Dustin. Dakota puts up a good fight but is ultimately no match for the guard, who ends up knocking him out cold. He can feel himself being dragged after a while, most likely by Dustin and Lucas. Eventually, he realises something.... Brenner won.

ONE MONTH LATER

Dakota was at his house, watching movies with Robin when suddenly the doorbell rings. He gets up and answers, only to find Nancy.

"Oh, uh, hello?" He greets, surprised to see her.

"Hi, um, just came to give you this," she holds out a gift, neatly wrapped. He looks surprised but takes it nonetheless. She's about to turn and leave when he stops her.

"Give me two secs," Nancy can hear him rummaging for something in his room. After a few seconds, he comes out with a gift for her. Not as neatly wrapped but he tried. "Uh, here. Merry Christmas," he smiles. She takes it.

"Thank you," she says softly.

"Anytime. See you round?" he asks.

"Yeah, yeah for sure," she nods and walks back to her car.

"Nancy Wheeler got you a gift and you got her one?" Robin looks at him, "What is happening?"

 "Shut up," Kota chuckles, sitting down and opening it. He opens the box to find a guitar pick with writing, 'Can I hear you play now?' it reads. Kota chuckles, remembering telling her that she can hear him play when she gets him a gift, thinking it would never happen.

Over at the Wheeler house, Nancy sits in her room and opens the gift. There's a jewellery box. She opens it and sees a locket. She opens up the locket and sees a picture of herself and Barb. She wasn't entirely sure how he got the picture but he did. Now she had something that allowed her to carry Barb with her everywhere.

And it was from Dakota Byers.

A/N: Short chapter, I know, but be lucky y'all got anything. It's only cause I love season 2 so much an I wanna get onto it.