Friday afternoon, January 5, 1984
Nancy's POV
I walked out of school alone, tucking a stray piece of hair behind my ear. People glared at me as I passed, whispering about the latest gossip Carol had spread around about me. I tried to ignore them and walked faster, needing to get home to Mike. I didn't want to leave him alone at the house for any longer, what with how depressed he'd been lately.
I opened the door of Steve's car. "Hey," he said, not opening his eyes. He was slumped against the steering wheel, looking desolate.
"Are you okay?" I asked him, getting in and shutting the door.
He shrugged and sat up. "Just stuff with Tommy again," he said. "But who cares, right?" He gave me a weak smile.
I leaned over and kissed him. "You still have me."
He hesitated, pressing his forehead against mine, then wrapped his arms around me and pulled me closer.
After a few minutes, I pulled away. "I need to get home to Mike," I murmured apologetically.
Steve paused, then turned away. "Of course," he said, sounding bitter.
"Steve, you know I would stay," I said slowly, focusing my gaze on him, "but I can't."
"You might as well just break up with me now."
"I wouldn't do that."
"Why not? You don't need me. You're Miss Perfect, watching your brother and studying for everything and-"
"You know it isn't like that!" I shrieked.
He turned to me, his gaze cold. "Then what the hell is it like, Nance? Huh?" After a moment of silence, he looked away and started the car.
I'd been worried about Steve lately, and this showed me that I had good reason to be. He had been acting clingy since his status of popular had dropped from ten to zero, and got angry whenever I couldn't spend time with him. Tommy and Carol had been spreading terrible rumors about him, making no one at school want to be anywhere near him. They could be vicious if they wanted to, which we had found out too late.
About 20 minutes later, we were at my house. "Bye," he said shortly to me.
I almost ran inside, shutting the door with a loud bang. "Mike?"
I hadn't exactly expected an answer. But surprisingly, he had moved from his spot on the sofa into El's tent. He looked up at me as I climbed down the stairs. "Hey," I said, walking over to him and kneeling in front of the tent. "Do you feel okay?"
"Yeah," he whispered, his voice hoarse.
I could've cheered. "He speaks!" I smiled at him, and he weakly returned the smile. "So you're better now?"
He shrugged and closed his eyes. "Just tired."
I nodded and smoothed down his messy hair. "Okay. I'll tell Mom so she doesn't bother you. Get some sleep," I added as I got up.
He nodded slightly, and I left happily. Finally, he was getting better- and maybe everything else would, too.
YOU ARE READING
you are not alone → stranger things
Fanfiction**DISCLAIMER: i wrote this in like middle school before season two came out & it's pretty cringy but i'm leaving it published bc it has 20k reads😏 ❝ This is not yours to fix alone. You act like you're all alone out there in the world, but you're no...
