Any Time At All

Chapter Twenty-Four

You wake up the next morning, refreshed and ready to start the day. You get out of bed and go downstairs. Your father is sitting on a stool at the black top in your kitchen drinking coffee and reading the paper. You quietly pass by him to get to the fridge. You pull out the carton of orange juice and pour yourself a glass. You walk back up to your room and the phone rings. "Hello?"

"Hey, meet me at my house! I have to fill you in on a lot..." You can tell it's Nancy just by her voice.

"I'll be there soon." You hang up and rush out of the house yelling back to your father that you'll be at Nancy's. Getting in your car, you race down the street. Pulling up to Nancy's house, she meets you at the front. You get out of the car, confused. "Nance? What's going on?"

"Follow us in my car," Jonathan says and you get back in the car, following them downtown. You stop at a hunting store of some sorts.

"What are we doing here?" You ask.

Walking into the store, Nancy takes you aside to fill you in. "Remember the man from the woods?" You nod your head. "Well, after Will's funeral, Jonothan and I went out to the woods looking for it."

"You what? Nance!" You exclaim.

"It gets worse...we found it. There was a strange portal or gate - so to speak - and it brought me to this alternate universe of some sort. I was so scared. Jonathan helped pull me outta there and we ran back to my house."

"Oh my god, are you okay?" You express your concern.

"Not really. But we plan on taking it down, once and for all. That's why we're here. Supplies." Nancy catches you up and goes over to Jonathan with a list. They fill up there baskets and you just walk around them, taking it all in.

They leave the place and walk back to Jonathan's car with all of their stuff. "Monster hunting?" Jonathan asks Nancy, amused.

"You know, last week, I was shopping for a shirt I thought Steve might like," you cringe. "It took me and Barb all weekend. It seemed like life or death, ya know? And-and now..." she stops.

"You're shopping for bear traps with Jonathan Byers and (Y/N) Webb." He laughs.

"Yeah..."

"What's the weirdest part?" He asks. "Me or the bear traps?"

" You, definitely you." She says sarcastically. You notice them staring at each other, longer than usual.

Suddenly, a car horn beeps twice and a teenage boy pokes his head out of the passenger seat window. "Hey, Nance," he says. "Can't wait to see your movie!" They laugh and drive off.

"What are they talking about?" you ask.

"I don-" she stops and her eyes become wide and she runs down the street. You and Jonathan follow her. You end up at the cinema where you and Steve were last night. All you see is 'Nancy the slut Wheeler' in bright red letters on the showings board. It's been vandalized.

"Nance," you say softly. There is murmuring just around the corner and it almost sounds like Steve. You think Nancy is thinking the same thing because she storms over there. She is furious.

You follow her and can hear his other friends making side comments as you see Nancy smack Steve across the face. "What is wrong with you?" she yells at him, tears forming in her eyes.

"What's wrong with me? What's wrong with you? I was worried about you. Can you believe that?" Steve says, copying you from last night.

"What are you talking about?" She asks in disbelief.

Carol chimes in, "I wouldn't lie if I were you. You wouldn't want to be the lying slut now, would you?"

"Relax, Carol," you start. "Nobody wants to take that title away from you." Steve looks over at you, failing to acknowledge your presence as he was currently so wrapped up with Nancy. Carol scoffs at your comment. Tommy and his friend laugh.

"Speak of the devil," Tommy says looking at Jonathan appear behind us. "You got both of your little girlfriends here today. Huh, Byers?

"You came by last night," Nancy says, figuring it out.

"Ding, ding, ding. Does she get a prize?" Carol mocks. You glare at her and she cowers back.

"Look, I don't know what you think you saw, but it wasn't like that!"

"What, you just let him into your room to...study?" Steve looks hurt.

"Or for another pervy photo session," Tommy says. You try and keep your mouth shut when it comes to Tommy. As you've been advised to.

"We were just-" Nancy tries to explain.

"You were just what? Finish thats sentence. Finish...the sentence." Steve demands.

"Let her talk Steve, you don't understand!" You burst out, knowing damn well that this isn't your fight. He doesn't even so much as glance at you.

Nancy doesn't speak. "Go to hell, Nancy." Steve says and turns around.

"C'mon Nancy, let's just leave." You say. You wrap an arm around her and you start to go.

"You know what, (Y/N)? I don't even know why you're here. This isn't your fight. You shouldn't even be saying anything. Did you tell Nancy what happened last night?" He starts getting closer to you, following as you leave. "Does Nancy even know you like I do? I can't believe you're taking her side right now."

You stop and turn around. Steve was so close behind you that it made him stumble. "Listen," you start calmly. "I know that you're confused, angry, and probably even sad but if you could just stop. Right now. You'd be saving yourself a lot if trouble." You turn back to Nancy and Jonathan and go with a quiet alley way behind you.

You walk back to yours and Jonothan's car and you can see the cops pulled around the shop you parked at. Two officers are rifling through Jonathan's trunk where he placed all of the items they had bought.