Chapter Text
March 26th, 1986
Nancy knew that Steve could hold his breath for a long time.
When they were dating, it seemed to be a constant point of pride. At swim meets, at his pool, at the public pool. He’d tell anyone who asked that he’d made it four minutes one time, and it only took two times of him saying it around her for her to ask him to prove it.
They’d timed him in his backyard, and she’d never quite forgotten the goofy smile on his reddened face when the timer did indeed tick past four.
Jonathan she’s not so sure about.
Which is why, when he and Steve started fighting over who was going down into Lover’s Lake, she was on Steve’s side.
“I was a lifeguard for four years, Jonathan.” He was saying, already pulling his sweatshirt off. “I’ve never even seen you swim—“
“I can fucking swim, asshole.” Jonathan countered, grabbing Steve’s wrist, “You’re not going down there. I’m serious. It’s not safe.”
“Why?” Steve slapped his hand away, eyebrows raised in a challenge.
“You know why.”
Nancy looked between them, and then her eyes flicked to Eddie, sitting back at the end of the boat with an unreadable expression on his face.
“I am fine.” Steve said. “I’ve been fine. For months. I swim all the time.”
“Yeah.” Jonathan said, “And you shouldn’t. You know you shouldn’t, but you still do. Which is exactly why you shouldn’t go down there.”
“Guys.” Nancy said, holding back a sigh, “I’m…Steve’s right, Jonathan. We’ll be here the whole time, and if anything goes wrong—“
“You won’t be able to see if anything goes wrong, Nancy.” Jonathan hissed, “It’s dark enough up here, it will be pitch black in that water.”
“Then take a flashlight.” Eddie said, and they all turned to him. He held one up, shaking it pointedly before wrapping it in a plastic bag from his pocket.
“Good idea, Munson.” Steve said, reaching for it.
Jonathan intercepted it, acting like he was going to pass it to Steve for one second before he snatched it back.
“Jonathan.” Steve said, “The fuck are you—“
He cut off with a gasp as Jonathan yanked his arm back. The whole boat rocked and Nancy yelped as it nearly tipped, squeezing her eyes shut and waiting for the rush of cold water.
It didn’t come, and when she opened her eyes again, Steve was sprawled across the boat and Jonathan was somehow still standing. He pulled his sweater off, chucking it at Steve with a huff.
“Sorry.” He said, “Be right back.”
He took a breath and jumped, rocking the boat again. His pale body disappeared beneath the water, and Nancy felt a blush growing on her cheeks. It was stupid, it was dangerous. It was a little hot.
“Fucking asshole.” Steve muttered, and Nancy reached to help him up. “Start the timer.”
“Already on it.” Nancy said, clicking the button.
Then they waited.
Steve was hovering over the water, peering down like he’d be able to see the gate from here.
“Where are we at?”
“Closing in on a minute.” Nancy said.
“Anything yet??” A voice from the radio startled them, and Eddie grabbed at it, eyeing the rest of their party on the shore. Robin was gripping the walkie, surrounded by the kids.
“Not yet.” Eddie said, “Byers is still down there.”
“Are we—no offense, but are we sure Jonathan’s the best one for this job—“ Dustin had the radio now, but it cut off when Max snatched it from him.
“Whatever you guys are doing, hurry up.” She said, “Its cold as balls out here. Over.”
“Heard. Over and out.” Eddie replied.
Nancy had to agree. It was cold as balls, and she was only getting more nervous as the seconds ticked closer to two minutes.
“That’s it.” Steve said, reaching for his shirt again, “I’m going in. Do we have another flashlight?”
Eddie nodded, scrambling in his pockets for something to wrap it in. Nancy wasn’t going to argue, her heart was hammering and she certainly did not want to go into that water.
She leaned over, squinting at the surface in vain. And just as Steve leaned with her, preparing to dive, the surface broke with a splash and a gasp.
“Jesus Christ!” Eddie snapped, flinching so hard he rocked the boat again.
Jonathan grabbed at the boat, panting and soaked. His hair was plastered to his forehead, and there was a lopsided grin growing on his face.
“Found it.” He said, looking between the two of them.
“You found it?” Nancy asked.
Jonathan nodded, still trying to catch his breath. “It’s small…like Dustin said…but I found it. Fucking…gnarly down there.”
Eddie grabbed at the radio, “Henderson, you’re a genius, Byers found the gate!”
“Come on, dude.” Steve said, reaching for Jonathan’s hand. He let him pull until Jonathan was straddling the side of the boat with both arms, and Nancy moved back to accommodate the shift in weight.
She looked back just in time to see his eyes go wide.
It looked like he slipped, at first. Just a little dip and him gripping at the side of the boat.
“Woah!” Steve said, reaching again before the tipping unsettled them all again and he stumbled back. Jonathan sat up again, looking down at the water before his eyes locked with Steve’s.
“Felt like something—“
He didn’t finish, and none of them moved quickly enough to help. Instead, he lurched down, and Nancy heard the crack of his skull on the side of the boat before he was dragged under by something they couldn’t see.
“Jonathan?!” Steve scrambled to the edge of the boat, and Nancy followed. “Jonathan!!”
“What the hell was that?!” Eddie screamed, “Wheeler, what the fuck happened?!”
“I don’t know, I don’t know!!” Nancy was gasping now, her heart was in her throat. She couldn’t see him, couldn’t see anything except a few bubbles and a stretch of water so dark it looked endless.
She looked up, eyes catching Steve’s for one second before they both decided.
He went first, not even bothering to take the shirt off this time. Nancy made a move to follow, but he put a firm hand on her arm.
“Wait here, I’ll get him.”
“Steve—“
“Nance, it’s going to be okay.” He said, squeezing her arm, “Be right back.”
He jumped in without another word, and then it was just the two of them. The radio was silent, the lake was silent, and Nancy was not going to wait around.
She looked at Eddie, trembling and terrified in the back of the boat.
“I’m going in.”
He shook his head frantically, “Don’t leave me here, man, please.”
Nancy almost rolled her eyes before turning back to the water. She took a deep breath, and dove.
It was colder than she expected, and completely dark. She should’ve grabbed the other flashlight, but she knew she was mostly just swimming down.
So she did, aiming directly for the lake floor and using the rising pressure around her as a gauge for how deep she was going.
And then she saw it. Red and glowing on the floor of the lake. A tear in reality itself.
A gate.
The surface of it was already broken, a pink membrane torn and rended into shreds. Nancy pulled at the sides of it, pushing through until there was a sickening turn in her stomach.
Gravity was flipping on itself.
She was preparing to swim again when she realized there was no water on the other side.
Nancy emerged sputtering and shivering, clambering to her feet. She heard Steve immediately, and saw him standing just outside the gate.
“Jonathan!! Jonathan!! J—Nancy, goddamnit, I told you to wait!”
Nancy didn’t respond, she just started spinning, searching for where he could’ve possibly gone. Maybe he ran for the woods after something dragged him through, maybe he fought it off somehow and —
A loud screech drew her attention behind them, and she was running before she’d even fully processed what she’d seen, grabbing at Steve’s arm until he was running alongside her and then, inevitably, in front of her.
They made a mad dash for the prone figure on the ground and the creatures eating at it.
Something white-hot and buzzing enveloped her entire head, and she grabbed at an oar in a nearby boat, swinging it at the monsters biting into Jonathan’s stomach while Steve stomped on the one with a long tail wrapped around his throat. There were two more pulling on his wrists, spreading his arms wide.
He wasn’t fighting, wasn’t moving at all—
“Goddamn!! Fucking!! Ugly!! Bastard!!” Steve was shouting with each hit, he’d found an oar of his own and was pounding the screaming thing into a mess of grey flesh.
Nancy tried to do the same, but just as she’d gotten one off, another swooped at her back. She screamed, dropping the oar to grasp at the thing clawing at her scalp.
“Nancy!” Steve was yelling, but she couldn’t see him anymore. She was wheeling around wildly trying to get a grip and wishing more than anything that she’d brought a fucking gun.
And then, as quickly as it had appeared, it was gone. Nancy spun, finding a dripping wet Eddie holding the thing by its tail, screaming almost as shrilly as the monster.
“Fuck, fuck fuck fuck!”
Nancy picked up the oar again and swung.
The world narrowed to only this. Hitting and dodging, squelching and screeching, panting and running and carrying.
And then, once they were just inside the woods beneath Skull Rock and Steve had laid Jonathan down at the back of the cave, absolute horror.
“Jonathan, wake up!! Come on, man, please—Oh fuck, oh fuck—Nance?! Nancy, he’s not—“
Nancy was already there, skidding to her knees beside them as Steve pressed shaking fingers to Jonathan’s throat, cursing again.
“Goddamnit, God fucking—Nancy, help me!”
“What’s—“
Steve looked at her, his eyes impossibly wide.
“He’s not breathing, I can’t—I don’t think he has a pulse.”
Nancy felt something like ice inside her heart, piercing at the walls of it so suddenly that she could’ve gagged at the pain.
This could not be happening.
Not here, not now, not when he wasn’t even supposed to be here.
“What do we—Steve, what do we…we have to—God, what do—“ Her voice sounded too small and a thousand miles away.
Her eyes dropped, stomach flipping again when she really saw how still Jonathan was. There was a gash on his forehead where he’d hit the boat. His eyes were closed, his skin paler than she’d ever seen. His lips were almost blue. There were raised red welts around his neck where the bat’s tail had—
“Nancy!” A hand on her arm startled her, and she met Steve’s eyes again.
They were squinting now, determined and bright with fear. “You have to help me, alright? I need you to breathe for him. Tilt his head, pinch his nose. Breathe only when I tell you to. Two times, big breaths.”
Nancy’s body snapped into order all at once. She had a job to do now. She crawled closer to Jonathan’s head while Steve made sure he was lying as flat as possible on the ground, then tilted his chin until it looked right and pinched his nose. It felt wrong, like she was hurting him even though she knew he couldn’t feel it.
“Now!” Steve said with a nod, lacing his hands together in preparation.
Nancy breathed deep, and then gave it away twice.
She was trying very hard not to think about the fact that this was their first kiss in months. She was trying very hard not to notice how cold his lips were, and how if this didn’t work she’d never see him smile again.
Never see him frown or scoff or laugh again.
Never get to tell him she loved him again, though they’d been saying that less and less these days.
His chest rose, unnatural and forced, and then Steve was counting.
Pushing hard on Jonathan’s ribs, so hard that Nancy was sure he was going to—
There was a nauseating snap that made all of them flinch, but Steve kept going, muttering in between his numbers.
“You are not. 12 13 14. Doing this. 17 18 19. Asshole. 22 23 24. Not like this, not here. 28 29 30–Now, Nance!”
She breathed again, sat back for one second while Steve checked for a pulse, and then he was counting again. His motions were practiced and precise, he looked like he’d done this a hundred times.
Jonathan’s body jerked under his hands. His head rolled, his mouth hung open. Nancy reached with her own shaking hands to steady it, brushing the hair back from his forehead as she did.
“Jonathan, please.” She whispered, her voice was stuck at this volume, maybe forever. She should be crying, but all she could manage was choked begging.
“Please, please. Come back.”
He was just supposed to be here for a week. She and Steve and Robin bullied him into coming even though he wanted to stay and wait for his acceptance letter. He had no idea he was walking into another world-ending horror show, had no idea that they’d spend their spring break chasing down Dustin’s fugitive friend and tracking a supernatural serial killer. He wasn’t supposed to be here, he wasn’t supposed—
How was she going to go back home after this?
How—
She’d have to tell Joyce that, what? The evil dimension that almost claimed her son had finally finished the job? Finally taken what it had promised to years ago, and it was all Nancy’s fault for letting him come back. Making him come back, just because she was insecure about their future when he’d never once wavered.
She’d have to tell Will.
He wasn’t supposed to fucking be here, and now he’s—
Steve nearly made it to thirty for a third time before Jonathan coughed.
It was wet and gurgling, and then there was water everywhere. Pooling and bubbling from his mouth and nose. He was choking on it, and Nancy panicked for a second before realizing that Steve was giving her a job again.
“Help me roll him!”
She did, and they reached in tandem to pull at his shoulder. The gurgling turned to retching, and Nancy could only hold on as his body bucked and shook with cough after cough and his lungs fought to get the water out.
“That’s it, buddy.” Steve said, his hand was shaking on Jonathan’s shoulder and he reached with his other to push his hair back with a deep breath, “That’s it, you’re okay.”
She looked at him, almost in awe, wondering how many times he’d done this at the pool. How many people were walking around Hawkins because Steve brought them back in a completely mundane way? Just with steady hands and sure breath, nothing supernatural about it.
Jonathan went still again, almost tipping facedown before Nancy and Steve caught him. Then her hands were on his face, thumbs rubbing roughly on his cheeks. His eyes were still closed. She could feel his heartbeat pounding beneath her hands.
“You’re okay. You’re alright, we’re here.” She said, but there was no response. Just fluttering eyelids and quick breaths. “Jonathan, please. Open your eyes for me.”
He was breathing on his own now, but she couldn’t shake the need to do it for him. She felt like if she looked away for too long he’d stop again. Nancy met Steve’s eyes again, both of them sharing a quiet moment of victory before the worry kicked in again.
“Will he be okay?” She asked.
Steve nodded tentatively, “I think so. We just need to get the hell out of here, get him to a hospital.”
“That might be a problem.” Eddie hissed, drawing their attention.
He pointed up just as a flurry of wings passed over them, it sounded like a solid tsunami of bats, flapping and screeching just outside the cave. One came particularly close and Eddie jumped back, scrambling to the end of the cave where the rest of them were.
Jonathan moved under her hands then, his head shifting with a garbled moan. Nancy forgot all about the bats, leaning down and nearly sobbing when his eyes cracked open. They were dazed and bloodshot, and he narrowed them at her almost immediately.
“Wh-what...happened?” His voice was rasping and slurred, but just the sound of it unraveled something that had been sitting coiled in Nancy’s chest.
“Jesus Christ.” Nancy yanked harder than she should, pulling him up until she could wrap her arms completely around him.
“Nancy, t—too tight.” Jonathan wheezed against her shoulder, “Can’t…breathe.”
She only loosened a tiny bit, burying her head in the crook of his neck where she could still feel his heartbeat.
“Never. Ever. Do that to me again.” She said, half sobbing and dizzy with a mix of fear and relief.
Jonathan huffed, “Don’t know…what I did. But s—sure.”
Finally she pulled back, letting him sit up properly and then guiding him back until he was sitting against the rock. Steve crouched beside her, shaking Jonathan’s knee.
“Told you it should’ve been me.” He said, and Jonathan rolled his eyes weakly.
“If it was you.” Nancy said, glaring at him, “You’d be dead, because you’re the only one who knows CPR.”
“I know it!” Eddie interjected, and they all looked at him, waiting for an explanation before he shrugged.
“Part of my tragic backstory. You guys haven’t unlocked that yet. Sorry.”
Nancy turned back, finding Jonathan staring at them both with wide eyes.
“You—did I—“
“Yeah.” Steve said, “You died on us for a second. And I’m going to have to count this as two saves, because we also stopped you from getting eaten by those fucked up bat things.”
“The…what?” Jonathan looked down, nearly gagging when his eyes caught on the evidence. “Fucking…Jesus, something...ate me?”
Nancy was looking too, trying to decide how she could stop the most bleeding. The bites were scattered all over his abdomen, but she thought she could wrap the two worst areas. It wouldn’t be sanitary, but she needed to do something.
“Only a little bit.” Steve assured Jonathan, but Nancy could hear his breathing picking up as she focused on ripping the bottom of her shirt off. There was still a wheeze to it, and a pained hitch that she was sure meant he’d noticed the cracked rib too.
“Wait,” Jonathan said, seeming to finally take in their surroundings, “We’re not…”
“We are.” Nancy said, wringing out the fabric, “But not for long. Here, lean forward so I can—“
He did, and she wrapped the makeshift bandage around his middle, pulling it tight as he bit back a groan. She saw Steve shuffling toward the cave mouth out of the corner of her eye, checking the sky for the monsters in question.
“Too tight?” She asked, searching Jonathan’s scrunched face.
He shook his head, “It’s good. Should keep...my insides...on the inside.”
Nancy let out a huff that could almost be a laugh, tying off the fabric. Then she looked up, finally letting herself feel a second of relief as she met Jonathan’s mossy brown eyes. She reached out, brushing a thumb under the gash on his head. It was bleeding a little, dripping over his brow.
“You’ll have some battle scars.” She said, tracing her hand down until it was on his cheek again.
He smiled, crooked and familiar, “Didn’t do much…of the battling. Was...uh, too busy dying.”
Nancy squinted at him, “Let’s wait a few business days before we start joking about it, okay? My nerves are still fried.”
“When...are they not?”
“Very funny.”
She leaned in, planting a soft kiss on his lips. They were warm now, urgent against hers. Nancy knew this was the worst time to possibly be doing this, but she didn’t care. He was alive, teasing her and smiling when he’d just been cold on the ground. And she needed something to replace the memory of breathing for him.
“I love you.” She said, pulling back just a little until they were nose to nose, “You know you can’t leave me, right?”
He traced a light thumb along her jaw, “I do. Wasn’t trying to...for the record. I love you too...also for the record.”
The screeching faded as Nancy pulled back, taking Jonathan’s hand firmly in hers when she sat beside him.
“I think they’re gone.” Steve crawled back towards them.
“Great.” Eddie said, sitting beside Nancy, “Now we can get the fuck out of here.”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea.” Nancy said, eyes darting between the boys, “Those things were guarding the gate. We cant just waltz right back through.”
“We can take them.” Steve said, and Nancy narrowed her eyes at him.
“We only barely made it out of there, Steve.” She said.
"That's because I had to carry Jonathan." He argued, "If he can walk this time, and not clock out on us again..."
“I’m with Harrington.” Eddie added, “The lake’s our best bet, we just have to be quick—“
“Don’t know if...I can do quick right now.” Jonathan interrupted, hand tracing the red lines across his throat. He still didn't sound like he was taking full breaths. “But we could...get weapons? If it's in Hawkins...it's here. So like, the police station...?"
“I like that idea.” Steve said, clapping his hands together, “Nance?”
Nancy considered it, plotting the logistics of walking into town with an injured party member, flying miniature demogorgons, and no weapons.
She didn’t like the odds.
“We don’t have to go downtown for guns.” She said, “I have guns. In my bedroom.”
Eddie scoffed, “You, Nancy Wheeler, have guns, plural, in your bedroom?
Nancy rolled her eyes, “A Russian Makarov and a revolver.”
“Yeah, you almost shot me with that one.” Steve said, grinning at her.
“You almost deserved it.” She teased.
“Okay.” Jonathan said, pushing against the wall, “Nancy’s...house, let’s go.”
He made it halfway up before she saw his legs wobble and give. Nancy dove, but Steve beat her to it, pulling Jonathan’s arm over his shoulder with a huff.
“Easy, dude.” He said, “I’ve got you.”
“I can…walk.” Jonathan panted, looking almost as pale as he’d been a few minutes ago.
“Oh, I’m sure you can.” Steve replied, “But I’m gonna help anyway, just in case.”
He nodded at Nancy, and they started out of the cave. Eddie followed, and Nancy had to throw an arm over his chest before he barreled into a vine.
“Careful!” She hissed, “Don’t touch the vines, it’s all a hive mind.”
Eddie stumbled back, “A what?”
“All the creepy crawlies around here.” Steve said, “They’re, like, one or something. Step on a vine, you’re stepping on a bat, you’re stepping on…Vecna.”
Nancy never thought she’d witness Steve explaining the weird science of their haunted town, but Eddie seemed to get it.
“Shit.”
“Just stick close to me.” Nancy said, marching ahead of the boys.
“It’s going to be a long walk.”
***
They only made it thirty minutes into the walk before Eddie couldn’t stand the silence anymore.
”So…” He said, matching Nancy’s pace where he’d been lagging behind.
”Nancy Wheeler’s personal arsenal…how did that happen exactly?”
Nancy sighed, feeling suddenly defensive.
“I don’t know,” She replied, “How did your CPR training happen?”
”Oh, the normal way.” Eddie said, his voice took on a strange tone then, “You grow up in a house full of drug addicts, you learn what to do when people stop breathing.”
She glanced at him, and he shrugged. Nancy didn’t think she’d earned that particular bit of backstory yet, and she felt bad for bristling at his question.
“Sorry.” She said, “I—um. I guess…I have just learned to be prepared for anything. We’ve thought this was all over three times now, but it keeps coming back. I don’t want to be caught off guard.”
”That’s fair.” Eddie replied, “Henderson says you’re a good shot. The kid worships you almost as much as Harrington, seems a little scared of you sometimes, actually.”
Nancy laughed, “I wish that were true. For him or my brother. They’d be a lot easier to manage.”
”It is true.” Eddie insisted, “Look, your brother can be a little asshole, sure, but you should hear the way he talks behind your back. You were the first one he wanted to call when Sinclair bailed on our last session, said you were kind of a legend back in the day. Before you got all…preppy?”
”I am not preppy.” Nancy said, bristling again.
Eddie threw up a hand, “Mike’s words, not mine. I’ve always thought you were cool, Wheeler. Even if we’ve never exactly run in the same circles.”
”No,” Nancy said, eyeing the dark forest ahead, “We haven’t.”
She turned back for a moment, finding Steve and Jonathan making a steady, if slow pace behind them. They were talking about something, but she couldn’t make it out from here with the thunder crackling overhead.
”Your boyfriend’s tougher than he looks.” Eddie said, looking back with her before they both faced forward again.
”He is.” Nancy confirmed.
Eddie was quiet for a moment, but she could tell he was building up to ask something else. Finally, he took a breath.
“Is there…any particular reason he was such an ass about Harrington going in the lake? It seemed like—“
”They just—“ Nancy interrupted him, not entirely on purpose, “They do this. Every time. It’s like a stupid game they play.”
”A game?”
”They…count saves. Try to find ways to one-up each other. Dumb boy stuff, no offense.”
”None taken.” Eddie replied, “That’s very Tolkien of them.”
She didn’t reply, so he leaned over a bit.
”You know, like Legolas and Gimli—“
”I’ve read the books, yeah.” Nancy said.
This whole line of conversation was making her antsy, though she wasn’t exactly sure why. She’d been firmly on team No Secrets for years, but telling Eddie the real reason the boys had fought on the dingy seemed invasive.
And Steve really was fine. He hadn’t had an episode in months, he was taking the meds, going to checkups. If they could just make it through the next few days without another medical emergency on top of the mounting metaphysical emergencies…Nancy would consider that a small win.
”You are full of surprises, Nancy Wheeler.” Eddie remarked, and Nancy gave him a small smile.
“I know.”
”Like jumping in that lake?” He continued, making an exaggerated explosion noise as he didn’t, “I wouldn’t—If there’s one thing I’ve learned about myself this week, it’s that I am no fucking hero outside of D&D. I see danger and I just…turn tail and run. I would’ve never jumped like that, you didn’t waste a second.”
Nancy looked over, but he wasn’t meeting her eyes.
”But you did.” She said carefully, “You’re here, aren’t you?”
Eddie almost laughed, “Yeah…I guess I was too ashamed to be the one left behind.”
”Or…” Nancy offered, “You were scared, and did it anyway. That’s what all of us do. You think I wasn’t scared?”
”You didn’t look scared.” Eddie scoffed, finally meeting her gaze, “You still don’t look scared. You didn’t even look scared when Byers—“
”I was.” Nancy said firmly, “I am. I’m fucking…we don’t know what this is, okay? It’s never been like this before. There’s always been something to fight, but this time…”
”What?” Eddie asked, nudging her shoulder, “Never fought an evil sorcerer before? That makes two of us. In real life, at least.”
Nancy sighed, “You know, I kind of wish this was like D&D sometimes. When my brother set up a battle, he’d always give us an out. A spell, or a weakness, or something. He wanted us to win. We just had to find the out, and we’d all live to see the next…quest, or whatever.”
”Oh, you are such a nerd.”
”Shut up.” Nancy said, nudging him back. There was a smile creeping onto her face, but it died quickly. “I just mean…This time feels different. We don’t have El, we don’t have those creepy government guys. We barely have any weapons…Whoever’s telling this story isn’t giving us much of an out.”
”You’re making me feel really great about joining this party.” Eddie remarked, and then sighed.
”I don’t know if you have much to worry about, honestly. You’re like, a textbook protagonist. You’ve got plot armor. If anything, I should be worried.”
She eyed him again, and he shrugged, gesturing to himself.
“I’m the new, plucky side character, Wheeler. The odds are not in my favor.”
She opened her mouth to argue, though she didn’t really know what to say. But a voice cut her off.
”Hold up! We need a break!”
Nancy turned around, realizing that she’d gotten much further ahead than she meant to. She could barely see the boys through the woods now, but she could see they weren’t upright anymore.
She started back with a quick stride, making it to them just as Steve pulled Jonathan to his feet. He was pale and wheezing, now wearing Steve’s yellow sweatshirt. She didn’t need to ask how that last part had happened.
“You okay?” She asked, he looked like he was about to drop again.
”I’m f—“ He started.
”Not at all.” Steve interrupted, “But I think we can make it to your house.”
”Harrington.” Eddie sighed as he jogged to a stop at her side, “The fuck are you shirtless, man?”
“All for you, Munson,” Steve said with a shrug, “thought you’d enjoy the—“
Nancy stifled a laugh when Eddie’s vest landed squarely on his face, and he cut off mid-sentence.
“For your modesty, dude.”
Steve took the vest reluctantly, letting Jonathan go for a second to put it on. Once he was clothed, he met her eyes again.
”Are we close?”
These woods were familiar, even in this state. She used to play here with Mike when they were kids, they’d had a secret unicorn farm. Nancy ran those imagery stables like the military.
They were close, though she doubted her home would be much of a comfort here.
At the very least, she’d have her guns.
“It’s not much further. Come on.”