Chapter Text
August, 1985
It was strange - well, of course it was strange, it was Hawkins - to see Nancy Wheeler poking around the video store. It had just been a year ago, riding on the honeymoon high, when she had refused to rent a movie, preferring to sit and talk, although they never talked about anything too interesting. One night, he had even rented Blade Runner, thinking that something wild would take her mind off of her brother, her parents, Barb. She had laughed, told him, "Maybe later," before going upstairs to change into her pajamas.
Now here she was, browsing the chick-flicks, turning each of them over, reading the reviews on the back, or pretending to.
"Just this please," She said, slipping a movie cover side down to Steve across the counter. He scanned it, flipped it over,
"The Breakfast Club?" He asked. "Don't tell me you're sleeping over with Amy this weekend." Nancy rustled in her handbag for change, her gaze switching quickly back and forth between the cash register and her bag, refusing to look up at Steve until she had all of the cash in her hand,
"Not that it's any of your business," She said, handing it over. Her eyes were tired, drooping, but she had that same fake-cheer on her brow that she always did. "But I am having a girl's night." And quickly added, "seul moi". She pointed at herself jovially before thanking Steve and tucking the movie under her arm. "Have a good weekend".
"You too-" Steve returned, voice trailing off as she smiled, leaving out the front door.
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September, 1985
Steve's shift was twelve to seven, Nancy knew that. She also knew that Robin Buckley's shift started at seven fifteen, only because she had run into her one day on the way out. She had been coming to rent a movie for Mike - one of the only days she was ever actually there for a definable reason - and as she walked up to the register, she saw Steve clocking out, removing his nametag,
"Too late to rent a movie?" She asked, and he shook his head,
"Never too late. Robin will be out in just a sec," He smiled. "See ya, Nance". She tried, but couldn't quite get out a 'see ya' in return, but smiled. Steve had been right, just as he was walking out the door, Robin came out from the back, name tag hanging from her loose shirt, hair piled on top of her head, and was ringing Nancy up before she had time to realize it. Nancy turned around, watching Steve get into his car, leave the parking lot. Her back stiffened, and the oncoming night was becoming increasingly obvious. Why hadn't she just made Mike get his own damn movie?
"This is one of my favorites," Robin said, and Nancy turned back around with a start, a confused look on her face. "I didn't really peg you as a sci-fi girl to be honest." She said, and told Nancy her total,
"Oh, it's," Robin's face was smiling, rooting around in the cash register for the two quarters Nancy needed in change. "It's not for me. It's for my brother, Mike". Neither of them said anything after that. Nancy took her change, putting the movie underneath her arm, and started to turn to go,
"Enjoy!" Robin had said, closing the cash register and moving to set up the 'new releases' shelf. Nancy nodded, closing the door behind her and walking as fast as she could to the corner, turning sharply. It had been so hot in there, and yet she had not realized until she was walking and the cold breeze was blowing against sweat droplets falling down her neck. She stopped, letting a careless hand clutch the back of her neck. A sound rippled in echoes down the street, and she turned, on edge. It was only a group of teenagers headed home. It was still unnerving how familiar sounds turned into strange ones after strange things had happened. Fucking Robin Buckley.
It was supposed to be Steve working the register, not nosy-new-best-friend Robin fucking Buckley. It was as if she saw her everywhere. During school, Robin was in half of her classes, and although they sat nowhere near each other, she never escaped Nancy's line of vision. At lunch, she was always moving from table to table, laughing that big mouthed laugh of hers, and when Nancy switched lunch periods to study sessions in the library, there was Ms. Buckley, shelving the books.
She had known her, of course, before everything, that is. She had seen her lurking around with one of the teachers during lunch some days - in the early days when Will had just disappeared - and they had taken one or two honors classes together, but they had never spoken. Not once. Not until that day at Starcourt. It took a moment for Nancy to realize who she was when she first spoke up - I'm Robin, I work with Steve. Robin? But she could recall vague middle school memories; a girl Barb used to hang out with, the girl always reading a book in the corner of the cafeteria, now, the girl who hung out with Steve Harrington.
And why the movie store? She really didn't know. Fired from the newspaper, she had spent most of the end of summer in a teary-eyed mess, looking at old pictures of her and Jonathan. She had watched one too many romance movies, spending all of the money she had saved up from working that summer. By the end of it, she had resolved that she was never going to watch a movie again (which of course was difficult in a town where it seemed like watching movies was the only thing to do), but she had found herself alone, no friends and no boyfriend to fall back on at the end of the school day, and had begun walking to the movie store to waste time. Since the year started a month - two? - ago, she had been to the store sixteen times, hardly ever renting anything.
She hadn't known Steve would be working there, not really. It was only after she walked in on that first day and there he was, bright and smiling at the register. The moment someone left Hawkins High, it was like they disappeared forever. No one had really heard anything about Steve Harrington since graduation, and no one really wanted to. New students were coming in, finals were coming up; people had better things to worry about. She had better things to worry about, like getting into college somewhere close to Jonathan, getting Mike through Freshman year without him suffering a complete breakdown. And to be honest, she hadn't planned on going back after seeing him there. So much had happened, so much was still happening. But she kept coming back. She really didn't know why. Maybe it was the loneliness, the depression, the anxiety, she didn't want to think about it. Either way, she ended up at the video store one way or another, and continued to - sixteen times - during the beginning of the school year. She wasn't sure if her bank account would be able to hold up much longer.
The walk was cold, but short and the house was welcomingly warm. Karen was in the kitchen, the clatter of pots and pans jostling around as she loaded the dishwasher,
"I'm home!" Nancy called, slipping out of her heels and walking barefoot into the kitchen. Dinner had been an hour ago, but dirty dishes were still scattered on the counter. "Where's Mike?"
Karen turned from the sink, wiping a bang from her eyes. "I think he's in the basement with Lucas and Dustin," She hesitated, noting the cold tiredness in Nancy's eyes. "Are you alright?" Nancy clutched the movie tighter to her chest, rubbing her foot against her leg,
"Of course," She said. "Just tired. I didn't sleep very well last night."
"You know you can talk to me, Nance?" Karen asked, wiping her hands on the front of her dress, leaning against the kitchen sink.
"I know, Mom," She said. "I'm just tired, really. No lying". And that was the truth. She was tired. Tired of Robin Buckley and tired of having her brother complain about missing his friends when he didn't know what it was like to lose what felt like a soulmate, and tired of being tired of it all. She went down to the basement.
The sound of the trio radiated up the stairs as Nancy opened the basement door. Sounds of laughter, frustration, and a bit of teenage anxiety all mixed together, bouncing off of the walls. Lucas' familiar laugh came to her first, and she smiled. Their house had always been filled with his laughs, it was just that now, Will's were gone. There was a noticeable absence in the house. The quartet had lost a member; it was like every week was the same as that cold November one when Will had first gone missing. Nancy kept thinking she saw him and kept looking for him when the boys were together. She almost asked Mike if Will was coming over one day, forgetting that he had left for California too. She knew Mike thought about it, knew he was grieving, but it was so difficult to talk to him with that great big wall he always had up around himself. Sometimes she wanted to knock and ask for entrance, mourn with him in that stubborn silence,
"Delivery for Mike Wheeler," she called from halfway down the stairs. At the bottom, she peaked around to the couch, and there were the boys, sprawled out on the furniture, the floor, doing homework. "Earth to Freshmen." She waved her hands in front of their faces from across the room, and Dustin looked up from his textbook. "You're not still studying are you?"
Lucas shook his head, slipping out from behind the chair, revealing a sheet of lined paper. They were all writing letters to Will. Mike was the last to look up, eyed dark with tiredness, and he got up, taking the movie from her, putting it in the VHS player with little emotion,
"Jonathan called," Mike said, without thanking her for the movie. Apparently, she realized then, Will didn't.
"When?"
"I dunno - like fifteen minutes ago". Mike was back on the couch with the remote before she had time to think of something else to say. Dustin thanked her for the movie, and Lucas followed suit. She didn't offer them anything; she knew she had nothing else to give.
Back up in her room, Nancy dialed Jonathan's number, waited for five rings, hung up, and dialed again. He answered on the second ring,
"Byers' Residence." He said, voice monotone and empty through the phone,
"Jonathan!" She sighed, relieved that there was no tiptoeing around Joyce, pretending to enjoy a conversation when all she wanted to do was talk to Jonathan. "Sorry I didn't answer before. The boys wanted to watch a movie and somehow we didn't have the right one." She laughed, phone resting on her shoulder as she massaged her sore feet,
"No worries," She could hear the smile in his voice. "I completely understand." And after a silence, "How are you holding up?". It took a moment for Nancy to respond. She was letting go of her feet and clutching the phone, close to her hot face, and somehow the words wouldn't come out. "Nancy?"
"I'm good! Good." She said, quickly. "School is stressful, but that's senior year for ya." She laughed. "How is everything there?" They made the necessary small talk with all of the inappropriate awkward silences involved. She had never been too comfortable talking on the phone with other people in the house - Mike with the phone downstairs and Karen with the extension in the kitchen and all - so their calls were never much. But tonight, things felt oddly flat, as if all of them were tired. Or maybe it was just Nancy,
"Are you sure that you're okay?" Jonathan asked her before hanging up. She nodded, forgetting that he couldn't see her,
"Of course. I'm okay. Just tired. I need to get more sleep". He accepted her answer with a hesitation, told her goodnight, and hung up.
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