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"It looks like you need a cleanser," Nancy jumped at the sound of Tristan's voice, which was much closer than expected given that she hadn't even seen him enter The Claw.
"Hi," she managed to get out, her voice a forced calm. "What are you doing here?"
"Just here to pick up some lunch.” Her stomach flipped at the grin on his face. She wasn't sure if she liked that reaction or not. Sure, she logically knew that getting over Ace was the best thing for her sanity, but a big piece of her was still clinging to Ace. Clinging to hope.
Even if he had told her they should date other people.
She hadn’t been able to take that notion to heart yet. After failing miserably at even the concept of finding a date at singles night, it was clear she was nowhere near ready to date other people - hence the research on how to test the purity of ingredients. Ace might be too scared to attempt to break the curse now, but she hoped to one day convince him when she had all of the other pieces in place.
Tristan gestured to the seat across from her. "May I?"
"Sure," she nodded, uncertain she could muster a 'no' right now.
"Why are you researching ways to test for curses and jinxes?"
Nancy gave him a long, searching look. Should she answer him or shut him out? His parents did seem pretty evil, but so far he had proven to be something of an ally. Sure, he seemed to have a thing for borrowing vintage jewelry whenever he lent them relics, but there were worse traits in a man.
"Actually, I could use your help." She said, completely bypassing Tristan’s question. "What do you know about curses?"
"Am I about to find out what happened to my stomach pump?"
"No," Nancy snorted. "That's something else entirely."
"You have more than one supernatural issue that you’re in the middle of?" Tristan asked, eyebrows raised. “Should I be worried?”
“No,” Nancy waved a hand. “Horseshoe Bay is pretty well known for its supernatural proclivities. I’m sure you know that given who your parents are.”
“I’m just not used to people being as immersed as you are,” he amended, resting his arms on the table and leaning in closer.
“Some of us are just that talented,” she shrugged, feigning a confidence that she hadn’t felt since the day she and Ace had kissed.
“Now,” she said, straightening in her seat lest Tristan get the wrong idea about this conversation. “What were you saying about a cleanser?”
“It’s a spray that can be used to remove supernatural poisons from any solid ingredients.”
Nancy perked up. That would certainly help with the flowers, herbs, and locks of hair. Even the moth. “Where would I find a cleanser?”
“I actually have some at my place. It’s pretty handy when I’m not sure if something my parents brought into the house is a relic or just a fake antique from The Christmas Tree Shop.”
“Would you be willing to share some with your local supernatural detective?” Nancy asked, batting her eyelashes jokingly. This cleanser sounded like a literal life saver.
“Now you know that’s not how my little side business works,” he laughed.
She wracked her brain. What could she possibly give him in return? She wasn’t going to permanently yield her necklace to him, and Bess was understandably reluctant to give him any of the Historical Societies relics. “What do you want as payment?” she finally asked.
“In addition to that stomach pump that you owe me?” he smirked. “I’d love to take you out on a date.” She must have visibly winced because he quickly added, “or some potion ingredients since you won’t exactly be able to return the cleanser.”
The words take you out on a date rang in her ears. Could she even go out on a date with him? Her recent conversation with Ace had helped her feel like maybe he would be ok with it, but her heart still yearned only for Ace. Was Tristan a terrible choice if she did date someone? Handsome, helpful, friendly, understood the supernatural… his two biggest flaws were his parents, and his lack of being Ace.
The door to The Claw chimed as a someone walked in and the sounds of customers dining suddenly rushed back to her.
Two voices stood out the most. The sound of a feminine laugh followed by Ace’s voice. “Come on, I’ll introduce you to George.”
In a blind rush of panic, Nancy found herself nodding her head at Tristan. “A date sounds like a fair trade.”
Tristan beamed, standing up. “I’ll call you tomorrow then?”
“Yeah,” she nodded again, unsure what she had just signed herself up for.
She heard the bell chime behind him as she surveyed the room. Ace and his mystery girl were gone, presumably in George’s office talking. Nancy started gathering her stuff. Best to get out of here before Ace came back. She was not ready to face him again.
Besides, just because they had talked about one day dating over people, didn’t mean she was ready for that day to be today. It was too soon for her to see Ace with another girl and not want to go throw up in the street.
Nancy woke up the next morning to a text message.
4:15am? What the fuck…
Tristan: Can I take you out to dinner tonight?
Nancy stared down at her phone. She really had agreed to a date with Tristan hadn't she? Was it bad that she was regretting it already?
Instead of answering the text she rolled out of bed and started to get ready for the day. Maybe she should push this date out? Wait until she got the cleanser and then…
And then what? She was still planning to try to break the curse. Could she date when actively trying to break a love curse between herself and the love of her life? Was there even a point to doing it, aside from Ace's request for her to try to move on?
Nancy: What time is dinner for you? 4pm?
Luck was finally on her side: their dinner plans got delayed without Nancy having to lift a single finger. A quick stop over at Keene High Career day turned into attending the 1972 prom with Tristan, and that was quickly derailed by a ghost spider attack, and then. Well.
After everything wound down, and Nancy was left alone at Icarus to contemplate her day and the look her and Ace had shared, she hadn't even remembered the dinner.
She only remembered it when she opened her door to find Tristan, dressed to the nines in a tux. They danced to the tin-y sound of his cell phone speaker and it was nice. She had missed having someone hold her close like this. She wasn’t quite sure where her feelings for him lay, but she knew they weren’t purely platonic.
Despite her previous misgivings about Tristan, he was fun. At 1972 prom he had asked her questions, been fascinated and impressed by her supernatural interactions, and treated her with kindness. Gil hadn’t even checked the box on one of those traits.
Nancy found herself thinking that he wouldn't be all that terrible to date. He was strong too - she hadn’t let actively dying distract her from how hot it was that he could scoop her up and run - which didn't hurt matters either.
They swayed slowly, enjoying each other's presence until what sounded like a Florence, loudly driving away from Icarus got Nancy's attention.
Her heart sped up. Ace?
After some time spent mulling over her case files and doing more research on ferret traps the next day, Nancy decided to head into town. She needed a pick-me-up and she needed a favor. So, bagels.
It took her precisely four seconds after walking into Horseshoe Baygels to realize that Ace was there. Alone, thank god, but there none the less.
After that day in the morgue she had promised herself that she would do her best to stop punishing him with silence. That being said, he hadn’t seen her yet. She could still slip out and avoid the awkward interaction they were sure to have if he saw her.
No. She could be brave. Nancy took a deep breath and walked a few steps forward to stand next to him.
“Fancy seeing you here,” she tried to put a teasing smile on her face but wasn’t quite sure that she achieved it.
The infinitesimal way he jerked told her that she had caught him off guard. The way his whole face softened when looking over at her caught her off guard.
Shit.
She was still so in love with him.
“Bribery bagels?” he asked.
“Am I really that predictable?”
Ace shrugged, a tiny smile at the corner of his lips. “Maybe just to me.”
Silence filled the air between them and Nancy shifted her weight. Normally silence with Ace felt nice, safe . It was different now that things were so weird between them. Now the silence was actively uncomfortable.
So she took it upon herself to try to fill it.
“Are you working at the morgue today?”
“Why?” an annoyed look crossed over his face. “Are the bribery bagels for me?”
“Oh-” ouch . “No, I was just… wondering.” Maybe she should go get bagels from the grocery store and pretend they were from Horseshoe Baygel. Ace clearly didn’t want her around.
“Sorry,” Ace looked repentant. “You didn’t deserve that,” he apologized as they shuffled forward in the line.
“No, you’re right,” Nancy admitted. “I was taking you for granted the other day,” she caught his gaze, hoping to convey just how bad she felt about how she’d made him feel - as though he was just a tool to use. “I don’t know how to be this with you,” she admitted. “I just needed a starting place to figure out how to be around you again.”
“Have you found it?” Ace asked, his voice small.
“I think so,” she nodded. “I- our conversation a few days ago helped a lot. I had gotten it into my head that I was alone in all of this, but,” she shot a small smile at him. “I’m not. I have you.” Even if it’s not in the way I want most she silently added. “And after the way you showed up for me with that spider,” she shivered, images of her curling in on herself, thinking she was about to die, only to find Ace protecting her, flashed through her find. “I was reminded how nice it is to have you in my camp.”
Ace seemed to hear the unspoken words - or, more likely, he was thinking them himself - because he immediately responded with something that amounted to a profession of love as far as Ace was concerned. “You’ll always have me Nancy, even if it’s not in the way we both want, but as long as you let me be part of your life I’ll be here in whatever capacity I can be.”
“Next!” the barista’s voice broke through the trance they had fallen into.
Ace gestured for Nancy to go first, so she did, stepping forward and ordering a coffee and a dozen bagels with a side of cream cheese. That should do the trick.
“Anything else?” the barista asked.
“Yeah-” Nancy beckoned Ace closer. “Add whatever he’s having to my tab.”
Ace looked startled at the offer, but pleased. “You don’t have to-”
“Ace,” she raised an eyebrow at him. “Let me pay for your coffee and bagel. It’s the least I can do.”
She could tell he wanted to say something more, but he bit it down in favor of ordering his coffee and a sesame bagel and stepping aside for the next customer.
“You don’t owe me anything,” he said, watching the barista make their coffees. “I haven’t exactly been fair to you either.”
Nancy was still pretty mad at Ace for giving up on them. He had convinced her to give them a chance, and then… Their conversation in the morgue had helped put things in perspective though. It wasn’t a lack of love that had made him call it quits. It wasn’t even an unwillingness to risk his life. It was an unwillingness to risk hers .
He was heartbroken right alongside her.
And she had added insult to injury by making him feel like she was only talking to him again to use him for an investigation.
Ace on the other hand had given her space and been so kind and respectful of her since this had all begun back at the veil - hell, even before the veil when he had confessed his feelings for her - that she felt like she owed him some sort of apology gesture, no matter how small.
Besides, showing him she cared in little ways felt like the only thing she could do for him at all these days.
“Think of it as an apology for how I treated you the other day.”
“You don’t have to keep apologizing,” Ace looked at her and she could only hold his gaze for a few seconds before she had to look away. How was she supposed to move forward with her life when he looked at her like that ?
Despite everything, her traitorous heart still flipped excitedly at his presence.
The barista called their names, passing them their drinks.
“Do you want to-?” Ace gestured at two empty seats at the same time that Nancy said, “Can we-?”
Nodding her head, Nancy found herself marching over to the empty seats mentally rearranging her day to spend much needed time with Ace. Now that she was getting Ace back in her life again, she wanted him fully back there. Her heart hurt a bit less when they were talking. Maybe being part of his daily life would be better than hearing about him living his life without her.
Maybe she could go back to the time when she had stayed friends with him despite having feelings for him. She might have to do some reconnaissance on that girl she had seen him with the day before to make sure she was worthy of him, but she would be discreet about it.
They sat down and the conversation flowed effortlessly between them. Ace filled her in on his parent’s return from the mountains. She updated him on Carson and Jean. When Ace asked about Ryan, they quickly fell deep into conversation about Ryan the Relic Hunter .
She had missed him.
As they sat there, coffee cups long ago empty, talking about Red, Nancy's phone beeped.
She startled a little. She had muted most everyone in her phone who texted her when she'd been holed up in Icarus Hall mourning the end of her and Ace. Every time her phone buzzed she had felt a surge of hope that it was Ace.
It never was.
So she had silenced it.
Nancy glanced down at her phone screen on the table. It obviously wasn't Ace, so who-
She flipped her phone face down and glanced up again to see if Ace had seen what she had. The grimace on his face and the way he didn't quite catch her eye told her everything she needed to know.
He had seen Tristan's name and face lighting up her screen. And - she hated to admit it - she felt a little pleased that he clearly didn't like this development. He didn’t look particularly surprised though, which confirmed that he had been at Icarus the night before and had seen her with Tristan.
She waited a moment to see if he would say anything, but when he continued to sit quietly across from her, Nancy decided she would just move the conversation forward.
She'd just pretend that the phone call never happened.
"Sorry about that. You were asking me something about the roundel?" Nancy prompted.
On Wednesday morning Nancy set up shop at The Claw. She had yet again found herself needing to get out of Icarus Hall - This time because there was either a ghost paying her a visit or a creature living in her walls - and The Claw was usually the perfect place to move her investigations forward. Plus, she had planned to meet up with Carson for lunch.
"Hey Nancy," Nancy looked up from her notes to see Tristan smiling at her as he slid into the booth.
"Hey," she smiled back. "What are you doing here?" She hadn't expected to see him today.
Her lunch plans had been with her dad, right? She hadn't accidentally made any promises to Tristan last night?
"Lobster delivery," he gestured over his shoulder where Nancy could see Stevie moving a box to the back. "How are you?"
The question was innocent enough, the look on his face was not.
"I wasn't sure if I should text you this morning or if I'd come off too desperate."
She laughed and tried to swallow down her guilt. She hadn't even considered texting him this morning. Hadn't even spent an hour staring at their text chain wondering if he would text or if she should.
No, she'd done that with a different text chain.
Maybe she was doing this all wrong though? Maybe she should be distracting herself with a boy. Tristan seemed like a pretty worthy distraction.
He was certainly available.
"I'm told I'm a terrible texter," she admitted. "My friends accuse me of only answering if things are urgent."
"Well," he shrugged, leaning back in the booth with a casual ease that she yearned to feel. "Everything I know about you suggests you lead a highly interesting life. I imagine most of your texts are urgent."
"I think I'm due for a little less excitement." Nancy glanced down at her notes. She'd certainly love to close the door on the black sludge and focus instead on more low-key cases.
Cases like Chunky Velez.
"Well in that case, can I interest you in a low-key dinner this evening?" He made the offer with a confident smile on his face, but she could see the self-consciousness in his eyes.
Nonetheless, she knew she had to decline. "I can't do dinner." His face fell in a way she couldn't stand. She'd disappointed too many people this week. "But I could use some help hunting this demon we're chasing if you're not too afraid to run around the woods at night with me."
"I'll bring my flashlight. And maybe one of the special lanterns my parents have. It turns different colors based on the supernatural beings in the area."
Nancy raised an eyebrow and made a note to mention those lanterns to Bess; they could certainly come in handy. "I'm intrigued by the lanterns," she admitted. "I'll see you at the entrance to Gorham woods at 10pm then?"
He nodded, taking that as his cue to leave and slipping out of the booth. "Looking forward to it."
With a final wink he left The Claw, the bell tingling behind him.
Nancy stared down at her notes again. What was she missing? What thread should she be pulling at? Maybe there was so-
"Hey!" She yelped, a hand coming down and grabbing her arm. Instinctively her other hand whipped out to punch the intruder, but lucky for Bess, Nancy's eyes landed on her face before her fist did. "What are you doing?"
Bess merely gestured with her head for Nancy to get up and follow her, expression impossible to read.
Annoyed but intrigued, Nancy followed. Had Bess discovered something important? Had she found a way to break the curse?
"What the hell do you think you're doing with Tristan?" Bess hissed as she grabbed Nancy's arm again and dragged her into the freezer.
"What?" Nancy asked, faking innocence. She should have known Bess wouldn't understand. She should have known she'd be upset given the Ace of it all. Even though Bess had been the first one to push her towards dating again.
"Dating Tristan?" She glared. "How can you do this?"
"Ace is the one who said we should date other people," Nancy tried. She may not actually be dating Tristan but she sure as hell wasn't going to let anyone convince her that she couldn't date someone else. “You’re the one who pushed me to do the speed dating night!” she added, annoyed.
"He did not say that," Bess hissed; protective.
"Uh," Nancy took a step back, crossing her arms on her chest to ward off the cold of the freezer. "Yeah he did." The words lived rent free in her mind. He had most definitely told her to date someone else.
Bess waved her off. "That's- that doesn't matter. I didn't mean it was a betrayal to Ace," she pressed on. "Tristan is a Glass . How can you date someone from such a vile family? His parents tried to kill Ryan and I!"
Nancy opened and closed her mouth a few times. She hadn't thought about that. Why hadn't she thought about that?
Maybe because Tristan was incredibly charming and seemed nothing like his parents? And he'd helped her multiple times when she needed relics?
"He's nothing like them," Nancy defended. "Why were you ok getting relics from him if his parents are such a problem?"
"That was for the town and, frankly, for Ace's benefit," she hissed. "We couldn't exactly let you keep running around belittling him and trying to murder him."
Nancy sucked in a breath, the words hitting her in the gut. "Ouch, Bess."
Bess's face softened.
"You know that I hate that I did that. I don't-," Nancy blinked her eyes trying to stop the tears from coming. "I don't know if you've noticed, but I've been trying to be more open about my feelings, so black sludge or not, I will never express my rage like that again."
Bess pulled her into a hug. "I'm sorry, that was a terrible thing for me to throw in your face like that."
"Yeah," Nancy nodded, unable to disagree.
"Tristan did save you from 1972," Bess admitted.
"Which you let him do by the way!"
"Yeah," Bess nodded. "I had to. I didn’t have much choice. He had been there before. Ace hadn't-'' she cut herself off, seemingly unwilling to share what exactly had gone on with Ace while Nancy was busy at The Worst Prom Ever. "You're right. I'm sorry. You have every reason to date Tristan."
"Thank you," Nancy was tempted to leave it there but her better angel stepped in. "We're not actually dating," she admitted.
Part of her had wanted to pretend like they were just to see if she could make Ace a little jealous through the grapevine, but given everything he’d admitted to her a few nights prior at the morgue, she knew that wouldn’t sit right with her.
"You're not?" Bess looked confused.
“No,” Nancy shrugged, her gaze shifting from Bess to the frozen meat behind her.
“The two of you have just been so cozy lately, and Ace said-”
“Ace said what?”
“Nothing,” Bess lied. “It’s none of my business.”
Nancy raised an eyebrow, silently urging her to say more. What had Ace said?
“He saw you dancing with Tristan at Icarus,” Bess finally admitted.
“Ah,” it was not what she wanted to hear, but it was exactly what she had suspected. “We aren’t dating.”
“And the dancing?” Bess prompted, clearly no longer interested in feigning disinterest.
“He came by that night to check on me,” Bess leaned forward a little, urging her on. “Nothing happened,” she rushed to add. “We danced to the song that had been playing at prom, and then I heard a car that sounded suspiciously like Florence pull out of the driveway and it kind of killed the mood. I’m assuming that was Ace?”
“Yeah,” Bess grimaced a little. “That was Ace.”
“Remind me, what are we looking for?” Tristan asked, lantern outstretched in front of him. It was hard to see his face clearly in the low lighting, but she could see what looked like a nervous frown on his face.
“You’ll know it when you see it.”
“Wait a minute-” he stopped walking. “Are you planning on murdering me out here?” he teased, an edge of nerves still evident in his voice.
“No,” Nancy kept moving. “If I wanted to murder you it would not be out here in the middle of the woods.”
“You’ve thought about it then?” She heard him start walking again, a little more energized than before.
“Not murdering you specifically.”
“Nancy Drew,” he whistled softly. “Are you telling me that in addition to being the town sleuth, the hero of Horseshoe Bay, and George Fan’s plucky sidekick - you’re also an aspiring murderer?”
"Have you been reading up on me?" Nancy asked, a little incredulous.
“Wait - where would you murder me?” he asked, suddenly catching up to her previous statement.
“Well, that depends on why I’m murdering you. If it’s to-” She froze. His lantern had turned blue.
“A ghost?” Tristan asked, eyes locked on his lantern. “You’ve dealt with ghosts before, right?”
Nancy opened her mouth to answer when the lantern flickered to red. Then purple. Green. Gray. Black. She took a step towards Tristan and the entire lantern shattered, a brilliant white lighting up the forest around them for a moment.
“Run!” Nancy called out, moving quickly and tugging on Tristan’s arm.
They made it out of the woods, safe and sound, but Nancy was left feeling unsettled. If Gorham Woods had that much supernatural activity going on, how was she supposed to begin to discern its secrets?
A knock at the door caused Nancy to look up from her murder board, startled. Confused, she set her notes down and headed towards the door. She wasn’t expecting anyone, was she? Clients usually called - apparently Icarus wasn’t “convenient”, Dad 1 was out of town with Jean, and Dad 2 was off on some relic hunt…
She slowly opened the door, her body relaxing as her eyes landed on her visitor.
Tristan.
"I know you said you were busy with investigation work but I thought since I was coming by with the cleanser, it would be nice to have a lunch break together,” he held up a picnic basket and a tote bag she could only assume was filled with several bottles of cleanser. Nancy couldn’t help but feel as though he were a character in a rom-com. Always dotting on her - the heroine - but never quite managing to be the guy she truly desired.
"Lobstermaning really has flexible hours huh," Nancy said, more than asked, stepping back to let him in.
“It has its perks,” he shrugged. “If you’re too busy I can leave the picnic with you and get out of your hair.”
She considered it for a moment before deciding it couldn’t hurt. She needed to eat and she could use the company. She was hurting for opportunities to bounce ideas off people.
“I could use a lunch break,” she agreed. “Let’s sit at my kitchen table though. The floor here is unpleasant to sit on.”
“Really? I love a good stone floor.” Nancy paused, uncertain how serious he was. He laughed. “I’m kidding. Let’s eat in the kitchen like civilized adults.”
Chatting over fancy ham and cheese sandwiches, Nancy felt the tension in her shoulders easing. It was nice having someone listen to her theories and encourage her. Tristan might not have a lot of ideas to add to the pile, but he was a good listener, and he definitely knew how to build her up.
"Listen," Nancy said, gearing herself up to say the words she knew she needed to let out. "I feel like I might be leading you on here, so I need you to know that I'm not looking to start any sort of relationship right now," she chanced a look at his face to see how he was taking the news. His brow was furrowed slightly but he didn’t look angry. "I just got out of a really complicated relationship and I think I need to take a beat before jumping into something new."
"Oh- did you think I was looking to date you?" Nancy felt adrenaline start to rush in, embarrassed that she had apparently totally misread the situation only to hear Tristan start laughing. "Sorry- that was a joke. Obviously I want to date you. I think you're really cool and easy to talk to."
She nodded, relieved. "I think you're easy to talk to too, but I’m not ready to date right now."
"So how about this," he nudged her knee with his own to get her to look at him again. "We keep getting to know each other and see where things take us. No expectations. No strings. Can we do that?"
“Yeah,” Nancy found herself agreeing. “We can do that.”
She wasn’t sure where - if anywhere - things would go, but at the very least she could use the distraction from Ace. Things are still weird between them, and she hadn’t realized just how integral a part of her life Ace was until she’d been asked to stop putting him at the center of her orbit.
Silence stretched between them awkwardly.
“It was Ace, right?”
Nancy tried to keep her voice level. “The complicated relationship?”
“Yeah,” Tristan nodded. “Everyone was scared when you got stuck in 1972, but he was the only one of your friends who almost went through the portal,” he paused, tilting his head in a way she hated to admit was cute. “And that day at The Claw in the locker room. He seemed almost territorial. ‘I make my bed everyday’ and all that.”
Nancy almost laughed at that. With everything that had happened after, she had almost forgotten about his flash of jealousy that day.
“Ok, ok, I get it. Everyone’s an amateur detective these days.” He laughed, loud and genuine. “Ace is who I was talking about.”
Tristan took in the words, nodding his head. “He seems like a good guy. Smart. Dependable. Spends all day with dead bodies. I can see the appeal,” he gave a faux casual shrug at his last words.
Finally, Nancy found herself laughing. “As if your job is any better. Smelling like dead fish all of the time?”
“Oh and the smile of formaldehyde is better? I think you have a thing for guys who work with the dead,” he teased.
“I am a private investigator with a penchant for cases focused on the dead and undead alike,” she shrugged, smiling over at him. “It kind of comes with the territory don’t you think?”
After their conversation, Nancy saw less of Tristan for a few days. He seemed to be giving her the space she didn’t explicitly ask for, but was very much needed. They exchanged a few texts, but mostly Nancy was left to her own devices, working with Nick, Bess, and George in turns to work through the mystery of the black sludge.
Progress was non-existent until Bess discovered the existence of a supernatural water filtration system. It could be used to pull contaminants - hopefully including the black sludge - out of the water and storing it in a special tank.
“I’ll talk to Ryan about finding one for us,” Bess added, after she finished explaining how the artifact worked.
“No,” Nancy did not want Ryan involved. She needed him safe. She couldn’t handle losing him again, especially if it happened because of her.
“Ok, then where exactly are we going to get one on short notice?” Bess asked, clearly a little annoyed.
Nancy pursed her lips, hating that the best option lay with a family with a vendetta against hers. “Tristan.”
An hour later Nancy found herself at the docks, her eyes locked on Tristan as she made her way to him.
"Question,” Nancy dove right in as soon as she reached him, even though his back was to her as he lifted a box of lobsters. "Do you know what a water filtration system is?"
He turned, a playful smirk on his face. "A water filtration system? You thinking of getting into the sewage business, or are you thinking about taking up oyster farming?"
"Oyster farming?" Nancy cocked her head to the side, confused. "No."
"Oh," she watched as his eyes lit up, a connection made. He leaned in. "You're looking for a supernatural water filter, aren't you?"
"Yes," Nancy nodded, relieved that he had understood and that he seemed happy to see her, but uncertain if he'd be willing to help her out now that she had turned him down.
"I think my parents might have one of those. Want me to ask?"
Nancy made a face. Ask his parents? No.
"Ok then," he laughed, clearly picking up the message she was sending. "Want me to scope things out?"
"Yes please," she nodded, all business. "I need it as soon as possible. We think it will fix the issue with the town's water."
"My parents said that the red water was just an illusion," Tristan's eyebrows furrowed in confusion.
"Different issue," she waved off any follow-ups, her mind already thinking through what else had to be done. "Call me later if you can get the filter. I have to go talk to Dave."
"Dave?" Tristan called out after her as she started heading back down the docks.
"The manager of the town water!" She called back, not stopping on her way back to her car. "See you later!"
"Do they have the device?" Nancy asked, hurriedly answering her phone on the first ring.
"Yup. I think I can snag it from them, but I'll need a distraction."
"I can do distractions. What did you have in mind? I'll talk to Bess about a spell-"
"What?" Tristan caught her off guard by laughing. "No. Come to my house for dinner tomorrow night."
"What?" Nancy couldn't believe what she was hearing. "With your parents? " He wanted her to show her face in his parents house after what they did to her dad? Even she thought that sounded like a bad idea.
"My parents think you're my girlfriend," Tristan confessed. "And that will serve as ample distraction."
"They- what?" He knew they weren't dating, right? That was a conversation they'd had. She could remember exactly what he had been wearing when they had talked about it. They had definitely talked about it.
"They spotted me out with you last week and wanted to know what was happening. Saying we were dating just felt a lot safer than telling them the truth," He admitted. "I didn't exactly want to tell them about all of the relic requests and the handcuffs. They still think they just misplaced the stomach pump in the move."
Nancy nodded. Well. That actually made some sense.
"Ok. Dinner then. What do I need to know?"
Dinner was a surprisingly smooth affair. Nancy was seated across from Tristan and the Glasses did not once bring up Ryan, the Hudson's, or try to steal her blood for ritual purposes. They came across as surprisingly normal. If she hadn’t know about the relics from prior interactions, she would never have guessed that they were involved with the supernatural.
It was when Tristan slipped away when things took a turn for the worse. His parents started grilling her on her future (19? Why aren't you in college? A new business? Wouldn't it be good to go to business school? What's keeping you in Horseshoe Bay?) that she felt things start to go south. Why did adults think it was their business to question her life decisions like this? Her fathers knew better, the Glasses should too.
After ten minutes of the parental inquisition and no Tristan in sight, Nancy excused herself, feigning a need to use the bathroom. She couldn't stand another moment with these people. She would rather forget about the whole filtration plan than tell them about her dead moms.
She crept down the hallway, listening for any signs of Tristan.
He had the subtlety of a newborn calf so she was able to easily follow the sound of shuffling boxes straight to a reasonably sized study.
"Hey," she whispered.
He jumped. Not a good lookout at all, Nancy couldn't help but think to herself.
"You scared me," he hissed. "What's wrong, are my parents-?" He scrambled to close the box he had been looking through and stood up.
"I thought you knew where it was."
"I kind of do," he gestured to the two boxes next to him. "It's in one of these."
Never one to shirk a task (except waitressing related ones), Nancy jumped to it.
Footsteps sounded down the hallway. "Tristan? Nancy? Are you alright?"
"Shit." Nancy hissed. She had the filtration system in her hands and they were about to be trapped. She glanced around for a window, a closet, anything to keep them from getting caught.
Tristan did not appear to have the same concern however. He swiftly closed the boxes and then with zero hesitation he pulled her in for a kiss, his right hand burying itself deep in her hair while his left settled on her waist, pulling her in closer.
She was so shocked by the action that she kissed him back without thinking, her hands quickly finding purchase on his waist.
What was he doing ? They were trying to avoid getting caught, not draw more attention to themselves.
Even with all of the thoughts spiraling through her head as they kissed, a traitorous voice in her head couldn’t help but whisper this kiss is nowhere near as good as when I kissed Ace. It was a good kiss, it just did not meet Ace standards. Damn him.
"Oh-," at the sound of Tristan's father's voice, Nancy and Tristan sprang apart. "I see," there was a clear smile in his voice. Nancy couldn’t see the look on his face because she didn’t dare to look at him. "When you're, uh, done here, come back to dinner ok?"
Nancy knew her cheeks were on fire, and a momentary glance at Tristan showed he was in the same predicament. "Sorry," he mumbled, looking believably embarrassed.
His father merely winked at them and backed out the door. “Shelby,” he called out. “I found them in the study!”
“What were they doing in there?” she called back, a hint of alarm in her voice.
Good. She should be worried.
“Making out!” Nancy cringed a little, barely daring to look at Tristan.
“Sorry about that,” he murmured, opening the box she had just been in. “It was all I could think to do.”
“No, no, don’t worry about it,” she tried to play it off as though she hadn’t enjoyed it just a little bit. “It was, uh, some good quick thinking.”
“Thanks,” she glanced over to see him smiling a pleased little smile. “I take it the filter was in here?” he said, gesturing with the lid of the box.
“Yeah, unfortunately it looks like I might need to take the whole box, It’s too bulky for the bag I brought.”
Tristan stared at the box for a moment. “Ok, we’ll just take the whole thing then.”
“And how do we do that without getting caught?” Nancy asked, eyes roaming the room. Maybe they could hide it in the backyard until she left?
“I’ve got it,” he said, waving her off. “Just give me a minute and I’ll meet you back there.”
“Oh, I am not going back there alone,” Nancy hissed. “I’ll take it to my car. You can tell them I snuck out the back because I was so embarrassed that your dad walked in on us.”
The next day, Nancy found herself back at The Claw, eating an actual proper meal with Tristan in the surprisingly busy Claw. Shestill owed him dinner, so here she was. Eating dinner with Tristan while Bess investigated the water filtration system to determine if it would work, and - at Tristan’s behest - trying to make sure they didn’t break it like they broke the stomach pump.
“What did your parents say after I left?” Nancy asked, mostly to fill the silence, but also because she was curious if they had mentioned her connection to Ryan or Bess.
“Not much,” he shrugged casually, but she could tell he was lying.
She raised an eyebrow at him. “Really?”
“They had a little talk with me,” he smiled a boyish grin at her that had her stomach doing the tiniest of swoops. “Tried to convince me that you weren’t a suitable partner.”
Nancy snorted. “Not a suitable partner? At least I don’t go around trying to kill people for revenge,” she muttered.
“Wait, what?” Tristan’s face grew a little more serious. “Did my parents try to kill someone?”
Ok, so he didn’t know about that then. Good to know…
The door of The Claw chimed and Nancy looked up instinctively. After all of those months serving tables here it was almost a pavlovian response.
She wished it wasn’t, because it meant that she watched the same girl from the other day walk in followed by Ace.
Shit.
She sank down in her seat. She didn’t want him to see her out with Tristan. He may have broken her heart, but she didn’t want to throw a relationship - platonic or not - in his face. Even if he didn’t seem to have the same concern.
Unfortunately Ace’s Nancy radar was as highly attuned as it always was.
His eyes locked on hers and before she knew it, Ace and his mystery girl were headed straight for them. Why was he insisting on doing this?
Ace placed a hand on the girl’s back, guiding her towards their table, spurring Nancy to lean forward in a panic. “Pretend we’re on a date,” she hissed. He was on a date and here she was trying to protect his feelings? Screw that.
“What?” Tristan asked. “Is this some sort of supernatural thing, or-?”
“Hi Nancy, hi Tristan,” Ace’s voice interrupted their little whispered conversation, his eyes paying attention to Nancy and Nancy only. “Jessica and I were just stopping by for dinner. I didn’t know you would be here.” The words with Tristan hung silently in the air between them.
Nancy bit her tongue, doing her best to avoid retorting with ‘I didn’t know you had a Jessica.'
"Hey Ace," Nancy wasn't sure because she couldn't move her gaze from Ace's, but she thought she saw Tristan nod at Ace as she said the words. "Jessica."
"Well," Ace said into the awkward silence. "We'll be over at the bar."
"See you," Nancy managed to get out as they walked away.
"Well," Tristan smiled at her teasingly, that wasn't awkward at all.
She rolled her eyes, finally pulling them away from Ace's retreating back. "Shut up," she laughed, the tension leaving her shoulders the tiniest bit.
"I understand why you need to fake date me now," he sat back in the booth, grinning.
Nancy simultaneously wanted to knock the smug smirk off his face and laugh. He was pretty cute when he was smug.
"Does that mean you'll do it?" She asked, not entirely certain how to read his reaction.
"Anything for my Stacey,” he teased.
"Thank you Bobby," she laughed, relieved.
He put his hand on the table, fingers outstretched as if to invite her to hold his hand. She accepted the invitation, slipping her hand in his while barely refraining from looking over her shoulder at Ace and the girl he was with - Jessica.
As they ate their food Tristan did an admirable job of keeping up the ruse; laughing a little louder than he needed to, touching her hand occasionally, and even trying to feed her something off his fork (this had resulted in Nancy instead stealing food off his plate because she was not the kind of girl who would let her boyfriend feed her in public).
Ace’s date however appeared tame. Every time she glanced over at him and Jessica, they were just chatting away, no touching, not even a little bit of flirting.
She laughed, reaching out to hold Tristan’s hand again. He rubbed his thumb over hers gently and she smiled softly at him. She definitely wasn’t ready to date, but the gesture reminded her how much she missed the intimacy of her prior relationship with Ace.
As Nancy was opening her mouth to respond to Tristan, she saw Ace get up from the bar and walk quickly through the staff doors, his date looking after him worriedly.
Her stomach dropped. Was he in trouble, or had she caused this? After a moment of hesitation Nancy got up and followed him.
She might be mad at him for calling their relationship off after the world’s best kiss, but she was about to feel pretty bad if it was her ruse that had done it. She had merely wanted to protect her own feelings from his supposed date, not upset him this much.
Ace was normally so unflappable.
Walking into the kitchen, the line cook nodded his head towards the locker room before she could even ask after Ace. Throwing a quick thank you over her shoulder, she hurried down the stairs and out the door that was gently closing behind him.
“Are you ok?” Nancy asked, as she approached Ace. His back was turned toward her as he leaned his head against the outer wall of The Claw. The area behind The Claw was empty aside from them, as per usual.
“Am I ok?” Ace snorted humorlessly. He turned to face her, his eyes red rimmed. “Of course I’m not ok.”
Nancy stepped closer, uncertain what to say. Should she say sorry? It’s not like she was the only one on a date tonight. And her date wasn’t even really a real date. She had only asked Tristan to pretend it was a date when she saw Ace walk in with his stupid hand on that girl's dumb back. She let out a breath. “What can I do?”
“Can you break this curse?” Ace muttered, turning back to stare at the wall again as if looking at her any longer might kill him.
“Not yet,” she took a step closer. “Are you-,” her breath hitched. “If I found a way, would you help me?”
"Can we break it without one of us dying?"
"That's what I'm trying to find out."
Ace studied her face for a long moment before nodding. "How can I help?"
Nancy felt warmth flood through her and a weight lift off her shoulders as she started to share her plan with him. For the first time in a long time, she felt like maybe, just maybe, things would be alright.
“First, you can tell Bess you’re ok with her helping me. And then, you can tell me who Jessica is.”