Apocalypse, Steve Harrington

Chapter Twenty-Four. For Nance

TWENTY-FOUR
— for nance

SILENCE FELL OVER the cabin. As the sun set, Lucy found herself alone. When the sun began to fall, she was returning home home— her eye bags were heavy, and there was a yawn on the tip of her tongue. The events of the day had drained her, and, in all honesty, hiding from the world for the rest of her night was ideal. Kicking off her sneakers at the front door, Lucy released the yawn she bad been bundling away— her eyes water, and it made her sleepier.

She thought of her family, and where they were spending their afternoon. Jim had work, Daniel had football practice, and El— 'Shit,' she thought, a hand flying to her forehead. Eleven was out, about, and doing God knows what, when she should've been the one to drag her home. Now, she was more drained— Lucy trudged to her room.

Sinking into the mattress, a heavy sigh was released from her lungs. Her tired eyes flickered shut, and she placed her hands above her. As the muscles in her face began to relax, the phone rang— she jumped, shoulders tensing. "Jesus," Lucy murmured, scrambling onto her knees. Still on the bed, she extended an arm, stretching to retrieve the phone on her nightstand. "Hello?"

    "Hey, Hop."

    She furrowed her brow. "Steve?" Lucy turned, so she was on her stomach. "If you're calling for Dan, he's not home, but I'll tell—"

He cut her off. "No, no— I'm not calling for Dan," Steve said, hurriedly. "I wanted to talk to you."

Features contorting in confusion, she wrapped the phone cord around her thumb. "Oh," Lucy said, blinking. "Well, I'm flattered."

   "Yeah, whatever," he said— she could practically hear him roll his eyes. "Listen, I need your help."

She sighed, hair flying in her face. "With what, Steve?" Lucy said.

He hesitated. "With Nancy," Steve spoke. "I know you two haven't spoken in a few days, but, you know pretty much everything about her, so..."

    Shaking her head, she continued his sentence. "So..."

    Finally, Steve spoke— and when he did, it sounded like one, long word. "I need to get her a gift," he said. "Like, something really, really good, that'll win her over completely."

    "Harrington," she sighed out. "You were her boyfriend, you don't know what she'd want?"

    He shook his head. "She told you everything, Luce," Steve said, his soft. "You have to know."

    Lucy bit her bottom lip and sucked in a quick breath, nodding. She adjusted the phone and pressed it to her other ear. "Alright, well," she began, "I can think of two things, Steve— two things she might want."

A small tugged on his lips. "I'm listening."

She continued. "You know that ballerina necklace she used to wear?" Lucy said. "It was gold, and it had little slippers at the end."

     "Yeah," Steve nodded. "Yeah, I know the one."

She shifted on her bed, again. "Holly broke it, sometime last year— Nancy was heartbroken," Lucy sighed. "But, I looked into getting one for her birthday, shit is like a hundred dollars, now."