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"You know, it's my turn to be on Max watch." Nancy said. Steve was supposed to be sleeping, and he should've been, but he couldn't pass up on the the only opportunities he had to be alone with Nancy. "You should be fast asleep."
"I'm not tired," he lied. Steve had to hold back a yawn as he said it.
"Well, maybe you should head home. Freshen up while you have the chance." Nancy suggested. "With all this happening, who knows when you'll get another chance to do so."
"I don't know..." He'd only wanted to stay awake to spend some time with Nancy. If he went home, that defeated the whole purpose of his sleep deprivation.
Nancy glanced at the watch on her wrist. "Actually, I only have another five minutes left of my watch and then it's Dustin's turn. I could go with you, for the company," she smiled softly, it was a look she hadn't given him in a long time. "I'm not that tired, either."
"Okay," he said.
Steve waited the five minutes and then Nancy and him quietly made their way out of the Wheeler household. It was the middle of the night now, her parents would freak if they saw them leaving together. Steve drove, stopping along the way for a coffee at the gas station, and then heading toward his house.
"God, I can't remember the last time I was at your place." Nancy said, shaking her head. "What, was it two years ago now?"
Steve nodded. "Something like that."
"I know this might sound weird but I can't even really remember why we broke up." Nancy said, her brows creased together, like she was trying to conjure up a memory that wasn't there. Steve understood the look because he was one he had become all too familiar with himself.
"You were upset about Barb. I was being a dick and thought partying all the time would solve all our problems." Steve shrugged. "Obviously, it did not."
"Yeah..." Nancy said quietly. "You seem different now though. Like you've really grown up."
"Thank you for noticing. I have been trying."
All the lights were off at his parents house when they pulled up the driveway. Steve silently unlocked the door and stepped inside with Nancy right behind him. He didn't turn on any lights, he didn't want to wake his parents. Instead, he grabbed Nancy's hand in his and led her upstairs using the light coming from the dim night light in the hallway.
When they were in his room, he figured it was safe to flick on an overhead light. "I think I'm gonna take a super quick shower then change. Then we can head back."
She nodded.
Steve headed over this his dresser drawer and started pulling out clothes trying to complete an outfit. As he was grabbing at a shirt, yanking it from the bottom the drawer, something beneath it caught his eye. Underneath it lay a small red velvet box. Steve picked it up slowly and lifted the lid. Inside was a diamond ring with a gold band. Steve removed the ring from the box and held it closer to his face, letting it catch the light of his bedroom. He spun it around and noticed an engraving on the inside: D+S Partners in Crime, 1971 to Forever.
He dropped the ring. D+S... Dylan and Steve. A fragment of a memory formed in his brain.
He sat on the couch and Dylan was across the room, cooking something on the stove. "Dylan, you suck at cooking," he shouted to her. "Want me to do that?"
"No," she huffed. "I want to do it. It's your birthday. Stay where you are."
He stood anyway. He padded over to the stove and leaned over her shoulder, taking the spatula. "Let's just go out, huh?"
"You're not gonna be disappointed in my lack of domestics qualities?"
"Maybe a little," he teased. "But I'll love you anyway. I knew was I was getting into, I've known you literally my whole life. I don't think you could get rid of me if you wanted to, actually I distinctly remember you trying—"
He remembered the air being very hot around them. They were in their apartment in California.
Steve scrambled to the floor to look for the gold ring he dropped. For a moment, he convinced himself maybe he'd just hallucinated the last five minutes of life.
Until he found the ring hidden under his bed post. He picked it up and read the engraving one more time. D+S Partners in Crime, 1971 to Forever.
Nancy stood up as he did. "What did you drop?" She asked innocently. Steve didn't know how to explain himself. It didn't make sense, not even to him.
At the sight of Nancy, Steve shoved the ring back into the little velvet box and snapped it shut, hurriedly burying deep into his drawer of clothes before she could notice what it was.
"What was that?" Nancy asked again, brow furrowed.
"Nothing!" He walked toward her. "I'm just gonna hop in the shower now, okay?"
Steve left the room quickly, not wanting to have to explain his erratic behaviour. When he came back, Nancy was still sitting on his bed, flicking through a book she had found that Steve most likely had not read. Curiously, he opened his dresser drawer once more. He lifted up all the layers of fabric until he could see the bottom of the wooden drawer. There was no ring. His stomach dropped.
"You ready to go?" Asked Nancy, throwing the book down on his bed. "I think I'm finally getting tired."
"Yeah, yeah," he said, trying to regain his composure. "Let's head back to your place."
In the car ride back, Nancy wouldn't stop looking at him. He could feel her stare bore into the side of his face as he white knuckled the steering wheel. Nancy reached out and laid her hand on top of his.
"Steve, you're not... seeing things are you?"
Nancy meant if he was seeing visions conjured up by Vecna, of his deepest fears. The answer to that was no. Or maybe that's what this was? Could it still be a vision, only a happy one, taunting him about what could've been instead of something he regretted? But that memory, of that tiny apartment in California, felt too real to be faked. What other explanation was there? He was definitely seeing things.
"No." He lied to Nancy again. "Nothing like that. Sorry, to spook you."
"You know, if there is something wrong, you can tell me. I still care about you." She squeezed his hand she was already holding.
"Thanks, Nance," he took his eyes off the road for a moment to give her a smile. "But everything is perfectly fine. I swear."
She didn't look like she believed him but she didn't prod him any further. They pulled up to her house and slowly made their way down into the basement. Nancy kept looking back over her shoulder with concerned glances. "Whatever it is, because it is something you just won't tell me," she said, "you can probably just sleep it off. You know, sleep deprivation can cause you to do crazy things."
"You're right." He nodded. "Let's get some sleep."
Nancy led him all the way down into the basement and he took the spot in the chair where he had been before. He fell asleep almost instantly but not before noticing Nancy throw a blanket over his body and smooth his hair from his face. He was too tired to speak but melted into the chair and her touch until he fell unconscious moments later.
