&&. Nancy + Eddie 002 - Blog Posts

backtowheeler·:

— ✎ —

Nancy clocked that. The nervous laughter. The same laughter anyone would use to cover up something. She chose not to say anything, though. It wasn’t her business and she wasn’t the prying type. Besides, Eddie wasn’t exactly what she would call debonair, so she didn’t want to say the wrong thing and have it turn out that nothing was going on. “I’ve seen you pass by a few times,” she pointed out to the hallway. Not that is meant anything, of course. She had also seen Adam, Max, Dustin, and Robin pass by her room on their way to Steve and Cole’s. “It’s sweet,” then she followed up with, “Steve needs someone like that with him,” with him meaning just spending time in his room. “He doesn’t get taken care of often.”

She let out a groan. Not from the pain, but because Eddie was completely right. “Fine. No breaking out of this place but,” she shrugged her shoulders. “I just want to get some air or something,” she wasn’t fully on bedrest anymore, but she just hadn’t gotten a minute to so much as just walk around the corridor. She planted both of her feet on the ground, slowly standing up. It hurt, but she had a feeling she’d be like this for the next few weeks regardless of how much ‘R&R’ she got.

And not the bring the conversation back around to Steve, but she brought it back to Steve. “Can I ask you something? And just promise me you’ll answer honestly and not tell Steve I asked you?” Now that was a loaded question. It was hard not to do, but she worried about Steve. He always had a smile on his face and was always helping out that she felt like sometimes he got shafted when it came to personal matters. “Has his parents come to check on him? Like, at all?”

+++

i’ve seen you pass by a few times. right, right, that made sense. eddie nodded idly, yet still unable to shake off the perpetual and persisting nervousness. growing up not-straight in the smalltown indiana, well, it was a habit hard to shake off. even after his move to the big city. eddie pulled his bottom lip between his teeth, eyes darting around nancy’s hospital room. a particular spot on the wall seemed to capture his attention but really, eddie was trying to look anywhere but nancy’s eyes. with him. he gulped. “yeah, yeah, he needs someone looking after him. someone - like you said, yeah, with him. i mean not - not that i, or we -like, when you say with him, i don’t - it - “ shit, fuck, bullshit. he stayed like that for a moment, forming his mouth around words that didn’t come. no, this situation was unsalvageable. so he pursed his lips, nodded again. “whatever.”

it was very much not ‘whatever’ but judging by how fast his heart was beating, if eddie spent another second talking to nancy about how he was sort of kind of really in love with her ex-boyfriend he was afraid he’d have to be admitted, too. he watched carefully and with a concerned wrinkle in his brow as nancy slowly got up, ready to rush over and steady her should she need it. thankfully she didn’t. “i - i can go out to the patio with you, if want to.” he shrugged. “like, if you don’t want any company i totally get it, and i’ll be out of your hair in a second. but if you don’t i’ll come with you.” lord knew he needed some fresh air of his own. maybe a glass of water, too. a bite to eat. a wink of sleep wouldn’t hurt either but then again, you couldn’t have everything, could you. a cigarette would have to do. “i - tell me if i’m, like, overstepping in any way here, but i could take a look at your hair if you want me to? i’m...sort of an expert when it gets to bedrest induced matting.”

just when he thought they’d been past the topic of steve harrington, his name fell from her lips again and eddie inadvertently tensed again. even more so when she hit him with the aforementioned question and he exhaled deeply, felt his stomach drop a little as he thought back to his conversation with steve. there was a sad, almost hurt look in his eyes as he met her gaze again, a soft shrug of his shoulders. “what do you think?” it’s a scoff and by the way nancy was looking at him, and the way she’d asked the question, he knew that that was enough said. still, he went on. “he said his mom swung by but only for, like, a half hour. his dad didn’t even show.”

backtowheeler​:

— ✎ —

Nancy had definitively decided she despised being in the hospital. Every time a nurse came in to check on her, she’d just ask when she’d be able to go home with not much of an answer. In her mind, she wasn’t even that badly injured! Her casted wrist didn’t even hurt, allegedly, and the pain in her ribs was bearable at best. Not to mention the scrapes and bruises she had sustained, but she was fine! She was sure of it. In fact, she was so confident that she was planning on proving it. She had to play it out carefully, though. Nancy waited until her parents were gone and that no one was on duty with her to make her great escape. It took her a few minutes, but she managed to slide out of the hospital bed, finally feeling free from the chains of such an uncomfortable mattress.

Nancy eventually found a bag that has spare clothes in it, assumingly for her once she was released but she was going to put them on now. Reaching down to put on her pair of socks, she heard the door open. Shit. Her head popped up, just as stunned as Eddie, thinking she had just gotten caught. “My liege?” That was a new one. She nodded. “Right,” she finished putting on her other sock best she could with her good hand. “I had no idea you and Steve were boyfriends or whatever,” a joke, and a poor one at that. 

At his question, Nancy stood up from the bed, wincing slightly but attempting to cover it up with a laugh. “How do I look? Great, right?” Great was an overstatement. She hadn’t even bothered to tuck her shirt into her pants and her hair was matted in the back from how long she had laid on the pillow. “Wanna help me with something? I’m trying to escape this shithole.”

+++

his confused and sleep-deprived gaze travelled down her form to where she was currently in the process of putting her socks on. getting dressed. in something other than a hospital gown. something was off here. but before eddie had time to quite put his finger on it, he suddenly jumped at the word ‘boyfriend’. crap. had she heard them? their rooms were right next to each other, after all. nervous eyes flicked to the washed out teal colored walls. they did seem quite sturdy ... however, if he concentrated hard enough, eddie was almost sure he could hear the constant beeping noise of one of the monitors steve and cole were hooked up to. shit.

“hey now, where did you pick that one up?” was what he settled on eventually, paired with a nervous chuckle meant to sound aloof and like this was totally not a big deal. it wasn’t. besides, nancy was dating someone else, and her and steve hadn’t been a thing in ages. and - nancy was a great person. she wouldn’t ... eddie sniffled, scrunched up his nose, discarded that train of thought right away.

now wholly focused on the barely unnoticeable wince nancy had tried to cover up. a sound he knew all too well, after all, he’d been in her position not two years ago.the desperate need to get out, convincing yourself that you were all better now, actually, thanks so much for asking. eddie gave a little amused scoff, shrugged. “you look fine, nancy. considering.” 

considering that the universe wouldn’t let them catch a break, apparently. that a lifetime of trauma experienced in the span of, what, three years, wasn’t enough. eddie wondered if they’d ever be free of this. the hospital visits, the constant worrying, the fighting, the loss. the nights spent laying awake with the lights on. “woah, where do you think you’re going? listen, i’d help you with anything, man, but, like, i think a couple more days of r&r wouldn’t do you any harm. trust me.”

where: where do we think

what: eddie’s making his rounds at the hospital ig

who: @backtowheeler​ + eddie.

coming to see that steve was doing semi-okay, that he was awake at least and well on the road to recovery had calmed his jangled nerves signifcantly. however, it had done nothing for the rest of his sleep-deprived being,truly, he must’ve looked like a ghost, roaming around the painfully brightly lit hallways. he felt like it, too, felt like he could very well collapse with every step he took.  but it was fine, he’d catch some shut eye later, maybe a quick nap in that awfully uncomfortable plastic chair next to steve’s bed. eddie wasn’t leaving him out of his sight again. not a chance in hell.

surpressing a yawn, he pulled the door to what he suspected to be steve’s room open with considerable effort - had it gotten heavier in the last then minutes ? - clutching the cup of ice chips he’d left the room in search of. “your delivery, my lieg- oh.” eddie stopped, blinked and frowned as he wasn’t greeted with the sight of steve but rather nancy. a couple of beats passed in silence as eddie stood there, waited, so he could be certain that this was real and not some sleep-drunk hallucination. “wheeler, hey. i was just -” just what? ‘paying your ex-boyfriend who i’ve been sort of secretly dating for the past two weeks or so a visit and got lost on the way back?’ he pressed his lips together. “checking in on people. uh, steve.” clicking his tongue, he gave her a sheepish smile. “how are you holding up?”