#unambiguously open stancy

[dwobbitfromtheshire]

Parting with Nancy wasn't so sorrowful this time. They didn't really need a word for what they were. They both understood there was always going to be a connection between them. There was no escaping it. They weren't over, nor were they technically together. Nancy left for college with Chrissy. Nancy had practically squealed when she found out that Chrissy had dreamed of going to Boston University for school. She always loved Boston, and it had a great dance program. They had quickly agreed to get an apartment together. Steve knew without a doubt that Nancy could survive there on her own, but he was glad that a little piece of home would be there with her, someone who knew what it was like and why they screamed in the middle of the night. Nancy knew that Steve could never leave the kids, nor would she want him to, and Steve couldn't ask her to stay, nor would he want to.

"Hey, I thought I would find you here," Eddie said.

Steve was lying down on a blanket on top of Mount Weathertop, staring up at the bright twinkling stars. He was so relieved that they could all see the sky again. Eddie plopped down next to him.

"By all means, Munson, join me," Steve said sarcastically, without any heat.

"You know you want me, big boy," Eddie said. "You missing Nancy?"

"Yeah. You miss Chrissy?"

"Fucking miss her like crazy and it hasn't even been a day."

"Figured you two would have gotten sick of each other after spending like a month in bed together," Steve laughed.

"Fuck off. It wasn't a month. Did you and Nancy get sick of each other?" Eddie asked.

"No," Steve smiled.

"Can I ask what you two are now?" He asked.

"Friends, I guess. Something more than that, I don't know how to explain it," he said. "I know that we talked a lot about there being a future for us, whatever it is."

"Hm, well, basically me and Chrissy too. She straight up asked for an open relationship, though, and I was happy to give it her," Eddie said.

"Nancy's heart was always too big. She couldn't love just one person," Steve said.

"I guess that's something you and Nancy have in common," Eddie said.

"I just hope that we meet people who understand that it's never going to be truly over for us," Steve said, shrugging.

"You will. You're worth it," he whispered. "And who knows, maybe you've already met them."

"Have I?" He asked.

Steve turned on his side, supporting his head with his fist. Eddie did the same. They were no longer looking at the stars. They were now gazing into each other's eyes.

"I think so," Eddie said, flashing his dimples.

"So, this person that I might have met. . .they wouldn't get jealous of my relationship with Nancy?" Steve asked.

"No, because I think they would be hoping that you wouldn't have a problem with their own relationship," he said, placing his free hand on Steve’s hip.

"I definitely don't," Steve replied.

Steve bit his lip. He loved Eddie's beautiful brown eyes. They were so much darker than his own hazel eyes, and in certain lights, they looked black. Eddie's eyes were so expressive. They could say so much without Eddie ever uttering a word. Right now, they were saying that he didn't have to let go of Nancy in order to hold onto him. Steve smiled and pushed him until he fell on his back again. Eddie cackled. Steve laid down on his chest, laying down on him completely. Eddie wrapped his arms around him tightly and kissed the top of his hair. Steve pressed his ear fully against him, closed his eyes, and listened to the promise of his heartbeat. . .the promise of him.

[laundrybiscuits]

Note: this is not a Stancy story.

“Say it,” he bites out. He’s pushing too hard, being too mean, and he doesn’t fucking care. “Say you love me.”

Nancy’s eyes slide off to the side and she—she laughs, like he’s making a joke, but he can see in the way she’s got her arms wrapped around herself that they both know it’s not a joke.

“Steve, come on,” she says.

There’s a hot, buzzing feeling in him like a hurricane.

The words peel out of him: “But…we’re soulmates.”

He’s gripping his forearm, holding it out in front of him even though he’s wearing long sleeves. It doesn’t matter. They both know whose name is written there in careful, neat cursive, like a puzzle piece slotting next to the blockier name scrawled on Nancy’s wrist. 

Nancy reaches out to push his arm down and out of the way, out of her eyeline, but she laces her fingers with his like she’s trying to calm him down. Like an apology.

“Steve,” she says. “Let’s just—can we focus on the important stuff, here?”

This is important, why don’t you think that nothing could be more important than this. Steve doesn’t say it because he’s trying to be better. He can be better for her, for Nancy, his soulmate. So he swallows it down and nods, gripping her slender fingers tight in his. 

———

It takes him a while, but he figures it out. It’s fate. It’s gotta be. It’s all a big part of their story, the one they’re gonna tell at their wedding, about the time they broke up and made bad decisions and were really unhappy. When you find your soulmate early, sometimes you have some growing up to do, he’ll say. Or maybe Robin will say it. He can’t imagine a wedding where Robin’s not his best man. Best lady?

It’s so stupid, but there was a moment, back in ‘85, when he thought maybe Robin could be his true soulmate. Like maybe there was some giant cosmic error, and the smart, funny, beautiful girl he’d been overlooking all summer was really the one he was meant to end up with after all. 

When she tells him about Tammy Thompson, it’s almost a relief. The universe isn’t wrong after all. He actually feels really sorry for Robin, because without a name on her arm, how’s she supposed to know who to pick? And with the gay thing—it’s gotta be tough even just knowing who’s an option. He doesn’t think he could handle that kind of uncertainty. 

It’s a good thing he doesn’t have to. All he’s got to do is hang on until his story and Nancy’s story bend together again, and become their story. He thinks it’s kind of romantic, even: like he’s been given this time to learn to be a better boyfriend. 

So he’s in good spirits, especially when Eddie Munson gives him a heavy look that shoots through his veins like lightning and says as unambiguous a sign of true love as these cynical eyes have ever seen. If even Eddie can see it after spending about five minutes around them, probably not even knowing about the soulmate thing, it must be true. 

———

Afterwards, he finds himself unexpectedly alone with Nancy in the hospital, waiting their turn to see Max and Eddie. It’s not exactly the stuff of fairytales; even though they’ve had a chance to go home and shower and get some sleep, they both have Upside Down gunk caked into their fingernails and purpling shadows under their eyes. The fluorescent lights overhead are way too bright. The flimsy plastic chairs are digging uncomfortably into his thighs. 

But he’s not gonna get a better opening than this quiet moment, with Nancy slumped against his arm, tired and lovely.

“Hey, are you—” He clears his throat and tries again. “Hey, Nancy. Did you…think about, uh, what I said? About…you know. The future?”

She goes tense.

“Yes, Steve. I did.”

Maybe something in her tone should be warning him off, but he’s on this road now, careening down the fast lane with no exits in sight. 

“And? What did you think?”

Nancy takes a deep breath, then lets it out after a second in a heavy sigh. “Steve, I…I’m with Jonathan now. You know that.”

“Yeah, but that’s—I mean, you know it’s not the same.”

“No.” She slips a thumb under the cuff of her sweatshirt and rubs it over her wrist. It looks like something she doesn’t even know she’s doing. “It’s not the same, no. It’s…Steve, it’s better. This way is better.”

He ducks down, tries to meet her eye. “Nance, I know I was kind of a shitty boyfriend, but—things are different now, right?”

Finally, she turns to him. Her back straightens, shoulders square, like she’s bracing herself. 

“Yes, things are different,” she says slowly. She reaches out to take his hand in both of hers, soothing. “This hasn’t changed for me, though. It’s not about—I just can’t be with you, Steve. Not like that. I’m sorry.”

He doesn’t say but we’re soulmates again like a child, but it lives in his throat, in the thump of his heart. Maybe she just needs more time.

Maybe not, though.

(ETA: continuation here!)