"Where am I?" were Steve Harrington's first words when he awoke the next morning. Elliot had been sneaking into his own room to grab some clothing for that school day while Sloane kept watching to make sure their mother didn't peek into the room and see the now-hungover teen. However, it seemed his sneaking had awoken said hungover teen. "Who're you?"

Elliot jumped, not expecting the boy to be awake, "You gotta be quiet I don't want my mom to hear. I'm Sloane's brother, Elliot. She took you home last night because you were too sad and wasted to drive."

Steve looked confused but attempted to get out of bed which caused him to groan and clutch his head. "Man, I've got a killer migraine, shit."

"Sloane's grabbing you some meds, just hang out here until our parents go to work, got it?" Elliot instructed as he sat down on the floor against his dresser since Steve was taking up the bed, "So, heard you and your girl had some problems last night?"

"And suddenly, my head just gets so much worse," the boy groans as he holds his head in his hands and running them through his hair, "Don't even talk about the Nancy shit, I hate feeling like the end is near. After so long and so much together, to think of us ending like this just blows."

The boy across from him shrugged, "Listen, I'm not a therapist, like, not even close. But, from what I've learned from some dumbass love and loss, if it's not meant to last it's not going to."

"But it feels like we were meant to last," Steve deflected, falling back on the bed and turning his head so his eyes met Elliot's. "I don't know why I'm telling you all of this. I don't even know you. Also, how are you Sloane's brother?"

"Half. My dad was killed while our mom was one month pregnant, she remarried and settled down a month after I was born and has been a piece of shit since," Elliot shrugged, explaining it so casually as if his mother wasn't who he believed to be a reincarnation of the devil himself. "Also, you do know me, we have chem together. I sit one seat in front of you."

Before Steve could say anything, Sloane opened the door and peeked in, "Here's some Tylenol for the hangover, mom and dad are gone so we're good to go. I'd hurry up and get ready if I were you guys because we're going to be super late. So, are you done chit chatting? I'm almost ready so you guys have like two seconds."

"Damn, okay, we're going," Elliot sighed, "We were just having a nice little chat, right Steve?"

"Nice is one way to put it," the boy sighed as he took the medication and rubbed his head as if he could get the migraine to leave by will alone.

"You know the right thing to do, Steve," Elliot whispered as Sloane was leaving the room. With that, he tugged on a jacket and left Steve alone in the room, assuming he would follow. Just for a moment, he turned back in and spoke, "Oh, shit, you can't go to school in a Halloween costume, here, take this." He tossed him a shirt and hoped Steve would get the idea. Sloane was already yelling from downstairs about how late they were so he hopped down and met her at the landing.

Sloane looked at him suspiciously, "What were you guys talking about? You don't get along with pretty boys like him often."

He simply shrugged, "Just girl problems. Something I am extremely well-versed in, as you know."

The girl giggled and hit him lightly on the arm as she jingled the keys in her hand nervously. "God, he better hurry up I am not getting a tardy for this bitch."

As if on cue, Steve met them at the bottom of the stairs in Elliot's T-shirt with a small smile on his face, "Sorry, sorry, I don't mean to be a bother. Thank you guys, both of you, for giving me a place to crash and not letting me drive drunk. I needed some friends last night and you were there, Sloane, so thank you."

Sloane smiled at him, one of her first few genuine smiles in a long time, "You can always count on me, Steve. Now, come on, we're late!"

"If I took a shot for every time you said that I would have alcohol poisoning!" Elliot groaned as they all left the house. Sloane handed Steve his keys she had been barricading since last night and he took off but not before giving the girl a small hug, which caught her by surprise. Just after he left, Elliot asked, "Do you like him or something?"

The girl laughed loudly, her blonde hair moving with her shoulders as they bounced, "Romantically? Not in the slightest. I just, I remember the feeling of going through so much shit alone and I don't, I couldn't see that happen with someone else. Especially someone as kind as him. Why? Do you like him or something? What were you guys talking about?"

"Guy stuff," Elliot shrugged as they began driving to school, "If he's got any brain cells, he'll break up with Nancy soon. You should have seen his face when I brought up last night's events. He looked like he already knew it was over."

Lunchtime was when Sloane knew for sure that Nancy and Steve were over. How did she know this so surely, you ask? Well, that's because Nancy cornered her at lunch and asked, "What happened last night? Someone said they saw you leaving the party with Steve and now he and I are over, so what did you tell him or what did you guys do?"

"Why do you care, Nancy? You didn't even love him," Sloane sighed, not enjoying how close Nancy was to her, "Listen, Nance, I know I'm new and hot and all things irresistible, but I am not going to sleep with a drunk guy let alone a drunk guy who is the boyfriend of someone I consider a friend. However, it seems you that feeling isn't mutual which is a bummer because the last thing I need at this school is an enemy. I drove him home because I've crashed my car into a tree and I didn't want the same fate for him. He was drunk and heartbroken, what was I supposed to do? So, can you back off? I'm not a homewrecker or whatever you seem to think I am."

Nancy's expression softened into more confusion than fury as she questioned Sloane's words, "You crashed your car into a tree?"

"Why was that your takeaway? Shouldn't you be happier I didn't sleep with your ex-boyfriend? I reinforced some serious girl code last night. Not that I wanted to sleep with him anyway," the blonde raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms as she leaned against the brick wall behind her.

"Yeah, I'm sorry. I didn't come up to you with the intention of accusing you of anything, I swear, it just came out. I, my head is in a million places right now. I'm sorry. Thank you, for taking care of him. Last night is just one big blur and apparently last night I told Steve I didn't love him or some bullshit. Things are kind of a mess, right now, I'm sorry I didn't mean to take it out on you," Nancy rambled out an apology, looking down at the ground as she ran her fingers through her short curls. After a moment, she looked up, "Wait, did you cut your hair?"

The corner of Sloane's mouth upturned in a small smile as she held back a slight laugh, "You are a mess, you got that part. Yes, I cut it. Listen, Nance, regardless of whether you loved him or not, you're allowed to be upset about things ending. You dated him for a year and now it's over, that's some rough shit. But I'm your friend, not your enemy, remember that, okay? Girls gotta have each other's backs whether it's friend drama or boyfriends or whatever you go through. Okay?"

Nancy took a deep breath and nodded, "Okay. I just, I don't want to believe that it's over for us."

Then, Sloane did something that surprised even her. She was not one to show much affection, let alone with a girl who was ready to (attempt to) beat her up about five minutes ago. However, the blonde decided to pull the Wheeler girl into a hug, running her nails along her back gently. That was something her mom used to do with her and she always found it comforting.

"I know it's over and that sucks, but you're going to be okay. I promise."

i included a soft scene with nancy since these characters have had very little interaction so far and also people like to act like season two nancy is some heartless bitch because no one can admit they hate tough female characters so i had my two toughies hug it out because fuck girl drama! also go vote for this story and How To Stop Liking Boys in strangerthingsclub's awards thank youuuuuuuu