"Sloane, my car really can't speed you're about ten minutes away from killing the engine," Jonathan chastised from the passenger seat as she drove the last leg for the night. It was reaching eleven and they were planning on stopping at the first motel they saw. She had been seeing road signs for one so she was hoping they would be turning in for the night soon.

Sloane scoffed at his comments, "So dramatic, Byers. I'm only going like 50, calm down. Oh, hey is that the motel?"

A neon sign lit up not too far from them, so she pulled into the next lane and turned in as soon as she could. They all got out and she sighed with relief seeing the 'vacancy' sign. "All right, let's hurry this along so I can pass out please."

Nancy laughed, looking at Sloane. She reached out and tucked a piece of loose blonde hair behind her ear, "You drove with the window down for two minutes and you're a mess."

"Whatever," the blonde teased as the three of them walked into the motel.

The woman at the front desk wasn't paying attention even with the three of them standing there, so Nancy slowly reached out and pressed the bell. Even still, the woman didn't budge.

"Um, we'd like a room, please," Nancy asked, hoping to gain her attention.

"We got those," the woman retorted without looking at them.

"Do you want our money or not?" Sloane exclaimed, pushing through them so she was leaning on the counter, looking bored and dissatisfied.

The woman, however, was still unphased as she simply asked, "You want a single or a double?"

"Double, please," Sloane said as the woman gave Nancy and Jonathan an interesting look. They didn't have enough money to get separate rooms so it looked like Sloane was going to be sharing with Nancy, most likely. What a bummer, not! Smiling satisfactorily, she handed over the cash for the room and grabbed the key, happy to be on her way.

Things were quiet as they got ready for bed, none of them really knew what to say in a situation like this. Nancy, as predicted, opted to share a bed with Sloane, which she was thankful for. Sloane would either get lost in a queen bed by herself and she would rather puke than share a bed with Jonathan.

"On or off?" Jonathan asked, motioning to the light switch. Nancy giggled, which both Sloane and Jonathan questioned. "What?"

"Nothing," she shrugged, "Just, uh, deja vu."

Oh god, did Nancy and Jonathan have a history? Sloane couldn't deal with this shit. She was not going to compete with Byers when she was so clearly meant to be a winner. What did Nancy even see in him? Both of them were chatting, but Sloane had drowned it out in favor of pretending to be asleep.

"Don't you think it's weird?" Nancy asked and a totally-asleep Sloane was curious as to what she meant.

"What?"

"How we only seem to hang out when the world's about to end?"

Jonathan scoffed, "It's not going to end."

She just shrugged, saying, "Feels like it."

Sloane felt bad for listening in to this conversation, but definitely not bad enough to not continue to eavesdrop.

Nancy moved, Sloane couldn't see what she was showing Jonathan, but she heard the girl ask, "Still have yours?"

"Yeah," was Jonathan's response.

"Mine's bigger."

"Congratulations."

"Thanks!" Nancy quirked, sounding pleased with herself.

"Is she asleep?" Jonathan asked, which caused Sloane's ears to perk up just a little bit. If he tried to say anything bad she was so ready to shoot up and give up her rouse just so she could kick his ass.

Nancy poked Sloane in the side, moving her slightly. The girl didn't budge, doing her best to play deadweight as to not give herself away. "Yeah, seems like it."

Sighing, Jonathan asked, "What's going on with you two? Like, is there something I should know about?"

"Well," the girl mused, "I'm really not obligated to tell you anything... uh, we kissed once. We were drunk, but I remember all of it. I'm glad I do, too. I don't know what it is about her, but she's had me mesmerized since we met, even before Steve and I broke up. I, I didn't even know this about myself until she moved to Hawkins. I like her definitely a lot more than I should, a lot more than she thinks I do."

"Is that why you brought her along?" Jonathan asked. Sloane couldn't believe what she was hearing. Nancy Wheeler liked her. That was a real thing that was just admitted. Maybe Sloane went to sleep already and this is a dream. She was tempted to pinch herself, but she wasn't willing to risk it.

The Wheeler girl hesitated for a moment, maybe it was a pause for a nod, Sloane didn't know; she continued speaking shortly after saying, "Yeah, yeah. I just, I didn't want to keep this part of my life from her. Maybe it was selfish bringing her into all of this, but I wouldn't want it to be anyone else besides you two with me. I mean, maybe Steve, but we're not exactly on speaking terms."

"Well, I want you to do whatever makes you happy, Nance," Jonathan reassured which earned him some bonus points with Sloane, not that he was aware of that. "Just know that if she hurts you, I'm not afraid to hit a girl. Got it?"

Nancy laughed, "Oh, yeah, for sure. She would stomp on you with her favorite boots if you even tried. I don't think she's going to hurt me, I mean, that's if I ever work up the nerve to actually do anything."

"I don't think you have to worry about that too much. Sloane doesn't strike me as the type to shy away from making the first move," the boy observed with a small chuckle, "Don't tell her I said anything even close to this, because I think we're obligated to hate each other at this point, but she's not so bad."

"Don't worry, your secret's safe with me," she joked, "Let's just get this over with. We can worry about romantic prospects later. I want to make sure we all get out of this alive, God knows we've gotten far too close before. I don't want that to happen again, not to her."

If Sloane could sit up and kiss Nancy right now she would, but she had to settle for laying there with her eyes closed, evening out her breathing and doing her best to stay in her act. She did feel bad for eavesdropping, knowing Nancy clearly was not ready to confess her feelings for Sloane, but at the same time, she was kind of glad she did. If that made her messed up, she didn't really care at the moment because Nancy Wheeler liked her. At this time, in this shitty motel that probably has bed bugs and was way too overpriced for the quality, that was all she cared about. Shockingly, Sloane felt a hand playing with her soft blonde locks. Nancy's gentle touch was welcomed as she settled into it, how her fingers ever so softly twisted throughout the strands of hair.

After a moment of silence, Nancy removed her hand and presumably turned back to Jonathan, suggesting, "What do you say we call it a night? Long day tomorrow."

Jonathan agreed and they settled into bed, Sloane feeling Nancy get comfortable next to her. They must have talked more, but it was quiet and too muffled by pillows for Sloane to make out what they were saying. Either way, it led to Nancy quickly turning the other way and demanding for the lights to be off. So, maybe those bonus points could be knocked off a little since clearly, he had just said something to piss off Nancy, which wasn't an easy thing to do for such a kind girl. Sloane definitely didn't mind having Nancy facing her, though. Jonathan flicked the lights off and all the talking ceased.

Even though she was tired as all Hell and had quite the day ahead of her that definitely was going to be strenuous and worrisome, Sloane couldn't help but fall asleep with a smile on her face.

ugh sloane and nancy are such cuties i love them so much ahhhhhh