Although Sloane's life had become a whirlwind of confusion and excitement in a matter of days, this day had definitely taken the cake. Everything had changed in such a short amount of time it was overwhelming and unraveling within Sloane's mind and she could barely process the excitement.

The three of them worked all day to copy the tapes and send them out to as many media outlets as they possibly could. It was exhilarating being apart of something so much bigger than herself. Not to mention doing it with Nancy was quite the bonus. She felt like she could trust the girl with anything now that they were uncovering government secrets together. It seemed to be quite the bonding experience for all of them.

The sun had gone down a long time ago by the time the four of them finished. Murray slammed the vodka down on the table as they all refilled their glasses with glee.

"Whoo-hoo!" the man cheered as he held up his glass for a toast, "To taking down the man."

"To taking down the man!" Sloane repeated, clinking glasses with Nancy, Jonathan, and Murray.

As they all drank, Murray grimaced, "Commie bastards sure know how to make a spirit. Am I right?"

"You could say that again," the blonde mused as she chugged the rest of her glass.

Murray went to pour more for the three of them, but Nancy tried to stop him, "Oh, no, no, no... we can't."

"Yeah, no, I've got to drive," Jonathan explained with a sigh.

"I'm not driving, pour me another, Murray," Sloane requested with a smile, but the man stopped.

Instead of agreeing with them, he simply suggested, "Drive? What, tonight?"

"Our parents..." Nancy began but drifted off.

"Would be proud if they knew what you were up to. Just tell them you're at Tammy's or Dawn's or whoever's and take my guest room," Murray said with a shrug as he leaned back in his chair. Looking at Jonathan and Nancy, his eyes slowly drifted over to Sloane. "Well, one of you can take the couch. It pulls out. I mean, do, do you want to stay?"

Nancy shrugged, looking from Jonathan to Sloane, "It is pretty late."

Jonathan looked hesitant, he sent a knowing glance over at Sloane before turning back to Murray, "I'll take the sofa."

Murray looked surprised at this, but he didn't say anything about it as Nancy sent a shy glance over at Sloane. It was there for just a moment before her eyes darted away, Sloane was fairly sure she dreamt it.

"Okay, I'm confused," Murray said and Sloane was almost surprised considering he hadn't said anything when Jonathan first suggested the sofa. "What's going on here? A lover's quarrel?"

Jonathan scoffed, looking confusingly at Nancy, "No, I mean, we're just friends."

"Friends," Nancy repeated, her eyes meeting Sloane's. Her breath hitched as she saw a glimmer in the other girl's eyes. She wondered if Murray and Jonathan saw that or if it was just her who was so lucky to gain any sort of attention in this way from Nancy Wheeler.

Murray must not have seen as he was still insistent, throwing his head back laughing and saying, "You've told me a lot of shockers today, but that, that is the first lie."

"It's not," Sloane finally spoke up, not daring to suffer through this any longer as she looked Murray dead in the eye and spoke assuredly, "The only one in this room Nancy wants to lock lips with is gonna be me, actually. If you can believe an otherworldly monster killed her best friend, I'm sure you can believe that one, too. If you'll excuse me, I need another drink."

She raveled in the silence as she reached for the bottle of vodka and poured herself another cup, mixing it with water before toasting to nothing and taking a sip. Murray looked at her in silence with a furrowed brow. Sloane was fully aware she had given up the knowledge that she had been eavesdropping on their conversation in the motel, but she couldn't find any part of her that cared.

Murray considered this, looking over the three of them before launching into psychoanalysis, "Hm, let me see if I've got this down. These two have the shared trauma and daddy issues, but you, Sloane, you're the new girl, right? You didn't see the shit that went down last year. You're shiny, new, conventionally attractive and shocker, a girl. Nancy retreats to boys like Jonathan whom she went through quite the amount of shit together, but no, Jonathan's not the safety net. No, the safety net is -- give me a name?"

"Steve," Nancy filled in.

"Steve! The boyfriend! Ah, the safety net, but we don't love Steve do we?"

"I do!"

"Ah, the second lie, or first, according to miss Sloane," Murray mused, taking a sip of his drink, "So Nancy, you've got the loner boy so clearly head over heels for you, but you don't want that, do you? No hard feelings Jonathan, but you want shiny and new, huh? My, my, this just got a lot more complicated. Well, with that being said, I'll be heading to bed. I wonder who'll end up sharing the damn bed."

With that final statement, Murray pulled himself up from the chair and traipsed off up the stairs, leaving the three of them in his wake.

"You heard us in the motel room," was the first thing Nancy said once they tired of the silence, "Didn't you?"

"I think you guys need to talk," Jonathan said with a breathy sigh, "If I recall, I called the sofa so you guys go sort this out in the guest room. I'm tired. Murray is exhausting to be around."

Sloane nodded, taking another sip of vodka before standing to walk into the kitchen and placing it in the sink. Turning and leaning against the counter, she crossed her arms and sighed, "Yeah, you can say that again. Ugh, I kind of hate him, but I also love him."

She watched as Nancy stood in the living room, her arms crossed as she bit her lip. God, she was cute. In a moment, the brunette left Jonathan alone as she walked into the guest room, shooting one last glance at Sloane before closing the door. When she didn't move, Jonathan looked up at her with a raised brow, saying, "I'm pretty sure that was an invitation, Sloane."

"Yeah, I was thinking the same thing," the girl spoke carefully, not sure what her next move should be. She stepped into the living room, stopping to speak to Jonathan, "Thank you, for not being more of a bitch about the girl you like having... homosexual tendencies."

"You couldn't have thanked me in a less weird way?"

"No, then you might start thinking I like you," she scoffed, her arms uncrossing so she could ruffle Jonathan's hair and shove him gently. He reminded her almost of Elliot. God, she could use her brother's advice right now. Maybe even Abby's. Just any advice that wasn't coming from Jonathan Byers or an odd conspiracy theorist. With this, she bid Jonathan goodbye as she took a deep breath and opened the door to the guest room.

Nancy was sitting on the bed, already changed into an oversized shirt for bed. Gently she looked up at Sloane, "Hi."

"Hi," was all the blonde could say as she bit her lip, not sure what to do in this situation as she closed the door and leaned against it. "Yes, I heard you. To answer your question from earlier. I-I feel the same way."

The silence between the two was thick and suffocating, however, something seemed to let loose in Nancy as she stood from the bed and raced over to Sloane. She grabbed the blonde's face in her hands and kissed her. Sloane practically melted on the spot as her hand let go of the doorknob and grabbed onto the other girl's waist while the other cupped her face. Kissing Nancy Wheeler sober was startling and shining in the way every move meant something. There was nothing sloppy or rushed like the first time the two acted on whatever feelings they shared, this was gentle and passionate, it was a shocking difference but a welcome one. Sloane could taste the vodka, but neither of them were as drunk as they were the first time. The first kiss between the two girls was confused and curious, but this one felt real. Nancy's fingers tangled themselves in Sloane's short locks, desperate to grip onto something as the two got more heated, disconnecting and reconnecting with breaths in between movements.

When they finally pulled apart, their lips puffed and cheeks flushed, Nancy smiled and bit her lip teasingly. Her eyes avoided Sloane's, but she had no idea what that could mean after a kiss like that. Sloane bit back her smile when Nancy looked up at her again. A beat of silence passed before Nancy reached out and cupped her face again, except this kiss was much more chaste, softer.

"Sorry, I've been, ahem, meaning to do that," Nancy muttered as their eyes met with so much between them.

Sloane's only response was to kiss her again.

SORRY I KNOW IT'S BEEN TWO MONTHS BUT I HOPE THIS CHAPTER MADE UP FOR THAT I LOVE THESE GIRLS SO MUCH I'M SO EXCITED FOR THEM TO KICK ASS IN SEASON THREE