CHAPTER FIFTEEN
— nancy's lover boy —

did a boy's life end this way?

amelia looked around the people she stood with. she saw all the tears and heard all the sobs.

will byer's funeral. when amelia thought of those three words in her empty head, she felt responsible. it didn't really hit her until she saw the casket being brought down to the dug hole.

from her far right, she saw joyce byers sobbing and jonathan comforting her by holding her. she gazed back down to the casket, shedding a hot tear.

the guilt ate her alive.

she was well–aware that she could've saved will. if she wasn't a coward at the time, she know she would've...

amelia snapped out of her depressing stare down to the already buried casket when nancy softly tapped on her shoulder. she jumped from the touch, looking at the petite teenager. "how are you?" nancy asked.

amelia slowly looked away from her, back to the ground. she was the person who stuck around the longest after the burial. she had this some sort of bitter taste to her mouth that she felt she couldn't leave alone until she could settle with the idea of will being dead. even though there was the chance that he wasn't.

"i'm okay." amelia tore her stare, finally. she curled up a smile. "i'm good."

nancy tried her best to falter some sort of smile, but to amelia, nancy, as well as everyone else here, was see–through.

"jonathan wants to talk to us." nancy turned and started walking, amelia following. "about?" amelia wondered. nancy sighed softly, "hopefully about barb."

it wasn't about barb.

"whatever this thing is, it's not traveling far." jonathan held the updated version of the photograph of barb outside the pool.

amelia looked over her shoulder in case of any peeping toms and opened her coat that jonathan lent her for the funeral. in a back, hidden pocket was a pack of cigarettes and a lighter.

"you want to go out there?" nancy asked. amelia stuck the cancer–stick between her lips and lit the cigarette.

jonathan looked away from nancy and up to amelia, as him and nancy were sitting on the ground, trying to seem as lowkey as possible. "try not to make that a habit." he told her.

amelia finished her long drag and blew the smoke out her mouth. she sat herself down in front of the two, crossing her legs.

"i'm not in." amelia announced. both jonathan and nancy didn't expect that. "what do you mean?" nancy exclaimed.

amelia scoffed, "we should be looking for barb." she took another desperate hale from the cigarette. "we might not find anything."

"i found something." nancy affirmed. jonathan nodded. "with you, it'll be faster and safer."

amelia could see the urge in them, yet some hesitation. they really wanted to do something about the figure in the photograph, knowing it'd lead to the disappearance of barb. amelia chewed on her lip anxiously.

"okay," she nodded faintly. "and if we do see it?" amelia reached the cigarette back to her lips. "then what?"

nancy and jonathan looked at each other. they thought the same thing and wore the same small, light smile. the two then turned back to amelia, kind of waiting for her to catch on, but she's slow. she didn't catch on until she took yet another drag from the cigarette.

amelia sat and thought, nodding at them to finally say something, but nancy hid a giggle.

"oh!" amelia exclaimed, throwing both her hands up. "that was a stupid question."

jonathan nodded, "you'll kill it."

amelia did her best to take this whole conversation as something hypothetical, but she felt their feelings and heard their wants. "okay," the noirette sighed deeply, gazing at the cig between her fingers. "and what if i can't?"

nancy and jonathan thought about the (very slim) possibility. "then i guess nancy and i will have to take matter into our own hands."

jonathan grabbed nancy's hand and stood up with her. amelia quickly followed, already knowing the answer from jonathan's thoughts. "jonathan, you know you can't." she stammered.

he opened the passenger door to his dad's car and opened the glove department. "jesus christ." amelia scoffed as he completely ignored her.

"what are you doing?" nancy asked. amelia looked over her shoulder for anyone looking, taking yet another drag from her cig. "just give me a second." jonathan murmured.

eventually, he took out a handgun.

"are you serious!" nancy blurted. "shh!" amelia raised her finger to her own lips, the end of the burning cigarette finally falling.

"are you serious?" nancy asked again, but with a softer voice.

"what," jonathan shrugged. "you want to find this thing and take another picture?" amelia concealed her laughing smile. "yell at it?" once he found the bullets for the gun, he got off the car.

"this is a terrible idea." amelia demurred. nancy finally agreed as she crossed her arms. "yeah, well, it's the second best thing we got." jonathan stated.

nancy furrowed her brows. "what's the first?"
jonathan looked to amelia. "her."

"i told you, dude! i don't think i can kill this thing." amelia laughed.

"alright, amelia. then what's our last option?" jonathan huffed. amelia had no clue. she looked like she didn't too, giving up with a deep sigh and throwing the cigarette to the ground, crushing it with her toes.

"we can tell someone but they're not gonna believe us. we all know that." jonathan disclosed. amelia chose to take her loss, finally agreeing the plan. "okay, fine, whatever." she threw her hands up helplessly.

nancy stood with her arms crossed. "your mom would." she proudly pointed out. jonathan looked at her. "she's been though enough." he nodded.

nancy shrugged. "she deserves to know." jonathan nodded again. "yeah, and i'll tell her," he looked to amelia. "when this thing is dead."

˚⁎⁺˳✧༚

when the wheelers drove up to their home after the service, they all saw the amelia sit on the sidewalk. she quickly burnt out the other cigarette and stuck her hands in her pockets as they drove into their driveway.

"amelia?" mrs. wheeler exclaimed with a smile as she got out the car. ted continued walking into the house, mike following at a quicker pace. "what are you doing here? why aren't you with the byers?" nancy got off the car, hoping this would all go to plan.

"uh, i asked jonathan to drop me off on his way home. i feel like an intruder for being around them at such a.." amelia glanced at nancy, watching her trying to conceal her smile. the brunette found it comedic that lia was lying straight to her mom's face. "sensitive moment."

"oh, that's right." mrs. wheeler walked into the house. nancy and amelia followed. "well, there's no problem with you staying her for a couple more days."

nancy nodded along. "absolutely." amelia smiled widely and stepped into the house. "cool!" the noirette ran up the stairs, shouting that she had to use to restroom.

nancy giggled, but then felt a tug on her dress' sleeve. karen nodded at the kitchen, telling her they needed to talk.

"what's this deal with amelia's parents?" she asked, putting holly down. she ran off the living room with ted, who just turned on the tv.

nancy sighed pressingly. hopefully she was just as good at lying as amelia. the two went over it several times at the service before amelia had to go with jonathan.

"amelia's parents.." nancy made sure to make her voice trail off at time. you know, for dramatic effect. "adopted her when she was a kid. she told me all about this at school."

mrs. wheeler nodded and crossed her arms. she looked like she was understanding. "well, her real parents want her back, but trust me, mom, they're messed up. like, amelia was brought up terribly."

"oh, gosh." mrs. wheeler softly gasped. nancy nodded, "i know, i know." she even held onto her mother's arms. "kind of explains the way she is at times since she was taught bad things at such a young age."

mrs. wheeler nodded. "right, right." amelia crept down the stairs, outside the kitchen to hear. "right now, amelia's adoptive parents are fighting their case with amelia's real parents. both the parents agreed to letting her stay with the byers. her adoptive parents know them and trust them, but then this whole will thing came up–"

"oh my god, i feel so bad for always asking about her parents now." mrs. wheeler heaved. nancy nodded and rubbed her mom's arm. "it's okay, it's okay." she told her.

"lia says the case will take a while because of all these complications and such, so she might even finish high school here! you know, stick around with the byers a little longer." nancy concluded.

just on cue, amelia walked into the kitchen. "hey, nance. do you mind if i shower?"

mrs. wheeler leaned off the kitchen counter and walked to amelia. she grabbed onto her hands and held them. "amelia," she sighed happily. her eyes were lightly watering. "really, feel free to stay for as long as you like."

˚⁎⁺˳✧༚

"i can't believe she bought it." nancy laughed. she walked to the other side of the garage to get the bat, but amelia tugged on her arm. "wait a sec."

the noirette lifted her hand. the bat raced to her hold. nancy's eyes were wide, a wide smile on her lips. "does anyone else tell you about how much of a badass you are?"

amelia shrugged, wearing a schmuck grin. she gave the bat to nancy. lia leaned on the hood of mr. wheeler's car, crossing her arms and watching nancy take practice swings.

she looked away from nancy, down to her wrist. she turned it to face her and pulled down her sleeve. she ran her thumb through the print on her skin, sighing deeply at the memory of the last time she got it redone, as it would tend to fade on her.

the girl lost trail of her memory when she heard a male voice shout. "woah, woah, hey!"

amelia looked up and saw steve harrington. she felt her heart literally swoon, sighing deeply at the sound of his voice.

"what are you doing here?" nancy sputtered. she put the bat down.

"what are you doing?" steve chuckled, pointing at the bat. nancy glanced at it and shrugged, "nothing."

"i hope that's not meant for me." steve joked. nancy shook her head in a fluster and glanced at amelia. she noticed the dazed look in her eyes as she was looking at steve, and steve only.

"oh, no," nancy rambled. "i was just.. thinking about joining softball."

amelia bursted into a small laugh, having to cover her mouth. steve brought his attention to the girl, a quick smile growing on his lips.

"hey, lia." he nodded. amelia nodded, "hello, harold." she recalled the name her teacher called him by as he left the classroom.

steve scoffed into a laugh and nodded. he turned to nancy. she wasn't laughing along.

"listen, i'm really sorry." he apologized to her. "i mean, even before you threatened me with the baseball bat." steve joked. he walked over to the hood of mr. wheeler's car and leaned on it to sit by amelia.

"i panicked and, " steve sighed pressingly, "i mean, i was a total dick." he admitted.

amelia nodded in agreement, "yeah, you were." steve turned to her, scoffing with a tiny smile. he looked back at nancy and sighed helplessly.

"did you get in trouble with your parents?" nancy wondered. steve shrugged, somehow scooting closed to amelia. "totally, but.. you know, who cares? screw em." amelia scooter farther away, giving steve his place.

"any news about barb?" he asked. nancy slowly shook her head. "parents heard from her? or..."

"no." nancy replied flatly. no one really said anything after. the silence broke when amelia sighed deeply and looked at steve's watch.

"hey, listen. why don't we, uh," steve got up from the hood and stepped towards nancy. "why don't we catch a movie tonight, you know?"

amelia looked to nancy with wide eyes, hoping that she'd be reminded of their plans tonight. "just kinda pretend everything's normal for a few hours. all the right moves is still playing. you know, with your lover boy from risky business." steve laughed.

nancy looked down to the bat with a small smile. "yeah, i know." steve glanced at amelia, her eyes already on him with a sweet smile on her lips. the way steve spoke to nancy made her wish she was in her spot.

"you know, amelia told me that i actually kinda look like him, right?" steve turned to amelia. her brows furrowed. "like, who?"

nancy lightly shook her head. "tom cruise," she answered. amelia still didn't know who that was. "the guy on my poster in my room."

"oh!" amelia exclaimed. she looked to steve and nodded, "yeah! you do!"

steve directed his hands at amelia, wearing a proud grin for nancy. amelia's giggle faded. "yeah.." she muttered. amelia hopped off the hood of the car. "yeah, i said that." she cringed. steve laughed, "what do you think, huh?" he grabbed the bat from nancy and turned it to the other end.

"just take these old records off the shelf." he sang, using the bat as a mic. "i'll sit and listen to them by myself." this time, amelia joined in, singing just as lame as steve. "today's music ain't got the–"

"i just, i.." nancy spoke up, making both steve and amelia stop then from starting a dance party. "don't think i can." nancy trailed.

amelia pushed her hair behind her ear and walked back to the hood of the car. "i've been really busy with this whole funeral thing and with my brother. it's been really hard on him." nancy explained.

steve nodded. "yeah, sure, yeah," amelia giggled at how many times he said 'yeah' and 'sure.' he looked over his shoulder to her, flashing a laughing smile.

"so..." nancy lingered. steve pointed to his car, "i should go."

nancy chewed on her lip. "sorry," steve nodded and understood. "i'll call you later, though." nancy said. "is that okay?" she didn't even let him answer, giving him the quickest peck in the lips.

"yeah. yeah, of course." steve nodded slowly.

he stepped back, nodding at amelia. "bye, lia." she nodded back. "adios, steve–o."

steve chuckled as he was walking away, looking back at her. "bye, amelia." he said again.

he walked away and started to sing the song again. amelia hummed along. steve looked over his shoulder, showing a wide grin at amelia humming along. he waved. amelia waved too, her other hand in her back jean pocket.

the infatuated teenage girl sighed deeply, giving one final look at steve before averting her attention nancy. she wasn't even paying attention the gaze steve and amelia held out for each other, as she was practicing her swinging.

"steve is cute." she admitted. nancy snickered, "i know, but–" she caught herself before going on. amelia shot her eyes up at her, wanting nancy to finish. she felt this flush of receiving emotions from her.

"never mind." the brunette muttered.