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grapesodatozier · 6 years

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5 Times Nancy Wheeler Saw Her Little Brother Cry and 1 Time She Saw Him Smile

here’s that st fic i mentioned a few days ago! i wrote this when 5+1s were still a thing lmao.

this is, for the most part, canon compliant. ship wise, there’s lots of mentions of mileven, but this is mostly just nancy caring about/looking after mike and being a good older sister (duffers take note) bc i love them both and wanna see more of their relationship lol. this is my first (and tbh v possibly only) st fic. i’d post it to my st blog ( @curlywheelers hmu lol) but my irl friends follow that blog so i’m posting it here instead lmao

words: 2,190

warnings: mentions of canon character deaths, generally v angsty lol

read on ao3 or below (:

Nancy Wheeler has seen her little brother cry plenty of times. He cried nearly every Thursday afternoon and Saturday morning the one spring their mom had signed him up for baseball, and she always rolled her eyes at him. He cried when he went down a hill too fast and fell off his bike when he was nine, and she put Band-Aids on his cuts. He cried when their parents would argue, and she hugged him until long after the shouting stopped so he couldn’t see her own tears. Still, her experience with Mike’s pain didn’t make it any easier for her as his older sister to witness.

* * *

Nancy sat in the living room with her parents, the three of them deafeningly silent; what was there to say? They had just received the phone call that Will Byers’ body had been found in the quarry, and they had no idea where Mike was, or whether he had heard or not. The only sounds that cut through the heavy air were Karen Wheeler’s uneven breaths as she tried to stifle her sobs of concern, wringing her hands. Nancy bit her lip to keep herself from crying too.

After what felt like hours, they finally heard the front door open. Mrs. Wheeler jumped up and met her son in the entryway of the house. Nancy watched as Mike crumpled into his mother’s embrace, sobs wracking through his body. Her chest ached and the tears started flowing; she wished she could do something to help, but what was there to say? Kids aren’t supposed to die. Kids aren’t supposed to watch their friends die. Nancy trembled as she watched her brother cling to their mother.

* * *

Nancy didn’t know what to say, but she knew she had to say something. Or maybe just listen, or even just be there. She had to do something for him; he couldn’t even tell their parents. She knocked on his bedroom door, but it opened slightly to reveal that he wasn’t in there. She sighed, knowing where he’d be. She did her best to avoid her parents as she made her way to the basement; she only ever went down there to do laundry and look for old clothes, and she felt almost like she was intruding on a space not meant for her as she swung the door open and started down the staircase. The sight before her stopped her in her tracks about halfway down.

Mike’s watery brown eyes stared up at her from a fort she had never seen before, making him look like a deer in headlights. He dropped the walkie-talkie he had clutched in his hands and began wiping his eyes as he sniffled. Nancy hurried down the stairs, sitting beside him. Nothing was said between them as she pulled him into her side, resting her cheek on the top of his head. The words she’d heard him say in Will’s hospital room echoed in her mind; She saved us. But she’s gone now. “Do you wanna talk about it?” she asked quietly. He shook his head, and she left it at that. She felt his body begin to shake as his tears came again, and as she rubbed his arm she willed herself to keep her own at bay.

The two siblings may not have been the closest in the world, but Nancy was good at reading people, and Mike was an open book anyway, so she could tell that Eleven had meant a lot to him. Thinking about it, El had probably been Mike’s first serious crush. Nancy’s chest ached; she was feeling loss too, and she couldn’t bear the thought that her little brother was feeling anything remotely similar to her own pain. He was only twelve – no twelve-year-old deserved what happened to him; he had been through far more grief than any twelve-year-old can be expected to handle. He was a good kid, and so was Eleven; they had both just been trying to help, and now Mike was heartbroken, and Eleven-

Nancy pulled him closer. He cried a little harder.

* * *

Jonathan jumped out of the car as soon as it was parked in his driveway, barely stopping to take the keys out of the ignition. Nancy followed, rushing up the porch and holding the door open for him as he carried Will’s unconscious body out of the car and into the house. Hopper’s truck was right behind them, and Nancy watched as he helped Joyce out of the car and into the house as well. She was about to follow them in when she realized Mike hadn’t gotten out of the car. Dustin, Max, and Lucas rushed into the house, Steve behind them. He paused in the doorway when he realized she wasn’t following.

“Hey,” Steve said softly, “you coming in?” She shook her head without looking at him.

“I need to check on Mike,” she whispered, descending the stairs of the porch and heading back to Jonathan’s car. She heard the front door close behind her.

She took a deep breath outside the car before opening the door and sliding into the backseat next to Mike. He didn’t react; he just stared at the seat in front of him, his eyes wide and faraway. “Hey,” she spoke gently. When she still received no response, she took his hand in hers – it was shaking. “You okay?” She knew it was a stupid question, but she had no idea what else to say. Normally she’d just be there for him, but he wasn’t crying or yelling or anything – she needed something, even just for him to squeeze her hand back. It took about a minute of silence, but he finally spoke up.

“I could hear them,” he whispered, his voice breathy and broken. She felt his grip on her hand tighten as his tears started to fall. He turned his head to look at her, not bothering to wipe away the tears that were rolling down his cheeks. “I heard those- those things-” he began saying, his own sobs cutting him off. Nancy’s heart sank into her stomach; no one had mentioned why Bob wasn’t in the car or why Mrs. Byers was sobbing, but it wasn’t too hard to fill in the gaps. Nancy thought she might be sick at the thought of her little brother witnessing that. She wanted to put her arm around him, but he had her hand in a death grip.

“Mike,” she whispered, beginning to cry herself, “I’m so sorry.” And then he was in her arms, rocking back and forth slightly while he sobbed. She rubbed her hand in circles on his back while holding him as tightly as she could, as though he might float away. He could’ve, god, it could’ve been him who’d been eaten alive by those things. And now she was really, truly crying as well. “I’m so glad you’re safe,” she sobbed, not wanting to ever let him out of her sight again. “I’m so, so sorry, Mike, I’m never gonna let anything happen to you, okay?” she vowed. He pulled back to look at her and nodded.

“Y-you too,” he said, his entire body still shaking, his face red and puffy. They stared at each other for a moment before Mike started wiping his eyes. “You shou-hould p-probably go check on Jo-onathan,” he said, his words hiccupped with small sobs.

“I’m not leaving you,” she said with an air of finality. He looked at his older sister with an incredible amount of grief and fear, but also with clear gratitude before burying his face back in her shoulder. They stayed like that for what felt like an hour, but was really more like five minutes before collecting themselves and heading inside to join the others.

Just as Mike was about to open the door, Nancy stopped him. He gave her a questioning look, and she did something she hadn’t done in years: she kissed his cheek. “Agh, gross,” he complained, pulling a face. But he still squeezed her hand before going inside, and they both understood.

* * *

After making sure Joyce and Will were comfortable and safe in the backseat, Nancy climbed into the passenger seat beside Jonathan. Her eyes strayed to the Byers’ porch where Steve was standing with Lucas, Max, Dustin, and Mike. Her heart tightened as she thought about the conversation she’d just had with Steve – if you could even call it a conversation. But her heart hurt a whole lot more when she saw Mike watching El leave with tears in his eyes. She could only imagine what he was feeling right now, having just gotten her back and now having to watch her leave again. Nancy knew as well as everyone else that there was no certainty that any of the six who were leaving were coming back, and El was least likely of all to survive, excepting Will. Nancy watched her brother get smaller and smaller as she drove away, wishing desperately that she could be on that porch telling him everything was going to be okay. But Jonathan needed her, too, even more than Mike, and she knew Steve wouldn’t let anything happen to him. Still, it broke her heart to see her little brother in so much pain when there was nothing she could do to help.

* * *

“Mom, have you seen my pink lip gloss?” Nancy called from the stairs.

“I haven’t,” her mother’s reply came from the kitchen. “Have you checked the bathroom?”

“I already did!” Nancy called back in frustration, running back up the stairs before she could hear Karen’s reply. On her way to her room, she noticed Mike’s door was open a crack. She could hear muffled sniffles coming from his room as she walked closer. The door creaked open when she knocked to reveal Mike sitting on his bed with his head in his hands. He jerked up at the sound of Nancy’s entrance. She noted the tears on his cheeks and the suit and tie lying next to him on his bed, nice and neat and definitely untouched since their mom had put them there for him. Nancy closed the door and walked further into the room. “God, Mike, I know you can’t dance, but it’s nothing to get so worked up over,” she joked lightly, taking a seat next to him.

“Leave me alone,” he grumbled, wiping at his cheeks.

“What’s up?” she asked gently.

“It’s nothing,” he mumbled in response. Nancy just sat there, waiting until he was ready to share. He sighed eventually, still avoiding her gaze as he confessed, “I promised her I’d take her.” Nancy’s heart dropped. “I told her all about it, and I promised I’d take her, and now I can’t.” Nancy hated hearing the pain in his voice, but at least this time it was easier, because this time Nancy wasn’t useless to him; this time, Nancy knew something he didn’t, she knew she would be able to help make him feel better. Still, it sucked to see her little brother so upset. But she wasn’t about to ruin the surprise.

“I’m sure she understands,” she said. “It’s safer this way.”

“That’s all anyone ever says,” Mike answered, sadness evident in his voice though he tried to sound annoyed.

“I know,” Nancy replied softly. “But hey, you’ll have a great time with your friends! And maybe I’ll even save you a dance,” she teased.

“Ugh, gross,” Mike complained, pretending to vomit as he shoved her away. She giggled, but left the room anyway.

“Get dressed!” she called before closing the door, “Mom put a lot of thought into that outfit!” He flipped her off, a gesture she returned with a smile before returning to her search.

She gave one last look around her room, finding her lip gloss under her dresser, before taking her makeup case and slipping out of the house before Mike could see her with it.

* * *

Nancy smiled down at Dustin, nodding her head to the music as she swayed. She let her eyes linger for a moment, disappointed to see that Mike was sitting alone, staring off into space forlornly. It was upsetting, but she knew he’d be smiling soon enough. As if on cue, she watched him look toward the door, eyes wide as he jumped out of his seat. Nancy smiled to herself, watching as Mike started walking toward El. Nancy silently congratulated herself on her styling abilities, proud that El’s hair had stayed the way she’d styled it.

“Holy shit.” Dustin’s eyes had followed Nancy’s and the two of them watched as Mike took El’s hand. “Is she allowed to be here?” Dustin whispered.

“Hopper knows she’s here, and he’s outside if anything happens,” Nancy assured him, a smile on her face. Dustin’s face lit up.

“You knew about this?”

“Who do you think did her makeup?”

They glanced back over at Mike and El. They were resting their foreheads together as they swayed to the music, and Nancy’s heart soared; she hadn’t seen her little brother smile like that in such a long time.

#mike wheeler #nancy wheeler #st #st fic #here have this while i work on havana lol #no one asked for this but here it is anyway lol #mike and nancy would be such a power sibling duo and you cannot change my mind

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