Don't You Want Me? ✵ Steve Harrington

Chapter 8

After Will's funeral, Jonathan, Nancy, and Kim met up away from the rest of the crowd.

"This is where we know for sure it's been, right?" Jonathan held out a map to the two girls.

"So that's Steve's house, and the woods where they found Will's bike, and the Byers house," Kim said, pointing to each spot Jonathan had marked.

"It's all so close," Nancy realized.

"Yeah, exactly," Jonathan nodded. "I mean, it's all within a mile or something. Whatever this thing is, it's not traveling far."

"You want to go out there," Kim guessed.

"We might not find anything," Jonathan said.

"I found something," Nancy pointed out. "And if we do see it then what?"

Jonathan sighed, looking off into the cemetery as he thought. He turned back to the two girls, a serious expression on his face. "We kill it." He got up and walked over to his dad's car, leaving Nancy and Kim behind. The girls looked at each other in confusion before following Jonathan.

"What are you doing?" Nancy asked as he tried to break into his dad's glove compartment.

Kim rolled her eyes as he struggled to pick the lock with a knife. She shoved him out of her way and pulled a bobby pin out of her hair, expertly opening the lock. Jonathan and Nancy looked at her like she was the coolest person they had ever seen. "What? I used to do stuff like this all the time."

Jonathan reached around her and pulled his dad's hand gun out along with a few boxes of ammo.

"Are you serious?" Nancy exclaimed, looking around to make sure no one could see what they were doing.

"What? You want to find this thing and take another photo? Yell at it?" Jonathan asked, closing the glove box again and getting out of the car after Kim.

"This is a terrible idea," Nancy said, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Yeah, well, it's the best we've got," Jonathan reminded her.

Kim mirrored Nancy's posture, crossing her arms as well. "Feel free to come up with a better one, Nance."

"You can tell someone, but they're not gonna believe you. You know that," Jonathan added.

"Your mom would," Nancy countered.

"She's been through enough," Jonathan sighed, looking over Nancy's shoulder at where his mom was standing.

"She deserves to know," Nancy fought back.

"Yeah, and I'll tell her," Jonathan said. "When this thing is dead."

•••••

Nancy and Kim walked towards Jonathan in the clearing they had agreed to meet at. Jonathan was practicing using the gun he had taken, missing the target every time.

"You're supposed to hit the cans, right?" Nancy joked.

Jonathan's lips ticked upward at the sight of the two girls walking towards him. He had wondered if they would just ditch him and leave him to look for the monster alone. "No, actually, you see the spaces in between the cans? I'm aiming for those."

"Ah," Nancy smiled back, dropping her bag on the ground.

"You ever shot a gun before?" Kim asked her friend, noticing how Nancy's eyes were still on the deadly weapon.

She scoffed. "Have you meant my parents?"

"Yeah, I haven't shot one since I was ten," Jonathan said. "My dad took me hunting on my birthday. He made me kill a rabbit."

"A rabbit?" Nancy asked him.

"Yeah," he nodded, reloading the gun. "I guess he thought it would make me into more of a man or something. I cried for a week."

"Jesus," Nancy muttered, shaking her head.

"What? I'm a fan of Thumper," Jonathan laughed.

"I meant your dad," Nancy clarified.

"Yeah," Jonathan sighed before looking at the other girl. "How about you, Kim, you ever shot a gun before?"

"I may have killed a few people in the height of my days of crime," she shrugged. Nancy and Jonathan exchanged a worried look before Kim added, "I'm kidding, chill out guys."

"I guess my mom and dad loved each other at some point, but I wasn't around for that part," Jonathan said, trying to keep the sadness out of his voice.

"I haven't seen my dad since my family moved to Hawkins," Kim told them. It was something she had only ever shared with Steve. People had always wondered where her dad was, but had always been too afraid to ask. "I bet if he saw me or Dustin walking down the street he'd have no idea who we were."

"Kimmy," Nancy said softly, wondering why her best friend had never felt comfortable enough to say anything until now. "I'm sure he would recognize you. It would be, like, some parental instinct or something."

Kim scoffed, nudging the dirt with her shoe. "I don't think my dad has any parental instinct whatsoever. Probably wouldn't even know what those words meant."

Nancy held out her hand for the gun Jonathan was still holding. "I don't think my parents ever loved each other."

"They must have married for some reason," Jonathan said, shocked by the two girls who he had thought had perfect lives.

Nancy raised the gun, pointing it at the empty beer can. "My mom was young. My dad was older, but he had a cushy job, money, came from a good family. So, they bought a nice house at the end of the cul-de-sac and started their nuclear family."

"Screw that," Jonathan and Kim said at the same time, smiling at eachother afterward.

"Yeah, screw that." Nancy pulled the trigger and shot a hole straight through the cans.

Kim smiled at her and then looked back at the boy. "Sorry, Jonathan, but I vote than Nance gets the gun."