The end of the school year really flies by. After college admissions came in she feels it's increasingly hard to focus on school, thoughts of the future, a future in New York, together with Jonathan, take over more and more instead. But she does manage to keep her work up throughout the last few months of high school, she wouldn't be nerdy Nancy with the 3.99999 GPA as Steve had once incorrectly states (it's really 4.0, thank you very much). Jonathan does too of course, his work ethic and discipline is really something. Turns out they graduate as number one and two in terms of GPA in their year and she's valedictorian. So it's fair to say they kicked high school's butt, she thinks. Summer is odd, their bodies are in Hawkins but their heads in the clouds or New York, depending on how you look at it. Yes they work and have fun together in the present too, but at night they lay awake together dreaming up endless plans for the future. It makes her feel ridiculously giddy.

Their plan is to live together in New York, of course. Sharing a dorm room with some stranger doesn't sound nearly as fun as sharing a cramped apartment with Jonathan. Hawkins doesn't offer much, but it does offer a surprisingly well-stocked public library where they make a habit of going to scour the New York Times apartment listings daily. They got mixed reactions from their families when they told them of their plan. Joyce thought it sounded great, fantastic and amazing. Her mother thought it sounded lovely, her father thought "Hm. Hm hm" apparently. Mike said "duh", Will said it's cool and El said it's bitchin'. Hopper though, somewhat mysteriously said "I see. Let me get back to you." It had proven tough to get hold of an apartment. They're now entering August but still no leads on one. Until yesterday when Hopper came into the Byers kitchen where they were making dinner (or rather Jonathan was making it while she sat on the countertop and told him how pretty he is) with an address, a name and a phone number. He'd called around to old friends from New York and one of them had a niece who was looking to sublet her apartment for at least a year as she was going to study abroad. They really didn't expect that effort from Hopper but damn it was really appreciated, as they made sure to let him know. She called the number immediately and got on well with the girl, who sounded eager to get the subletting handled quickly so she seemed to really appreciate her barely contained eagerness to get it. They got a verbal agreement, after some more vouching from Hopper and Hopper's friend, and they're starting the ten hour drive out there tomorrow to see the place and finalize the deal.

The apartment is indeed cramped, small and a fifth floor walk up in a slightly dingy Brooklyn building. But it's perfect. They can afford it and both fit in it, what more do they need? Plus the kitchen is actually pretty nice and living room cozy. She knows her subway commute to Columbia will take pretty long (his to Tisch will be a bit shorter) but she'll make do. They don't have a lot of time to spend in the city this time but they do indulge themselves in a quick tour of Manhattan, just to get a peek of their respective colleges they'll soon be at. The city is huge. She wants something different than Hawkins and this certainly is it. She's sure they look like giddy midwest teens in the big city for the first time as they make their way around Manhattan's streets, pointing out cool stuff to each other left and right constantly, but hey, that's what they are after all. She demands Jonathan's camera and takes his photo in front of Tisch and he poses more happily than ever for the few photos she's managed to get of him with this camera. He of course then takes her photo on the steps of the Low Memorial Library when they've continued up to find Columbia's campus.

They find a cheap motel near the freeway to spend the night in before heading back home in the morning. Sleep? Nope, they're way to excited for that, talking into the night about everything they saw today, everything they want to explore when they move out here in a few weeks. And then she can't help but reminisce…

"Remember the last time we got a motel room together?"

"Yeah," he smirks. They're cuddled together, her head resting in the crook of his neck. He takes the hand she had wrapped around him in both of his, turning the palm up. "Yep, it's definitely bigger," he nods his head looking at her scar.

"It is indeed," she smiles, turning the palm of his left hand towards them to look at his scar.

"You know, I'm such an idiot I didn't even realize until later you were flirting with me that night," he then says.

"Hey I was not flirting!" She protests.

"Oh really?"

"Well… okay I was flirting a little but only because you started it!"

"What? I didn't start it, I don't even know how to flirt!"

"Well you were being charming! And you hesitated when she asked if we wanted a single or double!"

"I did not hesitate!"

"Did too!"

"Hey maybe a little but just because I was thinking of the cost, you know we could have saved money by getting a single room."

"Right, sure."

"Honest! But I wanted to leave up to you that's why I didn't answer her first, it was your decision."

"Mmhm. Kind of wish I had chosen differently. I was being dumb, would've been nice to have shared a bed then."

"Well I would have given you the bed and slept on the floor."

"And I would've asked you to come up…"

"You would have?"

"Mmhm. I had a half a mind getting out of mine and crawling into your bed that night when you were being cute."

"When was I cute?"

"Always? But if we're talking that night specifically, all the way up until you said I didn't wait long enough."

"Mm. Yeah that was stupid."

"Well I was being stupid too, so."

"Hm."

"By the way you do know how to flirt, liar," she grins.

"What? I don't know! I don't even know when people flirt with me. I didn't get that you were flirting with me until after."

"Until after we had sex in a stranger's bunker?"

"I mean, yeah."

"Okay so if you don't flirt then what do you call that look?"

"What? Which look?"

"The look you give me! You know."

"I really don't."

"That look you give me all the time, everywhere like even in class! You know, when you look over at me and then you look down all bashfully and do your shy smile and then look back up."

"That's not flirting!"

"It's totally flirty, it gets me every time!"

"Gets you?"

"… like, you know. Gets me! I can't well think of other stuff when you give me that look, can I? Once you gave me it in the middle of English just when I had answered a question and it distracted me so when Mrs. Carmichael asked me a follow up I totally flubbed my answer!"

"Oh… I didn't realize."

"The effect you have on me?" She smirks and waggles here eyebrows at him.

"Clearly," he grins. "But seriously I didn't even realize that's a… look. I don't do it on purpose!"

"But you do it all the time!"

"Well, yeah. But it's not a look, I'm just… thinking."

"Thinking what?"

"Of you… it's just… sometimes I can't believe that there's this super smart, brave, strong, kind, beautiful, amazing girl just, out there in the world just… how you are all that… and that you somehow want to be with me I just, can't believe my luck.

He looked to be on his way to say more, but she interrupts him with a kiss, cupping his face with her hands. A warm, fuzzy feeling grew inside of her at his words, how honestly he said them, and it made her cheeks flush.

"Okay, now tell me that wasn't flirting," she smirks at him.

"It wasn't! You asked so I-"

She silences him with another kiss, smiling into it.

"I know, I know it wasn't a line. But still, makes a girl weak in the knees and her heart skip a beat, you know," she smiles. He's smiling wide back at her, staring up at her with a gaze filled with so much love. "And of course I want to be with you. If all those things about me are true then we're a good match because I know them all to be true about you."

"Well they are. No lies," he gestures between them.

"No bullshit," she nods before kissing him again.

Once they're outside the city limits the next morning she can't help but look back at the skyscrapers slowly shrinking in the distance.

"I can't wait to go back here and live in sin with you," she smiles at him.

"Me either," he chuckles. "What's the weirdest part, me or the sin?" He continues, grinning.

"Hm, definitely the sin," she muses. "Living with you feels quite natural after all," she smiles. She can count on one hand the number of times they've slept apart this year.

"Definitely," he nods. "I mean, we could rectify the living in sin part," he then throws out.

"Oh yeah, that should definitely calm my dad down about that part," she smiles. "Head for Vegas, Thumper!" She jokes.

"Hey I might take you up on that," he grins.

"And I'd probably be cool with it," she grins back.

They laugh and drop the subject, talking instead about Manhattan, Brooklyn, how to decorate the apartment and everything else. But it keeps tumbling around in the back of her head as they follow I-70 back home to Indiana.

"Hey were you serious before?" She asks in the afternoon as they're halfway through Ohio.

"When?"

"About not living in sin."

He looks at her.

"I mean, I wasn't serious about Vegas but I mean… yeah."

"Oh."

That's interesting. She's thought about it more and more, kind of all the way since Pennsylvania. And the more she's thought about it, marrying Jonathan, the more appealing it's sounded. The thought doesn't scare her. Quite the opposite. She loves him more than anything. She'd do anything for him. She'd march into another dimension and set fire to a hundred Demogorgons for his sake, if it ever would be needed. She thinks back over the past few years. She's experienced the lowest of lows of life, wallowing in that pit of grief and guilt from the fall of 1983 to Halloween 1984. But since then she's sure she's experienced the highest of highs that life has to offer as well. Yes, she's 18. Yes, she haven't even left Hawkins for real yet. Yes, there's so much in life she still wants to explore and experience. But seriously, she highly doubts anything will ever feel better than being with him. Doing anything with him. But all that she wants to experience, everything in the world she wants to see… she's sure it will all be even better to experience with him by her side. She wants him by her side forever. So why not make it official already?

She looks up at him. He looks slightly panicked and she realizes "Oh" and then falling silent, deep into thought, wasn't maybe the most calming answer for him given the topic.

"Shit, sorry… shit… wait, hang on just let me…"

He was just being honest, he didn't mean to freak her out or put pressure on her. He'll never pressure her. Or at least not intentionally, because he now realizes admitting that yeah he could totally marry Nancy right here right now is probably pressurizing as hell. Her quiet "Oh" followed by silence tells him all. Shit. He needs to explain this, needs to explain that… yes, he loves her more than anything and wants to be with her forever but that they absolutely don't have to get married or anything of the sort, especially not right now. He shouldn't have said it like that. Yes he could marry her this second but that doesn't mean they have to, there's no real reason for them to get hitched already. Apart from the fact that he's 100 % sure he'll love her and want to be with her forever so in that way they might as well already, but.

Luckily a sign points to a service station at the next exit. He quickly takes it, this isn't a talk to have while he's also focused on driving.

"Sorry," he says, turning towards her as he's put the car in park.

"What for?" She asks, big beautiful blue eyes looking at him intently, her kind smile playing faintly over her lips. Maybe he didn't freak her out after all.

"Just… I didn't mean to put pressure on you or anything. Just being honest. I was kind of serious. Because… I love you so much, more than anything. I love you and I just want to be with you. Always, forever. I know I'll love you forever, I'm sure of that, and as long as you want me, I want to be with you. You're going to go on and do great, amazing things in life. You're unstoppable. The best in the world. You're going to do great things, I'm sure. And if you'll still want me, I'll always be there to support you and help you in any way you need, just like how you support me. I'm sure of all of this already so that's why I think that… if you'd want to, of course, I could marry you this second. Since I'm sure of all this already. But I didn't mean to put pressure on you, I mean there's no real reason for us to get hitched right now it was just a thought that… I wouldn't be opposed to the idea. But I'm not expecting anything of-"

"I wouldn't be opposed either, Jonathan."

Her smile lights up the car, the world.

"Oh."

"I love you more than anything. I've been, we've both been, through some of life's most horrible things. I think I was at rock bottom at one point. But when I'm with you… listen, there's so much I want to do in life but most of all I want to do it with you, everything with you. I've been at the bottom but I think being with you… I can't imagine anything else in life can top that. Being with you, feeling… like I do, for you. These feelings I want forever… I know they'll last forever. So I want to be with you forever. I'm sure of that. And you know me. When I'm sure of something…"

He kisses her. He just has to kiss her, when she speaks like that, says all that. He can feel her smile against his lips.

"So ask me," she says when they break apart.

"Oh. Will you marry me?" His heart beats out of his chest even though he knows the answer.

"Yes."

They drive to Indiana holding hands and giggling like giddy children.

"The courthouse will probably be closed when we get home," she says as they cross the state line.

"Oh. You wanted to go right away?"

"I mean, yeah… why wait? I'm like you… I could marry you right this second, so…" she smiles.

His beaming smile is everything.

"But I mean we don't have to-"

"No, no, I meant it. I really meant it. It's like you said, why wait?"

"Right! Plus I don't know how it works. I mean maybe there's a waiting period after you apply for the marriage license? So might as well go get it as soon as possible."

"Right."

"You don't want a big wedding anyway, right?"

"God no!" The speed of his answer makes her laugh. "Do you?"

"Very much not. My mom would want it, she'd go completely overboard with it and turn it into something huge. I love her, but I don't want that. This is huge enough for me," she raises their interlocked hands to her lips and presses a kiss to his knuckles.

"For me too."

"I feel bad but… we can't tell my family beforehand… she's definitely going to upset about it but I just… I can't. This is supposed to be about us, it should be how we want it, right?"

"Yeah."

"And I just want you. I don't want a big huge white dress, I want something I'm comfortable in. I don't want a huge crowd of relatives I barely know there staring at us. What do you want?"

"I just want you to be happy," he smiles. "So, no big deal, no crowds, no families. Just us."

"I mean, your family… maybe… I mean, I don't want to say no to them! I just know I can't deal with my mom for this. Or dad, for that matter. They won't understand. Or approve of a wedding that's not in a big church with a hundred people there. But your family…"

"No families," he shakes his head, still smiling. "I love them and they love you but we don't need anyone there but ourselves. They'll understand. We can't tell my family but not yours."

"Okay… but you're sure? If you want them there… I don't want to say… it's a hundred percent your decision."

"No families. Hey, don't people split up weddings between ceremony and reception anyway? So it'll be just us for the eloping… ceremony part. Then when we tell them after that's our reception of sorts."

"I say we go to your house for the first reception then!"

It's evening when they're back in Hawkins so they go straight to Jonathan's house to turn in for the night, after getting bombarded with questions from Joyce, Will, Jane and Hopper about New York. When they've sufficiently satisfied them all with answers they can finally go to Jonathan's room and crawl under the sheets.

"Hey. Still wanna do it?" She asks him the next morning, squinting at him through the morning sun streaming through the window.

"Of course. You?"

"Yeah! Was just checking," she smiles.

They happily answer more questions about New York over breakfast. Internally she's trying to come up with suitable lie for what their plans for the day are, but it turns out it's not needed as Joyce and Hopper both has to hurry off to run some errand and Will and Jane scurry off to meet up with Mike and the others.

"Okay so… let's do this!" She exclaims when they're finally alone. "I really hope there's no waiting period."

"Same. But uh, do we need to bring anything, do you think?"

"I don't know. I guess ID at least."

"Yeah."

"We need to stop by my house too. It may just be the courthouse but I still wanna look nice."

"You look amazing."

"I'm wearing your old t-shirt and you're old sweatpants and I haven't showered."

"My point still stands."

She blushes and shakes her head.

"But yes, of course. I'm gonna jump in the shower now."

When he comes out of the shower she restrains herself from getting sidetracked by the treat that is shirtless Jonathan, to focus on the task at hand.

"I have some requests- I mean, suggestions for what you should wear," she hurries to correct herself, blushing as he grins at her wording. "I mean, if you want."

"And they are?" He smiles as he steps closer to her.

"Well, this shirt brings out your eyes. You have nice eyes," she holds up her favorite shirt of his. And… I know you're not a big fan of formal stuff but I like Formal Jonathan, he's really dashing," she blushes, pointing at his black pants and the only blazer he owns which she laid out on the bed. He's got a huge smile plastered over his face. He cups both her cheeks and gives her a sweet kiss.

"Well if you like Formal Jonathan I guess he can't be half-bad," he smirks.

"He's the best," she mumbles. "You can pick what I wear!"

"Nance you look amazing in anything-" he begins answering her while he starts to get dressed.

"So pick something. Something you like me in."

"I like you in everything-"

"I know. Thank you. I like you in everything to. And nothing," she slyly adds. "But come on, pick something you really like me in."

"Uh…" he thinks while buttoning his shirt. "Um… maybe uh… that white dress… you know, with the pattern. That you wear the belt with… you look… mesmerizing in that."

She blushes at his choice of words. He tells her regularly that she's pretty, beautiful, gorgeous, hot, sexy and now she's mesmerizing too. And Jonathan is someone who says what he's really thinking.

"Sure, I love that dress," she smiles. It's one of her favorites to wear in the summer.

He beams back at her.

"One last thing though," she says and holds up a tie. "Please."

"Anything for you," he grins.

"You look nice in a tie," she tells him while she's tying it around his neck. Adjusting the knot slightly she's then satisfied and takes in the full look of Jonathan. Her Jonathan. "Plus, it has the added benefit that you now come with a handle," she smirks and pulls him in by the tie for a kiss. "It's practical."

"Very."

She expected at least her mother to be home but they find the house to be empty. Works well for them, they don't have to answer questions about why they're dressed up. On the way to the courthouse they stop by the pawn shop downtown to get rings. Simple, elegant and cheap he buys hers and she buys his. She puts both rings into her purse for now.

"Hello, we'd like to get married."

She smiles at the old woman behind the counter. Who wearily looks up. Looks at her, looks at Jonathan.

"Mmhm. Are you both over the age of 18?" She asks in a dry voice that really conveys that she only has a very passing interest in the two of them and their business at the courthouse.

"Yes."

"Mmhm. I'm going to need to see some ID."

They hand over their drivers licenses.

"Mmhm. Are either of you under the influence of drugs or alcohol?"

"N-no."

The lady barely glances up at them.

"Mmhm. I'll take your word for it. Are you more closely related to each other than second cousins?"

"No!"

"Mmhmm. Fill this out."

The lady smacks down a document on the counter. She grabs a fountain pen and fills in her info before handing the pen over to Jonathan.

"That'll be 18 dollars," the lady says when Jonathan is finished, and holds out her hand.

"Oh! Uh…" Jonathan rifles through his pockets by reflex.

"Wait, I think I've got it," she mumbles, going digging in her purse.

"We should split it-"

"No come on, it evens out. Plus you paid for gas yesterday and day before," she reasons. She's come up with ten dollar bill and a fiver.

"Uh, would it be possible to haggle?" She tries. The look on the lady's face tells her the answer. Luckily Jonathan has come up with a dollar bill and eight random quarters from his pants pockets. They dump it all on the counter.

"Mmhm," the lady mutters again, raking in the money. "You wanna get hitched right now I take it?"

"Yes," she answers, ignoring the woman's not at all subtle glance over her abdomen. No lady, this isn't a shotgun wedding.

"One moment."

One moment turns out be a really long. They wait at the counter for what may be only five minutes but feels like ten times that. Finally the lady returns.

"A judge will see you in a half-hour. You can wait there," she tells them in her dry voice, pointing to some chairs by the wall.

She makes a noise of disappointment but doesn't protest as the lady just raises an eyebrow at her and she realizes it's useless. Jonathan leads her over to the chairs and sits down. She sits down in his lap, ignoring the looks from the lady. He holds her close and steady while she wraps her arms around his shoulders. The way he smiles at her extinguishes her slight annoyance with having to wait another thirty minutes before she can marry the hell out of Jonathan Byers.

"Wish we could afford a honeymoon," he grins.

"Hey who says we can't?" She smiles.

"My bank account, your bank account and our plan to save money for New York," he smirks.

"Well I'm not saying Paris or Hawaii. But I do know a cheap and cozy motel in Illinois. I hear they have both single and double rooms…"

"I love your ideas."

"I love you."

The way he's beaming at her, she just has to kiss him again.

"I know what we can do while we wait," she then says, having another idea. "We can take our vows now. I don't think the judge needs to hear them."

"True. Who goes first?"

"I can start," she says, trying to think of just where to begin. Thing is it's almost like they already took them yesterday. But she'll never get tired of telling him how much she loves him, so. "Jonathan I love you, more than anything and I vow to always do everything I can to make you happy. I want you to realize all your dreams because I know you can do whatever you set your mind to, and I vow to do everything I can to help you with this. I vow to always protect you, from whatever danger, from whatever dimension… I vow to protect your family too. I love you and I love your family. I know it's complicated with the surname, because of your dad but I'm really excited to be a Byers, because it's not just his name. It's your name and it's Will's name and it's Joyce's name. You've made it your own, I think it's a nice name and to me it stands for these three incredible, strong, brave, sweet people who I love and so I can't wait to be part of that. I'm going to carry the name with pride, I want everyone to know that I'm a Byers because it lets them know that I'm with you, forever and I couldn't be more proud to be anything other than that. I love you."

He looks slightly taken aback by her words. Then he kisses her. He then begins in a low voice:

"Nancy I love you. And mom does and Will does, you're already a part of the family. But that means the world to me. If you're proud to carry my name… you can't even imagine how proud I am to be with you. And you being a Byers makes being a Byers something way better than it's been before. I vow to protect you too. I will do anything, literally anything, to keep you safe. And to keep you happy. I vow that too, you're the best in the world, you're going to do great things in life. You could probably do it all on your own-"

She vehemently shakes her head in disagreement with that.

"- but anything I can do to help, I will. I vow that I will challenge you when you need it, just like you challenge me-"

"Me too, I promise that too! Vow. Sorry, continue," she hastily interrupts. He smiles and continues.

"And we've already promised each other 'no bullshit' but I'm taking that as a vow too. No bullshit. Just you and me, honest and together. I think we can do anything."

"Me too, I vow that too."

"I love you."

"I love you too."

"The judge will see you now," the dreary voice eventually calls over to them from the counter. They immediately get up. "Take this with you, go down that corridor, third door on the right," she hands over their marriage license and lazily points. "And congratulations on your very special day," she finishes with absolutely no inflection in her voice whatsoever.

"Thank you!"

Considering the clerk's mood she's not sure what to expect of the judge. He turns out to be quite the opposite of the poor lady working the counter. After tentatively knocking on the door they step in to an office where they're greeted by a jovial old man in a black robe who's grey hair looks to be on the verge of turning white.

"Ah! You two looking to get married?"

"Yes?"

"Well you came to the right place," he smiles wide. "Do you have the documents with you?"

"Yes," she hands over the papers they filled out.

"Well this all looks to be in order. And you two look happy!"

"We are," Jonathan answers.

"Great! This is my favorite part of my job. It's much more fun marrying people than sentencing drunk drivers or being the arbiter of petty disputes between Mr. Merrill and Mr. Gilbert, I'll tell you that."

"I bet," she smiles. "Um, so how does this work, exactly?" She thinks to ask, realizing now that she's not sure how a courthouse marriage actually works, she just figured they'd find out along the way.

"It's really straightforward actually, basically I just need to witness you both sign the license, that's the actual formality that means you're married. Now I have… ten minutes to spare though, so if you want to do something more, take any vows, have me say something more, exchange rings, we can do that. It's up to you!"

"Awesome," she looks to Jonathan who's beaming at her and shrugging his shoulders. "Well uh, we've already done vows but we do have rings. And uh… well I mean if you want to say something…?"

"Sure! I may not be a pastor but I'll try to dispense some advice at least, after all I've been happily married for 34 years now."

"Congratulations," Jonathan says.

"Thanks, you too! You're about to marry a beautiful girl you love, right?"

"Yes!"

"So you love each other, that's a good start! My advice is… well all that in sickness and in health stuff the priest would say, that's of course something but I think that's quite obvious. I'll just say: You love each other, I bet you know why you love each other, and the key to a marriage is simply to always always remember that. Be kind to one another, support one another and make each other happy. Sound good?" He grins.

"Yeah," they both concur.

"So, rings?"

She gets the rings from her purse, handing the one Jonathan bought her over to him, keeping the one she bought for him in her right hand. He gently grasps her left hand. He slides the ring against the scar on her palm before sliding it on her finger. The action gives her goosebumps. The ring fits snug and perfect. She beams at him, he looks happier than ever before. She takes his left hand and repeats his motion, sliding the ring against his matching scar before sliding it onto his finger.

"Lovely," the judge says after letting them have their moment uninterrupted. "Now if you both sign here at the bottom," he holds out a fountain pen and points to the document on his desk. She takes the pen and signs before handing it over to Jonathan who does the same. "I can now pronounce you husband and wife. Congratulations!"

Jonathan kisses her, and it's the happiest kiss of her lifetime, they both smile into it. It's sweet and short so she has to come back right away for another peck once they've broken apart.

They practically skip down the courthouse steps, they're so giddy, arms wrapped around each other.

"So what do you want to do now?" He asks as they walk to his car.

"Hm," she starts, grabbing his left arm and holding it up to look at his watch. It's only one o' clock. "Bet your house is still empty. Care to find out?"

"Yes!"

She's about to step on to the porch when he swoops in and picks her up. She lets out a surprised yelp as he lifts her and holds her in his strong arms. She automatically circles hers over his shoulders. She giggles uncontrollably as he carries her in through the front door, which she manages to open. He carries her all the way into his room.

"Dork, you're such a dork," she giggles as he sets her down and leans up to kiss him.

"You still married me," he grins.

"Yes I did," she grins. "Lucky you I'm a dork for dorks."

"Yes I'm very lucky."

"Me too."

"Jonathan? Nancy? Are you guys home?"

They've just been laying cuddled together for a long time now, in the afterglow of their first time together as husband and wife, or first times rather. But his mother's familiar voice calling out from the living room sends them both scrambling for their clothes. Nancy hastily throws her dress on again and hurriedly helps him button his shirt while he pulls on his pants again.

"Uh, yeah!" He calls out to his mother, praying it won't be too obvious what they've just been doing. Nancy smooths down his bedhead and fixes her own curls a little and they venture out.

Oh God, it's really very obvious. His mom takes one look at them and he wants to sink through the floor. Nancy grasps his hand and it feels like maybe that's the only thing preventing him from literally doing it. He can tell she's trying to keep some composure even though she's blushing profusely just like he knows he's doing.

"Hey so uh… um… how are you guys?" His mom hesitates, then thankfully seems to choose to just go the route of ignoring it.

"Good, good," Nancy answers for both of them. He nods.

"Are you two doing anything later?"

"No, not really."

"Good, I uh… wait, what's that?"

His mom points. Points to Nancy's free hand, the one he's not clutching. The one with the ring on it. Okay they really should have thought more about how they were going to break the news to their families because he has no idea what to do now. He looks to Nancy for help. She's instinctively let go of his hand to grasp her left hand with it, wrapping her fingers around the ring. She looks at him and then simply shrugs. He nods. Right, might as well come right out with it.

"We uh… we got married."

He gages his mother's reaction closely. Her eyes go big, eyebrows shooting up and her mouth opens and shuts several times, like she's searching for words. Finally she finds some.

"You… you got married?"

"Yes…"

"When? Today?!"

"Yes."

His mom goes quiet again, processing further. Nancy explains more.

"At the courthouse. Uh… we just sort of decided to… do it."

"Uh-huh… um…"

"Sorry we didn't tell anyone," Nancy continues. "Sorry we just… we wanted to do this and we wanted to do it our way… We didn't want it to be a huge thing…"

"We just wanted it to be for us…"

"Yeah, not like uh… we really wanted to do it… I really wanted to marry Jonathan-"

"And I really wanted to marry Nancy."

"But we didn't want a huge ceremony with lots of people there like uh, knowing my parents, would've happened if we'd told them…"

"So we just wanted to do our own thing…"

"Sorry we didn't tell you but we just… yeah. We wanted to do this our way. We love each other, we're gonna spend the rest of our lives together and we wanted to start the rest of our lives out however we wanted, and we just couldn't wait to do it," he tells his mother with conviction. Nancy grabs his hand again.

His mother looks at them for a long moment. His stomach drops when he notices her eyes starting to well up. But then a smile grows on her features and suddenly she's stepping towards them.

"Oh, sweethearts…"

She wraps them both up in a big hug. They both return the hug, Nancy smiling at him.

"You crazy sweethearts…" his mom continues when she's finally released them from the embrace. She grasps both his and Nancy's left hands, peering at the rings. "You crazy in love sweethearts," she continues to mumble. "I can't believe you just did this! But you're happy? You're both sure about this?"

"Yes," they both answer at the same time. "Very happy. Very sure."

"Well then that's what matters. And I guess I can't be that surprised. You two belong together. You're perfect together," his mom gushes, pulling them both in for another hug.

"You're not mad?" He asks, to make sure.

"How can I be mad when my little boy just married the girl of his dreams?! Come here sweetheart," his mom exclaims and pulls him in for an individual hug. "I love you very much."

"I love you too, mom."

"And you too sweetie, come here," his mom then turns to Nancy and pulls her in for a hug. "You've already been part of it for awhile now in my eyes but I guess this makes it more official. Welcome to the family sweetheart."

"Thank you," Nancy mumbles into his mom's neck.

"And I love you as well, just so you know."

"I love you too," Nancy answers in a small voice. When his mom finally releases her, Nancy's wiping at her eyes.

"I really do," his mom smiles.

"I know, thank you," Nancy smiles through tears. He wraps his arm around her.

"So you just decided to do this today?!"

"Well… really yesterday… Driving back we were talking… about the future and stuff and just realized… we both want this so why wait? So we just went for it. Turns out there's no waiting period on marriage licenses in Indiana."

"Oh believe me, I know," his mom says. At their questioning looks she seems to catch herself. "Oh, I mean. Your father and me it wasn't exactly all planned out either you might say… but never mind that, I don't want to think about him on a great day like this, or at all really. It brought me you and Will at least and you're the best thing that ever happened to me. And now I'm so happy for you! You're everything you're father isn't and you two are so good for each other!"

Nancy hugs him closer. He nods and smiles. He really strives to be everything Lonnie is not. Nancy kisses his cheek. His mom keeps smiling wide at them. Then she seems to realize something.

"Oh…"

"What?"

"Nothing just… boy did you guys pick a day for this…"

"What?"

"Well I don't know how you planned to tell us all about this but uh… we kind of planned a surprise party for you."

"What? What for?"

"Who's 'we'?"

"Oh your mom and me. And the kids helped. A joint going away party before you head off to college! It was Jane's idea. We figured we'd do it early so it'd be a bigger surprise, plus we'll be busy packing later anyway."

"Oh, wow."

"I was coming to get you for it! It's at your house. Everyone is waiting."

"Oh…"

"So… I don't know how you want to play this but… I'm sure Karen will understand!"

"Um… well… maybe… eventually. I mean… she loves Jonathan, but… wow she's not going to be cool about this," Nancy laments, looking at him.

"It will come as shock, sure, but she will be happy you're happy!"

"Sure… but also unhappy about missing out on organizing her oldest daughter's wedding. When my cousin got married she helped my aunt plan the whole thing, it was so over the top and she kept talking about what she'd do differently 'for the next one' and giving me this look… And oh god, my dad's going to assume I'm pregnant."

"You're not, right?!" His mom quickly asks.

"No!"

"Thought so. Well then that's fine then. Listen, they will understand, eventually. And I'll back you up."

"They're here!"

"Surprise!"

In her backyard her parents, Holly, Mike, Jane, Will, Lucas, Max and Hopper are waiting. They've put out a table and she can see her mom must've been in the kitchen all day preparing for this. She holds Jonathan's left hand, covering his ring with her hand while making sure to keep her left hand hidden behind her back for the time being. They talked in the car and came to the conclusion that ripping the bandaid off quick is the best way to go, but she figures they shouldn't dive straight into it but at least acknowledge the lovely gesture of the party thrown for them.

"Wow guys, this is so nice," she smiles.

"Yes, wow you didn't have to do this," Jonathan tacks on.

"Were you surprised?" Jane giddily asks.

"Oh uh, yes," she tries as she realizes they forgot to act surprised despite Joyce's reminder to do so in the car.

"Very surprised," Jonathan says, trying to work up the intonation in his voice.

They all see right through it, even Jane.

"Mom…" Will sighs.

"Sorry, it was hard to trick them?" Joyce tries.

"Still, this is so sweet," she says. "Thank you guys."

She tries to act normal. She looks to Jonathan. She can tell he's trying very hard to do the same. She wonders if they're pulling it off.

"What's going on?"

They're not. Mike asks the penetrating question in his straight-forward manner.

"What?" She tries.

"You're acting weird. What's going on?"

"Nothing," Jonathan deflects.

But everyone keeps staring at them. So, to hell with it, she thinks.

"We got married!"

Bandaid ripped.

She shows her left hand. Clutches Jonathan's tighter with her right. The stares are now combined with gaping mouths.

"You- you what?" Her mother asks in disbelief.

"We got married," she repeats. "Today, at the courthouse."

"W-why?"

"Are you pregnant?" Her father asks in his stern voice. She was right.

"No!" She calls back. "We got married because we wanted to."

"B-but why?"

"Why?! Because I love Jonathan and he loves me and we're going to be together forever so why not?"

"You're so young…"

"We're both 18. And you weren't much older than me when you married dad!"

"That's not the same that's not… honey you can't be sure of what you want already-"

"Yes I can. Why not? I know what I want. I want Jonathan, I want to become a journalist, I want to move out of here and see the world."

"I know it seems sudden, Mrs. Wheeler, Mr. Wheeler. But we're sure about this. Never been more sure of anything in my life," Jonathan looks her mother and then her father in the eyes and calmly states.

"You know, it used to be common courtesy to ask for the father in law's blessing before you whisked a young girl off to tie the knot," her dad mutters, looking back at Jonathan. She's about to tear into him but Jonathan beats her to it.

"With all due respect Mr. Wheeler, I don't think I need to ask anyone other than Nancy. It's her life, it's her choices."

"But why… why now… like this? The courthouse…" her mother is still trying to wrap her head around it.

"Because that's what we wanted to do. We didn't want a big wedding, mom. We just wanted to get married."

"But honey a wedding… a real wedding is… won't you regret not having one?"

"Nope. It was perfect. It was us."

"And how am I going to explain this to everyone in the family… why they weren't invited, why…"

"Just tell them I married the love of my life and if they ask why they weren't invited tell them the truth? That no one was. That we're in love and wanted to do it our way. Mom, it's my life. Not yours, not theirs. I'll do it my way, I'm not asking you to agree with how I do it I'm just asking you to understand that I want to do it my way. And you don't have to answer for my choices, I'll do that."

Her mother looks at them for a long moment and then sighs.

"Well. I'll try to understand. I still wish you would've told me. We could've thrown such a wonderful wedding. But… congratulations sweetheart."

Her mother hugs her and then Jonathan. Smacks her father on the arm and he mumbles a congratulations too while her mother inspects the rings. The kids have all been quiet watching the exchange. Now Will steps forward though, big smile on his face.

"This is so cool! When did you ask her?"

"Yesterday but it was sort of a… mutual plan," Jonathan smiles. She nods. She then looks at her little brother.

"Mike, you haven't got anything to say?"

"It's cool. He makes you way cooler than you really are so congrats," Mike shrugs. She's about to snark back at him but then his eyes go big as he realizes something. He puts a hand to Will's shoulder. "Hey we're brothers in law now!"

"Oh yeah! Awesome!" Will exclaims and they high five.

Jane steps forward too and looks at her ring.

"Pretty. But I thought wedding's were like on TV? In church with people."

"Well, that's one way to have it but you can also just go to the courthouse and do it quickly, like we did."

"I thought the other kind looked fun on TV. I wished I could go to a wedding like that, with people and then there's a big party after."

"Well, you set up this party for us anyway which is really nice so we can just have that as wedding reception?" She suggests. "We just wanted the ceremony for ourselves. But hey, do you want to be my maid of honor?"

She pushes away the thought that Barb was supposed to have been it. But without her here, Jane is the obvious choice even though they didn't really think about those things. She's not even sure there is a need for a maid of honor after the ceremony but Jane's eyes light up and she figures they've already done it their way so far so they can just continue to make it up as they go along.

"Yes! Oh my god really? What do I get to do?"

"Of course! And I don't know really, the maid of honor is there for the bride and helps her with stuff and you've already done that like fixing the party and all. But it's a special title for special people, and you're special to me. You're my sister in law now after all."

"I am?" Jane's mouth forms an O.

"Well, you're my sis, right?" Jonathan smiles.

Jane hugs them both.

"Hey if she's maid of honor, do I even have to ask about…?" Will grins.

"Yes, you're best man," Jonathan rolls his eyes and pulls his brother into a hug.

Hopper, Lucas and Max congratulate them, and Holly trots up and looks fascinated by the shiny rings.

"Hey sorry we're late, did we miss anything?"

They all turn around at the sound of Dustin's voice. He's got Steve with him.

"Oh nothing much, just that Nancy and Jonathan got married," Mike answers.

Steve's looks like he's about to faint.

"Are you… are you pregnant?" He asks, echoing her dad. Jesus.

"NO!"

"Morning, my husband," she tiredly smiles at him as she steps into their kitchen. She loves saying that because he gets the dopiest grin on his face every time still, two weeks into marriage.

"Morning, my wife," he smiles back. "Sleep well?"

"Mm," she comes forward and hugs him from behind where he's standing by the stove cooking breakfast. "Lucky me that I can get a classic Byers breakfast in New York too," she continues and presses a kiss to his cheek.

The big move was yesterday. She can't think of a better start to life in New York than this.

"It's actually a New York spin on a Byers breakfast. I got up early and found some bagels down the street," he points to a brown bag on the counter while moving the eggs in the pan with a spatula.

"Nice."

"What do you want to do today?"

"Well, we need to go shopping. But we also need to christen every room in this place," she grins.

"I love your ideas. Have I told you that before?"

"Hm, once or twice or a hundred times."

She sneaks herself in between him and the kitchen counter, wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing him again, on the lips this time.

"It's a big city, there's lots to see. We should go exploring. But I think we should start right here…"

"Sounds like a plan," he smiles and kisses her.

"After breakfast though. All this and you cook too," she looks him up and down and waggles her eyebrows. "To think my parents didn't get why I married you…"

"And you're all this and a great shot. No wonder my mom totally got why I married you," he smirks back before pressing his lips to hers again.

She smiles into the kiss, she's giddy, excited. She's out of Hawkins. She's with Jonathan. They've got a cramped Brooklyn apartment and time to explore the whole world together.

She's never retreated again after that night, only moving forward instead. And it's led her to the best place, because the best place is being right next to him. They've got everything. Chemistry. History. The real shit, shared trauma. And a future, together.