[and just like he's looking out for her, she's trying to do the same for him. there's a flicker of disappointment on her face at his answer, but she can't push if he's unsure.]
You should probably take me home, then.
[said without any kind of malice or anger. she knows what she wants now: him, and her eyes say as much even as she cuts them towards the car.]
[Considering his current status. He's just been dating around but mostly it's just been all sex. Which is pretty much Steve Harrington in a nutshell for you.]
Kind of surprised to hear that, honestly. [she is: steve had never seemed to have trouble finding romance in the past. she touches the side of his car.] Is your door unlocked?
[What's he suppose to do? What does she want him to do or say? It's a bit frustrating because once again they are on two different pages. She says she loved him but she had said what she did that night at the Halloween party.
She couldn't tell him she loved him even after.
And it always seemed she was right back to Jonathan.]
[nancy wonders if she would have fallen out of love with him if she hadn't been so desperately chasing barb's memory. what would she have done if those years hadn't been so completely driven by grief and guilt?]
You don't believe me.
[and she actually seems offended here.]
Because - what? Because I couldn't say it back before we broke up?
[Because he struggled to understand her grief and why she clung to it so desperately? None of that mattered much now. Steve had moved past it on his own.]
You were worried about - graduating and jobs and parties and I wanted that for you. I wanted you to live your life. I couldn't ask you to come take down the Hawkins Lab with me between basketball games.
[and then, more quietly-]
I didn't want you tangled up in all of this any more than you needed to be.
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So this is a you're lonely issue?
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I guess. [nancy rubs the back of her neck.] I shouldn't bother you about it.
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[He knows all to well what loneliness feels like. Unlike her he didn't have someone to turn too in any of this so he learned to stand on his own.]
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What do you want, Steve? You avoid the question when I ask.
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[He thought he knew once but time has passed and things have seemed to change not just between them but with everyone it seemed.]
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You should probably take me home, then.
[said without any kind of malice or anger. she knows what she wants now: him, and her eyes say as much even as she cuts them towards the car.]
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[That's probably the smarter decision for the both of them but that doesn't mean it doesn't ache any less.]
I like to think we would work now, you know?
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I don't know if I work with anyone, Steve.
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[Considering his current status. He's just been dating around but mostly it's just been all sex. Which is pretty much Steve Harrington in a nutshell for you.]
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[She had made that clear in her actions, turning to Byers.]
Yeah. Sorry, go ahead and hope in.
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[nancy doesn't move, looking back at him now, her voice firm again.]
You weren't a shit boyfriend. I loved you.
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Now honestly doesn't feel any different.]
You loved him more.
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[she takes a shallow breath.]
I loved him, yeah. But I loved you, too, and I won't let you hold him against me.
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She couldn't tell him she loved him even after.
And it always seemed she was right back to Jonathan.]
Right.
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You don't believe me.
[and she actually seems offended here.]
Because - what? Because I couldn't say it back before we broke up?
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[Their relationship wasn't perfect by any means but he at least thought she was happy with him at times but maybe that was just a lie too?]
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That you made me happy. That I loved you. It just - I needed things I couldn't ask you for.
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[Because he struggled to understand her grief and why she clung to it so desperately? None of that mattered much now. Steve had moved past it on his own.]
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[she makes a quiet noise of frustration.]
You were worried about - graduating and jobs and parties and I wanted that for you. I wanted you to live your life. I couldn't ask you to come take down the Hawkins Lab with me between basketball games.
[and then, more quietly-]
I didn't want you tangled up in all of this any more than you needed to be.
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[And maybe his head hadn't been in the right place but he wanted her to move on too. He realizes now that was asking far too much of her. ]
And I would have.
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[in more ways than one]
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[He runs his hands down his face in frustration.]
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