Steve Harrington. King of Hawkins High. The Hair King. The arrogant, cocky jock who seemingly had the world of Hawkins in the palm of his hand as soon as he walked in.

Nancy Wheeler. The goody-two shoes who could never do wrong. Girlfriend of Steve Harrington. The Smarty Pants.

Barbara Holland. Nancy’s best friend. The smart one. The one often pushed off to the side by Nancy when Tommy and Carol started cracking jokes.

It hadn’t been meant to go south. It never had.

Nancy remembered the date clearly — too clearly for her liking, a nightmare that never left even when its time was up and a new day had began. The memory in question? November 8th, 1983. Normal day, right? Well it had been.. until everything went to hell. Steve Harrington’s house party is where it had all started. Nancy didn’t often go to parties, nor did Barb, though she caved when Steve bugged her about it for the days leading up to the event. It was just one party, right? Nothing would happen and it was just one night! So.. she accepted. And where she went, so did Barb.

Nancy had to admit — the party had been fun! Well.. that was until Barbara attempted to fit into the crowd by attempting to shotgun a beer via opening the can with a knife. The knife had slipped and sliced a bit of her palm. Embarrassed and humiliated by her own actions, Barbara rushed off to the bathroom to clean the wound. No one would dare to think about it.. it would be seen as amusing and delusional to imagine a literal demogorgan would be lurking.

It shouldn’t have taken long to bandage her hand, though she had fallen victim to her own thoughts while cleaning and bandaging. She must’ve taken a while as by the time she came back, Nancy had clearly been in the pool: hair drenched, clothes wet, a towel around herself as she headed upstairs with one person in question: Steve ‘The Hair’ Harrington. Of course! Because it just always had to be with Steve, huh? Barbara wasn’t stupid. She clearly knew what Nancy was going upstairs to do with Steve, though opted to take the easy road out and tell the brunette woman that she’d wait for her to be done.

There was no way that Barbara would’ve known that night would be her last. One moment she was sitting at the pools edge, the next she had been dragged into the depths of the Upside Down with a demonic creature chasing her until it could no longer.

That was the last anyone had ever seen of Barbara Holland.

Time-Skip

Halloween. October 31, 1984.

It was supposed to be the annual Halloween Bash hosted by Tina. Steve had always gone with Tommy H and Carol — his two bestfriends, so nothing could go wrong in his eyes? That’s what he thought, even convinced Nancy, and by agreement, she accepted. Nice, right?

Nancy couldn’t shake the thoughts that had been nagging her that day. Her shifted feelings for Steve, the growing feelings for Jonathan Byers — the freak of the town, the grief and guilt she felt for Barb’s death.

11 Months. 23 days.

Almost a year since her bestfriend had mysteriously disappeared.

Almost a year since Barbara was found in the upside down by Jim Hopper and Joyce Byers in their search for Will Byers.

Almost a year since the funeral was held.

Nancy would never know that Barb’s last words were her own name. And honestly? Probably for the best. The guilt was already constantly suffocating day by day, it felt like.

The Halloween Party should’ve taken her mind off of it. It didn’t. One moment led to another and before she knew it, she was drunk out of her mind and admitted to Steve that she just.. didnt love him anymore. That he was to blame for Barbara’s death, despite it having nothing to do with him.

From that day forward? Steve was a single man. Barbara Holland was dead. And Nancy Wheeler.. was pursuing the freak of the town — Jonathan Byers.