Chapter Text
Nancy was the McDoodle family’s neighbour.
Nancy was also best friends with Dolores since high school; it had been that way for as long as they could remember. Now, with both of them in their late thirties, they weren't falling out anytime soon. Dolores had always been there for Nancy, through her divorce, messy breakups, and the spontaneous decision of buying herself a diner, which surprisingly held up. Dolores had always been there, so naturally, Nancy was at her house on Sunday afternoon.
It was like any other day. As per usual, she was having tea with Dolores, the two of them chatting away while the rest of Delores’ family went about their day throughout the house. Dolores’ ginger hair seemed to glow in the midday sunlight, passing through the beautifully layered locks. ‘It must take her forever to style,” Nancy thought to herself.
For some reason Nancy couldn't help but notice these things about her friend, couldn't help but pay attention to the way their hands would accidentally brush on occasion, couldn't help but love the way Dolores laughed when telling a funny story, couldn't help but stare at the freckles that crept its way to every inch of her pale skin, it was almost hypnotic.
It was only when Dolores had wished Nancy well, her tall, lean frame pressed against the doorway as she said goodbye, that the alarms started. Loud beeps, one right after the other, sounded throughout the neighbourhood—the bomb warning. The pair stared at each other, eyes wide, hands shaking. The two of them grabbed anything they could reach: a map, a radio, a medkit, some soup? Anything.
Ted ushered them into the bunker, not bothering to ask why Nancy was still here; there was no time anyway. As soon as Nancy got down into the sad, metal room, she immediately sighed with relief, seeing that the kids were already down there; both were alive and well.
She stepped aside just as Ted jumped down, closing the cover just in time. He landed on the concrete floor with a thump. Dolores quickly rushed to his side.
“Are you okay?” she had asked. Ted replied with a brisk nod, getting up and taking the middle seat of five at the small table fashioned from wooden crates and boards. Nancy’s body was still shaking, and her heart was rapidly beating with adrenaline.
“Hopefully we're not here for too long,” he sighed, knowing it was only wishful thinking.
After putting everything in their respective spots, everyone took a seat while Ted tried his best to connect the radio to a station. Nancy looked over to Dolores, who was sitting to the woman's right, arms crossed and staring at one of the four boring grey walls. She had a tightness in her jaw, and her brows furrowed slightly. “Hey, it's going to be okay,” Nancy said, noticing her discomfort. Nancy placed a reassuring hand on her upper arm. Dolores looked over to her friend, a small smile gracing her face.
“I hope so,” she replied, putting a hand on top of hers.
“Okay, there's only so much food to go around, so we'll have to eat sparingly, and if it really comes to it, we may need to go outside to find more…” Ted mumbled the last words as if he didn't want them to be true. Nancy hoped it wouldn't have to be either.
“Checkers?” Nancy asked Dolores anxiously, motioning to the checkerboard in front of her. It had been the first thing anyone had said in ten minutes, all too stunned by the new revelation that they would be stuck down here for an unknown amount of time.
“I'd quite like that, yes,” she gave a tight-lipped smile, her eyes slightly sad. She began to set up the board, moving the counters into place. “I'm glad I'm stuck here with you,” she said. They both reached for the same red counter, hands overlapping, and Nancy's heart fluttered in her chest. They both looked up at each other, and she noticed how Delores’ emerald-like green eyes still managed to shine, even down here.
“I’m glad, too,” Nancy finally said, picking up the counter as Dolores cleared her throat and moved her hand away. It took about ten games before the two became bored with checkers, and really, the tenth game was pushing it. “This'll be the last one, I promise,” Nancy assured the redhead, moving her counter across the board.
Dolores chuckled, shaking her head in that effortlessly elegant way she always does; “You said that the last three times.” She raised a thin eyebrow as she took her turn. “How many games will we actually be playing?” Nancy laughed in return. Only Dolores could make her laugh, even in these dark times.
“I promise, this is the last one…” Nancy murmured, more focused on her turn. So focused, in fact, that she didn't notice Dolores’ gaze lingering on her, tracing down from the woman's face to the board. Dolores shuffled a bit in her uncomfortably small seat, waiting as Nancy took her turn. She looked up at Dolores when she heard the movement.
Nothing was said between them, just a couple of seconds of staring, until finally, “Is it my turn?” Dolores said, her voice a hum of calm and cool.
“I think so,” Nancy looked down at the board, “Yeah, your turn.”
“Oh, you've messed up,” Dolores said, a smile cracking at the corners of her perfectly painted lips.
“What?” Nancy looked down at the board to find that she had indeed lost. Dolores proceeded to capture any remaining opposing counters on the board. Nancy sighed, and Dolores looked at her expectantly, arms folded. “I suppose you win.” Nancy rolled her eyes good-naturedly, extending a hand to her. Dolores took it, shaking it with a surprisingly firm grip. The heat of Nancy’s hand seemed to seep into Dolores’ much colder, pale skin, sending a shiver down her spine.
“Well done,” Dolores congratulated with a smile, and for a moment, Nancy had forgotten what was going on outside, how Dolores’ house, and probably hers, as well as her diner, were destroyed to ruins.
“You make a pretty good competitor,” Nancy commented as she packed away the board.
“I have a lot of spare time,” Dolores shrugged.
—
The first night proved to be harder than Nancy thought, the concrete floor serving as a pretty shitty, cold, rock-solid bed (it certainly wasn't doing any favours for her back.) Not to mention Ted’s snoring, how Dolores put up with it every night, she'll never know.
Unlike the heat from the day, the night was impossibly cold, sending a chill right down to Nancy’s bones, and as tempting as it was to shuffle over just a tad to the right to leech off of her friend's body heat, it would make a terribly awkward conversation for the morning.
So there Nancy lay, on the grey floor, staring up at the grey ceiling, and boring grey walls, with nothing but her endless train of thought. No matter how hard she tried, she just couldn't stay still, tossing and turning every minute, and sighing every 5.
Eventually, Dolores turned over; her back, which had previously faced Nancy, was now replaced with curious green eyes. “What is it?” Dolores asked her, squinting through the darkness.
“Nothing,” Nancy whispered, propping herself up on her elbows. “Just can't sleep.”
“Yeah?” Dolores asked with more understanding. “Ted’s snoring?”
“That's a separate issue, seriously, how can you live with that?” Nancy paused, her lips pressing into a thin line. “I just…have a lot on my mind.”
“Well, now it's your time to talk, it's just us,” Dolores said with what Nancy could only describe as someone who couldn't be anything but considerate and kind-hearted. It was one of the many things that sent a buzz of adoration through her.
“I'm scared, Lori,” Nancy swallowed, “I was finally getting my life back together.”
Dolores hesitantly reached out a hand, her fingers pressed cold on Nancy’s cheek. “We'll get through it together.” She tucked a loose strand of dark hair behind Nancy’s ear. “We always have.” Nancy smiled wearily, a familiar flutter made itself known in her stomach, though she didn't want to dwell on the reasons behind it. She let her eyelids grow heavy and drifted off to sleep. The last thought of her hand in Dolores’ before she fell into a dreamless sleep.
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