Chapter Text
Jonathan Byers signed the lease on a Tuesday despite his mother’s warning.
Joyce Byers, ever superstitious, always told him to never sign official documents on a Tuesday. When Jonathan questioned why not? It was always the same thing, Byers bad luck. The Byers bad luck was an inheritance Jonathan never wished to claim and perhaps he hardly believed it existed. At least not in the same way his mother did, who had rules on how a Byers should conduct themselves to avoid the more negative effects of their existence.
These rules were bequeathed to Jonathan throughout his childhood.
Never plant lavender by your garden gate.
Cross yourself when an ambulance squeals by.
Don’t step on the cracks in the sidewalk.
And never ever sign an official document on a Tuesday.
Joyce Byers signed her marriage certificate to Lonnie on a Tuesday and look how that turned out.
And Jonathan Byers signed his lease on a Tuesday and was regretting every second of moving into apartment 5B.
Another bang reverberated through the wall. His desk shook and Jonathan cursed, picking up the scattered papers as quickly as he could.
“Faster!” He heard so clearly he wondered if his walls were made of the same paper in his hands. Jonathan placed the stack on his desk and then pulled his desk off the wall to avoid another mishap. Two shouts could be heard through the wall. Jonathan sighed, hoping that this meant they were done. His actual neighbors from Hell. The couple in 5A.
Nancy Wheeler and Steve Harrington were, for all intents and purposes, a seemingly normal couple. He had had a few nice chats with Nancy at the mailboxes. Jonathan was never one for small talk, but Nancy was just so, well she was beautiful and kind and it was easy to talk to her about mundane things, like the weather or the new takeout place a block over without getting aggravated or anxious the way he usually did when he tried to talk to people he wasn’t close to.
Steve Harrington looked like the kind of guys who made fun of him in high school. Tall, styled hair, charming grin. Even when he’s standing in the middle of the room, he looks like he is leaning against something. He was cool. And Jonathan would have been inclined to write him off as a jerk who he couldn’t understand why nice Nancy would waste her time with.
But one day he was walking in with groceries and one of his bags ripped. Steve, seemingly from nowhere managed to scoop up his fallen items and helped him carry his bags up the rest of the 3 flights of stairs. Jonathan was so shocked, he only managed to stutter out a thank you at Steve’s retreating back.
Without breaking his stride, Steve swiveled around, “No problem, man!” He said with a wink before taking the stairs back down. Jonathan watched him go, each step he took had so much energy. It was exhausting for Jonathan to even look at him. The moment was small but Jonathan couldn’t imagine Tommy H helping him pick up his dropped books after he had slapped them to the floor in the first place.
Steve and Nancy seemed like a nice couple, and even better, they were good neighbors. Jonathan had no complaints, until, one Saturday evening.
The loud giggling was accompanied by louder shushing that made Jonathan roll his eyes. He looked out the peephole of his door and saw the couple make their way up the stairs using the bannister, the wall and even each other to help prop themselves up in their sloppily drunk way.
Jonathan was never a fan of alcohol. The small percentage of his childhood that his father ever made an appearance, he was indulging himself on whatever drinks he could get with their rent money. Jonathan could never understand why his father even liked drinking, it always seemed to make him madder than he was. Jonathan’s eyes narrowed onto Steve. He was big, strong. Nancy was small. Steve could hurt her but he wasn’t. He was brushing her hair from her face as it repeatedly fell into her eyes.
“You’re beautiful. So beautiful” He keeps saying, in what Jonathan assumed Steve meant to be a whisper but as too loud to actually be one. He leaned in to kiss her and the kiss fell on her left eyelid causing Nancy to burst into another fit of giggles.
“You’re beautiful, Steve Harrington” she said to him before pulling his face down to her lips. They kissed for a while and Jonathan figured it was his cue to look away but just as he went to, Steve’s head moved to Nancy’s neck and she made a noise that made Jonathan’s face flush.
His neighbors were about to fuck in the hall. Jonathan opened the door and tried with every ounce of him to not look like he was just watching minutes prior.
“Jonathan?” Nancy noticed him first, her eyes squinting to make him out. Steve pulled away from the hickey he was trying to blossom on her neck.
“What?” Before Nancy could answer, Jonathan spoke.
“Hey guys, fun night?” Steve turned to Jonathan then. His hands still on Nancy he smiled at Jonathan widely.
“Yeah, man and getting funner.” Nancy smacked his chest with her hand but Steve only gave a little -oof and laughed. He put his hand in her pocket and pulled out a small ring of keys and held it up for Jonathan to see. “We’re heading in now.”
“Well, good night”
“Night Jonathan!”
Then the two went into their apartment and Jonathan figured that would be the end of it. Until the banging started.
He sighed heavily and settled into, what he knew was going to be a long night.