ellison speaks of owing her, and the sheer absurdity of it makes nancy want to laugh. he owes her nothing ; nancy loves him. she would never expect anything in return for this. helping him, wanting to take care of him, comes as naturally as breathing, even this many years later.
“ you don't owe me anything : friends are supposed to look out for each other, yeah? ”
it isn't just friendship. it never has been. there is a devotion there, one embedded so deeply that nancy couldn't rid herself of it even if she tried.
the smile on her face is melancholy, yet nancy still squeezes his hand in reassurance.
she won't deny that she has missed him, won't deny that it's been far too long since they've been together, but what's done is done. the circumstances are far from ideal — and she is acutely aware of the fact that he would not be here if she were not all he had left — but it's still better than nothing.
nancy will not let him slip away again.
her thumb strokes along the back of his hand, and with her free hand, she reaches out and opens her bedroom door. funnily enough, there's a sense of déjà vu as she guides him inside. once upon a time, when they were both much younger, he was the one boy she was allowed to bring upstairs — and looking back on it now, her mother couldn't have been more foolish to let that slide.
nancy leads him towards her bed, hand never once letting go of his. “ sit down, ” she orders, though not unkindly. his reward for following her command is a small smile, and only then does nancy pull away. she does not go far though, instead moving to dig around in her closet, clearly in search of something.
from where she's rifling through a box inside the closet, nancy glances over her shoulder and adds, “ you're sleeping in here with me tonight. no arguments. ”
she could have easily put ellison into the spare room, but ... it wouldn't have felt right. not with knowing what she knows — he's been alone for far too long, and god knows when the last time he actually slept was.
plus, in the back of her mind, she doesn't trust him not to try and sneak out without her knowledge. if he's in here, in her bed, nancy can keep an eye on him.
with an “ aha! ”, she has found her treasure : a duffle bag, which she moves to set down onto the bed next to ellison, and then begins busying herself with pulling clothes out of the closet and the chest of drawers against the wall. they're all folded and placed carefully into the bag, and when it's all said and done, she reaches up for the shoebox on the top shelf of the closet.
inside said box is her revolver, which she carefully tucks into the bag in-between a folded skirt. her gaze flickers up to meet ellison's eyes, and with a shrug, nancy adds, “ i know it won't do much good against him, but ... it still feels like it might be important to take with us, y'know? ”
