Did Nancy and Jonathan get engaged? Show Creators Reveal What Happened (Exclusive)

Warning: This story contains spoilers for Stranger Things season 5, volume 2.

Are the wedding bells ringing for Nancy and Jonathan?

In volume 2 of Stranger Things season 5, the characters of Natalia Dyer and Charlie Heaton (who have been dating since season 2) make major confessions while on the verge of death.

The two find themselves trapped inside the Upside Down’s Hawkins Laboratory as a melting paint-like substance fills the room. Just as they are convinced they are going to die, the truth comes out. Nancy tells him that she hates The Clash, Jonathan admits that he hates reading Nancy’s articles, and he finally confesses that he never applied to Emerson – which, of course, Nancy knew all along.

He then pulls out the engagement ring he’s been wearing for days and says, “I think I’ve messed up enough with you that it might be nice to do something right for once, at the end. Nancy Wheeler, won’t you marry me?”

He calls it a “non-proposal” and she accepts it, telling him she loves him. Then they realize that the liquid has hardened around them, so they are finally saved.

So where does that really leave the longtime couple? The series’ co-creators, brothers Matt and Ross Duffer, confirm to PEOPLE that they are not actually engaged.

“It’s a deal breaker,” Matt Duffer told PEOPLE. “They are broken.”

Matt says he and Ross, both writers, executive producers and directors, knew for “a while” that a breakup was looming for one of the show’s longest-running couples.

“It’s hard to remember when exactly this idea came up, but I think we – and the writers – all felt that Nancy needed to be on her own, to be independent and to have the opportunity to find herself,” says Matt.

“I mean, how many people end up with their girlfriend or boyfriend that they met in high school?” Matt continues, while acknowledging that Nancy and Jonathan “have a relationship that’s a little more complicated than normal high school kids.”

This is a “trauma bond,” as Ross puts it.

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Despite their on-screen breakup, the actors are in a long-term relationship off-screen. They have been dating publicly since 2017 after meeting on the show, and in a recent interview with Wonderland magazine, Heaton, 31, made some rare comments about living and working with Dyer, 30.

“It’s been a gift to work with my best friend,” he said. “Being able to share with your partner an experience about anxiety when you can’t find work – I know what it feels like, she knows what it feels like. »

“You can be there to talk about it, or when you’re having a day at work, or when you leave a scene and you don’t think it worked,” he continued of their “precious” bond on and off camera. “Being able to both understand each other on that level is great.”

Volumes 1 and 2 of Stranger Things season 5 is now streaming on Netflix. The finale will take place on December 31 at 8 p.m. ET.