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Up until she fell head-first into the strange and terrifying business of the Upside Down, Robin never would have thought about being friends with Nancy Wheeler. They existed in two completely different worlds and lead their lives by completely different set of rules. Where Nancy followed her ambitions, relentlessly pushed forward and destroyed every obstacle that stood in her way, Robin... Robin mostly tried to survive. She kept her head down, pretended to be interested in unavailable boys and dreamed of leaving Hawkins, Indiana for a bigger, more exciting world.
And then Steve Harrington happened, and the Russians and the monsters. And before she knew it, Robin ended up with a best friend who knew her. And supported her during every ridiculous crush she developed.
She wished, from the bottom of her heart, she could tell him about her newfound obsession with Nancy Wheeler’s hands. Robin would compose whole poems about the way blue veins glowed through the papery-thin skin as the other girl gripped the steering wheel. Or about how sharp and precise her movements were when she was handling the gun.
Robin dreamed of those hands touching her bare skin.
“What the hell is wrong with you today?”
Robin startled, dropped the cassette she was holding and winced at the cracking sound it made on impact. Brigitte Nielsen looked at her sadly from the floor.
“I am perfectly fine, thank you.”
“Has Eddie been bothering you again?” Steve narrowed his eyes and rested his elbows on the counter. “Do you want me to punch him? I can totally punch him.”
Robin sighed. She retrieved the cassette and put it back on the shelf.
“You’d never punch your son’s favourite D&D master.”
“Try me.”
Generally, Robin had nothing against Eddie. He had a bizarre sense of humour, heart the size of the Moon and a contagious laughter. And he was perceptive, the way people used to keeping secrets are.
Which was a bit too perceptive for Robin’s taste.
He noticed the way her eyes lingered on Nancy and she wasn’t sure how to feel about that. Most certainly, she was unwilling to discuss the matters of heart with a guy she just met and shared only one or two close-death experiences.
This topic could be unlocked only by surviving together an end-of-the-world scale crisis.
“Come on, baby. Is it girl trouble? I think it’s girl trouble. Spill.”
Robin took a deep breath, tried to choke down the wave of words swelling in her throat – I’m falling in love, Steve, and somebody has to stop me before I crash and burn – when the doorbell chimed and a gaggle of teenagers ran into the store.
“Steve! This is an emergency!” yelled Dustin and dramatically slapped his hands on the counter. “We need to requisition your car!”
“None of you little shits knows how to drive,” countered Steve. He made a cautious step back; he knew from extensive experience that the gang might try and fight him for the keys. Robin witnessed at least three such scuffles and appreciated their entertaining value.
“That is so not –”
However, she was in no mood to clean up the mess that usually followed. She walked up to the counter, reached under the pulpit and retrieved a slightly worn dust cloth.
“Help us clean,” she commanded and threw the object at Mike who was lurking at the back of the group. “And he’ll drive you to wherever you need.”
“Hey!”
“It’s not like you have a hot date waiting for you. Be a good parent, Steve.”
Steve rolled his eyes but relented quickly. They all knew he would agree anyway. And it did not hurt that the kids made themselves useful and with practised ease ran to the back room for the mops and buckets.
Robin was strangely glad that their ability to cooperate was not limited to the end-of-the-world scenarios.
#
The emergency turned out, for once, to be one of a joyous kind – the Byers clan was coming down from California and Mike insisted it was a cause for celebration. The amount of food they bought made Robin suspect they were preparing to withhold a siege.
“That’s a good way to describe their regular D&D meetings,” said Nancy when Robin shared the thought. “They used to hide in the basement for hours – and that was when they still could see each other every day. I don’t think my mum fully understands what she agreed to.”
The welcoming party was supposed to take place at the Wheeler’s house. While Steve supervised the brave attempts to decorate the basement, Nancy, Robin and Dustin got relegated to kitchen duty.
Robin hoped it wouldn’t entail too much actual cooking – the height of her abilities was reheating spaghetti from a can. She didn’t expect Dustin to fare any better.
But oh, Nancy was probably a spectacularly good cook. With the hands that nimble and eyes that sharp, there was no way she had difficulties with bending fresh produce to her iron will.
“Alright, they should be here in five hours. It is plenty of time to make both snacks and something more nutritious. Considering what we bought, I’m thinking sandwiches, pudding, lots of fries. Meatloaf is everybody’s favourite. And we can’t forget the vegetables! Maybe stewed carrots with peas? Those beans also look like they should be used quickly.”
Robin was going to die.
“Sure,” she said gamely. “Just tell me what to do.”
“Us,” interjected Dustin. “Tell us what to do.”
“Us. Right. Tell us what you need, Nance. All of your directions will be followed to the letter. I’m usually all for taking the initiative and being creative but when it comes to cooking, I’m fully giving myself into your hands. My hands will be your hands, so to speak. If you–”
“Robin,” Dusting unsubtly pulled on her sleeve. “Too much.”
Robin shut up with a wince. The other girl was looking at her, smiling in such a nice – if bewildered – way, that Robin wanted to lick the expression off her face.
Which was so not appropriate. Especially with the kid sitting right there.
“Peel this,” ordered Nancy and handed them a whole bag of carrots. “I’ll give you something more ambitious later.”
“Ambitious – is good,” said haltingly Robin. She exchanged worried looks with Dustin but bravely reached for the knife.
#
It came as no surprise that Nancy was as competent and efficient in the kitchen as she was in every other aspect of her life.
And she was great at giving orders.
#
El looked good, healthy. The last fight with Vecna was brutal and Robin worried for the girl’s well-being. Superhero or not, she was just a child and killing monsters left a mark on every person involved in the act. Hopper, miraculously risen from the dead, restored some light and levity to the world.
Well, maybe not for Mike.
“We will leave you alone,” announced Hopper, just before Joyce dragged him outside to where Mr and Mrs Wheeler were waiting. “But if anything happens to my daughter or to my son, I’ll know. And there will be consequences.”
“Why he never worries about my virtue,” whined Jonathan.
“What virtue,” countered Nancy and gave him a long hug.
Robin looked away. If she knew what was good for her, she’d stop getting hung up on straight girls.
“Hey,” big-eyed Will Byers tapped her on the shoulder. “We brought some movies. Wanna help to choose what to watch?”
Out of sight, out of heart. Hopefully.
“Sure thing, my strange child. Lead the way.”
#
After a long and heated dispute they settled on “Raiders of the Lost Ark”. Robin could see the appeal of smart and quirky Harrison Ford and couldn’t help but imagine herself in his shoes.
“I like his whip,” murmured Steve.
“I like his big brain,” countered Robin.
“Ah, the sexiest part of the human body. Right after boobies.”
Robin rolled her eyes and valiantly resisted the urge to push him off the couch. They fought too hard to claim the space as their own to show such lack of unity. Besides, she kinda liked having Steve’s head on her lap. She could mess up his hair with impunity.
“Did I hear boobs?” Eddie popped out of the kitchen with two bowls of popcorn. He left them to the teens sprawled on the carpet and draped himself over the backrest of the couch. For a person awfully late to the party, he was acting extremely casual.
“Eddie, no,” warned him Robin.
Steve, slow on the uptake as always, grinned. “You did hear correctly. Congrats! Anything to contribute to the conversation?”
Eddie gracelessly rolled over the back of the couch and sprawled like a starfish all over Steve. Robin felt the impact in her bones.
“You shithead!”
“What? For a conversation like this one needs a correct position!”
“Get off! I can’t breathe!”
“Guys, behave!” hollered Dustin and threw some popcorn in their general direction. “This is a very important part of the movie!”
Robin kicked arguing boys to the other end of the couch and huffed an irritated breath. She looked up, met Nancy’s narrowed eyes.
What?, she mouthed.
Nance just shook her head. She was sharing the loveseat with Jonathan; even though the space was small, they were barely touching. Apparently they weren’t big on public displays of affection and Robin felt pathetically grateful. It was one thing to know that the object of her desire was taken – it was quite another one to see it.
It hurt.
#
By some strange turn of events, once all food was eaten, all stories exchanged and all movies watched, Robin ended up in Nancy’s room cradling a pair of soft blue pyjamas to her chest.
“You sure you wouldn't rather share with Jonathan? Have some quality time together?”
Nancy folded the bedspread and fluffed up the pillows. “They are staying in Hawkins for the whole week. We’ll have time.”
While El and Max claimed the living room couch, the war for Mike’s bed was still ongoing downstairs. Judging by the sounds, reaching the agreement might take a while.
"Whatever you say, princess,” shrugged lightly Robin. “I won’t say no to a bed. I’m too old to sleep on the floor.”
That was a lie; she was quite used to falling asleep in bizarre places. Quite liked it, actually. But no power on Earth could make her admit it now.
#
Sleeping in Nancy’s bed was a peculiar type of torture. Robin felt drunk on the other girl’s proximity and the sweet scent of her skin left on the blue cotton. She wanted to bury her face in the pillowcase and just breathe.
“You awake?”
Robin froze. Was she talking out loud? Could she claim it was just dream-talk, not real-talk, nothing to worry about or burn her at stake for–
“Yeah?”
Nancy shifted and scooted forward, crossed the invisible threshold to Robin’s side of the bed. They were so close, they almost breathed the same air.
“I have a question,” Nancy whispered.
So that was it. Everything was over, this fragile sense of friendship they developed. Nance noticed the lovesick stares and awkward fumbling, got them in this room to let Robin down gently. She would never make a spectacle out of the rejection, she wouldn’t make it humiliating and cruel.
It will be better to have it over quickly.
“Sure.”
“Is there anything going on between you and Eddie?”
Robin huffed out a bewildered laugh. She was so tense she couldn’t feel her fingers. “What?”
“He was all over you today. And he is generally very attentive every time he has you in close proximity.”
“Aww, Nance! Does this mean you finally accepted that I’m not trying to seduce Steve?”
Robin didn’t have to see – she knew the other girl was pursing her lips, making that pissed off prissy face that lately made Robin want to kiss her.
“Whatever.”
She turned away and Robin felt a new pang of panic. It was one thing to be detested for who she was; she couldn’t allow a misunderstanding to cause a rift between them.
“Wait, sorry, sorry!” she frantically tapped Nancy’s shoulder, rested her forehead on the other girl’s shoulder blade. “Don’t be mad.”
“Am not.”
Nancy sounded more hurt than angry and it made Robin terribly confused. She hesitantly snaked her arm around the other girl’s waist.
“Eddie’s trying to be my friend.”
“You have a lot of male friends.”
“Is it wrong?”
Nancy seemed to be contemplating the answer for longer that felt necessary. “It’s not,” she answered finally and took hold of Robin’s wrist, made it impossible to back away. “Are we friends?”
“You said so yourself. In the woods. Are you changing your mind? If you’re mad I’m allowing Mike to rent those bizarre sci-fi movies, you should also be mad at Steve because he encouraged me to do so.”
Nancy huffed out a laugh and squeezed Robin’s wrist. “I am not changing my mind. You’re good. We’re good.”
“Oh.”
“Sleep, Robin.”
“You were the one who initiated this late night heart to heart! You should take the responsibility. I will not take the blame for the dark circles under your lovely eyes.”
Nancy shifted on the bed, relaxed into Robin’s almost-hold – half-hug? completely platonic half-embrace? – so it probably was a good moment to go to sleep. But it was difficult to do so with one’s brain chasing itself in circles. The whole situation was too confusing, too intimate. It made it impossible to separate foolish dreams from facts.
Because where the friendship ended and turned into something else? Was it possible to figure it out without asking?
Probably not. Not for somebody with Robin’s level of social skills.
#
They woke up to the smell of something burning and ran, barefoot and half-asleep, down the stairs to assess the damage.
What greeted them was a grumpy Steve scraping burnt pancake batter from a large pan.
“Good morning to you both! You’re just in time for breakfast. Which would be much tastier if somebody–” he waved dirty spatula at bashfully smiling Eddie “–wasn’t so insistent on helping.”
Nancy stole one slightly burnt pancake from precariously high stack and took a bite. “They are perfectly fine, Steve.”
“Don’t lie to him,” mumbled Robin rubbing her eyes. Now that the emergency turned out to be, well, of an interpersonal kind, she’d love to go back to bed. With Nance, preferably. “They look like they’re coated in coal.”
“Rude, Buckley.”
“It’s really not that bad. Here, have a taste.” Nancy held out the pancake and Robin was helpless to oppose her. She obediently leaned down and took a bite.
And it was actually pretty amazing.
#
After the Byers-Hopper association left for California again – with Hop sharply proclaiming he would be back once he figured out how to explain his particular brand of resurrection – Robin found herself living with a new, improved routine.
Eddie became even more of a nuisance by virtue of hanging out at the video rental at random hours of the day. With attitude like this, it was no wonder he couldn’t graduate high school. Dustin, who typically came to visit after classes, kept yelling at him about it.
“You’ll be stuck with us for another year! Dude, get your priorities straight!”
“I’m pretty sure Secret Agent Men clearing me of the murder charges has exhausted the miracle limit for this year. I’m doomed.”
But the biggest, the most wondrous development, was Nancy. Nancy, who found reasons to swing by the rental at least three times a week and did not come for Steve. It was always to bring Robin lunch or to ask her opinion on an article or to share some ridiculous story that had no impact on their collective lives – but somehow reminded her of Robin.
Was this how friendship with Nancy Wheeler looked like?
If so, Robin wasn’t sure whether her heart could take it. Every day she was falling more in love.
#
“You look really nice in this.”
“I don’t know, Nance,” Robin pulled down the sleeves of the stiff white shirt the other girl made her try on. It was pretty but not particularly comfortable. “Why can’t I go in my own clothes?”
“I’m not saying that you can’t,” said Nancy. She sat on the edge of her desk and attentively watched Robin’s reflection in the mirror. “I love the way you dress. But college interviews are all about lies and deception and appearing the way the board wants to see you.”
That was something all the girls told each other, right? I love how you look in this, I adore this new perfume, every person in this bar wants you.
I love you, I love you, I fucking love you.
“I’m not even sure I want to go to college.”
“Why not? You are so incredibly smart! And the college I told you about has amazing scholarship program, you wouldn’t have to worry about the money.”
Robin huffed and threw herself on the bed. She was getting quite familiar with it, dreamed about its softness during long nights spent in her own claustrophobic room.
“I wanted to have an exciting life, you know? I wanted something to happen. I wanted to lose my mind or to fall in love or for the world to shake in its foundations.”
“And the world did shake.” Nancy sat down next to her; Robin could feel her warmth and the sweet scent of perfume. Something flowery and light, which came from pink crystal bottle.
“Yeah. Knowing what was hiding in the shadows... It’s horrible but it’s also great because it brought us all together. I actually appreciate the life I have now.”
“I’m sorry if you feel like I’m too pushy with those college applications. I just want you to be happy.”
“I know.”
Nancy put her hand on Robin’s ankle. She was touching her an awful lot lately. “If staying in Hawkins with Steve and the shitheads will make you happy, go ahead.”
“Steve and the shitheads sounds like a name of the band.”
Nancy laughed and it was a startled and lovely sound. “It does, doesn’t it?”
Robin wanted to make a home for herself in the blue depths of the other girl’s eyes. She could be happy there, she thought.
“But let’s make one thing clear. If I go to an interview, I’m wearing my own pants.”
#
It was one of the quietest days the Family Video had seen in months. No Eddie, no Nancy, no overly enthusiastic children trying to steal horror movies from the restricted section.
Robin felt restless and she couldn’t exactly tell why.
“Hey, wanna grab a beer at my place?” asked Steve as the closing time drew nearer. “Parents are out of town again.”
It’s been a while since they last drank in honor of their disastrous love lives. It could be a great opportunity to discuss her Nancy-related problems. Robin could use the reality check; the affection she was shown really messed with her head. And heart. And a few other parts of her body.
“Sure. But I am staying the night. And you–”
“–are making you breakfast, yeah, yeah, yeah. Bacon or cheese toasts?”
“Definitely both.”
#
Half a beer in and Robin was ready to confess. They camped out in the living room – a strategic location that granted them easy access to the couch, the pool and the kitchen, whatever struck their fancy. A plate of bizarre sandwiches stood on the table, The Police was playing in the background.
It was now or never.
“Hey, Steve?”
Steve looked up from where he was examining a piece of canned pepper. “Yeah?”
“Remember, like two months ago. You asked me about my mood, and I was evasive, and you guessed girl drama, and then your kids invaded the shop and the day turned chaotic?”
“I do have a vague recollection of that day.”
“You were right,” Robin hesitated, aware that was the last moment she could back away. “I am having... girl trouble.”
Steve dropped his pepper to the ground. “I fucking knew it! Tell me everything.”
“I will,” Robin put her bottle down and sat straighter on the couch. “But you might get mad.”
“I won’t get mad.”
“Promise?”
“Promise.”
Sting was singing something about walking on the Moon. Robin took a deep breath.
“Nancy.”
“What about her,” Steve, bless his soul and his hair, looked utterly confused.
“She is my girl trouble.”
“She– Dude! Nancy?”
“Yep.”
“My ex-girlfriend, Nancy?”
“That’s the one.”
Steve clutched his head, astonished and dismayed. “This is the Tammy Thompson situation all over again! But in reverse!”
“This is a completely different situation, Steve.”
“But– isn’t Nance straight?”
Robin sighed. “And this is the trouble part of the whole equation.”
It was good to finally let the words out. And the sympathetic face her friend was making– it gave her no solutions but, strangely, took off some of the heaviness residing in her chest for the past few months.
“Her strict attitude and the whole cleverer-than-you princess vibe were extremely off-putting at first. But the more I got to know her, the more I saw how brave and loyal she is. And how absolutely lovely. The way she smiles, Steve? It’s the best thing in the world,” Robin bonelessly sinked into the sofa. “And she’s so caring towards her friends – so caring towards me. I’ve never had somebody be so good to me, I never thought I might want that. But it’s nice. She asks about my day and makes sure I eat well. I adore watching her work on her articles; she gets this cute wrinkle between her eyebrows when the sentences don’t turn out the way she wants them. And, in the words of a poet, every little thing she does is magic.”
“Wow,” Steve comfortingly patted her knee. “You’re in deep.”
“I know!”
“But! Maybe not all is lost.”
“Don’t give me false hope, Steve, that’s not kind.”
“Be quiet and listen!” Steve pressed a little cheese sandwich into her hands; Robin numbly took a bite. “Now that I think about it, Nance is overly affectionate towards you. Just this week, she brought you lunch two days in a row.”
“She just cooked too much and her parents dislike–”
“Not the point! The point is, what if she likes you too.”
Robin took another bite of the sandwich, chewed thoughtfully.
“Should I ask her out? On a proper date?”
“Yes.”
“But then she’ll know how I feel!”
Steve made a face, threw a grain of corn at Robin’s head.
“Is that not the point?”
“Well–”
“Nancy won’t use your secrets against you,” Steve’s tone turned serious. “If she’s not into you, you’ll just stay friends. No big deal.”
And maybe that big dingus of a friend of hers had a point. If she was to get her heart broken, the safest person to experience it with was Nancy Wheeler. But–
“You know what? There’s one thing we forgot about.”
“Yeah?”
“Jonathan.”
“Oh,” Steve frowned, clearly surprised that such obvious issue passed right over their heads. “Well. I like the guy, but I guess we’ll need to get rid of him.”
“Sure. How?”
“We could make El erase his memories.”
“She can’t do stuff like that. Right?”
“Or we can make him fall in love with someone else. We can make him fall in love with Eddie!”
Robin laughed and reached for another beer bottle. “It’s a disaster, isn’t it? I’m doomed to a sad and lonely life of heartbreak.”
“People change. Feelings change. Don’t rule anything out.”
The turntable crackled softly and “The Bed's Too Big Without You” smoothly passed into “Contact”.
“How could you stand it? Her, leaving you for someone else.”
“She didn’t love me any more,” Steve shrugged. “It wouldn’t be fair to resent her for trying to be happy.”
#
“Wait a minute,” said Steve, five beers in. They relocated to the living room floor like the barbarians they deep down were; it was weirdly comfortable. “You fancy Nance.”
“I think we’ve established that.”
“So why the hell did you try to get us together during the Vecna thing?”
Robin flopped to her stomach and rested her cheek on the carpet. “I don’t even know, Steve! It was an act of madness, okay? Maybe I hoped that seeing you two happy would make my crush go away. Or maybe I just wanted Nance to stop looking at me with such distaste.”
“Babe, she never looked at you with distaste.”
“Whatever.”
Phone in the corridor rang and Steve groaned.
“If it’s Eddie, I’m going to kill him.”
“How often does he call you?”
“Too often for comfort,” Steve climbed up to his feet and angrily stomped towards the phone.
“Should we talk about it?!” called after him Robin and cackled to herself.
“No!”
Robin turned over and stared at the ceiling. She was getting progressively drunker on her best friend’s living room floor, who knew most of her awkward secrets and liked her anyway. Life was good – better than good, at times.
“Robin!” shouted Steve from the corridor. “Get over here! It’s for you!”
Life was weird, actually.
“What?!”
“Come on, move! I need to lay back down!”
So Robin made an effort. She stood up, took the receiver and patted her friend’s face; bewildered, a bit, by his shit-eating grin.
“Harrington residence, this is Robin speaking. How can I be of service?”
Nancy’s quiet laughter was like a rosy smelling bucket of water thrown over her head.
“Sorry to interrupt your quality time. It’s kinda embarrassing but my Dad acquired, in mysterious circumstances, forty pounds of strawberries. Mum’s still angry at him, so I was put in charge of making sure they don’t go to waste.”
“Forty pounds of strawberries is a lot of strawberries. Like, a lot,” interrupted Robin because that was the truth and somebody had to say it.
“Well, yes. So I was wondering – would you like to come by and help me deal with it? You’ll get some strawberry jam out of it. What do you say?”
Robin could say it then. She could say I think I’m a little bit in love with you and if it went badly, she could blame the whole confession on her inebriated state. Or on Steve. He factored in it somehow anyway.
“You know me, Nance,” she said instead, loudly, trying to drown out the sound of her frantic heartbeat. “I’m all into household chores. I’ll make Steve drive me to you first thing tomorrow. He’s not fit to drive right now. But I could walk! If you need me. Need my help, I mean.”
“Tomorrow’s fine, Robin.” If the voice could be smiling, Nancy’s voice would be doing it right now. Was doing it? It most certainly sounded like it. “You two have fun! And don’t forget to drink some water.”
“Yes, I will! You too!”
Connection cut off and Robin was left staring at the empty receiver.
“You too,” she whispered to herself, appalled.
“Are you having a date?!” hollered Steve from the living room.
That was a pretty good question.
#
“It sounds like a date.” Steve slid three pieces of bacon onto Robin’s plate. “She wouldn’t be randomly calling in the middle of the night to ask for your help with cooking. She knows you’re shit at it.”
“Wow, I’m really feeling the love here.”
“You are the one teaching me merits of tough love.” A mountain of fluffy scrambled eggs joined the meat. “Be brave. Follow your heart. And tell me – are you in the mood for tea or orange juice to go with your breakfast?”
#
There was a lot of work to be done in the recesses of the Wheeler’s kitchen. Fortunately, made wiser by previous experience, Nancy didn’t expect her to do anything overly ambitious. Robin’s job was mostly washing strawberries, striping them of the stalks and providing invigorating commentary. It was fun and it was easy.
And it was illuminating. Especially when the other girl carelessly shook the foundations of her world.
“Oh, and by the way,” Nancy said out of nowhere as she was stirring the bubbling mixture in the pot. “Jonathan and I aren’t together any more.”
Robin froze with a strawberry halfway up to her mouth. “What? Why? And since when?”
“Well,” Nancy squared her shoulders like she was preparing herself for a fight. “We’ve been drifting apart for quite some time. After Vecna, after El rescued me from the Upside Down, we realized we don’t speak the same language any more. Something changed. So we decided to go back to being friends. When he arrived here those few weeks back, we were no longer together.”
Robin felt a pang of irrational sadness – for Nancy and Jonathan both. It had to be awful; to be in love and to grow apart, to change into opposite directions.
“I think I’m gonna need a few more jars. Can you make another trip to the basement?”
“Sure, Nance.”
#
They ended up with a lot more jam than anticipated, a few bottles of juice and three large trays of strawberry cheesecake.
“I hope Steve’s children like partially-healthy desserts.”
“They are still at that age that they’ll eat anything that doesn’t try to run away first,” Nancy shrugged. “They are gathering at Dustin’s place tonight. They could use something sweet as a snack.”
“Good thinking. Should I…?” Robin made a vague gesture towards the door.
“No! I mean, I’ll stop by the Henderson’s later,” rushed to reassure her Nancy. “Would you like to– I mean, if you’re not too busy– Joyce sent me some fancy herbal tea. Would you like to try it with me?”
“Sure, yeah. I’m not busy. Like, at all.”
“Good. Good.”
#
The tea was atrocious.
“I think you should send it back,” choked out Robin. She drank half a bottle of water to get rid of the taste.
“I don’t want to seem ungrateful! It’s supposed to be very good health-wise!”
“Then give it to Eddie. He’ll sell it and turn out a healthy profit.”
Nancy’s laugh went straight to Robin’s heart, made it dance with joy.
Which was short-lived. A moment later the other girl sobered up and her face turned serious.
“Actually, there’s something I’ve been meaning to talk to you about. If I won’t do it now, I might never gather the courage.”
So here it was. With a preamble like this, Nancy had to know. She must have finally noticed Robin’s ridiculous infatuation, felt uncomfortable with it and prepared hundred jars of strawberry jam to sweeten the rejection.
Now was the time Nancy finally broke her heart.
“Remember when we fought Vecna and you and I were properly getting to know each other?”
“Yeah,” Robin had to cough first to push the words out of her mouth. She was sitting cross-legged on Nancy’s bed and it suddenly felt inappropriate. Especially when the other girl stood up and started pacing. “You were so annoyed with me.”
“I wouldn’t say– you know what? Fine. I was annoyed. Not at you, at the situation,” Nancy shook her head. “I was feeling very strange and I couldn’t understand why and I took it out on you.”
“Oh?” Robin frowned. This was not the turn she expected the conversation to take.
“Once I finally had some peace and quiet to sit down and think, I realized I wasn’t jealous of your relationship with Steve–”
“–which is totally platonic, just saying–”
“Robin,” Nancy stopped her pacing and turned fully to Robin. The expression on her face spoke about determination and complete sincerity. “I wasn’t jealous because I wanted Steve. I wanted you.”
Robin froze. She could practically feel her eyes going out of their orbits. “Holy shit.”
“I know, right?”
“I mean– it’s very nice to hear? I’m moved and humbled and I might start hyperventilating in a second so please bear with me. Everything I thought I knew is getting redefined and my God you are beautiful.”
“Don’t panic,” Nancy sat down beside her and reassuringly patted her knee; Robin’s heart made a somersault in response. “I don’t expect anything from you. I just wanted you to know.”
“No, please! Please, expect away! I highly doubt there are things you’d want that I wouldn’t be excited to give. Or to exchange. Or whatever.”
“Oh,” Nancy’s hand stilled, her fingers flexed. She seemed to be having some kind of epiphany. “That’s– good.”
“Are we on the same page?” confirmed Robin. “Am I reading the situation correctly? You like me. And I like you too – very much, in fact. And there’s nothing stopping us from trying to make it work?”
“That’s a pretty good summary.”
Robin was not panicking. Her heart was just overly excited and her hands shook and her mind was running in circles. She took Nancy’s hand, the one still resting on her knee, and entwined their fingers together.
“I don’t want to mess it up,” she confessed. “You have to tell me when I do something wrong. I’m so bad at reading social cues, I will never figure it out myself.”
“Don’t worry,” Nancy leaned forward, her breath ghosted over Robin’s lips. “We’ll figure it out as we go along.”
Nancy tasted like that bitter herbal tea they just drank, and like strawberries, and like summer. Unashamedly, she guided Robin to lay back on the mattress – which was a wonderful idea. The number of possibilities it opened was infinite. Thrilled, Robin slipped her hands under the other girl’s shirt, stroked her back and marvelled at smooth softness of the warm skin.
“I thought about this a lot,” confessed quietly Nance in between kisses. “About having you in my bed, just like this. And about other things.”
“Hm?”
“Waking up beside you in the morning. Brushing your hair. Taking you to dinner, or to the movies. Holding your hand on our way home.”
Robin smiled. She never felt desired that way, with such honest joy and wonder. And while some of Nancy’s dreams seemed too bold for Hawkins, Indiana, too bold for the present day and age – they were true. This little glimpse into the other girl’s heart was a reward in itself.
It was perfect.
#
“Can I be the one to tell Steve?”
Nancy lifted her head from Robin’s shoulder and levelled her with unimpressed look. “I am kind of insulted that you’re thinking about Steve right now.”
“Come on Nance, he is my platonic soulmate. And he will flip out when he hears we’re together!”
It was adorably cute the way Nancy’s nose scrunched when she was confused.
“Out of... joy?”
“Absolutely!”
“Alright then,” Nancy smiled and leaned down, brushed her lips over Robin’s cheekbone. “But not today. Today you are mine.”
Robin turned her head, caught the other girl in a soft kiss.
“I could be yours always.”
“I would like that very much.”
Setting sun was filling the room with warmth, the bed felt soft and inviting. The girl Robin loved did not shy away from her touch. Everything was right with the world.
“All I want is to be next to you, you took me over. I think I'm going insane.”
A beat of silence. And then, “You’re quoting The Police, aren’t you?”
Robin cackled in response.