Work Text:
Robin Buckley haves a problem.
Nancy Wheeler.
It's almost comical. Almost. First, Tammy Thompson, now her. She really had a pattern. That pattern being Steve Harrington. When she had a crush on Tammy (even though she didn't fully understand it at the time, or her hate-fueled obsession with Steve as soon as Tammy took interest in him), she hated Steve. It made it easier.
Now?
Now Steve was her best friend in the entire world. She wouldn't tell him that, but she loved him more than she should. Now he was dating the love of her life.
It was worse.
Tammy never actually talked to Nancy, outside of when she was crying in the bathroom over Steve, or when she talked about the school play.
But Nancy?
Robin and Nancy were friends.
Crushing on Nancy felt more real, more electric, more painful.
And she was going out with Steve.
Okay, Robin didn't know that for sure. But ever since the not-so-quite end of the world during Spring Break, Nancy's been stopping by the Family Video almost daily. She'd greet Robin, sure, and then she would talk to Steve out of earshot, and any time Robin glanced over at them huddled away from her in a corner, Nancy looked flustered, embarrassed, and Steve seemed to be teasing her.
So, yeah. Steve didn't tell Robin they were dating. Nancy didn't either. There was gossip, of course. Since Nancy broke up with Jonathan (or Jonathan with her? Robin was nosy, but she wasn't going to pry), there's been talk. Of course, Nancy dumping her boyfriend to get back with her ex would gain the attention of nosy adults with nothing better to do with their life.
Robin waited for one of her friends to confirm it.
They never did.
Which was fine by her, because there was no way in hell she was going to ask them.
The door swung open, and Robin quickly looked up from the computer, hating how hopeful she felt, hating how much she wanted it to be Nancy.
It wasn't. It was Eddie Munson.
"Munson!" Steve greeted loudly, similar to how he'd greet Dustin. Robin rolled her eyes and smiled. Steve and his nerd friends. "Hey!"
"Hi, Harrington," Eddie said.
Steve hit Robin in the shoulder.
"Ow! What?"
"Mind if you take my shift?" he asked.
Robin said, "I do mind, actually. Quite a lot."
"Thanks," Steve grinned, and he and Eddie went to talk outside, leaving Robin to keep track of all the rentals and help any customer who comes in. Great.
So yeah.
Nancy wasn't the only one who stopped by the Family Video often. Eddie made his own habit of it, too.
Eddie was difficult to read.
So was Nancy, but with Nancy Robin understood why she visited her work often. To see Steve. With Eddie, she didn't know for sure what his motive was. He too, talked to Steve. But he had friends. He was friends with those geeky kids Steve's always around, Henderson and Nancy's little brother.
So what does he need to talk to Steve for?
Steve was outside in the parking lot talking to Eddie for nearing forty five minutes (yes, Robin was counting) before he came back inside.
"What did he want?" Robin asked, helpless against her own curiosity.
Steve shrugged, looking anywhere but at her.
Robin took note of this.
"Do you think you can come over at mine next Saturday?" Nancy asked.
The thought of being alone with Nancy (well, her family too) sent thrills up Robin's spine. But she saw Steve give her a look from the corner of her eye, a look Robin only recognized as jealousy, and forced herself to decline.
"Busy."
Nancy's face fell, disappointment clear as day in her eyes. "Oh."
"Sorry." Robin said.
Nancy left soon after that. Only after she left did Robin wonder why she didn't ask if Steve wanted to have dinner with her family next Saturday.
"You're not busy," Steve huffed.
"What?" Robin asked a little too quickly, startled by Steve's sudden accusation and intriguing look.
"Next Saturday, you're not busy," Steve said. "I know you. What are you trying to avoid?"
"Nothing"
Steve leaned closer, "are you avoiding Nancy?"
It was times like this did Robin wish she still hated him. She leaned back, away from him. "No!"
Steve didn't look convinced. Luckily, he didn't say anything, and he went back to talking to a customer at the counter.
Eddie was giving Steve a look. A look Robin knew all too well. They were talking about some stupid cheesy sci-fi movie when all of a sudden came Nancy, looking as bright and beautiful as ever, of course snatching Robin's attention immediately.
She walked right over to Steve and Eddie.
"Oh, hey, Nance," Steve said.
Robin's good mood was spoiled instantly when she saw the way Nancy smiled at him, grabbing his arm and pulling him away from Eddie, muttering something under her breath about urgency and needing help.
Eddie sighed.
Robin leaned closer to him, her elbows on the counter, her chin in her hands. She stared at Steve and Nancy bitterly. She couldn't help it.
"Sucks," she said.
Eddie frowned, turning to Robin and asking, "do you think they're a thing?"
Robin raised an eyebrow. If she didn't know any better, she would have thought Eddie was jealous.
"A thing?"
"Dating," Eddie pressed, lowering his voice and looking back at Steve over his shoulder cautiously, before looking back at Robin. "Did Steve say anything about them dating?"
"Nope," she sighed.
Eddie didn't look any happier at that.
She said, "'m pretty sure they are, though."
His shoulders fell.
"Sucks." Robin repeated.
Eddie said, "tell me about it." He scoffed, looking almost resentful. "What chance do I have? They're like the textbook definition of romance. The picture perfect couple."
Robin had to agree with him there. They were both considerably attractive, smart (Steve less so, but he was hard working, at least, and had good spirit, and its the thought that counts) in decently wealthy families, awkward and cute, and most importantly, heterosexual.
Ah.
Robin understood now. She understood why Eddie kept visiting the Family Video. It was the same reason as Nancy's.
Robin haves a problem. Turns out, Eddie Munson haves the same problem, too. That problem is Nancy and Steve's seemingly perfect blooming romance.
She and Eddie Munson were on the same boat.
Neither Robin or Eddie said a word. They didn't need to. They both understood. Robin knew Eddie figured it out, the thing she had for Nancy. He figured it out months ago, in the Upside Down, during the end of the world.
It took her a little longer to figure him out.
Now that she has, her curiosity was quenched. For now, at least.
"Hey."
Eddie hummed.
"Want to go to the store later?" Robin asked. "I don't know, buy some CDs?"
She waited for rejection. She didn't get one.
"Sure," Eddie said. "Why not."
Why not.
Robin felt proud of herself. She was putting herself out there, like Steve told her to do all the time. People weren't her specialty. Horror movies and foreign languages were her specialty.
"Cool. I'll see you after my shift ends," Robin said.
"Cool," Eddie repeated. "See you after your shift ends. It's a date," he added, an amused smirk on his face.
And wow, wasn't this situation just so fucked she could laugh. And she did. She laughed hard. "It's a date," she added.
Eddie was easy to be friends with.
So was Steve, Robin supposed.
But Steve was also dating the love of her life, so every now and then just the sight of Steve made Robin want to pull her hair out, then made her feel guilty for thinking so negatively about her first real friend.
Eddie didn't make her want to rip her hair out.
That was a plus.
Robin, Eddie decided, was easy to be around.
She was funny. Distracting. Way more chill and way less bothersome than Mike Wheeler and Dustin Henderson.
Don't get him wrong, he loved his friends in Hellfire, but Robin was layed back in a way that they weren't. It was cool.
And, Robin was like him.
She made him feel seen, not so alone, so weird.
"Like me," he said to Robin one night, laying in his trailer, the one Chrissy died in all those months ago, staring up at the ceiling, the stench almost unbearable. Home.
Robin said, "like me."
"Do you think Eddie likes you?"
Robin tried not to choke on her bagel. "What? Steve, it is way too early for these kinds of interrogations. Ask me later?"
Steve wouldn't drop it, apparently, and he said, "do you think Eddie likes you?"
Of course Steve would drop this kind of nonsense on her in the middle of her breakfast and on-the-go coffee. Damn Steve.
"No," she said, mouth full. "He doesn't."
"Did he tell you that? Because he could be lying."
Robin rolled her eyes and groaned in exasperation. She swallowed and gulped down a mouthful of bitter, hot coffee. Steve was still watching her, posture stiff, eyes fury, his arms crossed. What the hell was his problem?
"He doesn't."
"Are you sure?"
"God, Steve. Even if he did, it's not like I'd like him back, you know, lesbian." She wouldn't add the fact that Eddie was totally in love with Steve. She wouldn't do that to him. Or anyone, straight or not, revealing someone's feelings to someone else was an asshole thing to do, and Robin never understood why people did it so much.
"But he could like you."
Robin wouldn't say he couldn't. Just because Eddie currently liked a dude doesn't mean women were off the table. She knew better than to think sexuality was one or the other. Either way, he liked Steve. She was a lesbian. She didn't get why it mattered so much.
"So?"
Steve scoffed, as if he couldn't believe the words coming out of her mouth. "So?" he raised his voice. "So? That's bad!"
Robin took a big bite out of her bagel, leaning against the counter. "Yeah?"
"Yeah!"
He was red in the face with anger. It was hilarious. If only Sophomore Robin could see him now. A total loser, she thought, affectionately.
"Why does it matter?" Robin asked.
"It's bad if he likes you."
"Hmm," Robin swallowed, then took another bite, asking, "right, but why?"
"Because-because you know!"
She didn't know.
"Was it bad when you liked me?" Robin asked.
She was intrigued by the way Steve turned even redder, his furious expression briefly faltering. "Well-that's-different, that's different," he stammered.
Robin held back a snort. "Is it?"
"It is!"
Steve was such an idiot.
Robin sighed and finished off the last of her bagel, wiping her hands together, crumbs falling to the floor.
"Look, Steve, if you're jealous, just say something-"
"I'm not jealous!" Steve protested, very much jealous.
Robin resisted the urge to roll her eyes. She would be absolutely one hundred percent mature about this. She would.
"Steve. You sure you aren't upset because I have other friends than you?"
"No," he said. God, he was pouting.
Robin snickered and grabbed her coffee, "right."
Steve kept muttering and grumbling to himself for the rest of the day.
"Do you think about leaving Hawkins?"
Robin and Eddie were sitting on a bench near a couple of old small businesses, watching the people walk in and out, appearing almost mindless. Oblivious to all Hawkins truly had to offer. Oblivious to all Robin and Eddie dealt with spring break.
"Sometimes," Robin said.
She remembered her plan to fly to Europe. It didn't quite happen. She remembered she wanted to take Tammy with her.
Now, if she ever went to Europe, she would want Nancy by her side.
"Do you?"
Eddie looked thoughtful. "Yeah."
"Hm. What's stopping you?"
Eddie laughed, "I'm not exactly everyone's favorite, you know."
That was true. He's been all over the news a few months ago. While he managed to get out of it, some people still talked. Those crazies and their conspiracies. Whatever. They say the media couldn't handle the truth, but Robin knew it was them who couldn't.
"You could leave." Robin said.
"And change my name," Eddie joked.
"Maybe to something really basic," Robin suggested. "Like Mark."
Eddie feigned hurt, "do I look like a Mark?"
Robin nodded, "kind of. Like all goth and shit."
Eddie laughed. It was probably the first time someone's casually described him as "all goth and shit" while meaning no harm.
"Maybe I will leave," Eddie said, all laughter leaving his tone. "I don't know. I feel like I'd be betraying myself, leaving. Knowing what I know. And knowing the people I know because of it."
Woah. Robin rarely ever talked about deep stuff like this with anyone. She was never the talk about your feelings kind of friend. She was more of the socially awkward, will distract you from your problems kind of friend.
"Well. Maybe Hawkins is kind of like a prison," Robin said. "A prison that you want to leave, but the longer you stay in it, the more home shaped it starts to feel. You get use to the terrors, the people, the every day boring routine."
She paused.
"Sorry. That makes no sense."
"No," Eddie said. "It makes a lot of sense. Thanks, Buckley."
"Er, you're welcome."
The same, she and Eddie. For more reasons than one.
Robin wanted to leave. Only a few years ago. She even got her job at Chips Ahoy in hopes of earning enough money to fly away somewhere, even for just a little while.
Now she had Steve. And Nancy. And now Eddie. And her bottled up trauma and her nightmares.
She couldn't leave now, she felt, even if she wanted to.
Not yet, anyway.
The Byers left, and Hopper and El now live with them, Nancy talked about the things Mike said El and Will wrote to him about, that Hopper and Joyce were engaged.
They got away.
They were happy.
One day, that would be Robin, and hopefully Eddie, too. One day they would find where they belong. But for now, they were okay with just being in Hawkins.
"Do you think Robin and Eddie are a thing?" Nancy asked.
Eddie stopped by earlier, which thrilled Steve, until he asked Robin if she wanted to see a movie with him, tickets in his hands, and Steve felt even worse when Robin agreed, the two leaving excitedly talking about a girl in the cast.
Steve knew they weren't a thing. He knew they couldn't be, because Robin would never see Eddie that way. But he couldn't tell Nancy that, despite how Nancy felt about her.
"I don't know." he said.
"It sucks," Nancy said.
Steve thought about the happy smile on Eddie's face every time he entered the Family Video. He always hoped, longed for, even, that the look was for him. Now he was realizing that this whole time it was for Robin.
"Yeah," he agreed, sighing. "It sucks."
Robin wasn't at work one hot day mid July.
Eddie asked Steve where she was.
Steve looked irritated, and he said shortly, "she's home sick. Food poisoning or something."
"Oh. Shit."
Steve scoffed in agreement. "Yeah."
Eddie felt awkward. He didn't like it, the squirm in his gut. Steve looked really good today, with his hair brushes back and his short sleeved green T. It certainly didn't help the squirming.
"You could visit her if you want."
Eddie hadn't even considered that an option. He only ever found Robin here.
"I guess so."
Steve got back to work, not looking back at him and saying gruff, "cool, well if you don't want a video, then say hi to Robin for me."
He clearly didn't want him around.
Eddie almost knocked into Nancy on the way our.
"Oh, sorry-" she was saying, but Eddie didn't stop to chat. He felt as bitter with her as he did Steve.
"He looked upset," Nancy said.
Steve shrugged. He didn't want Nancy to see how much it was bothering him.
"He was upset Robin wasn't here," Steve said.
"Where is Robin?"
"Home sick."
Immediately, Nancy said, "Oh, I should go check on her, maybe bring her some soup-"
Steve interrupted, "Eddie is going to check on her."
Nancy's shoulders slumped, clearly sourly disappointed. "Oh."
"Yeah. Oh."
Nancy came into Family Video with a little stuffed teddy bear. Robin only just processed it when Nancy slid it onto the counter towards her.
"For you."
"Oh. I-"
Nancy blushed. "Do you not like it."
"No, no I like it!" Robin assured her quickly. "I like it a lot!"
Nancy looked uncharacteristically shy. She asked, "really?"
Robin nodded, feeling her cheeks starting to burn with embarrassment. "Yup."
From the corner of her eye, Robin could see Steve scowl. She felt a sharp ache in her chest. Was he really jealous over a teddy bear?
Her mood swing didn't go unnoticed by Nancy. "Are you okay?"
"Fine," she said stiffly, not fine at all.
Steve had everything Robin wanted. Couldn't he let her have a teddy bear?
Steve was being really shitty lately. He wouldn't talk to Robin, and when he did, his voice was tight, clipped, like he didn't want to talk to her at all, and he would do anything he could to avoid her, sometimes even taking entirely different shifts, leaving her all alone some days.
Not all alone.
At least Eddie or Nancy would stop by.
Eddie would leave after a few minutes days Steve wasn't there. Luckily Nancy wasn't as dependent on her boyfriend, and she would stay for sometimes hours. It made Robin ache.
Sometimes Nancy would ask Robin if she wanted to do something over the weekend.
She did. Oh did she. But she also knew Steve wouldn't like that very much, and as much as she was mad at him, Robin didn't want to make her friend jealous, so each time Nancy brought it up Robin would politely decline.
"Oh. Maybe next weekend?" Nancy asked. She sounded hopeful.
Robin didn't want to ruin her hopefulness. "Maybe next time."
"Robin, can I talk to you?"
It was the first time Steve's said anything to her all day. "Yeah?"
Steve looked down at the floor, fiddling with his fingers. His shoulders were stiff, and he looked fidgety, uncomfortable. Robin was concerned.
"You okay?"
"I'm sorry I've been acting weird lately," he blurted out, startling Robin. "I don't mean to be jealous."
Ah.
At least he was admitting it.
"That's fine," she said with a shrug. It wasn't. She was annoyed that he thought she couldn't even be friends with Nancy. But whatever. "I get it."
Steve sighed, leaning against the counter, slumping. "I've just been so confused lately. I don't even think I realized I was jealous until Dustin had to spell it out for me."
Robin snorted on her laughter. Of course Steve didn't know what he was feeling. And of course it was Dustin, his geeky child friend, who had to tell him himself. That was just the most Steve Harrington thing she's ever heard.
"But I guess when I saw how much you were hanging out with h-"
Robin said at the same time, "look, I get it. I don't mean to like your girlfriend as much as I do, honestly! I'm not trying to be a home wrecker or anything, and I understand she's straight. We don't have to be weird about it and pretend I don't feel that way."
Steve stared at her blankly. "Wha-"
"I mean," Robin went on, all her feelings over the last few months bubbling up, pouring out her mouth before she could stop them. "I mean, of course I like Nancy, she's amazing! And really smart, and at first I thought she was prissy, and obsessed with grades and status, but really, she was only meeting the standards she put on herself because she felt like she wasn't good enough!"
"Robin."
"So, maybe I misjudged her a bit. Since I've met her, she's changed my life. That sounds really stupid, I know. I didn't realize what I was feeling either. We don't have to uh. It doesn't have to change anything. You can date Nancy and not even worry about me!"
Her throat was tightening up. Great. She felt the heat in her face, in her eyes. She wanted to cry. Of course she did. But she wouldn't. The last thing Robin would do is cry about her helpless crush in front of her boyfriend.
"But really. Yeah. It's fine," she wiped a tear that threatened to spill from her eye. She sighed, breathing in deeply, then out. "I just thought, you know. I needed to get that off my chest."
Steve looked confused.
Of course he did.
Robin shook her head, muttering under her breath, "why do I even bother."
Steve finally said something.
"I'm not dating Nancy."
Robin halted, taking time to process that.
"What?"
Steve laughed, shaking his head. He was smiling. How dare he? "I'm not dating Nancy," he said.
"Did you two break up?" she asked. God, now she felt even worse. What if she was the reason Steve and Nancy broke up? What if she ruined their relationship without meaning to? That wasn't her intention at all. "God, if it's my fault I'm so sor-"
"I was never dating Nancy!" Steve cut her off.
"You. . . weren't?"
Steve shook his head no.
Robin felt confused. "Then, what-what?"
"I don't like Nancy," Steve said. "I thought maybe I should, and maybe I did, a few months ago. But when she broke up with Jonathan? That had nothing to do with me. Even if she did like me, she never said anything. We haven't dated in like, years."
"Oh."
Oh.
"Then, why-"
"I don't like Nancy, I like, er." Steve's voice trailed off. He was toeing the floor, looking embarrassed.
"Eddie. . .?" he squeaked.
"Oh my god."
"Don't give me that look!" Steve said, full on red in the face. "I swear on my mother's grave, Robin, if you so as say a word to him, so help me I will-"
"Oh my god," she said again, because oh God, this whole time. This whole time.
"You can close your mouth now."
She was gawking. She didn't mean to. She snapped her mouth shut.
"Thank you."
Steve tucked his hands in his pockets, looking at anything but Robin. An awkward silence fell over them. For several minutes it stayed that way, Robin staring, trying to make sense of everything she's just been told, and Steve looking around, spooked.
"You like Eddie."
"Yeah."
"You were jealous of me, but not because I like Nancy, but because of Eddie?"
Steve nodded. Then, he smirked. "Wait, you like Nancy?"
This time it was Robin's turn to be red in the face. She sputtered out, "were you not listening to a word I said?"
"I stopped paying attention when you said Nancy was my girlfriend," Steve laughed.
Robin couldn't help it. She laughed too.
"But uh. Yeah. Eddie."
"Eddie."
It made sense, Robin realized, that Steve liked Eddie. All that pestering if Eddie liked her or not. Why didn't she see it before?
"You should tell him?"
"What!? Robin, are you out of your mind?"
Robin said, "nope."
"I-I can't tell him something like that!"
"Sure you can," Robin said, shrugging. "Just tell him."
Steve gave up, leaning backwards, running his hands through his hair. He sighed, "what if he gets mad at me for feeling that way?"
"He won't."
"But-"
"He won't," Robin said again.
Steve gave her a look. A curious one. "How do you know?"
Robin crossed her arms. "He knows about me. So, even if he doesn't feel the same way, he won't hate you for it."
Steve didn't look convinced. He didn't protest, either.
"I'm really sorry," Robin said, because she knew if she didn't say it now she might not have the courage to say it later.
Steve raised an eyebrow. "Now, what are you sorry for?"
Robin said, "I was jealous too."
Steve smiled wide. "Because you thought I was dating Nancy."
Robin nodded, feeling so stupid for that assumption now. "Because I thought you were dating Nancy."
"We were both jealous," Steve said. "And we both were so stupid about it."
Robin had to agree with him there.
Robin and Steve looked at each other, both cracking into wide, amused smiles. Then, they laughed. They laughed for a long time, until they were both heaving for air.
Robin was glad she didn't have to be mad at Steve anymore. Being mad at him was hard, it took a lot of effort, and it was honestly overall exhausting, and she was glad to be done with that.
"Want to see a movie after work?" she asked.
Steve said, "yeah. I'd like that."
Eddie opened the front door to see Steve standing there, gasping for air, his face red. Poor guy probably had heat exhaustion.
"Harrington?"
"One second," Steve wheezed.
Eddie stood there awkwardly, waiting for him to catch his breath. Once his breathing shallowed, Eddie asked, "what the hell are you doing here, Harrington?"
Steve said, "I just came here to see you and-"
"Did you run all the way over here?"
Steve's face had gone back to a more healthy shade of pink, only for it to turn bright red again. He crossed his arms and huffed, "no."
Eddie grinned. "You did."
"Okay, okay! So, maybe I did."
"Why?"
Steve bit his lip, swaying from side to side. He was nervous. Steve Harrington, nervous. Eddie thought that was more endearing than it probably actually was.
"I wanted to tell you something."
"Okay. Then, tell me it."
Steve looked away. He grumbled, "I'm getting to that."
"Cool. I got all day."
Eddie waited in silence. That only made Steve more on edge. Eddie would laugh at him, if he didn't feel a stupid turn of hope in his stomach. Damn feelings.
Steve said something under his breath Eddie didn't quite catch. He did however catch how many times he called himself stupid, and that was all Eddie needed to do what he did next.
He grabbed Steve's face and yanked him closer, kissing him. Steve squeaked. He wouldn't let him live that one down, that was for sure.
Steve's eyes were wide, and his face was flushed when Eddie pulled back.
"I-"
"Was that what you were going to say?" Eddie asked, helpless against the smile on his face.
"Er. Maybe. B-but, you ruined it!" Steve said, feigning anger. "You took my moment away from me, Munson,"
Eddie laughed. "You weren't going to do it."
Steve didn't argue with that.
Eddie raised an eyebrow. "You want me to do it again," he said smugly.
Steve paused.
"Shut up." he muttered.
Robin didn't run to Nancy's. She wasn't an idiot, it was way too hot out for all of that. She did speed walk there, however, and pounded almost desperately on the door.
It opened.
Something tugged in Robin's gut, she felt almost breathless, and not because of the walk.
That little spark she felt immediately died when she saw not Nancy standing in front of her, but her brother Mike.
He made a face. "Hello?"
"Hi. Uh. Robin?"
"Don't know you."
Robin rolled her eyes. "Seriously, kid? Steve's friends?"
Mike said, "I don't keep track of Steve's friends."
Whatever. She didn't have time for this. She asked, "is Nancy home?"
"Nancy?"
"I'm here to see her."
Mike squinted his eyes. "Lots of people are here to see my sister. Usually with unholy, gross intentions."
"Ew. What the hell, kid. Look, just let me in."
"Hm." Mike turned away from Robin, and he shouted, "NANCY! SOME GIRL IS HERE TO SEE YOU! She looks really desperate!"
Robin would so kill him if she could.
Just then, Nancy came running down the stairs, and just the glimpse of her sent butterflies swarming in her stomach, fluttering up to her chest.
"Robin!"
"Hi." she breathed. "Can I come in?"
Nancy shot Mike a glare, then to Robin, said, "of course you can come in. Ignore him, he knows who you are. He just likes to be a pain."
Mike stuck his tongue out at her like he was a toddler, then he ran to his room, yelling something about protection, and reminding Nancy when their parents were supposed to be back from their shopping trip.
Robin blushed, embarrassed at what he was implying.
Nancy said, "come on in."
Robin followed Nancy up the stairs and to her room.
"I didn't think you'd be stopping by."
"Sorry," Robin said, quick to apologize. "I should have called."
"It's okay!" Nancy assured her.
Nancy's room was just how it was months ago. Instead, the Tom Cruise posters had been taken down. Robin pointed it out, and Nancy dismissed it.
"Grew out of it."
"Oh. Got it."
Nancy sat down at the end of her bed, her posture perfect of course, her hands folded neatly, laying on her lap. She was looking at Robin, looking at her like she was someone important, looking at her in a way Robin wasn't used to being looked at.
If Steve and Nancy weren't dating, that meant something.
Maybe it meant nothing, but Robin was allowed to hope, wasn't she?
If Nancy wasn't stopping by work almost every day to see Steve, then who was she seeing?
If Nancy wanted to date Steve, she would take that chance. Steve told Robin Nancy never said anything to him about it. That meant she didn't feel that way, right?
She remembered the days Steve wasn't working with her, the way Nancy kept her company for hours, letting Robin ramble about her favorite books and movies, listening with interest, like she was worth listening to.
That sent something shooting through Robin's veins.
Hope was tingly. And annoying. God.
"Robin? You look stressed," Nancy said, snapping Robin out of her thoughts. "Is everything okay?"
"Fine," Robin said quickly.
Nancy nodded. "Alright. Er. Did you need something?"
"Yes." Robin said.
She sucked in a deep breath, because oh god she was really going to do this. She never told a girl how she felt about her. Love confessions and all that cheesy stuff wasn't really her thing. The closest she came to it was asking Tammy to dance with her.
"Robin?"
"So, this is going to sound really stupid," Robin began rambling. "But uh, I might have thought you were going out with Steve."
Nancy said, "Steve?"
"Yeah, yeah I know. I just- that's what I thought, okay?" she tried to calm her nerves. Her nerves practically flipped her off and ignored her efforts. "I felt really uh. When you would ask me if I wanted to, er, hang out, I said no because I thought I was overstepping when I shouldn't be."
Nancy was very still now. Her expression was unreadable, carefully guarded. Robin wished she could read minds. It would make this so much easier.
Nancy asked, slowly, "why would it be overstepping?"
"Because, uh." she paused, scratching the back of her neck. Without thinking about it, she began pacing, quickly stopping when she realized she was doing it. "Because."
"Because," Nancy pressed, leaning closer, scooting to the very edge of the bed. "Because, why?"
Might as well rip the band aid off now.
"Well. I don't know. It would have made Steve jealous. And like, I was jealous. Because I thought. Yeah, you know."
"I don't," Nancy whispered, and that made Robin feel like she was about to cry.
"Don't?"
"I don't know," Nancy said.
Oh.
Not too bad, then.
Robin said in a rush, "I like you the way I thought Steve liked you. He doesn't. He likes-someone else, I, uh, forget I said that."
Nancy stood up. She walked towards Robin. Robin remained absolutely still, not even daring breathing, waiting for the rejection, waiting for the soft blow.
It didn't come.
Instead, Nancy leaned forward, slowly, watching Robin cautiously, taking care not to startle her. Then, she pressed a gentle, yet firm kiss on Robin's lips, and Robin didn't relax, but she sighed, grabbing Nancy, pulling her closer.
"Oh."
Nancy grinned.
"Obviously, I'm not as observant as I thought."
Nancy laughed, "no, you're not."
Robin was going to laugh with her, but Nancy cut her off with another kiss. Then, another. Then, one more, and one more after that one, and then-
Then Mike yelled from somewhere downstairs, telling Nancy to help bring in the groceries from the car, and Nancy pulled away from Robin, laughing.
"I'll help," Robin whispered, breathlessly. She grabbed Nancy's hands, they felt warm and soft in her own. She liked the feel of them.
"You don't have to," Nancy said quietly, opening the door. Their hands remained intertwined as they walked down the stairs.
"I know. I want to."
"We could go on a double date," Steve said.
Robin pretended to throw up. "I can't believe you just said those words to me."
"Awh, come on, Robin, why not?"
Robin rolled her eyes, telling the customer at the counter to have a nice day, watching them leave. Once they did, she said to Steve, "there is no way I'm sitting across from you and Eddie. Gross. I do not want to see that."
Steve turned red. "What is that supposed to mean-"
The door swung open, Nancy Wheeler stepping in the Family Video, a beautiful smile lighting up the whole room.
"Nance! Hey!"
Nancy pulled something out from her bag. Chocolates. Wow. Robin couldn't believe it. She was dating a girl. Nancy Wheeler. And that girl, her girlfriend (ohmygod she thought) was giving her chocolates.
"I just wanted to see you," Nancy said, handing the box of chocolates to Robin. Robin opened it, three were missing. Nancy grinned. "I know you said I shouldn't stop by during work, because I keep distracting you, but I wanted to give these to you before I ate all of them."
Robin leaned over the counter and kissed her.
Steve overdramatically gagged, saying, "ew! I don't want to be forced to see that!"
Robin flipped him off.