make my menace into someone you'd adore

by moonflowery

Summary:

Nancy had been working at the lame little ice cream place at the mall for barely a week. She never held any hopes that it would be a gratifying or personally stimulating job, let alone that it would help her on her dreams of dedicating herself to journalism full time until she was successful enough to get out of Hawkins and even Indiana someday. However, she’d never expected it to be as bad as it was.

Long story short, Nancy couldn’t wait to get rid of her Scoops Ahoy coworker, Robin Buckley.

Chapter 1: O for Six, princess

“And another one bites the dust.”

Her coworker’s deeply annoying and insensitive raspy voice broke Nancy out of her brief moment of embarrassment in front of the latest cute guy to stop by the Scoops Ahoy counter.

“That’s O for Six, princess,” Robin went on.

“I know,” Nancy said through gritted teeth as she turned around slowly, trying to contain her anger.

“That means you suck,” Robin added, standing right behind that ridiculous board she liked to protect with her life. Honestly, she put so much effort into it that it should be more embarrassing for her than for Nancy. And still, there was Nancy, willing her face not to heat up as she stared at the other girl.

“I can read,” Nancy pointed out, trying to add some politeness to her tone, which flew out the window the second that she heard Robin's next words.

“Since when?”

“Okay, first of all, I am not trying to get a date with any of the gross guys that get disgusting amounts of ice cream from here,” Nancy hissed. “Second, stop calling me princess.” She genuinely hated the way it made her feel. There was some fluttering in her body, like she could feel little ants crawling all over her neck. The worst part? No matter how much venom she added to her words, she was incapable of erasing the maddening smirk off Robin’s pink lips, or that cruel spark that was always in her clear blue eyes whenever Nancy stared at them.

“Sure thing, darling,” Robin replied, giving her a small salute and pushing away the board so she could lean on her arms on the small window that currently separated the two of them. It brought them a little too close for Nancy’s comfort. Good. That way Robin would hear her next words loud and clear.

“Fuck. You.”

Mortifyingly, Robin only laughed. “Stop flirting with me, Wheeler. You’re not my type,” she said, quietly, which made her tone noticeably huskier, and she added a wink at the end of her sentence for good measure. Just like that, she was gone.

Nancy swore she’d never met a more irritating person in all her life.

 

---

 

Nancy had been working at the lame little ice cream place at the mall for barely a week. She never held any hopes that it would be a gratifying or personally stimulating job, let alone that it would help her on her dreams of dedicating herself to journalism full time until she was successful enough to get out of Hawkins and even Indiana someday. However, she’d never expected it to be as bad as it was. First bad sign: it turned out she was taking Steve Harrington’s shift.  Second: the first thing that her coworker said to her was, “Welcome to the real world, princess.” It had only gone downhill from there. 

The place was cramped, the line of clients was unending, her two ex-boyfriends often and tragically failed to act like they didn’t notice her when they passed by, and the ice cream… well, if Nancy was being honest with herself, the ice cream wasn’t that bad, and everything else seemed also not that bad anymore , at least in comparison to her coworker. Since day one, Robin seemed to make it her life mission to torture Nancy, and annoyingly so, she was succeeding. Nancy tried to ignore her, convinced that her indiference would probably frustrate Robin into giving up. Unfortunately for Nancy, Robin Buckley was a very difficult individual to ignore. Which was interesting, considering Nancy hadn’t really noticed her at school before. Something must have changed in either or both of them at some point. Nancy wasn’t sure of how or why but every day Robin only took more and more space in her mind. Her head was an endless well of hatred toward Robin Buckley.

Everything about her was just wrong to Nancy. Starting with her hair, that messy, soft-looking, blonde hair, with darker roots and the tendency to look red under the right light. And moving past those mocking, cold, probably soulless blue eyes that always looked at Nancy as if silently daring her to do something , something that Nancy had no clue about. The list included all about Robin, like the freckles that Nancy instinctually considered unfairly pretty and thus incongruent in Robin’s face, of all people. She didn’t deserve those, Nancy thought. Don’t even get her started on Robin’s mouth, well, her lips, no, not exactly, her smile? No, her smug smirk . That vicious grin that showed Nancy not an ounce of sincerity, nothing but mischief, nothing but the steadfast belief that she was better than Nancy. It drove her mad. Even the smallest things were messing with Nancy’s mind. Why did Robin’s neck have to be… like that . It’s like she had purposefully designed her own body to be just taller than Nancy, just bend and lean and curve and fit in her Scoops Ahoy uniform in all the most annoying ways possible. 

Because Robin’s body irritated her so much, Nancy tried her hardest not to think about it. Instead, she could focus on Robin equally as an upsetting personality. She filled Nancy’s mind with unanswered questions, which had been Nancy’s weakness for as long as she could remember. How did Robin get to act so confident all the time? Where did she get the self-assurance to keep her chin up day after day? What gave her the right to tilt her head just so that it made Nancy want to strangle her? How did she choose which pair of necklaces to drape on her slender neck, which handful of rings put on her fingers every day, what exactly to doodle on her worn-down red converse, how long had she worn that black bracelet on her wrist, why was she wearing a bandaid on her knees again, did she really had to use that much eyeliner, and why did she get to invade Nancy’s personal space enough for Nancy to be painfully aware of her fresh mint breath and the just a hint of cologne that Nancy swears should be used a torture practice because every day she felt herself go a little crazy because of Robin Buckley. Nancy hated it . She did not want to be aware of Robin’s existence, let alone realize she’d unwillingly memorized her schedule, what she did during her breaks in the back room of the shop, and which was her favorite ice cream.

Long story short, Nancy couldn’t wait to get rid of Robin Buckley.

 

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Sometimes, it almost seemed like Robin and Nancy were capable of having an almost normal conversation without Robin acting like a little shit and Nancy threatening to kindly shoot her head off. They were once again in the position where Nancy was facing the clients and Robin was in the back, with both of them leaning on the counter separating both spaces. It left them a little too close for Nancy’s comfort, but at least that meant they could talk quietly among themselves without any stranger eavesdropping on the conversations.

“I don’t think it’s a bad thing that you want a date, Wheeler,” Robin said while absentmindedly playing with the bracelet on her wrist, which Nancy was staring at to avoid looking at Robin’s eyes for too long periods of time. “I do think your strategy could use some work though. As in, you might need a miracle, no big deal.”

“Thank you, Buckley, that’s very helpful,” Nancy rolled her eyes.

“I’m kind and generous like that,” Robin winked, and then asked, “Let’s see, how did you even end up with Steve and Jonathan. Spare me too many details, please.”

Nancy thought about it for a second and took a deep breath. She had to look away, and stare at the ceiling, because Robin was staring at her while she waited for an answer. Eventually, Nancy answered easily and with a shrug, “Societal expectations and shared trauma.”

Her answer elicited a snort from Robin. “Jesus. Did you even like either of them?” she asked. Before Nancy could fight back and tell her to drop the nicknames, which would be a way to avoid answering the actual question thrown her way, Robin spoke up again. “Look, baby, twelve o’clock.”

Nancy immediately turned around. Not because she wanted to follow Robin’s instructions, in fact, she particularly hated to do that, but because she couldn’t stand to stare at Robin while she called her baby all nonchalantly like that, as if she wasn’t the worst thing to happen to Nancy.

The thing Robin had been pointing at was a group of boys that looked about their age and unfamiliar, which meant Nancy hadn’t yet embarrassed herself in front of them. Something that lasted all of one second until she greeted them by cheerfully saying, “Ahoy!”

Not only Nancy had to suffer through taking the guys’ orders and the last one of them bidding her farewell with a sickening “Ahoy!” Then she had to turn around just to see Robin standing right there beside her. 

“Now, that was just sad ,” Robin said, looking at the retreating backs of the laughing clients.

It didn’t happen extremely often, but sometimes Robin just pushed the right button, and Nancy took the bait, giving the other girl the attention that Nancy detested giving her. “And it’s none of your business, Robin!” Nancy snapped a little too loud, roughly poking the middle of Robin’s chest with her finger.

For one second, one blissful, heavenly second, Nancy thought she had the upper hand. Robin looked thrown off. Her eyes widened, her lips parted in surprise, and she even stumbled half a step back under the fire of Nancy’s ire. But all too soon, the moment was over.

“Are you… trying to stab me, with your cute little finger?” Robin asked her slowly. Then she reached out and wrapped the fingers of her hand around Nancy’s wrist. She didn’t push her away, she merely held her there. Robin could probably feel Nancy’s pulse beating wildly under her fingertips, while Nancy felt the cold of the metal of Robin’s rings grazing her skin for the first time. Now that moment seemed to last forever. If they had started staring at Nancy’s fingertip pressing against the top of Robin’s sternum, their eyes had shifted toward each other. Nancy had never cursed their height difference as much as she did then, looking up at Robin looking down at her.

Finally, Nancy found the focus to yank her out of Robin’s grasp and step away from the other girl, hopefully forever and unfortunately just for a short while.

 

---

 

Sometimes, Nancy tried to think about what exactly bothered her so much about Robin. Sure, the girl was insufferable, but was she seriously that bad? She seemed to go out of her way to annoy Nancy, but maybe Nancy was missing something? There was a special quality about Robin that just didn’t let Nancy stay satisfied with just assuming she was plainly a jerk and be satisfied with that explanation. No, there had to be more about Robin Buckley than met the eyes, and someday Nancy would solve that mystery. If she didn’t kill the mystery first.

“Pst, Wheeler,” Robin whispered from somewhere behind Nancy, who tried her hardest to ignore her. “Hey, angel,” Robin insisted, and chose to assume Nancy was listening, because she continued talking in that same raspy whisper she was using, “I know having the love life of a withering plant in the desert must be exhausting… but you’re literally killing the ice cream right now.”

Nancy scoffed, dropped the spoon she’d been failing to maneuver, and turned toward Robin with what she hoped was a murderous look with a sufficiently mocking smile. “Well, it’s a legal alternative to killing my coworker by cutting her head off!”

“Ouch! The barbie doll has claws!” Robin winced and put one melodramatic hand up to her heart. She seemed to recover quickly though. “Oh, wait! You’d need a step ladder to reach my head. Turns out I’m safe after all.”

“Buckley!” Nancy snapped once more.

“Wheeler!” Robin imitated her and ended up chuckling, but at least seemed to soften right in front of Nancy’s eyes. “Come on, let me help you.”

“Fine,” Nancy sighed gravely, rolling her eyes hard enough to give herself a fleeting headache.

In retrospect, Nancy had no idea what to expect when the object of her most emphatic complaints about humanity offered to help her, but it certainly wasn’t for Robin to take a quick leap toward her, and very nearly pin her body against the ice-cream fridge. Robin went as far as to put both hands on the fridge by both sides of Nancy’s waist, effectively trapping her there.

“Go on, turn around, love,” Robin smirked. Nancy complied, but she counted her blessings and gave herself the reward of hitting Robin’s stomach with her elbow. Call it payback for the increasingly annoying nicknames. “Oomph. Okay, I’ll take that one,” Robin huffed at the same time that Nancy was forced to deal with the consequences of her actions. It seemed that knocking Robin’s breath out made the taller girl double a little in pain, landing her chin on Nancy’s shoulder and her breath tickling Nancy’s ear. It was horrifying, Nancy thought. “Okay, Wheeler,” Robin continued talking, “I’ll let you in on a little secret here. I’m actually not the most coordinated person, but I’ve worked here a little longer than you and I’ve learned how to use my strength to my advantage…”

Robin continued talking, something about the correct technique for scooping ice cream even if it was too soft or too thick or whatever. Nancy stopped paying much attention at some point, she was busy being… infuriated, she believed she was. To illustrate whatever points Robin was making, she went ahead and took Nancy’s hand in her own, moved their hands toward the spoon still stuck on the big mountain of ice cream, and while she rattled some advice, she applied the necessary pressure, moved her arm the right way, tightened her fingers perfectly, never let her body fully touch Nancy’s, as if that would make things better, or worse, Nancy wasn’t so sure anymore.

Luckily, Nancy regained her concentration just in time to hear Robin say, “Oh, look. It was just one big chunk of ice that got you stuck there.” She stepped away, mercifully, showed Nancy the spoon filled with ice, and smirked as she said, “Ah, finally, spotted the iceberg that took down your love life.”

 

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There were many ways that Nancy’s summer could’ve gone, had she taken different decisions in life. For example, she could still be dating Steve Harrington, and both of them most likely would be worse versions of themselves, strolling around Hawkins arm in arm, probably thinking they had won at a life that, deep down, wasn’t what either of them wanted. Or, what she’d been so close to getting, she could be working at the local newspaper with Jonathan by her side. They had been a good team, a great team even, until they weren’t. Nancy even dared to imagine different scenarios where she took choices that lead her to different guys, different jobs, maybe even out of Hawkins. Instead, she was confined behind the counter at Scoops Ahoy, avoiding the paper planes done with napkins that Robin Buckley threw at her and serving ice cream to her younger brother and friends, day after day.

“Why do I even keep this job?” Nancy wondered out loud, helplessly, exhausted, watching Mike and his friends walk away with smiles that were a million miles away from Nancy’s current mood.

Nancy hadn’t exactly expected an answer. In fact, she usually spent most days wishing Robin simply wouldn’t talk to her. However, even more unexpected was to receive a… good answer.

“Because you’re too good for Hawkins’ newspaper,” Robin replied, confidently, without thinking twice about it, and Nancy thanked God that the taller girl continued talking, because Nancy couldn’t, for the life of hers, figure out how she’d react to a sincere compliment from Robin Buckley of all people. “ And , like the rest of us, you need to make money before you can run away from here. We all hate our jobs. You’re not that special, princess,” Robin added with a smirk.

Nancy rolled her eyes and sighed, already regretting engaging in conversation with her coworker, but feeling a nagging instinct to ask, “How did you end up here, then? What jobs are you too good for?”

“Bold of you to assume I want a job at all,” Robin replied, stretching her limbs, craning her neck, making Nancy wince and wish she hadn’t been staring at Robin’s neck.

“Right,” Nancy scoffed, “Because why would the great Robin Buckley be forced to work a day in her life, right?”

“Exactly,” Robin laughed and not-so-lightly patted Nancy’s back as she passed by her to hoist herself up on the counter. “You’re catching up, baby,” she added with a quieter tone that irked Nancy, who couldn’t stand the fact that the limited space where they were forced to work together allowed Robin the chance to dare to whisper at her. In retaliation, Nancy sent her best murderous look at Robin, who only held her chin up higher, prouder, silently daring Nancy to keep fighting. This time, however, Nancy found the strength not to give her the pleasure of her attention. Nancy picked up a towel and absentmindedly worked on cleaning the counter until, for once, Nancy felt the taste of a small victory when she heard Robin break the silence. “It’s art,” Robin said.

“Hm?” Nancy turned her head to look at her, thrown off by the random words.

“What I’d like to do, I mean. It’s art. Which isn’t exactly a job either, I guess, but,” Robin shrugged. Her feet were slowly swinging under her, and Nancy glanced at the red converse with scattered doodles on them.

“What kind of art?” Nancy caught herself asking seriously, as if she cared about the answer, as if she remotely cared about the medium that Robin used to express herself when she was a genuine human person not busy with ruining Nancy’s existence, as if in the blink of an eye Nancy hadn’t already pictured her with paint-stained hands, an open sketchbook on her lap, a frown of concentration in her face, creating beautiful scenarios titled something along the lines of “a perfect world without Nancy Wheeler in it.”

“Music. Painting. Movies,” Robin shrugged, and her eyes were suddenly hyper-focused on her hands in her lap, her fingers picking at the black nail polish. “I love all of it. I’m good with languages too, but what can I do? Can you imagine me as a teacher or something?”

“You’d get fired for punching a student that looked at you wrong,” Nancy said, matter-of-factly.

“Fuck off,” Robin laughed wholeheartedly at that, and Nancy couldn’t help but join in. Robin’s laugh was deep and warm and infectious. Her smile took over her face when she laughed, unrestrained. Nancy quickly pictured a scenario where she got to be the student that stood up to Robin and pushed that wide and bright smile off her face for good. It was probably that thought that made her laugh and smile longer than necessary. It had been enough for Robin to jump down from the counter and stare at Nancy with that smug expression of hers and say, “Ah, so Queen Wheeler does have a pretty laugh. Good to know.”

 

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When working with Robin Buckley, Nancy had bad days, and worse days. Nancy felt a strange desire to make Robin feel as terrible as her.

Sometimes, it was the little things. But then again, nothing felt insignificant or of little importance when Robin was concerned. Even saying “hello” at the start of the day was a challenge. One day, Robin technically didn’t even get to do something wrong. She didn’t smirk, she didn’t roll her eyes, and she didn’t drop a sarcastic comment or a disgustingly sweet pet name. She simply stood there, her head propped on her fist as she leaned her weight on the counter. Her stupid Scoops Ahoy hat was crooked on her head. And she simply… blinked. When Nancy arrived at work, Robin’s only acknowledgment of her presence was a slow blink. She looked only bored, like the most entertaining thing that could happen was her long eyelashes traveling down to wave hello at the freckles on the top of her cheekbones. Nancy didn’t know what else to say other than, “What’s wrong with you?”

Perhaps Robin had just gotten to work after a pleasantly long nap, something Nancy did not want to think about. Who would want to think about Robin curled up in bed with a sleepy pout on her pink lips, or splayed over her bed with all her awkward limbs stumbling around as she mumbled in her sleep because did she ever shut up? But, since Nancy definitely didn’t want to think about Robin Buckley’s bed, she only scoffed when she heard her mumble “What? Why?”

“I don’t know!” Nancy snapped, as if she hadn’t been the one to start the conversation. “Your… entire existence, okay?!” She rushed to the back of the shop before she could get to see the confused, suspicious, and possibly, genuinely, hurt expression cross Robin’s face.

Some other days, the pair was unfortunately reminded that they were paid to do more than be at each other’s throats. When the shop was full and the line was long, Nancy and Robin acted worse than usual. It was a miracle that they actually managed to get through all the clients more or less successfully. If Nancy wasn’t so preoccupied hating Robin’s guts, she might have admitted they made a pretty good team. But, as it happened, she was busy stepping on Robin’s foot while they scrambled around each other behind the counter.

“Fuck! Wheeler! You stepped on my toe!” Robin groaned loudly, taking the payment from an older couple at the register.

“Well, then stay the fuck away from me, Buckley! You’re in my space!” Nancy complained right back at her.

Robin scoffed one of her cruel laughs at her, saying, “How much space could you possibly need, princess? You’re fucking five feet tall!”

Then Nancy proceeded to step on Robin’s foot hard enough for the entire clientele to hear her pained yell, which brought a smile to Nancy’s face.

But then were the days, or at least the moments in between, when there was nothing to take their attention off each other. Sure, they could’ve done literally anything else than slide down to the floor of the shop, across from each other, and mindlessly throw insults at each other. If anyone were to ask Nancy why she sat there, on the intensely uncomfortable floor, with Robin’s red converse just barely brushing her thigh, while Robin called her, “Like, a mermaid, but out of the bottom of the girls’ bathroom at Hawkins High,” she couldn’t have been able to come up with an answer. Was it really worth it, seeing Robin smile instead of frown when Nancy compared her to, “a sick, feral, annoying stray cat, covered in fleas”?

Either way, when Robin said, “You know, Steve told me…” Nancy couldn’t keep her face contorting into a truly upset frown, something serious to warn even someone as oblivious as Robin. “Oh, calm down, love, we do not talk about you,” Robin said, but the mistrust in Nancy’s eyes didn’t lessen and unexpectedly so, Robin started fumbling with her words, “I mean it! I… Look, you’re not that interesting, okay? Plus, I, um, I’m not a creep, and, like, whatever, the thought of you two together is just disgusting.”

If Robin had been trying to make things better, she’d completely failed. Nancy only let her dig her own grave even deeper because she somehow enjoyed having something concrete to be angry at Robin for. Her fury must have been evident enough to get Robin to shut up. Nancy shifted forward until she was kneeling beside Robin, with one hand on the wall beside Robin’s head, and she got close enough so the other girl wouldn’t miss an ounce of the venom she was throwing at her when she said, “You are a creep, Robin. And the most annoying freak in Hawkins. Don’t worry though, you’re perfectly disgusting all by yourself. Always have been, always will be.”

Nancy made a conscious effort to keep an icy smile on her face the entire time, not even letting it waver when she caught something sincere flicker in Robin’s suddenly dull blue eyes. Nancy stood up swiftly, telling herself not to worry about Robin’s feelings, and not worry if she crossed a line, and not regret her words. She succeeded. Mostly, because she was promptly distracted. If Robin had been any seriously affected by Nancy’s words, she covered it up pretty well. Before Nancy was too far away, Robin moved quickly, and extended her leg, lightly kicking one of Nancy’s feet, making her lose her balance, stumble, and nearly fall flat on her face if not for her death grip on the counter beside her. Robin’s hollow laugh ringed in Nancy’s ears the rest of the day.

Even when they weren’t standing side by side, the other girl found a way to ruin Nancy’s day. While Robin was currently serving ice cream to some clients, Nancy took a small break in the back room. Unfortunately, before too long, an atrocity caught her eyes. “Buckley!” Nancy groaned loudly, half wishing Robin wouldn’t even react but, as usual, Robin disappointed her.

“Did you call me, sweetheart?” Robin called out, finishing up with the clients.

“What the hell is this?” Nancy asked her through gritted teeth, not moving a muscle, and just waiting for Robin to join her.

“Ah. Right. I’m glad you found it,” Robin said with a proud grin as she nonchalantly stood by the door, observing Nancy. “It’s, uh, an artistic rendition, if you will.” Robin waved her hand at the board that Nancy was holding. Under “You Suck”, there was an extremely silly doodle that was very obviously Nancy, crying giant tears, with X’s for eyes, hung from a line, beside a five-letter word.

“So you played hangman with yourself somehow, and chose to draw me?” Nancy asked her, getting even more frustrated by the second because Robin didn’t even seem to mind the venom in her voice.

“Yeah, did you notice your tears? They represent your shame and tendency to publicly embarrass yourself. Plus, they match your pretty blue eyes.”

Nancy clenched her jaw, took a step toward Robin, and finally said the word on the board. “Priss?” she asked, “ Priss? Really? That’s the best you got?”

“You don’t want to see me at my best, baby,” Robin replied, looking just bored.

“You’re an asshole ,” Nancy snapped.

“And you’re a priss,” Robin said, slowly, accentuating each word with a step closer to Nancy.

“Go fuck yourself!” Nancy exclaimed.

Robin only laughed in response and said, “Do it yourself, honey.”

Although she wasn’t completely sure what had bothered her so badly, Nancy couldn’t stand it anymore. She raised the board to her full height and then threw it down to the floor with all her strength. One corner of the frame broke, and a crack split along the board, ruining Robin’s masterpiece.

“Jesus!” Robin gasped and stumbled one step backward. She laughed again, breathlessly, and Nancy wanted to think Robin sounded a little nervous, but she was probably imagining things. “Is that it? Is that all that Nancy Wheeler can take? Did I finally break you, doll?”

“What's your problem?!” Nancy demanded, throwing her arms around her, genuinely asking, and never expecting the answer she received.

“What’s your fucking problem, Wheeler?! Huh?” Robin snapped at her for the first time, and Nancy made the mistake to let her shock show for a split second on her face. “Oh, don’t look so self-righteous, it’s embarrassing. Every bit of shit I’ve thrown your way, you’ve thrown right back at me, just as strong. You hated me as soon as you saw me, Nancy, and I have a pretty good idea why! So, yeah, go ahead, call me whatever fucking names you want, despise my existence, I don’t care! I’m not going anywhere, sweetheart. No matter what you do, it won’t change the fact that you’re an entitled, heartless, prissy little bitch.”

“Well, you’re right about something there, Robin,” Nancy said quietly, “Now that I’ve seen what your so-called ‘art’ looked like, I’m convinced you are not going anywhere, so I suggest you get comfortable with the idea of scooping ice cream for the rest of your pathetic lonely life at Hawkins.”

It was just unfair, the way that through this disaster of a working relationship they’d grown to know each other so well. It was unfair, because now that Nancy could see in Robin’s eyes that she’d finally hurt her enough, she somehow, someway, sort of missed her smug laughter. It was unfair, because even though it was only a small twitch in her hand, a slight change in her stance, Robin caught the thought that passed by Nancy’s mind as if she had a bow and arrow aiming for Nancy’s head. The realization made Robin chuckle darkly.

“Oh… Do you want to slap me now, Wheeler? Please, go ahead, make my day,” Robin said with a chilling calm that was years away from her previous outburst. Something about it made Nancy’s face feel suddenly warm, warmer than it had been during their argument so far. And that was even before Robin reached out for Nancy's right wrist, wrapping her fingers tightly around it for a second, before letting them slide to her hand, which she took with surprising gentleness, and moved it toward her own cheek, where she placed Nancy’s open palm against her freckled skin and patted the back of it. “Give me the best you got,” Robin said, mimicking Nancy’s words back at her.

Nancy’s mind was a hurricane. The thoughts were flying at break-neck speed, crashing against each other and leaving permanent damage inside the walls of Nancy’s skull. But, one of those thoughts must have hit a weak spot, and created a crack in Nancy’s head, out of which only three thoughts poured to the surface. First, she pictured what it would be like to go through with what Robin was suggesting, slapping her pretty face hard enough to erase her from Nancy’s life. The idea made Nancy dig her nails just slightly on Robin’s soft flesh, not nearly enough to leave a mark or scratch, just enough to hear Robin’s shaky intake of breath. Secondly, Nancy realized all at once that she’d never be able to actually hurt Robin. She stood on the edge of the line and chose to turn away. Nancy let her hand fall from Robin’s warm face to hang limply at her side, and then she let herself be the one to hang her head and walk away from the argument. Besides, she was busy dealing with the third thought, which made her realize that not only she’d failed to grasp the full meaning behind some of Robin’s words during her outburst, but also, that had been probably the first time that Robin called her Nancy to her face. It made Nancy feel the exact kind of feelings that she liked to ignore like a plague.

 

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Robin tried to be normal. She tried to not get flustered about a pretty girl taking over Steve’s shift…. She failed miserably. Her brain had betrayed her spectacularly, and now that she had dug herself a grave with no way out of it, she was giving Nancy Wheeler everything she got.

To be fair, even if Nancy had turned out to be the nicest, most pleasant, and kind person in the universe, Robin was best friends with Steve now, which would be above everything else because she genuinely didn’t even know that best friends could be as good as the two of them were for each other. In Steve’s defense, Nancy had kind of broken his heart in the past. In Nancy’s defense, he kind of deserved it at the time, and even insisted on it when telling the basics of the story to Robin. And, in Robin’s defense, she simply was so not used to spending most of her time working in close quarters with a girl that was as beautiful as she was difficult to handle. 

Nancy was, and this Robin said as objectively as she could, a little bit of an asshole. She chose to assume the worst of everything and everyone, especially Robin. In every interaction they shared, in every word, in every touch, Nancy found something to hate about Robin. This, actually, was something that Robin had a little bit of experience with. She was no stranger to dirty looks, prejudice, and insults that hit too close to home. There was no way Nancy hadn’t heard the rumors about Robin in school, right? She always seemed too focused on herself to care about others, too busy to entertain high school gossip, but she wasn’t stupid, that much Robin knew for certain. So, who would blame Robin for assuming that the reason Nancy didn’t even give her a chance was that, on top of being beautiful, difficult, smart, a little bit of an asshole, and having a dangerous smile that shouldn’t fit so well with her heavenly blue eyes… Nancy might also be a bit homophobic. Which, of course, led Robin directly into making things worse for both of them.

The first time Robin called Nancy “princess” it just slipped out. Nancy Wheeler was the princess of Hawkins High, wasn’t she? The first time she called her “baby”, was a complete accident, it was just something that came naturally, something that Nancy just inspired in her, something completely wrong but that Robin couldn’t fight all the time. When she started calling her angel, honey, sweetheart, darling… well, it was extremely entertaining to see Nancy get so riled up about it. Her cheeks reddened, her ever-present frown deepened, her hands tightened into little fists, and sometimes she would send a death glare at Robin and their eyes would meet for seconds that felt like entire centuries and yes, Robin would say it was worth it.

At the end of the day, when Robin rode her bike home from the mall, she let her mind wander over all her interactions with Nancy from the day, every little thing, every exchange of words, every time Nancy got too close to hurt her feelings, every time Nancy got too close to being a good coworker, a good person, something close to a friend, someone Robin might like having around. Robin wasn’t above admitting to herself that sometimes it felt like she was being too harsh with Nancy. It all started out as her clumsy instinctual reaction to a cute girl being within a close radius to her, it was encouraged by her suspicion that Nancy knew and hated Robin for being a lesbian, and it was maintained because, well, it was too late to turn back around, and Robin was many things but she was not the kind of person that lost commitment to a fun bit.

Maybe, Robin thought, if she kept her defenses up long enough, this would all be over soon. Nancy would quit her job at Scoops Ahoy, go on to become the stellar journalist she was meant to be, and Robin would be able to go on with her life, embarrassing herself in front of other pretty girls until one day one of them might like her enough to decide to stick around. She could survive this, she only had to keep Nancy at an arm's length, and make sure this, whatever they had going on, was never too painful or too pleasant to handle. Whatever Nancy Wheeler could throw at her, Robin was certain she could take it.

 

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There were days when Nancy suspected that one or both of them had been too vicious in their arguments. Even though in the heat of the moment Nancy sometimes hoped her words would be enough to break Robin, make her quit her job, or at least drop her smug attitude, she was always strangely relieved the next day when she came back to work and found the same Robin as usual. Mischievous, messy, loud, clever, quick, and something that Nancy wished she had other ways to call other than beautiful .

The first client that day had been a guy that shared a couple of classes with Nancy the previous year. He wasn’t anything close to outstandingly handsome, Nancy thought, but he was kind, always friendly to Nancy, even when the other boys whispered things about her behind her back after each of her breakups. Which made it even more mortifying that Nancy dropped his change on his ice cream, before he walked away half laughing, half concerned for her mental stability, probably. 

“Ah,” Robin sighed deeply as if taking a cleansing breath on a lush hill before a picnic, “There’s nothing like seeing you make a fool of yourself to start my day just right.”

“You’re an asshole, you know that, right?” Nancy asked her, turning around to regard Robin somewhat seriously.

Robin raised an eyebrow at her and shrugged in mocking innocence. “I’m kidding, honey,” she said.

“Well, I’m not,” Nancy said with a small shake of her head. She smiled coldly, lips pressed tightly and not hiding her fury. She knew by now the kind of smile that made Robin stare at her lips and frown, which Nancy hoped was a sign of fear.

“Yes you are,” Robin said slowly, and stepped forward to deal with a new client, and when she turned toward Nancy again, she was back to that uncontrolled energy of hers that made Nancy’s days never boring and also annoyed her to no end. “You love it when I make fun of your pathetic attempts at romance,” Robin stated confidently with a bright smile.

Not bothering to deny an accusation that was so obviously fake, Nancy limited herself to rolling her eyes and saying, “I’m not trying to find a summer romance with any of these idiots.”

“Sure, sure, sure,” Robin said quickly, waved away their latest client, and then turned toward Nancy, a little closer than necessary. “So you just, uh, push your hair behind your ear like this,” Robin said quietly, demonstrating her point by gently pushing a strand of hair behind Nancy’s ear, “for anyone, right?”

There was a second, when Robin’s fingertips brushed the contour of Nancy’s ear and it sent an unwanted chill down Nancy’s spine. She reacted by scoffing at Robin. She jerked her head out of Robin’s reach and walked past her, making sure to knock her shoulder with Robin’s and ignore the taller girl’s laugh. “You’re insufferable,” Nancy said, searching for solace in the back room of the shop.

Robin, as expected, didn’t leave her alone. Instead, she leaned over the small window separating them and said, “Oh come on, babe, don’t be mad. I’m actually rooting for you!” The pet name earned her a glare for Nancy, but that was also apparently enough attention to convince Robin to keep talking. “Look, I adore Steve, that dingus. And I’m sure Jonathan is probably not as bad as he looks . But you do deserve another chance at love, and with someone better for you, hopefully.”

Nancy frowned even more. She was starting to hate when Robin showed her a glimpse of kindness, she didn’t know what to do with it, and she had enough practice to make hating her far easier than dealing with whatever this was. “You think that?” Nancy asked her, skeptical as always.

“I do,” Robin nodded confidently, but her grin expanded in a way that was bad news for Nancy. “Do I think you’ll find your perfect love story by embarrassing yourself ad infinitum every time a male specimen with a pulse stops by? No, I really don’t.”

“Oh shut up!” Nancy exclaimed. “As if you would be any better.”

And those were the magic words. 

Nancy could fail at many things, but she was a master of catching little details that could make up for a good story. So, when she saw Robin’s eyes drop to her hands, saw her gulp nervously, and then she turned her back on Nancy… for the first time, Nancy felt like she might get to have the upper hand in a conversation with Robin.

“So, do you?” Nancy pressed on, watching Robin’s back tense as if she were willing a new client to take her away from this conversation.

“Do I what, princess?” Robin asked her.

This time Nancy paid no mind to the annoying nickname. She pushed the door a little too harshly and stared at Robin. “Do you think you would be better at getting a date while working here?” Nancy asked her.

“I would be, if I had any interest in this humiliating game of yours, which I don’t have,” Robin replied, still staring at the distance and avoiding Nancy’s curious eyes.

“Why?”

“Why what?” Robin asked through gritted teeth.

“Why aren’t you interested in getting a date?”

Robin exhaled heavily and finally turned to look at Nancy with a sharp smirk that wasn’t as intimidating as Robin usually managed. “Because the best boy in Hawkins is lightyears underneath my lowest standards,” she replied.

Nancy laughed, “You’re not as hot as you think you are.”

“Oh really?” Robin tilted her head with a fake serious look. She took a step closer to Nancy, and added, “Do you mind telling me exactly how hot I am, then?”

Robin looked too much like herself at that moment, it scared Nancy. She didn’t want to lose the advantage she’d earned. So, she blurted out, “I dare you.”

“To be any sexier than this? It’s going to be difficult, but I guess you haven’t seen me out of this ridiculous uniform yet.”

Nancy was fuming. The more Robin smiled at her, the more Nancy felt herself grow warm with rage. “I dare you to get a date with any boy that comes across our counter,” she said slowly, “if you do, you win.”

Robin blinked slowly at her, the amusement was out of her face. “No, thank you,” Robin said, and then walked away, pushed open the door, and retreated to the back of the shop.

“Why not?” Nancy asked, exasperated, following right behind Robin.

“Because I’m not interested in stupid games, Wheeler. I’m not a kid like the children you hang out with,” Robin hissed, giving Nancy the pleasure of seeing her rough exterior start to crack.

“Oh,” Nancy said thoughtfully, enjoying this turn of events way too much, “Are you scared… sweetheart?”

Robin noticeably clenched her jaw when she heard Nancy use her tactic of the obnoxiously sweet pet names at the worst times. She was leaning on the table in the middle of the room, as if this entire situation was weighing heavily on her shoulder, and she turned her head to glare at Nancy like never before. “I said no,” Robin said, seriously.

“Scared of rejection, darling?” Nancy continued to taunt her.

Robin groaned loudly and rose to her full height again. “You’re going to regret this, Wheeler,” she promised.

“Prove it, Buckley,” Nancy threw back at her, stepping up to Robin. “I’m going to tackle you off that absurd pedestal you’ve put yourself in. And I’m going to love every minute of it.”

Robin was breathing heavily, and Nancy could see her chest rise and fall with each breath. “If you wanted to be on top, you just had to ask, love,” Robin said, manipulating Nancy’s words and deflecting as usual, but Nancy got her, Nancy didn’t miss the tremor in her voice.

“Is Robin Buckley… a coward?” Nancy asked and added a pitiful pout for good measure, which seemed to do the trick.

“Fuck!” Robin groaned again. She threw her head back, closed her eyes tightly, and then she took a brief walk along the length of the too-small room. When she gathered her thoughts, she stood right in front of Nancy again and asked, “What do I win?”

“Bragging rights? I know you love that,” Nancy shrugged.

Robin actually laughed, as if she couldn’t find any other way to react to the growing tension in the room. “Do you think I’m a fool?” She asked with a chuckle.

“Yes,” Nancy answered immediately, earning herself a smile and a roll of clear blue eyes. “Okay, fine,” she sighed, “I don’t know. I’ll give you anything you want.”

As if Nancy’s words hadn’t already affected both of them enough, Robin said, “I don’t think you can offer anything I’d want, sweetheart.” But Nancy wasn’t giving up, she didn’t look away from Robin’s eyes, no matter how deep and confusing they were, unexplored and dangerous like the bottom of the ocean. “But I’ll think about it,” Robin sighed, giving in first, much to Nancy’s pleasure.

“Do we have a deal?” Nancy asked, for good measure, but for as much as she was smiling she noticed Robin was frowning, angrier than Nancy had ever seen her before.

“I am going to make you eat your fucking words, princess,” Robin said, very slowly, and accentuated her words by grabbing Nancy’s chin, holding her place, forcing her to meet the fire in her eyes, the deathly promise she was making.

This time it was Nancy who grabbed Robin’s wrist, over the black bracelets, holding her tightly, digging her nails into the inside of Robin’s wrist. The touch made her frown enough to make Robin smile. Apparently, they were incapable of smiling at the same time, only grinning when the other was miserable. And miserable was exactly what Robin was aiming for. Because with Nancy’s chin still held captive between her fingers, and encouraged by the fact that Nancy had chosen not to push her away yet, Robin leaned in to kiss Nancy’s cheek. The final nail in the coffin of the promise she’d just made. 

Nancy jerked her face away and Robin walked away laughing. They definitely had a deal, and Nancy had no way to predict if this would make matters better or worse for either of them.

Notes:

thanks for reading!!!

I'm very very excited about this fic. the enemies to lovers dynamic is way too fun to write. and i have a lot planned

please please please leave a comment telling me what you think? <3

friendly reminder to check out my other ronance fics if you haven't :) and you can also find me on tumblr (@ronancebuckley) where you can come scream about ronance with me

many many thanks to @avocadosocks for beta reading and literally coming up with the brilliant idea of making nancy meet s3 cocky and sarcastic robin

see you soon!

Chapter 2: I keep a gun under the counter

Nancy usually would call herself a punctual person, but her job at Scoops Ahoy was testing even her most deeply embraced personality traits. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to do her job or that she wanted to purposefully get in trouble. The problem, as usual, was Robin Buckley. Nancy went out of her way to spend as little time with Robin as possible, even by just five minutes. However, the day after they made their deal, the dare that Robin had to get a date to prove she could be better at it than Nancy, it was a different day for many reasons. Nancy arrived much earlier than usual to work, determined to catch the very first sight of Robin on the day that she would inevitably embarrass herself. If Nancy didn’t know herself as well as she did, she would’ve said she was excited to see Robin, which, of course, couldn’t have been any farther from the truth. 

Just as Nancy had expected, Robin was the one to arrive late to work that day, and she did so with a really grave frown on her face, walking slowly, dragging her feet through the mall, her shoulders tense, and even some bags under her eyes that she couldn’t hide with additional eyeliner, as if she hadn’t slept all night. She looked terrible. Nancy loved it. She shook off that unreasonable spark of worry that took her by surprise, assumed it was just a natural reflex of all decent human beings, unlike Robin Buckley, and proceeded to bask in the glory of finally being the one ruining the other’s day, not the other way around.

Robin, of course, noticed Nancy’s joyful mood. “Why are you smiling? Did you poison a kid or something?” Robin asked as a way of greeting.

Nancy answered with a question of her own, “Why are you in a sour mood, Buckley?”

“Because I made a deal with the devil,” Robin replied, emphatically meeting Nancy’s eyes. “And now I have to endure the excruciating torture of letting a male specimen from Hawkins give me attention I do not want, at all .”

Nancy’s smile didn’t waver at her words, which wonderfully seemed to anger Robin even more. “Well, that ugly frown won’t get you much attention,” Nancy pointed out while the two of them worked seamlessly getting everything ready to open up. “And I’d suggest softening your tone, maybe. It would’ve helped if you hadn’t woken up today looking like a corpse from three days ago.”

“Okay, you pointing out my flaws was not part of the deal, okay? Besides,” Robin turned around quickly and when she looked at Nancy, some of her usual glow was back, which was almost nice to see, if not for the fact that it unerringly meant trouble for Nancy. “You poor little angel,” Robin pouted, stepping up closer to Nancy, “you actually think random men care about what you’re currently feeling.”

Before Nancy could ask what Robin meant by that, or what was her plan instead of being nice and smiling, Nancy was subjected to one of the most surreal experiences of her life. While Robin talked, her finger moved to the top of her uniform, and then, without taking her eyes off Nancy, she undid the little button hidden by the bow that kept the whole thing in place. The result was that all at once, the neckline of Robin’s uniform opened up, exposing more, exposing much more than Nancy had seen of Robin. Part of the brain was functional enough to see that it wasn’t actually too much to be scandalizing or an actual problem or a crime. The rest of Nancy’s brain, however, was experiencing some sort of short circuit that she couldn’t even worry about because there was no brain of hers left to spare to think about her own reaction.

“Done,” Robin whispered with a laugh, as if finishing a magic trick, and then turned away.

Nancy closed her parted lips so hard her teeth ground against each other, gulped awkwardly because her mouth felt suddenly dry, and tried to school her expression into anything other than absolutely shocked. She hated that she’d given Robin her attention, she hated that she had stared, she hated that she knew a little too well how the top of Robin’s Buckley chest looked. More than anything, Nancy hated that with just that little exchange that couldn’t have lasted more than a minute, she became thoroughly certain that Robin would win the stupid bet.

 

---

 

Robin got a date offer from the first guy that walked in.

Nancy watched the entire exchange with a frown on her face. At first, she wasn’t sure how to feel about it. She was upset about being about to lose the bet, she was annoyed by Robin’s unshakable confidence, but amused about the girl’s anger. Until she wasn’t. In the end, Nancy was nothing but disgusted and enraged. She hated Robin Buckley, but there were lines in this life that not even the deepest animosity would excuse. There were things she wouldn’t wish on her worst enemy. Things that she couldn’t believe she’d pushed Robin directly toward. 

When the guy walked away, Robin stood frozen in her place behind the register. Nancy approached her slowly and simply spoke her mind. “He was disgusting,” Nancy seethed in a quiet voice.

“Yeah, I know,” Robin exhaled. Her voice broke. She was so visibly holding herself back from something, a violent reaction, and it couldn’t have been healthy to store all that within herself.

“I want to kill him,” Nancy admitted. She couldn’t bear to watch Robin struggle through taking deep breaths to calm herself down and grip the edge of the counter as if her life depended on it. Nancy looked at the crowd of the mall, trying to spot the head of the man that she would gladly strangle herself at that moment if given the opportunity.

Suddenly, Robin turned toward Nancy. “Congrats, Wheeler. I win.” Her voice was particularly raspy, her eyes were glassy, and her face was flush with anger. “Now. Fuck. Off.”

Robin pushed something against Nancy’s chest, it was the napkin where the guy had scribbled the details for their date. Then she stormed past Nancy toward the back of the shop, and Nancy attempted to follow her, needing to check on her because, well, they were both  human, she could hate Robin and care about her wellbeing, right?

Nancy called her name, but all she got was for Robin to turn around once more, and with all the fury that Nancy didn’t think Robin was capable of, she yelled at her, “I mean it this time, Nancy! Go fuck yourself!”

And that was it.

Nancy went back to the front counter, she gave Robin her space, she focused on her work, she tried her best not to dwell on the events of the day and the feelings they had ignited. It was the strangest day Nancy had experienced since she started working at Scoops Ahoy. Robin hid from her for a while, but eventually came out to work as she was supposed to. During the entire day, she didn’t talk to Nancy unless it was extremely necessary. She didn’t flinch away from her, but stopped gravitating toward Nancy, it was just as if Nancy didn’t exist for her. It confirmed that Robin purposefully invaded her personal space daily not as an accident, but it also deeply concerned Nancy to realize she kind of missed it. The job was agonizingly boring without Robin poking fun at her every minute, distracting her, upsetting her, and making her laugh. Robin herself was a worrying sight. Nancy didn’t think Robin Buckley could be serious, stay quiet for longer than a minute, and pass one day without making Nancy regret every decision that led her to share her space with Robin. Nancy couldn’t stop staring at the crease between Robin’s eyebrows, the downward tilt of her lips, which every now and then trembled as if the mere memory of the start of the day could bring her to tears. Robin hadn’t fully cried in front of Nancy that day, something Nancy was thankful for, she had no idea what she would’ve done in that case, her stomach turned into knots thinking about it. What was Robin Buckley doing to her?

Nothing lasts forever. This, thankfully, included the girls' shift at Scoops Ahoy that fateful day. Out of all their bad days, this had been the worst one. Worse than Steve and Jonathan coinciding on the line to get ice cream one day. Worse than Robin dropping a large ice cream on Nancy’s uniform and Nancy dropping a bucket of ice on Robin’s head in retaliation. Worse than Robin's pet names, rude clients, hungry children, and everything combined. So why didn’t Nancy feel relieved when the day was over? What was that feeling of reluctance gluing her to her spot behind the counter? She passionately told herself not to feel guilty, not to feel anything about Robin… but she couldn’t.

When there was finally nothing to do but walk away from the mall for the day, despite what felt like her entire being telling her not to do it, Nancy called Robin’s name. The taller girl stopped in her tracks, turned around slowly, and stared at Nancy until she said, “I’m sorry.”

Robin didn’t reply.

 

---

 

The next day, Nancy woke up feeling terrible. She’d had a terrible night. As much as she hated Robin Buckley with her entire heart, she hated what had happened even more. She couldn’t shake the events of the day off her mind. It kept replaying in her mind, all of it. She did try to skip over a certain part that made her blush, annoyed that she’d even think about it, but it was useless. The rest wasn’t any better either. She felt nauseous whenever she thought about the way that one guy had stared at Robin. It was absurd, Robin had shown the minimum interest possible, and he had taken it as permission to stare as much as wanted, say whatever he wanted, and if the circumstances had been any different he looked like the type to at least attempt to do whatever he wanted with Robin. It made Nancy’s blood boil. That guy had nearly jumped over the counter to get closer to Robin. He didn’t even get the hint when Robin visibly flinched away when he grabbed her hand, and just thinking about the disgusting words he’d written on the napkin that Nancy had torn to pieces and dropped on the toilet of one of the bathrooms of the mall, well, it all made her nearly furious enough to cry. None of that had been part of the dare. None of that was supposed to happen.

After a terrible night, one of those mornings when she couldn’t agree with her parents, her brother, not even her hair, Nancy finally made it to the mall. She felt so tired and in a generally bad mood that she almost forgot how bad things had ended the previous day with Robin. Strangely so, her heart skipped a beat when she noticed Robin arriving with a smile on her face.

“Hey, princess,” Robin greeted her, “I just walked past a cardboard cutout of Tom Cruise that looked like it would totally fall for your wretched flirting techniques. Maybe you should give it a try with inanimate objects, they seem way more compatible with you than regular humans.”

It took Nancy a moment to reply, another moment to recognize the look Robin was sending her way, and an extra moment to reign in her smile. “That’s bold coming from someone that looks like a scarecrow stumbling through a cornfield,” Nancy said with surprising ease for someone who lost sleep about having hurt the same person she was currently insulting. But, here’s the thing, Robin laughed. They were back to normal. It was unclear if Nancy was forgiven, if it had actually been her fault, and what Robin’s thought process had been like since the previous day. But they could agree on one thing, they were back to business as usual.

After Nancy’s first embarrassment of the day, Robin laughed so loudly, and it was beautiful, and also the most horrible thing Nancy could think of. She rolled her eyes, she pushed Robin away, and acted annoyed when that only made Robin laugh even more. She was annoyed, it wasn’t an act, she told herself. Sometimes feelings had to be selected and reaffirmed, and that didn’t mean they were any less real, right? She hated Robin, and just because a little bump in the road had made her sympathize with Robin temporarilly it didn’t mean that they were suddenly friends, or even civil coworkers.

Later in the day, when the two girls stood side by side behind the counter after serving ice cream to a large group that was starting to walk away, Robin waved them goodbye and said, “Scoops Ahoy, scooping Princess Wheeler’s dignity off the floor since 1983.”

“Shut up,” Nancy elbowed Robin in the stomach and stepped away from her, oddly happy to feel her tolerance for the tall and irritating girl finally back to almost running out. “I didn’t even try anything. They were a family, Robin. None of them was even close to my age range.”

“The kids were close to your height,” Robin pointed out, patting Nancy’s head before getting her hand slapped away. “Okay, then! The grandpa. You definitely had a thing for the grandpa. He looked almost as fun as you are.”

“You’re a fucking nightmare,” Nancy hissed.

“Thanks for noticing, sweetheart, I do try my best.”

“You’re lucky we only have spoons instead of knives because- what the hell are you doing?!”

In an instant, Robin had grabbed Nancy’s arm and dragged her through the door to the back of the store, where she pinned her against the wall, hidden from the world, making Nancy’s heart race a thousand miles an hour.

“Shh!” Robin shushed her, and Nancy noticed she looked like she’d just seen a ghost. “It’s the guy!”

“What guy?” Nancy mumbled looking up at Robin. They’d never been so close to each other.

“The guy ,” Robin insisted, “The abhorrent individual that I let stare at my chest to win your childish bet, Wheeler.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah! So I obviously stood him up, but apparently, he didn’t get the hint and now he’s coming over and I’m freaking out and if I have to talk to him ever again I’ll just throw up and then die and you have to do something.”

Nancy was frozen in place. She could’ve simply said no. She could’ve asked, “why me?” She could’ve deflected in any way. But she wasn’t the type that liked to waste time on meaningless detours that would lead to the exact same unavoidable destination. “Stay here,” Nancy finally replied, giving Robin’s shoulder a reassuring touch as she stepped away from her, carefully pushed through the door, and eventually stood confidently behind the counter, staring at the face she’d been fantasizing about punching for twenty-four hours.

“I’m looking for the other girl,” the guy said, his eyes looking over Nancy as if considering if he should change his pick.

“Sorry, she isn’t here,” Nancy replied with her coldest customer service voice.

“I saw her,” he replied, rolling his eyes with utter boredom, convinced that this couldn’t end any other way but his way.

“I’m just trying to make things easier for you,” Nancy said. That got his attention. He frowned, stared at her, and Nancy continued talking in a much slower, colder, deadlier tone. “The way that you stared and talked to her yesterday? It was fucking disgusting, you absolute pig. If you even think about getting close to her, I promise you that her, me, the entire establishment, and the goddamned Starcourt Mall will take legal action against you, asshole. Trust me, we have enough evidence, money, lawyers, and I keep a gun under the counter. Save us the time and save yourself the prison sentence and broken bones as the minimum damage you can think of, and never come back around here, okay?”

Even if he hadn’t been so incredibly pale and pretty much shaking on his feet, his look of outrage was nothing but hilarious. The infamous guy stumbled away from the counter and out of Scoops Ahoy to never return, never to be seen by Robin again, at all.

“That was so fucking hot.”

That sentence made Nancy lose all the fire that she’d assembled for that one encounter. She turned around hastily and exclaimed, “Excuse me?”

“Nancy Wheeler, you absolute menace to humanity, that was incredible!!” Robin exclaimed as she rushed toward Nancy, grabbed her shoulder, and shook her back and forth trying to convey her excitement. “Jesus Christ, babe, that was insane . That was the single coolest thing I’ve seen in my life . You made that dude shit his pants! Is that what you do when you interview people for the newspaper?! Holy shit, Nancy! Forget about the local news and serving ice cream and stupid boys from Indiana. Baby, you could rule this entire fucking world.”

After Robin was done with her speech right in front of Nancy’s face, and done with her shaking her shoulders with uncontainable excitement, she simply moved on, still laughing, she moved past Nancy and got started on serving each of them their favorite ice cream to celebrate. She didn’t even notice she left Nancy Wheeler stunned and frozen and incapable of processing what the hell had just happened.

 

---

---

 

It had been a tough week for Robin, and that could be taken as an understatement. It seemed that her improvised coping mechanism of annoying Nancy Wheeler to avoid Nancy Wheeler had aggressively backfired on Robin. She should’ve known that Nancy would fight back, but how could she have expected Nancy to be as spectacularly tough as she was? One thing was for Robin to get nervous and react disastrously in front of cute girls, but how had that derailed into Nancy threatening a guy with a gun? There were so many layers to her complicated work relationship with Nancy that it often gave Robin a headache. Nancy treated her like dirt, Nancy stood up for her, Nancy was strikingly pretty, Nancy was probably homophobic, Nancy pushed her to a nearly traumatizing experience with a guy, Nancy apologized, Nancy, Nancy, Nancy. There was so much Nancy Wheeler in her mind lately that Robin was starting to think she’d be able to stop acting like she hated Nancy soon, she would genuinely end up hating her. 

As badly as Robin needed a break, to get away from Scoops Ahoy and Nancy Wheeler as possible, the best she could do during her break was to take a seat in one of the booths of the ice cream shop with Steve and the kids that trailed after him like ducklings and enjoy an ice cream for herself, pretending she wasn’t almost sick of it already. When the children got distracted and dispersed around, rolling their eyes at Steve’s motherly calls after them, Robin finally could talk to her best friend in peace.

“You’re like a preschool teacher,” she pointed out, pushing Steve’s shoulder with hers.

“Shut up, Robin. You like them, too,” Steve grumbled and dove into his ice cream.

The pause in their conversation gave Robin a window to stare, well, glance at Nancy as the other girl continued to work on the counter. Of course, she wouldn’t stare at Nancy. Life would be much easier if she simply didn’t have to see Nancy Wheeler at all. As if Nancy had a Robin Buckley alarm in the back of her head, she immediately looked up and met Robin’s eyes. A second later she was frowning, an automatic and adorable reaction to seeing Robin, who took it as an invitation to wink at her. Nancy rolled her eyes, and Robin could almost hear her cute little scoff from there. Nancy discreetly raised her middle finger at Robin, who matched the gesture proudly, adding a mocking grin for good measure. 

Robin was pulled out of the hilarious, in her opinion, interaction, by Steve. “How’s Nance?” He asked.

“She’s okay,” Robin replied, suddenly very interested in her ice cream.

“Okay? Really? Is that all you’re going to give me?” Steve insisted.

Robin thought about it for a moment. What could she say? Nancy was the most infuriating person she’d ever met, she was prettier from up close, she hated Robin’s guts, she was fascinating, complicated, possibly scary, and still a damn priss. “She’s the devil incarnate,” Robin shrugged, and finally met Steve’s prying eyes with a teasing smirk, “I don’t know what you saw in her.”

“Oh, come on!” Steve scoffed, a little flustered, making Robin laugh at him. “Seriously? She is… Listen, I say this from a completely moved on from her space of mind but, Robs, she’s gorgeous! Come on, you have eyes, and you… you know.”

“Hush, dingus!” Robin shushed him and looked around, just in case. He’d been pretty quiet, he hadn’t actually said anything incriminating, but she could never be too careful in Hawkins. Besides, this little act granted her a little extra time to think of what to say and pray she wasn’t blushing. “Okay, yeah, I have eyes,” Robin admitted, without admitting anything, really, she thought. “But her personality leaves much to be desired, you know?”

“No, I don’t?” Steve appeared genuinely confused by the accusation against Nancy. “She’s smart, and badass, and beautiful, and uh…”

“Oh wow,” Robin interrupted him with the most unimpressed look she could manage. “ Three adjectives? That’s impressive of you, Harrington. Yeah, I can see why she’s one of the wonders of the world.”

Steve rolled his eyes at her and through a mouthful of ice cream told her, “See? You know more words than me! You could probably describe her much better than me.”

Robin snorted. “A few words come to mind, yes,” she said, raising her eyebrows. That made Steve laugh. He was well informed of Robin's complicated relationship with Nancy and how little they tolerated each other. Well, he was missing a few key factors that added some layers of complexity to the case but, until Robin managed to understand her feelings for the frustrating and confusing girl that worked with her, she would keep those feelings to herself.

That’s not to say she wasn’t thinking about what Steve said. She could think of a few words to describe Nancy Wheeler. Contrary to what she let her best friend believe, her mind didn’t immediately fill only with insults. Along with prissy and brutal and implacable, she thought about perceptive, witty, splendid, addictive, and more words that made her shift in her seat and avoid looking back at Nancy, even when she couldn’t have been any more certain that Nancy was, in fact, staring at her from behind the counter. 

 

---

---

 

Usually, Nancy would go out of her way to avoid the mall during her days off, but she just really needed to do some shopping for herself and decided to be brave, hold her head up high and deal with it. It was meant to be easy, simple, and quick. A harmless adventure. Just go in and out, avoid the ice cream place, and do not, under any circumstances, think about Robin Buckley. Days off were a blessing from the gods to Nancy personally, so she would get a break from all the Robin in her life. And she was relieved, she was really, really relieved. She wasn’t bored, not at all, not in the slightest. Obviously , she didn’t miss that smug grin, those mischievous blue eyes, the little melodies played by fingers restlessly tapping the counter, the not-as-funny-as-she-thinks comments about their clients that Nancy tried and sometimes failed not to laugh at, the horrifying pet names, the bickering, the random gentleness that sometimes slipped through the cracks of Robin’s cocky facade. All of those things and more were definitely out and far away from Nancy’s mind, who was extremely relieved and not disappointed about a day without Robin’s annoying shine making her wince and look away to protect herself from any possible damages caused by overexposure. 

At last, Nancy was done with her shopping spree, and she totally did not think about Robin and why she made that stupid messy hair look better than most girls did after hours in the salon and why the contrast of the pale skin, the constellation of freckles, dark eyeliner, and crystal clear blue eyes was so effective. The last stop before going back home was the bathroom. Nancy walked in a little distracted by fumbling with the two bags she was carrying. She had almost made it to the sinks when she heard the last voice she wanted to hear, which explained the way her heart skipped a beat, it was just a jump scare, like in a horror movie.

“Did you miss me that badly, princess? Are you stalking me?” Robin asked her. She was leaning against the sinks and smiling a little too brightly for Nancy’s liking, but she detested all of Robin’s multitude of smirks, except maybe the soft smiles she sometimes got on her face that seem completely involuntary, but the point remained. 

Nancy felt her mood sour at the sight of the other girl, and she nearly dropped her bags to the floor. As if Robin’s voice hadn’t been aggravating enough, it was the first time that Nancy saw her wearing anything other than her Scoops Ahoy uniform. They must have crossed paths at school at some point, but this was different . This was Robin wearing a dark jacket with too many patches for Nancy to identify them at first sight, matching dark striped pants, the same scarce makeup except for the eyeliner, and the rings on her fingers as well as the chains around her neck just looked different in these circumstances. It wasn’t a good thing for Nancy.

 “What are you doing here?” Nancy scoffed.

“In… the bathroom?” Robin’s smirk got bigger and she raised one playful eyebrow at Nancy. “I’ll let you guess, baby. There are a few possible answers, you know.”

“Whatever,” Nancy rolled her eyes and turned toward the mirror.

She found the idea of going into one of the stalls while Robin was in the bathroom to be sort of mortifying, so she decided to hesitate by the sinks. She placed her bags carefully on the floor by her side and chose to check her makeup in the mirror. Robin just happened to be occupied doing the exact same thing. It was… strange. They were alone together in a small space that wasn’t behind the counter of Scoops Ahoy. It felt oddly private. There was more space between them in that bathroom than there usually was during busy days when they worked shoulder to shoulder serving ice cream, and somehow the tension was even worse. This distance felt wrong , as if they had to be either impossibly close or as far from each other as possible. Near but not enough to touch didn’t feel right between them, and that was a thought that sent chills down Nancy’s spine. The small tremble in her body drew Robin’s attention toward her, but when Nancy tried to look at her, Robin looked away. But then there was the damn mirror, showing each other every movement the other one made, even if they wanted to see it or not. 

The worst part was the silence. Since when they were silent around each other? Nancy had been so sure Robin was incapable of shutting up. There was a saying about if you have nothing nice to say, don’t say anything at all. It never applied between them. The more terrible things they had to say to each other the better. It made this unusual silence nearly unbearable. Nancy was starting to worry how much longer she could pretend to fix and reapply and fix her lipstick again. Surely Robin didn’t have to take that much time putting on mascara. Eventually, one of them had to give up and move on from this excruciating stage they were in. Nancy could’ve cheered loudly when Robin ended up being the one to break the silence, and involuntarily nonetheless.

“Fuck!” Robin muttered, and groaned in frustration.

Nancy turned to look at her without being discreet this time and immediately noticed what was wrong. One of Robin’s bracelets had caught a strand of blonde hair and was refusing to let go. Robin appeared to have no patience to deal with it carefully, but the more she yanked her wrist or her head to one side or the other, it only got worse. 

“Do you need help?” Nancy asked her with barely contained laughter.

“Fuck no,” Robin hissed through gritted teeth, continuing to struggle to free herself.

Nancy hummed thoughtfully, fully turned toward the entertaining spectacle ahead of her, and said, “So this is what you meant when you said you were uncoordinated. You’re a total klutz, huh?”

“Fuck off, Wheeler,” Robin grumbled, but Nancy could tell she was running out of steam to fight off this situation. Nancy didn’t appreciate the fact that she’d grown so familiar with all the little inflections in Robin’s voice to notice this kind of thing, but at least it came in handy to make the most of the moment she’d been waiting for for so long, Robin Buckley embarrassing herself in front of Nancy.

“That looks like it hurts,” Nancy winced in fake sympathy, and started getting closer to Robin. “Karma’s a bitch huh?”

“If you don’t shut up right now…”

“What?” Nancy laughed. “I doubt you can do much with one hand disabled.”

“You’d be surprised,” Robin answered without missing a beat. She turned toward Nancy with a sly smile on her face and a fire in her eyes, almost enough to distract from the rest of her current situation.

Nancy gritted her teeth and chose to ignore the comment. “Should I go pick up some scissors? I promise I’d give you a lovely haircut,” Nancy said with faux innocence, batting her eyelashes at Robin and stepping even closer, delighted to see the taller girl take a step away from her.

“Like hell I’m going to let you come anywhere near my neck with a pair of scissors, Wheeler. Get out of here before I lose my patience, okay? I still have both legs and you look as fragile as a twig and- fuck!” Robin snapped, mostly at herself, when her latest attempt at freedom hurt her scalp too badly.

“You look so ridiculous,” Nancy laughed, as much as she could, pushing her laugh to last and humiliate Robin as much as possible. Still, when she calmed down, she took pity on Robin and, trying to make it obvious that it was just pity and nothing else, she said, “Okay, are you done with your tantrum, Buckley? Are you going to let me help you now?”

Robin scoffed, “Do you have a thing for me telling you to fuck off? Go away, Wheeler.”

As per usual, Nancy ignored Robin’s words and insisted, “Don’t be a baby! Let me help.”

“I’m not- Okay! Okay, fine!”

“Fine… what?” Nancy asked. She tilted her head a little and grinned expectantly. Robin frowned deeply at her. “I want to hear you say it,” Nancy explained, “Say, please, Nancy, help me.”

“I fucking hate you,” Robin said, smiling coldly at her.

“Okay, let’s try again,” Nancy cleared her throat patiently and took the final step into Robin’s personal space. ”Say, please, Nancy, help me, I’m a fucking fool that got herself in a painfully embarrassing situation and I would die without your help, I’m pathetic and desperate, Nancy, please…”

Nancy’s words were cut short all at once. She’d finally pushed Robin just a little too much. Robin reached out with her free hand, grabbed a fistful of the neck of Nancy’s shirt, and pulled her forward almost hard enough to make their bodies collide. Nancy hated herself for the breathless gasp that escaped her just as she looked up at Robin’s darkened eyes that were looking down angrily at her.

“Are you going to help or not?” Robin asked her slowly, but Nancy couldn’t find it in herself to form any words. Robin appeared to take this as reluctance to help her, and she quietly added, not so fiercely anymore, “Please?”

Nancy gulped and nodded. Feeling just a little more composed, she slapped Robin’s hand away from her. “Don’t you dare put your hands on me,” Nancy hissed.

Robin raised her one hand up as a sign of acceptance, and then she stood quiet and still for the first time in her life as Nancy got to work. It wasn’t so easy. It was more than one bracelet, they were tangled with each other and with Robin’s hair. Nancy was completely focused, partially because she loved puzzles and challenges and succeeding at something Robin had failed at, but mostly because she needed to be hyper-focused on the task at hand so she could ignore her proximity to the other girl. She could hear Robin breathing, right there so close to her face, it made her want to die.

When she was about halfway done, Nancy couldn’t help but notice from the corner of her eye that Robin was smiling. “Why are you smiling?” she wondered quietly.

“You look cute standing on your tiptoes for me,” Robin answered truthfully.

Nancy scoffed, but this wasn’t a comment that she could ignore so easily. Now that Robin had pointed out the fact that Nancy had subconsciously moved to stand on her tiptoes to reach better access to Robin’s head, she couldn’t stop thinking about it. Being self-conscious about it affected her balance. She started swaying a little, shifting from one foot to the other, seconds away from falling down just because she refused to hold on to Robin for stability. Surprisingly for Nancy, Robin didn’t push her away just for the delight of watching her fall, as Nancy would’ve expected from her. Instead, Robin’s hand reached out tentatively and placed her hand on Nancy’s hip, immediately steadying her.

“I got you,” Robin whispered and, remembering what Nancy said to her a minute ago, she asked, “Is this okay?”

“Mhm,” Nancy mumbled, not trusting her voice at the moment. Besides, just a couple of seconds more, despite her suddenly unsteady fingers, and… “Done!” Nancy announced proudly, and relieved.

“Great!” Robin exclaimed, raising both arms over her head to enjoy her newfound freedom. This, however, meant she let go of Nancy and startled her enough to lose her balance.

What followed was a terribly awkward dance of Nancy flinging her arms around as she fell, Robin catching her at the last minute, Nancy fighting the feeling of Robin’s arms around her, Robin letting her go again, Nancy instinctively reaching out for Robin, but then both of them stumbling with the bags Nancy left on the floor, Nancy stepping to the side and almost letting Robin fall flat on her face but automatically pulling her in by her jacket, and Robin stumbling back up and against Nancy. The accidental choreography was accompanied by a chorus of Shit! Don’t- Sorry! Robin! Fuck it! Robin?! Ah! Robin!!

In the end, both girls were breathless, flushed, tangled with each other, feeling their hearts beating erratically, not even upset about the fact their bodies were intertwined, touching at many points that would’ve terrified them if they were thinking about it. Nancy had her back against one of the sinks, with one hand gripping the edge of it tightly, and the other one holding on just as securely onto Robin’s upper arm.

“Holy shit,” Robin sighed. She had one arm wrapped around Nancy’s waist, a hand clutching the sink behind Nancy, and her head bowed with her forehead resting on Nancy’s shoulder.

“You really are the most uncoordinated person I know,” Nancy pointed out and thoroughly failed to transmit any venom through her words. Instead, laughter bubbled out of her. A second later both of them were shaking as they laughed together at the situation they got themselves into. Robin’s hand slid through the edge of the sink, her pinky finger brushed Nancy’s thumb, and neither of them pulled away.

“Oh… my God.”

It was like getting struck by lightning, Nancy thought. Someone else said that. Someone else had walked into the bathroom at the worst possible second. There was someone else standing there, staring with wide eyes and an open jaw and more than a little amused as Robin and Nancy jumped away from each other so aggressively that Robin ended up knocking her back against one of the stall’s doors.

“Chrissy!” Robin greeted the intruder with an unusual high-pitched tone that immediately grabbed Nancy’s attention.

“I’m… sorry,” Chrissy mumbled. She looked a little embarrassed, and Nancy couldn’t figure out why. She kept looking between Robin and Nancy and back again. “I didn’t know…”

“What?” Nancy asked.

Almost at the same time that Robin said “Nothing.”

Chrissy laughed . It was a quick, pretty sound, and then she shrugged. “I just,” she fumbled for words and just repeated, “I didn’t know…”

“What?!”

“Nothing!”

“I mean, Nancy…” Chrissy couldn’t wipe the smile off her face, Robin looked like she would jump through the window if she could, and Nancy had never felt so frustrated about not knowing what was going around her as she did then. “Well, I didn’t know you were taken ,” Chrissy said slowly and with a lively tone that Nancy was certain had some hidden meaning to it.

“I… am not,” Nancy repeated, and she didn’t know why Robin shook her head to corroborate her point, but it was just the truth.

“Oh! Oh, I’m sorry,” Chrissy repeated and she finally looked like she regretted walking into the bathroom right then. Her grimace was short lived though, she was thoughtful for a moment and then her eyes narrowed curiously. “Does that mean you… are single?” She asked.

“I… guess?” Nancy replied, entirely confused by the spark in Chrissy’s eyes. Did she look… interested? Before she or Chrissy could ask any further questions, Robin interrupted them.

“Chrissy! Hi! Hello,” Robin said, a little too loudly to overcompensate for the suffocating awkwardness in that bathroom. “It’s, uh, nice to see you again. I, um, we, we were just leaving. We… yeah, the two of us were just about to leave so…”

“Right!” Chrissy’s eyes widened, as if she’d caught some hidden meaning in Robin’s words that Nancy wished she’d had subtitles for. “Of course! Yeah, no, that’s cool. It’s okay, it’s, um, it’s fine! Actually… actually, you know what, I’m gonna go. I’m just.. yeah, I’m leaving.”

“Um, okay,” Robin nodded repeatedly, and buried her hands in the pockets of her jacket as she shifted uncomfortably in her place. “Sorry! I didn’t mean to… It’s really not…”

“No, it’s okay! Robin, really. And… you know, it was nice to see you, um, again ,” Chrissy gave Robin a little nostalgic smile, and then, with an awkward wave, she fled the scene of the most confusing moment of Nancy’s life. A storm of thoughts, suspicions, and rumors she’d tried to ignore were currently crashing against the windows of Nancy’s mind like rocks trying to get in to cause havoc inside.

Nancy took a deep breath, trying desperately to get her bearings again, but it was difficult. Helplessly, she looked at Robin to gauge her reaction, but Robin was intently staring at the bathroom floor, looking very tense, still with her hands balled into fists at the bottom of her jacket’s pockets. Slowly, Robin took a step forward, and Nancy was certain Robin would run away from her but, as if changing her mind at the last second, Robin turned toward her hastily and… apologized , as if Nancy wasn’t already thrown off enough.

“I’m sorry if that made you, like, uncomfortable or something,” Robin said, her voice just plainly honest in a way that Nancy rarely heard.

“What?” Nancy blurted out. It was just the only thing that came to her mind after the last few minutes of her life, but Robin took it as an actual question, and the answer finally ended up blowing Nancy’s mind.

“You know,” Robin shrugged awkwardly and her eyes shifted away from Nancy and then back carefully to check how she’d react, “Chrissy… being half a second away to hit on you?”

“Oh!” Nancy said. “Oh… Is that… what was happening?”

“Yeah, I don’t know, she must have assumed the wrong thing, I don’t know why , and uh, I’m sorry,” Robin said quickly, and then right in front of Nancy’s eyes, she seemed to change her mind, as if she regretted apologizing, and when she spoke again, her tone was definitely accusatory. “Is that a problem for you?”

Nancy took a moment to reply. Her brain was still somewhere around the time she walked into the bathroom, she hadn’t even begun to process the fact that Chrissy Cunningham of all people was into women, but the answer to Robin’s question wasn’t difficult at all. “No! Of course not,” she said, “and I like Chrissy.”

“You-”

“Not like that!” Nancy was quick to add, frightened by the utter shock that momentarily took over Robin’s face.

“Oh.”

“Yeah.”

“Okay,” Robin sighed heavily. At least she looked as shaken as Nancy felt about whatever the hell had happened that day in that bathroom. “Okay,” she repeated, more quietly, slowly recovering.

“Robin, did you…”

“You dropped your bags,” Robin interrupted her so fast that the words barely made sense, coming so quickly out of her mouth.

Nancy frowned and looked at the spilled contents of her shopping bags. “ You kicked my bags,” Nancy pointed out, kneeling down to fix the mess they’d made.

“ Your bags nearly killed me,” Robin protested, joining Nancy on the floor, she crouched down and picked up a soft sweater to delicately push it back inside the bags.

“You’re a stupidly weak creature,” Nancy threw back at her with a smile that wasn’t quite as cold as she intended it to be.

“You’re a liability to humanity.”

“You’re a plague and I’d be doing humanity a favor!”

Robin opened her mouth to reply, and Nancy waited half eagerly and half ready to punch the smug smirk off her face. But then Robin pointed at the lace bra currently on top of the shopping bag closest to Nancy. “Is that for Chrissy?” Robin asked in a whisper.

“Idiot!” Nancy said with a gasp. She reached out and with all the strength she could muster she pushed Robin’s shoulder. 

As expected, Robin lost her balance completely. She fell backward onto the bathroom floor, but that didn’t stop her from laughing as loudly and brightly as ever. Nancy scoffed, picked up her bags in a haste, and jumped to her feet.

“Hey, angel, I’m sorry!” Robin called out after her.

“Yeah right,” Nancy groaned and, as a second thought, added, “See you on Monday.”

That display of civility got Robin’s attention, but when she stopped laughing to raise her head off the floor, all she saw was Nancy holding her middle finger up to her and then walking through the door. She left Robin Buckley lying on the bathroom floor with a content smile on her face.

Notes:

love wins, your rude coworker is actually not homophobic!!

thanks for readinggg

I'm loving the response to this fic, please keep the comments coming, they are the best thing in the world and I'm losing my mind about them, I love all of you <3

so many ideas for the next chapters. in the meantime, I also have other fics posted and new ones coming soon! I'm also on tumblr as @ronancebuckley where you can message me any time

thanks again, and see you soon!

Chapter 3: Very separable, thank you very much

“Here,” Robin said, passing Nancy a mop.

“What for?” Nancy asked her with a confused frown.

“To wipe your self-respect off the floor, baby. I think you dropped it.”

“Buckley!” Nancy yelled at her, and grabbed the mop only so she could hit her maddening coworker with it. Despite Robin’s unstoppable laughter, Nancy was content knowing at least one of her hits must have landed. While her coworker searched for cover, Nancy thought about their current dynamic.

Something between them had… changed. Or maybe the entire world had changed and it was their little bubble in Scoops Ahoy that suddenly felt off its axis, Nancy wasn’t sure. All she knew for sure was that, no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t erase from her mind the day she ran into Robin in the mall’s bathroom. Robin’s breath grazing her cheek, Robin’s hands on her waist, Robin’s reaction when Chrissy walked into the bathroom, Chrissy’s entire behavior in that awfully awkward encounter. Had Robin been telling the truth, when she said Chrissy had been about to show romantic interest in Nancy? More importantly, how did Robin know so much about Chrissy Cunningham's personal interests? Nancy’s mind was a mess as she tried to decide if she cared or not, and why all of it, every little detail, mattered or not.

Robin wasn’t being of much help, which wasn’t exactly surprising. But the fact that she seemed to know exactly which questions were floating restlessly in Nancy’s mind drove her mad. Robin was going out of her way to avoid, interrupt, or distract Nancy as much as humanly possible and then some more, especially when Nancy tried to bring up the subject, or even when it just looked like she might be about to say anything remotely serious.

On the first day back to work since the incident, Nancy had only said, “Hey, Robin…”

And she was immediately interrupted by Robin saying, “No, Wheeler, I don’t have a less attractive brother you could date, and I would never do such harm to my own family.”

“What the fuck,” Nancy groaned and went back to aggressively serving ice cream to a new client.

Later that day, when Nancy thought she’d seen Chrissy in the distance, she said, “Hey, is that…”

“Your chances at finding true love? Oh, no, baby, that’s always been a mirage,” Robin interrupted her quickly. She earned a dishcloth thrown at her face, but she seemed just proud enough of her joke. However, Robin had an additional strategy on top of avoidance and annoyance. “ But if you’re really that desperate to see Chrissy again, I could give you her number,” Robin whispered in a seductive tone close to Nancy’s ear that would surely give her nightmares, nightmares, and not any other kind of dream, definitely nightmares.

“I- It’s not- I’m not! It’s…” Nancy fumbled with her words and frowned deeply at Robin, who patiently waited for an answer. Nancy couldn’t make sense of the expectation and fear and anger she saw in Robin’s eyes as she stared her down. Nancy huffed impatiently and grabbed the fabric of Robin’s uniform at her shoulder, forcefully bringing her down so Robin would hear her loud and clear. “It’s not a bad thing,” Nancy hissed, speaking slowly and quietly, mindful of eavesdroppers, “I’m just not interested in Chrissy, like that.”

Robin blinked at her and slowly rose back to her full height, making Nancy let go of her. The staring contest wasn’t over. “So you’re not bothered about it, at all?” She asked.

“No,” Nancy answered sternly.

“Not offended in any way?” 

Nancy scoffed impatiently. She had an idea of the insult on the tip of Robin’s tongue and she wouldn’t stand for it. “Are you offended by one of our classmates liking girls?” Nancy accused her with an angry little whisper that was incomparable to the loud disbelieving chuckle that came out of Robin.

“Oh, please! Come on. I…” Robin laughed awkwardly, struggling to keep up her outrage. She went to run her hands through her hair, and ended up knocking off her own Scoops Ahoy hat and stumbling around to catch it before it hit the floor. When she got the situation under a minimum of control, she told Nancy, “Look! One of your ex-boyfriends is bringing you flowers.”

“What?!”

Nancy whirled around quickly, and she found nothing but self-reproach for falling for one more of Robin’s tricks. She didn’t need to turn around to see that Robin had effectively fled the scene. Nancy sighed gravely. This situation was giving her a headache. Something about the equation didn’t fit. She had heard a rumor or two about Chrissy, and, if she was being honest with herself, ten or twenty rumors about Robin. But Nancy lived on a strict anti-gossip policy, she refused to give any attention to those harmful and sincerely stupid practices that some of her classmates entertained. It was simply and decidedly not her business. She wouldn’t have believed or cared to find out about Chrissy if it weren’t for the way that Chrissy herself had looked at her and Robin that day. But what about Robin? What if the rumors were wrong? What if everyone got it so wrong that it turned out Robin was homophobic? The thought brought chills to Nancy’s body and she wanted to reject it immediately. She couldn’t imagine a world where Robin, awful and detestable Robin, would be genuinely horrible like that. It didn’t make any sense. And yet, it was better to entertain those terrible thoughts than to try to make sense of everything else happening around her and in some deep, deep corners of her mind. 

 

---

 

Just because Nancy was currently in the eye of a storm that was the blurry lines that connect her, Chrissy, and Robin, and trying to figure out why there was a storm in her mind in the first place, it didn’t mind that she didn’t have time to fight with Robin about other subjects.

“You can’t keep giving free ice cream to my brother and his friends!” Nancy complained one day. 

“Darling, I couldn’t care less about Mike being your brother,” Robin had the audacity to roll her eyes at her. “Though that might explain why he’s my least favorite.”

That earned Robin a harsh push from Nancy, who muttered under her breath, “Still my brother.”

“Whatever,” Robin huffed, trying to act like Nancy hadn’t just made her nearly lose her balance. “They’re Steve’s children. He’ll pay for the ice cream… eventually.”

“He won’t,” Nancy protested. “He’s your best friend, and since you’re a despicable creature, you won’t be paying either, and when we have to explain the incongruences in the balance of the shop…”

“Oh my god, are you hearing yourself?” Robin laughed bitterly at her, further angering Nancy. “It’s really not that serious. Just because you’re an uptight-”

“Do not finish that sentence, you asshole,” Nancy interrupted her harshly. “I might hate this job but I intend to keep it for as long as I need, and I’m not going to let you ruin it.”

“You’re ridiculous,” Robin chuckled once again. They were back to standing inches away from each other, fuming and frowning at each other. “Have you seriously not figured out that that the world doesn’t fucking care if little Nancy Wheeler follows every rule like the perfect little suburban princess she thinks she is? You’re not as important as you think you are, angel, you’re just another dirty piece of trash like you so stubbornly seem to believe everyone else around you is!”

“You don’t fucking know me, Buckley. You don’t want to know me,” Nancy was seething. “At least I care about what I do with my life, instead of whatever pathetic circus act you’re trying to pull, but I hope you’re happy knowing the greatest thing you’re doing with your life is being an insignificant annoyance to everyone around you.”

“You’re a bitch.”

“You’re a piece of shit.”

“Can I order my ice cream now?”

“Oh my God, we were in the middle of something!” Robin exclaimed at the man standing expectantly on the other side of the counter, not even trying to mask her irritation. She turned to face him, but she looked over her shoulder at Nancy and said, “I got this, princess. Go look for a shiny rock or something to make up for the heart you don’t have, okay?”

Nancy did walk away, she had nothing else to do there, and she needed to put some space between her and Robin. It seemed like every day their arguing only escalated, and they moved closer and closer. Someday one of them would snap, and Nancy had serious trouble picturing what that could look like.

 

---

---

 

Everything was fine , Robin thought. Everything was perfectly and undeniably fine . Chrissy hadn’t completely outed her in front of Nancy, Nancy seemed to not be a raging homophobe, and Robin was handling her feelings about the entire situation with perfect ease and calm. Most of this was, obviously, a lie. But the “hey, it could be worse, so it’s okay” mentality had gotten her this far, so there was no reason to give it up just yet.

Sure, there were plenty of things she currently didn’t understand about herself and Nancy Wheeler and whatever exhausting and possibly harmful atmosphere they had created between them, but that wasn’t enough to let herself actually lose her mind about it, right? She was confused because it wasn’t the first time she had made a fool of herself in the presence of a cute girl. It wasn’t even the first time that she impulsively projected a tough exterior as a means to protect herself from embarrassment, rejection, or outright violence. However, it was certainly the first time that this impulse to argue and upset and protect herself reached these explosive levels. What was it about Nancy Wheeler that inspired Robin to turn into the other girl’s worst nightmare?

She was aware that Nancy was beyond beautiful, and she was unique and smart unlike anyone else Robin had ever met, that wasn’t new information. By now, Robin could say with certainty that she had managed to avoid catching feelings for the other girl. Despite their inescapable physical closeness at work, the teasing and bickering, the staring contests and little touches that spoke a thousand words, the crumbs of gentleness and sweetness scattered in between the apparent hatred and disgust… despite all the things that sometimes kept Robin awake at night, she also knew too well how awful Nancy could be. She’d seen too much, she wouldn’t let herself fall for Nancy, for someone that a week ago Robin wouldn’t have hesitated to accuse of being homophobic.

But that was the thing, wasn’t it? If Nancy didn’t hate Robin for being a lesbian, regardless of the fact that she seemed to know not for sure yet, it meant that Nancy truly and deeply hated Robin just for the person she was. That, if Robin was being honest with herself, wasn’t much better. It certainly didn’t make her feel any better. In fact, it probably only spurred her on to defy Nancy and push her buttons. She’d noticed the way they drifted closer and closer whenever they were in the heat of a fight, throwing insults back and forth. Somewhere in the back of her mind, Robin hoped that maybe if she got close enough to Nancy, if she managed to push her enough, break through her defensive walls, maybe Nancy would see her, and maybe she wouldn’t hate what she found. It was a strange backward method, but Robin couldn’t picture doing the opposite, lowering her own protective walls and risking everything just for a little bit of approval from the most fascinating girl in Hawkins.

Besides, Robin had other problems far more pressing than Nancy Wheeler. For example, she had just made a bet with Max that said Steve was going to lose at whatever made-up game he had begrudgingly accepted to play with the four boys that were currently overwhelming him as they all walked a few steps ahead of Robin, who walked in the middle of El and Max. This was serious business for Robin. She was in the middle of laughing at the sight of Steve and Dustin stumbling against each other when she heard El ask her something that made her blood boil.

“How’s Nancy?” the girl asked.

“Why does everyone keep asking me that ?!” Robin groaned.

“Because you work with her? Duh. You’re inseparable,” Max intervened.

Robin bristled at the accusation. “Um, we’re very separable, thank you very much,” she pointed out, lightly shoving Max away from her. “Do not think of me and Nancy Wheeler as a combined unit, please .”

Max scoffed, and tried to shove Robin too, but El posed another question, “Why don’t you like her?”

“It’s complicated,” Robin sighed. She thought about her stupid instinct to make Nancy hate her in order to avoid liking her. She thought about Nancy’s worst insults, best smiles, her traumatizing dare, her knight in shining armor moment, the way she looked in her silly uniform, and the way she blushed when they accidentally met each other that day in the bathroom. “We’re, uh, we’re just too different,” Robin eventually explained.

“No shit,” Max laughed, and Robin joined in, but this time El interrupted them not with a question but with a very powerful, annoyingly significant statement.

“Opposites attract…” El pointed out in a sort of sing-song voice. It kind of seemed like something she’d heard once and, after asking about the meaning, embraced it stubbornly, but she seemed to know exactly when to drop every new comment she learned.

“Oh, shut up, kid,” Robin scoffed.

It was El’s turn to receive a lighthearted push. She fought back just like Max did, and in a matter of seconds, Robin found herself happily overwhelmed by the same kids that she’d teased Steve so much about. See, Robin told herself, she had other things to worry about besides whatever Nancy Wheeler thought about her. Just because the entire conversation had revolved around Nancy didn’t mean she was thinking about Nancy or strangely looking forward to going back to work… maybe.

 

---

---

 

“I did it,” Nancy said, a little breathlessly, not too loudly, mostly talking to herself.

As expected, Robin disappointed her and, instead of minding her own business, she spoke up. “What? Did you find a cure for your tyrannical personality?” Robin asked her, without looking up for the book she was currently reading in the back room of the ice cream shop.

“I got his number,” Nancy explained, still barely above a whisper, not even sure of how to react. And it seemed she wasn’t the only one.

“Oh shit,” Robin gulped and put down her book. “Um, really?”

“Yeah,” Nancy shrugged and held up the little napkin where a perfectly friendly and averagely handsome boy had written his number in. She thought she’d be a little more excited, and she thought Robin would be… anything other than that combination of impressed, confused, and maybe even disappointed that was coloring her face. “His name is William, I had never met him before, and he, uh, well, he wrote his phone number here,” Nancy explained, albeit a little awkwardly, waving the little piece of paper in front of her.

“Oh. That’s cool,” Robin said quietly, picking up her book again, even though she didn’t go back to reading yet, only started toying with it between her hands, making her rings once again catch Nancy’s attention, one of them she hadn’t seen ever before. “Are you, uh, going to call him?”

“I… think so? Should I call him this afternoon? Is that, I don’t know, too forward?” Nancy blurted out before she realized she was asking for advice from Robin Buckley. Surprisingly, even though Robin immediately put on one of her smug smirks that Nancy hated so much, there was some softened quality to it, and, at least, it was enough to break the awkwardness that had unexplainably fallen over them.

“Well, if he gave you his number then he couldn’t have been more desperate,” Robin said, and then added, “I think you should go for it, love. We have a phone here. And, uh, congratulations, I guess.”

Nancy managed to keep herself from thanking her, telling herself she didn’t trust Robin’s sincerity, but she couldn’t hold back her smile, about having succeeded in getting a boy’s number, not about Robin’s words, not at all. She walked away and let Robin go back to her book. 

 

---

 

“Baby, I swear to God, if you don’t make up your mind right now, I’ll call the guy myself and tell him to-”

“Don’t you dare , Buckley,” Nancy said, and interrupted her nervous pacing along the back room of the shop to glare at her coworker. “And don’t call me that.” 

“Okay, sweetheart. Are you going to call or not?” Robin asked her with a playful eyebrow raised. They were in the middle of their break, and Robin was sitting at the small table in the back room while Nancy lost her mind.

Nancy sighed and placed her hands on her hips. “Why do you care?” She questioned Robin, and found herself surprisingly interested in the answer.

“I… I, uh, I don’t . I really, really don’t care,” Robin laughed, cleared her throat, and messed around with a pencil she picked up from the table. “I couldn’t care less about, uh, about your call, and this guy, and, and, uh, whatever stupidly boring date you’ll probably get and, whatever . You’re just distracting me with all your frantic pacing. You already look like an insane hamster, babe, you don’t have to try harder.”

Nancy’s frown deepened at the number of words that just fell from Robin’s mouth, but she chose to just shake her head and ignore her. “Whatever, Robin, just… if you do something to embarrass me, I will strangle you right here and now, okay?”

“I didn’t know you were into that, Wheeler,” Robin grinned.

“Buckley!”

“Okay! Okay… I’ll behave,” Robin promised, with a mischievous wink that sent chills down Nancy’s spine, probably because of how unreliable Robin seemed, nothing else. “I wouldn’t dare to burst your bubble, ruin your miracle, stop you from riding off into the sunset with a total stranger, etcetera. Just make the stupid call, okay? I’m trying to work on my Spanish over here.” She waved her hands over the things she currently had in front of her on the table, a book, a notebook, and a pencil. That wasn’t homework, it was summer, that was just… Robin.

Nancy took a moment to process that information, and she felt about a dozen questions just right there on the tip of her tongue. She had to make a conscious effort to convince herself that Robin Buckley’s Spanish skills were a completely unimportant thing in her life. So, she bit her tongue, turned away from Robin and her completely uninteresting Spanish studies, and went over to the phone. 

In retrospect, Nancy wished she would’ve asked Robin about her Spanish skills.

“Hello,” Nancy said when someone picked up the call. “Is, um, is William there?”

There was a long pause, just pure silence. Nancy could feel Robin’s eyes burning in the back of her head.

“Hello?” Nancy insisted, trying to sound confident.

“Nancy…” A rough voice whispered through the receiver, and there was some shuffle in the background of the call.

“William? Hi. How are you?” Nancy asked, feeling dread grow in the pit of her stomach.

“Oh, Nancy!” a deep male voice moaned and it finally clicked in Nancy’s mind what was happening. There were a few more seconds of disgusting moans and lewd sounds and then the men started laughing. It became all too obvious. There was a group of boys surrounding the phone on the other side of the line. It was all a prank. She’d fallen for it.

Nancy was frozen, listening as they all laughed and continued to fake moans and say her name in increasingly upsetting tones. It was all interrupted by a different sound coming from behind Nancy, the sound of a chair screeching on the floor, shortly followed by footsteps stomping toward her.

Robin gently pried the phone from Nancy’s hand and then with a completely unexpected force, she slammed the receiver back on the wall.

“Fuck!” Robin exclaimed, sending a death glare to the phone. “Fuck, fuck, I fucking knew it ! I’m going to kill him, I swear I’m going to poison his next ice cream, I’m going to put fucking glass on it, I’m going to-”

“Robin,” Nancy interrupted her quietly in comparison to Robin’s outraged exclamations. “What do you mean you ‘knew it’?”

“Huh? I…” Robin finally turned away from the phone on the wall and faced Nancy. She couldn’t have looked more guilty if she’d tried.

“You knew this was going to happen?” Nancy asked, her voice was barely a whisper, but, in the blink of an eye, something changed inside her. “You know him?! You knew about this?!” Nancy yelled . She moved toward Robin and this time she didn’t hold back. She pushed her. She pushed her open palms against Robin’s shoulders, sending her stumbling backward. The taller girl looked like a deer caught in the headlights.

“No, no, Nancy, I didn’t!” Robin tried to protest, but Nancy was ruthless.

“You fucking bitch! You let this happen! You knew it was going to happen and you didn’t do anything, you sat there like an asshole and let me make a fool of myself!” Nancy continued to yell and repeatedly hit Robin’s chest. The adrenaline was running wild in her body. Her heart was squirming painfully in her chest, and her head was hurting. She was more hurt about Robin’s apparent betrayal than the actual prank. Hot tears were brimming in the corner of her eyes. She’d waited this long for a chance to actually hurt Robin, and now that she was hitting her with all she had, it didn’t feel as good as she’d dreamed of.

“Nancy! Stop, stop it, Nancy, please! Hey, listen, listen to me!” Robin pleaded desperately. At first, she accepted all of Nancy’s hits on her chest, shoulders, and arms, only backing away slowly, letting her put all her anger out there, and accepting every ounce of it. When her back hit the wall, she couldn’t help but look for a way to put a stop to it all. Both girls fumbled for a long moment, but eventually, Robin got a hold of Nancy’s wrists. Nancy fought back, and tried to yank her hands out of Robin’s grip, but Robin didn’t let her go. “Nancy, please , look at me. Nancy, hey, I swear, I fucking swear I didn’t know this was going to happen, I swear . Please, please, please you have to believe me. Nancy?” Robin begged her, holding Nancy’s wrists firmly, but rubbing her thumb on the back of her hands in hopefully soothing motions. 

Nancy had both hands pulled into tight fists, enough to dig her nails into her palms. She was shaking, out of anger, embarrassment, frustration, all of it. She took a deep breath and considered Robin’s words. The taller girl continued to beg to be listened to, and Nancy had never heard Robin sound this honest and desperate. She refused to look at her, but with a hoarse voice, Nancy asked her, “What did you know?”

Robin sighed defeatedly, but she relaxed a little when Nancy agreed to listen to her. “I know the guy, he’s a jerk, and I know his name isn’t William,” Robin admitted.

Nancy chuckled bitterly. She finally looked up, careless of the stray tears that escaped her eyes, so she could look Robin in the eye when she spat out, “Fuck you.”

“I’m sorry,” Robin insisted, looking absolutely devastated. “I’m so fucking sorry, Nancy. But I swear, I… I don’t know, I thought maybe I made a mistake, maybe it wasn’t him who gave you the napkin, maybe he was talking about a friend, maybe he gave you a fake name because he got intimidated and awkward in front of you, God knows I’d understand that! But I promise you, Nancy, I swear with everything I am that I had no fucking clue this would happen. Please believe me, Nancy, I never… I would’ve never let this happen to you.”

Out of all the things Nancy currently hated with a burning passion, she really hated the fact that she believed Robin’s words. She knew how awful Robin could be at her worst, and this had nothing to do with that. Those wide blue eyes, and the sincerity in her voice, that couldn’t be faked. Nancy gave a shaky exhale and started to relax. Robin must have noticed, because her grip on Nancy’s wrists eased. Slowly, Nancy started to pull her hands away. When they passed by Robin’s hands, she hesitated, and Robin took the opportunity to squeeze her hands reassuringly. That touch alone spoke a thousand words. Nancy had to believe Robin, even if she didn’t completely forgive her.

“Okay,” Nancy finally sighed. She took her hands back so she could wipe her tears. For some reason, she didn't move away from Robin, who was slouching, sliding down the wall a little to get rid of their height difference so she could look directly into Nancy’s eyes, which were trying to avoid her.

“Okay?” Robin asked tentatively, her voice shaking a little.

“In all fairness, I should’ve expected it,” Nancy admitted with a sigh. 

The sharp turn in the conversation seemed to deeply confuse Robin, who frowned, tilted her head, and simply blurted out, “What?”

“It’s not exactly the first instance of something like this happening,” Nancy shrugged. “Two breakups before high school is over… people talk. Gossip. Rumors. I should accept my reputation as the town’s resident slut and just…”

“Bullshit,” Robin didn’t hesitate to interrupt her. “I, uh, I’m sorry, Wheeler, but that’s fucking bullshit.” The vehemence in Robin’s voice caught Nancy’s attention. It looked like Robin was about to be the one to start shaking with the weight of too many emotions. For a second, it looked like she wanted to reach out for Nancy again, like she didn’t know where to put her hands, which instead started flailing around as she talked. “I… You… You’re Nancy Wheeler! You’re brilliant and brave and so far above this town’s shit. I, uh, I know I give you a hard time but… you’re wonderful , okay? You are truly a diamond among the meaningless rubble of Hawkins and nobody, especially any of those disgusting, worthless pieces of shit on the phone will ever amount to anything that could compare to the person that you are.”

Robin was breathless, Nancy was speechless. Robin’s chest moved heavily with each breath, Nancy’s lips were parted, and they were both blushing deeply. Time froze for an instant while they looked deep into each other’s eyes. Then, the strangest thing imaginable happened. Nancy and Robin hugged each other. 

It was a strange, almost unconscious movement. The two of them just seemed to fall down like felled trees against each other, pulled by nothing but gravity. Nancy’s head crashed against Robin’s shoulder, and Robin awkwardly patted Nancy’s back twice. They were stiff and barely breathing, almost impossible to differentiate from a lifeless sculpture. It lasted about two seconds until they clumsily squirmed away from each other. The moment was over, killed and buried and impossible to forget. They quickly stepped away from each other, stumbling over their steps in their haste to put as much distance between them as possible. They ended in almost entirely different ends of the room, with Robin cursing under her breath after running into the edge of the table. 

“Sorry,” Robin blurted out. It was unclear if she was apologizing about her clumsiness, the hug, or the entire situation. Nancy assumed it was all at once.

“It’s okay,” Nancy shrugged and shook her head, desperate to move on from the mess they made. “You, uh… You had never called me by my actual name that many times since we met.”

A chuckle escaped from Robin. “My bad,” she grinned, amused and still as uncomfortable as Nancy felt. She shifted in her place for a moment longer and then blurted out, “Do you want ice cream? I feel like, uh, I feel like we have to have ice cream right now. My treat! I’ll even pay for it, I swear.”

“Sure,” Nancy agreed with a little breathless laugh, feeling some of the tension finally dissolve from her shoulders.

“Sweet,” Robin grinned, looking impossibly excited about the prospect of moving on from the terrible situation they had just gone through. “I’ll get you your favorite, mon amour,” Robin said with a smile as she walked toward the door.

Nancy opened her mouth to reply, accepted the fact that Robin just talked to her in French , and closed her mouth again. She gulped, tried to hide her surprise, and asked her, “I… thought you were practicing your Spanish?”

Robin laughed, and Nancy never thought she’d be glad to see her back to her usual, annoying, arrogant self. “Yeah, well,” Robin smirked, pushed the door open, and winked at Nancy after saying, “I have to keep you on your toes, princesa .”

Notes:

thanks for reading!!!

i really hope you liked it!! please give me alll your thoughts, every single one of your comments is the love of my life I swear

this chapter was a tiny bit shorter but I have Big plans for the next chapter, very very exciting things for the next chapter, and lots of fun!

as always, remember to read my other ronance fics, come yell with me on tumblr (@ronancebuckley), and I hope you guys have a nice week!! see you soon <3

Chapter 4: Most of the blood isn’t yours

Notes:

a couple of things i'm clueless about: the road from the mall back to Hawkins, how fourth of July works, what their working hours at Scoops Ahoy would be. but who needs facts when you're gay, right?

Nancy chose to sit in her car for a minute longer before actually driving away from the mall that day. It had been a tough week. If she was being honest with herself, she wasn’t exactly over the embarrassment and the cruelty of the prank she’d been a victim of the other day. Strangely so, what stood out the most about it after a while was Robin. Nancy was getting pretty tired of the obnoxious girl constantly slipping unwelcomed to the forefront of her mind. Did she believe Robin when she said she had no idea the prank would happen? Would she have tried to warn Robin if their roles had been reversed? What even were both of them thinking when they leaned in for the most uncomfortable hug in history?

Nancy's thoughts were easily getting carried away. Her mind drifted back to annoying clients, Robin humming under her breath while she worked, clients that gave good tips, half of Mike’s friends seemingly liking Robin more than they liked her, clients the chose abominable combinations of ice cream, Robin holding her hands close to her chest and begging Nancy to believe her… Robin yanking open the passenger door of Nancy’s car and stumbling inside, out of breath and flushed.

“What’s going on?!” Nancy yelled. She couldn’t have been more caught by surprise if she’d tried.

“Drive!” Robin yelled back at her. She was an unexplainable combination of scared and delighted.

“Robin… what?!”

“Drive, Nancy, just drive!” Robin exclaimed, nervously drumming her hands against the dashboard and looking all around them until she jumped in surprise when someone else crashed against the side of the car. “Nancy, drive!”

“Shit!” Nancy screamed. “Shit, shit, shit.” She scrambled to grab her keys and turn on the car.

In the meantime, Robin turned in her seat to face the furious guy currently slamming his hand against the window, desperately trying to open up the locked door. Robin laughed, held up both middle fingers toward him, and mouthed, “Fuck you, fuck you, fuck you!”

The surreal moment lasted until they were out of the parking lot, with the car on the very edge of the speeding limit. Robin slumped on the seat, closed her eyes, and worked on catching her breath. Goddamnit , Nancy thought, the sight was extremely distracting. She couldn’t stare at Robin, especially under these circumstances. There were plenty of more urgent subjects than the blissful smile on Robin’s pink lips. 

“Robin, what the hell just happened?” Nancy asked her, barely keeping her tone in check. “Was that William? Why were you running? Was he bleeding? What the hell did you do?”

Robin cracked open one eye and smirked at Nancy, “I think you can do the math on that one, princess.”

“Robin, he was bleeding. ”

“Damn right he was,” Robin replied without an ounce of regret. This type of serious self-assuredness in comparison to her usual playful arrogance had an entirely different effect on Nancy.

“Oh my God, you literally punched William…” Nancy said quietly, struggling to believe what had just happened in the last minute of her life.

“His name’s not William, it’s Derek. He’s an asshole, and he deserved worse,” Robin said.

Nancy gulped. She didn’t expect any of this, but at least she supposed it answered quite a few questions she had about Robin Buckley. She tightened her fingers around the steering wheel, and let a moment of silence settle over them in the car. But then, inevitably, a small chuckle escaped from her lips. She saw from the corner of her eye Robin’s head snap to the side to stare at her. “I’m sorry, it’s just,” Nancy said, trying and failing to hold back her laughter, “he kind of had it coming.”

“Fuck yes he did,” Robin laughed along with her. Her shoulders relaxed and she grinned unrestrained for the first time since invading Nancy’s car, as if, up until that moment, she’d been scared that Nancy would’ve been mad at her for what she did. “Honestly? I wish I had done something worse. I just had to do something, you know? I’m starting to suspect you do have a gun hiding somewhere and for the sake of avoiding you going to prison for first-degree murder and leaving me too much work at the shop I thought I could give him a black eye and it would be fair enough, right?”

Nancy ferociously focused on the road ahead of her so she could avoid letting Robin see the extremely pleased smile that wanted to take over her face. When Nancy felt like her expression was at least mildly controlled, she attempted a frown of concern and asked, “Are you okay though?”

“Oh? Yeah… yeah,” Robin answered, blinked, seemingly taken by surprise with that question. “I’m, uh, not a great runner per se, but I can run for my life when necessary.”

“Right,” Nancy nodded, “And, are you going to be okay?” 

Robin stared at her for a moment, considering the question. She understood as well as Nancy that it was possible their story with not-William didn’t end there. It was just as possible that she was more thrown off by Nancy Wheeler showing concern for her wellbeing. Either way, Robin shrugged. “Sure,” she said, “Worst case scenario I’ll just tell Steve to bring the dumb bat he carries in the back of his car for some reason.”

The two of them shared a laugh. They were far away enough from the mall to relax and let their guard down. Nancy instinctively started driving slowly, but then she was distracted by a pained hiss coming from the girl on the passenger’s seat. “Are you okay?”

“Wheeler, If you ask me that one more time, you’ll be the next person that I punch in the face,” Robin laughed, and then she looked down at her lap, where Nancy realized she was cradling one of her hands, which had a little bit of blood covering her knuckles.

Without another word, Nancy slowed down the car and carefully, at least to her personal driving standards, parked the car by the side of the road. “Let me see,” she said, turning off the car and shifting in her seat so she could face Robin.

“Uh… What… are you sure?” Robin asked slowly, narrowing her eyes and looking around at the deserted space around them.

“Don’t be stupid, Buckley. I’m not going to kill you and drop you in a ditch in the middle of nowhere. Now give me your hand.”

“Oh, that’s pretty fucking reassuring, honey. Great job,” Robin complained and rolled her eyes, but extended her hand toward Nancy nonetheless.

“Don’t call me honey,” Nancy scoffed, and then she hummed thoughtfully as she studied Robin’s hand. “Well, the good news is I think most of the blood isn’t yours,” she said, and heard Robin snort amusedly at that. “Your ring must have cut his face pretty badly.”

“Good.”

“Wait, did you wear this ring today on purpose?” 

“Do I look like I was planning and even looking forward to breaking his stupid nose?” Robin asked back at her with a shit-eating grin.

Nancy rolled her eyes at her, even though there was none of her usual irritation toward the other girl. “It hurt you too, you know. Can I take it off?” Nancy asked. She was focusing intently on the ring in question, her thumb tracing the blood-stained surface of it, so she wouldn’t have to face Robin. She was currently distressed about how unnecessarily intimate the moment felt.

“Yeah,” Robin said in a shaky exhale. But whatever tension had sparked up for a second, dissolved at once when Nancy actually started pulling the ring from Robin’s finger. “Ow! Shit, that hurts,” Robin winced, her entire body growing stiff.

“Sorry,” Nancy replied automatically, and then remembered she was talking to Robin Buckley. “Don’t be a crybaby.”

“Oh fuck you,” Robin replied and rolled her eyes.

Holding back a smile, Nancy dropped the ring in the car’s cup holder and said, “Okay, so you have a small cut caused by the ring and your knuckles look a little scratched. I know what to do, just hold on a second.”

“Oh… okay,” Robin mumbled, shying away in her seat at the sudden movement from the shorter girl.

Nancy moved up to her knees and turned around in her seat to reach for the back of the car, where she’d left her bag. Maybe it was irrational nerves about being in a parked car in the middle of nowhere with Robin of all people, maybe it was how hard she’d tried to get too close to the passenger’s seat. Either way, Nancy miscalculated, her hands didn’t land where she’d planned, and she almost stumbled all the way into the back of the car… if not for Robin’s hands on her waist.

“I got you,” Robin said, steadying her between the seats.

“Fuck,” Nancy sighed, because there was really nothing else she could think of saying about this entire situation.

“Yeah, and I thought I was the clumsy one,” Robin chuckled nervously, helping Nancy return to the front of the car.

“Shut up,” Nancy groaned. She pulled a handkerchief and a bottle of water from her bag and then held her hand out for Robin. “Your hand,” she demanded.

“Every day you look more and more like an evil queen that should be getting guillotined,” Robin said, somehow affectionately, passing her wounded hand to Nancy.

“I’m rethinking the idea of leaving you dead in a ditch,” Nancy smiled at her.

Robin laughed at that and managed to be silent for at least half a minute while Nancy dropped a little water on the handkerchief to clean Robin’s cuts. Then she said, “So you do have an honest to God handkerchief, Wheeler. Does it have your initials on it? You’re so dainty and cute, baby.”

“And you’re a mess,” Nancy scoffed.

“I know.”

There was something about Robin’s tone that made Nancy look up at her. She was used to Robin being aggressively blunt with her words, but this time it wasn’t used as a weapon against Nancy, it was an honest and vulnerable, even self-deprecating tone that caught Nancy by surprise. “I don’t mean that as a bad thing,” Nancy said almost without realizing it.

“You don’t?” Robin frowned.

“Not right now.”

Robin just hummed in response. She probably felt as thrown off by the genuine smile on Nancy's face as Nancy felt about how natural it all felt. There was a question on the tip of Nancy’s tongue. She desperately wanted to ask again if Robin was going to be alright. She even felt the impulse to invite her to her house so she could properly clean the scratch on her hand, put a bandage over her knuckles, or at the very least a bandaid over the cut on her finger. But she quickly rejected the idea. It was too much. It was far from the kind of relationship she had with Robin. Besides, Robin interrupted her train of thoughts with just the question Nancy was thinking of, thrown her way instead.

“Wheeler, are you going to be okay?” Robin asked with unusual carefulness.

“What do you mean?” Nancy wondered. She was pretty much done cleaning Robin’s hand, but for some reason, it didn’t feel like the right moment to pull away just yet.

“You didn’t deserve that shit, the stupid prank,” Robin said, “I wish I would’ve… realized in time, I wish I would’ve stopped it but I didn’t. Now all I can think about is I wish I would’ve done worse than punching him, or that I could punch every single one of those assholes, or…”

“Robin,” Nancy interrupted her with a frown that for the first time was concerned instead of annoyed at her. She couldn’t erase from her mind the sight of Robin running away from a guy with blood on his face and utter rage exploding out of him. “You have to stop. This was enough. Don’t get yourself in trouble, okay?” Nancy told her, making a strong effort to avoid please and promise me , because, as she had to remind herself, she was talking to Robin Buckley , and she didn’t say please and asked for promises from the girl that’s been making her life miserable.

“Trouble is fun , darling. You should try it sometime,” Robin grinned, squeezing Nancy’s hand, which for some reason was still in hers.

“ I have more than enough trouble with you in my life, Buckley.”

“You sure? I could try harder. I can be worse for you, princess.”

Nancy wasn’t thinking anymore. She wasn’t thinking at all. The two of them were mirroring each other, seated awkwardly to face each other, the side of their head leaning against the headrest of their seats, their hands still linked, soft eyes and bright smiles… It took a big truck speeding past them on the road to startle them out of whatever trace they had been in. They jumped away from each other as if they’d been holding their hands out to flame, about to get burned. 

Nancy faced the steering wheel and gripped it tightly, just to have somewhere to put her hands, anything other than Robin . Meanwhile, Robin shifted restlessly on the seat, as if suddenly the car was too small for her.

“I, uh, your handkerchief, it’s… um, it got blood on it. Sorry,” Robin blurted out, motioning at the white handkerchief currently tied over her knuckles.

“You can keep it,” Nancy shrugged, as if it was nothing.

She turned on the car again, hastily backed away from their hiding place, and drove them straight back to Hawkins. The silence in the car was suffocating. Nancy couldn't tell which one of them was more uncomfortable. She couldn’t even tell why the atmosphere around them had changed so drastically, but she desperately wished to move on from it.

“Wait, where do you live?” Nancy asked suddenly upon realizing she had no idea where she was going.

“I’m not sure I should give you my address, Wheeler. I mean, what if you show up in the middle of the night to kill me, huh?” Robin laughed, but her amusement immediately dimmed as she looked down at her hastily bandaged hand and replied, “I… don’t think I should go home right now. Can you drop me off at Steve’s house?”

“Steve?”

“Harrington? I’m… pretty sure you know him… quite well actually,” Robin smirked at her. The only reason she was able to laugh at her own words was because looks couldn’t kill, no matter how hard Nancy hoped they would. “We usually hang out after work anyway, I’m sure he’s home, and… why are you smiling?”

“No reason,” Nancy said, still smiling. The thought of Steve and Robin felt wrong and utterly uncomfortable on so many levels that she couldn’t quite explain , but she couldn’t miss an opportunity to make fun of the other girl. “How’s Steve?”

“Good,” Robin shrugged nonchalantly, “The same dingus as usual.”

“Is he… dating anyone?”

“Oh, don’t even think about it, babe. You hurt each other enough last time, I heard the story. From both of you, mind you,” Robin said, shaking her head disapprovingly.

“I know! I wasn’t- I don’t even…” Nancy groaned, “That’s not why I asked.”

Robin frowned, thoroughly confused in a way that Nancy didn’t see too often. “Then why?” she asked.

“Well, I’ve been thinking.”

“I didn’t know you could do that, baby.”

“I hate you so much,” Nancy laughed bitterly, gritting her teeth and keeping her eyes on the road.

Robin waved her hand with a flourish and said, “Right back at you. Now, go on.”

“So, you say you’re not dating anyone, and as far as I know Steve isn’t dating anyone…”

“Do not finish that sentence,” Robin warned her, pointing a finger at her.

“I’m just saying!” Nancy laughed, unable to keep the smirk off her lips, “You spend all your free time together…”

“Listen, I know it might be a novel concept for you, ice queen, but people have friends , you know?” Robin snapped at her. “He’s my best friend , for fucks sake. Steve ‘Platonic with a capital P’ Harrington.”

“Sure, whatever you say, Buckley.”

“Fuck no,” Robin shook her head and grimaced in a melodramatic way, “What the hell is wrong with you, Wheeler?”

“I’m just saying …”

“Don’t you dare even suggest …”

“That totally doesn’t sound like being in denial of your feelings.”

“I am not in denial of any feelings… for anyone!” Robin exclaimed, covered her face with both hands, and groaned loudly. 

Nancy might feel strangely displeased about the idea of Robin and Steve together, but she was having the time of her life torturing Robin, for a change. “Hey, Buckley,” Nancy said quietly, “Just a tip, but you need to work disguising your feelings. You’re being obvious right now, and it’s embarrassing.”

“Jesus Christ, Wheeler, you’re being so fucking stupid right now,” Robin said through gritted teeth. “Steve and I are not a thing, and we will never be anything more than strictly platonic friends, okay?!”

Nancy realized that she’d touched on a sensitive topic, Robin looked genuinely uneasy about all of it, and she should probably stop pushing her. “So… did he turn you down?” She asked instead, with a too-proud grin.

“Oh, my God, I’m going to kick you out of the car, asshole! Do you want to be run over by your own car?!”

“Do you even know how to drive, Buckley?” Nancy asked her, batting her eyelashes in mocking innocence, because she knew damn well that Robin couldn’t drive.

Robin paused, gulped, and stared intensely at Nancy, who didn’t back down from those cold blue eyes. “You… are a massive bitch,” Robin said slowly, and the hand that was gripping the back of Nancy’s seat descended upon her shoulder, her thumb grazing Nancy’s neck, and she squeezed, almost hard enough to make Nancy wince or, God forbid, make any other equally embarrassing sound. “And I’ll make you pay for it, baby.”

Nancy let the moment last for a little longer. Just to make it more embarrassing for Robin when she burst her bubble, not to savor the moment and even less so because of the feeling of Robin’s hand on her shoulder. Eventually, she matched Robin’s mischievous smirk with a cold smile of her own and said sweetly, “Get the fuck out of my car, Robin.”

Robin blinked, looked around, and finally realized they were actually parked right outside of Steve’s house, and they must have been for a while. She looked as embarrassed as Nancy had hoped she’d be. 

“Well,” Robin cleared her throat and threw open the car’s door, “See you on Thursday, then. It’s going to be a big day.” She got out of the car, closed the door behind, and while leaning on the door, she told Nancy, “And, you know, thanks for… the hand,” she finished her words with a bright smile and held up the middle finger of her bandaged hand.

Nancy shook her head at her, and wiped the smile off her face. She didn’t want to stare at Robin walking away from her car, it was just common decency to make sure she arrived at the doorstep safely and sound, right? Nancy told herself she was just being a good person, she didn’t care about Robin Buckley, and she certainly didn’t feel her heart skip a beat when she heard the sound of Robin’s forgotten ring stumbling around the car’s cup holder during the rest of her journey back home.

Nancy drove away at the exact moment that Robin turned around to watch her leave the driveway.

 

---

 

“The fourth of fucking July, hooray,” Robin mumbled, leaning her face on her fist on the counter. Nancy couldn’t help but focus on the right hand, still a little bruised, with a bandaid on one finger, and a missing ring that neither of them had said a word about. Thinking about Robin's ring still in the cupholder of her car just made Nancy feel some kind of way.

“Don’t sound so enthusiastic, Buckley,” Nancy told her, standing beside her while they waited for the inevitable swarm of clients for the special day.

“This holiday is a joke, much like your love life, princess,” Robin mumbled, sneaking a glance at Nancy

“Oh my God,” Nancy huffed, and Robin smiled at the sight. “First, stop calling me that. Second, seriously? Give me a break. Aren’t you going to even attempt to be normal today at least?

“Why? You’re scared I’ll embarrass you in front of your ex?” Robin laughed at her. She stopped slouching over the counter and raised to her full height in front of Nancy. “Full offense, sweetheart, but I fully believe Steve could do so much better than you now.”

“Well, he clearly didn’t,” Nancy retorted. She intently looked Robin up and down, making an effort to look nothing but displeased at what she saw, and unimpressed by the fact that she had to look up at the other girl.

“Seriously, Wheeler, you have to drop that ridiculous -”

“Correct-”

“- Assumption .”

“Fact.”

They continued to send daggers to each other with their eyes, standing still as statues, waiting for the other one to break, almost holding their breath… And they jumped away from each other when the door behind them was slammed open.

“It feels so good to be back!” Steve announced coming out of the back room with his hands on his hips and his stupid Scoops Ahoy hat standing precariously on top of his hair.

“It shouldn’t,” Nancy and Robin said at the same time, and then exchanged a murderous look. 

It was going to be the longest day of the summer for Nancy Wheeler. They expected the most clients since summer started, and their boss decided to prepare by paying an extra employee to help them throughout the day. So now Nancy Wheeler had to survive an entire day working alongside her ex-boyfriend and his best friend, who Nancy happened to hate more than anyone else in that town. How bad could it be?

 

---

---

 

Robin didn’t think it would be so bad , to get through one day of serving ice cream in the company of Steve and Nancy. She loved Steve, and she loved annoying Nancy, surely she wouldn’t be the one struggling. However, after the first five minutes, it became obvious that they were all going to need a miracle to make it through alive.

Working with Steve again wasn’t bad . In fact, she even missed it! He could be a mess but, usually, he was a wholesome mess that she loved like a brother. The problem was Nancy. The problem was Nancy thinking that she and Steve, God forbid, were anything close to a couple. It made her overthink every interaction she had with her best friend. To make matters even worse, Steve, as usual, was completely oblivious to the absolute hell that was raging around him and, due to some questionable nostalgic feelings about returning to his old job for a day, he was being unusually affectionate with Robin. Nancy was having a field day with all of it.

When they got their first respite of the day, about two minutes without new clients accumulation on the other side of the counter, Steve threw an arm around Robin’s shoulder, pressing her to his said, and he asked Nancy, “So, Nance, is my girl Robin a professional ice cream person or what?”

Robin rolled her eyes affectionately at him and elbowed him lightly in the stomach to move away from his hold. “I’m not your girl, dingus.” The two best friends laughed together at the familiarity of being reunited behind the Scoops Ahoy counter, but they were promptly distracted by Nancy. 

“I’d say your girl is definitely a professional in the field, Steve,” Nancy replied. That smile could’ve fooled anyone but Robin. She saw Nancy’s eyes, and the venom in them was unmistakable.

“Firstly, I’m not his girl.”

“You’re breaking my heart, Rob,” Steve pouted at her. Steve, bless his heart, thought this was regular bickering, instead of the high-stakes war that Robin had been fighting with Nancy for weeks.

“Fuck off,” Robin scoffed and pushed his shoulder, directing him toward the clients approaching the counter. She couldn’t be mad at him and, judging by his chuckle, he knew it. “And I don’t even like this ice cream.”

“Yes, you do.”

Robin was deeply unsettled by the fact that her best friend and the girl she currently despised more than anything agreed with each other on a personal thing about her. All she could do was groan loudly and move on from Nancy’s obnoxious smirk.

Steve’s accidentally making it seem like he was flirting with her wasn’t even the worst part for Robin. The worst part was realizing that, just to mess with her, Nancy was actively flirting with Steve. Frankly, Robin was kind of impressed by the lengths Nancy would go to just to get back at her. But Nancy refused to accept the fact that Steve wasn’t Robin’s boyfriend. And still, Robin was absolutely losing her mind. She felt protective of her best friend, she knew he wasn’t right for Nancy either, she didn’t know if she could or should stand in the way if they were to actually attempt to reconcile, and she was aware that in either case, she didn’t fit into the equation at all. Why was it driving her so mad?

Robin was currently dealing with a client and craning her neck to keep an eye on Nancy as she batted her eyelashes at Steve asking him to bring down something from the higher shelves for her, always sneaking a glance at Robin. Obviously, Steve happily complied, looking so proud to be getting back in Nancy’s good graces and not even suspecting her ulterior motives of using his attention against Robin. 

“Thank you so much, Steve,” Nancy said, patting Steve’s chest, smiling at him, turning her face a little to look at Robin, basically ruining her life in a swift second.

Robin was not jealous. She only dropped the ice cream she’d been serving, but she wasn’t jealous . Who would she even be jealous of in this scenario? She’d never think of Steve romantically, and she only thought of Nancy murderously, this didn’t make sense at all in her mind. And, just like it happened since Nancy started working there, Robin awkwardly coped the only way she knew how.

“Hey, babygirl, do you need to take a break?” Robin asked quietly, coming up behind Nancy who had been facing the counter. She was close enough for her breath to brush the back of Nancy’s neck, but not close enough to actually touch her.

“Don’t” Nancy warned her. She flinched away from Robin and turned around to look at her. “I’m fine,” Nancy insisted, proud as ever.

“Are you sure, mi amor? I could cover for you for a while, if you want,” Robin smiled at her, faux innocent clear as day on every inch of her face.

“Huh?” Nancy exhaled quietly.

There was a moment, extremely brief, and perhaps even more powerful for it, when Nancy’s perplexity knocked off the protective walls in her usually hostile stare. Her blue eyes met Robin’s for an instant where she wasn’t a hateful coworker, she was just another girl, looking up at Robin with wide and interested eyes hanging on to her words. Robin didn’t know what to do with that, she suddenly was as disoriented as Nancy. But the moment was over in the blink of an eye. Nancy started shaking her head, knocking the pet names in Spanish off her mind and regaining her regular sharp words.

“I said I’m fine , Buckley. Just stick to your boyfriend and stay away from me, okay?” Nancy hissed under her breath, and retreated to the back room just in time for Steve to return from the bathroom, perfectly oblivious.

The back and forth of bad and even worse misunderstandings continued for the entire day. Robin was certain that she wouldn’t have survived this torture if it had lasted any longer. It was a vicious cycle. It started having fun with Steve like they always did, just to turn around and find Nancy looking so upset and immediately shifting to lethally amused, making Robin feel sick at the girl’s assumption. Then it was about Robin upping the ante of teasing Nancy, who couldn’t deny that she dropped a client’s change when Robin walked past her and whispered, “Good job, ma chérie”, a moment that was, unfortunately, ruined by Steve trying to pronounce croissant, which turned into Nancy laughing a little too flirty, and then it was Robin the one trying to kill her with one look. Nancy saying Steve was doing great, Steve saying he did it all to keep up with Robin, Robin kneeling down to pick up a plastic cup that Nancy dropped and looking up at her with a perfectly charming smile, and starting all over again. 

It was, probably, the longest day of Robin’s life, and she couldn’t wait for it to be over. Surely, it couldn’t get any worse.

 

---

---

 

“Girls, are you absolutely sure that it’s okay if I leave now?” Steve asked them, even though he was already on the other side of the counter while Nancy and Robin watched him.

“No.”

“Yes,” Robin said, throwing Nancy a deadly glare that she received happily. “You promised Dustin you’ll be there. He’s a little shit but I don’t want to have anything to do with breaking his softie little heart. Go.”

“You’re the best, Robs,” Steve grinned at her, like a man in love, Nancy thought, feeling her stomach churn awkwardly at the thought. “Bye, Nance! It was so nice to see you. Keep an eye on this one for me, will you?”

“Sure, Steve, I’ll watch over your girl,” Nancy replied, purposefully saying it quiet enough for just Robin to hear, Steve was already speed walking away from the place. 

“Wheeler, if you say that one more time…”

“Stop fighting it,” Nancy rolled her eyes and picked up a dish cloth. It had been a brutal day at work. She just wanted to clean up and close up as quickly as possible so she could escape Robin Buckley’s face.

“I’m only fighting you, asshole,” Robin replied, and at least collaborated by picking up abandoned cups strewn around the place.

“I’ve never seen two people more obviously in love than you and Steve,” Nancy insisted. She couldn’t stop thinking about them. Robin’s smile when she talked to him, her unrestrained laughter, her hand on his shoulder, their whispers and inside jokes, how natural it all looked. It was driving Nancy crazy. Why couldn’t Robin just admit it already?

“Oh honey, you don’t have to remind me that you’ve never experienced real love or friendship, I know,” Robin replied with an absurdly condescending tone.

“God, I want you dead,” Nancy scoffed.

“Stop flirting,” Robin winked at her, and Nancy hoped she didn’t notice her shudder, in disgust, most likely. However, Robin didn’t stop there. Nancy was intrigued by the girl’s thoughtful expression. “And stop flirting with Steve, okay? I doubt he even noticed but… Listen, you can do whatever you want with me, Wheeler. But if you get him involved, if you play with him, or hurt my best friend in any way then I swear I’ll make sure you fucking regret it, okay?”

There was a lot about that moment that Nancy could get lost in. Robin being serious for once in her life, how protective she was, the reminder that she’d done the same for Nancy by punching not-William the other day, “do whatever you want with me” , there was a lot to consider. But Nancy wouldn’t- she couldn’t look down, give up, let Robin have the upper hand. So, she raised a suspicious eyebrow and chuckled, “Best friend, huh? Are you sure about that, Buckley?”

“Holy shit!” Robin snapped, slamming on the counter a trail filled with half-finished ice creams she picked up from the tables on the other side. “You have to drop it, okay?! It’s getting offensive.” The threat in her voice was… additive. Nancy couldn’t stop fighting.

Nancy had to laugh at that. “Robin, your entire fucking existence in my close vecinity feels like an offence!”

“Well then get out of here! You don’t even need this job, do you? You have your wealthy family and your future guaranteed and you can pick any boy you want, they’re all the fucking same, just accept your pathetic inescapable fate and stop pretending you want something better and get out of here!”

Did Robin actually believe those words or did she just know the exact way to hurt Nancy the most? Nancy didn’t really care about the answer. She gripped the dishcloth in her hand tightly and then she threw it at Robin’s face as hard as she could.

“I hate you,” Nancy seethed.

“The feeling is mutual, baby,” Robin replied, and accompanied her words by throwing a dirty spoon right at Nancy’s face.

She gasped, outraged, and grabbed a handful of chocolate chips to throw at Robin, who flinched away, but she looked ridiculous enough for Nancy to enjoy a spark of triumph. However, a second later Robin was throwing a plastic cup at her, complete with some melted ice cream splashing all over the front of Nancy’s uniform. 

“Buckley!” Nancy yelled, and she saw the realization in Robin’s eyes that she’d gone too far. Oddly enough, Robin looked a little excited at the idea, and Nancy kind of related to the feeling.

Nancy picked up a different plastic cup and threw it at Robin hard enough for the other girl to yell “Ow!” and stumble backward, with melted strawberry ice cream dripping from her chin. The rest, as they said, was history.

A handful of other mall employees walked past Scoops Ahoy quickly as they left their jobs for the day, not interested at all in intervening with the hurricane of plastic cups, spoons, chocolate chips, various cookies, and syrups going on behind the counter. The violence lasted a while, and could've gone on for even longer if not for Nancy losing her balance… She made the mistake of instinctively reaching out for Robin, who, unbeknownst to Nancy, had already been tense beyond relief, acutely aware that she was losing her already precarious balance.

It all happened in a split second. Their feet slipped on the ice-cream-covered floor, they were almost suspended in the air for a moment, their reconsidered if their salary was even worth this physical and emotional torture, and then they hit the floor with a loud “thud”. Nancy braced for impact, prepared for her face to hit the floor and experience terrible pain… but her face actually met a very soft surface. The time must have stopped for a while right then and there. It took hearing a soft “fuck…” from Robin, concerning close to Nancy’s ear, for her to snap into action. Nancy pushed herself and all at once, she realized she’d fallen on top of Robin . She was so sure she’d been on a direct trajectory for the floor, and it wouldn’t make sense that Robin would’ve manipulated their fall to save Nancy from falling flat on her face. Regardless, Nancy couldn’t think too much about it. She was far more preoccupied with the fact that she’d just been resting her face on Robin’s chest, her hands were still clutching Robin’s arms, Robin’s hands were on her waist, they were staring right at each other, and Nancy couldn’t fucking speak . Fortunately, that was rarely a problem for Robin Buckley.

“So this is disgusting,” Robin mumbled.

Nancy huffed a breath, and for once thanked the heavens for her annoying coworker’s ability to ruin any and all kinds of moments, not that they were sharing a moment , but that didn’t matter. What mattered was that Nancy had gotten a hold of her mind, and she rolled away from Robin, too tired and conflicted to jump to her feet, she simply fell right there on the floor next to her.

“For the record, I meant the floor with all the ruined ice cream is disgusting,” Robin said quietly, staring at the ceiling. “You’re okay, Wheeler. I mean, a close second to worst thing currently surrounding me, but you’re not as bad as this pretty gross surface.”

“Thanks,” Nancy surprised herself by laughing at that. Robin followed suit, and for a blissful minute, the world was made of only the two of them lying on that dirty floor and laughing wholeheartedly at nothing in particular.

When their laughter died down, Robin took a deep breath and said, “Tell you what, Wheeler. Give up the idea of me and Steve being a thing, and I’ll help you clean this up so we can finally go home for the day, huh?”

“Help me?” Nancy frowned deeply. “You’re as guilty as me and we have the exact same job and-”

“ And I haven’t asked for my reward for winning your silly little dare, remember? I could choose this, easily. Do you want me to leave you to clean up all alone, princess?”

Nancy seriously considered her options, but she was just so tired . And part of her was a little relieved about not having to think about Robin and Steve together anymore. She turned her head to the side and found Robin already looking at her expectantly.

“I would kill you if it wasn’t illegal,” Nancy said with a smile.

“Since when are you scared of the law, Wheeler?” Robin chuckled, grinned brightly, and moved to a seated position. “Come on, we have work to do.”

Nancy sighed deeply, accepted the hand offered her, and got started on the worst part of her worst day at Scoops Ahoy so far.

Firstly, they had to clean themselves up as well as they could in the bathroom, which involved flicking water at her face like a stupid five-year-old, nevermind that Nancy went along with it. Then they worked together on cleaning up the disaster they had made. It was getting late, but neither of them seemed particularly in a hurry to get to any fourth of July celebrations. For a while, they worked in easy silence, and Nancy, once again, was forced to face the fact that if only they could get along they might be a good team. Here and there she heard Robin humming a melody as she cleaned, and for the sake of it, Nancy shushed her again and again. Except for one time, when Robin started quietly singing the words to a song in… Italian? Nancy couldn’t help but discreetly move closer, just to confirm if that was in fact Italian, not because it just so happened that Robin Buckley had an objectively beautiful voice. The only problem was that Nancy got a little too close, and then Robin turned around unexpectedly, and when she found Nancy standing right there under her nose, she dropped a bucket of water she’d been carrying. Both girls cursed their luck, but Robin apparently had reached a limit.

“Okay, nope, that’s it. I need a break,” she announced, jumping to the table in the middle of the back room of the shop.

“Come on, Robin, we’re almost done,” Nancy attempted to insist, but she sounded equally tired, and she dropped her dishcloth and leaned her waist against the same table.

“Just give me five minutes, and then I’m all yours, angel,” Robin sighed, leaning back until she was lying on her back on the table, with Nancy watching and trying to ignore the way that Robin sometimes just said certain things that just… well, it didn’t matter.

“Can I ask you something?” Nancy blurted out, just to think of something else.

“I thought we made a deal you wouldn’t bring up Steve again,” Robin grumbled, and closed her eyes.

“No, I know, I know,” Nancy shook her head. “I won’t make any assumptions or anything. I mean, I don’t fully believe you-”

“I don’t care.”

“But I’d just like to know why.”

“Why?” Robin opened her eyes and pushed herself up on her elbows to look at her.

Nancy bit her lip as she thought about it, she shouldn’t be pushing the subject, she should be happy to give it up, she doesn’t need to know. “Why aren’t you guys dating?” she asked against her better judgment.

“Nancy, drop it,” Robin warned her.

“You would make a cute couple!” Nancy shrugged, not even aware of where she was going with this. 

“Oh my God!” Robin exclaimed, sitting up again to glare at Nancy. “Just… shut up!”

“Make me,” Nancy blurted out and proceeded to fumble awkwardly with her words, “understand it- you… make me understand! Help me to understand you.”

“Why would you want to do that?” Robin asked, sounding genuinely confused, for which Nancy couldn’t blame her, really.

“Uh… Keep your friends close and your enemies closer,” she said, attempting a smile.

Surprisingly, that earned her a chuckle from Robin, who seemed too tired to fight anymore. “Go to hell, Wheeler,” she said, and almost sounded fond as she said it.

“Call it journalistic instinct,” Nancy suggested.

“Fuck your journalistic instinct,” Robin replied. “It’s my private life.”

“Okay! Fine. Fine. I won’t pry. I don’t care for the reasons. But just so you know, as much as I despise you as a person…”

“Thanks.”

“We’ve worked together for months now, and you… you’ve had my back when I needed you. You probably broke that guy’s nose for what he did to me.”

“Oh, I certainly broke his nose,” Robin smiled, and the sight of it only spurred Nancy to keep talking.

“I wouldn’t judge,” Nancy said softly. She was thinking about Robin, objectively an outcast, dating the most popular guy in the school. Robin, rejected by her own best friend. Robin, too scared to admit her own feelings for Steve. Robin… and the way Chrissy looked at her. “Whatever it is, you’re safe with me. You know that, right?” Nancy tentatively reached out, and carefully placed her hand on top of Robin’s. She’d noticed the other girl had stopped looking at her halfway through. She was staring at the floor, gripping the edge of the table tightly, and chewing on her cheek while she considered Nancy’s words. All at once, Nancy realized she’d already said what her mind had been almost blindly pushing her toward, the rest would be up to Robin. “Should we finish cleaning up now?” Nancy offered, content by having offered Robin something close to friendship, and not really expecting anything in return. She was genuinely surprised by the feeling of Robin’s hand flipping over to hold her hand back.

“I’m not dating Steve,” Robin said quietly, staring at Nancy with a mostly blank expression. “And I don’t want any guy’s number. Because… I’m not interested in Steve, or in any boys in general. I never have, and never will be… interested in boys.”

Time moved slowly, they breathed deeply, and all Nancy managed to say was a meek little “Oh.”

“Yeah,” Robin sighed, and she was the one that uncurled her fingers from Nancy’s hand and slipped her hand away toward her lap, where she started playing with her rings as she waited for something, anything else to come from Nancy.

Nancy stood still. Her hand twitched, missing Robin’s hand for some strange reason. It was her turn to grip the table for support. Did this come as greatly unexpected news? Not exactly. The most surprising part was Robin trusting her with it. That was enough to make Nancy feel a life-changing shift in her chest. She’d been absolutely awful to Robin before, not that she didn’t deserve it, but she must have done something right in her life for Robin to believe that Nancy would never use this against her. It was up to her to prove her right. She couldn’t let herself ruin this moment. She was far from confident in her next words, but she said them anyway and hoped for the better.

“So… have you gotten any girl’s number while working here? Or have you just been a massive hypocrite criticizing me all this time?”

Robin burst out laughing. She partially covered her face with one of her hands and Nancy looked away for a moment, telling herself that if Robin had to discreetly wipe away any tears, it was simply not her business. 

“You’re the worst,” Robin finally said.

“Hm, I think you have that title all for yourself, Buckley,” Nancy said, smiling.

Robin looked a little nervous again, her eyes shifting from Nancy’s face back to the floor. “Did you know?” she asked, and Nancy could tell it wasn’t the moment to play the fool and ask what she meant by that.

“I didn’t,” she answered softly.

“I don’t believe that a hundred percent,” Robin winced. “I know there are… rumors.”

“And I know how rumors can be,” Nancy reminded her gently. “I wouldn’t believe something like this unless I knew it was an absolute fact confirmed by the source.”

Robin raised her eyebrows playfully. “Oh, so that’s journalism extraordinaire Nancy Wheeler. Very nice,” Robin laughed, and it was a sweet and warm sound, nothing like the mean laughs that they usually sent each other. They only stared at each other for a while, gentle smiles tugging on the corners of their lips. Robin opened her mouth, hesitantly, and said, “I thought you were…”

“What?” Nancy frowned immediately. About ten different things passed by her mind at once, each one more terrifying than the next. Though she was smart enough to guess that Robin probably wanted to say “homophobic.”

“Nothing. Nothing,” Robin shook her head, and then faced Nancy more directly. She didn’t look too scared or tense anymore, she looked just like… Robin. “So… you’re okay… with this, with me?” Robin asked her.

“I… I hate pretty much everything about you, Robin,” Nancy said, “But this is not something I could hate, ever.” She made a pause, watching Robin nod in acknowledgment of her words, considering the vulnerability in Robin’s tone as she’d asked that, and feeling it wasn’t correct. “Are you okay with this, with me knowing? I really hope I didn’t push you or anything, and I’m really sorry about all I said about Steve, Robin.”

“It’s okay,” Robin shrugged and sent a charming smile her way. “If you and I were to stand here apologizing for every shitty thing we've said to each other we would never leave this place.”

Then Robin did something that, under any other circumstances, Nancy would’ve found completely horrifying, and she would’ve readily flinched away. However, after being the one to reach out first to hold Robin’s hand, it was only fair that now she let Robin reach out and cautiously pick a misplaced strand of hair and gently tuck it behind Nancy’s ear. Robin was careful not to linger. They could never allow themselves to cross too many lines at once. Her fingertips barely brushing the shell of Nancy’s ear was almost enough to make her want to lean into the touch. But Robin was mindful enough to pull away quickly, so Nancy didn’t have to be strong enough to push herself to flinch away from her.

“You’re not so bad, Wheeler,” Robin said softly.

“I know that,” Nancy said. “You’re the one that’s too stupid to see it.”

Nancy’s teasing smile was swiftly wiped off her face when she heard Robin earnestly point out. “No, I’m not blind. I actually see you.” And it felt as if both of them were holding their breath for years waiting for something great to happen suddenly and unexpectedly. But, the world didn’t explode while they stared at each other. Instead, Robin’s smirk made a grand return to her face. “I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone else though, worst experience of my life!”

Robin and Nancy laughed together once more, and continued to do so even as Nancy pushed Robin off the table, and even laughed out of nowhere while they got rid of the trash of the day. It hadn’t been the worst day ever after all. Maybe their issues with each other were starting to die down and working together would finally be a little easier, right?

Notes:

did you guys know that Robin is gay??? what a shocking development on this chapter!!!

thank you soooo much for reading!! i really hope you guys liked this chapter, personally I had a lot of fun writing it!! pls let me know all your thoughts! I'm giving a little kiss to every comment I get <3

thanks @avocadosockz for the idea of including Steve in this chapter for extra chaos. and thanks to the person that recommended this fic on tiktok hgjfdhgjf I see you! srsly I love all of you guys so much for all the love you've given this fic

as always, pls check out my other fics and you're welcome to come scream with me on tumblr (@ronancebuckley)

bye!! see you soon!!

Chapter 5: Tu estupidez me impresiona

Nancy experienced a strange feeling of whiplash when Robin arrived to work for their next shift after recovering from the events of the Fourth of July. As usual, she was almost glad to see her, for a quick little second. But that was just her brain's natural instinct upon seeing a familiar face arrive, Nancy told herself. Then she reminded herself that Robin was a nightmare to have around, that she couldn’t wait to quit this job and never see her again, and then she was back to happily hating her again. However, this time Nancy was forcefully reminded of their last conversation, Robin telling her she’s gay, Nancy not completely ruining the moment and… Oh . Are things going to be different between them now?

“Ugh, and here I was hoping someone would’ve exploded you along with their fireworks! Damn, you really can’t trust anybody in this town, huh?” 

That was the first thing Robin said to her as soon as she was close enough to be heard, which wasn’t all that close but apparently she wasn’t afraid to raise her voice and ignore the concerned stares of the passersby. That was a little something that Nancy could admire about her.

“Careful, Buckley,” Nancy warned her, scolding every muscle in her face to turn her pleased smile into a cold smirk, “You don’t want me to set your hair on fire again.”

“It’s a fucking ice cream shop and you don’t even smoke, Wheeler. Where the hell did you get that lighter anyway?!” Robin scoffed and pushed her shoulder lightly as she walked past Nancy. the memory of the little accident made Nancy laugh, but it was fine, Robin didn’t actually catch fire, and they moved on past it.

Just like that, they were back on track.

 

---

 

Alright. So. Maybe Nancy spoke too soon.

They were not back on track. 

All it took was for one moment of too many clients at the counter and Nancy absentmindedly saying “Robin, can you get the girl?” And suddenly both of them were fumbling between sending death glares and holding back laughter and just overall extremely awkward behavior. This, naturally, only worsened when Nancy asked Robin to get more rainbow sprinkles, or when Nancy was organizing the counter and asked Robin “Is this straight?”, or when Nancy knocked her head on the counter when she kneeled down to pick up a fallen spoon only to notice for the first time the doodle of a pair of boobs on Robin’s red converse. Not to mention that particular moment when Nancy knocked on the window that separated the counter from the back room and said, “Robin, can you come out please?”

Robin yanked open the window with an unamused frown and said, “Not funny, Wheeler.”

“I swear I didn’t mean it,” Nancy was quick to say. She seriously meant it. There was a chance it would be a joke that she might have used against Robin without trouble but for some reason, she couldn’t think outside of the agonizing cloud of awkwardness that had fallen over them.

Mercifully, after just a couple more minor embarrassments on both their parts, but mostly Nancy, the day was coming to a close. They had to close up for the day and then they would be free of each other until the next day. Nancy didn’t expect Robin to gently grab her wrist and stop her in her tracks.

“Okay, so, today was a new kind of hell with you, darling,” Robin put into words what both of them were feeling.

“I know , I’m sorry, I didn’t-”

“Didn’t mean it, yeah, I got that,” Robin said slowly. She looked as thrown off by this new stage in their relationship as Nancy, which was some kind of comfort. She lost the dumb Scoops Ahoy hat, let go of Nancy’s wrist, and ran her hand through her messy, beautiful, interestingly colored hair as she thought about her next words. “I appreciate that you’re not being a bigot about this, Wheeler. I do. But we have to find a way to move on from this lethally uncomfortable situation.”

“Yeah,” Nancy agreed with a wince. “Do you… want to talk about it?” she suggested with a deep sigh, feeling like this entire conversation was some kind of torture, probably for both of them. But there was an undeniable spark of eagerness burning in her chest. 

“Not particularly,” Robin grimaced, but she jumped on the counter, dangling her feet in front of her. “But if it’ll keep you from asking me to come out in the middle of the day at the most crowded place in Hawkins… I’ll do what it takes.”

Nancy laughed a little at that, not too much because she wouldn’t let Robin have that. But she pulled herself on the counter beside Robin, their backs turned to the rest of the mall, Hawkins, and the world. “Scoops Ahoy isn’t that big of a deal, Robin,” she said. Two of them could try to break the ice. Robin granted her a matching guarded laugh, and then Nancy did lose her composure for a moment. “How did you…” she blurted out before stopping herself and trying again. “I mean, how… but, um, when…”

“Nancy,” Robin stopped her with surprising gentleness, and she placed a hand on Nancy’s knee, which, thanks to their goddamned uniform, was bare and now subject to the warmth of Robin’s fingers on her skin. She controlled a shudder, and focused on hearing Robin’s next words. “Do you want me to tell you about what it’s like being gay in Hawkins?”

Words avoided Nancy. She wanted answers too badly to put it into words. “No,” she blatantly lied, “It’s just…”

“Journalistic instinct,” Robin said with a luminous grin, that Nancy hated, because it was a smile too pretty to be on Robin’s face. Robin retracted her hand from Nancy’s knee and let her hands fall on her own thighs, which Nancy quickly looked away from.

“Whatever,” Nancy sighed, trying to sound more annoyed than nervous. The truth was that she wanted to know, and it looked like Robin was aware of this. “Do you have to be a jerk about this and make it this difficult for me?”

“I do, actually, yes,” Robin replied, looking way too proud of herself. She lightly pushed Nancy’s shoulder with her own. “Come on, babe, don’t be shy. I’m an open book.”

“You’re a horrifying book, Buckley.”

“Okay. And you’re a bitch. Should I leave now and let us wallow in awkwardness until we get fired?”

“No. Wait,” Nancy said through gritted teeth and quickly reached to place a hand on Robin’s arm to keep her from fleeing the scene. Why was this conversation so difficult? What did she even want to know? Why did she not want to find out right here? She was losing her patience with herself, she didn’t even want to think about how Robin was feeling.

“What?” Robin snapped at her. “You’re not interested in my feelings, life, or existence, that’s pretty clear, baby, don’t worry. Is it Chrissy? Just gossip?”

“It’s not!” Nancy exclaimed and proceeded to cover her face with both hands and groan loudly. “Fuck, Robin, you’re insuffrable!” To her credit, Robin stayed quiet and waited for Nancy to moderately get her shit together. The passing of time ceased to matter as far as that perfectly random counter went. “How did you know?” Nancy finally asked, quietly, half wishing she could just walk away. When she dared to look back at Robin, she found the other girl studying her very attentively. She would’ve liked to say it was the first time Robin looked at her like that, but that wouldn’t be entirely true. Whatever puzzle Robin had been trying to solve in Nancy’s demeanor, she seemed satisfied with the result. When Nancy timidly pressed her, “When?”, Robin granted an answer.

“I knew I was different for as long as I can remember, but all kids feel unique and special, right? Well, at least that’s what I told myself,” Robin shrugged, and she continued talking calmly and confidently, as if she wasn’t offering her most vulnerable parts to the girl that she supposedly hated and was hated by. Nancy felt her heart start beating faster and faster with each of Robin’s words, startled by the feeling of relating to some of the things the other girl was saying. “But around middle school, it started to click that I was different because I didn’t like boys as the other girls did. It took me longer than average to walk, and talk, and do math, so I thought liking boys would be the same. I was a little embarrassed, but not exactly worried, not until high school. Not until Tammy Thompson.”

“Tammy Thompson?” Nancy whispered, wondering when did they start whispering and why she sounded so breathless, almost scared when she asked, “Did something happen?” Her mind was moving so fast that she suddenly felt almost dizzy. Tammy. Tammy Thompson. She knew Tammy, of course, not enough to have a strong opinion about her but she was suddenly too interested in the role of Tammy Thompson in Robin’s life.

Robin paused before replying. She was staring at Nancy again, but not quite. She looked like she was figuring out something else entirely. Nancy suddenly felt like she could kill someone to get a glimpse into Robin’s head, the thought made her shudder unpleasantly, but at least that brought Robin’s attention back to the present moment. 

“I don’t kiss and tell,” Robin winked.

“You’re literally doing it,” Nancy scoffed and narrowed her eyes at Robin, who winced at the callout.

“Okay, but, I trust you , Wheeler. Nothing said here leaves this counter, right?”

“My lips are sealed,” Nancy nodded, and God , she couldn’t help herself, “Unlike yours, apparently.”

“Fuck off,” Robin laughed and shoved her a little harder. Nancy almost fell off the counter, but Robin’s hand was right there on her waist to bring her back, a little closer to her body than before. “As I was saying, Tammy Thompson… It was… Well, a dream , to be honest. But it was just… brief? I don’t know, I… But, it, uh, it made me come out to my parents.”

Nancy’s head was overflowing with thoughts. She gulped nervously and asked, “How did that go?”

“Not great,” Robin chuckled bitterly. She opened her mouth, ready to say more, but Nancy guessed there was only so much honesty she’d earned. Robin’s face completely transformed from a temporary frown into a genuine smile. “Steve took it really well though.”

Nancy laughed along with Robin, some of the tension leaving both of their shoulders. “Of course he did,” she said fondly, “How did that even happen?”

Robin shrugged, but the affectionate smile on her face at the mention of Steve warmed Nancy’s heart. Which was just a little strange considering not too long ago she’d been so troubled by the thought of Steve and Robin together. Before Nancy could think too much about it, Robin explained.

“I didn’t exactly like him, when we started working together here, but, as you’ve probably realized, it’s difficult to ignore someone when you’re locked in a tiny space for hours at a time, and also, I’m irresistible,” Robin grinned, Nancy rolled her eyes and didn’t disagree with either statement out loud. “You know when you eat too much sugar and you feel like a kid again? Happy and free and honest because there’s no other feelings that could possibly coexist with eating an exaggerated amount of ice cream after a shift with someone you thought you hated? Uh… long story short, Steve admitted to having a teeny tiny wee little crush on me, and I had no other way to explain why I would never feel the same. I was… I was pretty scared, to be honest, but he’s been nothing but great since then. Still a dingus, I’m not going to lie, but he’s my best friend.”

“I’m glad,” Nancy said softly, surprised by how genuinely she meant her words. She was happy they had each other, she’d cared a lot about Steve at one point in her life, and she didn’t really hate Robin anymore, did she? Or, at least, she didn’t hate her enough to wish loneliness and awful things to her. No. She was glad Steve and Robin had each other. And she appreciated that Robin trusted her enough to tell her all of this. She didn’t understand why , and she was shocked to realize that if their roles were reversed she’d trust Robin as much, but overthinking about it come later. After the brief pause in the conversation encouraged her to ask, “When did Chrissy happen?”

“Last year,” Robin answered with a smile.

“Was it serious?”

“For a while,” Robin shrugged, and her smile turned playful. “A really, really good while.”

“Okay, I don’t need the details, thank you,” Nancy said and held up her hand.

“Are you sure?” Robin asked right back, leaning closer so her raspy voice would reach Nancy’s very soul, and annoy her as much as humanly possible. She raised her eyebrows suggestively, and Nancy wanted to punch her right there and then. Nancy was furious to notice that some part of her… actually wanted to know more. The daggers she sent with one look at Robin seemed to work, because the other girl continued talking with some semblance of seriousness. “And that was it, really. Hawkins isn’t necessarily a hotspot for queer people in America… yet. If there are any more gay people, they’re as well hidden as I try to be. This town is boring, predictable, and often suffocating, but I wouldn’t bet any money on it being particularly safe for… for people like me, you know? I mean, it’s not the worst , and we’re hardly safe anywhere, but I rather not take my chances. So, you keep a low profile, you keep only a few really good friends, you dream of running away the day after graduation, and you are a nightmare to your cute coworker until you’re certain she wouldn’t use this little nugget of information against you.”

Nancy smiled at her. How could she not? She didn’t even laugh , and she couldn’t say anything, she just smiled at Robin, who smiled back at her. It was a new smile, Nancy noticed. It was… it was… completely genuine, too beautiful to be anything else, or to overthink about it. The space around them was safe and warm. It was possibly the best Nancy had felt in Robin’s company. She suspected it was because of how honest they were being with each other, but the idea that there was more to Robin Buckley than she already knew, layers she didn’t suspect of, was troubling enough to make her look down. Did she seriously want to know more about Robin? Did she want to know more about herself too? Did Robin just call her cute? Did felt different, sincere unlike the pet names she used just to annoy Nancy?

“You okay, sweetheart?” Robin asked her. “What do you think? Are we going to be able to be normal with each other? Are you going to be able to look me in the eye again?”

Robin accompanied her last question with a movement of her hand, she placed her fingertips on Nancy’s chin and gently tilted her face up and toward her. As it turned out, looking Robin in the eye again was a terrible idea. Nancy was back to being painfully tense, and it didn’t feel fair that Robin’s fingers on her chin were the only thing soothing her enough to unclench her jaw. She wanted to know more about Robin in middle school, what were Robin’s first thoughts about Tammy Thompson, what did Chrissy even do to get into a relationship with Robin, how everything started and ended and how it felt, and when would it happen again. She wished she could talk to Steve about Robin, she wished she would dare ask Robin a hundred more questions, and she wished she could stand in front of a mirror and have her own reflection answer the questions she was too afraid to ask herself. Why did you feel like you related to a part of Robin’s story? When did you stop hating each other enough to have this deep and vulnerable question and trust each other with it? Why aren’t you bothered about Steve and Robin’s relationship anymore? Why did you keep her stupid ring? You have no idea what you feel for Robin Buckley anymore, do you?

Honestly? She almost hated Robin even more for whatever it was she was currently making her feel.

 

---

 

“Goddammit, Wheeler! Stop trying to start another ridiculous dare!” Robin exclaimed, moving around the limited space of the Scoops Ahoy shop as if Nancy wasn’t going to continue chasing her. “Do you want me to kick your ass so badly?” she snapped, turning around sharply, so unexpectedly that Nancy almost ran into her.

“Oh, please, you wouldn’t hurt a fly,” Nancy scoffed. She didn’t know where that came from, considering she’d bandaged Robin’s hand herself after the taller girl had broken an asshole’s nose and Nancy nearly had to make her promise to not do that again. Gross men didn’t count. Robin would never hurt her or a fly.

“Yeah, but I like flies far more than I like you,” Robin said with a smile.

“I’m just saying,” Nancy insisted, choosing to ignore Robin’s words. “You can’t keep criticizing me if you can’t prove you could do better than me.”

That made Robin stop. She would stop anything for an opportunity to annoy Nancy. She looked Nancy up and down and said, “Oh, honey, I could do so much better than you, yes.”

“You’re detestable,” Nancy said with a roll of her eyes.

“You love it.”

“I want you at the bottom of the ocean.”

Robin’s smug smile was inescapable. “Even underwater I’m out of your league,” she said. 

“You have no league until you prove it,” Nancy fought back. 

“I have nothing to prove to you!” Robin exclaimed. “What the fuck do you even want me to do? There are exactly three lesbians in Hawkins, and I’ve already had my sweet, fun, R-rated times with all of them. There’s nothing else to do.”

“Did you… with, I mean, both of…” Nancy stuttered, stopping in her tracks after Robin. “Wait. I thought you said it’s only Chrissy and Tammy Thompson.” How and why did her thoughts start moving at a breakneck speed trying to fill in the blanks in the split second before Robin replied.

“Well, I count, don’t I? I can have fun by myself too, you know?” Robin smirked at her.

Nancy nearly gasped. Robin’s smile was suddenly unbearable, it was only a reminder of anything that had happened between Robin and the other two girls, which, apparently, had been a lot. A lot that Nancy didn’t want to think about. “You’re disgusting,” she said, choosing to focus on Robin’s bold last statement, another thing Nancy really didn’t want to think too much about.

“ Y tu estupidez me impresiona, ” Robin replied, in Spanish , nonchalant as if she wasn’t just making everything way more difficult for Nancy. 

“Huh?”

“What?” Robin smiled. A picture-perfect image of mocking innocence.

“What did you say?” Nancy asked her.

“Things,” Robin shrugged, continuing her walk around the shop, making sure there were no clients waiting, and letting Nancy trail after her.

Nancy scoffed in response, and asked her, “Was that Spanish?”

“Good job, Wheeler!” Robin clapped slowly, making Nancy’s blood boil in her veins.

“What did you say?!” Nancy demanded.

Robin’s smile expanded for a second before she schooled her expression into something more serious. She leaned in close to Nancy and whispered, “It’s a secret.”

Nancy didn’t give her time to pull away from her. She reached out and grabbed a hold of the neck of Robin’s uniform, tugging her close, down, disregarding their stupid height difference and insisting, “Tell me.”

Robin’s initial shock gave way to something close to fondness. “You really can’t stand unsolved mysteries, huh?” she said to Nancy.

“I like to think about it as a strength rather than a weakness,” Nancy replied quickly, giving Robin a proud smile of her own.

“You’re adorable,” Robin said.

Suddenly, Robin’s hands were on her waist. It was… reasonable. They were already in an uncomfortable enough position and where else was she going to put them, right? “What did you say, Robin?” Nancy asked her again, tugging on the red bow in her uniform and definitely not thinking about the day she watched Robin undo the button hiding right there within reach of Nancy’s fingers.

“I said you’re a lovely human,” Robin said. Her voice was low and raspy. Her fingers tightened almost imperceptibly in Nancy’s waist, but she was painfully aware of each detail. Still, she couldn’t tell if it was Robin tugging her closer and her leaning in.

“You did not,” Nancy refuted. She wondered in the back of her mind when did both of them stop smiling and if she should be worried about two very… interesting things. One, the way Robin was looking at her, completely enraptured. Two, the way she didn’t mind about any of it.

Robin gulped heavily and after taking a deep breath she decidedly stepped away from Nancy, who let go of her grip on Robin’s uniform very unenthusiastically.

“I called you stupid, baby, it’s not a big deal,” Robin said, without her usual spark.

“I hate you,” Nancy replied, without her usual bite.

Nancy was tortured by a vague feeling of desperation as she watched Robin walk away from her. She had a couple of options though. She could try to talk to Robin, try to put what she was feeling into words, try to ask her things about herself that she was dying to know. She could just pull Robin back in, just bring her closer to herself, and… and… fuck , she hated how appealing the idea was. Or, she could push Robin as far away as possible.

“You’re missing someone,” Nancy blurted out, while regret started to boil in her stomach.

“What?” Robin asked, turning around slowly and frowning at Nancy. “Who?”

Nancy hesitated. She knew she probably should keep quiet but… “Vickie.”

“Vickie… Vickie?!” Robin exclaimed, and the surprise on her face stabbed Nancy right in the chest. “Vickie from band? Vickie red hair, blue eyes, tiny… Vickie?”

“She’s as tall as me,” Nancy frowned.

“Exactly,” Robin said with a smirk that earned her a loud scoff from Nancy. She asked her, “Are you sure? 

All at once, Nancy deeply regretted even mentioning the other girl at all, but it was too late to turn back now. She was nervous, for many reasons, but she pushed through. “I’m certain. A hundred percent.”

The confidence in Nancy’s voice left no room for questions, and it made Robin’s eyebrows raise on her forehead, which, in turn, made Nancy blush deeply. 

“Oh… Oh. Well,” Robin cleared her throat and shrugged, her hands coming up to gesture as she attempted to brush away the idea. “I don’t know, I don’t think she’s… Well, you just said she is , but like, what if she's not my type? What if I’m not her type? Like, we’re both in band, right? And we get along just fine, you know? Like, I like Vickie, I’ve always liked Vickie, not like that , I think, but I like her enough, you know? Like, a normal amount, in a friendly way, and I’m not exactly the best at making friends, which I’m sure doesn’t come as a shock to you of all people, but I would hate , like seriously really fucking hate, to ruin a potential friendship because I’m doing, what? What am I even trying to do? And what are you laughing at?!”

“You’re rambling,” Nancy pointed out with a smile.

“It happens.”

“It’s new.”

Robin rolled her eyes and groaned, “Ignore it.”

“It’s cute.”

“I’ll shove a mop up your ass, Wheeler,” Robin said, sounding as annoyed as Nancy had ever heard her. She was rubbing her face with her palms, looking miserable, blushing a little, and Nancy swore she’d never grow tired of the sight.

“You’re nervous,” Nancy insisted, proudly. “You like Vickie,” she added, not as excited, “Don’t you?”

“Didn’t you hear a word I just said?” Robin exclaimed. “Besides, why would I accept another idiotic dare from you? I still don’t claim my prize for the first one.”

“Because you’re indecisive and stupid, that’s not my problem,” Nancy replied easily. “I dare you to get Vickie’s number. I’ll give you anything you want, times two.”

Robin breathed deeply and she took her time before replying. Nancy almost felt her confidence shake under Robin’s piercing gaze. Eventually, as she knew it would happen, Robin’s shoulders sagged and, maybe it was a little bit of wishful thinking on Nancy’s part, but Robin looked a little happy to be defeated.

“You’ll be the death of me, princess,” Robin said, looking exhausted despite the smile tugging at the corners of her lips.

“You love it,” Nancy replied, and because she was afraid she looked a little too happy she added a frown and a familiar “Don’t call me that.”

“Whatever you say, dolcezza, ” Robin said, and then she walked past Nancy, making sure to brush her fingers against Nancy’s hand.

And Nancy was fine, really. She was just furious at the reminder that Robin also spoke Italian.

 

---

---

 

Robin used to think that working at Scoops Ahoy with Nancy was torture. Then she came out, and torture got a whole other meaning for Robin. She had been aware that she thought about Nancy Wheeler a little more than she should, but since then, it was like she couldn’t get a single second of her day without thinking about the other girl. She didn’t even want to think about the dreams involving Nancy. It was enough, more than enough , to coexist with her in the small space of Scoops Ahoy. If it had been bad before, it was suddenly worse.

Every time a new girl showed up to buy ice cream, Nancy not-so-discreetly moved away to let Robin deal with her. Then, if the girl showed an ounce of interest, Nancy stepped in, just to ruin the moment for Robin. Maybe she wasn’t homophobic, but still, Robin could feel Nancy’s hate for her getting stronger every day. But, if the girl on the other side of the counter displayed any kind of hostility, one of their classmates who had restlessly worked on spreading rumors about Robin, Nancy was right there with such venom in her eyes and tone that one time a girl simply walked away without her already paid-for ice cream, which Robin and Nancy shared, which was… fine, and normal, and nothing to overthink about. 

Now, Robin wasn’t a particularly religious person, but she was starting to consider changing her perception on the subject. Maybe there was a God up there, and he fucking hated her. Because one day, Chrissy decided that she couldn’t live without getting a stupid ice cream from Scoops Ahoy. They’re not even that good, Chrissy! Robin thought furiously as she watched the other approach the counter. She could practically feel Nancy’s mischievous excitement radiating from the shorter girl standing beside her.

“Hi, Robin!” Chrissy said cheerily when she stood in front of the counter.

“Hey Chrissy,” Robin replied, feeling dread take over her limbs

“Hi Chrissy,” Nancy joined in, and Robin couldn’t help but glare at the side of that stupidly pretty face already smirking victoriously.

“Hey, Nancy!” Chrissy added and… that was it.

Nobody said anything for a moment. Three minds were currently occupied remembering the last time they saw each other, in that small bathroom, with Robin’s body practically enveloping Nancy against one of the sinks. Before she could feel her face heat up too much at the memory, Robin cleared her throat, and not even bothered by how awkward she might sound she said, “May I offer you some ice cream?”

“Yes please,” Chrissy said sweetly. After choosing her flavor, she asked, “How are you guys?”

“Good,” Robin answered absentmindedly while serving Chrissy’s order.

“Could be better.”

Robin turned to glare at Nancy. “Could be worse,” she said through gritted teeth.

“Can’t imagine anything worse,” Nancy added, still smiling as coldly as Robin.

“Because you suffer from a serious lack of imagination, Wheeler.”

“Oh, and you’re so creative, Buckley?”

“You guys are so cute.”

Robin and Nancy whipped their heads away from each and toward the other girl, who was currently trying to stifle a laugh behind her hand. 

“Please no,” Robin grimaced

Nancy shook her head and quickly added, “Oh we would never .”

Okay. Ouch . She didn’t have to sound that convinced. Robin still believed that Nancy was closer to homophobic than gay, but, just in case, in the very small possibility that she wasn’t as straight as she seemed… would they never?

“Oh, don’t worry,” Chrissy said, unknowingly pulling Robin away from thoughts about impossible things. “I’m great at keeping secrets,” Chrissy, mortifyingly for Robin, winked . “Right, Robin?”

Robin closed her eyes for a moment. Life couldn’t have been more difficult and awkward and overwhelming for her at the moment. “Chrissy, I swear to God…” she whispered.

“Hey, Chrissy,” Nancy intervened, which was, actually, terrible news, “Do you know Vickie?”

“Obviously,” Chrissy shrugged, and it was almost funny, seeing the realization on her face when she noticed the impressed and intrigued expression on Nancy’s face. “I mean… because of band! You know? Cheerleading and band really, um, intertwine sometimes? Not like that ! I just, you know, basketball games? We, uh, we’re both there, usually.”

“Of course,” Nancy replied, patiently. Oh, Robin knew that tone, that fake sweetness, that plastic politeness, that I have a theory and I’ll get the truth out of you because I’m Nancy Fucking Wheeler voice. “Well, we haven’t seen her around here all summer, so I’m just starting to wonder if she doesn’t like… ice cream.”

“Right…” Chrissy said slowly. She narrowed her eyes at Nancy, smiled, narrowed her eyes again, and nodded. “Right… well, I’ll be sure to mention the cute not-a-couple from Scoops Ahoy the next time I see her.”

“You really don’t have to,” Robin mumbled, knowing it was a lost battle. She slumped over the counter, barely keeping her face up on one of her fists.

Chrissy paid for her ice cream but lingered at the counter. She seemed to be amused at Robin’s overall anguish. “Don’t look so grumpy!” Chrissy told her, her voice, at least, a familiar comfort. “Working here has taken a toll on you, babe.”

Then, Chrissy kissed Robin’s cheek. Her lips were cold from her first taste of ice cream. And, well, it had been a while. And they were friends . But still, Robin’s eyes widened, and for a second she just watched Chrissy walk away from Scoops Ahoy with a spring in her step. When Robin turned around, Nancy was storming through the door to the back of the shop. Well, Robin couldn’t not follow that hurricane. She was a moth to a flame when it came to Nancy Wheeler and her regular forest fires.

 

---

---

 

“Well, I’m starting to like her a lot less,” Nancy grumbled, aimlessly walking around the back of the shop hoping to find something to do other than blush at the image of Chrissy leaning over the counter to kiss Robin’s cheek.

“Why?” Robin dared to ask her and then proceeded to let herself fall on a chair, defeated and handsome. “And why did you do that?!”

Nancy happily ignored the first question and instead asked Robin, “Do what?”

“Mention Vickie!” Robin exclaimed, gesturing wildly. “You’re making a huge mess, Wheeler. It’s all a mess! Chrissy already thinks we’re… but now you’ve mentioned Vickie , and… and why the hell did you do that?!”

Nancy had to stop and bite her lip as she considered Robin’s question. But there were too many layers to her reasoning by now, there was no way she can unfold all of that and present it into a believable lie for Robin. 

“Why are you so upset? Are you still hung up on Chrissy?” Nancy accused her, knowing full well what she was doing.

“No!” Robin exclaimed, outraged and a little amused. Believable.

“Oh, is it Tammy, then?”

Robin opened her mouth to reply, then thought better of it. “Well…” she winced and shook her head, unknowingly making Nancy’s heart stutter. “No. Nope. First crush, it’s dead and gone. Totally forgotten.”

Nancy is… relieved. Upset about being relieved. Deeply angered by the lack of control she felt over her own feelings and Robin’s as well. 

“Is there someone else?” Nancy pressed and prayed to God Robin didn’t notice the tremble in her voice.

“No,” Robin replied seriously, sulking in her chair.

Somehow, the answer angered Nancy even more. She didn’t want to think about Robin with Tammy, or Chrissy, or Vickie… she didn’t want to think about Robin in general, but she was thinking about her, nonstop, and in new and scary ways. It was driving her out of her mind, really.

At this point, Nancy had no control over the ice dripping from her tone. She walked slowly toward Robin until she was pretty much standing between Robin’s parted legs when she asked, “Then what’s the problem… babe?” She added the pet name for good measure. “Or is only Chrissy allowed to call you that?”

Nancy could see Robin breathing deeply, and her jaw clenched tightly. But Robin managed to turn her pursed lips into a smirk.

“You can call me anything you want, sweetheart,” she said, while Nancy wondered just how Robin managed to make that sound like an insult.

“You’re going to lose the bet,” Nancy said with a low tone, leaning in closer to Robin’s personal space. “Because you’re an idiot, and nobody would…” Nancy’s words were cut short by Robin standing up abruptly, even making Nancy stumble backward a little.

“Are you sure about that, Wheeler?” Robin asked her, taking one step forward and making Nancy take a matching step backward. “Because, so far, I’ve gotten every girl I wanted.”

Nancy’s back hit the counter that separated the small room from the area of the counter, and she felt physically pained by the gleam of Robin’s teeth as she grinned at her. She immediately believed Robin’s words. 

“Yeah,” Nancy said, and if she stuttered a little over those words she quickly regained her composure to spit back at Robin. “And you lost them both , Buckley. Which isn’t surprising in the slightest!”

“As if you could criticize!” Robin snapped. “Steve and Jonathan are completely fucking opposites and you still scared both of them away!”

Nancy couldn’t believe she was back to being cornered between a wall and Robin Buckley looking down at her with burning hatred in her eyes. She was looking up at Robin with every ounce of pride she could muster. They were both breathing hard and neither of them looked like they were about to give in any time soon. Nancy could feel her pulse beating wildly in her ears, but then she realized, there was a new sound altogether matching it. It was the bell at the front counter. Some idiot wanted ice cream and they were supposed to act like they weren’t about to… about to… do anything but serve ice cream to another completely random person that had no idea of what was getting interrupted.

“Fuck,” Robin sighed deeply and walked away from Nancy toward the clients waiting.

“Indeed,” Nancy said under her breath, suspecting she was in deep trouble when it came to Robin Buckley.

 

---

 

A couple of days later, it finally happened.

“Oh shit,” Robin said, suddenly snapping out of her position slouched over the counter and standing rigidly in place.

“What?” Nancy wondered. She was a little distracted, she had her back to the rest of the mall. She had been trying to be discreet while she stared at Robin, while she studied her. One of her hands was buried in the pocket of the skirt of her uniform, where her fingers were tightly gripping the ring that Robin left in her car a while ago. It wasn’t the first day that Nancy brought it to work with the intention of giving it back to Robin just to forget, or simply change her mind, and carry it all the way back home again. 

“It’s Vickie,” Robin whispered.

Nancy turned around quickly, forgetting about everything in the world except for this moment. “Damn. Chrissy works fast,” she said.

“You have to leave,” Robin faced her with pleading blue eyes.

“No. What? Why?” Nancy frowned. “I want to watch you make a fool of yourself! I’ve been waiting for this.”

“Wheeler, this is actually something serious, okay? If I say the wrong thing to the wrong girl, I could get killed.”

“Don’t say that,” Nancy immediately rejected the concept. “Besides, it’ll be fine. I have your back. And I told you, I know for a fact that she likes girls.”

“Yeah… you still don’t tell me how you know,” Robin said quickly as she awkwardly fumbled with her hat, trying to make herself look presentable. It was adorable, well, no, it was amusing, or something like that, Nancy thought.

“Good luck!” Nancy whispered. When she walked past Robin she reached out to rustle her hair a little, overjoyed to hear Robin’s dramatic groan. She didn’t get too far, determined to have a front seat in case Robin did mess this up, but unable to stay too close to something that was causing her to feel a little sick.

“Hi!” Vickie said with a little smile when she reached the Scoops Ahoy counter for the first time.

“Hey, Vickie!” Robin replied, with a little bit too much enthusiasm. “Um, how are… you? Uh, are you, um, enjoying the… the summer?”

Nancy smiled a little, hearing Robin fumble for words.

“Yeah! It’s been nice,” Vickie nodded, and Nancy relaxed at the generic answer, already picturing how she would tease Robin about losing the bet, but then Vickie kept talking and it looked like she wouldn’t stop. “I had no idea you were working here. It’s so strange, isn’t it? We stand next to each other at band all the time and then we just disappear to each other? Anyway, do you like it here? It looks nice, but I’m not sure if I’d be able to help myself around so much ice cream, like, how do you do it, Robin?”

“I know! It’s like a dream and a nightmare, it’s torture for so many reasons but the ice cream…” Robin immediately jumped to answer and, at some point, Nancy just stopped listening. 

Without Robin or Vickie noticing at all, Nancy retreated silently to the back of the shop. She had a knot on her throat and a bloodied ring burning in her pocket and she can’t stop wondering about what would’ve happened if she’d never gotten this job, if she’d only approached the Scoops Ahoy one fateful day and Robin had smiled at her warmly and there were no dares and no pressure to hate each other for the sake of it.

Eventually, Vickie left. But nothing else happened for a while. Robin stayed by the counter, her back turned to Nancy, who didn’t move away from her spot in the back room, staring at the back of Robin’s head. Robin wasn’t turning around to tell her what had happened, but Nancy wasn’t running to ask her. Both of them froze in place. Nancy was scared that if she stared any harder at the spot between Robin’s shoulder blades the other girl would catch fire. But finally, Robin turned around slowly, and smiled. Nancy, for the life of hers, couldn’t figure out that one smile. Was it victorious? Inviting? Proud? Discouraged? It certainly was contagious. Nancy started smiling back at her, and Robin’s face lit up at once. There was no way to know how things went with Vickie, but maybe that didn’t matter any…

“Jonathan?” Nancy blurted out.

His sudden presence at Scoops Ahoy shattered whatever illusion had been forming between Nancy and Robin. The two girls exchanged places, purposefully avoiding each other’s eyes as they passed by one another, but the electricity when their shoulders brushed was undeniable. Nancy reached the front of the shop, and her back was burning, knowing Robin was standing behind the little window that separated her from the back room. 

“Hi Jonathan,” Nancy greeted him. No matter how amicable the breakup was, they weren’t fully past the stage of awkwardness.

“Hi Nancy,” he greeted her with a characteristic timid smile that knocked down her defenses a little, but she felt completely thrown off by seeing him there.

The two of them exchanged pleasantries and Jonathan ended up buying an ice cream despite that clearly not being the reason he was there in the first place. Finally, after some stumbling through, he said what he had planned to do. “Long story short, the kids convinced my mom to convince Hopper to make burgers for all of them at the usual spot on the hill. There’ll be food, and drinks, and, well, my mom said she’d like to see you there. You’re invited.”

“I do miss her,” Nancy admitted. “And I’ll probably have to drive Mike there anyway.”

“I’d like to see you there too, you know?”

Nancy gulped nervously. She believed, and she desperately wished Jonathan only meant that in a friendly and platonic way. There was no chance they would be getting back together, but rekindling their friendship didn’t sound bad at all. In fact, it wasn’t exactly her number one idea of fun, but an easy and fun day surrounded by those kids she loved and hated like additional siblings, with good food, Joyce’s welcoming presence, and all in one of the prettiest, calmest places near Hawkins, it was the group’s now usual spot at a hill that overlooked Hawkins, away from the town and through a secluded section of the woods… Well, it didn’t sound so bad. Besides, it would be nice to get a break from her full schedule of dealing with Robin and thinking about Robin twenty-four-seven. She would be free from Robin. She won’t have to think about how surprisingly well Robin would fit there. Joyce would immediately fuss over the new addition to the constantly growing family around them, and Robin, with her quick wit and sarcasm, would immediately charm Hopper or annoy him until he would inevitably grow fond of her. Nancy already knew the kids liked Robin because they met her through Steve, but she could easily picture Robin fitting in with each of them. She would be at her sweetest and most entertaining with El and Will, who would be intrigued but safe under Robin’s calm and warm demeanor. But then Robin would be at her worst with Max and Mike, who would have a field day listening to her tell embarrassing stories about Nancy at work. And she could even picture Dustin and Lucas getting a hopeless little crush on the tall, cool, gorgeous girl that’s unlike any other girl in Hawkins. The idea was too charming to reject.

“Sure, I’ll be there,” Nancy agreed. A second too late she realized that all she had just pictured in her mind wasn’t real. She had no reason to believe Robin would be there. She had just agreed to hang out with her ex-boyfriend and his family and a bunch of unruly kids in the woods.

“Great, I’ll see you there then,” Jonathan smiled at her, and after a quick goodbye, he walked away calmly, as if he hadn’t caused any disturbance in the world. 

But, when Nancy turned around, she quickly realized that her fears weren’t uncalled for. Whatever distress and aversion she’d felt when she saw Robin with Vickie, she saw it reflected right back at her in Robin’s eyes as soon as Jonathan left. Robin didn’t see Nancy thinking about her hanging out with her second family, she only saw Nancy easily fall into the arms of her ex-boyfriend. 

There were no traces of Robin’s inviting smile from a few minutes ago. The taller girl was back to cold eyes and a sharp smirk as she held up a napkin with a cherry red kiss on a corner. The napkin had a scribbled message followed by 10 digits that made Nancy’s stomach drop. “Well, looks like we’re both getting lucky, Wheeler,” Robin said. 

The illusion was over. The mutual hatred was back.

Notes:

me: i'm ready to make them kiss :)
also me: brings in vickie and jonathan :)

but thanks for reading!!! i really really hope you guys liked this chapter. please let me know what you think? i appreciate any and all thoughts!!! seriously your comments are the highlight of my week and I love all of you <3

as always, you can also find me on tumblr @ronancebuckley where I'm losing my mind about these two girls 24/7

see you soon!

Chapter 6: I kissed her

Nancy parked the car near the old cabin in the woods that belonged to Hopper. It had been a while since she went there. The last time she was still dating Jonathan. It made sense that she distanced herself from his family and their frequent picnics and barbeques. Was it wrong of her to think that she almost missed these events more than she missed her moments alone with Jonathan? He had been a great friend, and not a bad boyfriend, but Nancy had finally accepted that she wanted more than “not bad”. She was glad that he was willing to go back to that easy friendship they used to have.

She hadn’t even turned off the car when her company quickly ditched her. This time it was only two kids with her. Mike and Max jumped out of the car and started running toward the woods without looking back. Nancy sighed and didn’t even hurry to catch up with them. Everyone knew the path anyway. After just a few minutes of walking through the trees, the scenery completely changed to give way to a gorgeous hill, lush and green, that overlooked their humble little town. As expected, the familiar spot at the top of the hill was already full of life, and it was just the beginning. Mike and Max went straight toward Will and El, who arrived earlier with their family and looked just as excited to see them. Nancy shook her head fondly, sometimes these kids acted as if they hadn’t seen each other in months instead of a single day. Meanwhile, Nancy was happy to approach the scene much more calmly, almost shy. She knew Jonathan meant all his words and his invitation was genuine but, well, there was a minimum of awkwardness required with all breakups, right? Still, Hopper, who was in charge of the grill, greeted her with as much enthusiasm as usual, which wasn’t a lot but it wasn’t less than usual, at least. Joyce, on the other hand, gave Nancy a big hug and an extremely warm welcome that almost put a knot in Nancy’s throat. God, she had really missed this.

“I’m happy you’re here,” Jonathan told her when he finally approached her, discreetly stealing her away from his mom and offering her a cold beer as they started walking around the perimeter of the growing party.

“Oh, I’m so happy to be back here, really,” Nancy smiled at him genuinely.

“I wanted to say something though,” Jonathan said, frowning just a little bit. Nancy would worry, but she knew him well enough to suspect that this particular frown wasn’t bad news for her. “You’d think I’m at least a little bit more socially skilled than El and Will…”

“Not really,” Nancy winced.

Jonathan actually stopped walking to stare at her with an expression of pure amusement. He looked a little… impressed? Didn’t she usually tease him like this? Was she spending too much time with… No. No . Nancy told herself she wouldn’t think about… her maddening coworker the entire day. This was her minivacation from Scoops Ahoy, damn it.

“Anyway,” Jonathan said through a chuckle, “They had to be the ones to point out that maybe my invitation could’ve come off wrong?” Jonathan paused to stare at her and gauge her reaction. She was interested to see where this was going. “When I invited you here, I didn’t mean anything like… I’m not trying anything other than being a good friend, you know?”

“I get it,” Nancy said. In the back of her mind, she told herself to try not to look so relieved to hear that. “It’s okay, Jonathan. It makes me happy, really. We can be just friends. I think we’re good at that, right?”

He gave her a sweet smile and relaxed. They would be fine, that much Nancy knew for sure. They continued walking and talking about their lives for a few minutes and then stopped so Jonathan could show her his new camera but, inevitably, the rest of their guests arrived and, with them, a whole new dynamic fell over the party. 

So. Nancy knew that Dustin and Lucas had to arrive at some point, they wouldn’t miss this gathering for the world. She suspected Steve would be the one to drive them, and she guessed Lucas might bring Erica, and she even prepared herself in case Steve decided to stay. But…

“Robin!” Max exclaimed, and ran toward the taller girl currently stepping out of the woods to join the rest of them on the hill. All the other kids followed her lead and ran to greet the newcomers, but Nancy was solely focused on Robin’s face.

Whatever obnoxiously smug grin had been on Robin’s face when she arrived quickly vanished. As soon as her eyes found Nancy, she looked as if she’d just tasted something terribly sour. Which, okay, didn’t feel like a great reaction to receive from Robin anymore. But then Nancy tried to see herself from Robin’s eyes. She was standing atop a beautiful hill, holding Jonathan’s camera in her hands, while he leaned over her shoulder, trying to show her something about it. She wasn’t paying attention to the camera anymore.

As the new group approached them, Nancy strained to overhear the conversations. Not the boys simultaneously bullying Steve and fighting for his attention. But Robin and everyone she exchanged words with.

“You said you couldn’t come!” Max complained loudly to the taller girl, shoving her with not too little strength.

“Yeah,” Robin laughed, quickly glanced in Nancy’s direction, and added, “It’s called lying, Mayfield. I thought you were smarter than that.”

“Asshole,” Max scoffed and rolled her eyes.

“Language,” Robin replied with a grin, sharing a messy hug with the redhead, who pretended to hate it.

Nancy couldn’t stop watching. She couldn’t stop herself from guiding Jonathan and his camera closer so she could keep listening to the conversations developing around Robin.

“Miss me?” El said when she reached Robin. Her smile was the brightest Nancy had seen in a while.

“Of course, kid! More than Max, obviously,” Robin said, failing to avoid a punch from Max and wrapped one arm over El’s shoulders as they walked closer to the group, where she found Will and reached out to mess his hair with what Nancy thought was shocking familiarity.

“Hey, big guy, how are you?” Robin asked him. His eyes lit up at the attention Robin gave him, listening to his words.

When did all the kids become so fond of the worst person Nancy had ever met? Yes, she was exaggerating, but she was trying to have a conversation with Jonathan and thoroughly failing, all because of Robin Buckley . Will and El looked a little too excited to introduce her to Joyce and Hopper, and the chatter around them multiplied dangerously as soon as all the kids were together, so Nancy didn’t manage to hear what the adults said to Robin. But she did get to see Joyce look particularly small exchanging a hug with Robin, and Hopper scoffing at something the girl said. Nancy knew that look from him though. He was fondly exasperated already. At the first thing Robin ever said to him? What even was going on?

Before Nancy could come up with a reasonable explanation as to why everyone didn’t hate Robin at first sight like she did, she realized said girl was currently approaching her. Well. Robin and Steve were walking toward her and Jonathan. Steve and Jonathan were there too. She remembered them, obviously. It wasn’t like Jonathan was still talking this entire time Nancy was obsessing over every little interaction between Robin and these people she considered her family.

“At last we encounter the lesser siblings,” Robin said as a greeting, instantly getting Nancy to scoff and roll her eyes at her.

Jonathan, however, laughed at that joke. “Hey Robin, how are you?” he asked her as calmly as if this was a completely normal thing and Nancy wasn’t currently regretting about half of her life choices at the moment.

“Good! Thanks for having me, Steve said you said it was okay and also he can’t live without me, so I had to be here,” Robin shrugged, gave him one of her stupidly charming smiles, and laughed when Steve weakly protested her accusation. Much to Nancy’s surprise, she kept talking. “Did Will tell you about the painting?”

“The painting! Yeah, of course. I wanted to ask you something about it, by the way,” Jonathan said. He looked genuinely excited to talk to her. They exchanged a few more words about a subject Nancy was clueless about and then retreated to go talk to Will.

The utter confusion on Nancy’s face must have been obvious. As she watched Robin and Jonathan walk away talking like old friends, she was distracted by Steve’s laugh beside her. 

“She gave Will some artsy painting tips or something like that,” Steve explained, barely. 

“Of course she did,” Nancy said through clenched teeth.

“Is that hostility in your voice, Nance?” Steve asked her.

“Not at all,” Nancy replied curtly. Steve sounded amused, but there was a look in his eyes that Nancy couldn’t quite figure out, which was news to her. She’d thought she knew Steve and could figure him out easily. Then again, she’d thought he was dating Robin, and temporarily hated him for it, because… well, it was difficult to explain.

“I thought you two were getting along a little better,” he said, shrugging his shoulders.

Whatever answer Nancy had planned to dismiss her deep-rooted hatred for his best friend, vanished from her mind when his words registered. “Wait. What do you mean better ?” she questioned him. “What has she told you about me?” If there was better then she must have told him about worse . If she told him they were getting better, then Nancy needed to know how, why, and what exactly did that mean for Robin. Especially considering she had no idea what it meant to her, personally. 

“Me? She… Oh, I… Pff,” Steve stuttered and waved a hand dismissively, “Only good things!”

“No, she didn’t,” Nancy hissed, narrowing her eyes at him and seeing his resolve start to crumble.

Just then, Dustin yelled Steve’s name loudly from somewhere behind them. 

“Oh, thank God,” Steve sighed. “Bye, Nance, see you around!”

Steve might have escaped, but the day was just beginning, and Nancy was seriously not looking forward to the rest of it.

 

---

 

Nancy and Robin mostly tried to avoid each other. Depending largely on what one would call “avoid”. Two hours went by and Nancy couldn’t say with certainty that five minutes passed without the two of them exchanging a look somewhere across the open space they were scattered around. It was maddening, the way she was hyper-aware of where Robin was at all times. Half the time, when she looked around for Robin, the other girl was already staring at her. The other half of the time, Robin would look up no longer than a few seconds later and catch Nancy staring. Sometimes, they rolled their eyes at each other, or Robin would discreetly hold up her middle finger up to her. But, sometimes, Robin smiled. Was she smirking because she caught Nancy staring? Was she happy to confirm that Nancy was looking for her too? Why was Nancy finding it increasingly difficult to keep herself from returning the smiles?

The worst part was that Nancy’s daydream about how well Robin would fit in with the eclectic family they were a part of, well, it was nothing compared to the real thing. 

Nancy was a victim of one heartwarming scenario after the other. There was some sort of race where Robin, Jonathan, and Steve competed with El, Will, and Dustin on their backs, respectively. They all ended up rolling around in the grass, and El laughed completely unrestrained with Robin, comfortable in her arms as if they were sisters. Will and Jonathan had long talks about art and music with Robin, who was expressive and earnest about everything she said. It was a side of her that Nancy couldn’t deny she was curious to see from up close. Joyce and Hopper checked in with Robin at some point, no wonder making her feel at home, and making Nancy scoff under her breath because of course they were adopting her along with everyone else. Nancy was vaguely aware of the fact that Robin’s parents weren’t the best, and she would likely fight them herself if given the chance, and she wanted something better for the other girl… but she was also deeply annoyed by all of Robin’s actions that day.

Nancy was supposed to be catching up with Jonathan, making fun of Mike, laughing at Dustin’s jokes, and helping Joyce and Hopper with the food. Instead, she was watching Lucas and Mike throw insults in French and Italian at each other, no wonder Robin’s influence. She was feeling unsafe watching Robin and Erica whisper to each other and stare at her. What could those two brilliant but mischievous minds be conspiring together? She was trying not to feel her heart grow in size when, after losing sight of Robin for a while, she found her and Max returning to the group with Max sporting freshly done braids on her head. Max. Max Mayfield, who was possibly the most guarded kid Nancy had ever met, and Robin had won her over.

This was horrible, Robin fit in perfectly . This meant that all future reunions like these were thoroughly ruined for Nancy. Either they would include Robin, which was bad on its own, or they wouldn’t include Robin, and would never be as perfect as that day was.

It wasn’t like Nancy wasn’t having a good time. She was good at enjoying herself while keeping an eye out for Robin. What she couldn’t afford was to take the time to think about what she was feeling. Robin had invaded her life and her mind and Nancy wasn’t happy about it at all. Now it seemed Robin had even seamlessly made her way into her family. Did all of them know her as well as Nancy, though? Did they know the worst of her insults, the sight of her bloody knuckles, the way she got Vickie and Chrissy blushing with just one look, did they know that part of Robin? And, what if it was her actual family, her own parents? Would they be any accepting of Robin? Was it even worth asking? Nancy knew her parents' views, they just never mattered much to her, did they? But what if she… Well. Nevermind. Her parents' ignorance and possible bigotry had nothing to do with Robin. But she could and would blame Robin for even making her think about all these parts of her family, the world, and herself, that she’d happily ignored until now. 

Nancy wasn’t sure what she was thinking about when she found herself suddenly walking toward Robin. She wasn’t exactly thinking about much, really. Robin was laughing at something Joyce was saying, but in her hand, with those familiar rings on her fingers, minus one, she was holding a beer bottle. Robin lifted the bottle up to her lips, and Nancy’s train of thoughts experienced a minor hiccup. But she was quickly brought back to Earth by a small disturbance that also stopped her before reaching Robin’s side.

“Steve, you promised you’d buy the fireworks,” Dustin, accompanied by a chorus from the other kids, complained as they marched behind Steve.

“I know! ” Steve groaned. “I forgot, okay? I forgot. I’m human.”

“Barely,” Max said and rolled her eyes.

“It’s the most important part of the day!” Lucas insisted.

Beside him, Erica rolled her eyes even more dramatically than Max. “We might as well go home now, thanks for nothing Steven.”

“Jesus Christ, these kids,” Steve groaned under his breath and then called his best friend. “Hey, Robin! I need to make a quick drive to buy fireworks for these extremely annoying children!”

“Sure!” Robin immediately agreed. Steve didn’t even have to make the actual question, it was implied that Robin would tag along with Steve. Once again, Nancy experienced that pang of totally misplaced jealousy. Robin was starting to walk back to the woods when everyone stopped once again.

“But Steve , you also promised to join us in this next game!” Dustin spoke up once more.

Steve looked on the edge of losing his patience, if that had been possible for him when Dustin was involved, which it wasn’t. “Okay, Henderson, what do you suggest I do, huh?” Steve asked him.

“I can go buy the fireworks.”

Suddenly, everyone was looking at Nancy. She shrugged, downplaying the gesture. It wasn’t a big deal, she didn’t mind a quick drive to the city, maybe it would help her clear her head.

The kids all cheered, Steve thanked her, Hopper gave her the money and instructions to buy only the fireworks previously approved by him, and then… 

“Are you coming?” Nancy asked Robin. Casually. Nonchalantly. It meant nothing. Robin just looked like she had already made up her mind about going to the city, anyway. It meant nothing .

“Sure, yeah,” Robin nodded, staring at Nancy with slightly widened eyes, but she followed her away from their group and through the woods without raising any difficult questions. Maybe this would go well.

 

---

 

At first, the car ride was painfully awkward. Nancy’s mind was completely blank. She couldn’t come up with a single thing to say to Robin. Luckily, as Nancy expected, Robin didn’t experience the same problem. She seemed to struggle momentarily to find something to say, and Nancy desperately wished to take a peek into Robin’s brain to see what exactly she was thinking about, and what else she thought about before settling for what she eventually said.

“I didn’t want to intrude on your party,” Robin said, “Steve and the kids insisted, and…” Robin shrugged. Leaving Nancy wondering if there was any other incentive for her to attend the party, if there was a chance she wanted to see Nancy. She had to know Nancy would be there, and that didn’t scare her away, so that was a good sign, right?

“It’s not a problem,” Nancy said quickly.

“But you have your ‘Problem’ face,” Robin pointed out.

“It’s my regular face.”

“Yeah, your face is regularly a problem,” Robin laughed at the same time Nancy scoffed, but then she added, “This is something else… Do you… Do you want me to leave? I could stay in Hawkins and you can go back on your own.”

Here was Nancy trying to hold on to her hate toward Robin, and there was Robin offering to get out of the car in the middle of nowhere so Nancy could have a nice day. How dare she.

“Tempting,” Nancy replied, sending a playful look at Robin. “But Steve and the kids wouldn’t forgive me. It’s okay, Robin. You don’t have to leave, they’re your friends too.”

“Okay,” Robin nodded. “So… do you plan on smiling at some point today or…”

Nancy failed to restrain the laughter that came out of her, but she didn’t feel too bad about it, because Robin laughed along with her, and for a moment the tension in the car vanished. For a moment, they were just two girls, going on a drive to buy fireworks together, no past holding them back and no future to worry about. Nancy was driving, albeit a little slower than she usually would, and Robin was sitting on the passenger seat, with her legs a little cramped in the space, her nails drumming on the dashboard, her short hair blowing in the wind, and Nancy really had to stop staring at her if she didn’t want to crash the car.

There was an instant when Nancy thought she caught Robin looking at the cup holder of the car. Nancy’s heart skipped a beat thinking about Robin possibly remembering that’s where she last saw her ring. Fortunately, Nancy had left it at home, tucked away on her bedside table. She remembered cleaning the ring, carefully wiping away the blood, drying it on a soft towel, and trying it on her finger, shuddering at the feeling of something of Robin wrapped around her finger… actively choosing not to think too much about that statement. The memory was like a bucket of ice-cold water falling over her in the middle of the road. This comfortable silence was wrong . Whatever it was she had going on with Robin was wrong … wasn’t it? The impulse to explore it or destroy it was unavoidable.

“I thought you’d be on your date with Vickie today,” Nancy blurted out.

Her words seemed to take Robin by surprise. Robin shifted her position on the seat. She frowned and stared at Nancy for a second. It was unusual for Robin to consider her words so carefully just to end up saying “Not today.” There had to be something more there, and Nancy was intrigued and repelled by the idea of finding out more.

“Right,” Nancy sighed.

“Yeah…”

“Congratulations on winning the dare, by the way.”

Robin groaned loudly, not buying for a second the false politeness of Nancy's tone. “You shouldn’t have done that, princess. It was stupid and… why did you do it, Nancy? Why did you dare me?”

“I don’t know,” Nancy said coldly. It wasn’t a complete lie. She hadn’t fully figured out the motivations for her actions, and she wouldn’t get very close to it when Robin called her “princess” and surprisingly used her actual name for a change, all in almost one breath.

“There has to be a reason,” Robin insisted.

“It was… a random idea, not a big deal. You can drop it now, Buckley.”

“Can I ask you a question?”

“No,” Nancy snapped, turned her head toward Robin briefly, and said, “And stop looking at me like that!”

“How?!”

“I don’t know, just stop it!”

Robin gave one extremely irritated sigh and dropped her head against the headrest. “Can you look at me?” she asked.

“I’m driving.”

“Then park the car,” Robin said, “We’re almost at the shop. Look.”

“Why would I do that?!”

Robin's reply came with a frustrated laugh, “Because I want you to look at me!”

“You’re so irritating,” Nancy scoffed, looking at Robin’s annoyingly proud smile.

“And you’re going to crash the car, which is going to royally suck!”

“Fine!” Nancy exclaimed. She parked the car ungracefully and a little dangerously, taking special pleasure in the way Robin practically rattled around in the passenger seat until the car abruptly stopped.

“Jesus Christ, Wheeler. You five feet tall demon, do you even have a license?” Robin exclaimed, her hands pressed to the dashboard as if she was still bracing for impact.

“As if you could judge,” Nancy rolled her eyes and quickly got rid of the pleased smile she got from giving Robin a scare. “Now, what do you want?”

Robin took a deep, steadying breath and faced Nancy. “Why did you get me to come with you to do this?” she asked. When she didn’t get an immediate response, she pressed on. “You could’ve come here by yourself. You could’ve taken literally anybody else at that party, all of which you obviously like so much more than you like me. So why did you do this?”

“What does it matter?” Nancy asked, instead of answering. She was mildly taken aback by the conviction in Robin’s voice when she talked about Nancy disliking her. Which was accurate, mostly… but it didn’t feel right anymore.

“I want to know you at least a little bit more,” Robin shrugged.

“Why?”

“Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.”

Robin answered without hesitation, and the words rang a bell in Nancy’s mind but it was Robin’s cheeky smile that reminded when, where, and why she’d said those words to Robin before. “Idiot,” Nancy murmured.

“ Sfigata ” Robin said back to her.

“You’re intolerable,” Nancy said, knowing full well she wasn’t supposed to sound this fond as she said it but… was that Italian? It sounded Italian. How many languages did Robin know and how could she just juggle all of them effortlessly just to torture Nancy? God, it drove her mind not knowing for sure what Robin said when she did that but she would be lying if she said she didn’t want to hear more of it.

Instead of flinching away, Robin seemed to relax even more when she heard the insult. Now with the car parked there was nothing stopping them from fully turning to the side to face each other. Robin stretched, it brought her even closer to Nancy, especially her arm on the back of the seat.

“It’s just… you are this stubborn and talented journalist, you love to solve mysteries, but you’re the most confusing and intriguing thing in all of Hawkins,” Robin said.

“Me?”

“You,” Robin smiled. “The princess Wheeler, who can scare anybody away with one look, who fits in perfectly and doesn’t even want to, who wasn’t satisfied by the most popular boy nor the outcast one but apparently is getting back together with him, but she’s beautiful and cruel and clever and stupid and won’t tell me how she found out about Vickie being gay and today she asked me to come here with her but she looks like she would’ve rather drive us both off a cliff.”

“Robin,” Nancy called her name softly, mildly convinced that Robin would’ve kept talking endlessly otherwise. She wasn’t sure she could take more of that. Each one of Robin’s words was another brick thrown at her carefully constructed emotional walls and, even worse, at the version of herself that she used to believe she was, the version people told her she was. It was concerning that Robin saw her differently than everyone else did. It was terrifying that she liked Robin’s version much more.

“Yeah?” Robin said softly, but she only received silence in response. “Nancy, talk to me,” she insisted gently.

Nancy gulped nervously, noticing for the first time that they had drifted much closer together. “I have nothing to say to you,” she said quietly. There was a lot she wished she could tell Robin, but she had no idea where to start or how to put it into words or if she should even try at all.

“Are you sure?” Robin asked her. She tilted her head and waited patiently. Coming from anybody else Nancy would’ve felt pressured, but Robin was just making sure Nancy meant her words.

“No…” Nancy sighed, “There’s nothing.”

“Alright,” Robin nodded, not pretending like she believed her in the slightest. “What you said to me the other day goes both ways, you know? You’re safe with me, Wheeler. I think you’re the worst but…”

“But?”

Robin was biting her lip, measuring her words, taking Nancy’s breath away… and then she grinned playfully. “No ‘but’ actually. You really are the worst,” she said.

“Fuck you,” Nancy laughed, falling back into her seat once again. She relaxed, let her head fall against the headrest, and waited. She could feel Robin’s eyes still on her and, strangely so, she didn’t mind that feeling. “For the record,” she said, “I asked you to come with me because I wanted you to come with me to buy dumb fireworks for our friends. That’s it.”

“Okay,” Robin nodded again, “Easy as that.”

“Not a big deal.”

“Totally normal.”

“And I’m not getting back together with Jonathan, at all,” Nancy added, not sure where the need to point that out came from, but it was too late to take it back.

“You’re not?” Robin asked, perking up in her seat. “I… Were there no… fireworks?”

Nancy looked at Robin, at the store in front of them, and back at Robin. “ Terrible joke, Buckley,” she shook her head, “But… No. Not really. No fireworks for me.”

“I see,” Robin said. It was her turn to turn awkwardly in her seat, face the front of the car again while Nancy was the one to stare at her. Robin cleared her throat and asked, “Were there fireworks… with, uh, with Steve?”

Nancy almost laughed, knowing how uncomfortable this part of the conversation must have been for Robin. Instead, she asked with a wince, “Does it count that I wanted there to be fireworks?” Robin turned to look at her again and Nancy was disarmed by the curiosity in those blue eyes. “Everyone said there would be fireworks and made it such a big deal and I don’t know, maybe I made them up, maybe I shouldn’t have expected something so literal, maybe I was the problem…”

“Oh, baby,” Robin said and shook her head, instantly and confidently dismissing Nancy’s fears. “There’s no way on Earth that was your fault. You shouldn’t settle for anything less than fucking great, you know? You… you deserve someone that blows your mind.” Robin, earnest as she always was, placed a hand on the back of Nancy’s seat, gripping it tightly as if she had to contain her passion. That hand was too close to Nancy’s face. Nancy was too close to Robin, she realized suddenly. They were all alone in that small car with no distractions and no interruptions.

“You think?” she asked, breathlessly, noticing how her feelings were reflected clear as day in Robin’s face.

“Yeah… You deserve so much more than some cliche someone told you about, princess,” Robin said.

Nancy noticed the exact moment that the muscles of Robin’s arm twitched, and a second later Robin’s hand let go of the seat and moved to delicately push a strand of hair behind Nancy’s ear. It wasn’t the first time they were this close, it wasn’t even the first time Robin touched her like this, but it was the first time that Robin didn’t immediately pull away. Instead, her hand settled on Nancy’s neck. The slight pressure of her fingertips on Nancy’s skin was at once unbelievable and the only thing grounding her to that moment while Robin looked deeply into her eyes and continued talking in those raspy whispers that brought goosebumps to Nancy’s skin. 

“You deserve someone that drives you crazy in the best way possible. You deserve someone not afraid to match your intensity. You deserve someone that never lets you assume boring is safe and love isn’t exciting. You deserve something thrilling and brave and as bold as you are, Nancy Wheeler. You deserve the wildest fucking fireworks you can imagine.”

Part of Nancy wasn’t even sure any of this was real. When Robin started talking they were at an arm's length away, and then Nancy’s heard those wonderful words and somehow now one of her hands was gripping Robin’s shoulder for dear life, Robin’s hand was firmly in the back of Nancy’s neck, and if they were to lean in just a little closer their foreheads would touch each other. This was unlike any other moment they shared, and the last bit of comfort Nancy could find was thinking maybe she was dreaming.

“And what do you know about all that, Robin Buckley?” Nancy whispered right back at her. “Do you think you have what it takes to make someone feel like that?”

Robin had the nerve to lick her lips and make them briefly steal Nancy’s attention. “Why does everything you say sound like a dare?” Robin smiled at her. Nancy couldn’t help but notice it was a new smile again. Genuine, bright, a little nervous, absolutely gorgeous, and sadly short-lived, because Robin was serious again, bringing up her other hand to Nancy’s cheek, speaking in velvety whispers, slower with each sentence, and almost breathless by the time she finished.  “All I know is that if I were to kiss someone right now… I would put everything I am into that kiss. I would give anything she wanted from me. And I would do absolutely everything to make sure it was the best kiss of her life.”

Nancy couldn’t take any more of that. She couldn’t believe that Robin, who had said the worst things to her, who she’d wished she could personally kick out of Hawkins, was capable of staring at her with so much passion, so much care, such sweet intensity coming from her blue eyes. Everything she said, every word she said sent a fire alarm blaring in Nancy’s head and heart. Her chest felt like it was being pried open so Robin Buckley could step inside. Nancy closed her eyes and let her forehead rest against Robin’s. Robin's breath and her hair tickled Nancy’s skin and significantly made everything more difficult for Nancy. She felt like she was aching all over, she wanted to cry, to scream, to hurt Robin, hurt herself, yell at her parents, burn down the world that made her believe this couldn’t be something easy and normal and… She couldn’t kiss Robin.

“I kissed Vickie,” Nancy admitted in a very small whisper.

“What?” Robin mumbled in the same tone of someone rudely woken up from a perfect dream. Her hands loosened her hold on Nancy. She had ruined their moment. She had trouble making herself believe that was a good thing.

“Fuck,” Nancy cried. She awkwardly disentangled herself from Robin and returned to her proper place on her seat, covering her face with both hands and trying not to freak out too much.

“Nancy, what the hell?” Robin asked her. She sounded like she was about to cross the line between utterly confused and reasonably scared.

“I kissed her, okay? That’s how I know she likes girls,” Nancy admitted, but her voice was muffled by her hands still covering her face. She felt like she was losing her mind but she couldn’t stop talking. She lowered her hands and only let herself steal a few quick glances at Robin as she explained. “It was a stupid high school party, okay?! Everyone was getting drunk for the first time, and everyone was dragged into a ridiculous game of seven minutes in heaven and… social pressure, okay?! Vickie and I got shoved into a bathroom and… we kissed. It happened. But then I freaked the fuck out because I can’t be… I can’t , I couldn’t… My parents would kill me. I was told it was disgusting and a sin and a crime. I didn’t know any better, okay?! It’s different now, I swear . But then Vickie started freaking out because she is gay and she thought I would tell everyone and ruin her life but I would never! I swore I wouldn’t tell. We never even talked about it, we never even talked to each other since that night, just out of the sheer terror that experience caused us! I promised I wouldn’t tell everyone, and I never did! Until now… I guess. Oh, fuck. I need some air.”

Nancy stumbled out of the car at a record speed before Robin could react. She just faintly heard the other girl whisper, “Holy shit.”

It didn’t matter. Nothing mattered. Everything was okay. She would be fine, right? She just had to buy the stupid fireworks, drive back to the party, and not let this evolve any further. It would be perfectly fine.

 

---

---

 

Robin wasn’t even going to attempt to lie to herself and pretend she was fine. She was lightyears away from calm and she was definitely losing her mind over the fact that she almost kissed Nancy Wheeler. Let alone the fact that Nancy kissed Vickie, because Robin would need at least a week before she could properly process that fact. But… Did she almost kiss Nancy? Could it be possible that it was all in her mind? Did she imagine Nancy leaning in closer, staring at her lips, breathing heavily, digging her nails into Robin’s shoulder… Fuck. Nancy had a point when she said she needed air. Robin got out of the car as well, but she knew not to chase Nancy just yet. She was content just pacing the empty parking lot like a mad woman. She was a mad woman, and it was all Nancy’s fault.

She didn’t just almost kiss any girl. She almost kissed Nancy Wheeler. Nancy “I can’t be…” Wheeler. Steve’s ex-girlfriend. The girl that hated Robin’s guts more than anyone else in the entire world. Possibly the smartest, most beautiful, interesting, and courageous girl in all that stupid town who could have anyone she wanted so why would she settle for Robin, of all people, an outcast among outcasts, who believed herself to be buried lower than the lowest standards of what the Princess Wheeler deserved?

Robin thought that letting herself even dream of Nancy giving her a chance could only hurt her. She had to think about protecting herself. She had to think about Steve, for God’s sake. For everyone’s benefit, Robin would have to do what she knew best. She would push her feelings deep down into the locked basement of her heart.

Even though Robin felt like she was in a daze and like she wasn’t even herself anymore, she needed to push through and do whatever it would take to get them back to the party. If it meant pretending that everything was alright and nothing had changed, then so be it. So she marched into that shop, she held her head up high, smiled as she usually did, and helped Nancy pick those goddamned fireworks. Robin chatted nervously with the owner of the shop while Nancy stared dumbfounded at her. Slowly but surely, Nancy seemed to recover, and catch onto what Robin was trying to do. Oh, Robin knew Nancy was just as good at pretending as she was. They had to act like nothing had happened. So Robin put on a nonchalant grin on her face, gave Nancy an embarrassing pet name and a teasing joke, and made not even the slightest mention of their moment in the car. She joked about wanting to throw a firework into Nancy’s perm, she told a funny story about Max, she avoided Nancy’s dangerously angelic blue eyes, and she did not stare at the firm grip of Nancy’s delicate fingers on the steering wheel and daydreamed about how they felt on her body… She had to survive this car ride, no matter what.

Unfortunately, even though the two girls made it through the most awkward car ride of their lives in one piece, the day was far from over. They still had to hang out with their friends, ignore their comments about why it took them so damn long to get the fireworks, pretend they were focused on the food, and go along with the games the kids came up with. If Robin spent most of the morning seeking out Nancy’s eyes at every chance she got, the afternoon was spent even more hyper-aware of Nancy’s whereabouts at all times just so she could avoid her. Robin’s mind was in a loop of Nancy is straight, Nancy hates you, Nancy is your best friend’s ex, Nancy could do better than you … And, to be blunt, it was giving her a fucking headache. She just wanted to go back to those brief but precious moments when she got Nancy to laugh with her and nothing else in the world mattered.

Speaking of things that were entirely too much more complicated than they had any right to be… the kids came up with a game to play before ending the party. It was some unnecessarily complex combination of DnD, a treasure hunt, and probably a murder mystery party, Robin didn’t know, she hadn’t paid attention, she couldn’t focus, not at the moment. Dustin explained the whole thing and gave them clear instructions but Robin remained lost. They had to follow clues, explore their surrounding, find pieces of the puzzle, act like they were some character, things like that… but of fucking course it was meant to be played in pairs.

Dustin, who did most of the planning for the game, pretty much demanded to be paired up with Steve, who gave in with resignation and badly concealed happiness. El and Max couldn’t be separated. Erica decided that her strategy demanded her brother’s presence and Lucas, skeptical, accepted the deal. Will and Jonathan were happy to be a team, unlike Mike and Hopper, who complained almost as much as everyone else laughed. Joyce, apparently, had the role of peacemaker or queen or victim or only person who had the final answer to the game, and she looked delighted to sit back and watch her loved ones run around her trying to solve the mystery or whatever it was they had to do. Robin stopped paying attention as soon as her brain did the math and anticipated the results.

“And that leaves Robin and Nancy together!” Dustin announced with a perfectly innocent smile.

“That’s not fair, you can’t put the two of them together, they obviously make a perfect couple,” Max complained, and Robin could’ve sworn the kid blushed a little.

“They even have a job together, Dustin. They probably work together perfectly,” Will pointed out, completely clueless of the truth, bless his heart.

“Half of us will be off goofing around while those two kick-ass,” Lucas mumbled, focusing on the written down instructions that Dustin passed around.

“Make me proud, girls,” Joyce said with a smile when she passed Nancy the instructions. Then she stood at the center of the group and clapped her hands. “Okay, everyone ready? You can start… now!”

Most of the kids started running around and yelling nonsense immediately. Robin had no idea what was going on around her. All she knew was that at one moment Nancy looked completely frozen, as if she’d seen a ghost, and then she was marching toward the woods as if she was taking the mission on the scribbled piece of paper as a life or death sentence. Robin had a vague feeling that this wasn’t about the game, at all . But, who knows? Maybe Nancy preferred to put all her energy into solving a child’s puzzle than exchanging a word with Robin. That was fine.

Other pairs entered the woods after them, Robin could hear them, but they were looking up something or trying to solve a riddle. Nobody was walking as fast and determined as Nancy. That girl was running away from something and, if that something was Robin, then she’d have to say something soon because Robin was adamantly following her into the deep woods. The sun was going down quickly, and she wasn’t about to let Nancy get lost all alone out there.

“Nancy,” Robin started to call her out and try to get her attention when she couldn’t hear the others behind them anymore. “Come on, Wheeler, slow down! Nancy, I hate running, please… oh shit.” 

At least Nancy looked over her shoulder when she heard Robin stumble with a tree root on the ground. She didn’t completely fall, and Nancy didn’t completely stop, but it was nice to know that Nancy would bother to take a peek if Robin unexpectedly died…

“Remember when I said I was uncoordinated?” Robin continued to talk in hopes of getting Nancy to stop. “That very much includes running through the woods as they get increasingly darker, you know? And I’m pretty sure we’re this close to getting lost, oh fuck, another root. What I mean is, this seems far enough to be attacked by a wild animal and- oh, shit, Nancy! Are you okay?”

Apparently, speed walking through the woods and constantly looking over her shoulder every time Robin stumbled onto something, was enough to make Nancy actually trip and fall down to the ground. Robin leaped quickly to her side and fell to her knees beside Nancy, who looked mostly okay, but that did little to ease Robin’s concerns.

“I’m fine, Robin,” Nancy said through her gritted teeth, stubbornly staring at the ground.

“Are you sure? Any scratches, sprained ankles, anything like that?” Robin said, willing herself to shut up already and completely failing. She was a little bit scared of her surroundings and very much confused and conflicted about everything going on with Nancy. “Can’t we just go back?” Robin asked, personally unsure if she meant back to the hill, to their Scoops Ahoy dynamic, or back to being blissfully unaware of each other’s existence. Judging by her answer, Nancy also interpreted her question as something more complex than it probably should’ve been.

“I can’t just go back, Robin,” Nancy sighed, and then she finally looked up at Robin. Part of her was relieved to see some semblance of vulnerability in Nancy’s eyes, but to be honest, she would’ve done everything in her power to take away whatever was troubling her so much.

“Come on, princess,” Robin whispered. She stood up and offered her hands to Nancy, who surprisingly didn’t put up a fight and let herself be helped back to her feet. “I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable or something, but hey, we don’t have to talk about it, okay? Whatever we did or didn’t do in the car, you didn’t want it to happen, it’s perfectly fine. It’s nothing, I promise. Immediately forgotten. It’s all good.”

“But it’s not!” Nancy snapped and yanked her hands out of Robin’s grasp. “How can you even say that?! It’s not okay! Everything has changed, it’s all your fault, and you don’t even care?!” Nancy accompanied her words with a strong push against Robin’s chest.

“What? No. Nancy, it’s not like that,” Robin tried to argue and soon realized it was useless.

“I hate you! I hate you, I hate you, I hate you,” Nancy was seething. With each statement, she shovedRobin even harder.

Robin stumbled backward and, miraculously, instead of falling down, her back eventually crashed against a tree. It was the support she needed to get her bearings and fight back, grasping Nancy’s arms tightly to stop her aggression, and pulling her closer to whisper against her ear, “Yeah? Well, you have a really strange way of showing your hatred, sweetheart.”

Nancy looked up at Robin and their eyes met for a long moment. “Oh, fuck,” Nancy whispered and closed her eyes tightly and let her head fall down against Robin’s collarbone. She was practically shaking in Robin’s arms.

Robin wasn’t sure what was going on, but she knew that all she could think about was wrapping her arms around Nancy and holding her tightly. “I care, you know?” Robin whispered, “I care about you so fucking much that I can barely breathe right now, Wheeler.”

Robin was a little bit shocked that her words seemed to work on Nancy. The shorter girl relaxed in her arms. She shifted so she could wrap her arms around Robin’s waist. But Nancy wasn’t satisfied with a little surprise, no, she always went and did something that would just blow Robin’s mind. Her arms actually slid underneath Robin’s jacket, and she pressed her hands hard against Robin’s shirt, the thin material felt like too much of a barrier and also nearly nonexistent at all. Nancy also moved her face, holding the side of it against Robin’s shoulder, her nose pressed against Robin’s neck, and her breath brushing her skin when she spoke up again, when she said the words that irreversibly changed Robin’s life.

“I wanted it to happen,” Nancy confessed in a barely-there whisper.

“What?”

“What almost happened in the car,” Nancy explained slowly. “I wanted it to happen. I wanted it so bad .”

Robin's knees almost gave out when she heard that. She very nearly gasped out loud. She had to make a herculean effort to keep an ounce of calm at this moment. “Okay, come here,” Robin said. She put her hands on Nancy’s shoulders and gently pushed, maneuvering their bodies so she switched their positions. In a second, she had Nancy’s back pressed against the tree, and her hands shifted to Nancy’s waist. Nancy’s eyes widened in surprise and Robin couldn’t think of anything to do and say than to give a nervous smile and say, “Hi.”

“Hey,” Nancy replied with a breathy little laugh. She shook her head a little, and her hands moved upward to cup Robin’s face between her palms. It wasn’t a bad place to be, Robin thought. For a moment, they just stood there, staring at each other, but all too soon, the apprehension returned to Nancy’s eyes. She lowered her hands to Robin’s shoulders and she turned her head to the side, decidedly looking away from Robin.

“Nancy, please look at me?” Robin said, frowning a little, going out of her mind trying to decipher Nancy’s mixed signals. “You have to talk to me, baby, please. I just need you to look me in the eye and tell me you want this.” Was that actually enough, Robin wondered. Was she willing to risk getting her heart broken, jeopardizing her friendship with Steve, and having a straight girl hate her even more? It was undeniable that yes , she was absolutely willing. But she had to keep at least an ounce of dignity here, she had to look after herself, protect her heart in any way possible, and not let Nancy Wheeler do anything she wanted with her. Much to her own surprise, Nancy gave her the upper hand on a silver platter.

“What about Vickie?” Nancy blurted out. She was softening in Robin’s hands, but still looking away from her.

Robin couldn’t help the mischievous smirk that took over her face. A lie to hide behind, a shield to hold over her real feelings, a lifeline. If she could cower under the familiarity of teasing Nancy, she could survive this, maybe.

She leaned even closer, enough to brush her lips against Nancy’s ear. “Is that the only thing keeping you from kissing me?” she asked, knowing the answer was far more complicated than that. But, the truth was that she suspected this would never mean as much to Nancy as it meant to her, so she would take the feeling of Nancy squirming and holding her breath for her, because she believed someday soon Nancy would be moving on and she would be left heartbroken in the dust. If only she could get one kiss. If only she could live this picture-perfect fantasy a little longer. Maybe if she moved slowly, if she played her cards right, she wouldn’t scare Nancy away, and maybe this didn’t have to end so terribly. Nancy was there, after all. Nancy said she’d wanted it to happen. They could do this.

“Can I kiss your cheek, then?” Robin asked her. There was mirth in her voice, and she was even more amused by the glimpse she got of Nancy rolling her eyes, but Nancy also happened to be biting her bottom lip and digging her nails in Robin’s shoulders, so Robin wasn’t exactly buying her annoyed act.

Most importantly, Nancy said “Yes.”

Robin closed the distance between them, tilted her head just enough, and pressed her lips softly against Nancy’s cheek. That first contact was already so much more than she could’ve dreamed of. Robin was sure that she didn’t imagine the little sigh that escaped from Nancy. This was worlds away from any other touch they had exchanged playfully before. This tasted like everything Robin had ever wanted. So, she kissed Nancy’s cheek again, and then again, moving toward her jaw.

“What about here?” Robin whispered, with her lips still brushing Nancy’s jaw.

“Yeah,” Nancy told her, and moved one hand from Robin’s shoulder to the back of her head, tangling in her hair.

Robin's lips trailed kisses along Nancy’s jaw, and she was drunk on the feeling. She swore she could spend the entire night there, urged by Nancy’s encouragements, happier than ever before. “Can I kiss your neck?” Robin asked next, almost embarrassed by her voice, her tone too eager.

But then Nancy replied with a simple “Please”, and Robin was a goner.

The space between their bodies vanished, and Robin kissed Nancy’s neck slowly, tenderly, reverently. She wasn’t thinking about her fears anymore. She was only focused on Nancy's hand tugging on her hair and Nancy’s heavy breathing reaching her ears like her new favorite song. Robin was just about to ask if she could finally kiss Nancy, if they could finally end all their games and just stop running and fighting and make this a real thing… and then it was Nancy who spoke up.

“Robin… I can’t… I’m not…”

Immediately, Robin stopped moving. She was frozen for an instant but then she pulled back and laughed bitterly. It felt like an absurd joke that now Nancy was looking at her, not when she had practically begged. “I knew it,” Robin said, frowning deeply. All her hopes were catching fire and crumbling down and it was happening all too fast.

“What?” Nancy mumbled, but Robin wouldn’t let her get away with playing dumb.

“You can’t, what? You’re not… What, Nancy? Can you even fucking finish that sentence?” Robin snapped at her, and Nancy even flinched.

But it didn’t matter how uncomfortable or guilty and beautifully flustered Nancy looked. She couldn’t answer Robin’s questions. Instead, she asked, “Can you listen to me?” 

Robin considered it, she really did. But the words from a short while ago came back more violent than ever, destroying her hopes. Nancy is straight, Nancy hates you, Nancy is your best friend’s ex, Nancy could do better than you . Taking the risk of listening to what Nancy had to say wasn’t worth the pain that Nancy turning her down would inevitably cause.

“You know what? No. I can’t,” Robin shrugged. She quickly put some distance between her and Nancy and, because she had no sense of self-preservation, she let herself stare at Nancy for a moment longer. Their friends must have finished the game, because suddenly, the night sky filled with fireworks. The lights illuminated the woods and gave Nancy an ethereal glow. It wasn’t lost on Robin the fact that if Nancy had let them, they would’ve been kissing each other right when the fireworks went off. But, as Nancy herself said just some hours ago, “No fireworks for me,” Robin whispered to herself as she walked away from the girl she was falling for.

Notes:

what? do you think the title of the chapter was misleading? ooops! my bad

in my defense, I swear I was planning on making them kiss on this chapter but... this happened instead!

did you like it? what did you think of nancy's vickie kiss reveal? who won the made-up game? plot twist, did el and max kiss instead of ronance? how awkward is it going to be to go back to scoops ahoy and will they ever kiss at all??

thank you soooo much for reading and for every comment, seriously!!! ii can't wait to read all your thoughts <333

if you want to yell at me, I'm also I'm tumblr ronancebuckley

see you soon!!

Chapter 7: Just Friends

Nancy was running late. She had daydreamed of this moment since the second that Robin walked away from her and their fireworks the other night… and she was running late. It was just one of those days when nothing went right. Her house had been a mess, Holly wanted to play with her, she’d gotten carried away in an argument with Mike, her parents kept asking her if something was wrong because she couldn’t look them in the eyes since realizing she might not be as straight as she thought, her car decided to fail her, traffic was a bitch, she had to park too far away from the entrance of the mall… But she finally made it to Scoops Ahoy. 

She felt more nervous than she had been in years. She wasn’t completely sure of what she was going to say to Robin when she saw her, but she was hoping they would figure it out together, or a miracle would happen. Either way, she desperately needed to have a conversation with the other girl. If anything like what happened in the woods were to take place again, Nancy wasn’t sure she would make it out alive. So, she paced the back room of the shop, playing with her hands, starting to sweat and hating every minute of it, until Robin carefully pushed open the door and just stood there staring at Nancy with an unusually guarded and neutral look.

“Are you okay, Wheeler?” Robin asked her. 

Nancy genuinely hated her a little for that. Even when she was obviously keeping her distance after the glorious disaster of their last encounter, the first thing Robin did was make sure that Nancy was alright.

She wasn’t .

But, now that she was in the same room with Robin again, Nancy felt marginally better. So she nodded and said, “I’m fine. Thanks. I was just hoping we could… talk?”

She noticed Robin bit her lip pensively, no wonder wondering if she should give Nancy a second to explain herself after seeing her reaction when she literally had Robin's lips on her neck. The memory sent a pleasant shiver down Nancy’s spine. But she was promptly distracted by Robin grimacing.

“As much as I would love that, princess…” Robin said and, instead of finishing that sentence, she opened up the small window that showed Nancy the ridiculous line already waiting for them on the other side of the counter.

“Fuck,” Nancy whispered, remembering they were supposed to offer a 50% discount that day. Apparently, every single person in Hawkins was determined to make the most of it.

It ended up being one of their most grueling days of work. There was not a single pause in the line as the entire town waited for their ice cream. Usually, Nancy would’ve been annoyed enough already. But, considering that all these people didn’t give her a second of privacy with Robin, she was actively losing her mind. Which was a problem, because the only steady fixture that day was Robin, who wasn’t faring much better than Nancy. If they started the day unusually nervous and exchanging awkward smiles with each other, they ended up back in the good old days of letting out all their annoyance on each other.

“Can we talk?” Nancy asked Robin under her breath for possibly the third time that day.

“I’m a little busy here, Wheeler,” Robin replied with as much tension in her tone.

“Obviously,” Nancy couldn't help but roll her eyes. She was just as busy as Robin. “ Later . Will you hear me out when we get a chance to talk?”

Judging by the mean chuckle she got from Robin, Nancy finally realized that her actions the other night had cut deeper than she intended.

“Do you even know what you’re going to say this time, baby?” Robin said as she continued to scoop up ice cream a little too aggressively.

“That’s not fair,” Nancy whispered and added a fake smile for a new client.

Robin scoffed and dropped her spoon on the ice cream. “Maybe I’ve heard enough of what you have to say,” she said, turning toward Nancy.

Nancy sighed deeply and closed her eyes for a short moment. She wanted to talk to Robin, not fight . Why was this so difficult? Why did Robin have to make her defenses flare up so intensely? “Don’t be an asshole,” she said through gritted teeth. 

“You started it!”

Nancy gasped and stepped up to her, “And you’ve been much worse”

“No, you literally-”

“Excuse me?”

The two girls turned to face their client at the same time. The poor man actually flinched at the deep frowns he received. However, the distraction worked. Her argument with Robin was cut short, but the mood of the day was impossible to recover from.

Nancy and Robin worked possibly harder day than ever in their time on Scoops Ahoy. They didn’t have any more explosive arguments, but there was never any hint in Robin’s entire demeanor that suggested she planned on listening to Nancy when they were done working for the day. In fact, Nancy had a feeling it wouldn’t have been wise to face Robin at the end of the day and poorly attempt to put her confusing feelings into words, on the exact day that she felt deeply exhausted and once again beyond irritated by Robin’s entire existence. So, at the end, when the line of ice-cream-thirsty clients finally ran out, when they would’ve had the time and space to talk to their hearts' content… Nancy let Robin walk away. Robin picked up her things in a haste, didn’t look back at Nancy once, and Nancy didn’t reach out. She didn’t say wait , she didn't say I can't stop thinking about you, or Every moment I spend with you changes something in me and I’m too scared to figure it out but too weak to walk away from you. She was left alone with her thoughts, her burning regret, and her inescapable fears of all the complications that came along with one Robin Buckley.

 

---

 

“And you just walked away?! You had her pinned against a tree, in the middle of the woods, with fireworks going off all around you… and you walked away?!”

“ I know! ” Robin exclaimed and let her face fall on the table in front of her, feeling her insides churn at the reminder of what she did and didn’t get to do with Nancy the other night. Not to mention their utter failure at talking to each other the previous day.  “What else did you want me to do, huh?”

“Oh, I don’t know, Robin, maybe tell her that we’re not actually dating?” Vickie laughed at her.

“Okay, I see you want to make fun of me and it’s so not cool,” Robin pointed an accusatory finger at her friend and tried to hide her own smile. She appreciated many things about her recent friendship with Vickie, starting with the fact that they could talk about anything and never run out of things to say.

“I’m sorry,” Vickie said, and she sounded genuinely apologetic for a moment, but then her amusement came back with full force. “I just think the whole thing is kind of funny but also cute and also how have you not gone completely mad?”

“Oh, I have . I lost my mind a while ago , have you not been listening? It’s so frustrating, she’s so…”

“Can I say something?” Vickie interrupted her.

“No, you can’t.”

“I’m going to say something,” Vickie smiled, and Robin didn’t put up a fight. “It’s just that… I was so excited when Chrissy told me to pass by Scoops Ahoy, because I thought maybe I would find girls like me there, you know? Which can be very scary but I trusted her. I was also a little confused because, you know Chrissy, she was a little vague and like, I get it, we have to protect each other, but then I get there, and the first thing I see is Nancy Wheeler behind the counter.”

“I get that feeling,” Robin chuckled, “You wouldn’t imagine it from her, right?” She had to bite her lip to keep herself from mentioning the fact that Nancy had already confessed about the time she had kissed Vickie. Robin was saving that for another occasion when she would need to tease her new friend.

“You wouldn’t! I’m still so fascinated,” Vickie laughed, not without a hint of nervousness, surely remembering one particular moment she had shared with Nancy. Robin had to shake her head and laugh so she wouldn’t cry at the fact that Vickie had kissed Nancy before she got her chance. Vickie turned serious again and continued talking. “What I wanted to say is that I was so happy to see you, Robin. Trust me, I didn’t get any illusions or anything. You know how it is, we have to keep low expectations, I guess. But I was, and still am, more than ecstatic to be your friend. We need friends, Robin. Because of this little mess that you and Nancy have going on I’ve even gotten closer with Chrissy since that day! But one thing is friendship, and another completely different is the way that Nancy and you look at each other.”

Robin was quiet for a moment and grimaced as she said, “With complete and absolute hatred, right?”

“ Robin .”

“Okay! Fine! You win. Yes, I like Nancy. I really like her,” Robin said with a whisper-scream and looked around them discreetly at their secluded spot in the mall. “But I’m still scared, okay?! I have to keep lying and I have to protect myself because I’m fucking terrified! I keep thinking she’ll go back to her ex, and she’s just playing with me, and Steve won’t support me, and I don’t deserve her and I’m so scared she’s going to hurt me and I’m going to let her! Because I’m scared that I’m falling in love with Nancy fucking Wheeler.”

The world seemed to slow down after Robin finally said the words that had been stuck in her throat for a while now. Her eyes actually watered as she accepted her feelings for what they were. She didn’t hate Nancy, and she hadn’t hated her for a while, if she ever did at all. She was attracted and enamored by everything about Nancy, since day one. No matter how hard she tried to push Nancy away, and with how many thorns she protected her heart, every time they hurt each other she only found herself falling deeper for the other girl. It was Nancy’s strength, her quick mind, her pride, the way her eyes blazed when she was angry and they softened when they made things better. Once upon a time, she wished to expose the least appealing parts of Nancy Wheeler in some misguided attempt to scare away her own feelings for the girl, but she only ended up admiring the way that, even at her worst, Nancy yelled and fought back and stole her heart all the same. 

Robin barely realized when Vickie put her arms around her, but once her brain registered the hug, she reveled in the embrace and held her friend even tighter. It was just the comfort she needed. It was also quickly assassinated.

“I don’t think this will help your cause,” Vickie whispered, “But I’m pretty sure I just saw Nancy angrily storm away after watching us hug like the couple she thinks we are.”

“Fuck.”

 

---

 

For Nancy, it was safe to say that her eagerness to talk to Robin had dwindled considerably since she had caught her in what looked like a loving embrace in Vickie’s arms. So what if Nancy caught sight of Vickie entering the mall just when she’d been about to leave, so she changed her plans and returned to the mall and followed Vickie just to confirm her fears that she was meeting with Robin. So what if Nancy hid in several shops until the workers started looking at her weird so she could keep an eye on Robin and Vickie, and then she thought they were getting a little too close and decided to step in but instead saw them hug and she freaked out and walked away foolishly thinking that maybe if she was quick enough the green flames of jealousy wouldn’t catch her.

Even the next day, she couldn’t erase the image from her mind, which was a problem, especially considering how many images of Robin were already stuck in her mind. There was that shocked, skeptical, nervous, amused smile from the very first day. There were her deep frowns whenever Nancy managed to get the upper hand in an argument. There was Robin’s bruised hand cradled between Nancy’s hands. There were Robin’s gorgeous blue eyes on fire that night in the woods. Her eyes filled with passion, pleading and bargaining with Nancy, and ultimately, looking deeply hurt. And now, now there was Robin’s head tucked in against Vickie’s neck, the redhead’s arms wrapped tightly around Robin, her eyes closed for a blissful second before her expression turned into complete shock when she noticed Nancy watching them.

The inescapable result was that the next day would be another long and uncomfortable awkward day at work. A day filled with not -talking about whatever had happened in the woods and why they were suddenly stumbling around the shop and jumping like frightened cats whenever they accidentally brushed their elbows against each other. At the end of the day, Nancy wasn’t even sure if she even wanted to talk to Robin anymore, but that didn’t stop one heavy “Finally!” to escape her lips when they officially closed for the day.

Beside her, Robin chuckled. “So you’re that desperate for me, preciosa ?”

“No,” Nancy snapped, ignoring the warmth in her chest caused by Robin speaking Spanish again, and said, “I just… There are things I want to say…”

Robin disapprovingly clicked her tongue. “You could have written a letter, sweetheart. You have no grasp of romance.”

“Who said I was going for romance,” Nancy retorted before she could think her words through. Then she was victim to watching the way Robin’s playful smile vanished. She didn’t have a doubt that the same thing flashed through both of their minds, the moment when Nancy rejected her kiss.

“Nice,” Robin sighed and looked utterly defeated.

“Robin, I didn’t mean…”

“Nancy?”

“ Mom? ” Nancy turned around quickly and it was a miracle her mother didn’t even mention the way Nancy probably looked like she’d just seen a ghost.

“Hi there. I was just doing some shopping and I remembered you get off work at this time, so I thought we could go home together! If you want, of course. I hope I’m not… interrupting anything,” Karen Wheeler said with a bright smile and just a hint of concern in her eyes.

Nancy struggled to find the words. Another interruption wasn’t what she expected but her mom of all people showing up to cut short her time with Robin was particularly jarring. Before she got herself together, Robin spoke up from some place behind her.

“You should go, Nancy,” Robin said, and Nancy wondered if even her mom, who had never met Robin, could notice just how fake and restrained her voice sounded. “It’s okay, I can finish closing up.”

Nancy hesitated, probably long enough to make the situation uncomfortable for everyone involved, but eventually, she gave in. She lowered her head, accepted her fate, and walked away with her mom, leaving Robin behind.

It was a little unsettling, driving alone with her mom in the passenger’s seat. It was unusual for them. Part of Nancy felt guilty, while part of her blamed her mom. Still, she couldn’t tackle all the complexities of mother-daughter relationships in one conversation and, currently, her priorities lay elsewhere, somewhere along the person she was when she was with Robin Buckley.

“Mom, can I ask you something?” Nancy broke the silence as they slowly left the Starcourt mall behind.

“Anything sweetheart,” her mom answered immediately, but had to press a little when Nancy failed to find the words to express every bit of the storm currently raging in her mind. “Nancy? What is it?”

“I’m not sure what I want to ask,” Nancy sighed, choosing what felt like the full truth for this moment at least.

“That doesn’t sound like you,” her mom replied quickly, amused and familiar, and that was a small comfort that Nancy latched onto for dear life.

“Yeah, well, I guess I’m not sure who that is anymore,” Nancy whispered, keeping her eyes on the road.

“Nancy, whatever it is, you can talk to me, you know? You’ll always be my daughter. My headstrong, smart, beautiful girl,” her mom said with a  smile and even reached out to run a hand through Nancy’s hair in a soothing motion. “I would recognize that girl anywhere . No matter what. Even if she changes and grows with time and experience, you know?”

“Mom, don’t,” Nancy said quietly, fighting tears already, grinding her teeth to find the strength to get through his conversation.

“So what is it?” her mom pried as gently as she could.

“Um… politics,” Nancy finally sighed, improvising on the spot.

Her mom grimaced. “Oh… I’m afraid I can’t help you much with that.”

“Exactly. You don’t care too much about that, right?” Nancy asked her. She perked up on the driver’s seat, finally feeling like she knew where she was taking this conversation. “Like, it’s not something set in stone and you can change your mind about things, right?”

“That’s right,” her mom nodded, no doubt feeling a little ambushed.

“For example, the role of women in society. You’ve told me some pretty progressive stuff, mom.”

“Don’t let your dad hear you,” her mom chuckled softly.

That made Nancy pause. Here she was grasping for hints and the bare minimum with her mom, she didn’t even want to think about ever attempting a similar conversation with her dad. But she had to stay focused and think of her priorities. “Okay, yeah,” she shrugged, “Is there, um, anything else… controversial, that you might have an unexpected opinion on?”

Nancy was happy to see her mom actually taking the time to think about her question. It saved her the excruciating job of putting too much into words. She could practically see the gears turning in her mother’s mind as she tried to pinpoint what Nancy might be getting at.

“If someone was mean to Lucas again you can tell me, maybe he doesn’t want to worry his parents and Mike told you about an incident at school? I’ll have a serious conversation with any kid’s parents if I have to,” Karen said.

“Oh,” Nancy blurted out. It wasn’t what she wanted or expected, but it was definitely something nice to hear. “No, it’s not that.”

“Oh. Is it about Will?” her mom asked, and she must have noticed the way Nancy immediately tensed. “I mean, I don’t know anything about Will. But if there was anything to talk about Will, I would have nothing but nice things to say about that boy and his big heart.”

Nancy tried smiling, but the smile wavered with the weight of her emotions, and she had to bite her lip hard to keep herself from showing too much. It was upsetting that they had to dance around the subject like this, and she didn’t even get to say anything to her mom about what she felt, what she was questioning, and who she was thinking about. But she heard what she needed to hear, and she would come out of that car ride knowing a lot more about herself and her mom, and that’s what mattered.

 

---

 

Robin caught herself wondering if she’d ever stop feeling like the simple thought of Nancy Wheeler was enough to make her lose her mind. Having admitted to Vickie that she liked Nancy had put her life upside down. She found herself overthinking all their interactions more than usual. She was restless and anxious. Her mind had a way of being her worst enemy, but she forced herself to remember a few things Vickie told her. She remembered that Steve himself told her he was over Nancy. She remembered that Nancy had pretty much admitted she wanted to kiss Robin when they were alone in her car buying fireworks. The last thing Robin wanted was confirmation that Nancy regretted all of it, had changed her mind, and would never want her. But, despite the terrible odds, if there was a chance that Nancy might remotely feel the same as her, Robin would have to hear what the other girl had to say. It was probably the scariest thing she would have to do, but that day Robin arrived at Scoops Ahoy with her head held high and her hands shaking.

“Okay, Nancy, I’m here,” she announced, pushing through the door from the counter to the back of the shop. “And I’m ready to… work.”

“Hi, Robin. That’s great to hear,” Nancy replied with possibly the least genuine smile Robin had ever seen on her, which wasn’t a small achievement. “Guess what? We have a surprise supervision today. Isn’t that great?”

“That’s fantastic,” Robin said, shifting from one foot to the other and looking up at Ned, their manager, a strange guy that Robin hadn’t completely figured out if he even liked his job or not. “Hi, Ned.”

“Hey, Robin. I’m excited to be here today and, uh, you girls won’t even notice I’m here. Just… do what you usually do. Just work, right?”

“Right. Yeah, that’s great. Work. I love working here,” Robin said, stumbling to the side so Ned could walk past her to the front counter. “It’s all we do here, just work and nothing else going on except for ice cream and work and-”

“Robin, you’re rambling,” Nancy whispered, walking up to Robin, making her realize that they were alone, probably for the last time that day.

“Sorry,” Robin shook her head.

“It’s cute,” Nancy added, looking up at Robin.

Robin felt her heart skip a beat. Nancy was staring at her with bright, beautiful, unguarded blue eyes that regularly knocked down her defenses. There even was a hint of a smile tugging at Nancy’s lips, lips that Robin wasn’t allowed to think about kissing. “You’re not allowed to say that,” Robin said. Her voice was barely a whisper, and she wasn’t sure if she sounded more vulnerable or angry, but it was worth it just to see an apologetic look return to Nancy’s face.

“Can I just say-”

“Girls, we have work to do!” Ned called them from behind the register.

Nancy groaned, “I’m actually going to kill him.”

Robin didn’t let herself say anything else, but she couldn't hold back her smile. A smile that happened to be the last real one she wore that day. The two of them were forced to be on their best behavior the entire day. They were all sweet smiles and polite nods and following corporate policies like their lives depended on it. To be fair, Ned wasn’t an incredibly difficult to please boss, but his presence was deeply unsettling in the space that Robin and Nancy had made for themselves. When the end of their shift finally arrived, the two of them relaxed immediately. They had survived.

Robin was leaning heavily against the counter, needing an extra moment to recover the energy necessary to take herself back home. She was surprised to see Nancy approach her with a determined look on her face. Their upcoming conversation was still deeply intimidating, but Robin couldn’t deny the butterflies in her stomach at the fact that Nancy hadn’t given up the idea completely. She stood up a little taller and practically held her breath when Nancy started to talk.

“Robin, if I don’t say this right now,” Nancy said, opened her mouth to go on, and nearly burst into flames when she was interrupted once again.

“Girls, is someone picking you up?” Ned asked them with a smile.

“No,” Robin shook her head and frowned, “But I…”

“Let me drive you!” Ned said, brightening up. “Please, it’s the least I could do as your manager.”

Robin looked at Nancy with a pleading look but she felt all her hopes shatter at the wince she saw take over Nancy’s expression.

“I didn’t bring my car today,” Nancy admitted with the tone of someone experiencing physical pain.

“Great,” Ned nodded, “Let’s go then.”

To say the car ride was the most uncomfortable experience of Robin’s life… might not be entirely accurate, but it most definitely was up there among the worst moments she’d ever experienced. Ned’s car was a cluttered mess, leaving Robin and Nancy pressed together side by side in the back seat. Robin couldn’t say for certain if she was breathing at all. She’d exchanged many touches with Nancy since they met, but this constant and firm pressure of all of Nancy’s side against her own… it was more than enough to drive her crazy. And that’s without mentioning Ned’s unsteady monologue. He was mostly a decent guy, a little boring and even awkward at times without raising any alarm in Robin’s mind. Halfway through the drive, he stayed quiet long enough for Robin to dare to look to the side at Nancy, who was looking at the window and ignoring Robin. Staring, Robin knew, had to qualify as some sort of mistake.

Nancy’s face was a familiar sight to Robin by now. But she rarely got to look at her without any pressure or hurry. They were always in the middle of a fight of some kind, never sitting silent and still long enough for Robin to really take her time to admire all the little things she had memorized that summer. She took careful note of the way Nancy’s hair curled perfectly around her face, her long eyelashes, the little details of her carefully applied makeup, the sweet slope of her nose. Robin was halfway through admiring Nancy’s perfect jawline in order to avoid staring at her lips, when she felt something touching her hand.

Robin immediately looked down at her lap. Her left hand was resting on her thigh, but now Nancy’s right hand was resting on her own thigh, and discreetly slipping to the side, just enough for her pinky finger to brush against Robin’s. So she wasn’t really ignoring Robin, was she? It certainly was… something. Robin wanted to scream. She wanted to yell expletives at their manager, kiss Nancy with everything she had, and crash the stupid car. Instead, she took a deep breath, and moved her hand closer to Nancy’s. Her pinky finger slipped under Nancy’s finger, and Nancy curled her pinky around Robin’s, holding her close in the only way she could at the moment.

The smile that Robin was trying so hard to control, easily vanished when Ned started talking again.

“So, Robin, are you and Steve still dating?” he asked.

Nancy’s pinky finger quickly left her, and Robin wished she could just jump off the moving car. She cleared her throat and because she really needed the job she limited herself to saying, “Just friends.”

“Oh, come on!” Ned laughed as if they were all just old friends talking about their lives like they usually did. Which, obviously, wasn’t the case. But Robin was a little more preoccupied with his next words. “You just can’t work all day with someone and not fall in love with them! All that time together, the shared experiences, the physical closeness, overcoming tough times and growing together, the laughs and the tears… I get chills!” He stopped for a moment to laugh a little. Robin, for the life of hers, couldn’t figure out what he found so funny about it. Unless he had somehow noticed that the two girls in the back seat of his car were furiously blushing, tense like statues, and doing everything in their power to put at least an inch of distance between their bodies. “Well, now you can’t do the love thing,” Ned added quickly, “Because it’s just two girls. It would be weird, right? Is it awkward for you guys that it’s just two girls?”

“You have no idea,” Robin said quietly, not caring if he even heard her, just wondering if this conversation had just launched Nancy even further away from making progress and saying whatever the hell she’d been trying to tell Robin for God knows how long. Did this have to be so difficult? Should they go back to threatening to kill each other? When their manager parked in front of Robin’s house and she got out of the car, just to look back and find Nancy giving her an apologetic little smile and a wave, Robin accepted the truth. They would never be able to go back to who they were. She was falling in love with Nancy and, sooner or later, one of them was going to have to do something about it. 

 

---

 

“I have to say, I didn’t expect this, but it’s very nice. I’m glad you called me and asked to hang out,” Chrissy said, taking a sip of her milkshake.

Nancy smiled, and it was only mildly forced. It was some unique kind of torture for her to sit in a booth drinking milkshakes with a girl that she knew for a fact had something with Robin in the past. But, the past was the past, and if she wanted to see some kind of future with Robin, she needed help. And, the truth was that Chrissy wasn’t bad company. If Nancy stopped focusing on the idea of Robin and Chrissy kissing just like she hadn’t let Robin kiss her, she was almost calm.

“Thank you for doing this,” Nancy told her, “I know we aren’t exactly friends…”

“But this is a great start!” Chrissy said. “Oh! And remember when you interviewed me for the school paper that one time? It was nice.”

“Yeah,” Nancy nodded, starting to relax, “You were great.”

“So were you,” Chrissy said and added a wink that took Nancy a little by surprise. “Now, what happened with Robin?”

“What do you mean?” Nancy said quickly. She also asked herself the same question. What even happened with Robin? How could she possibly answer that? It happened that they hated each other, but became an important part of each other’s lives, and somewhere between maddening jealousy and intimate touches that kept her awake at night, Nancy realized there was very little hate left and they weren’t exactly becoming friends but something else entirely new and frightening for her…

“Well, I just assumed you wanted to talk about Robin,” Chrissy said and, noticing Nancy’s curious look, she explained, “I mean, for one, I’m not blind. I recognize that look you get when Robin is mentioned. I’ve been there.” While Chrissy talked, Nancy experienced about ten more emotions, raging from embarrassment at being caught and deep dread at having to think again about Chrissy and Robin together. “Robin has that effect, and she doesn’t even know it,” Chrissy added.

“Huh. I think she knows very well what she’s doing,” Nancy said, choosing to focus on that last part of Chrissy’s words.

“Hm, I don’t know…”

“Well, I do. I spend every day with her, and it’s driving me crazy.”

“Well, I’ve known her my entire life,” Chrissy said, dropping without warning a very important piece of information that had Nancy’s mind struggling to catch up. The blonde chuckled at the look of utter surprise on Nancy’s face and explained, “I can’t say too much, because it’s half her story to tell. But yeah, we were best friends when we were little. And Robin was the cutest, sweetest, kind of weird, funniest girl you would ever meet! But she was shy, and really sensitive, you know? But then high school happened and… We drifted apart. High school turns kids like Robin into outcasts, but she embraced it, ad she turned it into a shield to protect herself.”

Suddenly, Nancy could feel a knot in her throat. It was like someone telling her that a universal truth like gravity was actually a lie. Her heart was beating hard in her chest as she tried to picture a younger Robin, softer and unharmed by tougher years. This explained a lot of things she had suspected about Robin, in how she reacted to different threats and protected herself and others so fiercely. Nancy was suddenly desperate to know more about the girl that she had foolishly thought she had completely figured out. She could start right here though.

“How did the two of you…” Nancy asked and busied herself with her milkshake until she could control her feelings.

Chrissy hummed thoughtfully and her eyes sparkled as she looked back on what surely were fond memories. “Last year, I started hearing some rumors about her,” she explained slowly, “I shut them down when I could because, real or not, we have to protect each other, you know? But I… I had my own feelings going on at the moment, so I reached out to her to talk about it, and… one thing led to another.”

“And you’re still friends?” Nancy asked her. She preferred to jump to this part of the story rather than lingering on thoughts that would have her blood boiling with unwanted jealousy.

“Well, you can’t just afford to lose someone like Robin. She’s one of a kind.”

“Shit,” Nancy said under her breath, but Chrissy must have heard her.

“Nancy, I don’t mean to pry…”

“Might as well do it,” Nancy groaned and covered her face with her hands, thoroughly overwhelmed by her own feelings.

Chrissy chuckled fondly and said, “Nancy, it’s kind of painfully obvious you’re into each other, why don’t you give it a try?”

Nancy closed her eyes tightly and pinched the bridge of her nose. There was a lot to consider before she did anything. A lot of things she didn’t even want to deal with. Starting with the fact that she doubted Robin would even give her a chance anymore. But, surprisingly, instead of feeling even more scared, the idea of admitting that she liked Robin made her feel excited and as if she could finally take a weight off her shoulders.

“Should I just go and find her right now and confess my deeply complicated feelings for her in the middle of the mall?” Nancy asked. And she was joking , she didn’t expect to be knocked back down by Chrissy’s answer.

“Actually, I think she’s on a date with Vickie today again, but hey, maybe it’s a platonic date!”

“Oh, Jesus Christ,” Nancy sighed and let her head fall back on the back of her seat, defeated once again.

 

---

 

“Can you stop staring at Nancy for one second?” Max complained with a  mouthful of ice cream.

“Shut up, I wasn’t staring,” Robin rolled her eyes, which had been focused on Nancy, and looked down at her own ice cream on the table in front of her.

“Yes, you were,” El pointed out matter of factly, making Max grin victoriously.

“Do you like her or something?” Max asked. Robin perked up at that, because there was something about Max’s tone… she was teasing her, but she was genuinely curious, she was making fun of Robin, but she seriously wanted to know the answer.

However, before Robin could even figure out what she could possibly reply, El spoke up again. “Is that… Can you like Nancy?” she asked softly.

“No, I can’t,” Robin sighed, “She’s Nancy Wheeler, the princess of Hawkins High, and I’m… What even am I? I’m not a prince, I’m not even a knight, I’m barely a farmer, I’m probably just a horse.”

“What the fuck,” Max whispered.

But El quickly shook her head and said, “You’re more like… a dragon.”

“Yeah! A cool, badass dragon,” Max nodded. “Dude, you’re so much cooler than Steve and Jonathan combined. Who even cares about princes and knights? Nancy broke up with them. And she’s staring at you . You guys are weird.”

While El and Max refocused on their ice creams, Robin turned around quickly to look at Nancy. Effectively, Nancy was already watching her. There was a problem though. They were past rolling their eyes, frowning, or giving each other a middle finger. But they were also in a weird stage where they couldn’t bring each other to just smile. The result was just staring at each other from a distance, while the world faded to the background for one precious moment.

When Nancy inevitably had to return to work, Robin looked back at the girls and asked, “A dragon? Really? You think I could be a dragon? Because that’s fucking cool.”

El laughed and nodded her head, stealing ice cream from Max, who said, “Yeah. And also… I, um, I don’t think this is what El meant. When she asked if you could, you know…”

“Oh,” Robin said, looking from one girl to the other. “Oh… Um, you mean if girls can like other girls?” She received an easy nod from El, and from the corner of her eyes, she noticed Max intensely focused on her ice cream. “Okay, um… Well, it’s kind of complicated? Some people think it’s not the most normal thing in the world, so they choose to have a problem with it, but you know what? It is normal, and a good thing, and if it’s something you want, then it can be the best thing in the world.”

Robin was overjoyed at the smiles she earned from El and Max. She wasn’t sure when it happened, but these kids turned into the closest thing she ever had to younger sisters, and she was nervous to say the wrong thing. But, judging by the warmth in both of their faces, she was doing well enough. It sparked a feeling of pride in her chest, a boost in morale that she frankly needed after the last couple of days.

“Is it… scary?” Max asked her. She was mindlessly playing with her ice cream and shrugging as if none of this was a big deal to any of them.

“Scary is worth it, sometimes,” Robin shrugged back at her and relaxed in her seat.

Then she looked around again to find Nancy one more time. Robin would have never imagined that she would find herself in the middle of a fairy tale where princes and knights didn’t matter, where the princess was a dragon slayer, and she, a solitary dragon, had to protect with her life the tower where she religiously hid her own heart. She didn’t want to be the type that didn’t practice what she preached, but she couldn’t help but wonder, the scariest thing in her life, was it actually worth it?

 

---

 

This was not how things were supposed to go. Nancy had spent most of her summer feeling suffocated by Robin’s proximity and unable to escape. How come that during the one week she was desperate to have a moment alone with Robin they never managed to have the one single conversation she was dying to have?

There were one too many emotions waging war in Nancy’s heart. She was confused, stressed, anxious, scared, excited, and some feeling soft and sweet that wasn’t ready to name yet. She had been standing on the edge of a cliff for too long, and it was time for her to decide if she should walk away or fall down all at once, regardless of who would or wouldn’t be waiting somewhere at the bottom to catch her.

“Is that it?” Nancy asked out loud when the last client walked away with her ice cream. 

“Yeah. That was the last one for the day,” Robin replied without looking up from her current task of cleaning up before closing.

“Huh,” Nancy mumbled.

She looked around them with no small amount of apprehension in her chest. There was nobody walking toward Scoops Away. No familiar faces nearby, no children asking for free ice cream, no parents or managers or strangers or exes or possibly-more-than-friends in the horizon. Nancy looked behind her just to double-check. It was just her and Robin alone. There was no catastrophe going on around them, no emergencies, and nothing unexpected demanding her attention. This was almost too good to be real, and she started to feel suspicious. But then, when she went to the back room of the shop and she caught sight of Robin picking up her bag and getting ready to leave, Nancy jumped to action.

“Robin, wait!” she exclaimed and approached the taller girl. “Can we talk? Finally?”

If Nancy looked like every second of anticipation had only brought her closer to the edge, Robin looked surprisingly calm, which was a different kind of worrying, and Nancy wondered how long that calm could last before she was hit with the storm that she’d grown to associate with Robin Buckley.

“I don’t know, Nancy,” Robin shrugged one shoulder and pulled on the strap of her backpack that she’d thrown over the other shoulder.

“What do you mean?” Nancy frowned.

“We’ve been trying and failing to talk the entire week. Don’t you think maybe it’s a sign?”

Nancy couldn’t hold back her scoff. “Bullshit,” she said, “you don’t believe in signs . We have to talk and you know it.”

“Conversations with you never end well, honey,” Robin said, but Nancy could hear the strain in her voice. “I’m doing what’s best for us. I’m gonna go.”

“You can’t leave!”

“You’ve done it, why can’t I?” Robin said coldly, finally reaching the door that would take her away from their little world in the back room of the ice cream shop and ruin this moment that felt an awful lot like a last chance.

“Okay, fine! I shouldn’t have left when we were talking in the car, and I’m sorry for that. I shouldn’t have stopped you when we were alone in the woods. I should’ve done a lot of things differently and I didn’t, but I’m here now and I want to talk so can you fucking listen to me?”

Nancy was already breathing heavily. She felt like if Robin walked through that door she would lose her forever. However, somewhere in her outburst she must have said something right, because Robin lowered her hand from the door and turned around. She looked as tired as Nancy felt, but she had become an expert at reading warning signs of Robin’s temper, and she was sure her calm facade was breaking. Good. Anything was better than giving up. If they needed the combined hurricane of both of them losing their minds at the same time to get through this conversation, then so be it.

“Well, that was nice to hear,” Robin cleared her throat and unceremoniously dropped her backpack to the floor. “I’m all ears, Wheeler. What do you want?”

Well. That wasn’t an easy question for Nancy. “I… I’m not… I’m not exactly sure…” She stuttered a little.

“Seriously,” Robin chuckled bitterly, “You’ve been pestering me around all week because you needed to talk and now you don’t even know what you want to say?” Nancy gritted her teeth and she took in each word like a bullet. “Fucking typical. I should’ve expected it from you. I don’t know why I still get surprised when you pull some shit like this, Nancy. I don’t even know why I’m still here-”

“Oh my God! Can you shut up for one second for once in your life?!” Nancy snapped, but she was well aware that her words were a double edge sword, making things worse for both of them at the same time.

Robin nearly gasped. She opened her mouth and actually laughed. “Wow. Nice. That’s very impressive. Great job, babe, just great,” she was seething. She snatched her backpack from the floor again and glared at Nancy.

“No, wait. Fuck. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that!” Nancy groaned, and covered her face for a second, looking for some sense amidst the chaos in her mind and all around her. “Can you just listen to me?”

“You know what, Nancy? No. I can’t,” Robin exclaimed. “I want to, I really, really want to but… Fuck, Nancy, you just keep… you keep…”

“What?” Nancy asked her. She was desperate. She took one careful step forward and felt her heart breaking when Robin flinched away from her.

“You keep playing with me,” Robin said, more quietly, and her voice broke halfway through. “You’re the asshole that keeps playing with my feelings and I can’t take it anymore.”

Nancy opened and closed her mouth, grappling with Robin’s confession against her own feelings, which started to stumble out of her lips without giving them a second thought. “Me? Are you serious right now?! Do you have any idea what you’ve done to me? You’ve messed with my entire life , Robin. You… you changed me! I wasn’t prepared for you or any of this. I didn’t even want it!”

“Okay! Stop!” Robin interrupted her before she could say more. Nancy was actually surprised that Robin looked as much on the verge of tears as she was. At some point, Robin had let go of her bag again and Nancy could see her hands shaking. “I get it, you fucking hate me, that’s not news. Can I go now?” Robin asked, and through her fury, her voice was trembling.

Nancy took a deep breath and pressed the heel of her hands to her eyes for a moment to keep the angry tears at bay. “Can you please wait for one second?” she begged, still struggling to put into words what she wanted and what she was feeling.

“I’ve waited an entire summer for you, Nancy,” Robin said, slowly, letting every word hang in the air between them for a heavy moment.

“Well, I didn’t ask for it!” Nancy yelled.

Robin just bit her lip and shook her head. “Fuck you,” she said to Nancy, and moved toward the door again.

She wasn’t proud of it, but this was too much for her. Every single emotion Robin Buckley had made her feel since the moment they met was too much. Her entire life, Nancy felt like almost everything around her was completely normal, average, or even mediocre at times. She was used to things being boring, predictable, and easy. None of her breakups had even half of the intensity that Robin could make her feel from across the room. It was just instinct, a natural reaction, for her to flinch away and pull up her defenses. Only the sight of Robin turning away from her was enough to convince her to give it all up, forget about everything but this moment with Robin, and do whatever it takes to do one thing right.

“Robin, don’t go!” Nancy raised her voice again, shamelessly desperate.

Robin turned around sharply and yelled, “What the hell do you want, Nancy?”

Everything about Robin was a sign that this was the last time she asked. If Nancy let her turn around one more time she would lose her forever.

“I want you to kiss me.”

Finally, she said it out loud. Finally, the six words that would change her life forever, the sentence that made time stop and the rest of the world fade away. Nancy had no way to read Robin’s mind at that moment. If maybe Robin didn’t want it as desperately as she did, if she considered using this to hurt Nancy somehow, if she thought it wasn’t as much of a big deal as Nancy felt it was. But none of Nancy’s speculation could compare to the reality of the situation. She didn’t get to hear what Robin was thinking. Instead, Robin quickly closed the distance between them and showed her .

Robin took Nancy’s face between her hands with as much delicacy as she could in the middle of their haste, she leaned down, she closed the distance between them for once and for all, and she kissed her. Robin kissed her. Her lips met Nancy’s with the exact force that Nancy had predicted from the forest fire that they had started together weeks ago. Robin’s kiss was nothing short of perfect. Nancy was so focused on Robin’s lips above everything else that, when Robin stopped, when she froze and pulled back just an inch, Nancy immediately panicked. She opened her eyes and instantly lost her breath when she saw Robin’s darkened blue eyes looking down at her. Robin wasn’t pulling back, she was waiting . They had done too much of that lately.

Nancy didn’t waste another second. She took Robin’s lead and this time she was the one to close the gap between them. Her hands leapt to Robin’s waist and tugged her closer. She moved onto her tiptoes. And she kissed Robin just like she had been dreaming of, just like she had been scared to do, just like this spectacular girl in her arms deserved to be kissed. This time, with the two of them putting all the effort they could, the kiss surpassed any and all standards Nancy could imagine. She wasn’t even ashamed of the whine that escaped her, she couldn’t care less, not when Robin replied with a moan of her own.

Despite the strong suspicion that they would never run out of fire to fuel the passion between them, eventually they had to part from each other. They didn’t stray too far. If anything, it was like their bodies drifted even closer. They weren’t complete strangers to each other’s bodies, but these touches were brand new and intoxicating. They were purposeful instead of accidental, meaningful instead of teasing. It was unexplored territory. Still, Nancy kept her hands on Robin’s waist, with her thumbs brushing the material of Robin’s uniform, while Nancy dreamed of the soft skin underneath. Meanwhile, one of Robin’s hands still cradled Nancy’s face, while her other hand played sweetly with strands of Nancy’s hair. 

Nancy’s heart fluttered at the sight of Robin’s face. Her pupils were blown, but the remaining blue in them was brighter than ever. Robin was holding back a smile. Part of her still probably waited for something to go wrong.

“Was that okay?” Robin whispered.

Nancy felt her knees go a little weak at the raspy tone of Robin’s voice. As it turned out, one very emotional screaming match followed by making out with her did wonders for Robin’s natural tone. 

“Can we do it again?” Nancy asked instead of giving a direct answer. She didn’t hold back her own smile, and that was all the encouragement Robin needed.

“Anytime, Wheeler,” Robin whispered. She was glowing, and it was the most beautiful thing Nancy had ever seen.

Notes:

THEY KISSED!!!!

wow finally! i thought it would never happen!!

this chapter was a lot of fun to write. i had use all my strength to keep them away from each other for almost one entire chapter and it was almost cruel but hey at least they're starting to get their shit together! it's not therapy but gay friends, adopted children, and conversations in the car with your mom and your manager can go a long way

I reallyy hope you guys liked this chapter!! i'd love to hear alll your thoughts and your favorite parts and everything. i hope their first actual kiss lived up to your expectations. and I promise that it's only going to get even better from now on. this isn't their happy ending yet 👀

also!! i wanted to say some things. firstly, thank you soooo much for all the support and the love for this fic, it's now officially my most popular one ever!!! it's crazy and I'm loving every minute of it!! for that reason i was shocked and saddened to realize that we don't have that many chapters left :((( something around 4, i think? i could drag it out and mess it up but the right thing would be to let this fic run its course on its own time guys. that being said, i do want to enjoy these last few chapters as much as possible (and yeah maybe i have life and work piling up and a thesis to write whatever) so maybee maybee i'm not sure but there's a Chance that i won't update weekly but like every other week from now on. i hope you'll understand!! and i'll definitely make it up to you by posting prompts and one shots and updating other fics in the meantime. i just don't want to say goodbye to this baby just yet

okay i'll shut up now!! i'll leave you with a reminder that you can also find me on tumblr @ronancebuckley also *cough cough* if anyone were to make fanart of this fic i'd love you forever and you're legally obliged to tell me *cough cough*

and i'll see you soon!!

(friendly reminder that robin and nancy finally kissed <3 )

Chapter 8: It’s just me, your archnemesis

It had been a day since Nancy and Robin kissed for the very first time. Technically. It was the next day, but it had been far less than twenty-four hours since the event. Not that Nancy was counting the hours until she saw Robin again or anything like that. But she was irritably aware of the fact that they hadn’t seen each other in far too long and Robin was late to work. 

Nancy barely had any sleep at all the previous night. In fact, ever since had to force herself to walk away from Robin and go back home, her mind hadn’t known a single moment of rest. Their first kiss had been so much more than all the fireworks Nancy could have dreamed of. But one kiss didn’t magically erase several weeks of being at each other’s throats. When they stepped back from each other, they had been both flustered and awkward, and only one well-placed joke from Robin and the promise of seeing each other at work the next day convinced them to finally leave the ice cream shop and go their separate ways. Still, it was like Robin never really left Nancy. Even in her dreams, she was haunted by blue eyes, pink lips, and Robin’s hands everywhere on her body. Nancy had never put so much time and effort into thinking about something or someone. She cycled between waves of guilt and regret, joy and exhilaration, fear and doubt, excitement and desire, and then it started all over again. 

Did she do something wrong? Should she be ashamed? Why did she wait so long to do this? When would they kiss each other again? Were they actually going to kiss again? What if Robin didn’t feel it was as good as Nancy felt it was? It was the best kiss of her entire life, wasn’t it? She was about to do anything to get another chance at kissing Robin Buckley, wasn’t she?

Right on cue, Nancy finally caught sight of Robin slowly approaching Scoops Ahoy's little corner of the mall. It was… maddening. There was no way Robin usually walked that slow. Nancy had time to start drumming her fingers on the counter and thinking about running toward Robin before the other girl even reached the ice cream shop. When she finally arrived to work, Robin did nothing but send the same old smirk of usual and greet her with a simple, “Wheeler.” Then she walked past Nancy.  Not even brushing her hand, her arm, her back, anything. Not a single thought. Not another word. She went into the back room of the shop as if absolutely nothing had changed between them. 

Well. One thing was for sure. If Robin thought she could drive Nancy out of her mind for an entire summer, make her hate her more than she thought she could hate another person, just to then turn around, make her question her entire life, existence, and belief system, give her the best kiss imaginable, and then act like it was nothing… two could play that game. Nancy didn’t care . She was stronger than that. She could hold her ground. If Robin thought that Nancy would lose her composure, and chase her into the back room of the shop…

Fine. Maybe Nancy wasn’t as strong as she thought. Not when it came to one Robin Buckley. 

“Robin?” Nancy whispered angrily as she pushed through the door that led into the other room. 

It was a pleasant surprise to find out that all this time Robin had been waiting for her.

“Hey, princess,” Robin said, immediately placing her hands on Nancy’s waist and pinning her against the wall, strategically hidden from the little window that connected their little room with the front counter.

Her smile was one of the best of hers that Nancy had ever seen. There definitely was that mischievous gleam that used to annoy Nancy to no end. But Robin didn’t manage to tone down her genuine joy, that sweet hint of something akin to childlike excitement. It was almost upsetting how easily Nancy forgot about the feeling of believing Robin would act as if nothing had changed.

“Did you miss me?” Robin asked her then, her voice was already a little breathless.

Nancy tried to kiss steal a kiss from Robin right then and there. She felt a spark of fear when Robin dodged her lips. Her only reassurance was that Robin’s smile didn’t waver, and her fingers only seemed to tighten in Nancy’s waist.

“Did you miss me?” Robin asked her again, her voice even quiet, her raspy tone reaching entirely new levels and making Nancy feel like her knees would buckle.

“You’re a little shit, did you know that?” Nancy asked Robin with a smile of her own.

She draped her arms around Robin’s shoulder, and let her hand play lightly with the tips of Robin’s hair. She considered putting up more of a fight, but she thought perhaps they had fought enough already in the time they had known each other, and she was surprisingly comfortable in this surprising but wonderful pocket of warmth they found themselves in. Besides, she really wanted that kiss, and admitting the truth, for once, wasn’t all that difficult.

“I missed you, a lot,” Nancy said, looking directly into Robin’s eyes to watch them soften as soon as she heard the words. “Can you kiss me now?”

Robin’s reply came in the form of a spectacular kiss. If there was any doubt in Nancy’s mind that their first kiss had been any kind of mistake, an adrenaline-induced accident, and it wasn’t actually as good as she thought it was looking back, all her doubts were promptly erased. There was little build-up to this kiss, and Robin deepened as soon as Nancy gave her the chance. Robin was earnest and thorough, and Nancy could taste the enthusiasm in her kisses. She aimed to match Robin’s energy beat by beat. She stood on her tiptoes at the same time that Robin pulled her closer, flushing their bodies together, and every little hum of pleasure that escaped from either of them was quickly reciprocated by the other.

The only reason they pulled away from each other was the sound of the little bell on the counter announcing their first client of the day. Nancy immediately flinched and pulled back from Robin, her head hitting the wall behind her with a light thump. However, her frightened eyes encountered nothing but the utmost calm and bliss in Robin’s expression.

“You are amazing,” Robin whispered, punctuating her words with a tender kiss on Nancy’s cheek, which somehow made her blush even more than the previous, deeply passionate kiss. “Let’s get to work, sweetheart. Shall we?”

Robin let go of her hold on Nancy’s waist slowly, as if she was afraid one or both of them wouldn’t be able to stay upright without the other, but then she slowly made her way to the counter to deal with the clients. Nancy was extremely grateful for this, because it bought her at least another minute to recover. Maybe she shouldn’t have worried this much. Maybe things had changed drastically for the better. Maybe she could accept this new chapter of her life without thinking too much, without asking herself too many questions, and simply enjoying it as much as she could. 

 

---

 

Nancy cared very little about anything else when she was the one that had Robin pinned against the wall of the back room of the shop. Part of her, the part that’s been worried sick overanalyzing everything that’s going on between her and Robin, wished they were taking this a little more seriously. But, if she was being honest with herself, there was something downright magical about having Robin’s lovely laughter spilled on her lips between kisses.

“Stop laughing, you dork,” Nancy said, although she couldn’t hold back her laughter either.

“I’m not!” Robin protested, but whatever pout she attempted to pull off was immediately defeated by her laughter bubbling back up to the surface. “ You stop laughing,” she instead, pressing her lips against Nancy’s again.

Nancy tried to make the kiss last, she really. She wanted to make the most of having Robin right there just like that , her back pressed against the wall where she slid down a little, enough to even out their height difference. Robin’s legs were bent a little at a weird angle and something about it made Nancy strangely happy, which ignited her laughter all over again.

“Hey,” Robin called her out, but the truly blinding little grin on her face didn’t show an ounce of displeasure.

“I’m sorry,” Nancy whispered, biting her lip to stop herself from laughing again, but then she caught the way Robin’s eyes focused hungrily on the action and she couldn’t stay away from kissing her again if she tried. “You started it, though,” she mumbled against Robin’s lips, not really bothered by the fact that she made Robin laugh again, thus interrupting their kissing once more.

“I didn’t do such a thing!” Robin laughed and stole a quick peck from Nancy’s lips.

“You practically threw the ice cream on that poor kid’s face!” Nancy reminded her, laughing at the memory from just minutes ago. Meanwhile, her hands couldn’t stay still, they tugged a little the front of Robin’s uniform, played with the silver necklaces around Robin’s neck, and traced with her fingertips mindlessly shaped on Robin’s neck. She was more than a little happy about catching the way Robin’s breath caught in her throat at the feelings.

“Hey, they were taking too damn long!” Robin protested, remembering the last client that distracted them from doing exactly this. “It’s ice cream, not rocket science. It’s not even good ice cream.”

Before Robin could go on with her angry rant about a random child’s ice cream preferences, Nancy shut her up, not too delicately, with a hard kiss. She took Robin by surprise, and herself a little, when her tongue darted out to lick Robin’s lips. Making the most of the little gasp that parted Robin’s lips, Nancy sucked Robin’s bottom lip between her own.

“Jesus Christ, Wheeler,” Robin said breathlessly when Nancy pulled away. Her eyes were closed and she was blushing harder than Nancy ever had the pleasure of seeing.

“You know,” Nancy hummed in playing thoughtfulness while her hand moved to cradle Robin’s jaw, her thumb brushing the underside of Robin’s bottom lip admiringly. “You sure taste a lot like that strawberry ice cream you claim to dislike so much.”

Robin, still with her eyes closed, chuckled warmly and murmured, “Jerk.”

When Robin’s eyes opened again, the combination of desire and affection in them was enough to make Nancy feel scared all over again. Was this supposed to feel so… right? 

“Are you sure it’s strawberry though?” Robin asked her with a very promising smirk. “You should get another taste, just in case.”

Well then. Nancy could do that. She didn’t have to think too hard to lean back in and connect her lips with Robin, getting lost in the feeling and forgetting about everything else. She’ll worry about feeling scared later .

 

---

 

“Correct me if I’m wrong, but this wasn’t here before,” Nancy said, as a way of greeting Robin, the next day when she arrived at Scoops Ahoy and noticed a pair of fun little curtains on the window that separated the front counter from the back of the shop.

“You’re never wrong, honey,” Robin replied. She stood up from where she had been crouching in the back room, looking at Nancy through the window in question. “So… I might have made a casual little suggestion to Ned,  then I borrowed some tools that were gathering dust in Steve’s house, and now Scoops Ahoy has an appropriately themed set of curtains. Surprise!”

Nancy deeply wished she could’ve come up with a better response, or at least had appreciated the other girl’s cute fast-paced rant a little more. But Robin didn’t just mention tools. All during her speech she had been toying with a screwdriver between her fingers and Nancy was a little shocked to find her brain was struggling to focus on anything else. She silently walked through the door separating them, faced Robin, glanced at the curtains, and finally said, “Why?”

“Why?” Robin echoed her question with amusement coating her tone.

“Why would you do… that?” Nancy wondered, her eyes still intently following Robin’s actions as she set down the infamous screwdriver on a toolbox on the floor. 

“I’ll give you a hint, ma chérie ,” Robin announced proudly. She practically leaped toward the window, where she closed the curtains with a dramatic move and then took two short steps back. “Take a closer look,” she told Nancy, and smiled expectantly.

Nancy hesitated, but she was so endeared by seeing Robin so excited that she couldn’t even think about putting up a fight. She shook her head a little though, telling herself she barely recognized this version of herself. That was something she could look into later though. At the moment, her priority was stepping in front of those new curtains and leaning in to study them as if her life depended on it. If there was a secret message in the colorful fabric she wasn’t catching it.

“I don’t get it,” she admitted, while still looking at the hundred little white ships on the deep blue fabric. She was about to lose her patience and turn around, believing that this was just Robin going back to making fun of her. That’s when Robin spoke up again.

“I’ll show you,” Robin said. In the blink of an eye, she closed the distance between them and stood barely an inch away from Nancy’s back. “It’s so I can do this,” Robin whispered at the same time that her hands found Nancy’s waist and she let her body lean in closer and pressed herself against Nancy’s back.

“Oh,” Nancy sighed. At first, she tensed instinctively, but soon enough she relaxed, which Robin took as encouragement. 

“Yeah,” Robin sighed, sounding entirely too proud of herself. Her arms wrapped more firmly around Nancy’s waist and she placed a tentative kiss on Nancy’s shoulder.

“Robin, n-no,” Nancy stuttered and squirmed a little. Robin immediately eased her hold on Nancy and didn’t make another move. “What if someone sees?” Nancy asked.

That seemed to make Robin relax. “No one can see,” she promised, accompanying her words with an inaugural kiss on Nancy’s neck.

It was a lost fight and Nancy knew it. Robin’s lips on her neck had her melting in the taller girl’s arms. “Are you sure?” she asked, for good measure.

“I checked them a thousand times. Why do you think I got these specifically?” Robin told her. They had the window’s glass before, but now it was a fact nobody could even tell their silhouettes from the other side. Which was quite convenient considering their already compromising positions. Nancy could feel that characteristic smirk of Robin pressed against the side of her neck. “We have complete privacy, baby.”

“God…” Nancy sighed. Her features were pulled into a conflicted frown caused by not being able to make up her mind about feeling elated, conflicted about Robin having her trapped against the counter technically facing the entire mall with only a thick curtain separating them from the world, or feeling conflicted about absolutely loving the position she was in. 

“Do you like this?” Robin asked her, her voice trembling, proving that she was just as affected as Nancy felt.

Nancy nodded quickly and, afraid that wouldn't be enough, she whispered, “Please don’t stop.”

Luckily, Robin didn’t need to be told twice. She used one of her hands to push Nancy’s hair out of the way, and then she kissed Nancy’s neck with such dedication that Nancy had no option but to hate herself a little for ever pushing Robin away from her. One of Nancy’s hands was clutching the wrist of the arm that Robin had wrapped around her, keeping their bodies flushed together. Her other hand, as if with a mind of its own, reached up and behind Nancy’s head to get a hold of Robin’s head, treading her finger through soft strands of hair, keeping her close, digging her nails a little when Robin’s lips found her earlobe, and then accidentally pushing Robin’s dumb Scoops Ahoy hat off her head.

The sound of the hat hitting the floor startled them both, and halted Robin’s movements. Slowly, they started to disentangle themselves.

“Nancy?” Robin whispered.

“Hm?” Nancy cleared her throat and turned around. She realized she’d been deeply unprepared to face Robin again after what just happened. Her only relief was seeing the identical shock in Robin’s flustered face.

“Nothing, nothing,” Robin shook her face quickly and looked down at the small space between them. “We’ll have to open up and start working eventually, you know?”

“Oh,” Nancy sighed, not without a small amount of disappointment. But before she could say more, Robin seemed to change her mind.

“Actually, you know what? Can I ask you something?” Robin blurted out quickly.

“No!” Nancy said, even faster.

“What?”

“I mean,” Nancy said, improvising anything on the spot to hide her state of alarm and ease the look of worry on Robin’s face. “I mean… There’s no need to ask. You… can take a break. Yeah! Take, um, take the first break right now. You… you worked on the curtains! It’s only fair, right? I… I’ll go open the shop and, uh, serve ice cream and… it’s okay!”

Nancy fled the scene before she had to see Robin’s reaction to her sudden outburst. She had enough trouble quieting down her own concerns and ever growing fears and doubts, she couldn’t handle whatever it was Robin wanted to talk about. Not yet, and not any time soon if she could help it.

 

---

---

 

For Robin, the good news was that very suddenly she was spending half of her time at work making out with Nancy Wheeler, holy shit . The bad news, inescapable asshole it was, was that the other half of her time she spent overthinking even more about her relationship with Nancy. She used the word relationship very broadly there. They were colleagues that kissed each other regularly. Most of the time she could tell they were light years away from an actual romantic relationship. But there were moments when she couldn’t help but wonder…

Sometimes Nancy took the time to hold her hand and intertwine their fingers even when they were walking just five steps at most from the register to the privacy of the back room. Sometimes Nancy failed to hide her smile when Robin arrived at work or her frown when one of their conversations was interrupted when a new client arrived. A conversation. Not even one of their making-out sessions. That was something that Robin wasn’t even sure Nancy noticed, but ever since they started kissing as often as they could, they got considerably better at just… existing around each other. To say it was nice would be an understatement. To say it made Robin feel like she was walking on a tightrope, above a river of lava, infested with piranhas, piranhas with rabies, during an earthquake… would be an even bigger understatement. 

It didn’t help that more often than not Robin had the suspicion that she was walking that tightrope by herself. She was well aware that they were entering this whatever they were from very different places in their lives. But she just needed to know something . She would be happy hearing at least once that this was more than kissing each other a couple of times over the summer. If it wasn’t, she’d be the happiest woman in Hawkins, Indiana, and the entire universe. It if was, the answer might kill her, but at least she’d stop agonizing over every little mixed signal that Nancy sent her way. Every time she tried to ask Nancy something, anything , the girl flinched, or winced, or something. Even if Robin was about to ask something completely unrelated to Nancy’s feelings or lack thereof. Which was partially amusing but more concerning than anything else. However, sometimes Nancy took the lead and acted in ways that almost convinced Robin she had nothing to worry about. 

The latest example of this struggle happened right after they finished serving ice cream to a particularly annoying family. The people hadn’t finished turning around when Robin heard Nancy exclaim, “Oh no. Robin, we’ve run out of rainbow sprinkles.” Then Nancy proceeded to show Robin a perfectly full cup of rainbow sprinkles. “Can you help me get some more?” Nancy asked her, pretty much batting her eyelashes at Robin, “They’re on the highest shelf and you know I can’t reach there by myself.”

The last onlooker and witness to their faked rainbow sprinkle dilemma finally turned around so Robin could whisper, “Fuck you.” But her smile was firmly in place and she followed Nancy to the back room with a single complaint.

Once they had their much wanted and needed privacy, Nancy was immediately on her tiptoes, with her hand placed on Robin’s waist for balance. Robin welcomed her kiss gladly, but they wouldn’t have been themselves if neither of them pulled away halfway through to tease the other one.

“Needy, are we?” Robin mumbled against Nancy’s lips while her hands finally got to hold Nancy’s face delicately.

Called out, Nancy frowned a little and fell off her tiptoes to her usual height. She looked up at Robin with that deadly yet promising look that Robin had memorized a while ago. “As if your hands weren’t shaking right now,” Nancy whispered back at her.

Robin couldn’t stop her eyes from widening in surprise. Nancy wasn’t exactly lying. It wasn’t all that unusual for her hands to shake when she got Nancy in her arms like that. How couldn’t they? Everything had moved so fast. She barely had time to breathe. But she was aware of how lucky she was. She could stand getting called out, she could embrace it.

So, Robin shrugged, her smile softened, and she admitted, “It’s just that I’ve wanted you for so long.”

It was Nancy’s turn to look caught by surprise. Robin noticed the shorter girl gulp nervously, and then Nancy looked down. Robin was more than terrified she’d said too much. She had this persistent fear that she would scare Nancy away. She could already tell she would spend the entire day chastising herself for having said that much, showing too much, giving too much of herself away to someone that hadn’t even said she wanted her. Despite the pang of terror of losing Nancy, Robin couldn’t stop her impulses, and before she could think twice about it, she was launching herself into once again trying something that could ruin everything… or finally calm her insecurities.

“Nancy?” Robin whispered her name, gently pushed a strand of hair behind Nancy’s ear, and softly coaxed the other girl to look back at her. “I need to ask. Do you-”

“Sit down,” Nancy interrupted her.

Robin would’ve been more upset if she hadn’t been as confused. “What?” she frowned.

“Please,” Nancy insisted. She moved quickly away from Robin to push a chair against one of the walls.

Robin hesitated. She wanted to talk , she needed to hear some answers from Nancy. But, Nancy did say please. Robin wasn’t strong enough to deny her this. She took a seat on the chair and before she could even consider speaking up again, Nancy was straddling her lap and facing her with what should be an impossible combination of fiery and nervous blue eyes. “Oh! Okay,” Robin gasped. Her hands fell to her sides and gripped the chair as if it was the only thing keeping her conscious.

“Is this okay?” Nancy said quietly, slowly placing her hands on Robin’s shoulders.

Robin took a deep breath, but it did very little to help. One hell of a summer trying and failing to push Nancy away and pretend she wasn’t catching feelings for a girl that openly wanted to shoot her in the head, and now she had said girl sitting on her lap, biting her lip, staring at her with expectant blue eyes and…

“The customers,” Robin blurted out, “The ice cream, I mean. I can’t, uh, I can’t get fired, you know? Because if I get fired I wouldn’t have a job. I mean, obviously, right? But like, you know, I know I installed the curtains and no one can see us but, you never know, what if someone gets in and steals the ice cream or, uh, oh a spoon, even all the spoons! And we get in trouble and we get fired, and I wouldn’t know-”

Mercifully, Nancy shut her up with a kiss.

For all the trouble that they had to go through to get to their first kiss, now it seemed almost unfair how natural it was to kiss each other, how easy it was to get lost in it. Robin started to relax, as much as she could with a beautiful girl sitting on her lap. They were getting even better with each kiss. They were slowly gaining confidence, and learning the things that the other one liked most. Nancy’s hands left Robin’s shoulder in order to get lost in Robin’s hair. Without losing her focus on the kiss, Robin slowly moved her hands to Nancy’s thighs. The moment that her hands made contact with Nancy’s skin, she heard Nancy’s breath hitch in her throat, but she continued kissing Robin without hesitation. Robin felt in heaven. A smile took over her lips and Nancy seemed content to kiss it right off her lips. Robin’s hands tightened her hold on Nancy’s thighs just a little, and her thumbs started to rub teasing circles on the delicate skin there. All at once, maybe Robin’s hands moved a little further up than she could control, maybe Nancy leaned in closer to Robin without even realizing, but the fact remained that suddenly Robin’s hands were underneath Nancy’s skirt for the first time, and she shock of it was enough to make both girls pull away breathlessly.

“Are you okay?!” the two of them asked in unison, with matching looks of alarm briefly taking over their expressions of utter delight.

Robin moved her hands backward until they were resting on Nancy’s knees, and that seemed comfortable enough for both of them. They couldn’t stop touching each other, but every time they crossed a new line they reacted as if they were getting burned, which was actually how some of their touches felt. They got a little more comfortable and regained their breath enough to talk again.

“I’m sorry if I ambushed you,” Nancy apologized with a sweet pink blush on her cheeks. “It’s just…”

“What?” Robin tried to encourage her, but she only received more silence. “Please tell me?” Robin begged. She would’ve done anything to get just one honest word from Nancy. “Nancy… I’m nervous too, you know? But I’d like to know if-”

“You have more experience,” Nancy said quickly, and immediately closed her eyes tightly as if to hide her embarrassment.

“No, you do,” Robin frowned.

“Not with girls.”

That was something. Robin could work with that. She tried not to appear too eager about Nancy finally giving her a hint at what she was really thinking, feeling, or fearing.

“Hey, beautiful, it’s okay,” Robin said with a tone as soft as her smile. Nancy’s hands had fallen to her lap, where she mindlessly played with her fingers and stared at them to avoid looking at Robin’s eyes. Robin placed her hands on Nancy’s to stop her fidgeting, to offer hers instead, anything to convince Nancy to trust her, to realize she wasn’t alone in this. “There’s no rush, you know? It doesn’t have to be a big deal if you don’t want it to be,” she added, tilting her head, looking for Nancy’s eyes, and grinning happily when Nancy finally looked up at her. “It’s just me, your archnemesis,” Robin shrugged nonchalantly, and she was rewarded with a wholehearted laugh from Nancy, “You already hate me, how difficult can it be to kiss me sometimes?”

“I don’t hate you,” Nancy told her. She was sincere and there was still a bit of her laughter lingering in her words. It was the best thing Robin had ever heard.

“You don’t?”

Robin was beaming, Nancy didn’t hate her, Nancy was playing with the rings on her fingers, and Nancy was leaning in to kiss her. Nancy’s kiss was almost sweet enough to fill the silence left behind by all the words she wasn’t saying. It was probably enough for now, Robin told herself. Waiting a little longer wouldn’t kill her. At least she hoped it wouldn’t.

 

---

---

 

Nancy was certain she had never felt like this in her life. There were too many feelings to keep track of. Even if she ignored the bad ones, the doubts, and the fears, it was still a lot. There was that thrill of danger of making out with her coworker in a very public place. There was that adrenaline she had used to fight with Robin for weeks and now used for much more enjoyable purposes. There was an unexpected warmth and tenderness that she kept running into unexpectedly when she was with Robin. There was the feeling that she would never get tired of kissing Robin.

“You’re crazy for this,” Nancy mumbled against Robin’s lips. They were currently sitting on the floor of Scoops Ahoy, right behind the counter, barely hidden from the rest of the world.

“Crazy for you, babygirl? Yeah, I am,” Robin replied. It was a good day for them, an easy day without stumbling into any dangerous territory. Robin carried that old smug smirk of hers. As much as Nancy was enjoying seeing the taller girl nervous, flustered, earnest, and sweet, she had to admit that this sarcastic and deeply irritating little shit had been the one to make her lose her mind in the first place. These moments when they gave into old habits, when Robin bit her lip hard enough as if they were in the middle of a fight, they were priceless.

“Shut up,” Nancy sighed, diving back into the kiss, but not for long.

Both girls had to stifle a gasp when they heard someone ring the little golden bell on the counter. Robin’s eyes widened comically. Nancy sent a murderous look her way, pressed a finger to Robin’s lips, and silently promised that if Robin made a noise she would simply kill her. Quickly, Nancy regained her composure, took a deep breath, straightened her uniform, and stood up.

“Hello! Sorry, I was doing inventory,” Nancy said, as if the bottom of the counter was hiding anything more interesting than Robin with her freshly kissed lips. “Welcome to Scoops Ahoy. What can I do for you?”

Nancy started dealing with the ridiculously indecisive client, but that wasn’t even the worst part. Soon enough, she felt Robin’s hand on her ankle, but she quickly pushed her away. Robin’s hand returned to her ankle, though, and Nancy discreetly huffed in annoyance while keeping a polite smile on her face for the client’s sake. She thought she’d be able to survive this stupidly complicated situation, and then almost without her noticing, Robin’s hand had reached Nancy’s knee. Nancy gulped nervously. The man on the other side of the counter was busy trying out a sample of an ice cream flavor, so Nancy risked a look down at Robin, which was… a mistake. She felt her mouth run dry at the sight. Robin was smiling in the exact same way that weeks ago made Nancy wish to cut her head off, but this time when Robin winked at her, Nancy didn’t feel an ounce of hate. 

The man continued to take an unreasonable long time to order ice cream and, in the meantime, Robin’s hand moved slightly above Nancy’s knee. Her thumb caressed the soft skin of Nancy’s thigh, and it made Nancy get goosebumps and feel like her legs would give out at any moment. But when Robin dared to scratch her nails as softly as she could on Nancy’s inner thigh, Nancy failed spectacularly at holding back her gasp.

All at once, Nancy blushed tomato red, Robin dropped her hand, and the client on the other side of the counter looked up at Nancy with concern.

“So! Are you ready to pay now?” Nancy asked him, hoping against hope that her faux enthusiasm would cover the tremble in her voice.

Miraculously, the man gave in and ordered the worst flavor the shop had to offer. Nancy was finally free to move around, not without one of two kicks at Robin’s legs. Nancy was dying of embarrassment, Robin was biting her lip to keep herself from crying out at the kicks she received but, all things considered, Nancy was perfectly happy at that moment. The only problem was that such a wonderful feeling could be a bad sign too. What part of her brain didn’t understand how dangerous that had been? How careless and stupid they were acting? How easily and completely she was giving herself up for Robin? She couldn’t allow any of that. She needed to take some control back, she needed to protect herself in many different ways.

 

---

 

The two of them were making the most of a slow day at work and making good use of the curtains Robin installed. Nancy was sitting on the table placed in the middle of the back room of the shop and Robin was standing between her legs, kissing her like there was no tomorrow… until she wasn’t.

“Hey, angel? Are you okay?” Robin said quietly, after slowing down their kisses to a stop.

A small sound of complaint, which Nancy would never admit to calling a whine, escaped her the second that Robin stopped kissing her. “I’m fine,” she said, sounding anything but. 

“You’re not,” Robin pointed out easily. They were still wrapped in each other’s arms, close enough for Robin to rub her nose against Nancy’s, a small comfort that spoke more than a thousand words. “I know you,” Robin added.

“Do you?”

Nancy’s words seemed to shock them both. Robin pulled back so she could look at Nancy’s face, and what she found probably resembled the way Nancy used to look at her on their worst days. Nancy felt a spark of guilt about it, but she couldn’t help it, she couldn’t take her words back, and she couldn’t bring herself to say anything else. However, her shame must have softened the expression on her face enough for Robin to react.

“Where did that come from?” Robin wondered. She gently brushed Nancy’s bangs off her forehead, as if that was the thing blocking her from seeing the real Nancy that Nancy was trying desperately to hide. Either way, before Nancy could answer, Robin decided to add, “Nancy, my brain’s starting to hurt just thinking about… I’m literally begging you, can you please tell me if you…”

Unfortunately, or luckily, depending on who you asked, Robin took just a second too long to find the exact question she wanted to ask. 

“Can we just… not talk?” Nancy said.

Robin sighed deeply and her face showed every little bit of disappointment she was probably experiencing. “Nancy, that’s not going to work. I need to know…”

It wasn’t a fair move, and Nancy knew it. But she was panicking. She was having the time of her life making out with Robin whenever they could, she wasn’t ready to hear or say anything else. She acted on impulse and placed a kiss on Robin’s jaw. Since that one touch was enough to make Robin stutter, Nancy continued. She trailed kissed along Robin’s jaw, while one of her hands moved slowly up Robin’s throat until she reached her jaw and she could gently push her chin this way and that to gain more access to her throat. 

“Not fair,” Robin sighed while Nancy’s kisses explored her throat. “Nancy, I don’t feel like…” Robin interrupted herself with a hiss as soon as she felt Nancy’s teeth on her pulse point. “You make a compelling argument, I guess,” Robin whispered, giving in, letting her head fall back and allowing Nancy to kiss as much of her as she wanted. “Please don’t stop.”

“I won’t,” Nancy swore. She didn’t need to be told twice. She pulled Robin closer, she shifted precariously to the edge of the table, anything to get closer to Robin. They were learning as they went. Part of Nancy felt embarrassed, awkward, and convinced that she was doing something wrong. But every little sigh of Robin just told her everything was so right . She hadn’t even imagined that she’d take just as much pleasure being the one to kiss someone else’s neck, but there she was, practically shaking with how much she was enjoying every brush of her lips, her teeth, and her tongue on the delicate skin of Robin’s neck. “Our shift ends in five minutes, and I’m free afterward,” Nancy whispered, beyond excited at the mere idea of doing this for longer than a handful of minutes between annoying clients.

“Shit,” Robin exhaled, but it wasn’t another pleased sigh. This was a slightly different tone, and Nancy’s defenses immediately flared back up.

“Is something wrong?” Nancy asked, begrudgingly pulling back from her new favorite spot in the world tucked in against Robin’s neck.

“I can’t stay,” Robin grimaced.

Nancy’s heart started beating much faster as she tried to read every little line on Robin’s suddenly apologetic face. “Oh. Why not?” Nancy asked her, desperately wishing that the hope in her eyes would be enough to get Robin to stay or, at the very least, not confirm Nancy’s fears. She should’ve known better.

“I’m going out with Vickie,” Robin answered, plain and simple, without adding any noticeable emotion to her words, not even cluing Nancy into how she’s supposed to react. Neither of them moved or looked away from each other, and yet in the blink of an eye, it felt like an unbreachable distance had opened up between them. “Is that a problem for you?” Robin whispered her question and Nancy gave up and looked away.

It turned out that Nancy didn’t need any help figuring out how to feel about the mention of Vickie. She gritted her teeth and took a deep breath to calm herself down and clear her head of thoughts of kicking Robin away from her and tracking down Vickie for a perfectly civil and most likely legal conversation. Nancy was better than that. Nancy could use her mind here.

Since neither of them had moved away yet, Nancy had no trouble closing in her legs around Robin’s waist, effectively trapping her, gripping the front of her uniform and pulling in for a bruising kiss. She didn’t kiss Robin as someone that had lived in absolute bliss laughing softly against each other’s lips for days now. She kissed her like someone that claimed to hate her for months. She kissed as hard as she had wanted to slap her since the first day. She had to kiss Robin like she was the venom and antidote at the very same time. It was the only way she had to remind Robin that only Nancy could kiss her like that, only Nancy had made her feel emotions as deep and explosive as she had, only Nancy had been with her through those vicious and additive months of back and forth, so it has to be Nancy who Robin went to war with and in whose arms she’d rest in after the battle was over, not Vickie’s.

Nancy actually had to push Robin away from her in order to put an end to the kiss. It was something completely different from any other kiss they had shared before. Both of them were panting, almost dizzy with desire. Nancy wasn’t exactly prepared for the darkened blue eyes, messed up hair, flushed cheeks, and bruised lips on Robin’s face. It made her insides reach entirely new temperatures, but Nancy had to keep the upper hand for a moment longer.

“Not a problem at all,” Nancy finally replied to Robin’s question from a moment ago. She didn’t attempt to tone down her breathlessness. She enjoyed the way it made Robin lick her lips and keep her eyes on Nancy’s mouth. “Go have fun with Vickie,” Nancy added.

Unfortunately, that seemed to break the spell. Robin blinked twice, and it was like she finally understood what little trick Nancy just pulled. The good news was that she looked absolutely delighted.

“You’re a really stubborn bitch, you know?” Robin told her with a precious grin.

“And you’re a pain in the ass, Buckley,” Nancy replied with an easy smile of her own.

Nancy was pleasantly surprised by the fact that Robin stole one quick peck on the lips before finally stepping away from her. She picked her things quickly, chuckling warmly and shaking her head at Nancy, and before walking through the door she looked back at Nancy and said, “You’re going to be the death of me, Wheeler.”

Nancy only smiled and attentively watched every little one of Robin’s movements, which wasn’t a bad pastime, she realized. As irritatingly confident as Robin could be with her words, the girl could be endearingly clumsy about everything else in her life. Nancy watched her walk away and almost let herself forget who Robin was walking to and why. Vickie. Because Nancy was incapable of getting her shit together enough to even listen to Robin’s questions.

At least they made it through one more day. They made it through almost an entire week of stealing kisses and avoiding questions. Nancy could only hope that every day could be stacked on top of each other to build a strong tower made of stone that could feel like a home, something safe and reliable. Even if a little voice in the back of her mind told her that not only they were building an extraordinarily frail house of cards, but that also it was her fault, and it was only a matter of time before one of them stopped holding their breath and the whole thing came falling down around them. 

Notes:

i'm back :D

i'm sorry for the long(er than usual) wait. but I hope it was worth it! i posted two one shots in the meantime, and you guys should check them out if you haven't yet. also, i almost added a huge cliffhanger at the end of this chapter but i decided to be kind hgsjdfhgk

as usual, thank you so so so much everyone for reading this fic and for every single comment, i appreciate everything, a single emoji, a lot of screaming, lengthy comments, i love all of you so much <3

I'll be on tumblr (@ronancebuckley) in the meantime and possibly posting more one shots or updating other wips for a lil bit, and i'll be back asap with the next chapter, please be patient with me

Chapter 9: Are you crying?

Summer would be coming to a close soon, and the days were passing by too fast for Nancy’s liking. The last couple of days at Scoops Ahoy had turned into a blur of long stares, secret touches, and stolen kisses. Robin and Nancy have spent every moment at work focused on each other, robbing every minute they can to finally act on those burning feelings they had kept restrained for so long. Though Nancy had to admit that the fear in the back of her mind wasn’t diminishing at all, but only growing stronger each day. On one hand, she was becoming more and more comfortable with Robin. On the other hand,  was she becoming too comfortable with Robin?

One day, frustrated about too much work and too little privacy, Robin happened to discover that the walk-in freezer at the back of the shop had a handle on the inside. So, if the two of them chose to go together to look for a refill of ice cream, and if they started kissing each other long and passionately enough to lose track of time, they could be at peace knowing they wouldn’t actually stay locked inside the freezer. What really scared Nancy was the intrusive thought of thinking that maybe it wouldn’t be so bad to stay locked in with Robin for company.

Things continued to change between them, and change was always an intimidating thing, especially when Nancy felt like she had no control over it at all. She thought for too long that the two of them were supposed to hate each other. It was understandable, and expected, and they had experience with it. So, when they started actually enjoying themselves side by side, when they started playing tic tac toe on the napkins during a lull in the line for ice cream, when Nancy found herself enjoying Robin’s endless commentary on whatever subject caught her attention that day instead of urgently dragging her to the back of the shop to making out… that raised Nancy’s concern. This new stage wasn’t hate, and it was more than stolen kisses, and she had to use all her strength to keep her defensive mechanism from firing back up.

This was especially difficult considering that for the longest time Nancy had counted on Robin ruining this new dynamic before she could get a chance. Perhaps it was an unfair judgment on her part, but she hoped that would save her from being the one to take the blame when they inevitably crashed and burned. But Robin disappointed her in the best way possible. Robin was careful, patient, sweet, and impossible to push away. Every day was a new example. Robin balancing nonchalance and hope when asking Nancy if she had plans after work. Robin biting her neck almost hard enough to leave a mark that, deep down, Nancy wanted to wear. Robin asking her “Do you like this?” and Nancy knowing full well that she was talking about more than that specific kiss. Every little one of Robin’s questions. Every “did you miss me?” “can you stay?” “is this okay?” and every interrupted “can we talk?” “are we…?” “Nancy, do you…?” “do you…?” “Do you?”

Nancy knew she was dodging Robin’s questions, but she was holding steadfastly to the belief that she would be able to figure this out on her own, when she decided she was ready. 

One day, Nancy arrived at work escaping from the storm that was quickly taking over Hawkins. She was more than relieved to fall into the warmth of Robin’s embrace which quickly made her forget all about the rain falling down on the outside. It turned out to be a particularly good day for them, if not for the business. Apparently, the storm didn’t exactly inspire people to go out of their way for a cup of ice cream, so they had plenty of time to spend lost in each other. At the end of the day, they closed Scoops Ahoy as quickly as possible, and eagerly retreated to the back to spend as much time as they could with each other before they had to go home for the day. The two girls quickly found their place sitting side by side on top of the table in the back room, making good use of the curtains that hide their silhouettes from anyone standing outside the shop. 

Nancy was so focused on Robin’s kisses, Robin’s hands holding her face tenderly, Robin’s everything , that she entirely missed the words that the other girl whispered against her lips. She only regained her concentration when she felt Robin’s amused smirk pressed against her lips, interrupting their kisses.

“I’ve got to go,” Robin whispered.

“No,” Nancy complained shamelessly, and pulled Robin closer, enjoying the feeling of Robin’s peppering kisses along Nancy’s cheek, her jaw, and neck before finally pulling back to stare at her with apologetic wide blue eyes.

“I’m sorry, mi corazón ,” Robin said. “It’s still raining too much to ride my bike and I need to catch a ride.”

Immediately, Nancy’s blood ran cold, and she tightened her grip possessively on Robin, one hand on her messed-up hair, and one hand on the front of her uniform. She briefly felt regretful about not being able to get over her doubts long enough to ever offer Robin a ride home. But then she focused on Robin’s eyes and the clear challenge she could see in them. It could only mean one thing.

“Vickie,” Nancy said coldly.

Robin nodded slowly, her expression neutral. “Do you have a problem with that?” She asked Nancy.

Robin had to know if it was a problem for Nancy, or at least she wanted to be. It wouldn’t have been the first time that Nancy put up a fight to make Robin stay longer, to choose her instead of Vickie. But, if Nancy admitted Vickie was a problem then she would have to give an explanation, she’d have to answer Robin’s questions, and she just wasn’t sure if she was ready for it. Was she?

“You know,” Robin started talking in a sultry whisper before Nancy could make up her mind, “I could stay. If only you said you wanted me to.”

Nancy felt her heart skip a beat. It was the first time Robin actually said those words. It was very clear, the offer was right there for Nancy to take. All she had to do was admit it. Say she wanted Robin to stay, say she wanted Robin to pick her instead of Vickie, say she wanted Robin and everything that came along with that admission.

But she couldn’t. The words were stuck in her throat. She took too long.

Robin sighed deeply and leaned back away from Nancy. She grabbed Nancy’s wrists and pulled them away from her, untangling them from each other and quickly jumping off the table to put as much distance between them as possible. 

“Alright. Message received loud and clear, Wheeler. I’ll just go,” Robin said sourly.

“Are you serious?” Nancy blurted out. The universe must really hate her. Why did she have to admit the thing that scared her the most? Why couldn’t this be enough? Why did Robin have to go and assume the worst possible meaning to her silence?

“What do you mean?” Robin asked her. She looked tired. Impatient. She was starting to look angry. 

“Robin, are you serious?” Nancy asked her, sliding off the table as well. “Are you still with Vickie? Even after…”

“After what, darling?” Robin asked her with a razor-sharp smirk.

Nancy was aware she was being difficult, and had been for a while. But there was just something about Robin getting defensive and retreating back to that old deeply irritating person that just drove Nancy mad.

“Forget it,” Nancy snapped. “I couldn’t care less about Vickie, okay?! You can do whatever the hell you want with your life.”

“Oh! Good to know,” Robin laughed bitterly. “How nice of you to give me permission to live my life, Wheeler!”

“Shut up!” Nancy exclaimed, and turned to her side to avoid facing Robin, but all she earned was Robin closing the distance between them in two quick strides and leaning in to whisper close to her ear.

“So you’re okay with it, then? You don’t care that I’m leaving you to meet with Vickie?” Robin whispered. Just like old times, she was capable of raising goosebumps on Nancy’s skin with her raspy tone while also making her stomach churn with the venom and mocking tone she was capable of adding to her voice. She even reached out to softly run the back of her fingers against Nancy’s jaw. Under different circumstances, the caress would have Nancy swooning. “You couldn’t care less about what I do with Vickie? You don’t want to know if I kiss Vickie like I kiss you?”

Nancy was barely breathing. Her eyes were burning with unshed angry tears. She was furious in a way she had never known before. For fucks sake, Nancy told herself, she dated the most popular boy in Hawkins when all the girls in the entire town wanted him and she didn’t care in the slightest. And now she was about to lose her mind over one girl? Oh, she damn well was going to.

“You don’t,” Nancy hissed, and in a flash she had her hand wrapped tightly around Robin’s wrist, taking her hand off her face, and turning around to look up at Robin. “You can’t. Tell me you haven’t done any of this with her, Robin.”

“Goddammit, Wheeler. This is the last time I ask,” Robin said through gritted teeth and without making a move to free her arm from Nancy’s grip. “Tell me if it’s a problem for you.”

After waiting too long to get to do things on her own terms, Nancy finally ended up breaking down against her own will.

“Of course it fucking is!” Nancy practically yelled in Robin’s face, letting go of her wrist and pushing her away from her. “God! Why do you even have to ask?! How stupid are you, really?!”

“Okay, calm down,” Robin said because she must have noticed that they were in unexplored territory here.

“I can’t!” Nancy continued to yell, and pushed Robin once more. “You keep asking me all these questions! And…”

“And you never fucking answer!” Robin ended up fighting back, losing her temper as much as Nancy.

“I- I… I don’t know what I’m doing okay?! This is new and scary and-”

“Oh for fucks sake, Nancy. I never asked you to kiss me in the middle of the mall! I only ever wanted was for you to tell me how you really feel.”

“Well I feel like shit every time you mention Vickie,” Nancy admitted. She felt like she was shaking, and she was breathing heavily. But everything worsened when she saw Robin smiling. It was the final straw for her. “Are you fucking smiling right now?! You really don’t care about how I feel, do you?”

“You’re fucking blind,” Robin groaned, covered her face with both hands, and threw her head back for a moment before focusing on Nancy again. “Are you hearing yourself, Nancy? I don’t even know how you feel! That’s the whole damn point!”

“I feel like I am done with you.”

Not even Nancy knew with certainty where that came from. Somehow she was capable of uttering that sentence with a completely calm and quiet voice in the middle of what was escalating into a screaming match. The sudden change left both girls grappling for a way to react.

“What?” Robin blurted out, still processing the words.

“I don’t mean that,” Nancy said, when she realized what she had said.

“You do,” Robin sighed, breathless, stunned as if she had just uncovered unspeakable secrets.

“I don’t.”

“If you don’t mean it right now, you will soon. And that’s really unsurprising,” Robin said.

Right in front of Nancy’s eyes, Robin transformed into something new, a version of her that not even Nancy, who had been so sure she’d already seen the worst that Robin Buckley had to offer, had ever glimpsed. Robin’s face turned into an expression of pure, cold stone. Her vibrant blue eyes, usually mischievous, often sweet, and occasionally ablaze with passion or anger, now seemed devoid of any emotions. She shrugged, and buried her hands deep in the pockets of her uniform’s shorts. Everything was part of something bigger, a practiced act of coldness and cynicism.

“What do you mean?” Nancy asked after gulping nervously upon finding herself facing a complete stranger. 

“You know what I mean, sweetheart,” Robin replied, and not even the familiar pet name carried an ounce of warmth. “I always knew how this was going to end, but it was sweet while it lasted, right?”

“Robin. It’s not over, it’s…”

“It might as well be,” Robin shrugged again, her voice briefly breaking into a high-pitched plea before returning to that heartless tone that Nancy couldn’t imagine from what dark corner of her chest someone like Robin could even pull from. “You were always going to get bored of me anyway. In every version of this story, you waltz back to your comfortable and predictable life and leave me behind in the dust, Wheeler. What did I even mean to you? Did you mean to hurt me? Or was it an experiment the entire time? Something to satisfy that journalistic curiosity of yours, huh? Are you going to cross me off your list now? I always knew I’d be nothing more than that to you, Nancy.”

At that point, and despite all the venom still dripping from each syllable, Robin’s voice broke. She looked almost as devastated as Nancy, who wasn’t even trying to hide her tears, but some particularly vulnerable part of her wanted to hear every single word Robin had to say, she wanted to receive every hit, wallow in it even. Because she felt like she deserved it. Because they were about to become excellent excuses to turn around cowardly without looking and without admitting to anything else. Or so she thought.

“You just wanted to have your fun without catching feelings or showing a single real emotion, is that it? Correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t that what always happens with you, Nancy? Or do I have to remind you who’s my best friend, huh?”

Finally, Nancy decided that she couldn’t take it anymore. Not even she hated herself enough to stand for another punch. But she couldn’t even lie and say that she decided to leave because she was protecting herself. She decided to walk away because she realized that the person she was listening to wasn’t Robin at all. Whatever messed up version of her that was talking, that wasn’t the same girl that Nancy went crazy for. She didn’t want to stay and watch as the image of the first girl she ever fell for got tainted and ruined by this dark shadow. This version of Robin was hurting them both, and the only solution was that Nancy had to be the one to walk away. So, when Nancy first noticed that Robin was crying too, she made up her mind.

“Fuck you,” Nancy hissed at Robin, and without a moment’s hesitation, she started walking away. Slow, at first. Slow enough to hear the first heartbreaking sob that tore through Robin’s throat. Then she was sprinting across the Starcourt mall toward the parking lot, not caring in the slightest who saw her and what they would possibly think.

Stepping outside under the heavy rain falling all over Hawkins felt like some kind of cruelty, some kind of relief. Nothing else could go wrong now, Nancy thought. But at least any passerby wouldn’t notice her tears. She took a deep breath and walked toward her car. She was unhurried, somehow comforted by the wave of heavy raindrops steadily falling over her, cooling her down. She hid her trembling hands in the pockets of her uniform, looking for comfort, but it only served to call for more of her bad luck.

“Nancy!” Robin yelled as she ran toward her. “Nancy, wait!”

Nancy didn’t wait, not at first. She kept walking with her head hung low and focused on her single-minded goal of reaching her car. That corner of the parking lot was deserted, and she could hear the sound of Robin’s worn-down converse hitting the wet pavement and puddles of rain as she got closer. Briefly, Nancy considered running all the way to her car and avoiding this last mistake, but she couldn’t.

“Nancy, please!” Robin called her, breathless and desperate, and finally came to a stop just a couple of feet away from Nancy, guessing that it was best to keep her distance.

Nancy hesitated for another second. Her car was right there, the same distance away from her as Robin. Her heart and her mind pulled Nancy in opposite directions. She didn’t move in either direction yet, but she did turn around to face Robin. What a sad sight they must have made. Still dressed in their ridiculous sailor outfits from work, drenched in rain from head to toe, their hair looking darker and their bangs sticking to their foreheads as they blinked to clear their vision from the rain, or the tears, it really didn’t matter. Nancy noticed that Robin’s hat was missing. It was lying in a puddle a few steps behind Robin, and Nancy found herself staring intently at it as a way to avoid meeting Robin’s beautiful, heartbroken blue eyes. The Robin she knew was back and more broken than ever, and that was going to make walking away much more difficult.

“I said I was done with you, didn’t I?” Nancy said. She couldn’t bring herself to yell anymore, she only raised her voice loud enough to be heard over the rumbling of the storm falling down all around them.

“You don’t mean that, you can’t,” Robin said.

Her voice was shaking, her hands too, all of her was one big mess standing in the middle of a parking lot under the rain and Nancy hated herself and Robin both for making things too difficult for her to put down her pride and just run toward Robin and wrap her arms around her.

“You’re the one that refused to say how you feel,” Robin said. Nancy was a little thrown off by this. She had been half expecting an apology. But there was Robin, choking back tears, and yet somehow trying to reason with Nancy. “You’re the one that pushed me toward Vickie. You’re the one that led me on this far. You’re the one that keeps fucking interrupting me. You don’t get to just walk away now, Nancy. Please , don’t go now.”

The worst part wasn’t knowing that Robin was right. The worst part was knowing that it was too late, knowing that Robin had said a little too much before reaching this point, and knowing that Nancy wasn’t the kind of person to give in like that.

“Well, congratulations, Robin, your vision came true. You mean nothing to me anymore,” Nancy said.

She saw the exact moment that her sharp words made an irreversible wound in Robin’s heart. And she hated Robin even more for still inspiring sympathy in Nancy, who hated herself for the fact that was hurting too, which only made her angrier as part of some absurdly painful cycle they got stuck in. The unfairness of it all convinced Nancy to grant herself one last act of fury.

Nancy pulled her right hand from the pocket of her uniform, and the last piece of comfort that she had been clutching and carrying with herself for too long, she threw it as hard as she could at Robin.

Robin scrambled to catch it, but it just slipped off her fingers and fell to the ground at her feet, making a pathetic splash in a little puddle. Nancy calculated that by the time she turned on the engine of her car Robin finally noticed that she was holding her missing ring.

 

---

 

Nancy succeeded in using the rainy weather taking over Hawkins as a reliable excuse to pretend to be sick and skip work to stay home the next day. Not that she had any intention to ever return to Scoops Ahoy at all. She had witnessed firsthand how badly Robin and herself had hurt each other. It would be best for everyone involved if she would simply give up entirely and stay as far away from Robin as possible. It was manageable, Nancy thought. She’d come up with a lie to her parents to explain her sudden exit from work, she’d keep a low profile during the last days of summer to recover from the emotional rollercoaster that was Robin Buckley, and when they returned to school for their senior year, well, nothing would have to change from previous years, really. They would probably act as if they never knew each other, because perhaps they never did.

Was it a smart, mature, or even remotely healthy decision? Probably not. But Nancy had made up her mind. She spent the next twenty-four hours preparing herself for the pain she would have to harbor for weeks, months, until graduation, and possibly years, at the mere memory of Robin. That was how deep her feelings for the other girl were. If only she had dared to speak them out loud in time. Robin had changed her life, and Nancy could confidently say she wasn’t the same person she was at the beginning of the summer. She hoped they had made each other a better person, but she wasn’t so sure. The only thing she was certain of was that nothing had ever hurt as much as this. It had been only one day and she already missed Robin like an essential part of her life.

Nancy was almost too busy pretending to be sick, locked in her room, and wallowing in self-pity and a broken heart, that she almost missed the sound of something hitting her bedroom window, something stronger than the raindrops still falling down steadily from the sky. Nancy hesitated, debating being delusional, literally losing her sanity, and being extremely, extremely hopeful. Fuck it, Nancy thought. The second pebble hitting her window decided for her. She decided in that instant that hope was much more worth it than any heartless attempt at rationality. She ran toward her window, yanked it open, and blinked at the delicate drops of rain that the breeze threw in her face. 

When Nancy looked out her window, she caught sight of Robin standing in her garden, grinning nervously at her and shielding her face from the rain with one hand.

“Can I come up?” Robin asked.

Nancy couldn’t really hear her. She read her lips and guessed, but really she couldn’t have cared what Robin was saying. She didn’t have to think twice to signal for the other girl to come up. She wasn’t completely sure why Robin wouldn’t just knock on the door, but this was too good to miss.

While Robin climbed toward Nancy’s window, Nancy had a few moments to think. First, she worried about Robin’s already uncoordinated lanky body trying to climb the side of a house during a storm and possibly falling down and getting hurt. Then Nancy remembered that she was supposed to be mad at Robin, and she told herself that the fact that one look at Robin vanished the anger and made her hopeful again should make her angrier. But to be fair, most of Robin’s words from the previous day had blurred into one very angry “ It’s your fault ” and she was just as hurt as she was twenty-four hours ago, but the pain of thinking about not talking to Robin again turned her desperate and, dammit , she just really missed her.

Nancy’s train of thought was interrupted by one clumsy, gorgeous, annoying, and very loveable girl climbing on her window.

“Holy shit,” Robin gasped for breath, “That was not as easy as Steve said it would be.”

Robin was still halfway through, but Nancy didn’t help her yet, she only watched and prayed the affectionate smile on her face was as small as possible. So angry Robin had tried to use Steve as a point during their last argument, but then she went and asked him for advice on how to climb to Nancy’s window? And Steve, apparently, had been happy to help. Goddammit, Buckley , Nancy thought, she wasn’t even standing up and she already had Nancy’s heart fluttering in her chest.

Apparently, Nancy’s extended silence worried Robin. She was still dangling awkwardly on Nancy’s window, but she stopped her struggle to timidly ask again, “Can I come in?”

Nancy sighed and shook her head, in amusement. She immediately stepped forward to offer Robin a hand. Their first touch since their fight was completely electrifying. Nancy couldn’t tell if the gasp she heard came from her or Robin, but as soon as Robin had safely landed on her feet inside her bedroom, Nancy let go of her and stepped backward quickly, hoping she wasn’t blushing. She was scrambling around her mind trying to look for her anger, her pain, her most desperate mechanism of defense. But there was a blue-eyed beautiful dork standing in her bedroom looking like a deer caught in the headlights and Nancy couldn’t tone down her endearment.

“So how many times did I tell you I don’t care about you last time we talked?” Nancy asked Robin. Among the fear, nerves, and hurt, Nancy was genuinely impressed that Robin had dared to show up after all.

“I figured this was a pretty good sign that you were lying when you said all that,” Robin said quietly, and pulled out from the pocket of the jacket the ring that Nancy had thrown at her the previous day. “Why did you keep it?” Robin asked her, as if Nancy could probably answer that.

In a flash, Nancy remembered the day Robin left her ring in Nancy’s car. Well, it was difficult to remember that without thinking about all the steps that led them there. She remembered an annoying coworker, her bruised ego, the worst kinds of teenage boys playing a prank, feeling a little too hurt and scared about the possibility of Robin betraying her, Robin getting her knuckles bruised for her, that stupid bloodied ring stumbling around in the cupholder of her cars for days, Nancy meticulously cleaning it and keeping it on her bedside table, carrying it with her, hidden in the pocket of her uniform on the days she needed the comfort and the encouragement to face Robin…

“I’d like it if you’d take it back,” Robin said softly, “I want you to have it.”

Robin extended her arm toward Nancy, holding the ring in the palm of her hand. She waited, and waited. But when her hand started to shake and Nancy still wouldn’t give her an answer, Robin sighed and retreated her hand with the ring to the pocket of her jacket.

“If it helps, I kept your handkerchief. I couldn’t wash off the blood though. Apparently, it stains? My mom is not the kind of mom that knows how to get stains off pretty handkerchiefs like that and I did try my best and technically it doesn’t look like the scene of a crime but yeah…” Robin stopped in the middle of her nervous rant to take a deep breath and really look deep into Nancy’s eyes. “Nancy, I’m so sorry. I said some horrible things to you yesterday. I didn’t mean any of it, I don’t even know where that stuff came from. I was just… I was scared, and I lashed out without thinking in some stupid attempt to hurt you before you could hurt me. It was wrong, and unfair, and you didn’t deserve any of it. I’m sorry.”

It was like Nancy could finally breathe again. The world started to make just a little bit more sense again. Things weren’t fixed yet though. And she also had to do her part in the process.

“I’m sorry too,” Nancy said quietly. Just the stunned look of hope taking over Robin’s forlorn expression was enough to convince Nancy that this was absolutely worth it. 

“So can we talk? For real this time?”

“You only had to ask.”

So the two of them were able to share a soft laugh while standing on the rubble of the mess they had made of each other. What else was there to do? Robin had asked countless times, and Nancy had dodged her questions long enough to bring them all the way there, to that simple little joke that had to be strong enough to break through the ice that both girls had growing over their hearts for years before even meeting each other. 

“I’m sorry for bringing the storm inside,” Robin blurted out awkwardly to break the brief silence, waving her hands at herself, still standing by the window over a tiny puddle of water on Nancy’s bedroom carpet.

“Don’t worry about it. It’s okay,” Nancy replied.

“Can I…” Robin asked, still shy, gesturing at her jacket.

“Yeah, it’s okay, you can just drop it there,” Nancy shrugged, and watched attentively while Robin took off the oversized jacket and ruffled her hair in a futile attempt to fix what the rain had done to it, not that Nancy believed she looked anything other than stunning.

Just then Nancy realized she had seen the jacket before, it belonged to Steve. Not only Nancy believed it fit better on Robin, but she was once again overwhelmed by profound endearment for the other girl. And she smiled, thinking about Steve fussing around Robin and making her wear a jacket before, most likely, dropping her off in front of Nancy’s house. Nancy wasn’t sure where this fondness was coming from, maybe she was too tired to fight anymore. That day she’d woken up convinced to never talk to Robin Buckley again. This entire scenario felt a little bit like a dream but, if so, then Nancy was going to enjoy every minute of it.

Silently, Nancy took a seat on the edge of her bed, and she waited for Robin to do the same. The taller girl hesitated, understandably nervous. For a moment, Robin just stood there, looking around, as if finally digesting the fact that she was really welcomed inside Nancy’s bedroom. Nancy noticed Robin’s finger twitch and her shifting on her feet. As much as Nancy found Robin’s curiosity to be a valuable and at times sweet trait of hers, if Robin stopped for a tour of Nancy’s bedroom in these circumstances, Nancy herself would throw her right out of the window she struggled so much to climb.

Fortunately, Robin made up her mind, took a deep breath, and finally joined Nancy, carefully sitting beside her on her bed. She was sitting so on the edge of the bed, as if scared to bother the cover, which wasn’t even in its best shape considering Nancy had spent most of her day sulking in bed. She was sitting rigidly, playing with her hands in front of her, and maybe she looked deeply out of place, but for that same reason, she always had Nancy’s entire focus.

“Hey,” Robin whispered, daring to look at Nancy.

“Hi,” Nancy replied, not without a good amount of nerves herself. 

Robin cleared her throat and asked, “So… How you’ve been?”

Nancy really took her time thinking about the question and what she could possibly answer. She couldn’t completely abandon her pride and outright admit how miserable she’d felt since her fight with Robin. However, the only reason she was hurting so much was because she had refused to be honest in the first place. It was time to make an effort. Even if it didn’t work, even if nothing changed, she could try to be honest. She owed that much to both of them. She couldn’t give up without saying she tried her best to find a middle ground for them, where they both could acknowledge all the hurt that they gave and received.

“I bet about the same as you,” Nancy replied. 

At first, it wouldn’t have seemed like the most forthright answer. But Nancy thought it was the fastest way to convey too many things. At the very least it seemed easier than saying As much pain as you’re feeling, I’m feeling it too. Because everything you feel for me, I feel for you. And as deeply as you hurt me, I know I hurt you the same.

“Really?” Robin said, with a sincere shock in her voice. She grimaced, and that made Nancy realize that she wasn’t wrong in her speculations. Robin had been suffering just as much as she had been. The heartwarming piece of news was that Robin was sweet and selfless enough to hope that Nancy hadn’t been feeling as terrible as she was. Either she underestimated how cruel her words had been or how much Nancy cared about her, probably both. Her entire face contorted into an expression of such deep remorse that Nancy couldn’t help herself. She was briefly annoyed by how quickly her heart softened at the sight of a single pout from Robin, but she could dwell on that later, she had things to say.

“I know I hurt you too, and I’m really sorry about it,” Nancy admitted quietly.

She took a deep breath and, realizing this was exactly as difficult as she had feared it would be, she did the only thing she could think of that would bring her immediate comfort to get through that conversation. She reached out and placed her hand on top of Robin’s, it was a matter of seconds before Robin flipped her hand over and intertwined their fingers together. Maybe she needed the comfort too, maybe she was afraid Nancy would change her mind and let go, but judging by the reassuring squeeze she gave Nancy when she took too long to find her words, she knew Nancy needed her at that moment.

“I know I was too stubborn, and a coward, and really unfair to you. I fought, and I ignored, and I denied too many things for far too long, and you didn’t deserve to be dragged on and on with my mess. I thought you genuinely hated me, and…” Nancy stopped. She couldn’t keep looking at those patient blue eyes that stole her heart. There was a lump in her throat. She hadn’t planned to cry during this conversation, not that she had planned much of it anyway. She looked down and forced herself to speak even though her voice broke halfway through. “I was so scared of my life changing as soon as I admitted I had feelings for you.”

After finally saying it out loud, Nancy closed her eyes tightly and lowered her head, trying to trap the tears before they could escape. She couldn’t see Robin, but she perfectly heard the little gasp that came from the other girl when she heard Nancy’s words. Whatever Robin thought about it, if she was happy, surprised, or disappointed somehow, she seemed to put it on hold momentarily. Instead, she leaned down and pressed a kiss to Nancy’s temple.

“It’s okay,” Robin whispered against Nancy’s hair. Because she heard Nancy’s shaky exhale and felt her lean into her, Robin stayed put. She kept her head bowed, pressed against Nancy. She was the most comforting and reassuring presence Nancy could imagine. 

After a few more deep breaths, Nancy was able to straighten her pose and raise her head. She wasn’t sure when, or who had slid closer to the other first, but now they were sitting with little to no space between their bodies, with their thighs and shoulder brushing. 

“Shit,” Nancy sighed, looked up at the ceiling, and brushed away her tears with her right hand. Her left one was still resting in the gentle grasp of Robin’s hands. Though one of Robin’s hands left Nancy’s, so she could reach up and wipe away the last of Nancy’s tears with the pad of her thumb. Nancy was familiar with Robin’s tough exterior, her nonchalant facade, even her anger, and split-open knuckles. There was nothing like this sudden and profound display of tenderness to remind Nancy how useless it was to run from her feelings for the other girl.

Robin caressed Nancy’s cheek with her thumb a moment longer, and when she pulled back she gave Nancy a sweet smile and said, “Well, look at us making progress.”

It would’ve been physically impossible for Nancy to not scoff a little laugh and roll her eyes at Robin. Only Robin, after all, would successfully make her feel better with a joke at a moment like that. More importantly, only Robin could go ahead and blurt out something completely unexpected to make Nancy completely forget what was the last thing she had said.

“Nancy, I’m not dating Vickie,” Robin confessed.

“ What?! ” Nancy exclaimed, turning her head to the side sharply to stare dumbfounded at Robin.

“I’m sorry!” Robin winced and just by looking in her eyes, Nancy knew she was up for another rant. “It’s… It’s complicated, okay? I mean, not between us. Us, being Vickie and me. Not that there’s an ‘Us’, because there isn’t! That’s not the complicated part, it’s, uh, it’s actually very simple, it’s easy and normal and simple. We’re friends, just friends, like Steve and I kind of friends. Well, not exactly like that, we’re not there yet, I mean, she’s great and everything but you know how I am with Steve, but what I’m trying to say is that we’re platonic with a capital P, I swear. Like, during our first and only attempt at a date all I did the entire afternoon was gush about you!”

Nancy frowned deeply. This is what she got for thinking that she loved how Robin’s fast mind worked, how she kept her on her toes always, and how she was never boring. There was a lot to consider in all that Robin had just thrown at her, and she didn’t like some of it, but Nancy had one main question.

“Why?” Nancy asked, and before Robin could recite a list of reasons why she “gushed” about Nancy during a date with another girl, which Nancy could admit she wouldn’t be upset about hearing, she added, “Why did you lie to me?”

“ Technically , I didn’t lie, I just let you believe…” Robin stopped that sentence before finishing as soon as she caught Nancy’s murderous look. She smiled apologetically and then seriously explained. “I was scared of you, angel,” Robin confessed with a deep sigh and just the slightest blush covering her cheeks, but there was a genuine sadness taking over her eyes that put Nancy on high alert. “It was a little messed up last attempt at protecting myself, you know? Like, maybe if I kept this barrier between us, if I made myself unavailable until I was sure you were real, if I could pretend you weren’t the one thing taking over my entire life and heart, then maybe you wouldn’t be able to hurt me too badly when you inevitably left me.”

Nancy hummed thoughtfully, drinking in the words, studying them in silence for a bit, looking for the hidden meanings and figuring out where she could finally put them to complete a new part of the lovely puzzle that was Robin Buckley.

“You really thought I would leave you behind without a second glance?” Nancy asked her, though it was more of a statement, and she received a timid affirmative nod in response. “You think that little of me?” Nancy attempted to joke, and she might have gotten a really fleeting smile from Robin, but mostly the other girl remained pretty serious.

“I don’t, I swear,” Robin was quick to promise. “It’s just that you scared me, a lot, even long before I thought there was the slightest possibility for us.” She made a pause and looked down at their still intertwined hands. They had shifted so that now Nancy was cradling one of Robin’s hands in her lap, mindlessly playing with her rings. After thinking about it, Robin blinked, and seemed to make up her mind about something. She looked up at Nancy again with a resolute and honest look on her still wistful face. “I’ve been here before, you know? Not exactly the same but… the big picture looked similar to me, at least.”

“What do you mean?” Nancy asked, seriously intrigued.

“You kept silent to protect yourself. To protect myself I… I lied. I wasn’t completely honest either,” Robin admitted, and continued talking in a tone that Nancy hadn’t heard from her yet, she was quiet, careful, and slow. She wasn’t blurting out another rant, she was opening up her heart for Nancy.

“I think I purposefully gave you the wrong impression when I told you about the girls I’ve… Look. I kissed Tammy Thompson once. It happened only once, and it wasn’t some huge victory for me, it was… It was awful. I guess that, like everyone else at school, she must have heard the rumors, and she must have noticed that I stared at her like a love-struck fool. One day we coincided in an empty hallway before our history class and she dragged me into a janitor’s closet and kissed me. Out of the blue, without asking, without an explanation. It was super romantic,” Robin gave a bitter chuckle and stared at the floor of Nancy’s bedroom while she winced at the hurtful memory. “Afterward, she thanked me, she made me swear to never tell anyone about it, and never talk to her at school again… I, um… I don’t know what that kiss meant to her, if it meant anything at all. But I know that she was the first girl I seriously fell in love with. And she used that against me. She used me . And that broke me pretty badly…”

Finally, Robin looked up again to look at Nancy, who didn’t even want to blink for fear of missing anything Robin did or said. “That’s why I’ve been kind of waiting for the same thing to happen with you, Wheeler,” Robin whispered with a sad smile on her lips. “The shame… The regret… All of it just made sense in my head, you know? You’re kind of out of my league too.”

Nancy… Nancy wasn’t particularly good at holding back her anger. The only reason she was able to put it down momentarily was because Tammy Thompson moved to Nashville and it would be a hassle to drive all the way there that night just to kick her ass for breaking the heart of the most incredible girl in Hawkins. 

All Nancy could do at the moment was to hold Robin’s hand tightly, raise her hand to her lips, and, reverently and with her eyes closed, kiss the back of Robin’s fingers. Kiss her knuckles without holding back on her affection. Hold Robin’s hand tight against her chest and silently promise herself to never do anything that could hurt the other girl. Never again, at least.

“She should know what a profoundly stupid mistake she made that day,” Nancy said, very seriously, and then attempted a smile when she looked at Robin and said, “I’d like to think I’m smarter than Tammy Thompson though.” Robin chuckled a little at that, and Nancy was happy to see some of the light and color return to that beautiful face. “I didn’t act like it, though,” Nancy added, now able to see the full weight of her mistakes.

“Nancy,” Robin said, looking like she urgently needed to say whatever was on her mind. “I need you to know that I never wanted to pressure you to do or admit anything, you know? I know this whole thing can be very scary, and we all move at our own pace, and you don’t need to hurry to do anything. I just wanted to know-”

“I like you, Robin,” Nancy interrupted her.

She finally interrupted Robin in a good way. No more running away. No more dodging questions. There was no longer time and space for anything other than the full beautiful truth spilling from Nancy’s lips without even taking that much effort after all. When the time came, admitting her feelings for Robin turned out to be the easiest thing Nancy had ever done.

“I really, really like you, Robin. I should’ve said it a while ago. I should’ve said that you are so beautiful you changed the way I see the world. I should’ve said that you drove me crazy since the very first day, long before I understood why. I’ve spent the entire summer dreaming about you, looking forward to the next time I saw your stupid grin, heard your awful pet names, and tried and failed to get the upper hand in an argument because maybe I like to lose as long as it’s you I’m losing to. I should’ve said that your voice keeps me awake at night, your freckles are the cutest thing I’ve seen, I remember every single ridiculous speech that escapes your lips, every single one of your kisses has been the best one of my life and I have never fallen this hard for anyone but you, Robin.”

That was it. Finally, Both of them were grinning, their eyes looking bright with unbridled joy and inevitable tears caused by the emotional outpour. And yet, Robin never ceased to take Nancy by surprise. 

“Shut up?” Robin blurted out.

“You big softie, are you crying?” Nancy laughed, even though her laugh was as tearful as Robin’s.

“No, you are,” Robin protested, turning her face away from Nancy, who cooed at the sight.

“You’re a giant baby, Buckley,” Nancy teased her, which was a familiar breath of fresh air after the emotionally heavy conversation they had survived. She placed a hand on Robin’s cheek so she couldn’t escape and she started to kiss as much of Robin’s face as she could. Nancy revealed in the little giggle that escaped from Robin.

“Shut up,” Robin laughed, and turned her face to fully connect their lips.

At first, though, they both froze. They realized a moment too late that this was their first kiss since their fight, since they spent twenty-four hours thinking they had lost each other, since they finally opened their hearts completely to each other. It was like time slowed down to a halt while they waited for each other, and even when, at the same time, their trembling lips closed against each other, time continued to matter very little to them. The world could go on without them, it didn’t matter. They kissed each other slowly, carefully, savoring every little slide of their lips against each other. Every other kiss they had shared that led to this moment was impossible to forget in its own way, they left burning marks on each other’s skin, but this was something new altogether. They kissed each other softly and without hurry, memorizing the details, more tender than they had ever been with each other, finally taking the time to kiss as if it wasn’t going to be the last time they did.

“For the record, I like you too, Wheeler. A lot, actually,” Robin said, when they parted from each other. Nancy couldn’t stop smiling. She closed her eyes and let their foreheads rest against each other. They breathed in unison, basking in the sweet peace of this moment between them, and turning each other’s words in their minds to be sure they’d remember them forever. Robin pulled back again, slowly and smiling hopefully at Nancy. “Will you come back to work?” She asked.

“I was preparing myself to lose my job,” Nancy admitted.

“Please don’t,” Robin frowned, “I was all alone today and I tried my best so no one would ask questions and get you in trouble but it was so depressing.”

“I’ll be back with one condition,” Nancy said.

“Anything.”

“Can I keep your ring?”

The sweet surprise on Robin’s face was priceless to Nancy. She couldn’t hold back her smile as Robin started fumbling with her pockets, scrambling out of bed to grab her jacket, and finally letting out one victorious exclamation when she retrieved the infamous ring. Robin returned to her seat beside Nancy, and Nancy mercifully decided not to comment on the way Robin was blushing as she presented the ring to Nancy, but she accepted gratefully, and immediately slid the ring on one of her fingers. 

Now, Nancy wasn’t sure if she just had gotten too good at reading Robin’s mind and predicting her questions, but regardless, she thought it would be nice if she started interrupting Robin only for good things, and she started reassuring her even before Robin had a chance to ask.

“I missed you,” Nancy admitted, not even ashamed of the fact that it had been only one day since they saw each other.

“I missed you too,” Robin replied, grinning brightly at Nancy.

“Do you have to leave?” Nancy asked quickly, before she could talk herself out of it. She noticed the surprise in Robin’s face, and was quick to add, “It’s okay if you have to.”

“No! No, no, no. Not at all. No. I, uh, I can stay,” Robin stuttered, “I’ll stay for as long as you have me, really.”

Nancy smiled at her, happier than ever before. “That’s going to be a long time,” she whispered as she leaned down to steal another kiss from Robin.

 

---

---

 

“Do you think this is weird?” Robin whispered at some point through the night. She didn’t want to dare glance at the clock, but she was sure she’d been in Nancy’s room for a couple of hours, and neither of them seemed in any hurry to part ways or go to sleep. They had moved to lay down on their sides in Nancy’s bed, sharing a pillow, staring at each other, occasionally kissing and talking more openly than they ever had before. Robin’s hair and clothes were mostly dry now, she’d given up her shoes and Nancy had insisted on giving her a sweater. not that Robin was complaining. The oversized cardigan actually fit her well enough, it was extremely soft, and it smelled like Nancy’s perfume.

“Which part?” Nancy asked. Her face was calm and… beautiful. Robin almost regretted speaking up instead of continuing to stare at her.

“Us,” Robin shrugged, “I mean, at the risk of sounding corny as fuck, doesn’t this seem like a dream? Like, I’m in your room, Wheeler. Wearing your sweater. And you… want me here? Are you sure you don’t want to punch me, not even a little? I feel like I should at least make fun of the Tom Cruise poster.”

Nancy laughed at her joke, and Robin was more than a little proud about it. 

“So you’re saying you want to go back to fighting instead of kissing?” Nancy asked her, arching one mischievous eyebrow.

“Oh no, I didn’t mean that!” Robin was quick to reassure her. She shifted just a little closer to Nancy and placed a hand on her waist. She didn’t have time to second guess her feelings before Nancy also put a hand on her shoulder. “I think Tom Cruise posters are really tasteful decor,” Robin added.

“Shut up,” Nancy chuckled, and pressed her lips to Robin in a short kiss like the hundred ones they had exchanged that night, incapable of stopping any time soon.

When Nancy pulled back, Robin was content to just stay there, a lovestruck smile on her face as she stared at the other girl. There was a not-painful pressure on her chest whenever she met Nancy’s eyes. Self-deprecating tendencies aside, she genuinely believed she was lucky to have Nancy in her life, let alone be on the receiving end of that breathtaking and unwavering affection that Nancy was capable of when she let herself. She had every intention of reciprocating those feelings with everything she had, and never give Nancy a reason to doubt their relationship for one second.

“I mean it, though. It’s a dream. I mean, I am in the Princess Wheeler bedroom,” Robin said. She caught the bashful smile that Nancy failed to hide, but she also noticed a hint of something somber flashing through those pretty blue eyes as Nancy looked down to avoid Robin’s direct gaze.

“I’m not… I’m not that big of a deal, you know?” Nancy whispered. “I never was, really.”

Robin hummed. She took her time and studied as much as she could about Nancy’s behavior at that moment. She took note of the tense shoulders, the hands pressed into tight fists against her chest, and the little frown on her face. There was Robin’s ring shining on Nancy’s finger though, a delicate reminder that this was real. Robin was well acquainted with the wide array of Nancy Wheeler’s frowns, and as entertaining as some of those were, this sorrowful crease in her forehead just wouldn’t do.

“Hey,” Robin whispered and let her hand slide to the small of Nancy’s back to hold her closer, to rub her thumb in comforting circles over the thin fabric of Nancy’s shirt. “Full offense to the entirety of Hawkins High, but I couldn’t care less about what they think. You’re a big deal to me , okay? You’re a dream come true because I didn’t think I’d ever find someone so smart, interesting, beautiful, and special in all of Hawkins. Fuck reputations. I don’t care who people think you are. I like you because you threaten assholes without batting an eyelash, because you’re shockingly bad at scooping ice cream, because you put me in my place and stole my heart in one fell swoop, because you’re the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen, Nance.”

Nancy was biting her lip and blushing, which was enough to make Robin lose her train of thought. And that’s without mentioning the way Nancy looked up at her through those pretty eyelashes of hers. But nothing could compare to the feeling of Nancy Wheeler being rendered speechless. All at once Nancy just dove right in and threw her arms around Robin, holding her as tight as she could and hiding her face in the crook of Robin’s neck. Robin was shocked for a full second before her body and mind kicked into high drive and she reciprocated the embrace as best as she could. She wrapped Nancy in her arm and placed a kiss on top of her head.

“Now you’re just my princess, Wheeler,” Robin whispered.

Nancy sighed deeply against Robin’s neck and Robin, internally rolling her eyes at her own sudden tendency for corniness, thought that Nancy had no right to make her feel like this right here was how home should feel like. 

Nancy placed a kiss on Robin’s throat, and just when Robin was about to get her hopes up, Nancy pulled back and said, “So, now that you mentioned school…”

“Ugh. That was so not the point of everything I just said! Are you serious?” Robin pouted, hoping that was enough to convince Nancy to return to her arm.

Nancy did grant Robin a quick peck on her pursed lips, but then she added, “I am serious, Robin. I mean… what are we… are we going to… change?”

“Bold of you to assume we’ll make it through the last week of work,” Robin smirked, and laughed happily when she received a smack on the shoulder from Nancy. She immediately softened though, understanding Nancy’s worry. “Okay, okay. Let’s see… do you want things to change?” she asked, and as she had expected, she got a timid shrug from Nancy, who was back to looking almost fearful enough to get sick. “I’m not talking about coming out, Nance. Unless you want to, you don’t have to worry about that. Rumors are bad enough, and I wouldn’t want you to deal with any of it. But, if you want to, I think we could pull off the ‘we worked together over the summer and now we are good friends and please don’t ask for more details’ strategy. What do you think?”

“I’d like that,” Nancy replied with a smile. “I don’t think I’d be able to stay away from you now,” she added, as if that was a completely normal thing to say that wouldn’t make Robin’s heart rate skyrocket in a second. As if she wasn’t losing her mind already, Nancy proceeded to place her hand on Robin’s jaw and look at her with that fiery determination that Robin had found equal parts intimidating and attractive for as long as she’d known Nancy. “For the record,” Nancy said, and her voice had this particular tone that used to mean Robin was trouble, “I’m not scared to stand up to a bigot. No one gets to mess with you now, okay?”

“Will you be my girlfriend?” Robin blurted out. How else was she expected to react to Nancy’s words? Her heart was beating a mile per hour, Nancy’s gentle hand was still on her face and Nancy looked so surprised, Robin couldn’t help herself. “I mean, if you want you. It’s not, well I, um, it might be a big deal, like for me, but it doesn’t have to mean anything, except it does, like, it means a lot, but what I mean is, we don’t have to do anything or tell anyone or nothing has to change, you know? I just… I just wanted to ask… If this, if all of this…”

“If it makes us girlfriends?” Nancy finished for her. “As in, officially?”

“Yeah,” Robin exhaled nervously, her voice high-pitched and trembling, but she was a little relieved by the smile she could see taking over Nancy’s face. “If you want to.”

“I do,” Nancy grinned and a second later she crashed her lips against Robin’s. “I really want to,” she added against Robin’s lips, because it was proving to be quite difficult to kiss each other when they were smiling so widely.

“Good,” Robin laughed. If this whole thing felt like a dream before now she was seriously starting to suspect she’d fallen while climbing Nancy’s window, hit her head, died, and gone to heaven. This, having Nancy laugh and kiss her and play with her hair and intertwined their legs and welcome her into her heart, this was paradise . “Can I tell Steve? He’s going to be so happy. He threatened to talk to you personally if I didn’t get my shit together and admitted that I’m crazy for you,” Robin said, the words spilling out of her easily and unselfconsciously.

“Yeah, it’s okay,” Nancy chuckled, and Robin experienced in real time the way Nancy’s smile turned sharp and dangerous. Nancy’s finger’s tightened the hold they had on Robin’s hair, and Robin’s had to swallow an embarrassing sound of delight. “You know? Maybe you should tell Vickie. Just in case,” Nancy said, and the nonchalant tone in her voice wouldn’t have fooled anyone, her eyes were burning as she stared at Robin.

Helpless, Robin laughed a little nervously. “Are you still jealous, baby?” she asked, pulling Nancy closer, trying to tease her as if Nancy didn’t currently have her in the palm of her hand. “She’s a friend , Nance. She’s been relentlessly urging me to tell you how I feel,” Robin insisted without holding back her proud smile.

“Still,” Nancy said with a threatening tone that Robin absolutely loved, even when it used to be aimed at her, if she was being completely honest. But, before Nancy could pull her in for another kiss, Robin held back and smirked at her.

“Speaking of which,” Robin said, “Don’t think I don’t know about your little date with Chrissy.”

“What?” Nancy blinked, suddenly thrown off.

“That girl can’t keep a secret to save her life, Nancy.”

The realization quickly dawned on Nancy’s face and she rolled her eyes and said, “It wasn’t like that.”

“Sure, sure, sure,” Robin continued to tease her, even if she knew as well as Nancy that she’d only hung out with Chrissy to ask for advice about Robin herself. “She thinks you’re cute, though. And she’s not wrong.”

Nancy rolled her eyes again, but she was smiling this time. “ Robin ,” she said her name with such fondness and exasperation that Robin was sure there was no better sound in the world.

“Yes, my princess?” Robin asked her, leaning in closer to hover over her lips. 

“Kiss me,” Nancy whispered, already closing her eyes and closing what little was left of the distance between them. With their bodies intertwined, pressed close together, and Nancy’s lips parting eagerly for her, Robin realized they weren’t in such a  hurry to get back to talking any time soon. She was perfectly fine with that.

Notes:

well, finally!!!

happy do revenge movie release day! to celebrate maya hawke's girl kisser era here's a very special chapter!!

i reallyyy hope you guys liked it! i couldn't avoid the angst, but I fixed it! they finally talked, confessed their feelings, their insecurities, their secrets, regrets, and thoughts on everyone from Vickie to Tom Cruise. they are girlfriends!! as in, officially!! I'll get the champagne!!

thank you sooooo much everyone for reading this fic, especially the people that take the time to leave comments I owe u my life. thank you for being patient with the slower updates!! i have lots of more fics planned so you're not getting rid of me that easily

as we enter the last few chapters of the fic, it's your opportunity to share anything you'd like to see before it's over! do they get stuck inside the walk in freezer? more elmax cameos? nancy and vickie meeting? plot twist the russians show up?? the sky is the limit guys

also!! please show some love to my newest one shot, kiss me like you mean it. if you support horny ronance and if you want me to write more like that 👀

well that's it for now! thank you for reading, please tell me alllll your thoughts! and feel free to come scream with me on tumblr @ronancebuckley

see you soon!

Chapter 10: Is that a challenge?

Robin wasn’t feeling particularly great about going back to work for her last few days at Scoops Ahoy. Technically, she was feeling great about life in general. Ever since she climbed over Nancy’s window, and Nancy didn’t immediately kick her out, Robin felt like she was walking on air. She was over the moon. She was on cloud nine. She was elated and overjoyed and ecstatic and every other adjective and expression of happiness available to her in four languages. But, it wasn’t exactly to put down years of self-doubt and an entire summer of rivalry in the blink of an eye. She wasn’t completely sure of what she’d find at the Starcourt mall the next time she showed up for work. Would Nancy have regrets? Was she going to be paranoid about being in public with Robin? Would she prefer to act as a complete stranger in public? Anything could’ve changed, and Robin didn’t want to make assumptions…

But then she arrived behind the counter of Scoops Ahoy and she was immediately enveloped in one of the best hugs of her entire life.

“Hi,” Nancy said. Her voice was muffled by Robin’s shoulder.

“Oh,” Robin mumbled, and her hands froze mid-air at her sides. “ Oh .”

“I’m sorry,” Nancy mumbled and started to slowly untangle herself from Robin.

“No, wait, don’t pull back,” Robin said as quickly as she was capable of and finally came back to her senses. She wrapped her arms firmly around Nancy and nearly doubled in half to envelop as much of Nancy as she could. Spurred on by Nancy’s delighted chuckle, Robin switched strategy and with her arms still holding on tightly to Nancy, she left her up in the air for a few seconds. All her senses were overwhelmed by everything Nancy . Her face was pressed against Nancy’s hair, inhaling her perfume. Everything was perfect.

“Okay, Buckley, that’s enough,” Nancy said, her voice melodic and amused. She tapped Robin’s back gently until Robin finally put her back down and sheepishly took a step back. For a second, all they could do was stare at each other and blush as if they hadn’t been fighting and loving each other for weeks. “Are you sure that was okay?” Nancy asked, closing one eye and scrunching her face adorably.

“Of course!” Robin laughed. “Of course, yeah. Yeah, it’s very, very okay. I just… I didn’t expect it, I guess.”

Nancy nodded, absorbing the words. She did look around to make sure no one was staring, but it wasn’t in a paranoid or fearful way, just reasonably cautious. In fact, Robin was thankful for it. She didn’t want to be outed any more than Nancy did, but she wasn’t sure she could keep her usual levels of carefulness when she had Nancy in front of her. Nancy reached up to push a strand of hair behind Robin’s ear and trail her finger delicately along Robin’s jaw as she slowly pulled back her hand.

“You did ask me to be your girlfriend though,” Nancy pointed out. Robin wanted to believe there was a hint of nervousness in Nancy’s tone. As if it could be possible for Robin to be the one to regret what happened between them the last time they saw each other. But there was also that condescending, know-it-all tone that Nancy had that drove Robin mad. So, even if Robin could feel her face heating up at the attention she was receiving, she also rolled her eyes at Nancy.

“I’m sorry , I didn’t know it meant you’d turn into this adorable, mushy, sugary sweet thing you are right now, princess,” Robin teased her. She even tried to pinch Nancy’s cheeks for good measure, even if she got her hands slapped away. It was worth it.

“Well,” Nancy said, taking a step back. It was her turn to roll her eyes. “It’s good to know you’re still insufferable,” she added as she walked backward toward the door to the back room of the store. She was wearing a truly devilish smirk on her smirk, and she disappeared slowly through the door, leaving a dumbfounded Robin behind.

“Shit,” Robin said quietly, and then laughed at herself and her stupid good luck in life.

She chased after Nancy like a lost puppy, and when she found Nancy waiting for her, Robin just couldn’t help the outpour of words that fell from her lips. 

“So I just want to make sure you know that that was totally okay,” Robin blurted out, gesturing emphatically with her hands, “And that I really, really liked it. Because I really, really like you. It’s just… I mean, I’m not going to say that I was kind of expecting you to change your mind or anything. It’s just that we didn't start on the right foot and I didn't know for sure if we're all, everything, absolutely, all good because-”

Nancy kissed her. Nancy kissed her, unexpectedly, confidently, wonderfully familiar by now but not any less exciting as the first time. It was a perfect kiss, albeit a little too short. But it served its purpose. Robin was momentarily rendered speechless.

“Oh,” she sighed, looking down at those sparkling blue eyes currently studying her face.

“You’re rambling,” Nancy pointed out softly, not exactly as if it were a flaw or a problem, it was just an observation.

As if to prove a point that she wasn’t annoyed about it, she kissed Robin again. It was a feather-like kiss, something so sweet and careful that Robin, for a second, felt a knot on her throat and the urge to cry. She made an effort to swallow down those overwhelming feelings, and instead focused on putting on a smile, the kind of smirk that she knew got in Nancy’s nerves, and she swiftly grabbed Nancy’s hips to pull her closer to her body.

“Does that get me a kiss every time? Because, trust me, I can’t talk about anything for as long as-”

Predictably, Nancy shut her up once again with a kiss. This time both of them laughed, something quick and warm, before putting all their focus into that kiss. Nancy moved her arms over Robin’s shoulders, and Robin immediately searched for deepening the kiss. Nancy’s lips parted for her, welcoming Robin’s tongue again and again. One of Robin’s hands moved to hold Nancy’s jaw, to keep her in place, to carefully guide her, and just to feel closer to her. 

Unfortunately, it couldn’t last forever. They reluctantly slowed the kiss down to a stop, but didn’t move their body an inch away from one another. Robin’s nose gently bumped Nancy’s, stealing a smile from the shorter girl.

“What are you doing?” Robin asked her, whispering slowly, her voice hoarse as if waking up from a long dream. 

She was glad that Nancy understood what she meant perfectly. She wasn’t talking about that instant, but Nancy’s entire behavior.

“I’m making up for lost time, I think,” Nancy answered, as quietly as Robin, “Apologizing for the bad times, somehow.”

“You don’t have to,” Robin immediately said. She was about to jump into another rant about how they were equally awful to each other, and she probably deserved it, and Nancy had already done enough, she didn’t need forgiveness at all, but…

“I will,” Nancy interrupted with a tone of voice that left no room for arguing. “You deserve it,” she added, and proceeded to leave a kiss on Robin's cheek.

Just like that, Nancy was gone again. She went back to the front of the shop, probably remembering that they were supposed to be working. Once again, Robin was left to her own devices, blushing like a tomato, grasping her hair as if her head could fall off her shoulder when Nancy wasn’t kissing her, and absolutely losing her mind at the way things had turned out between them. She was just about to start a celebratory and painfully awkward dance routine when Nancy leaned in from the door and asked, “Buckley, are you planning to do any work today or not?”

“Yes, ma’am,” Robin laughed wholeheartedly, and joined Nancy behind the counter, ready to serve ice cream in the best mood of her life. 

 

---

---

 

“I’m telling you, Nance,” Robin insisted, “Those guys were weird weird.”

“You say that about most of our clients, Robin,” Nancy retorted, leaning her head on her hand as she rested her elbow on the counter and stared admiringly at Robin as she paced the limited space behind the counter.

Robin scoffed and rolled her eyes, but flashed Nancy a quick smirk before pointing an accusatory finger at her. “I’m serious , sweetheart,” Robin said, “How many people with a strong Russian accent casually go around Hawkins every day?”

“You’re paranoid,” Nancy said simply.

“You’re distracted .”

“Your fault.”

Robin narrowed her eyes at her, and Nancy’s smile only widened. As entertaining as the argument could be, Nancy was trying to determine how long it would take of her staring to make Robin forget about possible Russian customers and finally come closer to her, finally touch her again, hopefully, drag her back to the back of the shop and…

“Well, I love to see my two favorite girls finally getting along!”

Simultaneously, Robin and Nancy turned their heads to frown at Steve, who was approaching their counter with his hands on his hips and a bright smile on his face. Both girls rolled their eyes at him, mostly affectionately. In a split second, Nancy had time to wonder if he knew, how much he knew about everything that had happened between her and Robin. Judging by the playful glint in his eyes he knew enough .

“Don’t be gross,” Robin groaned and leaned over the counter to punch his shoulder.

Steve laughed and rubbed his shoulder, then he turned his attention to Nancy. “Hi Nance,” he greeted her with a measured smile, careful.

They hadn’t been on bad terms for a long time, but there had to be at least an ounce of awkwardness over the fact that Nancy was now dating his best friend. Plus, Steve probably knew at least half of how terrible Nancy had been to Robin. She didn’t want to be under the scrutiny of Robin’s protective best friend, even if he happened to be a sweet and harmless guy that couldn’t have intimidated Nancy in that life or the next. Still, she made the effort to give him her most friendly smile and a nod as she said, “Steve, hi. How are you?”

“Well,” he said, and drummed his fingers on the edge of the counter. “I have a date!”

“Miracles happen every day,” Robin teased him.

Nancy smiled, but Steve mostly ignored the comment. “Do you ladies mind if I wait here with you?” he asked, already making his way around the counter toward them.

“Make yourself at home,” Nancy replied, after exchanging one concerned look with Robin. She did not expect him to take those words literally, but a second later he had an arm thrown over each of the girl’s shoulders, wrapping them in a hug.

What none of them was expecting was that Steve’s date wouldn’t show up. Steve, of course, wanted to wait for as long as possible. Partially to avoid accepting that his date stood him up. But mostly to spend more time with Robin and Nancy. He was being a little obvious about how much he enjoyed his company. Despite how badly Nancy had been craving alone time with Robin, she had to admit it was kind of nice sharing this new, completely not-hostile, dynamic she had with Robin with someone else. She liked seeing Robin at ease with Steve, not overthinking her actions around him, not even with Nancy there. It was a nice improvement from the glimpse Nancy got the few other times she’d seen Robin with her best friend. It was a whole new side of her, and Nancy was determined to see and treasure as many sides of her as Robin would let her.

For example, Robin passionately arguing like a kid about the best ice cream flavor in Scoops Ahoy.

“You’re insane if you think your favorite is even remotely good , Steve,” Robin replied to Steve’s latest argument. “Your taste is boring , okay?”

Steve snorted. “Yeah, well, I don’t think you can’t criticize that anymore, huh?” He nodded his head toward Nancy, who had been watching the fight attentively.

All three of them turned different kinds of sheepish, embarrassed, and bashful. But Steve kept his proud grin firm on his face.

“Whatever,” Robin scoffed as if she weren’t blushing bright red. “Besides, Nancy agrees with me, right?”

Nancy smiled. Robin was looking at her in a way that made Nancy feel like she would’ve done absolutely anything in the world to keep those baby blue eyes staring at her like that forever. But… she was still Robin Buckley. It was second nature for Nancy to put up a fight.

“Actually… I’m going to pick a third option that’s better than both of your choices,” Nancy shrugged.

“Ha!” Steve cheered, throwing his arms in the air in celebration.

Robin, her jaw slack and her eyebrows furrowed in outrage, told him, “You lost too!”

“Yeah, but you didn’t win, that’s what matters,” he answered with a smiled

“Shut up,” Robin shoved him away and both of them laughed. “What kind of girlfriend are you, Wheeler?” Robin asked, turning toward Nancy with a deeply betrayed expression on her beautiful face.

Nancy’s heart ached in her chest at how perfect everything felt. Girlfriend . Robin called her her girlfriend , in public. Sure, they couldn’t yell it from the rooftops if they wanted to avoid trouble. But there was a witness there, and Robin was herself in front of him without batting an eyelash, and herself was someone that called Nancy girlfriend . It was a lot to wrap her mind around. It was still an opportunity to tease Robin.

“The kind that has to keep your big ego in check, baby,” Nancy answered.

Steve laughed, fond and happy for them. Nancy couldn’t just say things like that anymore without feeling the physical need to reach out for Robin. Even if they were in public, she could afford to just reach out and grab her hand. Just for a moment, just a brush of their finger, just a little reminder that this was who they were now. Robin shook her head fondly, but gladly accepted the discreet touch, knowing well the full meaning of it.

 

---

 

“ Per te, mia principessa, ” Robin announced proudly, presenting Nancy with an extravagant and experimental cup of ice cream.

“Oh,” Nancy blinked and held back her laugh, “How… generous of you.”

“Not to brag, but it’s a masterpiece,” Robin said and watched with a smile as Nancy started eating it happily.

“It’s… surprisingly good,” Nancy mumbled, taking another taste of it. “You have to try it.”

“No, it’s yours.”

“But it’s so good.”

“Exactly,” Robin shrugged, “For you. All yours.”

“I want you to try it, though,” Nancy insisted. She turned her expression into something firm that she knew Robin couldn’t resist. Still, Robin rolled her eyes and attempted to put up a fight… Until she noticed Nancy holding the spoon up for her. Robin’s eyes widened, and she had no control over the adorable pink blush on her cheeks. Nancy saw her gulp nervously before leaning forward. She only hoped Robin would be quick though, because this also happened to be a miscalculation of sorts, and her hand could start shaking at any moment as a result of the highly alluring image that was Robin wrapping her lips around the little spoon in Nancy’s fingers.

“Can we close early today?” Nancy asked breathlessly after Robin pulled back and licked her lips mischievously.

Robin tilted her head and wondered, “Why would we do that?”

“I… I want…” Nancy cleared her throat.

“What do you want?”

Nancy stared at Robin’s sparkling blue and was tempted to curse under her breath. Oh, Robin was really waiting for an answer. “I miss you,” Nancy whispered, looking down at the ice cream in her hands.

“I’m right here,” Robin pointed out with a shit-eating grin and faux innocence.

“Yeah,” Nancy scoffed, tempted to momentarily go back to the days when she would’ve thrown the ice cream at Robin’s head, that beautiful and maddening head of hers. “But… you know. I miss… the privacy ,” she begrudgingly admitted.

“Really? Why would that be?” Robin pressed. She was biting her bottom lip, something Nancy really paid attention to, but she had to know she was pushing her own luck. “Privacy to do what? Eat your ice cream?”

Very calmly, with her mind made up and her patience fully ran out, Nancy placed her nearly finished ice cream on the counter and looked up at Robin with the kind of stare that could virtually erase the height difference that sometimes gave the illusion of giving Robin the upper hand.

“Oh, do you want me to tell you?” Nancy asked her. “Do you really want me to tell you what I want? What I need privacy for?” Then, much more quietly, she added, “You want to know what I want to do to you next time we’re completely alone?”

It had to be one of the times when Nancy was able to see most clearly the effect she had on Robin, the physical way she reacted to her words. Her eyes seemed to darken instantly, her shaky intake of breath, the tension in her jaw, her hands tightened into fists as if she needed something to ground her and keep her from taking Nancy in her arms right there and then for the whole mall to see.

“I’m all ears,” Robin answered.

Nancy considered her next moves very carefully. She’d genuinely missed some alone time with Robin, and she could get a head start, or she could tease her some more. The answer was obvious. She placed her hands on Robin’s hip, her fingertips digging just enough on the soft skin around Robin’s hip bone. She moved to her tiptoes, and she made sure her face passed as close to Robin’s as possible, as close to a long-awaited kiss as possible. Then she put her lips next to Robin’s ear, her breathing ghosting her skin, raising goosebumps on Robin’s skin, and…

And then Robin jerked back, so hastily she almost made Nancy lose her balance and both of them fell down.

“What?!” Nancy asked her, immediately concerned.

Robin echoed her question with infinite confusion, “What?”

“Hi, guys!” Chrissy greeted them.

Fuck , Nancy thought, and miraculously managed to keep the word to herself.

“Hi, Chrissy, Vickie,” Robin sighed deeply, as if recovering from a jumpscare in a horror movie.

She rubbed the palms of her hands over her face, bless her soul, as if that could get rid of the deep blush in her cheeks. However, then she realized what exactly was unfolding in front of her and her hands froze over her face, she peeked from between her fingers, at the girls on the other side of the counter, at Nancy, and then back again. 

“Nancy,” Robin said her name slowly, very deliberately, as she reluctantly lowered her hands from her face. “You… know… Vickie… right?”

It wasn’t a question. Robin knew that she knew Vickie. Vickie, obviously, knew that as well. Nancy could only assume Chrissy had to know at least some of the story. But she hadn’t talked to Vickie since they impulsively kissed at a party and aggressively freaked out and swore to ignore that moment forever and avoid each other like the plague. Until, of course, Nancy pushed Robin toward Vickie in an attempt to ignore her own feelings for Robin, a plan that backfired wonderfully. And now… Now Nancy was dating Robin, and Vickie was supposed to be just a friend, and Nancy was supposed to accept and believe that. The problem was that the more time she spent with Robin, the less she could possibly believe that these two other girls wouldn’t want her. She used to believe she didn’t want Robin and look at her now. Still, she had to make an effort, didn’t she? Chrissy looked like someone that could make a tsunami stop if she smiled sweetly enough. Robin looked like she would be immensely grateful if someone knocked her unconscious right then and there. Vickie, surprisingly, despite a somewhat timid expression, also looked kind of amused at this whole thing, something that Nancy appreciated. It was enough to make her admit there was something undeniably funny about the entire situation. Funny enough to get her to relax her tense shoulders and lower her defenses.

“Yeah, we know each other,” Nancy said, “You’re in band with Robin, right?”

It was as if the world had collectively exhaled, relieved.

“Yeah, we’re good friends,” Vickie answered.

There was something about the emphasis in her words that made the entire world, collectively, go back to holding its breath, watching Nancy debate how violent she was feeling that particular day.

“Do you guys want ice?” Robin blurted out, “I mean water. Well, no. Ice cream, I meant ice cream. Do you guys want ice cream?”

The rest of the world wouldn’t ever know what was happening at that moment, but Nancy could see that three girls were immediately endeared and putting away their weapons the second that Robin opened her mouth. There was no need to expect the worst. Robin was easy to love. The only thing that had to concern Nancy at the moment was how perfect Robin’s name sounded so close to the word “love”.

“Maybe we could take our break right now? We could hang out for a while,” Nancy suggested. She could tell she surprised Vickie and Chrissy, but what mattered the most to her was how delighted Robin looked. Relief, joy, and as much affection as Nancy felt for her was showing clear as day on Robin’s face. Yes, it had been a good decision.

 

---

 

“I mean, the first time it happened, it was cute, of course. But then it was just concerning!”

Nancy and Vickie burst out laughing as soon as Chrissy finished talking. Robin only tried her hardest to appear annoyed, but everyone at the table could tell how happy she was right then and there. She had finally reconnected with Chrissy, her childhood best friend. Vickie was the first other gay girl she befriended and, really, the first friend she made since Steve. And Nancy, well, she didn’t want to brag, maybe just a little, but she was her girlfriend. Robin was sitting behind her, and even when she rolled her eyes and scoffed at them, there was a light all around her, she was shining. Nancy couldn’t help but briefly think of Robin’s story, about the way Tammy Thompson used and abandoned her without a second thought. Robin might be generous enough to imagine excuses and explanations and be forgiving. Nancy couldn’t quite bring herself to do that. But, seeing Robin so at home, so glad to be there, so loved by everyone at that table, Nancy couldn’t think of the bad times from the past, she only wanted to focus on the way she wanted to make Robin this happy for as long as she could, as often as possible. Plus, even if she preferred to focus on Robin, it didn’t hurt that this was also a life-changing experience for her. Sitting at a table, surrounded by three other girls like her, girls that knew and shared and supported what Nancy thought was her biggest secret, all of them acting as if it was the most normal thing in the world and having the best time together? Well, it was a little bit mindblowing, if she was being honest.

But she had to bring herself back to the conversation at hand. Robin’s sweet voice would always get her attention.

“Ha, ha,” Robin said as bitterly as she could, “laugh all you want, make fun of childhood trauma, very nice.”

“Baby, how do you break your arm chasing butterflies in the playground not once, but twice ?” Nancy asked her. Sure, she could keep a couple of inches between them, considering they were still in public. But she was confident nobody was eavesdropping, and she could never be too sure that Vickie and even Chrissy knew that Robin was taken. 

“Oh, but that’s not all,” Chrissy chimed in with a smile that was too angelic for making fun of someone else, “I don’t even think it was an actual butterfly. I’m pretty sure the second one was just a moth!”

“I’m not sure if that makes it better or worse,” Vickie continued to laugh fondly, smiling so widely she was blushing almost as much as they were making fun of her instead. “Wait. This reminds me… Robin, have you told them about the time you stopped band practice because there was a bee on the ground?”

“A bee?” Nancy cooed. She turned toward Robin and wished with everything she had she could have a chance at seeing that endearing scene firsthand.

“That one wasn’t even fun,” Robin crossed her arms over her chest and sighed just so gravely, “the stupid bee stung me!”

“Oh no!” Chrissy covered her mouth with her hands, probably to hide that underneath her concern she was struggling to hide her amusement.

“It’s okay,” Vickie put a hand on Chrissy’s shoulder, “It was hilarious, the trumpet sounded terrible the entire day.”

Robin looked down and smiled, “It never sounds that good, to begin with.” Of course, her comment was received with a giant wave of protests, followed by three girls vehemently insisting that Hawkins High had never seen such a talented trumpet player.

When Robin, not so begrudgingly, admitted defeat in the argument, it was Nancy’s turn to speak up, “Hold on, saving bees and butterflies? Are we talking about the same Robin that’s too scared to kill spiders in the back room of the shop?”

“Okay, that’s different! Spiders could be dangerous ,” Robin exclaimed, while Vickie and Chrissy cracked up laughing. “Besides, don’t tell them about the spiders, Nance. Scoops Ahoy is a refined establishment, we have no plagues here, no sir.”

“Of course,” Nancy agreed, nodding very seriously, “We’re strictly professional here.”

For a moment, even if the world around them wasn’t so bad, everything faded into the background. All that mattered was Robin sitting beside her, smiling brightly, relaxed, absolutely gorgeous. Nancy didn’t stand against getting lost in Robin’s eyes. It was pure luck that they managed to look away from each other when they heard the other two girls talking to each other.

“Ugh, this is too cute ,” Chrissy sighed.

“Yeah, a little too much,” Vickie added, smiling playfully and leaning back against her seat.

Nancy shook her head at them, but she was struggling to find that spark of jealousy and distrust that she’d easily reached for when the two girls first showed up. They were friends, and Nancy didn’t have to push herself too hard to admit the fact. It felt good, it felt like belonging.

 

---

 

As much as Nancy appreciated the feeling of having friends around them that they could feel comfortable with, she’d genuinely missed having time alone with Robin. Ever since Robin showed up at her house and they went over their mistakes, admitted their feelings, and officially started the relationship that had been brewing since the beginning of the summer, they hadn’t actually been able to hang out by themselves for longer than a few minutes. Fortunately, thanks to the fun little curtains Robin installed over the window that separated the front counter from the back of the shop, they could make the most of their handful of minutes of privacy. After a full summer of trying and failing to reign in her complicated feelings for Robin, and finally having permission and encouragement to act on those feelings, Nancy didn’t think anyone would blame her for dragging Robin to the back of the shop and pressing her to the nearest wall as soon as they agreed to take their break for the day.

Robin, on her part, didn’t seem to have complaints about it. She leaned back against the wall, sliding down a little to give up some of her height, and she let Nancy kiss her as if she needed it to live. But she never stopped reciprocating Nancy’s enthusiasm. In fact, she often kept Nancy on her toes. Every time Nancy felt she was calming down and getting some control of the situation, Robin always surprised her, kissed her a little harder, sucked on her bottom lip, and ventured away from Nancy’s lips to tease her jaw, her neck, and the sensitive skin over her pulse point. They’d been doing this for a while, and still, every time Robin’s hands cradled her face to guide her in for another show-stopping kiss, Nancy felt as breathless as she did the first time.

“Robin,” Nancy sighed against Robin’s lips. She didn’t particularly have anything to say, she didn’t want to stop kissing her to talk, but sometimes she just felt compelled to call her name, to make sure she was still there, to confirm this was real, or just for the pleasure of saying Robin’s name.

“Nance,” Robin whispered right back at her, with a hint of amusement in her tone, as if she could read Nancy’s thoughts.

Nancy was perfectly able to kiss that amused smirk right off her lips. Robin’s hands on her face might feel like the only stable thing anchoring to this world, but her hands couldn’t imitate that unusual calm from Robin. She had to touch as much as she could, she had to grasp Robin’s clothes and pull her closer and run her hands up and down Robin’s sides, feel her shiver, and grip her hips once again. Her right hand moved slowly toward Robin’s stomach, she rested her open palm there and felt Robin’s muscles clench underneath her fingertips. She pressed with her hand just a little, keeping Robin firmly against the wall, and she slid her hand just a little lower, just over the top of Robin’s shorts. Her thumb toyed mindlessly with the hem of Robin’s shirt and she felt overwhelmed as she noticed Robin’s breath instantly change. It would’ve been almost funny if not for the way that Nancy wasn’t doing much better herself. She feared that if Robin were to touch her, move her hands anywhere other than her face, Nancy might just crumble right there in her arms. But just when one of Robin’s hands left Nancy’s face… they heard the little bell at the front counter that signaled the arrival of a new and impatient customer.

“No,” Robin immediately said, putting a hand on Nancy’s arm as if to keep her from moving away already.

“Robin…”

“We left the sign outside! We’re on our break,” Robin protested and tried to keep kissing Nancy.

“We aren’t supposed to be taking our break at the same time,” Nancy laughed and indulged Robin in a few more kisses until they heard the bell again.

“But… Fuck, Nance,” Robin insisted, looking at Nancy with darkened blue eyes. She was hypnotizing. It took everything in Nancy not to give in and pull Robin with her to the walk-in freezer and forget the world behind them even existed at all.

Nancy sighed, defeated by her own sense of responsibility. “Let’s go,” she said, putting on a brave smile and moving away from the comfort of Robin’s arms. “Try to look decent,” she added with a wink she sent toward Robin, and she walked away chuckling to herself as she heard Robin complain under her breath.

When Nancy returned to her place behind the counter, she heard Robin following close behind, and heard her groan as soon as she registered the sight in front of them. “Oh no, small-sized humans,” Robin said.

“ Robin! ” the group of kids replied in different levels of delight or affectionate annoyance.

Nancy sighed and exchanged a look of resignation with Robin. Their time alone was over, and they better embrace this new situation.

“Okay, this is too many of you,” Nance waved her hand at the six kids looking up at her from the other side of the counter, “You’ll have to pay for the ice cream this time.”

“We have money, Nancy,” Mike said, rolling her eyes in a way that made Robin smile, apparently the Wheeler siblings weren’t so different after all.

“Did you steal the money though,” Robin asked them, narrowing her eyes and moving to their side of the counter.

“Yes,” Max answered confidently, at the same time that El said, “ No .”

Robin put her arms around each of them and laughed as Max pretended the hugger bothered her. “I swear there’s not that many of you around here usually,” Robin said, and looked at Nancy as she continued to deliver hugs and greetings to the other kids. “Nance, I think they multiply,” Robin grimaced dramatically.

“Yeah, I think you need a math class or glasses, old woman,” Erica told her, breaking free from the playful hug that Robin tried to trap her in.

Nobody expected the way that Nancy laughed louder than any of the kids. It sparked a whole new onslaught of jokes and a dynamic that, frankly, was difficult to keep track of. Robin and Nancy took their time talking to all of the kids. Mike stared suspiciously at the way Robin stared and smiled as Nancy listened intently at whatever story Dustin was telling her. Max tried to be discreet with the way she wouldn’t move away from Nancy’s side. Robin accepted her fate letting Erica sample every single flavor of ice cream again, this time dragging Lucas along with her. Mike and Dustin complained at the way Robin and Nancy only let El and Will come to their side of the counter to let them try to serve their portions of ice cream. It wasn’t a strange occurrence for the kids to stop by to get ice cream and stay longer than necessary with Robin and Nancy, but it had never been like that. They stayed longer than ever before, laughed harder than ever, and everyone enjoyed the afternoon more than any other time. The kids had never seen anyone stand up to Nancy and make her laugh and look away with an almost-shy smile quite like Robin seemed to do so easily. Just like they had never seen Robin, Steve’s sarcastic and bold best friend, so attentive and agreeable to the things somebody else said. Most of them didn’t connect the dots just yet, but they noticed enough changes in both girls to be happy that they had each other. 

Eventually, when their younger friends walked away, Robin and Nancy stayed behind the counter, leaning on it, feeling exhausted, but smiling contentedly at each other.

“Well that was fun,” Robin sighed, sending a look at Nancy that said how overwhelmed she felt.

“Very,” Nancy agreed, “I’m never having children.”

Robin laughed wholeheartedly and agreed, “You and me both, Wheeler.” 

It was late in the day, there weren’t many people around Scoops Ahoy, and they were sure they could at least test the limits of what they were allowed to do as friendly coworkers who both happened to be girls. Robin sighed and leaned her head on Nancy’s shoulder. It was just a little awkward because of their height difference, but with the way Robin was slumping on the counter compared with Nancy’s straight posture, it felt nothing short of perfect. Nancy couldn’t avoid tensing a little, at first. Robin never asked her to put a whole life of being taught this was wrong behind her in the blink of an eye, so she knew she couldn’t expect herself to never experience a little fear or paranoia. But there was nothing like Robin’s warmth and the smell of her shampoo just right there so close to Nancy, it was perfect to get her to relax immediately. She took a deep breath and turned her head to the side, she placed a kiss on top of Robin’s head and closed her eyes, savoring the moment. She heard Robin hum in real contentment. For a while they stood just like that, Robin with her head tucked in on Nancy’s shoulder, and Nancy resting her cheek on top of Robin’s head. 

Robin was the one to pull away first. She looked tired after the long day and week of hard work, but her features were relaxed and her eyes looked more beautiful than ever before.

“Nancy, I wanted to ask you something?” she said, already smiling, knowing the question would’ve scared Nancy otherwise.

“Yeah?” Nancy looked up at her curiously.

“So, I love love working with you,” Robin said while her smile dimmed a little, and turned nervous, “I mean, even though I said I hated it for weeks, I still think it’s one of the best things that’s happened to me, you know?”

Robin took a deep breath and paused. Apparently, she was making an effort to think her words through instead of letting it all spill out. Nancy loved both approaches, and she wouldn’t have minded listening to Robin talk or watching her as she prepared her words for hours and hours. It was a meaningful realization for her.

“But I’d love it if we could get out of here, you know?” Robin continued. “I’m… Uh, I’m trying to ask if you would like to go on a date with me? An actual date, far from any ice cream, out of these stupid uniforms, with no children and no interruptions, just us.”

Nancy knew the answer even before Robin asked, but she took her time replying. She wanted to savor the moment as much as she could, but she didn’t want to worry Robin. “I’d love to,” she finally said.

“Yeah?” Robin asked, looking overjoyed and relieved. Too relieved, in fact, for someone that had already been making out with Nancy at every chance they had.

“I think a proper date is long overdue,” Nancy said.

Robin nodded, surprisingly speechless. All they could do for a moment was smile at each other, bask in the moment, and dream of their upcoming date.

 

---

 

Nancy tried to convince herself that she wasn’t nervous. She tried to think about months spent fighting with Robin and everything that happened in between. So many arguments, pushing each other around, a food fight, Robin punching a guy for her, saying things they regret later, running back to each other every time, kissing like their lives depended on it again, and again, and again. Why would she be nervous about picking Robin up for a date? Well, nothing about her feelings for Robin made much sense since the start. So she was nervous. She was really nervous. She spent most of her Saturday in a long shower, doing her hair to perfection, working on her makeup, and agonizing over which clothes to wear since she could hide under the ridiculous Scoops Ahoy uniform anymore. She had to yell at Mike to leave her alone twice throughout the day because he couldn’t understand why it was such a big deal that she was going to hang out with Robin. Her mom tried to get her to admit if she was actually going to meet Steve or Jonathan, and she nearly got into a heated argument with her dad when he tried to change his mind about letting her take the car. But, eventually, she made it, wearing her favorite striped sweater and her nicest pair of pants, and her heart on her sleeve.

Nancy hadn’t fully parked the car in front of Robin’s house when she saw the door getting thrown open and Robin stumbling outside with little grace and much more enthusiasm. Maybe Nancy had to be the one to pick her up, but Robin was the one holding up a small bouquet of flowers.

“Hi,” Nancy greeted her when Robin pulled open the passenger’s door. She almost grimaced at her shyness, but she was comforted by Robin’s blush and heavy breathing, as if walking from the front door to the car took her a great amount of effort.

Robin was wearing a particularly beautiful cream-colored shirt on top of a darker shirt, and a pair of jeans, holding a denim jacket in one hand and the flowers in her other hand. Her hair looked impossibly soft, as if she’d taken the time to brush it much more than usual. Her makeup, light and precise as usual, was perfect, as usual.

“For you,” Robin said when she passed Nancy the bouquet of flowers. “So, I want you to know that it’s not about the money, I mean, I have the money, you know how much I earn, we earn the same, duh. But, like, I always thought it was so dumb how you could go and just buy random flowers from a stranger that would put them together however they wanted. Like that stranger doesn’t know you, you know? Not like I know you, at least, I guess. So I want to put it together myself, but I don’t exactly have a thriving and blossoming garden, as you can see, so… I’ll shut up now.”

Nancy laughed affectionately. She was having a hard time deciding if she should stare at the gorgeous, hand-picked flowers, or at her girlfriend’s sweet and anxious face. 

“I love them so much, Robin,” Nancy said, “And, for the record, I’m nervous too.”

“Hey, I didn’t say I was…” Robin started to say, there was a hint at the proud frown that Nancy was well acquainted with, but then she slumped on the seat and admitted, “Okay, fine . But it’s so stupid, isn’t it? I mean, we’ve made each other cry , Nancy. Like, I’ve wanted to kill you, before. How come a date, weeks into this perfectly fucked up relationship we have going on, is something so nerve-wracking?!”

Nancy shook her head at Robin and tried to contain her laughter. She would never get tired of all the sides of Robin Buckley’s personality, and she longed to know more and more of all of her. This jittery and intense girl that was incapable of speaking without improvising a long speech, it wasn’t a bad look on the Robin she already knew. 

“Give me your hand,” Nancy said suddenly.

“Why?” Robin asked, even if she was already complying with the unexpected and soft-spoken order from Nancy.

“Did this happen while picking up the flowers for me?” Nancy wondered, holding Robin’s hand in hers and softly running her thumb over the bandaid on one of Robin’s fingers.

Robin laughed nonchalantly, “It’s nothing.” But it was something for Nancy, it was a lot of things to her. Nancy leaned down to place a meaningful kiss on Robin’s hand, and she was lucky to hear the barely there sigh that escaped from Robin’s lips. 

“I appreciate it,” Nancy said.

She had looked up just in time to see Robin’s face reacting the very instant that Robin saw her old ring on Nancy’s finger. Of course, she was wearing it for their first date, but maybe both of them blushed at the memory of the day Robin left that ring in Nancy’s car in the first place. They had been sitting just like that in the parked car with Nancy holding Robin’s hand. How far they had come since then.

“Are you ready to go?” Nancy asked, breaking the silence before they changed their minds and decided to spend the entire night in the back of Nancy’s car wrapped in each other’s arms.

“Yeah,” Robin said with a heavy exhale and shifting on her seat eagerly, “Lead the way, mi tesoro .”

 

---

 

Even as she relaxed, Robin still wouldn’t stop talking. Nancy could barely contain her excitement and pay attention to Robin’s words at the same time. For so long she’d lived measuring her words against Robin, trying to pick whichever words could hurt the most, and knowing very well Robin was doing the same to her. In the past, Robin had hurt her with her words more than Nancy cared to admit. And now there they were, sitting in Nancy’s car with Robin’s never-ending monologue filling the silence better than the radio ever could. No filter. No ulterior motives. This was just Robin in her most genuine state. All of her, without barriers and without defenses, and it was all for Nancy. She was an extremely grateful spectator in the one-woman show of Robin Buckley. Nancy had no idea when she got so lucky, and she wasn’t sure she deserved it. She kind of wanted to stop the car, climb over from her seat to Robin’s lap and kiss her senselessly, break down crying in her arms, or just hold her so hard it hurt. It was an overwhelming feeling, to say the least. It almost scared her, if not for the soothing and comforting presence of Robin right there, always smiling, always attentive, never quiet.

Finally, they reached the movie theater. Robin told Nancy that she considered more unconventional date ideas but, after their mostly unconventional journey into a relationship, she thought they should give tradition a try and attempt to go one night through the classic first date stops. Starting, of course, at the movie theater. Regardless of how unimpressive Hawkins’s theater was, and how readily Robin criticized their movie selection, and how they should probably try to be discreet about their relationship, Nancy was really happy to be there. Nobody noticed them holding hand during most of the movie, nobody could see the way they stared at each other, and nobody had to know that every time Robin leaned in to whisper a comment about the movie to Nancy’s ear, she didn’t pull away until she got to place a quick kiss on Nancy’s cheek. They were just two friends going to the theater together, completely platonic and normal friends watching a movie, they could probably pass only coworkers, just acquaintances, practically strangers… Unless someone noticed that Robin had brought in a jacket with her, and when they came out of the movie Nancy was the one wearing said jacket. It was a little too big on her and it smelled like Robin’s cologne, it was beyond perfect.

After the movies, they opted for picking up dinner, and taking the burgers and fries to go. Robin didn’t need to know it, but Nancy had also spent a good chunk of her free time since they agreed to go on a date driving around the outskirts of Hawkins searching for the perfect place where she could park her car that night. It had to be private, it had to have a good view, it had to be safe. Judging by the appreciative whistle from Robin when they finally moved to sit on the hood of Nancy’s car, she’d picked the right spot.

“Wheeler, are you trying to woo me?” Robin asked, smiling brightly and raising her eyebrows at Nancy.

Nancy chuckled and rolled her eyes. “Do you ever stop acting like an idiot?” Nancy asked her right back. They were moving around the car to meet at the front. Falling back on this playful dynamic was the easiest part of the day, and it was made even better by the unwavering knowledge that every little comment came from a place of genuine affection.

“I’m afraid not,” Robin shrugged and then held out her arms for Nancy. “Now, come here. This date has gone on for entirely too long without a single proper kiss as God intended.

“Are you sure this is what God intended,” Nancy wondered, laughing softly and stepping right into Robin’s arms, putting her own arms around her girlfriend’s waist.

“Oh, yeah. Completely sure, a hundred percent.”

“And we’re kissing on the first date, huh? How very forward of you, Buckley.”

Robin chuckled at that, and she opened her mouth to say something else, but she seemed to change her mind. She pressed her lips tightly and stare so intently at every detail of Nancy’s face, almost enough to make her nervous all over again. “Have I told you tonight how beautiful you look?” Robin wondered, and her right hand reached out to push a stray curl of hair from Nancy’s face to behind her ear, where she kept her finger absentmindedly playing with that little strand of hair.

“Once or twice,” Nancy answered softly and with an easy and endeared smile on her lips.

“Good. You look breathtaking,” Robin whispered and slowly moved her face closer to Nancy’s. “Can I kiss you now?”

“Yes,” Nancy answered at the same time that she helped Robin close the distance between their mouths. 

Nancy couldn’t be a hundred percent certain, but she suspected they had never been so careful and patient with a kiss. There was not a single reason to hurry up, and absolutely no fear of the other one running away. Every slide of their lips against each other was full of meaning, it was all purposeful. Everything was tailored to making that kiss one they would remember for the rest of their lives. The kiss slowed down at its own rhythm until, for a while, the two girls only stood there, safe in each other's arms, with their foreheads resting on to each other, and taking the most pleasure from their magical moment.

When it felt right, they pulled away from each other, only to help one another climb on top of the hood of Nancy's car. It didn't happen without a couple of miscalculations and plenty of laughs. But, finally, they settled comfortably, facing the peaceful view ahead of them, with Nancy sitting between Robin's legs, leaning her back against Robin's front. They stayed just like that for a while, talking about anything that came to mind, from Scoops Ahoy to their friends and family, from their dinner to the movie, from their childhoods to their future, with sufficient comfortable silences in between. Nancy spent most of the time holding on to Robin's hands, playing with her fingers and toying with her rings, possibly planning to steal another one just like she'd taken over Robin's jacket that day. Meanwhile, Robin, when she wasn't launching herself into a new ramble, was happy to rest her chin on Nancy's shoulder, playfully pushing her face into Nancy's perm, and occasionally leaving featherlight kisses on Nancy's neck until Nancy lost her train of thought and pulled away to look at Robin with a look that managed to be threatening and appreciative at once.

After one of the easy silences between conversation subjects, Nancy ventured to ask, "Robin, do you hate me?"

"Yeah," Robin answered immediately. "I mean, why else would I pine after you for the entire summer, ask you to go on a date with me, kiss you at every chance I got, and continue to hold you like this?" To punctuate her words, Robin tightened her arms around Nancy a little, and pressed a harder kiss on Nancy's neck. "Did you think I like you, or something? Because that would be so embarrassing."

Nancy groaned deeply and dropped her head back, letting it fall on Robin's shoulder. "Maybe I do hate you," she said, closing her eyes.

Robin didn't seem bothered by any of this. In fact, she seemed excited to gain more access to Nancy's neck, which she kissed eagerly for a moment, until she decided to pull back and whisper, "I don't hate you, babygirl. I could never." The seriousness in her tone got Nancy’s attention, so she shifted in her place, turning to her side as best as she could so she could face Robin, watch her face, earnest and just a little scared as she asked, “I thought that was clear by now?”

“It is,” Nancy was quick to reassure her, “I’m not doubting you or anything, Robin, I swear.” She put one of her hands against Robin’s cheek and when Robin leaned into it, Nancy's thumb caressed her freckled skin as lovingly as a person could. “It’s just… I was awful to you, Robin.”

“Hey, it’s okay,” Robin said. She reached out and gently pressed her fingers over the back of Nancy’s hand on her face. She turned her face a little to the side so she could kiss Nancy’s wrist, a movement so intimate, so tender, that made Nancy shiver. “I thought we had an agreement it was all forgiven?” Robin wondered. She looked deeply into Nancy’s eyes and whatever she saw there, guilt, fear, regret, or maybe even the best of her feelings, made her go on before Nancy could answer. “I wasn’t much better than you, Nance. I know I was a nightmare, purposefully. Do you hate me for it?”

“I could never hate you, not really, I think,” Nancy answered, shaking her head.

“Is that a challenge?” Robin asked her, attempting a careful smile. “Because, you know, I could always try harder to be despicable, I could be unbearable, baby, just say the word.”

“God, shut up,” Nancy groaned and covered her face to try and hide the fact that instead of groaning, Robin’s words made her giggle so earnestly she would’ve found it embarrassing under any other circumstances. But they were still there, just the two of them in a perfect spot on the outskirts of Hawkins after a perfect day. She tried and failed to hate Robin, she tried and failed to fight her feelings, and she saw no reason to hold them back anymore. “I want to tell you something,” she said suddenly, twisting the conversation into a much more serious tone.

“I’m listening,” Robin answered readily.

“I’m not sure if it makes sense,” Nancy said carefully, “and I’m scared I’m doing everything wrong. But… actually, everything finally feels so right. And it’s because of you, Robin. So I don't want to fight or hide my feelings for you anymore.”

“You don’t have to hold back,” Robin whispered. “I got you, Nance.” She was holding one of Nancy’s hands in her lap, and she had her other arm wrapped protectively  around Nancy, who was pretty much sitting on her lap. Nancy had no doubt in her mind that Robin meant her words. She was safe there, she had nothing to fear, she had Robin.

“I love you,” Nancy admitted out loud for the first time, looking deep into Robin’s eyes. “I fell in love with you. I’m not sure exactly when or how but… it changed my life, you changed my life. Now it’s like I can’t go a single minute of the day without thinking about how much I love you. I couldn’t wait to tell you, that’s all.”

“That’s all?” Robin laughed a little, and Nancy mercifully chose not to mention how tearful her eyes looked. “Nancy, I… I’ve never fallen for someone this hard. I’m crazy about you, Wheeler, in case you couldn’t tell. I adore you, I…” It was a rare sight, seeing Robin Buckley running out of words, and Nancy treasured this moment in particular more than any other. “I love you so much,” Robin finally settled for saying, nodding confidently and smiling at Nancy, “I do, I really do. I love you.”

Nancy looked down at their intertwined hands and laughed a little. She was sure that by now Robin had also noticed the way she had tears brimming in her eyes too, but Robin wasn’t the only one capable of deflecting humor. So Nancy said, “You know, I used to daydream about running you over with this exact car.”

Robin burst out laughing, of course. She was perfectly unbothered, and even delighted by this unsurprising confession. She wrapped both arms around Nancy and hugged her tightly as the two of them laughed away the tension and every grudge they ever had for each other. Finally, Robin pulled away, looking happier than ever before, and told Nancy, “We’re messed up, huh? I think that means you should kiss me, princess.”

Nancy had never agreed more with Robin.

Notes:

IM SO SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG!!!

omg really I didn't mean to but then Ronancetober happened and i had all these ideas and unfortunately also my own life to deal with and yeah i'm really sorry I hope you guys haven't forgotten about this story!

this was the "Everyone loves Robin Buckley" chapter and I really hope you guys liked it and that it lived up to expectations and wasn't a complete disappointment after waiting so long haha

please let me know what you think? every comment is the love of my life <3

also!! I'm once again asking for advice. i feel like we all want this story to go on forever but I also feel like it could end satisfactory in one or two chapters more. but I'm the most indecisive person so let's see what you guys think

lastly! if you haven't yet, please read my newest stories, particularly my Conjuring AU and Terminator Dark Fate AU because they are my babies and I think you guys would like them :D

anyway, I'll shut up now, see you soon!!! (i promise)

Chapter 11: I dare you, princess

Notes:

i can't believe i'm saying this but... technically... this is the last chapter of this fic....

“Nancy?”

Nancy turned around quickly when she heard Robin call her name. “Hey, you’re early,” Nancy said, smiling at her girlfriend. The sight of Robin finally there with her was a huge relief, and at the same time, it made the tension in her chest even worse. Nancy felt a knot in her throat, but she was determined to hide it for as long as possible.

“Yeah,” Robin admitted, letting the door of the back room fall closed behind her. “And still you beat me to it.” Robin dropped her backpack on the floor and stood in front of Nancy. “So… last day at Scoops Ahoy, huh?”

“Yes,” Nancy sighed, looking down at the floor between them, hoping Robin wouldn’t notice the dark bags under her eyes after a mostly sleepless night. “Summer’s over, I guess,” She looked up, shrugged, and made a poor effort to smile at Robin.

“Well, we still have one day,” Robin said tentatively, but she must have noticed the way Nancy kept looking away from her. “Nance, are you okay?” She asked, but the question only made Nancy flinch and her eyes filled with tears. “Hey, come here,” Robin whispered and pulled Nancy in for a hug, which she reciprocated eagerly.

“I don’t want it to be over,” Nancy said, her voice muffled by the way she was pressing her mouth to Robin’s shoulder. She was holding on to Robin as tightly as she could, as if she would lose her the second she loosened her touch. 

“It’s okay,” Robin said, she had one arm wrapped protectively over Nancy’s shoulder, and she was running her other hand soothingly up and down Nancy’s back. “It’s just work, angel.”

The familiar and sweet nickname made Nancy relax a little, but she stayed pressed against Robin’s body. “I’m scared of things changing,” she confessed. Robin was the only person she wanted to share all her thoughts and dreams and fears with.

“Nothing has to change,” Robin told her and pressed a kiss on top of Nancy’s head. “I mean, of course our daily routines are going to change, a lot of things will be different, but we’re still going to be just us , you know? You… we said we would keep dating when school started again… right?”

Robin had immediately known what to do and say to comfort Nancy, and after everything they had put each other through, Nancy obviously knew how to act in the exact same way. She instantly noticed the doubt and insecurity creeping into Robin’s tone. So she pulled back just enough to look Robin eye to eye. “ Of course ,” she said, putting as much conviction in her words as she knew how, “Of course we will. I’m actually looking forward to it.” Then Nancy kissed Robin’s cheek softly, and when she looked at her again, Robin had that lovely smile on her face that reassured Nancy they were okay. “Don’t mind me, it’s the last day so I’m being emotional and stupid.”

“Hey, you’re not stupid,” Robin frowned and held her closer. “Except when you are,” she added with a smirk.

Nancy rolled her eyes. She was sure she’d never grow tired of the way Robin could turn her mood around with a few words and a dazzling smile. “Shut up,” Nancy said, and immediately pulled Robin down for a kiss.

The two of them stood right there in the back room of the shop, kissing each other reverently and unhurriedly. They knew it was still early, and they could kiss each other like they had all the time in the world. They exchanged small pecks, they smiled against each other’s lips, and they enjoyed every sweet press of their lips together. After one particular deep kiss, that they could tell would make it harder to pull away from if they continued down that road, they slowly pulled back from each other, letting their foreheads rest against each other while they slowed down their breathing.

“Are you okay, Wheeler?” Robin asked.

“Yes,” Nancy replied, this time confident in her answer. “You?”

“Perfect,” Robin said, grinning brightly and pulling away from Nancy. “We still have one day, sweetheart. Let’s make the most of it, shall we?”

Nancy nodded and opened her mouth to answer, but apparently, her nod was enough for Robin. In the blink of an eye, Robin crouched down a little in front of Nancy and went ahead and picked her up, throwing her over her shoulder. Nancy shrieked in surprise and started laughing. Robin laughed along with her, laughing ever harder when Nancy started hitting her back demanding to be put down. With shaky legs and putting a little too much confidence in her strength and coordination, Robin miraculously made it to the front of the store, where she finally put Nancy back on her feet.

“Robin Buckley, you’re a menace to this world,” Nancy scoffed, trying her hardest to look angry enough to hide the smile on her face. She fussed over her messed-up hair and her uniform while Robin continued to chuckle as she watched.

“Hey, for the record…”

“Yeah?” Nancy asked her, impatiently.

“I love you,” Robin said. In the split second where Nancy’s heart skipped a beat at the wonderful sentence admission, Robin leaned in quickly and placed a big, playful kiss on Nancy’s cheek, almost making her lose her balance, making both of them start laughing again.

 

---

---

 

Robin wasn’t sure if it was so surprising or just completely unsurprising that she was having such a great time during her last day working at Scoops Ahoy. She had planned to get there earlier than ever before to make the most of every second of her last day working there with Nancy. It really wasn’t surprising that Nancy got there even earlier, but it was a huge comfort that Nancy seemed to care about it as much as Robin did. Though if Nancy was worried about things changing, it was an understatement to say Robin was concerned too. She trusted Nancy more than anyone else, but it was difficult to completely ignore that annoying voice in the back of her head that told her Nancy wouldn’t want her beyond this silly summer job. Luckily for her, a couple of surprises throughout the day really successfully reassured her of Nancy’s feelings for her. For example, the fact that after a full summer of making fun of Nancy’s inability to get the attention of the countless boys that passed by their counter, Nancy ended up getting three date offers on her very last day working there.

“Well, if you change your mind, you can call me,” the first boy said after Nancy turned him down. And then, with his best attempt at a charming smile, passed Nancy a napkin with his number scribbled on it.

“Thanks,” Nancy said with a tight-lipped polite smile.

Nancy hesitated to take the napkin long enough for Robin’s patience to run out.

“What’s this?” Robin said, quickly showing up right next to Nancy and plucking the piece of paper from the boy’s fingers. “Ugh, terrible penmanship,” she groaned and threw the napkin over her shoulder. “Sorry, dude, you’re going to need a lot more than that to pay for the ice cream, and you better hurry up before I charge you double for holding back the line.” 

Of course, there was no line waiting after the boy. Still, he hurried up to pay for his ice cream and walked away without looking back. Robin watched him walk away, throwing daggers with her eyes, willing him to turn around just so she’d get another chance at making him run away. But then, when he was almost out of sight, she felt a familiar pair of eyes on her. She turned to her side and looked down to find Nancy smirking at her.

“Jealous, Buckley?” Nancy said.

“Of you? No, he’s not my type, thank you, sweetheart,” Robin said quickly, and immediately turned around so Nancy wouldn’t catch her blushing at being caught. Judging by Nancy’s laugh behind her, she wasn’t so successful.

But then it happened again .

At first, Robin tried to step back, give Nancy her space, and not intervene. Regardless of how hot she thought Nancy was when she got angry every time Robin mentioned Vickie not too long ago, she didn’t want to act jealous and risk scaring Nancy away. However, this time it was different. This time, the guy didn’t accept a “no, thank you” as a response.

“Come on, Nancy, stop playing hard to get,” the guy said, leaning over the counter, closer than any customer had the right to be. 

Nancy looked so uncomfortable that Robin had no idea why this guy still thought he stood a chance. But the second that he put his hand on Nancy’s wrist, Robin couldn’t hold herself back anymore.

“She said no ,” Robin hissed.

“Excuse me?” the guy said, turning his head a little to look at Robin, realizing for the first time that he wasn’t alone there with Nancy.

“She said no,” Robin repeated, finally moving closer and staring right at his eyes.

“It’s not your business,” he replied, smiling such a fake and annoying smile that Robin was proud of her self-control for not immediately punching him.

Some small movement in the corner of her eye caught Robin’s attention. She realized Nancy was trying to pull away and the guy had tightened his hold on her wrist. Instantly, Robin reached out and put her hand on the guy’s wrist, holding him as tight as she could, making sure her nails were digging into the sensitive skin on the inside of his wrist.

“Let her go,” Robin said through gritted teeth. He was clenching his jaw, trying to be stronger than her, but then Robin dug her nails into his skin even harder and said, “Look, yours isn’t going to be the first nose I break because of her, and it probably won’t be the last. Just let her go.” This time he did let go of his hold on Nancy’s wrist, and she immediately pulled back, but Robin didn’t let him go just yet. “Now walk away before I pull out the gun we keep under the counter,” she said, and of course, he tried to get away, but she was still holding his wrist firmly down to the surface of the counter. He tried to pull back once, twice, and when he was going to pull his arm a third time, Robin let him go unexpectedly, and his own force sent him falling down the floor. The other customers that hadn’t been paying attention to the exchange at the counter, finally noticed, and they all laughed at the guy currently laying on the floor. Nancy and Robin were laughing along with everyone else.

The two girls watched him walk away, and Robin was almost startled when she felt Nancy knock her shoulder with hers.

“Thank you,” Nancy whispered, looking up at Robin with those angelic blue eyes of hers. They couldn’t do much out there in front of everyone, but Robin got goosebumps on her skin anyway when Nancy simply put her hand on top of hers on the counter. “That was actually pretty hot,” she added, looking up at Robin and honest to God, batting her eyelashes at her.

“Oh,” Robin mumbled, fully running out of ways to react. But she did earn a kiss on the cheek from Nancy that left her speechless for a while.

And then the third guy showed up.

Robin didn’t move too far from Nancy, just in case another jerk wanted to test her patience, but she was genuinely surprised by the turn of events. She was close enough to listen to the poor guy talk to Nancy and confess that he’d been going to Scoops Ahoy the entire summer, trying to gather the courage to ask her out and failing at the last minute every time, until then. He looked like a genuinely decent and sweet guy, and he could’ve asked Nancy out during the first weeks at work, before anything actually happened between her and Robin. The realization shocked Robin enough that she barely noticed when he walked away after Nancy turned him down as gently as she possibly could.

“Well, that was something,” Nancy sighed, stepping back from the counter.

Her movement finally brought Robin back to the present. She shook her head and mumbled, “I… wow, yeah, that was… something.”

“You okay?” Nancy asked her, smirking and turning around to see Robin leaning against the wall behind her.

“Just a flashback, I guess,” Robin shrugged.

Nancy’s face immediately changed. Her smirk vanished and she looked genuinely curious. “Robin?” she tilted her head and studied Robin, who would have blushed at the intensity of Nancy’s attention and getting caught caring more than she probably should about the whole thing.

“I just… I guess I’m wondering what would’ve happened…” she shrugged again and hesitated, but Nancy’s silence encouraged her to go on. “What would’ve happened if that guy had the guts to ask you out at the beginning of the summer, or any other perfectly nice guy for that matter. I bothered you about it so much but what if…”

“I might have said yes, and agreed to go out on a date with him,” Nancy said easily, almost expressionless.

“Oh,” Robin said, opening and closing her mouth to say something else and realizing she couldn’t come up with anything.

“It wouldn’t have gone anywhere though,” Nancy said, mercifully interrupting Robin’s quickly spiraling thoughts. 

“No?” Robin wondered. She almost hated herself for how hopeful she sounded.

“I’m guessing you wouldn’t have stopped being the little shit that you are,” Nancy explained, stepping closer to Robin. “Which means that I wouldn’t have been able to keep myself from falling for it. Falling for you, I mean.” After a pause, she added, “Don’t look so smug about it, Buckley.”

“Sorry,” Robin chuckled, caught smiling as if she’d won the lottery. “So you don’t regret it? You think we would’ve ended up here either way?”

“Right here,” Nancy said softly. “Well… Preferably in the back room of the shop, because I really want to kiss you right now, and you really should shut up about boys I’m no longer interested in.”

Robin had to laugh again. She was surprised by feeling like a huge weight off her shoulders. She didn’t want to doubt herself, Nancy, or their relationship, but every little reassurance just meant the world to her. She swore she would never get tired of it. 

“Lead the way, tesorino .” Robin bowed dramatically. Her heart skipped a beat as she stared at Nancy looking over her shoulder at her as she retreated to their secret spot.

 

---

---

 

Their last day working at Scoop Ahoy didn’t allow a single moment of boredom, really. Even if Nancy was barely able to pull her eyes away from Robin, the rest of the world continued to demand their attention. Not for the first time, Nancy was caught staring at Robin. She was pulled out of her thoughts by a gentle nudge from Robin. The taller girl had a smirk on her face, but, apparently, she didn’t even have enough time to tease Nancy.

“We have company, Wheeler,” Robin whispered.

“Oh, how exciting,” Nancy rolled her eyes. Genuinely, she wished she could stay alone with Robin. But that day was the clearest example of how difficult it was for Nancy to stop smiling, to focus on any less than pleasant emotions when Robin was around. This unfamiliar feeling, this version of herself felt new, and even a little strange. She would be lying if she said she didn’t like it though. There was no way that easier smiles could be a bad thing. 

“Congratulations!” Steve and Dustin exclaimed as they approached the counter of the shop, not very synchronized but making it up for it with their enthusiasm.

“What’s this?” Robin asked, trying to appear unimpressed and even annoyed.

Nancy had to hold back her laughter because she knew by now how to recognize little secret signals in Robin. She could try to put on a smirk, raise an eyebrow, tease them as much as she liked, but Nancy knew better. She knew better than anyone how much love Robin could hide underneath her sarcasm.

“Happy Last Scoops Ahoy Day! You made it through,” Steve said, finally reaching the counter and waving his arms at the two of them.

“We made you guys a medal!” Dustin announced.

“Oh my God,” Robin chuckled and picked up the very interestingly handcrafted sort of medal. “This is so dumb.”

“You love it so much,” Nancy said, noticing the spark in Robin’s eyes.

“Shut up,” Robin rolled her eyes.

They were immediately drawn into a long and raucous conversation with the boys. Somehow, Steve once again crashed his way to their side of the counter, while Robin broke free to hang out on the other side, her arms draped proudly over Lucas and Dustin’s shoulders while they failed to act like they weren’t flustered by it. Nancy listened intently to Dustin’s thorough explanation about how he crafted the surprisingly detailed medal for them, she got slightly distracted by watching Steve and Robin interact in their messy, secret language of best friends, and soon enough, she was pulled aside by her younger brother.

“Oh my God, I knew you would ask for money,” Nancy scoffed, but complied with Mike’s request nonetheless.

After the transaction was complete, however, Mike didn’t seem in a hurry to walk away from Nancy and back to his friends. “Are you bringing Robin for movie night?” Mike asked her.

“She… She was standing there two minutes ago when we made the plans, Mike,” Nancy slowly, confused by his question.

Mike sighed gravely, as if this were the most emotionally taxing conversation of his life. “She doesn’t want to hang out with us ,” he said with the tone of someone explaining something extremely obvious, “She wants to be with you.” In his haste to act annoyed by her slowness, he seemed to have talked faster than whatever words he had originally planned, and ended up blushing at his own words. “I mean… She used to join us as Steve’s best friend. But now it’s you . I mean, she’s coming with you, isn’t she?”

There was a short pause, and Nancy took the time to look to her side and spot Robin currently sitting on top of the counter, messing Steve’s hair while the boys laughed, argued among themselves, and laughed some more. “Yes,” Nancy said, carefully, “Yeah, she is.” She gulped nervously, wondering if she was reading too much into things, but unable to deny that this moment felt larger, more meaningful than it seemed at first.

“Okay,” Mike shrugged, and even though he tried his hardest to appear like he didn’t care, he added, “I like her.”

“Me too,” Nancy said with a smile, because how could she not?

“Ugh, I know ,” Mike rolled his eyes profusely and turned away from her, and the two of them laughed as they returned to the group.

Nancy pushed her brother’s shoulders and she imitated Robin’s move. She hugged Lucas and Dustin and laughed at the way they still got a little flustered. As Nancy got involved in the conversation, it felt like another piece of the puzzle fit. It had been a long while since she’d felt so at ease with just the boys, her little brother’s chaotic group of friends. She’d stepped away from them a while ago, in a strange combination of shame and pride. Not ashamed of ever hanging out with them, but ashamed of her decision to be embarrassed by it, and yet forced herself to feel proud about it, as if growing up and being the young woman the world expected her to be was such a good thing. She didn’t have to do that with Robin there. She didn’t have to pretend to be anything but herself, just like Robin did. Robin became best friends with Hawkin’s most popular boy after he fell out of grace. She teased him relentlessly for his friendship with children, and then she proceeded to adopt them as her own friends, claiming she’d spent more time with Dustin and Erica than with most of her old high school friends. Robin was done with societal expectations and the idea of picture-perfect lives before she even met Nancy, and, although some people might disagree, Nancy was convinced Robin was a good influence on her. She’d never felt freer, more like herself, more like she was young and she should stay young for as long as possible. If they were going to grow up, they would do it together, but the priority was staying right there in that moment and enjoying every second she got to spend with Robin in her life.

 

---

 

“It’s totally a date.”

“You don’t know that.”

“I do, I know it, it’s a date.”

“Did they say the word date? ”

“No,” Robin groaned and avoided Nancy’s eyes, “But I know Max, and I know it’s a date.”

Nancy sent a knowing look her way. “You know Erica , who’s the one who told you Max wishes it was a date,” Nancy pointed out for probably the third time. She really hoped for the best for Max and El, but she had more fun disagreeing with Robin. Even if they were staring with the exact same amount of affection at the two girls currently sitting together at a table away from the counter.

“Whatever,” Robin shrugged but her smile remained firmly in place. “Hey, you’ve known El longer than me. What do you think she thinks about their date?”

“One, we don’t know if it is a date,” Nancy said, and started holding up her fingers as she counted the facts for Robin. “Two, I’ve known all of them for longer than you have, baby.”

“No need to brag,” Robin rolled her eyes. “You’re just jealous because Max and Erica like me more.”

“ No ,” Nancy retorted patiently, “ You’re upset because El likes me more.”

“I mean, it’s not fair!” Robin exclaimed. “I’m so much cooler than you, Wheeler.”

“Robin!”

Nancy crossed her arms over her chest and stared unimpressed at her girlfriend. She loved Robin, and she was well aware that Robin was still very much the same girl that made Nancy lose her mind during that entire summer, not always in a good way.

“Sorry,” Robin apologized with an almost upsetting charming grin that kicked down all of Nancy’s defenses. “You’re not so bad, my princess. Honestly.”

“You’re on thin ice,” Nancy said, narrowing her eyes at Robin and holding back a smile of her own.

“Don’t get mad at me, I would never survive your wrath,” Robin said.

She honest to god pouted her lips at Nancy, who thought how dare she do this when I can’t kiss her?

“Actually, we already tried that. You survived, surprisingly,” Nancy lost the fight against the smile pulling at her lips.

“Right,” Robin grinned proudly and snapped her fingers as if suddenly remembering something. “I have severe emotional scars to prove it. I’ll get Dustin to give me another medal. Robin Buckley, sole survivor of Nancy Wheeler’s summer of hatred.”

“Shut up,” Nancy protested, but she had to put one hand to her mouth as if that could hide the fact that Robin had her giggling like a little girl. 

“Don’t do that,” Robin said and tilted her head a little as she looked down at Nancy, “Don’t hide that cute laugh from me.”

Nancy was taken aback by the earnest tone of Robin’s voice. One of these days, she swore, she would get whiplash from the way Robin could swiftly switch from being a little shit and the sweetest person Nancy had ever met. At that moment, Nancy felt her face heat up a little as she thought about how hard she was genuinely falling in love with Robin Buckley. 

“I thought we were talking about El and Max,” Nancy said, glancing at her feet for a moment and hoping her girlfriend would grant her a reprieve from her most serious feelings and allow the not-so-discreet change of topic.

Robin shook her head and smiled, showing that she very much realized what Nancy was doing. But she went along with it. “Can you blame me?” She sighed dramatically and nodded her head at the table where the two younger girls were sharing an ice cream. “They’re so small and cute like one of those special rocks that just have a little something that you find by complete accident and pure chance when you’re walking around and you just have to put them in your pocket like, pause everything else and pick up that cute little rock because hey, how could you not, you know?”

“You do that?” Nancy asked her. She was biting her lip in hopes Robin would focus on the conversation and not the fact that Nancy still swooned whenever she caught Robin going on a rant as if her life depended on it. She was overjoyed at finding out this was how Robin acted as soon as you got to know her a little better.

“You don’t?” Robin frowned.

“Can I tell you a secret?” Nancy asked, suddenly serious. When Robin immediately nodded, Nancy stepped closer to her, stood on her tiptoes, put her hands on Robin’s waist for balance, and whispered close to Robin’s ear, “I love you.”

“Oh,” Robin whispered. “Oh…” she repeated as Nancy slowly pulled away from her with a smug smile on her lips. Robin shook her eyes and tried to frown at her. “Okay, you’re smooth, babygirl. You’re smooth.”

Nancy laughed at Robin’s flustered state, and the two of them turned around, both still blushing a little, to stare at El and Max as they continued with their actually very obvious date.

 

---

 

Robin stood behind Nancy, hands on Nancy’s shoulders, enthusiastically shaking her body and saying, “You saw them! You finally saw them!”

“Okay. Okay, Robin. Stop,” Nancy said, trying to stop the shaking. “Yeah, I saw them.” In a second, Robin stopped shaking her body like a rag doll and instead forced her to turn around and face her. She looked at Nancy with such an expectant look that Nancy  was forced to keep talking and say, “ And they do sound vaguely Russian, I suppose.”

Robin scoffed as loud as she seemed capable of. “You can do better than, journalist extraordinaire,” Robin rolled her eyes.

Nancy chuckled. “I just don’t think it’s very remarkable that there could be one or two possibly Russian guys in Hawkins,” Nancy shrugged. She was lying, a little bit. Actually, she fully agreed with Robin’s suspicions. But it was much more entertaining to tease her girlfriend like this just to see her get riled up.

“One of these days,” Robin said and pointed a finger at Nancy’s chest. “One of these days I’ll uncover a Russian conspiracy lurking in the shadows of Hawkins and you won’t be laughing then, Wheeler.”

Her words only got Nancy to laugh harder at her. “For the record, I would follow you anywhere if you were serious about this,” Nancy said, because she couldn’t ignore two very strong feelings in her heart. One, her innate curiosity and her passion for good journalism and mysteries. Two, how much she loved Robin and would want her to feel supported and taken seriously by Nancy, if the occasion needed it. “You’re still an idiot, though,” Nancy added, before Robin could say anything else.

Robin frowned, momentarily, then she asked, “Are you flirting with me?” The sudden question stole a loud laugh from Nancy, which only spurred Robin on. “Because if that’s the case, you should try harder.”

“Oh? Should I?” Nancy asked her, suddenly very interested in the road this conversation was going.

“Please do,” Robin replied, and accentuated her words with a wink for Nancy.

“Okay…” Nancy said slowly and reached out to tug at the hem of Robin’s uniform shirt. “Then why don’t we go…”

“Hi, Nancy!”

“ Mom?! ” Nancy exclaimed, turning around quickly. In her haste to pull away from Robin, she ended up pushing her a little.

Robin stumbled and then leaned heavily on the counter to regain her balance, as if that could make it seem like she wasn’t a second away from hitting the floor. “Mrs. Wheeler, hello!” she exclaimed breathlessly, probably thinking that would make things less awkward, instead of the added tension that Nancy could feel in the air.

“Oh! Robin, hi. How are you?” Mrs. Wheeler asked.

“Oh,” Robin said, and nothing else for a moment. It was a mystery if Mrs. Wheeler noticed the surprise and nerves glowing on both girls’ faces. “I’m… good! Really well, yeah. It’s, uh, it’s the last day at work, you know? I’m- I’m sure you know, it’s also Nancy’s last day at work, and she’s your daughter and you probably already knew that too so I have no idea why I’m mentioning but yeah, work . Work is… good. It’s been busy, but a good kind of busy, you know, like it’s boring but it’s not overwhelming either, it’s just manageable.” Mercifully, Nancy managed to tug at one of Robin’s hands from below the counter. It was comforting, reassuring, and the kindest way Nancy could tell her to please shut up . “I guess,” Robin finished her long speech with a shrug, as if she’d said a word or two.

Karen Wheeler smiled and nodded. If she was thrown off by Robin’s rant, she didn’t show it. “Mom, do you want ice cream?” Nancy asked, feeling a little helpless at the moment.

“I do, actually!” her mom replied. “I couldn’t have missed my last chance to be served ice cream by the best two employees this place will ever see.”

Much to Nancy, and maybe even Karen's surprise, Robin’s attempt at acting casual and friendly was an adorable and girlish giggle that Nancy had never heard from her. While Nancy was busy getting that angelic sound engraved in her mind, Robin cleared her throat and said, “Okay, I’ll serve the ice cream.”

Robin stepped away from Nancy and, as if she wasn’t already starting to blush profusely, Karen Wheeler continued talking. “Plus, I was a little curious, I admit. Lately Nancy just won’t stop talking about everything Robin did, and everything Robin said, and Robin this and Robin that .”

“Mom!” Nancy interrupted her through gritted teeth, but it was too late, Robin was already staring at her with her lips parted in joyful surprise.

“Well, I had to see what all the fuss was about!” Mrs. Wheeler insisted. 

Before Nancy could even attempt some damage control, Robin spoke up. “Well, I will try to live up to expectations,” she said. Nancy, mortified, recognized Robin’s tone as a sign that Robin was about to pull some tremendous confidence out of thin air if it meant she’d get to have something to tease Nancy about. “Allow me to give you the best ice cream of your life, Mrs. Wheeler,” Robin said, and dramatically bowed a little while holding a spoon in one hand.

“Oh, call me Karen, dear,” Nancy’s mom chuckled fondly as she watched Robin and Nancy observed the two of them carefully.

As much as Nancy felt tempted to intervene, she wasn’t sure she’d be able to. Robin was so nervous she couldn’t shut up, and Nancy’s mom was so charmed by her that she wouldn’t stop talking either. Nancy could hardly keep up with the conversation. She was pretty sure her mom just learned all about Robin’s life and in return, Robin had been invited to her house about ten times. It was a dizzying conversation.

Luckily, it seemed the conversation would finally reach its ending when Robin waved off Mrs. Wheeler’s question about the price of her ice cream. “It’s on the house,” Robin said. She smiled so brightly that Nancy had to shake her head at herself for ever thinking she would be able to not fall in love with Robin.

“Well, thank you so much, Robin,” Karen Wheeler said happily. “Nancy, I see why you like her so much.”

“ Mom ,” Nancy groaned and rubbed her temples with her fingertips. It seemed that “mom” in various tones of despair was all she contributed to the conversation that day.

“Okay, okay, I’ll leave you two alone now,” Mrs. Wheeler said. “Robin, it was a pleasure to talk to you. I’m so glad to see that Nancy finally has a new girlfriend. I want you to know that the front doors of my house are always open for you, okay? Goodbye girls, enjoy the rest of your day!”

Nancy and Robin smiled and nodded and occasionally waved at Mrs. Wheeler as she walked away from there, looking back every few seconds until she was out of view. Nancy hadn’t completely relaxed when Robin’s words made her tense again.

“Oh, fuck, she totally knows,” Robin said.

“ What?! ” Nancy hissed. “No, she doesn’t!”

Robin turned toward her with a shocked look on her face. “Uh, the front doors of her house are always open? Hello? Nobody says that! She obviously knows I climbed through your window the other day!”

“She doesn’t,” Nancy said, though a little less emphatically than the first time. She crossed her arms over her chest, thought about it a little, and then said with a tone of agony, “Oh, shit, she said girlfriend .”

“She probably meant that as platonic,” Robin shrugged. But her attempts at emotional support were forgotten when she remembered something else. “Wait. She said new girlfriend. Am I not your first girlfriend?!”

“You are. She probably meant Barb,” Nancy replied nonchalantly.

“You dated Barb?! ” Robin exclaimed.

“Robin! No!” 

Nancy covered her face with a hand, frustrated, but the second she heard Robin start to laugh, she dissolved into uncontrollable laughter along with her.

 

---

 

It was close to the end of the day, but first, Robin and Nancy got to take a break and sit down with the latest friends to pay them a visit on their last day at work. The two of them sat at a table on the food court across from Chrissy and Vickie, who Nancy was having a much easier time accepting as good friends of hers and Robin.

“So, it’s your last day here!” Chrissy said cheerfully and leaned her chin on the palm of her hand as she stared at them from across the table. “How are you guys feeling?”

“Relieved,” Nancy answered, “My coworker was unbearable.”

As soon as she said that, Nancy received a gentle shove from Robin, but when she looked at her, Robin was smiling as much as she was. In fact, it was difficult to look away from Robin. She always glowed when they got to hang out with their friends and Nancy loved to see her so happy. Nancy looked back at the other two girls just in time to see them exchange a knowing look between them. Nancy had to glance at her lap, just a little embarrassed at getting caught staring lovestruck at her girlfriend. 

Robin cleared her throat, just as caught as Nancy. “Personally, I won’t miss this uniform at all,” she joked. 

“ Well… ” I’ll miss seeing you in it , Nancy thought, and stopped herself from saying the whole thing out loud, not sure if she could share her genuine feelings about Robin’s uniform out loud.

“I mean, it’s not that bad,” Vickie said while very purposefully looking away from Nancy, who could practically read Vickie’s thoughts and guess that she agreed on how just how good Robin looked even in those silly clothes.

“I think it’s kind of cute ,” Chrissy mumbled, staring at the table surface as if it was the most interesting thing in the world. Nancy was almost impressed, it was obvious Chrissy agreed too, and they were all struggling not to let it show.

Nancy would’ve focused on the spark of jealousy in the pit of her stomach when she realized that, although she could admit it wasn’t surprising, not only the other girls had noticed Robin’s uniform, but they seemed to appreciate it just as Nancy did. However, she was distracted by the conversation and, well, Robin was still sitting beside her in said uniform. Robin, somehow, remained oblivious to the way the other three girls felt about her in her uniform.

“Are you guys okay?” Robin blurted out, looking more than genuinely confused.

“I mean,” Nancy cleared her throat awkwardly, “It’s not that I like to wear it but…” I like seeing you wear it.

Vickie scratched the back of her head and added, “It’s… better than the band uniform…” Makes you look so, so much better .

Chrissy, looking more than a little embarrassed, ended up blurtin out the question in everyone’s mind, “Do you plan to keep it?” Please, please keep it .

Robin took her time to process their words. She blinked slowly and said, “Okay… I feel like I’m missing something here.”

Nancy, Vickie, and Chrissy, all blushing more than they would’ve liked to admit, joined forces to redirect the conversation to other topics. Maybe they realized they all agreed on Robin’s uniform, but they didn’t need to let Robin know that. Flustered as they all were, they managed to redirect the conversation somewhere else. Fortunately, they all knew it wasn’t all so difficult to get Robin distracted and rambling about something she was passionate about as soon as they hinted at it. Soon enough, the uniform's subject was, mostly, forgotten. The four girls got carried away talking about their plans for the new school year and beyond, measuring the possibilities that they might coincide with each other after high school and daydreaming about what that future might look like. It came as a pleasant surprise for all of them that talking about the future wasn’t so scary when they were together. They hadn’t known when they first were drawn together by fate, but they happened to have more in common than expected, and they were exactly the kind of support system that they had needed for different reasons for a long time. 

 

---

 

Inevitably, Nancy and Robin’s last day working at Scoops Ahoy had to come to an end. Considering how early both of them got to work that day, it felt even longer than any other day working there. And that’s without mentioning all the visits from pretty much every person they cared about, all the small and big surprises, all the quiet looks and the wholehearted laughter. It was as if the entire universe could tell that neither of them was good at saying goodbye, and so their last day stretched on and on until there was absolutely nothing else to do but close the shop. However, if there was a God above that thought that a few gifts were enough to have the final word in that silent argument, it would’ve been dead wrong. Nancy and Robin were not the kinds of girls that went down without a fight. Even if they weren’t fighting any great enemies or deadly wars, they still made things their own way. Nothing would stand between them and the life they wanted to have together, exactly how they wanted it.

“So, I guess this is it, mi amor ,” Robin announced, shrugging on her jacket and showing absolutely no signs to be planning on walking away from her spot in the back of the shop. They had changed out of their uniforms for the last time in favor of more comfortable clothes to go back home, and both of them could feel an uncomfortable tug in their hearts at the sight of the other one standing in that strange sort of sacred ground while looking so different than they usually did.

Nancy looked at the floor between them for a long moment before looking up to meet Robin’s patient blue eyes. “I don’t want it to be,” she admitted quietly, whispering even though there was absolutely nobody around them. Nobody could hear, spy, eavesdrop, or pry into their relationship anymore.

“It doesn’t have to be,” Robin said, matching Nancy’s whisper and her nerves made her raspy voice sound out of breath. Nancy sent a questioning look her way, so Robin cleared her throat and asked her with a hopeful look, “Do you want to stay here for a little while longer?”

“After closing?” Nancy asked, narrowing her eyes at Robin. There was no mistaking the meaning of Robin’s question. Not really. Not for Nancy. But after so many miscommunications over the course of their summer, she had to admit she liked to make extra sure they were always on the same page.

“Why not?” Robin asked. She wore that gorgeous smile of hers that Nancy tried to hate until she fell in love with it. “What are they going to do? Fire us?” Robin insisted. Nancy was smiling and shaking her head. Of course she wanted to stay. She would always want to stay wherever Robin was. But their relationship wouldn’t be as good as it was if they yielded so easily to each other. Putting up a fight was always half the fun. Robin, smirking as if she could read Nancy’s thoughts and agreed wholeheartedly, stepped closer to Nancy and used the final trick up her sleeve. “I dare you, princess,” she said. Her voice was strikingly soft in comparison to her mischievous grin.

Nancy’s eyebrows raised in surprise. She knew Robin was doing that on purpose. A dare to celebrate the ending of something that started with a dare. Nancy, debating between tears and laughter, understood perfectly well that there was only one possible answer to Robin’s words.

“What do I win?” Nancy asked, stepping closer to Robin and tilting her head up to look at her.

Robin’s eyes and her entire expression softened as soon as she heard the words. If Nancy thought she’d been close to tears before, then the look of absolute love in Robin’s eyes sealed the deal.

“Bragging rights?” Robin answered. Her ridiculous humor got Nancy to laugh even on the verge of tears, but then Robin reached out for her, so slowly, and placed her hands on Nancy’s jaw, carefully cradling her face, as if even after everything she was scared of hurting her, even after shattering each other countless times before until they came together into an unbreakable and much better version of themselves. “I’ll give you everything you want,” Robin said, completely serious this time, whispering not because she was worried about anyone finding out their secret, but because the only person she needed to listen to her was standing right here inches away from her.

“You already have, Robin,” Nancy told her, leaning in slowly to close the distance between them. “You’re already everything I wanted and more.”

Contrary to all the signs around them, when Nancy and Robin kissed right then and there, it wasn’t a goodbye kiss, but quite the opposite. Their night was only beginning, and their story was barely at the end of the very first chapter.

As usual, Nancy and Robin had trouble pulling back from that kiss. It started with Robin’s hands gently holding Nancy’s face, and their lips fitting together like they were made for each other, but they could only stay like that for so long before pulling each other even closer and putting so much more of themselves into that kiss. Soon enough, Robin’s hands were tangled in Nancy’s curls, tugging in playfully in retaliation every time Nancy bit her lip. Nancy’s hands started their journey on Robin’s hips, holding on tightly, digging in her nails a little when she felt like she might die if Robin pulled away from the kiss. Then her hands moved to Robin’s back, exploring and pressing her closer to Nancy and clutching the fabric of Robin’s jacket like her life depended on it. Judging by their heavy breathing and the occasional moan that escaped when their tongues brushed the right way, the two girls were conscious they had all the privacy they could possibly need. But they chose to stay in the back for a while longer. They weren’t in a hurry to end the kiss, because they knew that Scoops Ahoy was only one of many businesses on the mall, and they would have to wait a while before they were truly free. 

Although begrudgingly, they eventually slowed the kiss down to a stop. They let their foreheads rest against each other for a while, just basking in the peaceful moment between them. In the distance, they could hear all the other shops in the Starcourt mall closing up as the last workers retreated for the night. Soon, they would be all alone with the security guards of the night shift, who would probably never notice that Nancy and Robin were even there at all. 

Robin pulled back slowly, left a kiss on Nancy’s forehead, and then smiled at her. “Are you ready?” she asked.

“For what?” Nancy wondered, still a little unfocused, her mind stuck replaying the incredible kiss they just shared.

“Vandalism, obviously,” Robin answered.

 

---

 

That night, Nancy swore to herself that, for as long as she lived, she would insist that on that night she saved Robin from getting sued by the Starcourt mall and ruining her life. She wasn’t sure just how serious Robin was about her idea of vandalism, but Nancy managed to convince her to de-escalate things to a minimum, a totally reasonable level of vandalism. At first, Robin pouted when Nancy talked her out of sneaking into the cinema, seeing if they could hotwire one of the cars forgotten in the parking lot, and breaking into the restaurants of the food court. She recovered quickly, though. Robin embraced the little acts of vandalism that Nancy allowed, and she did everything with enough enthusiasm and delight to make it feel like they were taking over the world or, at least, like they could, if they wanted to do that together.

Everything started with Robin’s cute evil laugh as she mixed rainbow and chocolate sprinkles, and of course, that evolved into switching the labels of pretty much everything with a label in the Scoops Ahoy establishment. Somewhere near that point, Nancy lost some of her resolve to keep her girlfriend out of trouble. She wondered if a judge would accept “blinded by love” as a reasonable excuse. But she did agree to step out of Scoops Ahoy for a while, for a change of scenery, to stretch their legs, use a different bathroom, any of all the excuses Robin used in order to leave ice cream cones scattered in the strangest places of the mall that she could find on her way to the bathroom. Their late-night excursion around the mall consisted of laughing and running and hiding in the corners to kiss each other until the thrill of harmless adventure heightened by the adrenaline of secrecy and their own love would get them moving again. Of course, it couldn’t have happened without at least once running as fast as they could from the security guard that very nearly caught them. Maybe they had to hide behind some decorative bushes in the middle of the mall for half an hour, but when Nancy realized the only way to ensure Robin would stay quiet was to kiss her for most of that time, neither of them complained about that little obstacle in their night.

Back in the safety of the back room of Scoops Ahoy, they made a pause to rest a little and stare at the stars in the sky. Which meant that Nancy lay on her back on the table while Robin stood up on it to use a Sharpie to doodle stars on the ceiling for her. Even Nancy agreed that they couldn’t leave Scoops Ahoy behind them without first stealing as much ice cream as they possibly could, tasting every flavor available, tasting them again whenever they kissed until their lips were warm again. Plus, spending a long period of time in the freezer of Scoops Ahoy was a good excuse for Nancy to accept Robin’s jacket, which she had no intention of returning any time soon.

Eventually, both girls were tired, sleepy, and perfectly content to just lie down on the floor in each other’s arms for a little while. Robin got Nancy to hide in the mall through the night, and Nancy got her to avoid doing anything that could get them in serious trouble, the only thing left to do was cuddle until they were ready to leave.

The floor of the back room wasn’t the most comfortable place in the world, but they were, fortunately, too focused on each other and the joy of their night together to worry too much about it. Nancy was sitting down with her back resting against the wall, and Robin was stretched between Nancy’s legs with her back resting on Nancy’s front. At first, Nancy entertained herself by playing with Robin’s hair while they talked but, inevitably, she switched to holding Robin’s hands with hers, intertwining their fingers, mindlessly playing with the rings on Robin’s fingers. She smiled and pressed a kiss on top of Robin’s head when she caught Robin doing the same, twisting the ring that used to be hers and now was at home on one of Nancy’s fingers. 

At a seemingly random point on the right, the lights above them started to flicker for a few unsettling seconds.

“Spooky,” Robin said after a yawn.

“I’ve seen worse,” Nancy shrugged.

“Oh, have you?” Robin wondered, shifting a little in Nancy’s arms so she could look up at her.

“Here and there,” Nancy said. She moved one of her hands to brush Robin's hair off her face so she could look at her favorite pair of eyes in the world.

Robin chuckled, “So mysterious.”

“What can I say, small towns have something about them that’s just so…”

“Creepy,” Robin finished for her. “I know. That’s one of a thousand reasons why I’ve always wanted to get away from here.” Robin sighed and looked away from Nancy again, in favor of getting comfortable and leaning her head back on Nancy’s chest and closing her eyes. She looked so calm, like she could fall asleep in Nancy’s arms at any second, without a second thought, without a care in the world, completely safe.

“Me too,” Nancy whispered. She pressed her lips to the top of Robin’s hair, she smelled the scent of her shampoo, she thought about a life with Robin away from Hawkins, and she smiled at the thought. “You’ll get away from here, Robin. You’re too good for this town,” Nancy said softly. “Since the first day we started working together, I noticed you don’t fit in in Hawkins, but you want to know something? That’s actually the best compliment. The rest of the world will be lucky to have you.” She thought that it would be okay if Robin was asleep, she would make sure to remind Robin of how special she was every day for as long as Robin would let her. But she felt Robin tense a little in her arms, and realized her girlfriend was still awake.

“You know, Wheeler, I’m the most surprised by this thoroughly shocking revelation but,” Robin paused so she could turn to look at Nancy, and then she said, “I’m starting to think maybe, just maybe, you don’t actually suck.”

Nancy laughed at her. “Stop flirting, Buckley,” she said, “I’m already yours.”

“Seriously,” Robin said, shifting from playful to earnest once more, “The world will be lucky to have us , okay? We’re in it together now, yeah?”

“Yeah,” Nancy replied, smiling brightly, feeling happier than ever as she pictured a long and exciting future of love and adventure around the world with Robin.

Robin put one hand on Nancy’s jaw and guided her down so she could connect their lips in one more kiss for the night. Not too long later, they fell asleep in each other's arms, barely comfortable using their bags as pillows but perfectly content as long as they were together. In fact, when they woke up just in time to run out of the mall and through the parking lot before getting caught, they were still smiling, holding each other’s hands and leaving Scoops Ahoy behind, knowing they didn’t carry any regrets with them as they moved on.

Notes:

THERE'S AN EPILOGUE THOUGH!!!!!

oh my god i can't believe it's ending... this fic has been everything to me, and I'm probably going to get so sappy in the notes of the epilogue lol

I really, really hope you guys liked this chapter. please let me know all your thoughts! comments are very very appreciated ❤❤

thank you so so much for reading!! as usual, pls remember to check out my other stories and if you want to you can also find me on tumblr @ronancebuckley

see you soon for the epilogue!

Chapter 12: Epilogue

Nancy parked her car in the school’s parking lot and hesitated before moving out of it. As much as she didn’t want to make a big deal out of it or pretend she was having some big cinematic moment, she had to let herself take in the moment. This was her very first day of senior year. Just one more year and then she would be, technically, free to move on and away from Hawkins if she wanted to, which she seriously did. It was a big year, and she had a lot of work, and a lot of things to look forward to. Still, somehow, the one thing she couldn’t stop thinking about was the summer that just ended. More specifically, all the unexpected and marvelous changes that took place during that summer. Even more specifically, Robin Buckley, the main cause of all those changes, the most exciting part about the future, and the person that knocked on Nancy’s window, startling her out of her thoughts.

“ Shit! ” Nancy cursed as she turned to her side in a haste.

She found Robin right there, looking down at her with a proud smirk on her lips at having taken her by surprise. Robin winked at her and even though the window was up, Nancy could almost hear her laugh. Just like that, Robin walked away. She left Nancy biting her lip and attentively watching her walk away. Such a tease, Nancy thought. Robin knew exactly what to do to have Nancy trailing after her the entire day. But it was, if she was being honest with herself, the perfect start to their day. They had agreed to be subtle and let their public friendship grow gradually throughout the first days at school. They wouldn’t avoid each other, but there was no need to scandalize their friends and social circles by suddenly showing up to school hand in hand, right? The high school ecosystem remained a fragile and dangerous thing.

Well. Unsurprisingly, keeping her distance from Robin was turning out to be much more difficult than expected. It was something Nancy had some experience with. This time they were trapped working side by side in a small space for hours on end, but the bigger space and distractions only made Nancy crave Robin even more. She looked for her in every hallway and every classroom. She spent the entire morning looking over her shoulder, scanning the crowds, feeling her heart skip a beat every time she finally managed to spot Robin. Sometimes Nancy would see her first and get a few seconds of luxury to stare at Robin’s beautiful profile from afar. Without fail, Robin turned toward her at the right time and met her eyes. Some other times, when Nancy turned around to look for Robin, she’d catch Robin already looking at her. In every case, Robin might give her a timid smile, or a breathtaking grin, she might blush at being caught staring or she might wink or roll her eyes playfully at Nancy. Without fail, every time they found each other across one classroom or busy hallway, Nancy would her chest fill with familiar warmth, her stomach crowd with butterflies, and her smile unstoppably take over her face.

Finally, they coincided in one of their classes. Nancy was already sitting down when Robin entered the room. Nancy knew there was no way she would successfully avoid staring at Robin, so instead, she tried to concentrate all her efforts on not smiling like a lovesick fool.

“Wheeler,” Robin said as a greeting when she passed. Apparently, she didn’t think fully ignoring each other was possible either.

“Buckley,” Nancy answered, as coldly as possible, which wasn’t much. She did try not to smile, but when she looked up and caught Robin’s sparkling blue eyes, well, it was difficult to keep track of the emotions that showed on her face.

Robin couldn’t stop beside her, and she physically couldn’t walk any slower to prolong their brief interaction, so she moved on, leaving Nancy with a giddy feeling in her heart and already an ache to see her again. Just when Nancy thought she was going to yield to the pressure of her own heart and look over her shoulder to find Robin again, someone else talked to her.

“Since when are you friends with Robin Buckley,” Fred said. He was a harmless guy that had joined the school’s newspaper and Nancy saw him as someone that could become a good friend in the future.

“We worked together the entire summer,” Nancy explained, and added a shrug for good measure. She was satisfied with her answer. Surely nobody could infer that what she really meant was that she’d fallen head over heels in love with Robin.

“I would hate whoever I was forced to spend an entire summer with,” Fred chuckled and looked away from Nancy, ready to move on to a different topic.

However, Nancy couldn’t keep herself from chuckling and saying, “Trust me, I tried . Let’s just say it didn’t work.” She had to make a strong effort to keep herself from gushing about Robin.

Fred glanced at her again, looking a little confused, a little disinterested in the subject, but he couldn’t have missed Nancy’s unusual little smile. ”Good for you, Nancy,” he said.

Oh, you have no idea how good , Nancy thought. Fortunately, she didn’t say anything like that out loud. She simply smiled at him and both of them moved on to focus on the class. Mostly. Partially focus on the class. Well, Nancy tried to pay attention to the class but Robin was still there, in the back of the classroom, and always in the back of her mind.

 

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That first day at school was a strange combination of a quick blur and the longest fucking day of Robin’s life. It wasn’t difficult to understand actually. It was just the result of not being able to care or focus on anything other than trying to find Nancy at all times. This could drive a person crazy, Robin thought, as if she wasn’t already crazy about Nancy. Happily crazy, she might add.

She was in the process of further losing her mind in one of the school’s hallways, putting things hastily into her locker so she could go back to her regular scheduled longing stares across the endless hallway to the spot where she could see Nancy glancing back at her with a shy smile every few seconds. Robin was taking so long by her locker because she was so distracted by Nancy that her hands were shaking and she continued to drop things and pick the wrong books and just generally make a mess. It didn’t help that she had no idea what she would do when she was finally done with her locker. Just stare at Nancy for longer than one second? Walk past her just to say hello even though her next class was in the complete opposite direction? Actually walk up to her to have a completely casual short conversation that nobody could suspect was as close to a bold declaration of love as they could get under their current circumstances? Pull her into the middle of the hallways and kiss her senseless in front of all their peers?

Robin’s erratic thoughts were put to a sudden halt when someone crashed against her shoulder as they walked past her.

“Hey!” Robin exclaimed, turning around with a frown.

“What?” Max replied, holding up her head and smiling mischievously.

“Max!” Robin said, genuinely happy to see the other girl. But then she shoved Max’s shoulder, because she earned that. “You look older,” she added.

Max rolled her eyes at the, admittedly, not-very-good joke. “And you were looking like a lost puppy,” Max retorted and nodded her head in the general direction of where Nancy was.

“Shut up,” Robin scoffed loudly. “Go find El.”

Max just walked away, holding back a smile and holding up her middle finger for Robin, who rolled her eyes at her. This was the closest thing she ever had to a younger sister, and she didn’t appreciate that in this case, the younger sister seemed to be the one bullying her, but she’d take it. She understood what that brief and slightly hostile interaction meant. Max had spotted her in the hallway and willingly made her way to her. She was checking in with Robin. And Robin knew her well enough to gather by Max's completely normal behavior that she was letting her know she was okay. Robin exhaled a relieved sigh and turned around.

Of course she was startled once again.

“ Jesus Christ! Nancy!” Robin exclaimed, putting the palm of her hand over her heart, which continued to race even after the surprise was over. It was just the way her body reacted to seeing Nancy in close proximity.

“Hi Robin,” Nancy said. It was very simple, perfectly polite, and so absurdly fake that Robin nearly burst out laughing right there in the middle of the busy hallway.

“Uh, how’s your, um, first day going?” Robin asked, trying to keep a decent smile instead of the knowing smirk pulling at her lips. At least she refrained from adding the word princess at the end of her question. It was quite a success, Robin thought, considering just how adorable Nancy looked, so put together and cute with her textbooks held tightly against her chest. She almost looked exactly like the priss Robin used to think she was. Knowing exactly what kind of brave, loving, strong, and absolutely wonderful girl was hiding underneath just made the image all the more fascinating. Plus, it was a little distracting.

“Very good. And you?” Nancy said.

But Robin was still halfway through fully appreciating Nancy’s outfit and makeup and her hands holding her books and-

“Robin?” Nancy insisted, sounding so amused.

“Yeah?” Robin said, finally focusing back on the conversation at hand.

“I’ll see you later, okay?” Nancy told her. She was still smiling knowingly. It was beautiful and also incredibly frustrating for Robin, who couldn’t kiss that smirk right off her lips at the moment. She’d have to make up for it later.

“Okay,” Robin answered. “Yeah, okay. Sure. Of course.”

“Bye, Robin,” Nancy said, and started to walk away.

“Yeah, bye,” Robin sighed heavily, realizing just how much of a mess she made of herself for Nancy on this occasion. She didn’t mind very much though.

Robin walked away too, repeatedly looking over her shoulder for Nancy, constantly running into several other people that did not take it with a smile like Max. Being in love with Nancy Wheeler might get her in trouble if she didn’t focus on walking like a normal person at the very least. Though, to be fair, she’d take the risk any day.

 

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“This is not exactly what we agreed we’d do when we returned to school,” Nancy said.

“Are you complaining?” Robin whispered, with her lips ghosting the sensitive skin of Nancy’s neck. While she waited for an answer, she resumed her work of kissing Nancy’s neck with all the accumulated want of every hour they had spent away from each other. 

“Not unless you stop doing that,” Nancy answered with a breathless little laugh. She tightened her grip on Robin, one hand on the back of her jacket, one hand tangled in her hair, keeping her place and encouraging her to keep going.

Nancy held back a moan when she felt Robin leave a careful, teasing bite near her shoulder, and at that exact moment, she heard the door of the bathroom open up loudly. They were hiding in one of the stalls, breaking God knows how many rules and messing up their plans of pretending to be friends at school, and they were suddenly seized by the very real fear of getting caught.

Nancy pushed Robin just enough to get her to stop kissing her neck. Robin looked a little too amused for Nancy’s comfort. Nancy sent Robin her most threatening look and put one finger to Robin’s lips, silently swearing to kill Robin if she said another word or tried anything else. They could hear two girls talking among themselves in the bathroom, probably just fixing their makeup in the mirror, they didn’t even use one of the other stalls. But then something awful happened.

Nancy watched almost in slow motion as Robin’s face scrunched up adorably. She blinked a few times, moved a little bit further away from Nancy, frowned… and then… she sneezed . It was sudden and unstoppable and all at once Robin and Nancy froze, staring at each other with matching expressions of complete and absolute dread.

“Bless you!” one of the other girls in the bathroom said.

“Uh, thank you!” Robin called out with a trembling voice.

A second later, the door closed, and Robin and Nancy were all alone again.

“Oh thank fucking God,” Robin exhaled, almost doubling over to regain her breathing after holding it for a while waiting to see if they were in danger.

Nancy waited for another second… and then she started laughing. She couldn’t help it, the entire situation was just so unbelievably funny to her. Her entire body was shaking as she laughed. She tried to cover her face and stop laughing, but then she heard Robin join in, and their relieved giggles just multiplied. They reached out for each other, stumbling against one another blindly as their laughter filled the small space around them. Then they pulled each other in for a kiss, and another and another, just getting interrupted by their own laughter. It couldn’t have been better.

 

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Robin knew as well as anybody how goddamn challenging high school could be. Scratch that. It wasn’t just high school. She had struggled to fit in pretty much since kindergarten and every year since. When she took longer than most kids to grasp every new bit of knowledge, they made fun of her. When she ended up being better than the majority at every subject, they made fun of her. When she failed at sports, when she got too tall, when she showed no interest in boys, everything was a new weapon for her stupidly mean classmates. By the time she reached senior year in Hawkins High, Robin thought she had mastered the art of mostly going unnoticed without compromising too much of her personality and dignity. Trying something new could ruin that peace she’d fought so hard to achieve. 

And yet.

Robin sat down at an empty table in the cafeteria, waiting for the worst. She should’ve stuck to the table of the band geeks, she should’ve skipped lunch altogether and hid somewhere, she should’ve asked Steve to pick her up from the school, she… She got her panicking thoughts interrupted by Vickie and Chrissy sitting down across from her. 

Robin tried to mask her surprise. Vickie used to fit in with the band kids much better than she ever did. Chrissy broke up with the basketball team captain over the summer, fortunately, but she remained the cheerleaders’ captain. Both of them had perfectly acceptable groups of friends where they would fit in without trouble, and still they were sitting there with Robin. They were choosing her, they were choosing the friendship they cultivated throughout the summer over everything else. It was starting to look like a group of friends unlike Robin ever had. But that, obviously, wasn’t everything. There was one very important piece missing. Robin got distracted at the very beginning of whatever conversation Vickie and Chrissy were having when she spotted Nancy entering the cafeteria. 

An entire summer working no more than a few feet away from Nancy and still Robin felt more affected than ever with this entire big room between them. Her heart skipped a beat when she saw Nancy. She couldn’t get her eyes to look anywhere other than every step Nancy took. Not that she even wanted to look away. Nancy was a delight to watch. Nancy moved confidently, with her shoulders pushed back and her head held high and it was the furthest thing away from arrogance. Robin knew now that Nancy’s confidence didn’t come from social status or anything like it. She genuinely didn’t fear anyone in that room, she had nothing to prove, and she didn’t care anymore about what others thought about her at that moment. She passed by Max and El, who were walking side by side toward a table, and she smiled encouragingly at the girls. Nancy didn’t notice the way both girls looked over their shoulders once they passed Nancy just to see her again. They admired her, and Robin didn’t blame them. Nancy’s next stop was by one of the messiest tables, where a few familiar faces were discussing some game she didn’t understand. Nancy greeted Dustin, Lucas, and Will, and she affectionately ruffled Mike’s hair as she passed by. The boys stared at her leaving and she continued walking with a sweet smile on her lips. 

Robin knew she was staring, but how could she not? Nancy was running out of tables where to sit. Surely she would turn around at any moment. She would probably sit with other smart kids, or kids from the school’s paper, or she would just leave or…

“Robin,” Nancy said softly as a greeting when she reached Robin’s table. She was smiling down at Robin, who suddenly had a little trouble breathing.

“Nancy,” Robin replied. She didn’t trust her voice to say anything else. Was this really happening? Was this her life now? Sitting with Nancy Wheeler during lunch? They hadn’t planned this but Nancy was still standing there next to Robin without running away.

“Are you going to let me sit here or not?” Nancy asked her.

Oh , Robin knew that tone. She spent all her summer going toe to toe with Nancy’s teasing. This was familiar territory.

“I’d rather not, actually,” Robin replied with a grimace, and she felt her heart swell in her chest when she saw Nancy roll her eyes like she always did. Laughing, Robin finally moved to her side to open up space for Nancy to sit down beside her. “You’re welcome, princess,” Robin whispered as best as she could, discreetly leaning closer to Nancy while the two of them shifted in the seats to get comfortable.

Robin watched entranced as Nancy blushed and then tried to focus her attention on saying hello to Vickie and Chrissy. Then they were all swept into a new conversation that came to them as easily as breathing. Just like that, it was settled. Robin knew that this exact dynamic would last them the entire last year of high school, and hopefully beyond that. She couldn’t have been happier with this turn of events. 

 

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Nancy walked out of school after her first day of senior year with a spring in her step. She couldn’t remember ever feeling like this in all of high school. There were good moments of course. There were moments of academic success, her friendship with Barb before she moved away, and even the beginning of her relationship with Steve. Nothing could compare to her feelings that day. She felt in her chest the firm belief that it was going to be a really good year and, most importantly, that it went so far and beyond high school. She felt good about life , in general, about her present and her future, the person she was and the person she would turn out to be. It was exhilarating, to say the least. Although she owed it to herself to take the credit for her own personal growth, and recognize the support of quite a few people in her life, from her mom to her brother, and including new friends, there was a very special person that was largely responsible for the recent improvements in her life. Nancy wanted to believe that, sooner or later, she would have disposed of her fears and insecurities and discovered her potential and the parts of herself that she encountered that summer by herself. But nothing could’ve compared to the adventure, the joy, and the excitement of going through that period of change with Robin Buckley. Of course there were ups and downs, but now that she was standing at the end of that chapter, she wouldn’t have traded any of it for the world. She only looked forward to what was next for both of them.

Nancy reached the parking lot of the school right in time to see Robin waving goodbye to Vickie. Nancy approached her slowly and when she was close enough but before Robin had noticed her, she said, “You’re looking a little lost, Buckley.”

“Nancy!” Robin exclaimed with a smile and turned around quickly to face her.

Robin closed the distance between them and halted her movement and shifted on her feet, adorably hesitating to show any great displays of affection like she was dying to do. Nancy knew this because she was struggling just as much to keep herself from throwing her arms around Robin. 

Robin scratched the back of her head and said, “I’m, uh… Well, Steve said he would pick me up and it’s kind of weird that he’s not on time and it’s not like I'm worried, I’m perfectly fine, and I can totally wait for him, but I’m just… Why are you smiling like that?”

“It’s okay,” Nancy shrugged, downplaying how endeared she was by Robin’s nervous rant, “I’m sure he had something extremely important to do.”

She was proud to see that Robin could see straight through her act.

“Did you do something?” Robin asked her, narrowing her eyes at Nancy and starting to smile a little.

“I didn’t do anything,” Nancy replied and held up her hands in false innocence.

“Nancy Wheeler,” Robin said her name slowly, shaking her head and smirking at Nancy, who swooned at the sight. 

Nancy chuckled, and finally asked her, “Robin, do you need a ride?” She was sure she wasn’t fooling Robin. She probably wouldn’t have fooled anyone curious enough to watch their interaction. It was obvious she had asked Steve to not show up to pick Robin up on their first day at school so she could do this.

“Please,” Robin answered, going along with Nancy and smiling the entire time.

If there were any eyes on them, if any old friends or foolish social circles or any person that cared way too much about social status in high school stared at them, neither of them cared. People could raise their eyebrows, frown, start new rumors, and do whatever they wanted, it wouldn’t change anything. Nancy fought the most difficult battle against herself that summer and came out victorious. She got the girl. She did try to fight that same girl too, but the important part was that they ended up together. After such an intense beginning, it would take so much more than high school social status to pull her and Robin apart. In fact, Nancy would go as far as saying that nothing could break them apart now.

They got inside Nancy’s car with a pleased sigh and stared at each other for a moment. “Are you ready?” Nancy asked.

“I’m ready if you are, Nance,” Robin answered with a lovely smile.

Nancy started the car and drove them away from school. She looked forward to spending the rest of her day with Robin. Well, she looked forward to spending the rest of her year with Robin. Hopefully even more. 

Of course it was Robin the one to break the silence. She was looking at Nancy and trying to hold back a mischievous smile.

“So, I don’t know about you, baby. But I still need to save money to get out of Hawkins as soon as I graduate,” Robin said.

Nancy hummed in acknowledgment. She knew from Robin’s tone that her girlfriend wasn’t expecting an answer. Robin was just teasing her, building up anticipation for whatever she really wanted to say. Nancy briefly looked at her, and saw every little bit of love she felt for Robin returned in equal measure to her in Robin’s eyes.

“Well,” Robin cleared her throat, “I heard they’re hiring at Family Video.”

“Really?” Nancy chuckled.

“Oh yeah,” Robin continued talking with a playful tone. “They might pay even better than Scoops Ahoy.”

“Interesting,” Nancy nodded and stopped trying to hold back her smile for Robin. “Tell me more.”

Notes:

THE END!

or is it...

here's the thing. this is probably my favorite fic I've ever written, the support and love and enthusiasm of everyone that read and left kudos and commented on this fic meant Everything to me. it's officially my most popular fic ever. so I can't just let it go 🤧 I wrote this little epilogue as a goodbye gift... and as a sign that there's always a chance that there's more to come! maybe surprise extra chapters? maybe one shots set in the universe of this fic of missing scenes between chapters? do they work at Family Video? do they go to Europe? for the people that thought robin and nancy should've had hate sex. for the people that thought robin shouldn't have forgiven nancy so easily. also for me because I don't want to say goodbye to them!

so. yeah. technically... this is the end of this fic. it couldn't have gone on forever, I think, it made sense to end it here. it was about them falling in love over the summer working at scoops ahoy and we achieved the goal! (though if you want to read more of them falling in love in different scenarios pls read my other fics 👀)

ALSO you should totally check out This incredible incredible art that my dear bestie made for this fic. did I mention it's incredible??

okay I'll shut up now. just... once again THANK YOU SO MUCH <333 to everyone that read this story, once, twice, many times. to the people that left kudos. everyone that left a comment, if they were just a tiny heart at the end or a full essay on every chapter, I love All of you So much. and @avocadosocks for beta reading and posting the original idea that for this fic that completely took over my life!! seriously thank you so much everyone I love you. hopefully we'll see each other in other fics!

❤❤

Notes:

thank you so much for reading!! <33

you can also find me on tumblr @elizabeth-mitchells