Work Text:
It’s not like Robin fell for Nancy Wheeler on purpose.
For one, before Spring Break she had barely exchanged two words with the girl. For another, she was her best friend’s ex, which was breaking bro code rule number one according to Steve.
For a third, Robin’s pretty sure that Steve was still in love with her. Or, like, he fell for her again? There was that crush he had on Robin last year, but she still believed that he was loopy from the Russian drugs. In any case, Robin noticed the way Steve’s gaze would follow the brunette through the aisles of Family Video, how he’d stumble over his words like he did around pretty people—how he didn’t used to stumble around Nancy—and a million of his other signs, all observed and catalogued between her own staring and stumbling.
But her rambles made Nancy smile, and Steve knocking over a cardboard cutout for the fifth time this week was something for her and Nancy to laugh over, and when Robin handed the VHS over and Nancy reached for it their fingers brushed—
Like she said, it wasn’t like she fell for her on purpose.
But Nancy made it so easy to love her, with her sharp wit and sharper tongue, with her inquisitive mind and curious eyes, with the caring that she exuded for everyone around her, with her fierce protection she granted for the special few in her life, with her workouts between running a newspaper and being top of the class on the slim chance that nothing was over, with the guns in her room for the safety of her born and chosen family…
She was easy to love, and difficult to hide things from. Robin knew this, because Nancy managed to figure out her gift for Steve in less than five minutes. Robin knew this, because Dustin confessed to her in ten seconds under her gaze that Steve couldn’t wheedle out of him in a week. Robin knew this, and still forced herself to hide her feelings.
Because as she watched, stared, rambled, recommended films, went for ice cream, headed over after work for movie nights and trauma dumping and sleeping soundly for the first time all week…
So did Steve.
This was by design, however! Robin had this wonderful, beautiful plan that she lovingly called Operation Get Steve And Nancy Back Together (So I Can Stop Being In Love With A Straight Girl), but the last parenthetical was technically never ever verbalized and only barely thought about, because if she got Steve and Nancy back together she could maybe definitely convince herself that she was never really crushing on another straight girl, that it was always just… a drive to see her friend happy.
But then she would be sitting across from Nancy in her basement, or have the three of them cramped together in Robin’s room, or sprawled across Steve’s couch, and she’d almost throw her whole plan out of the window just to hear her laugh one more time, or to see her smile finally free from sadness again, or to brush the last bits of popcorn off of her cheek and feel just how warm her cheek grew and—
And she always knocked herself out of it. Because Steve was probably thinking along the same lines, even though they never talked about it. Because trying anything that her brain and… other places wanted was just a recipe for ostracization.
Because Nancy Wheeler was straight.
So she went to school, and went to work, and passed countless Fridays like she always did. And when Steve made some terrible joke even Robin wouldn’t laugh at but from which Nancy’s entire face lit up like a Christmas tree, Robin tried not to get upset. She tried not to be hurt when Nancy grabbed Steve’s favorite candy on her run without a second thought, but had to double check with Robin on what her’s was. When Nancy curled up against Steve while they watched their weekly movie—All The Right Moves, which was Steve’s choice and the opposite of what Robin would choose for a group movie night—she tried not to get jealous, or even acknowledge that she was jealous, because thinking the word jealous meant that she thought that Nancy, like, belonged to her or something, which was so far from reality that Robin didn’t want to know what part of her brain lived there, where Nancy Wheeler was property and also into women in any capacity.
And okay, maybe this wasn’t getting through her thick, unable-to-pick-up-on-social-cues skull, but Robin had to forcibly remind herself that Nancy was straight, because otherwise—
Otherwise, she wouldn’t crave Nancy’s touch everytime they brushed hands, or when Nancy would hug her to say goodbye and the two would linger a bit too long, or when they’d work together on something or have what Nancy dubbed ‘girls nights’ and Nancy would curl up against Robin as if it was second nature. Robin wouldn’t stay up for hours at night, imagining what it would be like just to properly hold Nancy the way Steve got to, the way Jonathan got to. Imagining what it would be like to kiss her, or simply lay together for hours without the crushing weight of her feelings.
Otherwise, she’d have to confront the fact that Robin’s lingering eyes on Nancy wasn’t just her zoning out, but real feelings. Actual emotions. Actual love, even. She’d have to confront the fact that she noticed how Nancy absentmindedly played with her curls while they watched movies, kept her nails short to keep from biting them, had notebooks any and everywhere to keep notes on anything that may strike her, and drew circles on the counter of Family Video while she waited. She’d have to confront that all of this occupied a tiny part of her brain, labeled ‘Nancy,’ only opened in the dark of nights when no one could tell her what was right and proper. She’d have to—
“Robin?” Nancy interrupted her train of thought, gently tapping the counter. “Is there something on my face? Why are you staring at me?”
Robin flushed, shaking her head and turning back to her pile of videos. “Uh, no. Just… zoning out, I guess. Sorry,” she muttered, ducking underneath to return to her videos, and more importantly, hide her ever-reddening face from Nancy.
Otherwise, it’s all meant something.
And Robin was terrified of what it could mean.
***
“Hey, Rob,” Steve’s voice entered her consciousness, but she didn’t look up from her book. “I’m taking my break. Holler if something catches fire.”
“It’s a video store.” Robin turned a page, but she flicked her eyes up to her friend in acknowledgement. “But sure, leave me alone to die of boredom while you take care of your demon spawns of children that are fully aware they could just walk in the front door and hangout with you during your shift.”
Steve hummed in amusement, replied, “Try telling Dustin that,” and made his way to the break room. Robin rolled her eyes at him and returned to her book.
She ignored that, shortly after Steve disappeared, the door jingled open to the sound of four freshman voices which moved directly past her to the employee-only room and promptly became muted with the shutting of the door. Robin was extremely happy to let the not-kids-anymore pass her by without acknowledging them and was about to become fully reabsorbed into her book when someone cleared their throat on the other side of the counter.
Robin sighed before moving her bookmark, closing her book and giving her customer service spiel all without looking up. “Welcome to Family Video, where we bring be kind, rewind to life. What can I help you w–” Robin finally looked up, voice switching to confusion immediately. “Nance?”
The brunette in question waved, an amused smile spread across her face. “I was wondering how long you’d not see me, but I noticed what book you’re reading.”
Robin huffed out an amused laugh at that, glancing at her worn copy of an Italian translation of The Picture of Dorian Gray which now laid on the counter. “Just a reread… what can I help you with today? You’re normally not here now.” She tried to ask the question as if she didn’t have Nancy’s schedule memorized, and as if the brunette being here now wasn’t throwing her and her perfectly-planned day for a giant loop.
“Is Steve here? He didn’t answer the phone when I called, and I wanted to give him this,” Nancy explained, holding up a neatly folded pile of yellow fabric.
Robin recognized it immediately and whistled, shit-eating grin spreading across her face. “You two so busy last night that he forgot his sweater?”
“What?” Nancy frowned at first, but when Robin raised her eyebrows suggestively the brunette’s face morphed into shock. “Oh my God, no,” Nancy rushed to clarify over Robin’s laughter. “We were just–wait, how did you know it was a sweater?”
Because Robin had worn that same sweater after so many sleepovers that it was practically a part of her wardrobe instead, but she didn’t say that. She didn’t say that that sweater more often smelled of her own detergent than Steve’s. She didn’t say that the only reason it had been at Steve’s place was because he complained about “missing it” or whatever.
No, she didn’t say that.
Instead, Robin reached a hand out and felt the collar between her fingers, totally and completely ignoring how close said action brought her to Nancy. “This fabric’s too thick to be anything but a sweater.”
Nancy’s hum of acknowledgement absolutely didn’t give Robin goosebumps.
“Still didn’t answer my question.” Robin pulled back, steadfastly not meeting the bright blue eyes across from her. “How’d it end up with you?”
Nancy huffed. “It sounds stupid right now.”
“Oh, now you have to tell me.” Robin, attention now fully on her—as if it ever wasn’t—hopped up on the counter criss-cross and leaned her chin on her fist to listen.
“I was having nightmares again, and I knew he wouldn’t get it but I knew he wouldn’t push and his parents wouldn’t be home and he’s the only person that kind of understands, so I drove over in the middle of the night and just stayed with him. Nothing happened,” Nancy clarified.
As much as Robin wanted to reply with yeah, and I’m straight, she also knew enough about her friends to believe Nancy. Still, she furrowed her brow. “At Steve’s place? Did–” Didn’t Steve’s place bring up more bad memories than good? Didn’t she often get more nightmares there? “Isn’t it usually him heading over to yours?”
“Yeah,” Nancy sighed, fingers drumming against the counter. “But I just… I had to leave.”
Robin nodded. “And the sweater?”
Nancy huffed again, but this time in amusement. “I parked in the wrong spot, and it was dark–I fell right into a mud puddle that I couldn’t have avoided if I tried.”
“Oh my God, really?” Robin tried not to laugh, she really did, but giggles that were so not her bubble up as she asked the question, and Nancy glared at her and bit back a smile. But laughter is infectious, so soon enough both girls are laughing.
As soon as she could, Nancy defended herself. “It was like two in the morning! I had my slippers on!”
“Oh, you were slipping all right.”
“Robin!” Nancy smacked her thigh before collapsing into laughter again, but Robin didn’t join her this time outside of a small chuckle. She was too entranced by the sound of her laughter, by the way her nose scrunched up just the littlest bit, by the way her hand stayed on Robin’s knee and burned and tingled and a million other descriptors that Robin couldn’t be bothered to remember right now.
Eventually, though, the laughter died down and the two sat in companionable silence for a while. Nancy looked down at her feet before clearing her throat. “You never did answer my question,” she shot back. “Is Steve here?”
“In the back. Kids are back there too,” Robin answered tightly, climbing down from her spot on the counter.
“I’ll leave this here then, they’ll never let me—” Nancy began, as the door swung open and Steve walked out, sporting a look only describable as one akin to one a tired mother would wear.
“I swear, those little shits are gonna—Nance!” he cried, his face lighting up slightly at the sight of Nancy on the other side of the counter.
Nancy’s face echoed Steve’s in her own way, features softening as his brightened, and Robin watched it all with a tight smile and a tighter throat. “Hi,” she waved slightly. “I just… wanted to give you this. And thank you for it.”
“Yeah, obviously…” Steve grinned. “I couldn’t let you get sick or drive home covered in mud.”
Robin chewed on the inside of her cheek, watching as her best friend and her… well, she didn’t know what Nancy was, continued to chat aimlessly about anything and everything. Their words turned into mindless noise as Robin’s vision filled with bright green envy and her ears began to ring.
“I’m gonna leave you two lovebirds alone,” Robin quipped, but it was half-hearted and fairly mumbled.
Nancy glanced up from her intense bout of eye contact with Steve, centering all her attention on Robin instead. “Are you free Saturday night?” she asked and placed her hand on top of Robin’s, their fingers almost nearly interlocking.
Robin fought through her heart attack enough to stammer out a response. “Uh, yeah? Just… just gotta close at, uh, six?” She shot a glance at Steve, which both centered her and allowed him to confirm their closing time. A little calmer, she returned her gaze to Nancy’s and nodded. “Yeah, I’m free after six.”
“Perfect.” Nancy smiled and squeezed their still interlocked fingers. “I can come pick you up?”
“Or,” Steve interrupted, moving a bit closer to the two girls and slinging an arm over Robin’s shoulders. “I can just drive Rob and I over like usual and you can save the gas. I drive by her place anyway.”
Nancy forced a polite smile, eyes flicking between the two employees. “Actually, Steve, I was hoping it could be just me and Robin…y’know, girl time and all that?”
“I mean, sure, I get that, but why can’t we all—” Steve began his complaints, only to have the door’s chime jingle with the greeting of a customer.
“Welcome to Family Video, where we bring be kind, rewind to life. What can I help you with today?” Robin asked in her customer service tone, the voice growing flatter and more monotone as she went along until she looked up and saw the curly mane of one Eddie Munson. “Munson, what can I do for you?” she smiled.
“Returning this, and I’m actually on time for once,” Eddie said while handing over a VHS of The Rocky Horror Picture Show, before glancing between Robin and Steve. “Harrington, are you busy on Saturday night? I got a new copy of Dio’s Sacred Heart and I think it’s time for you to listen to the good shit,” he grinned.
“Uh, I’m not sure, we—” Steve began, before Robin smacked his chest to get him to stop talking. “Ow!”
“Yes! He’s completely free! He’d love to spend Saturday night with you and listen to that, isn’t that right, Steve?” Robin asked through gritted teeth. She may be terrible at picking up on social cues, but this one practically smacked her and Steve in the face.
Steve blinked a few times before nodding. “Uh, yeah, sure. Sounds fun,” he replied, cashing Eddie out and entering the film back into the system.
“I’ll call you,” Eddie grinned on his way out, keys jingling against his plethora of rings.
“I guess it will be just you two, then,” Steve shrugged, but when his back was turned, Nancy gave Robin the widest, brightest smile she had ever seen with just the faintest wink.
Goddamn Nancy Wheeler.
***
Nancy didn’t expect to find herself in this much of a predicament. When she started spending time with both Steve and Robin–and each of them separately–it seemed like the best of both worlds. She finally had a girl friend (a friend that was a girl, that is, not… the other interpretation) her own age that she could talk to about things like her hair falling out in clumps, ways to stop picking at her nails, and places to buy clothes that weren’t so expensive. Not only that, but she and Steve were finally patching up their relationship, and things felt like they were headed back to how they were. Well… sort of.
Because she was pretty sure that you weren’t supposed to get butterflies around your ex. And she was absolutely sure you weren’t supposed to get butterflies around your ex’s best friend, who also happens to be a girl.
And it didn’t really matter if said ex’s best friend was into girls–and there’s nothing wrong with that! Literally nothing! Robin was totally cool! It’s just–Nancy was not. She liked guys–Steve, Jonathan, other boys she had had school girl crushes on in the past–and she definitely, absolutely, one-hundred-percent did not like girls. Did not like Robin.
And yet, when she and Robin would sit in her bed together, mindlessly doing homework or reading books, or sharing war stories of Steve’s most stupid endeavors, Nancy had to restrain herself from inhaling sharply whenever the taller girl would lean her head on Nancy’s shoulder, or laugh so hard she’d fold and curl against Nancy, or absentmindedly play with her perfectly manicured fingers.
But she was straight. Completely and totally so, and her feelings towards Robin were just what it felt like to have a friend of her same age and gender, since it had been so long since Nancy had done that for the first time.
And then there was Steve. Sweet, caring, not-at-all-the-asshole-she-thought-he-was Steve. Steve who would lay down his life for the kids, who would dive head first into Lover’s Lake to investigate a gate into the Upside Down and defeat a demobat with nothing but his pure strength, who would show up at Nancy’s window completely unannounced because she was sick, or was having nightmares, or simply because his parents were out of town and he was lonely. Steve who–
Why was Nancy still thinking about him? They broke up almost two years ago, and yet every time she saw him, her heart still did a little somersault in her chest. Was it that he got more attractive with age? Definitely, but it was more likely that Steve was always… there. Not just for her, but for the kids as well, being the positive paternal figure many of them–Dustin and Max especially, but even Steve himself–never got.
The Steve Harrington that Nancy loved–or thought she loved, at least–was show-offish, obnoxious, addicted to status and popularity, but also goofy, loving, and protective. Everything about him confused Nancy, and yet the more time they spent alone, the more she grew to love being around him. The Steve Harrington before her was all of those good qualities and more, and was so so dedicated and brave and hot and–oh god. Nancy was definitely falling for Steve again.
She just couldn’t help it. Steve just understood her and knew what to do when she was stressed out, what her favorite snacks were, how she liked her coffee and her tea, and sometimes Nancy questioned if she’d had two boyfriends at the same time, rather than just Jonathan. Not that she even had Jonathan anymore. When they’d hang out, Steve would absentmindedly play with her hair or rub her back or arms, and everything felt so… right. So perfect.
But that was ridiculous.
Right?
“Nance?” Speaking of ridiculous, Steve re-entered Nancy’s room with his hair pushed back in one of her spare headbands and his usual polo exchanged for an old Hawkins hoodie with holes in nearly every place imaginable, but he still smiled as he walked over to her, snacks in hand. “You looked out of it right there. Everything okay?”
And God, the way his tone lowered and his eyes softened as he checked in with her made Nancy’s heart practically melt. She felt like she was back in sophomore and junior year again, sitting in her room or in Steve’s car talking about movies, classes, and anything else, only for him to pause at random moments to touch her hair or her cheek, squeeze her hand, or press a kiss to her knuckles. She felt so… stupid. Giddy, hopeless, and stupid.
Nancy nodded, completely knocked out of her trance. “Uh, yeah. I’m fine. You know you can take that off, right?” she asked, gesturing to the pastel colored fabric holding Steve’s hair back.
“Yeah, but it’s nice having my hair out of my face. Having hair this stylish gets exhausting sometimes,” he laughed, tearing into a pack of Reece’s Pieces.
“I could braid it back for you, if you want,” she offered, taking the pint of strawberry ice cream from Steve’s lap.
Steve’s eyes widened, and he shook his head like a dog trying to dry off. “No way. Robin asks to do it all the time and it always looks like shit. Not happening.”
“Well, Robin didn’t have long hair for fifteen years and now has a younger sister. Come here and let me braid it,” Nancy persuaded, putting her ice cream on her nightstand before sitting on her knees behind Steve, pulling the headband off, and beginning to french braid his hair. “Let me know if this is hurting you…” she muttered, focused on Steve’s hair.
“You’re fine,” Steve hummed, focusing on his candy. “Y’know, even if Rob is shit at braiding my hair, she’s good at plenty of other things.”
Nancy frowned slightly in concentration. “Like what?”
“Oh, just… being a massive pain in my ass,” he joked. “But really, she’s great if you ever need movie recommendations. She’ll sometimes pick a movie I won’t like just to spite me, but I have to admit there’s always something in them that I can compliment. Or music recommendations! You can always tell if she really enjoys a song or not from how she moves with it. And let’s not forget her skill of talking for so long that you end up agreeing with her, because by the end of it both of you will have forgotten the original point. And–”
Nancy let the words wash over her as she braided, listening to Steve talk so enthusiastically about his best friend. It was nice, honestly, hearing him talk so positively about his friends–especially ones close to his own age–considering his track record with friendships in the past. However, as he continued to talk, she found herself focusing less on Steve’s thoughts on Robin, and rather the girl in question herself. She couldn’t help but picture Robin in Steve’s car, dancing along to Billy Joel or Janis Joplin as he drove down the streets of Hawkins. How her stormy blue eyes lit up whenever someone mentioned some of her favorite topics, how her hands moved and her rings caught the light when she went on tangents about those topics. How–
“Oh, dear god,” Nancy muttered, to no one in particular.
“What? Did you mess up the braid?” Steve asked, his voice rising into a bit of a panic.
Nancy mentally cursed herself, returning her focus to the clump of hair in her hands. “No, it’s fine. It looks great,” she said, forcing a tight smile.
“Oh, good. Anyways–” And with that, Steve jumped right back into his ramble about his friend as Nancy thought more about Robin and how she played with her rings when she got stressed out, how she still had the thick chain necklaces Nancy saw her in when they met but never wore nowadays, how she loved being held and touched but only on certain occasions and only by certain people.
Despite Nancy’s best efforts, she just couldn’t get her mind off Robin. Everything she did reminded her of the taller girl—what she wore, what she ate, what she did during the day—every single thought and motion was consumed by thoughts of Robin, and it was exhausting.
When Robin asked to hang out after her shift on Thursday, Nancy was convinced she could finally put an end to things. Sit down, talk to her, and be over and done with. Get her feelings squared away. That was, of course, until Robin started talking at length about her day at work, including Steve’s interaction with a family and their kids.
“—And the littlest one was just screaming its little head off, couldn’t have been older than Holly-- or no, it was definitely younger than Holly, because the only words out of its mouth were wahhh and waugh and other little kid words, y’know? Anyways, the mom looked super stressed and the dad could not have been more checked out, and she also had to deal with two kids who I swore were twin children of some mischief god or whatever with sticky–and I mean sticky in the literal sense, because they left residue on whatever surface and item they grabbed, and they moved through the aisles like, I dunno, sharks? Not my strongest metaphor, but whatever,” Robin shrugged, waving her hands around the interior of Nancy’s front seat as she recounted the story.
“—And I’m finishing up after a return so I can’t help at all, otherwise I woulda tried to wrangle the probably-twins for her, but instead? Instead, Steve just turns and he has this look on his face that he only has around Dustin and his friends and he barks out a command to these two troublemakers and they freeze in their tracks, and even the little one stops crying! And then Steve just snaps his fingers and points at his feet and then the two kids stare at their feet as they move and then stand over by Steve, and then the little one makes another noise like its about to cry again so Steve turns to the mom and smiles and offers his arms out for the kid, and the relief on this mother’s face as she hands her kid over to a stranger is like, indescribable, Nance,” Robin continued, only pausing momentarily to take one of the many granola bars from Nancy’s bag per Nancy’s suggestion when Robin got in the car.
In between bites of granola bar, Robin continued on. “So, like, Steve suddenly has three kids all calm and obedient and finally he turns to the parents and asks them what they’re looking for, and as he brings them over to his recommendations the twins are in-fucking-step with him and he cracks a joke and they laugh and are listening to him with rapt attention! And when this family picks their movie and Steve’s checking them out he still has this little kid on his hip, and so he hands the movie over to the dad who finally notices what the family has been doing in the fuckin’ Family Video store for the last ten minutes, and in the same move hands the little one back to the mom, and this kid–Nance, this kid made grabby hands to go back to Steve, and so this mom asks for his number. For babysitting, Nance. Babysitting! How does a man who fumbles over every three words trying to insult my taste in women, the guy who still can’t touch his toes, the guy who worked at Scoops A-fuckin’-Hoy–a man who isn’t able to wrangle six freshmen, Nance–manage to finagle a side gig outta being good with kids from a Family Video? Like, this is Steve Harrington, Nance.”
Nancy nodded along as she drove and Robin told the story, humming quiet mhm’s to signal she was still listening. However, while she was listening, her mind was in completely opposite places—far from the Family Video, and far from even the road before her. It was because of Robin’s adorable habit to talk about every single thing that Steve did at work at length that Nancy realized not only was her original plan for today completely scrapped, but she, Nancy Wheeler, was once again in love with Steve Harrington. Maybe in love with him for the first time? She wasn’t too sure.
This Steve Harrington, the one Robin described and the one Nancy saw with her own two eyes nearly every day could take control of any situation he was in with such ease it could make most war generals jealous. However, he was so caring, so gentle, so funny and playful and so incredibly good with kids it made Nancy’s heart ache. Not that she wanted kids now, or really ever, but if sophomore year Nancy Wheeler were to be told her first real boyfriend was ‘a pretty damn good babysitter,’ in his own words, she’d probably laugh. Not in a negative way, just… shock. He had changed so much—they both had.
“Nancy? Are you listening?” Robin asked, fussing with the radio. “D’ya wanna get ice cream?”
Nancy nodded, her thoughts on Steve temporarily on pause. “Oh! Yeah, ice cream sounds great, sure,” she replied before turning down the street.
Days and weeks passed, and things kept happening like this, over and over again, hangout after hangout, and Nancy felt like she was being pulled in two different directions. That was impossible, though, because liking girls wasn’t even an option for her. She liked Steve. Maybe even loved him. She loved Jonathan, at some point in time. She loved Ro—oh shit.
Oh, fuck. Fuck, it absolutely was possible, and she, Nancy Wheeler, was into girls. All the late nights of staring and longing and thinking about Debbie Harry and Cyndi Lauper and Sloane from Ferris Bueller’s Day Off made complete sense. And Robin… god, Robin. Robin was perfect. She was everything Nancy dreamed about, in some weird way. Her freckles and stormy blue eyes and soft hair and dorky smile and the way she got excited over any media she got attached to and—oh god.
But… there was still Steve.
How could she like Steve and Robin? That seemed so wrong. Why couldn’t she just pick like a normal person? Be with one of them, be happy with Steve or Robin and never have to worry about the other and have to worry about hurting them?
“No way.”
“Okay, it wasn’t meant to slight you—”
“No fucking way that you let Nancy braid your hair!”
“I–she’s a journalist! She’s persuasive and—”
“I have been trying to do that for months, and you’re telling me she already did it?”
As Steve and Robin’s voices carried throughout Steve’s massive house, Nancy’s heart swelled with comfort and love. For months, she could barely drive past his area of town, much less go down his street or into his house. Now, here she sat with her two favorite people, and things felt better. Nancy knew she wouldn’t fully recover from Barb, or from Vecna, or whatever else, but Robin and Steve made it better.
They made everything better.
“It’s not my fault you’re a shit braider!” Steve cried, tossing a pillow at Robin as Nancy made her way back with a bowl of popcorn.
And Robin might have tried to look mad, but she was obviously holding back a grin–probably from imagining Steve with a Wheeler-grade braid–and she threw the pillow back without a second thought, much more accurate than the first toss. And, as Nancy sat back down and Steve complained about his coiff being ruined from a pillow toss, something clicked.
Steve and Robin would never stop fighting to prove the other was more fit to date her in their own ways. Being with one just meant tension and heartbreak with the other, and Nancy loved the moments they spent as a trio most of all. Driving around and taking turns switching between the three locations in the car, watching movies, hanging out at Family Video or Nancy’s room or the Wheeler basement, all of those moments were the ones Nancy loved. Sure, spending time with each of them individually was nice, but she couldn’t bear to be without one for the sake of being with the other.
Curled up between the two objects of her affection, Nancy Wheeler made a decision.
***
Steve was not an idiot, okay?
Yeah, sure, he barely graduated and couldn’t get to college on his grades. And yeah, he was working a shitty job with some side gigs to save up to move out of his parents’ empty house that he’s not sure ever really felt like home. And yeah, when he had to save the world he was basically someone to hit things and rarely actually contributed to figuring shit out.
But being dumb didn’t mean he was an idiot.
Because he had known that Nancy was struggling, back in his senior year, but he still cared for her and stayed by her because, for a while, that was what she wanted. What she needed, until that Halloween party. Because he recognized that the adults who sometimes slept in the master bedroom were gone more often than not because they didn’t know him and were afraid to meet their supposed son. Because those idiotic kids needed someone with a grounding presence when everything was going wrong to keep them calm, and a car to keep them safe and mobile.
And he knew what Robin was feeling.
They never talked about it. Robin, despite knowing she was safe to, was still rightfully scared of talking about her attraction towards any girl. Hell, it took the better part of a month to wrangle her short-lived crush on Vickie out of her, and only after that confession did the floodgates open on this one girl in particular. But Steve still noticed when she stopped talking about the clarinet player and when her eyes started lingering on girls and women browsing the selections of Family Video.
He especially noticed when she stared at one girl in particular.
But Steve knew that Robin would rather eat a shoelace than admit that she was crushing, because this particular crush was atypical to the Bro Code, and once Robin internalized a rule she never broke it. Sure, she was picky on what rules were internalized, but once she followed it it was iron-clad. Steve kinda regretted teaching her this rule, though, because Robin and Nancy, in his opinion, and ignoring the tightening of his throat, were perfect together.
Nancy was a planner. She had a routine, and Steve could tell that Robin had learned said routine and would brighten up when five-fifteen rolled around. Nancy kept food handy, which often saved Robin when she forgot to eat a meal or pack a snack. Nancy could tell when Robin wasn’t in the mood for being touched, and knew when she just needed a long tight hug, and was always happy to give her one. With a million other pieces that fit together like a jigsaw puzzle, it was only natural for Steve to want his friends to be happy together.
Steve’s plan to get Nancy and Robin together, however, had a couple… flaws.
For one, Robin. Steve wasn’t sure if she had even admitted to herself that she had feelings for Nance, and it wasn’t like Vickie or Tammy Thompson, where he could just wrangle the confession out of her. No, Steve figured that his friend was gonna be a hard nut to crack in this case, if he tried to broach the subject at all.
For two, Nancy. As far as Steve knew, she was not into chicks. But before getting kidnapped, Steve didn’t know that Robin was into chicks, so that’s pretty flimsy. But it was also Indiana, in a small town, and there was that whole gay-virus thing happening in the cities that probably made it super scary to be, like, queer–no, fuck, did Robin say that was an okay word for him to use? Shit–or into the same people.
And another but, Steve was pretty sure that Nancy was into him, which led him directly into his third point: himself. Steve had spent the majority of senior year and the year after getting over Nancy Wheeler. He was even able to say he wasn’t in love with her anymore with a truth drug in his system! So could someone tell him why he started sporting dopey grins around her again, and why after a year of going on dates he ended up like him in junior year, a lovestruck idiot around the same-but-different girl?
Because holy shit, had Nancy changed. Sharpshooter, rational, calm in stressful situations, taking the lead and taking no shit from everyone around her. Sure, Steve could see that he’d changed, but this was Nancy Wheeler who most of Hawkins High thought was the spoiled rotten Princess Priss of the school, and those who didn’t never paid attention to her before she changed.
So yeah, Steve’s plan to set Robin and Nancy up was practically doomed from the start. But he kept trying.
“Hey, Harrington!”
Because this was also happening.
“Munson!” Steve turned around to face the long-haired man, smile spread across his face. “Here to pick up my child?”
“I think you mean our child,” Eddie corrected over Dustin’s protests that he was in high school, thank you very much. “And yeah. Hellfire’s gonna be run by him next year, so I gotta give him the low-down on how to reserve a room and all that technical stuff. Wanna tag along?”
Steve ignored the heat in his face as Eddie winked. “Sorry man, I gotta close up shop here. Can’t leave Rob alone with the keys, or she’ll steal her favorite tapes.”
“Bold of you to assume I don’t already do that,” Robin called from behind the counter.
“Gotta love a responsible man,” Eddie conceded. “Maybe next time then, Harrington.”
“Yeah,” Steve agreed. “It’s still my turn to show you my music.”
“To show me what you call music,” the metalhead corrected, throwing Steve another wink. “But I’m holding you to that.”
Steve huffed out a laugh. “You better.”
And with that, Eddie Munson left, Dustin in tow.
Steve watched them go for a moment, let himself get stuck in his own little world, because he knew exactly what was awaiting him back in reality.
Lo and behold, when he turned around, Robin was giving him a look that he refused to say that he recognized.
“Shut up.”
“I didn’t say anything.”
“You say enough with your eyes.”
“And what were my eyes saying, Steve?”
Steve didn’t reply to that, because… because he wasn’t ready to.
He wasn’t sure how Robin picked up on that, but she let the topic drop.
She did that a lot, because despite how much the two of them talked, there were certain conversation topics that Steve avoided like the plague. One such topic was what they planned to do with their lives. Another was if he would ever go to college. And a blanket statement of topics Steve would not talk about included any ongoing crisis he was experiencing.
Because yes, despite his unwillingness to verbalize, Steve was fully aware that he was in the middle of a few crisis…es. Crises? Crisii? Whatever. The point was, Steve’s head was a mess. Nancy might have been flirting with him, or Robin, or something, and Robin was denying herself her feelings, and Steve…
Steve might be into dudes?
But that was, somehow, the least of his worries, because Nancy was expecting him and Robin later tonight, and Steve was determined to solve at least one of his problems tonight.
***
“We should talk.”
“I only drank it because Robin dared me!”
“Steve said that Dustin ate the dirt!”
Nancy blinked at the simultaneous responses, expecting neither reaction nor confession. “Um…not what I meant, but we’ll circle back to that,” she frowned, sitting down in front of the two. “I really like the both of you, but—“
“We like you too, Nance,” Steve replied quickly, but it was obvious that he didn’t understand what she said.
“No, Steve, I like you both. Like I’d want to date you both… maybe. But I don’t want to hurt either of you by choosing the other—”
“You should just be with him,” Robin said, pulling her knees to her chest.
At the same time, Steve furrowed his brow and spoke. “Then date Robin.”
The pair turned to each other in shock. “What?”
Steve turned back to Nancy suddenly, a spark of determination in his eye. “Robin’s big into routine like you, Nance.”
“He’s crazy, yeah, but you know him! And plus you can date like a normal couple, y’know, not hide and sneak around like we’d have to.” Robin countered.
“We already tried to be together,” Steve shook his head. “Why beat a dead horse?”
“Are you kidding? Steve, you have changed so much since high school, and Nance has changed, too!”
“Okay, but I’ve got extra jobs, and I don’t have the spare cash for dates right now cause I’m saving up for an apartment–”
“That we are both saving up for, dingus–”
“C’mon, you know I didn’t mean it like that.”
“And besides, the extra jobs just shows that you’re good at, like, time management! That’s good for dating, right?”
“Says miss internal clock.”
“Okay, that’s it–”
As the two friends fell into a petty squabble, trying to out-compliment each other, Nancy held her hands up in exasperation. “Both of you, stop it!” she cried. “Just let me finish!”
At the sound of Nancy’s voice, the two froze, their gaze locked on her. With their eyes so wide and full of adoration, Nancy knew right then her choice was the right one.
“I can’t pick between either of you. But I don’t want neither of you. Why not… have both of you?” she proposed.
“Both of us?” Steve asked, as a puzzled expression crossed Robin’s face.
Nancy nodded, sitting on the floor in front of them. “Think about it. Things are best when it’s like this—the three of us. So we could just have this, but no tension over dating.”
“Like those people in Utah?” Robin asked. “How… biblical of you, Wheeler.”
“Yes, but also no. How did you learn about them?” Nancy questioned.
Robin grinned. “How did you?”
“I don’t think that’s the important part here,” Steve interjected. “What do you mean by yes and no?”
“Polyamory, not polygamy. Polyamory is just…healthily dating multiple people, and polygamy is sex cults with multiple partners,” Nancy explained, drumming her fingers on her lap. “I uh, looked up word roots if you want to hear them?”
Robin said yes, Steve said no, and Nancy laughed at them both. “I’ll tell you later, Rob,” Nancy smiled, moving to sit in the middle of them. “Are you both in favor?”
Rather than answer, Steve gently held Nancy’s face in his hands, studying her big doe eyes before pressing a kiss to her lips. Like she was back in sophomore year, Nancy’s whole body filled with a giddy warmth that left her feeling completely drunk on his kiss.
“Uh… my turn, or?” Robin asked, watching her best friend and her beloved.
Nancy smiled and leaned against Robin. “If you wanna… we can go somewhere else if you don’t want him in here.”
“No, Nance, really, it’s fine, I just—haven’t kissed anyone before, so this may totally suck and I’m—” Robin anxiously rambled, before being cut off by Nancy’s kiss. Again, Nancy’s whole body felt tingly and warm and electric as she kissed Robin, her hands weaving through the taller girl’s cropped hair. “That works.”
Nancy smiled at her, happy to be lost in the moment, until Steve cleared his throat.
“So uh… not to, like, ask the obvious, but does this mean you’re into girls?”
“No, Steve,” Robin deadpanned. “She just confessed her feelings to me and then kissed me because she’s straight.”
Steve held his hands up in surrender, but something still seemed to be nagging at him. “Okay, okay.”
He was silent for a moment, clearly lost in thought, but Nancy let him be.
“... Liking both is allowed?” he asked.
“Oh my god, Steve, do you have a crush?” Robin gasped, moving to look at her friend’s now beet-red face. “Holy shit!”
“I think crush is a bit of an overstatement,” Steve refused to make eye contact, and Nancy reached out to grab his hand.
“Still, spill. Who is he? She?”
Steve took Nancy’s hand, pressing a kiss to her knuckles before wrapping his arm around her shoulders. “C’mon, I just got a girlfriend, can you leave it alone?”
“It is because of our shared girlfriend that we’re having this conversation,” Robin replied smugly as she reached for Nancy’s free hand. “Tell me!”
“No!”
As Nancy settled into the space between Robin and Steve’s bickering, the words washing over her in calming waves, she finally felt a weight lift off her shoulders. Here, with her hand tucked neatly into Robin’s ring-adorned one, and Steve’s arm around her shoulders, Nancy felt more at peace than she had in ages. This was where she was meant to be, this was her right decision. These were the people she loved, and she wouldn’t have it any other way.