Chapter Text
Max liked the Buckley house.
It was bigger than the trailer...obviously it was, this was a house after all, but still somehow felt...cozier. More comfortable.
They'd worked out a bit of a routine in the last few weeks. Robin would help her get ready in the morning, lift her from her bed to her wheelchair and push her through to the breakfast table. Mrs Buckley (Diane, she'd told Max to call her Diane) would place breakfast in front of her with a small smile and ruffle her hair. Mr Buckley (Owen) would give her a wave before heading to work, while Robin would help her to eat when her arms got too sore.
Nancy or Steve would show up to collect Robin for school, Robin would hug her and then head off.
The day would go on, Diane would give her all of her meds, would sit Max in front of the TV while she tidied away after breakfast and then help Max with some of the physio exercises she'd been given. They'd talk, Diane would wheel her outside for some air and they'd talk some more, they'd eat lunch and Max would take her next dose of meds and then Max would do her school work (Dustin, Mike and Lucas collected it for her) with Diane acting as her eyes and pen. They'd get as much done as Max could, she'd nap for a bit and Robin would usually wake her up when she got back.
The gang would come over for a bit, hand over work, hang out and then head home for dinner. Usually, Nancy stayed with them until late into the evening, if not overnight.
Rinse and repeat.
It was a little boring at times, and Max really didn't like doing this much resting but...it was nice. Feeling like she was part of a full family again.
A big part of that had been Robin and Nancy. True to their word, they'd done anything she'd asked. Nancy had grabbed her some books, Robin had come home with an armful of videos from work to entertain her, they sat with her whenever she needed them (and when she knew they needed her.)
Max was rapidly starting to wonder how she'd ever done without them.
Nancy had volunteered to drive her to physiotherapy appointment. Robin had already said she would go with Max, but Nancy insisted on going to. Max was hardly going to say no.
Max hated physio. It was the worst part of recovery by a country mile.
"Right then!" The physiotherapist said, far too cheerfully as she entered. "We're going to start with your arm first, and then we'll handle your legs."
Max just nodded and gripped Robin's hand with her free one.
It takes nearly an hour for the physiotherapist to finally let go of her hand and Max was trying her hardest not to cry. Her wrist felt numb, there was shooting pain going down into her hand and fingers, and her entire arm had this deep, dull, intense pain that made it almost impossible for her to move it on her own.
She was fairly sure she's broken Robin's hand with how hard she'd been holding it.
"All done." The physio smiled, apparently oblivious to Max's discomfort. "We'll give you a few minutes, and then we can start leg stretches and-"
"She's done."
Max almost sobbed when she heard Nancy say that. Robin wrapped an arm around her and pulled her close, gently holding her bad arm.
"Excuse me?"
"I said, she's done. She's obviously in pain, her arm's barely recovered in the first place and now you want to try with her legs? Not happening. She's going home to rest, you can do whatever you're planning to do at her next appointment." Nancy stated, firmly.
Max vaguely registered the physio responding to Nancy, but Robin gently guided her head to curl into her. "Let Nance handle it, she's not gonna let her push you any further."
They were back in the car five minutes later.
Steve had come to visit today. Robin had work and Nancy had some paperwork to do to cement her deferral at Emerson, so Steve had volunteered to take Max for a walk around the skatepark.
Which, of course, meant Steve pushing her up and down the ramps at the greatest speeds he felt were safe.
Max couldn't remember the last time she laughed this hard.
Once Steve was thoroughly out of energy, they made their way to a picnic bench to eat the lunch that Mrs Buckley had made them.
"How're they doing? Really, I mean." Max asked after a moment.
"Who?"
"Robin and Nancy. They're great and I don't know what I'd do without them but...I get worried..."
"Because they worry about you?" Steve asked, with a knowing look.
Max nodded. "If they were stressed about me, God knows they wouldn't say anything. Just...some days I can just tell that they need to be around me. Like they're scared I'll just...vanish."
Steve sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "They're...coping. Nancy's had a few panic attacks, not just about you but everyone. Robin's handling everything as she always does; sarcasm and hugs." He chuckled. "They'll be okay. You've got them, they've got me and Eddie. We'll take care of them when they need it."
Max nodded again. "Good." She said firmly.
They ate in silence for a little while after that, until Steve finally cleared his throat. "Hey uh...just between us...is something going on between them?"
"Oh thank God, I thought I was the only one seeing it!"
"Hey Robin?" Max asked that night, as Robin was helping her into bed. "Can I ask you something?"
"'Course you can, kid." Robin smiled.
"...do you have a crush on Nancy?"
"What??" Robin's head shot up to look at her. "U-uh...n-no, why would you think that? She's my friend, platonic with a capital P, completely platonic..."
Max gave her a look.
"...fuck, am I that obvious?"
"Probably not to anyone that doesn't spend 20 hours a day with you." Max smirked, "Pretty sure it's just me and Steve."
Robin groaned and faceplanted onto the bed beside Max. "I seem to have a bad habit of falling for straight girls that are in love with my best friend." She mumbled into the quilt.
"...okay, Robin I say this with love. You're a fucking idiot."
"Ouch."
"Nancy is absolutely not in love with Steve."
"Yes, she is."
"No, she isn't!" Max lightly shoved her shoulder. "She's in love with you dumbass!"
"No, Max. She isn't."
"She is! I've never seen anyone look more in love than she does around you!"
Robin sighed and sat up. "Max...she's just a friend. And even if she did...we could never happen."
"Why the fuck not??"
"1) She's Steve's ex and I'm pretty sure there's a rule about not dating your best friend's ex-"
"Steve wouldn't care!"
"-and 2) this is Hawkins. Even if, by some miracle, she did like me, we could never actually be a couple. No holding hands in public, no kissing anywhere someone might see, no public dates and...no wedding when we're older. Nancy deserves better than dating someone in the shadows for the rest of her life."
Max hesitated for a moment, before shoving Robin again. "Don't you think she deserves to decide that?"
Robin went quiet. "Just...forget about it."
Max absolutely was not going to forget about it.
"Are you okay? She didn't push you too hard?" Nancy asked, helping Max into the car.
It had been another physiotherapy appointment, this one only attended by Nancy since Robin had to work, and Max was definitely making some progress.
"No, it wasn't too awful. I think you scared her last time." Max chuckled. Nancy rolled her eyes fondly and ruffled Max's hair before putting the wheelchair in the trunk. "Nancy, can I ask something?" Max asked, as Nancy got into the driver's seat.
"Shoot."
"Why haven't you asked Robin out yet?"
Nancy froze as she was fastening her seatbelt. "...what did you just say?" She asked quietly.
"I asked why you haven't asked Robin out yet when it's obvious you're in love with her."
"...did Steve put you up to this? Because I told him to drop it-"
"No, though we did talk about it." Max assures, And I asked Robin-"
"You what?!"
"-if she liked you, and she gave me some bullshit about you deserving better than her."
Nancy finally looked at her. "...Robin likes me?"
"Less 'like' more 'obviously head-over-heels in love with you.'" Max said, rolling her eyes a little. "I'm like 40% blind at this point and even I can see it."
"Don't joke about that." Nancy sighed, poking her lightly. "...did she actually say that?"
"Yep. I shoved her for it, but she was adamant you don't love her back and even if you did, that you deserve better than hiding a relationship. That, and she thinks Steve would be pissed."
"Steve hasn't shut up about me and her getting together for a week! A-and I don't care about not being able to be with her in public!"
"Well then maybe tell her that." Max chuckled.
"But she doesn't-"
"If you say she doesn't love you back, I will slap you. She literally told me she'd fallen for you."
Nancy was quiet the entire drive back to the Buckleys'.
"Hey Nance, what're you doing here? Is Max okay??" Robin asked, when she found Nancy in her living room after work.
"Yeah, she's fine. Eddie, Lucas and Dustin took her for ice cream. I wanted to talk to you."
"Oh...okay. What about?" Robin tilted her head slightly, as she sat down beside Nancy on the couch.
"...Max told me something in the car." Nancy admitted, not quite looking at Robin. "She uh...she said you liked me?"
Robin's eyes widened. "Goddamnit, I told her to forget that! Look, I promise it doesn't have to affect us being friends or how you look after Max or-!"
Nancy cut her off by kissing her gently. "You're an idiot, Robin Buckley." She whispers fondly, before kissing her again.
Steve handed Max 20 bucks next time he saw her. He really didn't think she'd get them together that fast.
Tonight was one of those nights that Max felt like she was needed more than she needed others.
Specifically, Robin and Nancy needed her.
It wasn't a sudden thing, no this had been building for at least a week now. Nancy had been reluctant to go home every night, Robin had deliberately turned down shifts at work, both of them had hovered over her a little more than usual.
Little things like that.
Which was why tonight, she asked them to stay with her until she fell asleep. Of course, they both immediately agreed, laying down on either side of her with Honey tucked under her arm, much like her first night out of hospital.
"So...are either of you gonna tell me what wrong?" Max asked after a few moments. "Because you're both on edge."
Both the older teen shrunk a little at being called out.
"We're fine." Nancy assured.
"Hmm, no you're not." Max said lightly, poking Nancy's forehead. "Something's got you both worried."
They both went silent.
"...you guys do know this wasn't your fault, right?"
"Yes. We know." Robin sighed, gently running a hand through Max's hair. "It's just..."
"Sometimes it feels like we're not...doing enough, I guess." Nancy summerised, causing Robin to nod in agreement. "Like, we're holding you back from getting better somehow because we just...can't help."
Max looked at them, then shoved both of them lightly. "You're fucking morons. I'm only as okay as I am because of how much you two help me!"
"It just feels like we could be doing more to help." Robin repeated.
"The only way either of you could be doing literally anything more is if you fucking dropped out! And you were considering doing that before Mrs Diane let me stay here!" Max reminded them. "And you're doing way more than my mom could." She adds, slightly sadly.
Nancy sighed and pulled Max into a hug. "We're not trying to replace her."
"I know. But even if you were....I'd be kinda proud. Like...it's been nice, having family I can be proud of again." Max said quietly.
"...you know we're proud as hell of you, right?" Robin asked. "Because we are."
"You've proven everybody wrong so far." Nancy agreed, "Coming out of that coma, your sight, your movement. You've been doing amazing, Max."
"And it's because I've got you two." Max assured. "So...don't think that you guys aren't helping, because you are. I'd still be in that fucking hospital bed without you guys."
It didn't take long after that for the three of them to fall asleep.
A safe, content little family.