Chapter Text
When Nancy and Robin first got together, they knew they were going to have to keep it a secret for a little while before telling the rest of the party.
They each had their one trusted person, Eddie for Nancy, and Steve for Robin, but aside from them, no one else in the party knew they were together.
At least, that’s what they thought.
They weren’t very secretive, though.
Max (and Eleven)
The first person to figure out they were together was Max.
Max immediately caught onto the fact that Robin was the only one Nancy allowed to touch her. In fact, Max noticed that they are touching each other all the time. It wasn’t even anything sexual or completely incriminating, she noticed how more often than not, Robin and Nancy were holding hands.
She knew about how Nancy got overwhelmed when around a lot of people, and how even though she doesn’t want to feel left out, she often cannot handle hanging out with the party for a long time. However, once Robin started joining the hangouts, Nancy would stay longer. The two of them would sit on the couch, holding hands. After around a month, Nancy started to rest on Robin’s shoulder, and Robin’s cheeks burned red.
That was when Max started to get suspicious. She grew up in California, so she might have suspicions before her Indiana friends, but she couldn’t help but feel like Nancy and Robin were acting like a couple.
So, she went to the one person she goes to with all of her theories, Eleven.
“Do you think Nancy and Robin are acting differently lately?” She asks one night as she and El are looking through her comic books.
Eleven looks up from the comic book at Max.
“Different how?” She asks.
“I don’t know. They’re holding hands a lot and Robin blushes like a fool whenever Nancy whispers to her or signs to her. They’re acting like…”
“Like a couple?” Eleven finishes.
Max starts to nod.
“Yeah, like a couple.”
“Well, aren’t they?” El asks.
Max looks at Eleven for a few moments.
“You think so, too?” She asks.
El shrugs.
“I thought everyone knew. It is pretty obvious, right?”
Max starts to laugh.
“I think so too. But the boys probably don’t know because Nancy and Robin are both girls.” She explains.
“Why?”
“Well, some people don’t think girls should be with girls or guys should be with guys.”
“Why?”
Max has to try not to laugh at this because it amazes her how El’s lack of social knowledge allows her to be one of the most accepting people ever.
“I don’t really know. Adults are weird.” Max replies, picking the comic book up again and laying back in her bed.
Eleven laughs in response.
“Yeah, so weird.” She replies, laying down and resting her head on Max’s shoulder.
A few days later, Max and El march up to Robin in Family Video, and straight up ask her if she and Nancy are dating.
Robin nearly falls off her damn chair.
“Wh-What are you talking about? What, uh, what made you think that?” She stammers out in response. Max groans and grabs Robin and pulls her into the backroom, El following close behind after pointing Steve to the front desk.
Robin looks up at the two young teens, unsure how to react.
“So?” Max asks, then smiles. “Tell us the story.” She encourages.
El silently sits down next to Robin and nods.
“Wait, you guys are, like, okay with it?” Robin asks, eyes widening.
Max sits down on the other side of Robin.
“Oh yeah, don’t worry, your secret is safe with us.”
El nods in response.
“You guys look happy.” She says.
Robin smiles, ruffling Eleven’s hair.
“We are, kid. And, uh, I don’t really know what the story is. We started getting closer and closer and it sort of just, grew, I guess. She kissed me at a hangout a few months ago and we’ve been going strong ever since.”
Max and El make eye contact with each other, then Max speaks up.
“We’re happy for you, Robin.”
Robin smiles, bashfully looking down.
“Thanks, guys, but don’t ask Nancy about it until I talk to her about it, okay?”
The two nod.
“Deal.”
Mike
Mike found out about Nancy and Robin completely by accident.
One day, before Nancy moved out, she was having a particularly bad day and all she wanted was Robin. Everyone else was out so Nancy invited Robin over and the two of them lay in Nancy’s bed for a few hours.
Once Nancy was starting to feel a little better, she lifted her head off of Robin’s chest and puckered her lips. Robin obviously did not deny her girl and kissed her. After a few minutes, Nancy’s door slammed open and Mike was standing there, jaw dropped. At the sound, Nancy and Robin immediately jumped away from each other, but Mike did see them.
It was like they broke Mike.
He was frozen, jaw dropped, just pointing at them.
After a few seconds, Robin was over it.
“Can you just come in here and close the door before your dad gets home and literally kills me?” She asks.
Nancy grabs her hand and squeezes, eyes to the floor.
Mike nods and closes the door, sitting down at Nancy’s desk.
‘Can you say something?’ Nancy signs.
Robin notices how fast her girl was signing and knew Mike doesn’t know ASL well enough to know was she said.
“She wants you to say something.” She translates.
“Sorry. Seeing your sister kiss someone is always gross. I just wasn’t expecting it to be you.”
Nancy’s brows furrow.
‘Are you going to tell?’ She signs.
“Are you going to tell anyone about us?” Robin translates.
Mike shakes his head.
“Hell no. I’m not an idiot. Just make sure you’re careful, okay? If Dad finds out…” He starts, not wanting to finish that sentence.
Nancy nods, relaxing into Robin and hiding her face in Robin’s shoulders, letting out a sigh. Robin wraps her arms around her girl, kissing her head.
Mike observes this, then nods slightly.
“Just, be good to her, okay?” He asks, standing up and heading to the door.
Robin nods.
“Of course.”
Mike nods again, then leaves the room.
Nancy and Robin move in together around two months later, after graduation and Nancy deferring her acceptance to Emerson.
Mike makes sure to call Nancy at least once a week.
Hopper
Hopper had absolutely no idea that Robin and Nancy were together. Literally. No idea.
He never really paid attention to any of the kids’ relationships if it didn’t have anything to do with his daughter and now Will and Jonathan. As far as he was aware, Jonathan is not dating Nancy anymore, so that meant Nancy’s love life was out of his interest.
He didn’t even meet Robin until he came back from Russia, so he didn’t really know the kid.
When Nancy started to spend more time at the Hopper-Byers' home, he started to pay a little more attention to the teen. If he was honest, he had no idea how to talk to her. She very much gravitated towards Joyce and would only talk to Hopper when Joyce was running late from work.
Before then, he hadn’t ever really talked to Nancy about anything unless it was about whatever Upside Down issue was happening. But the few times Joyce would run late, Hopper would sit with Nancy. She was a pretty quiet kid. They would usually just sit at the kitchen table and Nancy would do some homework and Hopper would read the paper.
They would sometimes talk, though. If Nancy finished her homework early, Hopper would read some of the current events out loud and they would talk about them. He liked spending this time with her.
One day, Nancy brought Robin over and asked Hopper if it was okay.
“Sure, kid. You guys can hang out in the living room until Joyce gets home if you want.” Hop replies.
Nancy nodded, took Robin’s hand and the two sat down on the couch in the living room. Hopper doesn’t think too much about it until Joyce comes home and walks into the kitchen. She puts down her bag, kisses Hop’s cheek, and sits down next to him.
“They’re adorable, aren’t they?” She asks.
“Who?”
“Nancy and Robin.”
Hop looks up from his paper at Joyce in confusion.
“Joyce, what are you talking about?” He asks.
Joyce gives him a look and then motions over to the girls.
They were sitting on the couch, watching television. Robin’s arm was around Nancy and Nancy was resting her head on Robin’s shoulder. Hopper vaguely remembers Nancy and Jonathan doing something similar, only this time it’s different because Nancy actually looks comfortable.
“Huh. You think?” He asks.
Joyce nods.
“For a while now, I’ve had suspicions.” She explains. “She hasn’t stopped talking about Robin since March, Hop.”
Hopper nods slowly, taking in the information.
“Well, who would’ve thought?” He simply says.
Joyce chuckles at this.
“You alright?”
Hopper closes the paper and puts it down on the table.
“Should I have a talk with Robin? Is that my next move here?” He asks.
Joyce smiles, stands up, and wraps her arms around him.
“I love that you want to do that, you know? She really feels like she’s our kid, huh?” She asks him.
Hopper thought about that for a few moments. And it was true. Sure, he didn’t really know how to talk to Nancy, but she reminded him a lot of El.
He hums in confirmation.
“It’s weird. She has parents. But it feels like she’s here longer than she’s at her own house.”
“She feels safe here. As long as she feels safe, she can stay here as long as she wants. I’d even give her a room if she wanted.” Joyce explains.
Hopper laughs.
“Imagine her and El sharing a room? El would love that.”
Joyce chuckles and the two were silent for a few moments.
“Seriously, though. I’ll talk to Robin.” Hopper says.
Joyce sits back down and rests her hand on top of his.
“Let’s let them stay in their own little bubble for a little while longer. They seem happy. Let’s give them more time before you scare the shit out of Robin.”