Chapter Text
For the second day in a row, Robin didn’t get to wake up with the privilege of her mind awakening itself to the world once it felt ready to do so.
Today, it was a loud knock on her door that came with her father’s voice shouting her name.
“Robin!”
“Ungh–” she mumbled, wiping some drool from her cheek. She opened her eyes painfully to see a wet spot on a gray T-shirt and this time, her brain already knew that it was Steve. She tried to pull away, but her hand was clasped in his, his sleeping form not letting go of her.
“Robin!” Her father shouted once again and to her horror, she looked right as the doorknob started turning.
Her dad didn’t have the time to peek inside the room before she shouted, practically throwing herself on top of Steve to hide his body.
“I’m naked!”
The door shut with force at the same time as Steve woke up, completely startled. Robin’s side was completely over him and she slapped her hand on his mouth before he could make a sound.
“Okay! I didn’t see anything!” her dad awkwardly said and Steve’s eyebrow above his good eye quirked up. “Time to get up. Your mother and I thought you could go look for another job.”
She sighed, letting more weight fall on Steve. She wasn’t in a position to tell him why she didn’t think she would be able to handle another job right now so she simply nodded against a hard shoulder.
“Okay.”
Footsteps retreated to the end of the hallway and she moved away from Steve head first into her pillow. He moved her hand away from his mouth but entwined two fingers with his.
“You didn’t tell them?”
“What was I supposed to say? Father, Mother, you know the explosion in the mall? Well I was actually there and we were all fighting this interdimensional monster with fireworks and oh! Don’t forget the Russian base we found underneath where my stupid coworker and I got kidnapped and drugged!”
“Sounds like you got the speech ready,” he said with a small laugh.
She turned her head sideways so she could see him. His bruise was a brownish yellow which was gross looking but at least, he could almost open his eye completely now. She should keep reminding him to ice it.
“I’m not sure how we’ll get you out of here,” Robin said, getting up and checking the window as if to make sure her father hadn’t for some reason settled on the front grass, waiting to catch the boy she sneaked into her room.
Steve stretched on the bed, his feet poking out from the duvet. “I’m used to it, don’t worry.”
“Gross,” Robin frowned, not wanting to imagine the number of times Steve did something like this back when he was a douchebag.
“I could just come by the side and then just come to the front door as if I’m picking you up,” he suggested, jumping on one foot to put his jeans on. Robin didn’t miss the way he just assumed they would spend another day together.
She didn’t mind it.
Still, she hesitated over the plan and Steve gave her a confident smile. “Don’t worry, parents love me. I’m super charming.”
“Fine,” she ended up saying because well, there weren't a lot of options. Besides, the idea of separating with Steve right now felt almost dangerous. The past two times they tried to, one of them ended up in a state of panic. She didn’t know much about trauma but she figured it was better to spend her time with someone that knew what she went through then alone in her room.
“It’ll be a hot one today,” Steve said, already halfway across the window. “Maybe we could have a pool party.”
Before she could respond, he was on the roof crouching away from her to go ring the front doorbell. She had only just figured out she needed a shower before the sound rang through her house and she freaked out, suddenly understanding that her parents were about to meet Steve Harrington.
She grabbed an old pair of shorts from the floor and sprinted down the hallway, tripping down the stairs by how fast she was going and had to force herself to stop before colliding with her mother who was just now opening the door.
“Oh hi,” she said to the stranger at her doorstep and got startled when Robin appeared in front of her.
“I got it,” she said, breathless and her mother held up a hand in front of her face.
“Wait a minute, young lady. I want to know who this is.”
“I’m Steve Harrington, ma’am,” he said politely, giving her a smile that he probably thought would swoon anyone. “We worked together at Scoops.”
“Oh yes, that’s right. What can we do for you?”
“I’m here to pick up your daughter.”
The shock was evident on her mother’s face. Not only did someone coming to pick up Robin happen very rarely, it was also never a boy.
“I see. Are you–” she gestured between the two of them and Robin’s face scrunched up.
“No!” she said at the same time as Steve, though he did it a lot calmer.
“We’re just friends, Mrs Buckley. I’d love it if she could come to my pool party today. Supposed to be a hot one,” he added with a wink. Robin could’ve puked.
The gathering at the door grabbed the attention of her dad and she almost cried when she saw him make his way to the entrance.
“Did I hear Harrington? as in Daniel?” he said using his stern voice but Steve didn’t falter.
“Yes, sir,” he said, extending a hand that her dad shook back.
“I’ve heard a few things about you, young man. Not many good.”
“Dad!”
“It’s okay, Rob,” he said, waving her off. “I understand that, sir but I can promise you I’m not the same person I used to be.”
“Pool party?” her mother chimed in, repeating what he had told her.
“Only a small one. Robin, me, a couple of our friends.”
“Alcohol?”
“No, sir.”
“Okay,” Robin cut off the conversation, slightly pushing her mother from in front of the door. She grabbed Steve’s wrist and pulled him towards her, already making her way to the stairs.
“Keep the door open!” her mother called out after them and Robin rolled her eyes. She heard her dad mutter something about the bruise on his face as they got further away.
Steve was sporting an amused smile when they reached the room they had both woken up in less than 10 minutes ago.
“They seem nice,” he said neutrally and she shoved a pillow at his chest that he caught easily.
“God, you’re such a suck-up.”
“That’s how you get away with things, Buckley. You could learn a thing or two from me, you know. A smile never killed anyone.”
She glared at him. “You’d be surprised.”
He ignored her, opening a bunch of her drawers carelessly. “Where’s your swim suit?”
“You were serious about that?”
“Of course!”
She looked at him as he found what he was looking for, swimming shorts and a top that was the same color. He was practically humming to himself as he folded them on the bed and she tried to understand what could possibly bring him in that good of a mood.
She remembered the way he looked last night, heavy breathing and tears not daring to fall down his cheeks. The way he clutched her chest, desperate for a sign of life as his fingers trembled over her pulse point.
“Now my parents will think we’re dating,” she said from behind the closet door where she was changing into a clean set of clothes.
“You really don’t tell them anything, do you?”
She poked her head out. “Do you?”
They made eye contact and he accepted the defeat after a slight pause.
“Fair enough.”
They passed through the entryway quickly, shouting a quick bye and she only heard the beginning of a sentence recalling the no alcohol rule before she was finally out into the humid air of July.
“I gotta take a shower,” Robin said as they stepped inside the Harrington household, the AC greeting her with pleasure. She could’ve taken one at her place and made Steve wait but she didn’t want to take the chance for her dad to get the opportunity to ask him about the bruises on his face.
“You know where to go,” he said and he made a beeline for the phone in the kitchen to call the people from the list they had made in the car.
Even though she had been there maybe a bit more than 24 hours in total, Robin found herself moving with ease in the house. There was something freeing about knowing that she and Steve were the only people there, that no one else could bother them.
She was halfway through the shower when there was a knock on the door.
“Come in,” she called out, getting soap in her mouth.
Steve walked in already talking as she was trying to spit out the face wash. “Okay so, Dustin is a yes obviously. Lucas is a yes but he’s gonna try to see if Max is up for it. I invited Erica but Lucas refused. Mike is coming with Nancy and Jonathan will bring Mike and El.”
She was suddenly nervous about it. Sure, they had all defeated the spider-monster together but she didn’t know them that well. She only knew the kids from when they would come bother Steve at work and Nancy and Jonathan had lived in different crowds from her in school. The only relationship tying her to these people was Steve and maybe Dustin, and she just hoped it would be enough for her to not feel too out of place.
She was used to it but for some reason, she couldn’t fathom the thought of feeling it here out of all places in the world.
“You sure you’re okay with Jonathan and Nancy being there?” she called out after managing to get all the soap taste out of her mouth.
“Yeah,” Steve said but she knew that if she looked at him right now, he’d have an unsure look on his face. “Nancy and I didn’t work out, I can accept that. And… I can also accept that Jonathan and Nancy are having relationship problems.”
That made her peek her head out.
“What?”
She didn’t even know these people and yet, she found herself very intrigued by the situation. Steve had told her enough that first afternoon they spent in the house for her to be interested in the gossip. It was all so dramatic and well, heterosexual.
He shrugged but he couldn’t hide the smile from the corner of his lips.
“Yeah, apparently it was super awkward when they were in that hospital for that weird lady and the fertilizer.”
“What?”
“I’m not sure about the whole thing. But anyway, also, Will told Mike that told Lucas that told Dustin that Nancy left his house pretty upset last night.”
“Huh,” Robin said, going back under the hot water to wash off the rest of the soap.
“Yeah. I guess everyone’s having trouble coping after the other day.”
“No shit. Turn,” she said and he was scratching the back of his head when she stepped out of the shower. “So you might have another chance with Nancy?” The thought almost saddened her, the idea of losing the friendship they were building before it cemented.
“I don’t know,” he breathed out. “Probably not. I don’t think Nance and I work together like that. I spent a long time wondering what was missing from our relationship. I just don’t think she likes me like that.”
“That is shocking,” Robin answered sarcastically and he threw his hands in the air.
“I know, right!?”
They spend an insane amount of time getting ready for a party that consisted mostly of children. They went through two grocery stores and three gas stations to find the right kind of chips for everyone, Max’s favorite ones apparently being borderline extinct in Hawkins.
Steve bought alcohol with a fake ID, only for the four oldest, he assured and bought a shit ton of sodas for the kids. Robin wondered why on earth he was taking this so seriously but she didn’t dare to ask him in fear of ruining his good mood.
By mid-afternoon, she was glad she hadn’t said anything because it was a success. One by one, the kids trickled in through his house straight to the backyard, excited for the opportunity to cool down on such a hot day. A stereo was playing music loud enough to attract complaints from the whole neighbourhood but no one seemed to care.
They all had a smile on their faces that frankly, everyone deserved after everything.
They were only missing Max who per Lucas, didn’t have the strength to come but thanked Steve for the invitation. Steve had made him promise that he would bring her the chips they had bought for her.
Robin enjoyed the spectacle from one of the lounge chairs that was shielded from the sun. El on top of Steve’s shoulders as they battled Will and Jonathan in the pool, Mike sitting by the edge with his legs in the water, talking to Lucas and Dustin that kept stealing from his bowl of chips and softening them when their wet hands dripped into it. She counted them in his head and by the time she figured out Nancy was missing, the girl appeared coming out of the kitchen doors with two beers in hands.
Robin registered the beeline Nancy was making towards her and she sat straighter in her chair, pulling Steve’s sunglasses on top of her head. She regretted it as her eyes trailed down the body in front of her, the black one piece and the tiny pair of jeans shorts making her mouth dry unexpectedly.
A bottle was handed to her.
“Thanks,” she croaked out, suddenly glad for a drink and diverted her attention to the pool. Nancy settled quietly on the chair next to her, bringing a hand behind a curly head of hair that she was trying to keep inside a ponytail.
They sat in silence for a while. It wasn’t uncomfortable, but simply too unfamiliar.
“So you work with Steve?”
She quickly swallowed her gulp and nodded. “Well, worked. The mall exploded but– you knew that. You were there,” she finished awkwardly.
Nancy had the hint of a smile on her lips.
“And are you two–” she continued, gesturing between the two of them. They looked as Steve pretended he needed to hold on to El to be able to float, making the latter laugh. Robin wanted to pull her hair out. Day Three into an official friendship with a man and if she was going to have to handle this all the time, she wasn’t sure it was worth it.
(It was.)
“No,” she said, her tone definitive. “Strictly platonic.”
“Does Steve know what that means?” she questioned in a light tone.
“I made sure he did.”
Nancy looked at her for a beat and tilted her beer so Robin could clink her bottle with hers. They drank as they maintained eye contact and Robin made sure to remember how to swallow so she didn’t choke on her sip.
A cozy silence passed between them. Long enough for Will to get out the pool, Jonathan trailing behind him and shooting Nancy a look that could compete with dogs in a shelter. The girl looked away awkwardly and while Robin could be known to misunderstand social cues, she totally knew what she was doing when she decided to question her.
“Are you two–” she repeated the words Nancy had told her, mirroring the gesture as well.
Nancy shuffled awkwardly. “I don’t know,” she answered and Robin thought it might have been the only genuine way the girl could reply to that question. Even when Nancy looked away, a protective gaze falling on Mike and El talking, Robin found herself having trouble looking away from her face.
She had never really looked at Nancy Wheeler before. Never noticed the sharp features, the pink colored lips that could hide a smile you had to deserve.
“Robbie!”
Steve appeared in front of her, wet drops falling from his face onto her legs and just as she was about to complain, he shook his entire head over her stomach. She screeched as the cold water hit her skin, moving to her side as if it would make things better and kicked her feet to try to push him away.
“Come join me!” he exclaimed, grabbing her feet in the air and making her slide down the chair slightly.
“No.”
“Yes.”
More sliding down.
“Steve.”
“Robin.”
He made her scoot down low enough for him to be able to grab her by the shoulders. With an almost scary amount of strength, he pulled her up and practically forced her to walk to the deep side of the pool. He put an arm around her waist and before she even had time to finish screaming his name, her head was completely submerged under water.
She had barely gotten to come up for air when Dustin shouted ‘Canonball!’ and she swallowed enough water to make it spill out of her nose. They played in the water for a bit but Robin noticed the way Steve was on high alert the whole time. The way he looked at Mike and El talking in the corner, the boy rubbing her arm as if he was comforting her. The way Dustin had to hold him back from joining Lucas when he spent 10 minutes on a walkie talkie on his own, trying to get a response from Max.
At one point, Steve got out of the pool to go sit with Nancy. They talked for a while, Robin didn’t know about what, but Nancy had a sad look on her face and it seemed deeper than just boy trouble. Even Jonathan hadn’t joined them, no matter how much he looked like he wanted to intrude.
Steve didn’t have anything to do with these people, no blood relation and certainly no more romantic relationships. He had come into that world wanting to apologize to a guy after he beat him up and then was dragged back in when a 13 year old Dustin forced him to lure a weird alien dog. And he complied every time, willingly going into danger for them.
It had become a second instinct to him, protecting them and making sure he’d be standing in front of them if something happened.
But who protected Steve?
Robin would.
She’d stand by his side, no matter the inter-dimensional trouble or the recurring nightmares. Because she was in it as well now. If Steve was in, then so was she.
She was the only one that knew the extent of his injuries, the one that knew that after they left, he would probably get a migraine bad enough to knock him down for 24 hours. She already recognized the squint in his eyes, the frown between his eyebrows as he talked to Nancy under the shade.
She knew he wouldn’t say anything until they all left, making sure they had spent a day where they could enjoy the freedom of being a normal teenager not plagued by traumatic events. She’d be the one to stay so he could have someone care for him.
Whether he liked it or not.
At little before 5, Nancy decided it was time for Mike and her to go back home. Jonathan agreed, making a comment about bringing back Will and El before worrying their mom. He offered a lift to Dustin who happily took it, Lucas inviting himself in Nancy’s car due not wanting to be the only one having to bike home.
They all shouted words of gratitude at Steve while tumbling across the doorway, pushing each other to ride shotgun. Steve put his arm across Robin’s shoulders and waved with the other hand, a smile on his face that turned into a grimace as soon as the cars turned the corner.
They walked back in silence, grabbed the discarded towels that were left everywhere in the kitchen. From the corner of her eyes, she noticed Steve taking a moment to lean on a chair, visibly taking a breath while she thought she was distracted.
“I don’t know about you, dingus, but I want to be horizontal right now.”
He turned to her, sunglasses hiding his eyes and nodded, accepting that lying down would be for her and not him. It wasn’t like it was that much of a lie anyway, spending that much time with energetic middle schoolers under the blazing heat was as exhausting as fighting monsters.
She pretended she didn’t hear the rattle of a pill bottle coming from the ensuite bathroom of his room as she changed into one of Steve’s PJ bottoms and her shirt. When he walked to his dresser to get changed, she busied herself by putting a cloth under water.
He gave her a look when he saw what was in her hand but didn’t say anything. When he settled in his bed, he let her put it on his forehead but not without a sigh. She brushed some of the hair off his forehead, doing it a few more times than necessary.
Fighting off the headache probably took too much of his energy after the day he had because he didn’t make sure she was settled in bed like he usually did before falling into a deep slumber. She stayed by his side nonetheless, finding an old book they had to read in English class on a shelf and she started reading it to pass the time.
Steve’s first nightmare came after about 20 minutes. He woke up without making a noise and she wouldn’t have known he did if he hadn’t reached for her hand above the cover. She turned towards him but his eyes were already closed again. She squeezed in hand to show her support and he squeezed it back.
A few minutes later, the grip loosened but she kept their hands together even if it had made turning the pages more difficult.
At 6 pm, he had one that was a bit more intense. His fingernails dug into her hand as he got pulled out of the dream. He released a shaky breath as his eyes flew open, immediately taking the damp cloth off his forehead like it was burning him.
“I’m here,” she announced right away and he nodded, blinking rapidly.
“W’time is it?” he mumbled, letting go of the sweaty mess their hands had become. He didn’t stray too far, turning on his stomach and folding his arm so his hand could rest on Robin's forearm.
“A bit after 6”, she answered and she closed the book. She chewed her bottom lip, feeling guilty for what she was about to stay. “My parents are not going to let me stay over.”
It was almost pathetic the way the words were actually painful to get out. While she knew her parents were going to have to meet Steve at one point, now it just meant more lying would have to be involved for when they wanted to be there for each other.
She had spent a long time trying to figure out what kind of lie she could tell her parents to justify sleeping here but there was no way they’d believe her.
“Makes sense,” a muffled voice came after a few seconds too long.
“How’s your head?”
“Peachy.”
It was a lie and they both knew it.
It was almost silly. How the thought of sleeping in separate beds tonight seemed terrifying to Robin. The idea of having to deal with the memories alone in the dark seemed inconceivable, setting herself up for failure.
A week ago, Steve Harrington was merely a coworker she grew to tolerate through the art of making fun of him. Now, he was the only one that made her feel safe in this world where girls with superpowers and blood thirsty monsters existed. All that because she was bored at work that one day.
“I’m sorry,” she said lamely because it was all she could think of. Sorry for leaving him, sorry for not taking care of him like she promised herself she would.
He shuffled on the bed and leaned his back on the headboard, mimicking her position. Their shoulders were touching.
“Why?”
She shrugged, tears prickling her eyes. “I don’t know. Everything?” And then suddenly, it was all spilling out of her lips. “That you took a beating for me and you have this concussion and your eye is still fucked up and I get to sit here without a scratch. That I’ve been forcing you to hang out with me when you probably want some space to digest what the hell even just happened to us. I’m sorry that you’ve been dealing with this for two years now and you’ve been coming back to an empty house every time and I’m complaining about going back to my parents when—“ A sob interrupted her ramble and she took a long shaky breath to get some oxygen back in her lungs. Her cheeks were wet from the tears that had been streaming down her face.
“Hey, hey, hey,” Steve whispered even though it was just the two of them. He grabbed her head and gently pushed it down on his shoulder. She wiped her nose before any of the snot would get on his shirt. “Robin, listen to me, you have nothing to apologize for.”
“But—“
“I’m serious,” he said and pressed his forehead in her hair. “The shit we went through was scary. It’s okay if you can’t just go back to your regular self after that.”
“You did.”
“Are you kidding?”
She shrugged. He didn’t look particularly fine now but he had fought multiple monsters by the time they started working at Scoops Ahoy together and yet, his biggest worry seemed to be about his immense lack of flirting skills.
“I think I’m just lucky fighting alien monsters made me stop being a dick,” he continued lightly and she smiled a little bit. “I got a big enough thump on my head and I changed, you know? I learned. I saw things differently.”
He stammered a bit, trying to figure out his words. His hand was still steady on the side of her head.
“What I’m trying to say is that— Well, even if being beaten up by Russians sucked, I’d do it again if it meant you get to sit here without a scratch.”
Another sob raked her body at the words, a warmth filling her like a protective blanket.
“Shit, did I say the wrong thing?”
All she could do was twist her body in a weird way, embracing him with force. He slid his arms around her waist in an instant, holding her tight against his chest.
They hugged for a long time, enough time for the tears to dry on her skin and her breath to regain a normal pace.
“I don’t want to leave,” she mumbled when they pulled away. The vulnerability made her voice quiver.
“You’ll be okay, Robbie,” he smiled like it was a promise.
She nodded even though she didn’t have much faith in it. They hadn’t spent more than a few hours apart since, god it was almost four days now if you counted the shift at Scoops and the time they spent tied together in the basement of the mall. More if you counted the two days decoding the code where they separated only to sleep at night.
The red marks from her wrists and ankles were gone now, the only visible injuries she had sustained from the whole thing. From an outsider’s point of view, it was like nothing happened to her.
She refused (multiple times) his offer to drive her home since she knew his headache was still present and also given the fact that he was still concussed.
She took an old bike that they found in his shed and she ignored the way it felt like her heart was being pulled out of her chest when she turned in the driveway and disappeared from his view.
“Oh hey,” her mother called out lazily from the couch when she walked in. “How was Steve?” The name had been drawled, either from teasing her or from the wine glass in her hand. Probably both.
“Good,” she answered shortly. She scanned the familiar sight, her dad reading the newspaper on his recliner instead of watching the TV, her mother in a bathrobe on the couch, the alcohol in her was the only thing keeping her company. She was almost jealous of the boredom their lives brought them, which was the first time she had been anything other than terrified of it.
“Lasagna in the fridge,” her mother said and her eyes drifted back to the TV.
She muttered her thanks before heading upstairs to her room. She laid in her bed sprawled out and wished that the truth serum had created a mental connection between Steve and her. That they could talk right now even if they weren’t in the same room. She didn’t have a phone in her bedroom and neither did Steve and besides, she wasn’t sure what she’d say even if she did. All she wanted was to feel his presence.
Inevitably, she forced herself to get ready for bed. She tried to distract herself with memories of today, the way it felt to be surrounded by all these people that knew in their own way what she felt inside. She had never had a big group of friends, a few here and there and she got along well with some people from Band to have a steady group of people to eat with during lunch.
But she had never been invited to something resembling a pool party, especially not somewhere in Loch Nora. And even though half the people there were middle schoolers, she had fun. She enjoyed playing with Dustin and El in the pool. She laughed when Mike complained about the heat and Lucas pushed him in the pool and she smiled just at the memory of talking to Nancy about a class they shared last year.
She liked feeling she finally found somewhere she belonged.
And those thoughts were enough to keep away the nightmares for a bit. They were like an invisible cloak for the first few hours, hiding her from evil Russians and the Mind Flayer, if she used the term Dustin had explained to her today.
But it didn’t last long enough.
Too soon, the Mind Flayer gained back his strength as they all ran out of fireworks. He got even bigger and stronger as El weakened, unable to keep fighting Billy. One by one, they fell. Lucas was taken first, then Jonathan and suddenly, the Mind Flayer extended one of its legs towards them. Steve didn’t even make a sound as the sharp leg pierced through his stomach, his jaw dropping. Robin shouted his name as blood started dribbling from his mouth. He reached an arm towards her but he was pulled forward in an instant, his body flinging to the other side of the mall like he was a flimsy ragdoll.
She screamed until she woke herself up, shooting herself upright and a hand around her throat. She was breathless but given from the silence that followed, she guessed her screams had not transpired to the land of the living.
Her shirt was sticking to her back from the sweat and she exhaled loudly. She brought her forehead to her knees, trying to comfort herself as a way to calm down. She repeated words to herself, swaying back and forth.
She managed to calm down after a while but sleep was out of the question. She climbed out the window with a pillow and just laid on the roof to see the sky turning from dark to pink to a light shade of blue.