Chapter Text
Steve and Robin were sat in the Byer's house on the small couch, shellshocked in the aftermath of the mall fiasco. The mall was like, gone. They were shutting it down probably, which was good for local business, but bad for them because they were both out of a job. Which was shit, it was real shit. Steve needed that job to prove to his Dad that he didn't need to work at his stupid company. He didn't want to have to wear a stupid suit and tie every god damn day, and go bald by the time he was 30. He would honestly kill himself, and he wasn't fucking around. His job at Scoops Ahoy, believe it or not, was his way of stickin' it to the man. Rebelling against his neglectful father and his drunk mother. Besides, he could barely fucking read, how was he supposed to read invoices or whatever all day?
Anyway. Back to the problem at hand. The mall fiasco.
Steve and Robin (who were, by the way, still very high, thanks to Russian strength military drugs, plus a concussion and some mild ptsd give or take) were staring into each others eyes. Robins were hazel which was cool, but what was also cool was the fact that her eyebrows were so much darker than her hair. That's crazy. How could that even happen? Did Robin dye her hair? How did Steve not know about this? Robin and Steve had been best friends for at least 12 hours, which meant that Steve had to know everything about Robin. Other wise that would make him a bad friend and Steve was not a bad friend. And idiot maybe? Sure. A jealous boyfriend? Ok. A shit hand at slinging ice cream? Sounds good. But a bad friend? Well sir, you can fuck right off.
"Do you die your hair?" Robin blinked really slowly and put her hand on her head. She then took it off and looked at her palm to check if there was anything on it. There wasn't. She looked back at Steve, "No."
Steve slumped back against the couch. He didn't know what to say to that. That was his opening, to start a new friendship he was sure would last him until the day he died, which with all the aforementioned drugs and concussions and all that, could be sooner expected. He wanted Robin to know that he accepted her, not only as a lesbian, but also as a rebel. He wanted to be the best friend of someone who dyed their hair. He wanted it so everytime he walked down the street, someone would say "Oh hey Steve, who's your best friend?" and he would say "Robin, she dyes her hair." And everyone would be like "Dam, that's sick as fuck, you're so cool and rebellious by association." Yeah, that was everything to Steve. He wanted to make that happen.
"Do you want to?" He asked, hand on Robin's shoulder. She blinked at him again and he laughed a little. She laughed too, the kind you get when someone's laughing too at a joke they're trying to tell youl, and they haven't gotten to the punchline, so you're kind of laughing because they're laughing. "Do I want to what?" Robin asked. Steve looked at her and all her obviousness.
"Do you want to dye your hair?" God, did her have to do everything around here? Steve thought of Erica and her cool pig tails. She always wore cool hair tyes with them and she was so mean. She was way cooler than him, Steve thought. And Dustin! Dustin with his awesome curly hair. That was so cool. He was so smart, and a great singer. Wow, Steve had really awesome friends. Including Robin, who had apparently never dyed her hair.
Robin nodded for a long time, looking at Steve all the while. "No" she answered. Oh cool. Awesome. Just great. "Robin, please. We need to do this. Together. I need to rebel and you need to have hair that is a different colour. Do you understand?" Steve tried to convince her.
"Steve, I don't think you realise this but, I barely even brush my hair and I can get away with that, because it's my natural colour. What makes you think a different one is gonna make this mess look any better?" She reached out for his shoulders. "But I promise you Steve, we can find other ways to rebell." She winked.
"What? What do you mean by this?" He winked exaggeratedly. "What does that mean Robin?" He didn't get an answer, she just winked again. "Robin please." He was begging her now. He was so high and so confused.
She shrugged, "Honestly? I don't know. What I do know though, is that tonight-or last nice or whatever, was fucked up." She took his hand. "Do you do that kind of stuff a lot?" She asked. Steve's mind went back to the tunnels, the pack of demodogs, the first time he accepted, with certainty that he was going to die. "Yeah but, not like that. That was way different, like, I've never seen a monster made out of the melted bodies of people I know before. That was fucked up beyond fucked up." He ran his free hand through his hair, his other was still joined with Robin's, getting sweatier with every passing minute.
Robin nodded like he'd said the most obvious thing in the world that no one else seemed to realise. She leaned in conspiratorially, "Steve, I am probably going to be haunted by the knowledge that the monster we fought was made of people Steve. Like it was smushed together like play dough or something." She whispered. Steve kept saying "Yes." Over and over again throughout her statement because he agreed so damn much. It was seriously weird, sure the kids were like, sad that shit went down, but Steve knew deep down, at least in his case, that he would never forget the sound of flesh forming and reforming, muscles snapping like whip cracks and then squelching back together to keep formation of the monster's limbs.
"Robin, I have never in my life, met someone who I vibe with as much as you." He took her other hand. "If we were under different circumstances, I would ask you to marry me." They both leaned forward, closer than they already were so they were forehead to forhead. Robin whispered back to him, "You know, I would probably marry you for the tax break." She leaned back and they both let out a burst of air kind of laugh. Steve scrunched his nose up and smiled at her, shaking his head. "You know what Robin? You're my best goddam friend." Her eyebrows crunched together and she blinked.
"Really? Steve, you're my best friend too." They sat there for a moment chilling and processing, Steve was so thankful for this new relationship. A friendship that would not only last a lifetime, but wasn't with a bunch of kids. Steve thought, in that moment after probably the most fucked up night of his life, Robin understood him better than anyone, better than Nancy, better than Dustin, better than his Mom. From now on, Steve decided, Robin and him were going to do everything together. He was going to know everything, every crush, every fact, every interest. They were going to know each other inside and out. "Robin." She looked at him. "Robin, I need to tell you something, you and me? We have a connection." Steve gestured between the two of them. Robin was nodding again, "Steve, I gotta say, I couldn't agree with you more." They were both nodding in tandem now, Steve carried on. "I'm serious Robin, we're connected. Like, here," He pointed to his head and then her head. "And here," he pointed to the left side of his chest and did the same to her. She pointed there as well, and squinted a little, "My -my boob?" Steve nodded vigorously, "Yes, yes. That's right, our boobs. But also? By our hearts."
Robin's eyes widened, she leaned forward and slapped his knee. "That's it! We are!" They were both nodding, again with the nodding, and grinning because they were in complete agreement. This early morning was turning out pretty great on the relationship front.