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"You like her." Steve Harrington pointed an accusatory finger at Robin as he pushed a small hot chocolate across the counter to the restlessly waiting patron. It was nearing nine, which meant that most people had already settled into their cubicles or wherever for the day and had given up on waiting in line at local coffee shops manned by two recent High School graduates.
Most people, but ordinarily not Nancy Wheeler, who worked for the local paper and still spent most of her day running useless errands when she was totally good enough at journalism stuff to bat with the big leagues. Or whatever the 'big leagues' equivalent was in the journalism world--Robin wasn't really sure, but she loved to listen to Nancy talk about it. She was always so passionate, and her eyes would kind of brighten and go a little wild when she started on some investigative thread, and--
"I don't like her," Robin insisted, finishing up a large iced mocha. She was all for sugary drinks--seriously, she encouraged it--but the extra syrup along with three additional shots of espresso seemed a bit excessive, even to her.
"You totally do. And she's my ex-girlfriend, which means you're like, breaking bro code or something."
"Bro code," Robin snorted, pausing to call the name of the last customer in the café and wave them off on their corporate adventure. "We don't have a bro code, Steve, and if we did I'd totally be winning."
"Winning?" Steve's brow furrowed as he leaned back against the counter. "There's no 'winning' in bro code. It's like, a code. Where you can't do certain things because you're bros. Dustin told me all about it."
"Are we ever going to address the fact that you're friends with children?"
"Are we ever going to address the fact that you've got a thing for Nancy Wheeler?"
Robin totally would have come up with an awesome comeback if Nancy Wheeler herself did not choose that moment to enter their small café. The bell jingled as the door swung shut behind her, as though mocking Robin's pain.
"I've got this one," Robin said, and if she sounded a little breathless, it was because the morning rush had just slowed down and she was still coming down from the chaos of it and that was the only goddamn reason. "Shut up, Steve," she muttered beneath her breath, pushing past him to get to the register.
Steve raised his hands in surrender. "I didn't say anything."
"Hey, Nancy," Robin said, waving only slightly awkwardly as the young woman approached the counter. She was wearing one of those blouses that the jerks at the agency made her wear, but the floor-length grey skirt looked nice on her. Nancy had her nose buried in a notebook, clearly deep in thought, but she looked up and smiled openly at the sound of Robin's voice. Which definitely didn't make Robin's heart skip a couple of beats, because she didn't have a thing for Nancy, and Steve had planted ideas in her head and Robin was totally going to kill him later.
"Robin," Nancy said. "Hey."
"The usual, Wheeler?" Steve asked from behind the bar, already grabbing two cups at a time from the stack they kept near the register.
"Yeah," she let out a little exhale, sounding defeated. "They have me making a stupid coffee run again. I'll probably show up again at what, twelve-thirty?"
"Well, we'll be glad to see you," Robin said. Then she realized how that sounded. "I mean, not because we're glad you're going on useless errands. That's stupid, and those sexist pigs in charge of the paper are stupid. We'll just be glad to see you because, um..."
"Smooth," Steve hissed, as Nancy rummaged around for spare change in her purse. "Really smooth."
"Shut up," Robin whispered out the side of her mouth, face heating with embarrassment.
"Here's that," Nancy said, handing Robin a twenty. Robin carefully counted the change back to her and her face grew even warmer when her hand accidentally brushed against Nancy's. Nancy smiled softly and dropped the quarters in the 'Tips' jar, which some super mature Middle Schooler had relabeled 'Nips' months ago. It was in Sharpie, so it refused to come off.
"Thanks," Robin said, nodding at the jar. "For that. That's nice, I mean." No, that was lame. Robin shook her head. She really needed to work on her social skills around pretty girls. Not that Nancy was pretty--well she was, it was hard to deny that--but she was also a lot more than that, as Robin had come to find out. "What are you working on? Anything big?"
"Well, Smith is insisting we focus on the big Independence Day Fair that's coming up. But I think the political motivations behind it are so much more interesting. I mean, I get it, it's the government, right? But with the elections coming up, it's clear that the big names are just using this as a publicity ploy. Which again, is fine, because that's what they do, but think about who Hawkins is funding. Who has the police in their pocket, and the legislature? Everyone's going to look right past the corruption because they're too busy looking at spinning rides and light displays."
Nancy had that expression on her face again, that one that she always wore when she was explaining something she found to be terribly important and the rest of those hawks at Hawkins Post found to be terribly dull. Robin loved it, watching Nancy's gestures grow more and more wild as she spoke.
Over the past few months, Robin's view of Nancy had quickly swiveled from 'stuck up priss' to 'passionate, smart, intelligent, totally awesome badass.' Nancy Wheeler was full of surprises.
"Sorry," Nancy said, trailing off as Steve passed over the first of the coffees. "I'm probably boring you."
"No!" Robin said, too loudly. "No, I mean, you're not boring me. I think you're right. All of this corruption, it probably goes even further than we think, you know? Like, it's not just on the local level, right? And yet all these papers are just covering it up--"
"--because that's not what sells, according to them, but if I could just have a chance to tell the other side of the story--"
"--I bet you could totally like, start your own paper and grow even more popular than the stupid Hawkins Post." Robin grinned widely, meeting Nancy's eyes. Nancy returned the smile, gripping tightly to the cups of coffee.
"Right." Now it was Nancy who sounded a little breathless. "I mean, I don't know if that would ever take off. No one wants a woman in charge of a paper..."
"I do," Robin said firmly, not breaking her gaze. "I want you in charge of a paper. Or like, a business, or something. I think you'd make a great leader. People would listen to you--I'd listen to you."
"Thanks, Robin."
Steve placed the last of the coffees in front of her. When Nancy didn't move to take it, he cleared his throat loudly. "You want a drink carrier for that, Wheeler?"
"Hm?" She looked down at the four hot coffees just waiting to be spilled by clumsy oafs in business casual wear. "Yeah, that'd be great, thanks."
"No problem. Didn't want to interrupt the," Steve grabbed a drink carrier with one hand and gestured between the two ladies with his other hand. "Important political discussions that were happening. I'll get the door."
"Bye, Nancy!" Robin called out, and if she sounded a little desperate, then...fine, maybe she was running out of excuses.
"Bye, Robin," Nancy replied, smiling again over her shoulder.
Robin sighed hopelessly as Steve opened the door. The bell jingled once again, and Steve leaned over to Nancy to whisper something to her. They exchanged a few words, Steve's head dipping closer to Nancy's as they spoke. Which Robin wasn't jealous of, because she didn't have a thing for Nancy Wheeler. The light filtered through the open door, bathing Nancy in the bright morning glow, and Robin could swear she was the sun.
Nancy cast a furtive look towards Robin, and Robin's face flushed again as she was caught staring. She quickly grabbed a wash rag and wrung it out and pretended to be doing the very important business of wiping down the counters. Her hands were shaking ever so slightly. They still burned where they had brushed Nancy's moments earlier, and she looked up again and the woman was disappearing out the door, and even the way she walked--balancing the drink carrier of four coffees in one hand and another burning latte in the other--was incredibly endearing.
Shit.
So maybe Robin had a thing for Nancy Wheeler.
"Hey," Steve didn't bother opening the gate to get back behind the counter, and opted to leap over the newly moist surface instead. "Remember how you said that whenever you're talking to a girl you like, your mouth 'doesn't connect to your brain anymore' or you lose what minimal filter you have or whatever?"
"Shut up," Robin said, flicking the wet washcloth at him. "Oh my god, shut up."
"'We'll just be glad to see you because...'" Steve mocked.
Robin cast him a faux offended look and threw the whole rag at him. He flinched away, but caught it before it dropped to the floor.
Steve glanced carefully at the door, but everyone on the street passed right by the shop, intent on reaching more distant destinations. "Listen," he said quietly. "If you do have a thing for Nance, I'm just saying...you should go for it."
Robin snorted. "What happened to bro code?"
"Eh, Henderson doesn't know what he's talking about half the time anyway," Steve said. Robin was pretty sure that wasn't true, but she didn't argue his point. "Seriously, I mean it. Ask her out."
"Are you kidding? She's like, the most heterosexual lady to ever heterosexual. And even if she wasn't, she'd be totally out of my league. Like, she's smart, and pretty, and has life ambitions, and stuff. And I'm just--Robin."
"I don't know," Steve kicked her softly, in that teasing way he so often did. "I think 'just Robin' is pretty cool."
"Yeah, well, Nancy doesn't." Robin dipped her head, the truth of the words feeling suddenly heavy. It hadn't mattered, before. Back when she had excuses to explain away her beating heart and her flushed face and her shaking hands. But now they had crumbled away and left her with simple, cutting honesty. It was one thing for Steve to say nice things to her and to accept her and all of that--but Nancy? The thought of it seemed too dangerous to even entertain.
"You might be surprised," Steve said, voice still soft. "Listen, whatever happens, she's not like...one of those judgmental pricks or anything. She's cool, I promise."
"Yeah," Robin said. "Maybe."
The rest of the day was slow, with the world perking up a bit at lunch hour and then slowing down when the clock's hands passed one. Robin remembered Nancy's words--expect her at twelve-thirty--but that hour was long past now, and the clock's hands seemed to crawl through time. Robin and Steve made idle chatter and whispered bets about what the High School jock would order to drink and how long it would take him to find a new girlfriend after his last one dumped him during Junior Prom. It was almost enough to get Robin's mind off of Nancy, off of her smile, the way a few strands of her hair fell over her face when she turned too quickly, the way that Robin's hands still burned and blushed and shook...
"What do you think, should we call it?"
Robin glanced up, wary. "What?"
"Keith called out sick, remember? There's no way I'm covering that asshole's shift. I think we'd better close for the day."
"Won't Colleen be like, really really mad at us or something?"
"Oh, yeah, for sure," Steve said, already heading toward the door, ready to flip the small sign from 'Open' to 'Closed.' It was his favorite part of the day, and sometimes Robin would race forward and try to beat him to it, but today she let him have the satisfaction. "Last time we closed early I could practically see the steam coming out of her ears."
"Oh my god, she went so red," Robin laughed, recollecting. "Like, I thought she was going to murder us."
"Screw the supernatural bastards, our boss is who I'm really scared of. Can't fight her off with a baseball bat."
"Well, you can try."
They were both still laughing when there was a rap of knuckles against the window pane. Nancy Wheeler waved through the glass and if Robin didn't know any better, she would say the journalist almost looked shy.
"Hey, Wheeler," Steve said, opening the door and taking the opportunity to finally flip the sign to 'Closed.'
"Oh," Nancy said, tracking the motion. "I'm sorry, should I not--?"
"Closed for customers, not for friends," Steve clarified.
"What can we get you?" Robin piped up, proud of her voice for not shaking. "I mean, can we get you any more...coffee?"
"No, no," Nancy said, waving her off. "I just got off work. I just um, stopped by to say hello again. Do you mind?"
"Rarely if ever," Steve replied. "You can help us close, if you want. But it's like an unpaid internship, you don't get a share of the tips."
"Tips!" Robin said excitedly, remembering her favorite part of the day. "We have to count the tips. And the cash register. And--"
"I'll do all that," Steve interjected, taking his place back behind the counter. "You should go in the back and take inventory. See if we need to restock anything."
"Sure." If she was disappointed to be leaving Nancy's proximity by heading into the secluded back room, then certainly it didn't show.
Or maybe it did. "Take Wheeler with you, yeah?"
"Oh, me?" Nancy said, looking between them.
"Oh, you really don't have to. He's just kidding, I can take stock on my own--"
"No!" Nancy said quickly, setting her stuff down on one of the overstuffed armchairs in the corner of the café. "No, I can do it. I really don't mind at all."
"Yeah, great, cool." Robin tried to think of more superlatives, but her heart was beating too fast. While the back area was large enough to fit all of the extra syrups, cups, tea bags, and ground coffee that they needed, it was still a pretty tight fit for two people to be in there at once. "Um, after you?"
She held the door open and Nancy ducked beneath her arm on her way through. Once Nancy was fully and safely inside the room, Robin glared at Steve who gave a double thumbs up in response. Asshole.
"So, what do you normally do in here?" Nancy asked, looking around. "Do we just count them and mark them down on that sheet there? Sorry, this is so stupid, I probably sound so--"
"No, you're right, that's exactly what we do," Robin interrupted. She couldn't stand to hear Nancy talk herself down. After eight-plus hours working with those freaks at the Post, Robin couldn't blame her for it, but she could feel the familiar pangs of sympathy that stabbed at her whenever the other girl shook off her own merits. She was ordinarily so confident, too, she usually believed in herself, and that was part of what Robin liked about her. Really liked about her.
Nancy shot her a small, relieved smile, like maybe she could sense Robin's thoughts. Robin hoped she could. She smiled back, reaching up to the top shelf to count out the large cups they used for the hot drinks. Still three full sleeves, plus one two three...
"Oh, sorry," Nancy murmured, moving beneath her. Nancy's back was practically flush against Robin's chest as she leaned down to count the medium cups, and Robin definitely wasn't thinking about the centimeters of space between them, where electricity seemed to crackle like a live wire. If she leaned forward a bit, they would brush against each other. Just briefly, that was all. It wouldn't mean anything. Spots of color bloomed on Robin's cheeks, ashamed to even think of it.
She was so busy focusing on not touching Nancy Wheeler, that she practically jumped out of her skin when Nancy's arm brushed her own and their hands touched ever so slightly together as Nancy reached up to steal the pen from Robin's hand.
"Sorry," Nancy said again, just as Robin sputtered out an apology. They both laughed, half-awkward, and Nancy turned over her shoulder to look at Robin as she did, and her face was so close to Robin's face, and she looked so beautiful like this. Crammed against Robin in a too-small coffee closet. It was proof enough to Robin that Nancy would look beautiful anywhere, whether in the mundanity of life or at the end of the world.
It was enough to take her breath away, and to remove that stupid brain-to-mouth filter that Steve was always going on about.
"Can I say something stupid?" Robin asked, breathless. "Like really, really stupid?"
Nancy's fingers slid back down to the syrups, brushing over the slightly-sticky bottles. Robin's eyes tracked every movement. "I don't think you could say anything really stupid, but I'd like to hear you try."
Was Nancy teasing her? Worse, was Nancy complimenting her?
"I say a lot of stupid things, believe me. And this is going to be especially stupid, but Steve told me that I should probably say it and he already knows anyway, and he said that you're really cool and stuff, and you've been coming in here every day and we've been talking so I know you're cool--which by the way our five-minute talks are the highlight of my day, like every day--and when I'm around pretty girls I kind of lose all sense of social cues and--"
Nancy's fingers paused their counting, and dropped down to her sides. "Are you okay?"
"Yes," Robin said. How long had she been talking? "Yes, I'm fine. I just wanted to say--" Deep breaths, Robin. In and out. Out and then in. "I like girls. Like, like like girls. Like I think that girls are so very, very hot. In the way that most girls think guys are hot."
Nancy turned around, slowly. Their faces were inches apart when they stood like this, and the dim light in the room was enough for Robin to pick out the exact color of Nancy's eyes and the exact shade of her lipstick as she bit down on her lower lip. Robin lost her grip on the pen and it clattered noisily to the floor. She swallowed, certain that sound was just as loud.
"What about me?" Nancy asked. Quiet. Like a challenge. "Do you find me 'so very, very hot'?"
Nancy wasn't running. She didn't look disgusted. Robin had just told her she was gay, and Nancy didn't look disgusted. The thought bolstered her into honesty. "Yes." It sounded more like a squeak than a confirmation.
"So," Nancy said. Her hand reached over and rested on Robin's shoulder. The other hovered over Robin's hip. Robin was going to burst in two, she was sure of it. "In the interest of journalistic curiosity, if I kissed you right now...?"
"That would be cool," Robin said lamely. "That would be very, very cool--"
And then Nancy was kissing her. Nancy Wheeler was kissing her. Robin was being kissed by a girl. A very real, very attractive, very smart and funny and kind and passionate girl. She did not hesitate for a moment. She kissed Nancy back. It started slow, closed lips, chaste through their smiles. And then Robin cupped Nancy's face and drew her closer and it got deeper and more passionate and Robin was nearly dizzy with it by the time she drew away. How on earth had she convinced herself she didn't have a thing for Nancy Wheeler?
"Wait," Robin said, mind still playing catch up. "Aren't you like, dating Jonathon Byers? Like isn't that a thing? Oh my god, I really should have asked you that before I kissed you."
Nancy laughed and tucked her hair behind her ear. "No," she said. "No, we're not together anymore. We're still friends, it's just..." she shrugged. "It happened awhile ago. And for the past couple months, I've had my eye on someone else anyway."
Robin's stomach dropped. "Really?" She tried to keep her voice neutral. "Who?"
"Well, she works in a coffee shop. And she's a pretty good kisser."
Robin grinned, feeling light-headed. "Oh."
"Yeah. Oh."
Nancy leaned forward again, slotting their bodies together against the rack. Her hands came up to loop behind Robin's neck, and Robin wasn't sure where to put her own hands, but she also really didn't care because she was being kissed by Nancy Wheeler. Again. And she was kissing Nancy Wheeler, again. And there was no way this was real life and--
There was a knock on the closed door of the room. "Hey, are you two almost done with inventory in there?" Robin could practically hear Steve's shit-eating grin.
The two girls broke apart, Nancy giggling quietly as they pressed their foreheads together.
A moment passed like this, quiet. Serene, almost. And then Robin broke it with a realization. "Oh my god, did we just get set up by Steve Harrington?"
"We did," Nancy agreed, nodding in a way that rubbed both their foreheads together. The strands of hair between them tickled and Robin shut her eyes against the peals of laughter shaking her body. "We really did."
"Hey, I have a crazy question," Robin said, still holding Nancy close. "Do you maybe want to get coffee sometime?"