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Nancy wasn’t sure when exactly she’d started feeling fidget-y around Robin. Maybe it was the way Robin told her that she only wanted the best for her friends.
Does that make us friends now? Nancy had asked. They’d been walking through the forest for a while now. She could see Max and Lucas lingering at the back of the group while Dustin, Steve and Eddie were arguing at the front. Babysitting had never been Nancy’s forte, and these kids seemed to grow way too fast.
Robin hadn’t responded, only smiling shyly and looking away. Nancy could see the freckles sprayed across her cheeks in a constellation of patterns and the way that her wavy brown hair fell in her face.
She was gorgeous.
But that was just Nancy’s appreciation for conventionally attractive people talking. A girl was allowed to think her friends are pretty, right?
Maybe it was the way Robin dove into the lake right after her. She could have been worried for Steve, of course. They were best friends, so it wasn’t much of a stretch to assume Robin wanted to help him. But Nancy had a gut feeling that there was more behind her reasoning.
The Upside Down was a horrible place. A place that Nancy never wanted to return to. Nonetheless, her thirst for knowledge and her adoration of Steve’s selflessness dragged her there, Robin right behind her.
Shared trauma, Murray Bauman had said. You’ve got chemistry, history, plus the real shit; shared trauma. This had been directed at her and Jonathan, but she believed that Robin had shared the flaring panic that had creeped up Nancy’s throat at the sight of Steve, covered in blood and struggling to breathe on the ground. She thought that was why they worked so well together, not only as a research team, but as the last shards of hope that could save the boy that was important to both of them.
She knew something had happened between Steve and Robin last summer. They’d worked together at Scoops Ahoy! , infiltrating a Russian military base with two children, and managing to escape together. Anyone with eyes could see that there was something between them, but the way Robin had insisted they were just friends left Nancy curious.
Maybe it was the way she would call her Wheeler , with a playful smile creeping across her face. She seemed to know the exact ways to get under Nancy’s skin, but it was endearing in a sort of way. Robin trusted her in a way that Nancy had never experienced. Unofficially assigning her the leader of their lake escapade, believing Nancy when she took her shot in the dark. Nancy wasn’t used to faith being put in her.
They became inseparable as time went on. Robin was just like Barb; Nancy could say anything that crossed her mind without being judged. She found herself talking about Jonathan, and how stressful a long distance relationship had become. She found herself talking about her hopes to make it big as a reporter, despite being a woman. She found herself getting closer to Robin as the girl listened with undying interest.
But now, staring at Robin through the fairy lights strung high above them, laying on Nancy’s bed comfortably, she realized that maybe she wasn’t just fond of Robin’s friendship. Robin had just finished telling a stupid joke, ripping a laugh from Nancy, and she knew there was something else going on.
“What?” Robin asked, a smile tugging at her lips. “You’re staring, Wheeler.”
Nancy felt her cheeks warm. “Nothing,” she whispered thoughtfully. Robin cracked a grin, turning her body to face Nancy fully. Her eyes sparkled mischievously.
“Well, you’ve told me quite a bit about your secrets, so I guess I’ll give it a go.”
Nancy raised an eyebrow, “I wouldn’t call them secrets, more like little awards for getting to know me better.”
Robin rolled her eyes, a smile tugging at her lips. “Alright, well. You wanna know the reason why me and Steve aren’t dating?” This caught Nancy’s attention immediately. She sat up, eyes wide, and beckoned Robin to continue with enthusiastic curiosity. This had been a question she’d been asking for weeks.
Robin chewed the inside of her cheek nervously, a nervous habit that Nancy had picked up on a while ago. “Promise you won’t tell anyone?” she asked softly, glancing up at the girl in front of her.
“Uh, yeah! I mean, why would I tell? It’s not like you guys have been secretly making out for months without my knowledge or anyth-”
“I like girls.”
A beat of silence.
“More specifically, you,” Robin said, avoiding Nancy’s eyes.
“Oh.”
Nancy could see Robin panicking, clenching her jaw and looking ready to bolt out of her room at a second’s notice. “I’m sorry,” she began. “You don’t have to be okay with that or anything. I know it’s weird, and I know it’s gross. God, I shouldn’t have said anything. I swear I haven’t been, like, taking advantage of y-”
She was cut off by a very brief, but very real kiss. Nancy’s hand gently brushed Robin’s messy hair out of her face, and her cheeks warmed as she felt her gasp in surprise. Slowly pulling back, Nancy laughed at the shocked expression the girl in front of her wore.
“You overthink too much,” she said, smiling softly. “I’ll keep your secret, Buckley.”
Robin blinked at her, desperately grasping for words. “I… What? You aren’t upset?”
“No, you doof. I only care about the fact that you finally got vulnerable with me.”
“Oh.”
Robin looked at the bedspread beneath them, contemplating her next move. “Can I- Can I kiss you again?”
Nancy laughed, leaning toward the girl with a bright smile. “You’d better, Buckley. Shut up and come here.”