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Robin knows this is a horrible, really bad, dreadful, idea. She knows for a fact that it won’t go well. She can already tell. That’s her sixth sense, knowing when something is a horrible idea.
Then she does it anyway.
Because she’s a moron.
But maybe that only applies when she’s faced with pretty girls, wearing pretty dresses, with pretty hair, and pretty makeup, that complimented pretty eyes.
Pretty girls being Nancy.
Back to the bad idea that she’s about to go through with.
She’s staring up at Nancy from the living room floor of Steve's house. There’s music coming from the record player in the corner of the room that she’s not paying attention to. Mostly because she’s too focused on how soft Nancy’s hand is. It’s like really really soft. Nancy had held out her hand to Robin, and Robin had spaced out the moment Nancy told her why she wanted Robin to stand up. So Robin had reached out for Nancy’s hand without any thought as to why she was doing it.
Then Nancy tilted her head and smiled softly, repeating what she’s already said once before. “Do you want to dance with me?”
And Robin being Robin said, “I- Yeah, sure, yes that would be- yes.” As eloquently as she always says things.
The thing is, the song that is currently playing, is a slow song. Like, sway together slowly, and gaze into each other's eyes, slow music.
This is a bad idea for three very thought-out reasons.
- She likes Nancy, maybe too much.
- She has absolutely no filter whatsoever.
- She can’t dance.
The first two, while yes, are extremely annoying, are manageable. The third one, however…
The moment Robin nods, she’s being hauled up by surprisingly strong arms, and Nancy doesn’t step back when Robin is finally standing so they end up barely six inches apart.
As she takes Nancy in front of her, she can see Steve and Eddie, just over her shoulder, outside in the pool, both trying to drown each other with equal amounts of glee.
Then the song is changing and she’s turning her gaze back to Nancy who is staring at her intently, and of course, the first thing Robin blurts in the face of beauty is, “I can’t dance.”
Nancy’s eyes sparkle, and she presses her lips together in an effort not to laugh, but instead, she just lets out a breathy small giggle and it makes something inside of Robin swoon. “Well that’s okay,” Nancy half whispers, her words are light and airy and something in her smile betrays her amusement. “I can teach you.”
Steve would laugh at Robin if he could see her now. He would probably cackle out of pure joy if he took one glance at the expression that she’s probably making right now, and she’s kind of horrified to come to the conclusion that Nancy can see the expression too. “I’ll step on your feet,” she whispers back and really she doesn’t know why they’re whispering but Nancy's voice is sweet and soft when she whispers so Robin is more than willing to keep their voices hushed.
The edge of Nancy’s dress still presses against Robin's legs as she takes a step back, putting some space between them. “No, you won’t.” She says matter of factly with a small laugh.
“You give me too much credit,” Robin says, frowning, but it’s light-hearted at best and she’s sure it doesn’t reach her eyes.
Nancy moves Robin's hands up from where she was awkwardly holding them at her sides. Nancy brought Robin's left hand to rest on her waist, and Robin, being the extremely smooth person she is, just holds her hand there stiffly, like she’s never danced before. She watches Nancy bite the inside of her cheek before she moves Robin’s left hand again, moving it to hold onto the small of her own waist, keeping her hand over Robin’s until Robin finally lets the tension seep out of her fingers. “I don’t think you give yourself enough credit.” She meets Robin’s eyes as she moves her own right hand to rest on Robin’s waist, “It’s easy, really.”
Robin has the dangerous urge to move the hand resting on Nancy’s waist, not to move it away from Nancy, but to move it across the span of her back and the rest of her waist. “You underestimate my ability to trip over nothing but air.”
Nancy tips her head forward and Robin can smell the shampoo she uses. Lilacs. Those are pretty. Nancy reminds her of a lilac. That's weird. She probably shouldn’t compare people to flowers.
Eddie would be a hyacinth or a purple aster and Steve- a cherry blossom, maybe.
Then Nancy mutters, “It’s cute,” while carefully taking Robin's free hand in her own, clasping them together and Robin is once again transfixed by the softness of Nancy’s skin and the comforting strength of her grip. “Now,” She says, smiling at Robin, “We sway.”
“Sway.” It’s phrased as half a question.
Nancy hummed, “Yes, sway . Here I’ll lead, you follow.”
Robin hummed and it felt like her heart was going to jump out of her chest, make a couple of loops, and then stick itself in her throat. Not in a bad way, she swears. “Okay, sure.”
“ Sure .” Nancy parrots back, the corner of her lip lifting up into a softer smile.
“Yes,” Robin says instead and she briefly wonders how bright her smile is.
Nancy steps back smoothly, and Robin goes with her, stumbling the slightest amount at first, not fully prepared for the movement. She follows Nancy’s steps, at first focusing on how Nancy is moving her feet, but then it’s the same steps repeated and she can once again let her mind wander to Nancy’s hand on her side and Nancy’s eyes and her lips.
She realizes she’s staring and internally winces, moving her gaze back up to level with Nancy’s eyes, only to find Nancy had been staring at her silently the entire time.
Music floods the house and it’s louder than before, finally reaching the high part of the song.
They’re closer now, and Nancy looks anxious and hopeful and Robin thinks she probably just looks anxious and feels hopeful. “Robin.” Nancy’s voice is still soft but has a sort of commanding edge to it that Robin thinks she would probably do anything for.
“Yeah,” She replies, her own voice is surprisingly raspy and something in Nancy’s eyes sparkles.
“Can I-” Nancy falters for a second and looks down at her shoes, then seeming to regain her previous confidence she looks back up at Robin. “Can I kiss you?”
Robin has no brain, “I’ve never actually really kissed anyone before so it might be totally like extremely really bad-”
“Robin.” Nancy cuts in, already leaning closer than before.
Robin really breathes for the first time in what feels like hours but was probably only ten minutes. “Yes.”
Nancy nods and leans in a little more, “Yes?” She repeats and Robin nods.
“Yeah.”
And Nancy kisses her.
It’s soft and Nancy’s lips taste like cherry and lip balm. It’s like she imagined in the way of her own awkwardness, and it’s like she’s learning to swim correctly for a second. Then she matches the way Nancy moves her lips and it’s kind of perfect in its own way.
They part and Robin breathes out a small, “Oh.”
Nancy tilts her head, “Like a good oh ?”
Robin nods, “Very good oh , I swear.”
Nancy smiles, in an almost giddy fashion, then hums as they continue to sway to the music. She lets her head drop onto Robin’s shoulder and all Robin really wants is to spend the rest of her life like this.
Maybe just the rest of the record.
She spares a glance over Nancy’s shoulder once more and can see Steve and Eddie, still in the pool, Steve is on Eddie’s shoulders, balancing precariously, and giving her the biggest, dorkiest, Steve Harrington smile he could. She smiles back and lets herself sway with the music and lean into Nancy’s calm atmosphere, appreciating the gentle curl of her hair and the way her thumb moves against her waist, leaving a trail of fire in its wake.