Chapter Text
No matter how many times he agrees to them, Steve always forgets how unendingly long double shifts are until he’s in the middle of one.
The morning has passed at a glacial pace, civilizations rising and falling outside the windows of Family Video as Steve goes through the monotonous tasks of stocking the shelves, rewinding tapes, and assisting irritated customers who expect him to be able to find any movie based only on a vague, often incorrect outline.
It’s a godsend when Robin finally arrives mid-afternoon at the start of her shift.
“Never let me agree to a double again,” he says in lieu of a greeting.
Robin snorts. “You said that last time and when I did try to remind you, you told me you needed the money.”
Steve sighs, slumping against the counter. “Fuck money.”
Robin doesn’t answer since she’s already in the break room, dropping off her stuff and clocking in. Steve deals with a couple of customers while she bums around back there, including a girl he vaguely recognizes who bats her eyelashes at him and looks put off when he doesn’t ask for her phone number.
He may be taken but it’s nice to know he’s still got it.
Finally, Robin emerges, dropping into the chair next to Steve. “Nice shirt.”
Steve is about to reflexively thank her but stops and thinks. Robin never compliments his clothes.
“What do you want?”
Robin doesn’t even bother denying. “Fine, you got me. You guys are going to Indianapolis on Saturday, right? Do you know where you’re gonna stay?”
Steve had been planning on finding a cheap hotel room but this weekend’s already stretching his budget with the concert tickets and gas money. Judging by the gleam in Robin’s eye, she’s got a better idea. “Maybe…”
“Okay, so,” she starts, “Nancy’s got this cousin who lives in downtown Indianapolis, and he happens to be out of town this weekend. She asked if we could borrow his place and he agreed to leave a key with his neighbor, but the problem is her parents won’t let her take the car to the city. So…” Robin smiles hopefully. “You need a place to stay, we need a ride. It’s kismet!”
Steve hums and Robin scrambles to add, “We’re not gonna crash your date or anything! We just need a ride, as soon as we get there it’s,” she points her fingers outwards, “separate ways.”
Okay, he needs to put her out of her misery.
“Relax, obviously you guys can come.”
Robin beams. “Yeah?”
“Yeah,” Steve says, bumping his shoulder against hers. “I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I don’t exactly mind hanging out with you.”
“Careful, Harrington, or I might start thinking you like me.”
The shift starts passing a lot faster now that Robin’s there. They talk about their plans for the weekend - Eddie owns one tape by the band they’re seeing and Steve’s been listening to it on repeat, in an effort not to look too lost at the concert. Meanwhile, Robin and Nancy have no concrete plans but Nancy has some ideas and Robin is trying to be cool with her taking the reins even though not knowing exactly what they’ll be doing in a strange city is freaking her out a little bit.
At some point, Dustin, Lucas and Will enter Family Video. They give them a wave hello from the entrance and start wandering the aisles, so Steve figures they’re here to actually rent a video for once and returns his attention to his conversation with Robin.
They’re busily debating what music to listen to on the way when the kids hit up the counter.
“Are you going somewhere?” Dustin asks, as he places a tape - Dragonslayer - on the counter.
“Just a one night stay,” Steve says, ringing it up. “Eddie and I got tickets to see this band in Indianapolis and the girls are gonna join.”
Dustin wags his eyebrows. “Double date?”
It takes Steve a moment to realize he should be freaking out but by then, Lucas is already sighing and rolling his eyes, in a gesture disturbingly reminiscent of Erica.
“I know,” he says.
Robin scoffs. “What the hell, Henderson?”
“I didn’t tell him,” Dustin says, looking insulted at the accusation. “Max did!”
“Only because she thought I already knew,” Lucas cuts in. “She found out El knew and thought we’d all been told.”
Robin turns to Steve. “When did you tell Max?”
“She figured it out on her own,” Steve says. “That kid is scary smart.”
“The smartest,” Lucas agrees. “But why didn’t you tell me?”
Steve looks to Robin, who shrugs helplessly.
“It’s… complicated,” Steve tries. Lucas looks unimpressed. “It’s a big thing to drop on someone, okay? Not everyone’s gonna be cool with it.”
“I’m cool!” Lucas insists, and the knot of anxiety that’s been forming in Steve’s chest unfurls somewhat. Not that he figured Lucas would be un cool, but you never know.. “And you told Dustin and Will!”
“Yeah, but I’m his favorite,” Dustin says, which is true, but he’s not supposed to say it out loud.
Will stays conspicuously silent.
Lucas frowns. “Does everyone else know?”
“Mike doesn’t,” Steve offers.
That seems to pacify Lucas somewhat.
“So, Indianapolis?” Dustin says loudly, a transparent attempt to change the subject. “When are you guys going?”
Whatever. Steve’s just relieved to move past all that. “Next weekend.”
Apparently, that was the exact wrong thing to say, because all three boys stare back at him with stony expressions.
“What?” Steve asks.
“Next weekend?” Will repeats.
“...Yeah?”
“Eddie cancelled Hellfire to go to some stupid concert?” Dustin says, looking outraged.
Oh.
“He canceled Hellfire?”
“Postponed,” Will corrects.
Dustin scoffs. “Same difference!”
Steve pinches his lips together. He cannot smile right now, no matter how flattered he feels that Eddie would put other plans on hold for him. “The band’s just in Indianapolis for this one night.”
“He didn’t postpone when I couldn’t make it because of the championship game,” Lucas says, and okay, maybe he’s got some right to look insulted at that.
“Let’s be rational,” Dustin says. “We shouldn’t be mad at Eddie.”
Good old Henderson, trust him to be the voice of reason.
“This is clearly Steve’s fault.”
Nevermind. Henderson who? He is dead to Steve.
“How is this my fault? I didn’t even know you had your stupid club on Saturday.”
“You seduced him away from us!” Dustin insists.
Steve stares at him.
“With your wiles,” he adds significantly.
“Okay, get the fuck out of my store.”
The kids grumble but grab their tape and get going, Dustin pausing in the doorway and pointing at Steve. “This isn’t over, Harrington!”
“Bye,” Steve calls.
He slumps back in his chair. Glances at Robin, who looks like she’s barely holding back laughter.
“Not one word.”
“Whatever you say, Yoko.”
Steve kicks her.
Friday afternoon finds Steve searching his closet with increased desperation.
He’s been to plenty of concerts before but Blue Condition is so far out of his wheelhouse, they might as well be from a different planet. If he goes for his usual look he’s gonna stick out like a sore thumb but the more he looks, the more he realizes that he doesn’t have any clothes that aren’t ‘his usual look’.
Finally he gives up and calls Robin, who only laughs at him a little bit before agreeing to come over and help.
Of course, her version of help involves mostly digging through his drawers and judging him while Steve sits on the bed and tries to remind himself that buying new clothes just for this weekend is definitely not within his budget.
“You own an absurd number of polo shirts,” she tells him. “I haven’t even seen you wear half of these.”
“My mom buys them,” Steve mutters.
“Hm?”
He decides not to repeat himself. The truth is more embarrassing than if he’d gotten them all for himself.
“What about this?” Robin asks, holding up a gray tshirt.
Steve frowns. “Isn’t it too… plain?”
“I thought the point was not sticking out.”
“Yeah, but I don’t wanna be boring.”
Robin sighs, closing the drawer and opening the next. “You’re impossible. Just borrow something from Eddie.”
Steve has considered that but it feels too much like admitting defeat.
“Ooh,” Robin says, pulling out a brown vest Steve didn’t even remember owning. She holds it up to her chest. “How’s this?”
“You’re kidding, right?”
“I meant for me.” Robin shrugs the vest on over her tshirt. It’s way too big but somehow suits her.
“Sure, keep it.”
Steve lies down, legs dangling off the edge of the bed. Why doesn’t he want to borrow something of Eddie’s, anyway? Because Eddie might realize he’s uncool? Like Steve isn’t constantly reminded of that already by the bunch of high schoolers he regularly hangs out with.
Robin lies down next to him. “Hey, Steve?”
“Yeah?”
“Can I ask you something relationship related?”
Steve glances over. Robin’s fiddling with the buttons on the vest, a clear sign of nervousness. “Sure.”
“I mean, ‘cause you’ve been in relationships before and I haven’t. You’ve been in a relationship with Nancy and I don’t know if I’m overreacting here or if this is a completely normal thing and I shouldn’t be worrying in the slightest-”
Robin pauses to breathe and Steve grabs her hand, giving her a squeeze. She pinches her lips together and squeezes back, looking if not reassured then at least a bit calmer.
“Is it weird that Nancy and I never talk about the future?”
Steve blinks. He’s not sure what he was expecting her to say but it wasn’t that.
He thinks about it. He and Nancy didn’t talk much about the future but in hindsight, that makes sense; Nancy wasn’t expecting them to last. He knows she and Jonathan had plans and he’s pretty sure Jonathan didn’t come up with those by himself. Nancy’s still sticking to them in part - she’ll be going to Emerson in the fall. Robin has her own plans, namely staying in Hawkins for another year to save up money for college.
Those don’t really go together, do they?
“It’s a little weird,” Steve admits.
Robin groans, covering her face with her hands. “I knew it.”
“Have you tried talking about it with her?”
“No,” Robin says, voice muffled by her palms. She drops her hands. “But she’s the one leaving. If she wanted… I don’t know, if she wanted me to go with her or do long-distance or anything that’s not breaking up, wouldn’t she have brought it up by now?”
“You figured all that out by not talking?”
Robin glares at Steve. “Alright, I get it.”
“Do you?”
“Yes,” Robin huffs. “I’ll talk to her, alright?”
“Maybe wait until Monday, though? If you guys break up before the weekend, it’s gonna make driving down to Indianapolis together really awkward.”
Robin’s already smacking him before he finishes the sentence. Steve grabs her hand with a laugh but she slips the other one between them, poking him in the side. Which wouldn’t hurt if she didn’t hit exactly on an old demobat bite.
“Fuck,” Steve hisses, instinctively curling up.
Robin’s eyes widen. “Shit, sorry. Those still hurt?”
“They do when someone jabs them .”
“You’re lucky I’m such a dyke and keep my fingernails trimmed.”
Steve frowns. What does that have to do with - oh.
“Gross, Rob.”
Robin laughs. “Don’t ask if you don’t wanna know.”
“ I didn’t ask .”
*
When Steve picks Robin up the next morning, he’s wearing Eddie’s vest.
“It’s technically mine,” he mutters when she grins at him. “Eddie said I could keep it.”
Robin doesn’t have the heart to tell him he still kind of looks like a prep - it’s the hair, so nothing to be done about it. She throws her backpack in the trunk, gets in her usual seat and starts rifling through the tape selection. It’s a mix mostly of her and Steve’s music, with a couple of Eddie’s tapes thrown in for good measure.
She goes with The Cars. It seems appropriate.
They pick Nancy up next and Robin abandons her shotgun seat to climb in the back with her. Steve fixes them with a stern look in the rearview mirror.
“Hands to yourselves, ladies.”
“We’re not animals,” Robin says primly, hooking her ankle around Nancy’s.
Nancy grabs her hand, lacing their fingers together, and Robin’s brain picks that exact moment to remember her stupid ‘trimmed nails’ comment from yesterday. Nancy’s nails are also trimmed short and painted a very faint pink.
Alright, so maybe Robin would like nothing more than to ferociously make out with her girlfriend right now. Steve doesn’t have to be such a buzzkill about it.
They make their last stop at Eddie’s, who strolls out of his trailer looking like he just rolled out of bed and threw on his clothes from the night before. It doesn’t look like he’s bringing anything with him, either.
“Dude,” Robin says as he settles in the shotgun seat. “Did you even bring a toothbrush?”
“What for?” Eddie asks. “I can borrow Harrington’s.”
Steve scoffs. “No, you can not . That’s so unhygienic.”
“What, suddenly we’re against swapping spit?”
“That’s different,” Steve argues. “It’s not the spit I’m worried about, it's the-” he waves his hand, “gunk on your teeth.”
“Oh, like that would be the dirtiest thing of mine you’ve had in your-”
Steve makes a strangled noise at the back of his throat and slams his hand over Eddie’s mouth.
“This is fun,” Robin says dryly. “I’m so glad we’re stuck in the car together for the next two hours.”
“That’s the spirit!” Eddie crows.
It does end up being kind of fun. Driving down the highway, music on blast and singing along until all of their throats are sore, bickering over the singular bag of red vines someone thought to bring along for the road, Robin feels almost like a normal teenager. Anyone looking at them from the outside would mistake them as such, if they didn’t notice Nancy and Robin holding hands in the back seat and the occasional kisses they sneak before Steve tells them to knock it off, or the way Eddie’s hand keeps finding its way back to Steve’s thigh.
It stops being as fun once they enter Indianapolis and the search for Nancy’s cousin’s apartment begins. Nancy has directions written down but Eddie keeps suggesting alternatives, since he’s been to Indianapolis on his own a few times before (though Robin suspects half his comments are just to fuck with Nancy). They turn down a street that’s closed due to construction and have to take a different route that none of them can find on the map Robin brought, and in the end it takes them an extra hour just to find their destination.
By the time they finally park the car, they’re all cranky and hungry and it’s nearly three PM. They pick the key up from the neighbor (who eyes them suspiciously and makes them promise not to throw any ragers) and drop their stuff off at the apartment, then head out for lunch, ending up at a burger joint just down the street.
“Lunch is on me,” Eddie announces. “After last night I am flush with cash for the foreseeable future.”
Steve opens his mouth to protest so Robin kicks him under the table, effectively shutting him up. She appreciates his willingness to always foot the bill but it does come across as condescending sometimes.
“So.” Eddie leans against the booth, slinging one arm over the back so it’s resting against Steve, casual enough for plausible deniability. “How are you ladies planning on spending your day in the big city?”
“We haven’t decided,” Nancy says, glancing at Robin with a hopeful smile. “But there’s this modern art exhibit close by that I wanted to check out?”
Robin’s not big on modern art but it does seem like something you should do while in the city. It’s not like Hawkins is a bustling art destination. “Sure, I’m down.”
Steve leans close to Eddie, muttering, “We’re not going, right?”
“We, my friend, are going to Camelot.” At Steve’s blank look, Eddie adds, “Camelot Music. It’s a record store.”
Steve groans. “Don’t you work in a record store?”
“Well, yeah, but we don’t have half the selection that Camelot does.” Eddie gives Steve his most winning smile. “What do you say?”
“You’re lucky I like you.”
It’s said as a joke but Eddie’s expression softens. He looks away self-consciously, clearly recognizing the incredible sappiness of the moment.
“They’re insufferable, huh?” Robin whispers to Nancy.
She grins, taking Robin’s hand underneath the table and squeezing. “The worst.”
After lunch, they head outside and decide to meet up again at the apartment in four hours.
“You girls gonna be okay?” Steve asks, which would be annoying if Robin didn’t know where the worry comes from. If they were boys, Steve would still be asking.
Robin nods. “I’ve got my whistle.”
“And I’ve got my mace,” Nancy says. At their odd looks, she adds defensively, “It was either that or the gun.”
God, they’re all paranoid freaks. Robin most of all because she’s actually kind of perturbed Nancy didn’t bring her gun.
They walk down the end of the street together before splitting up, the boys going in one direction and Nancy and Robin in the other. They go at a leisurely pace, occasionally consulting Robin’s map, shoulders knocking together and pinkies brushing as they walk much closer than they need to.
It’s kind of great, just wandering down this random street. Not that Indianapolis is all that pretty - it’s kind of grimey, to be honest - but just being outside of Hawkins feels like a breath of fresh air. There’s a giddiness bubbling under Robin’s skin, her feet tickled by the feeling of freedom, like they just performed some great escape.
She can’t hold Nancy’s hand like she really wants but she’s still out here with her girlfriend, just the two of them with no one around to recognize and scrutinize them. It’s like a little glimpse into the future, of being adults out on their own.
The thought dims Robin’s happiness a little. Will this be them in the future? Are they gonna get to be adults together or is this doomed to be some stupid teenage fling?
They reach their destination before Robin can let herself spiral too far, and as they enter the gallery she decides not to dwell. They’ll talk after this weekend - she can’t imagine anything more excruciatingly awkward than confronting Nancy and it blowing up in her face and then being stuck in with her for the next twenty-four hours.
The exhibition is not what Robin expected - it’s less Andy Warhol or Jackson Pollock and more like someone came in from the street and graffiti tagged the hell out of the place. It’s not constrained to the canvases, paint spilling out across the walls, up to the ceiling and down to the floor. In the middle of the room is a video playing on three different screens, of a woman smacking the shit out of an old TV with a golf club.
“This is kind of cool,” she whispers to Nancy.
Nancy smiles. “I’m glad you think so. I wasn’t sure - I don’t know that much about art,” she admits sheepishly. “But this seemed like the right kind of activity for this trip?”
Robin bites back a laugh. Then, in a fit of courage, she grabs Nancy’s hand and drags her to the closest exhibit. The gallery is mostly empty and no one’s looking their way - and if they do, well, they’re a couple of young girls alone in the big city. It’s an easy thing to play off as being for security’s sake.
They circle the room, whispering comments to each other about the art that neither one of them fully understands. Still, Robin feels like she kind of gets it , in a way she’s not used to with modern art. It’s an outburst of emotion, of anger and joy and outrage.
Finally, they end up at the video, which has looped back around. The TV sits whole on its stand once more, unaware of the misfortune that’s about to befall it. The woman with the golf club enters the frame and takes aim.
“She kind of looks like you,” Robin observes as the club comes down, the woman’s curly brown hair whipping around her face in slow motion.
Nancy tilts her head, squinting. “I guess so. I’m not that good with a blunt force weapon, though.”
“I don’t know, you’re pretty handy with an ore.”
Nancy bumps her with her shoulder but when Robin looks at her, she’s got a pleased smile on her lips. Robin turns back to the video, bouncing on her heels. The woman on the screen really does look like Nancy, with those dark curls, pale skin and strong jawline, though maybe a decade older.
The thought drops like a stone in Robin’s stomach, souring her mood again. Will she even know Nancy in a decade? If they break up, would they stay friends or would Nancy be out of her life for good, happy to have escaped Hawkins and everyone in it?
“You okay?”
Robin attempts a smile. She never should have brought this up with Steve, speaking it out loud has amplified the topic in her head a hundred fold. “I’m fine.”
Nancy doesn’t look convinced. “Do you wanna head out?”
“You got another item on our itinerary?”
They end up at a nearby public park, Nancy giving Robin suspicious glances from the corner of her eye as they walk, and Robin knows she’s fucked up by letting Nancy see even for a second that she’s troubled. Once Nancy thinks something’s wrong she’s like a dog with a bone. There’s no way Robin’s steering her away from the topic; she’s either gotta convincingly lie or spill the beans and Robin is not a good liar.
They walk in silence for a while and Robin looks around. This part of Indianapolis actually is pretty, a row of huge trees on one side of the walkway and a lake on the other. It’s a romantic park to take a stroll - or a beautiful place to receive devastating news.
As they reach a bridge that crosses the lake, Nancy begins to slow down and then stops just where the bridge begins. Robin shifts on her feet nervously, leaning against the railing.
“Do you wanna talk about it?” Nancy asks.
“Talk about what?”
Nancy looks unimpressed. “Whatever’s bothering you.”
Robin takes a deep breath. Shoves her hands in her pockets because if she doesn’t, she’s gonna start waving them around like a lunatic like she does every time she gets emotional.
“Do you ever think about the future?”
Nancy looks startled and, for the first time, thrown off course. “Uh, sure. Of course.”
Robin nods, mouthing ‘of course’ to herself. So she’s not being paranoid. “About us?”
There’s a too-long silence. Nancy crosses her arms, eyes downcast.
“I try to avoid it,” she finally admits.
What does that mean?
“We have fun together,” Nancy continues. “I can’t expect anything more from you at this stage.”
Robin swallows, her entire body going cold. They have fun together? That’s it?
That wasn’t it with Steve or Jonathan. Those were both serious relationships, with serious stakes. Maybe Nancy didn’t see it lasting with Steve but she tried. And she had a whole plan with Jonathan, her future shaped around him.
But Steve and Jonathan are boys.
Robin isn’t.
Holy shit. Am I an experiment?
“Robin?” Nancy reaches out, placing her hand on Robin’s elbow. “You’re upset with me.”
Robin laughs, even though nothing about this is funny. “No shit, Nance. ‘We have fun’? Glad to know where we stand.”
Nancy huffs. “Did you even listen to me?”
“Did I-?” Robin repeats, outraged. “I just repeated what you said to me, word for word.”
“I also said I can’t expect more,” Nancy says, speaking slowly like Robin’s some sort of idiot. “Not that I don’t want more. Because I do, so much that it scares me.”
Oh.
Okay, so maybe Robin is an idiot.
“You do?” she asks, hating how weak her voice sounds.
Nancy’s expression softens. “We’ve only been dating for six weeks. I can’t ask you to follow me to college or to put your love life on hold for me until we can be together again, whenever and wherever that might be.”
“I would, though,” Robin says, grabbing Nancy’s hand. “I mean, I can’t leave Hawkins yet but next year, when I’ve saved up enough money - and of course I’d put my love life on hold, not that it even existed before we started dating - not that I wouldn’t still put it on hold, even if every girl in Hawkins was throwing herself at me-”
Nancy smiles. “Even Tammy Thompson?”
“I am gonna kill Steve.”
Nancy laughs, the bright sound of it unraveling that last bit of anxiety in Robin’s chest. She looks around, making sure there’s no one in sight, then ducks down and gives Nancy a quick kiss.
When they part, Nancy is looking up at her, faint blush dusting her cheeks. She links her arm with Robin’s and they cross the bridge, step in step.
