Chapter Text
july first, nineteen ninety five
“Babe, it’s alright, I’m right here with you,” Robin whispers softly to her girlfriend.
“I know, I know, it’s stupid, I just can’t stand planes.”
“You’ve fought literal monsters. And won. I promise we’ll be okay.”
Nancy makes a face, but leans into Robin’s shoulder in an attempt to relax. Robin turns her head to kiss the other girl’s hair, the sweet smell of her conditioner wafting up her nose as she inhales.
Steve mouths something at her from across the aisle. “ What?” she mouths back, scrunching her eyebrows at him.
He rolls his eyes, pointing at Nancy. “ HOW IS SHE DOING?”
This time it’s exaggerated enough that Robin can read his lips, and she gives him a so-so gesture with the arm that isn’t wrapped around her girlfriend.
He nods sympathetically, turning back away from them.
“Dada, why Nanny sad?” Robin hears a whisper from across the aisle.
Steve chuckles. “Well, Nancy is a little bit scared of flying.”
“Why,” comes the voice again, petulantly.
Nancy looks up from her rest on Robin’s shoulder. “It’s just a silly fear, Alex, there’s nothing to be afraid of.”
The girl turns to Eddie in an accusatory question.
“Yes, yes, it’ll be fine. Besides, when we get there, you get to see all of your family.”
“Oh yeah,” Robin chimes in, “there’s all of your cousins, Lucas, Mike, Will, and Dustin.” She counts them off on her fingers as she talks.
“Dusty!” Alex exclaims, her face lighting up at the familiar name.
“Yep. Dusty. Make sure to call him that when you see him,” Steve says.
“Ha-ha, Steve, very funny,” Robin snarks (although if she’s being honest she thinks it’s funny too).
“You know who else will be there?” Nancy asks, “Max.”
Alex claps. “Name buddy Max!”
Robin raises an eyebrow at Steve.
“Oh, yeah, they both have longer girly names but go by boy names.”
“Oh, aw, that’s cute, I love that,” Robin smiles softly.
“Alright,” Eddie announces, “It is time to get you buckled up. Do you think you’re going to take a nap?”
“No!” Alex announces brightly, prompting a chuckle out of the women and a sigh out of Eddie.
She falls asleep approximately ten seconds after they take off.
Nancy isn’t as lucky, still fidgeting and gripping Robin’s hand like a vice.
“Nance. Nancy, I need you to talk to me, tell me how you’re feeling.”
Robin discovered a long time ago that most of the time Nancy just needs to talk through her feelings and logic the problem out. They fly almost every year to Hawkins, but the anxiety hasn’t gotten much better over the years.
“I just don’t like this,” she whispers.
“Okay, what don’t you like about it?”
“I don’t know.”
Robin can feel her shutting down.
“Love, it’s okay, just take your best guess, yeah?”
“I just– I can’t do anything if something goes wrong. I’m totally helpless.”
“Okay, okay, good,” Robin soothes her, “you feel out of control, yeah?”
Nancy nods, looking even smaller than usual.
“Alright, well focus on the things you can control, okay? Like your breathing.”
They’re both silent for a minute, as Robin feels Nancy’s breathing steady, watching her chest rise more slowly by the second.
“Thank you,” she whispers finally, reaching her right arm across her body to surreptitiously rest her hand on Robin’s.
“What do you mean thank you? You do the same for me on a regular basis,” Robin teases.
“Still.” Nancy squeezes her hand in a motion that means far more than words could ever say.
– – – – – – – – – – –
“Okay, Eds, you grab your suitcase and Alex’s bag, and I’ll grab Robin’s bag, if you can hold her while we walk off? We need to hurry getting out of here, okay, efficiency people.”
“Okay, mom,” Robin replies, rolling her eyes at Steve’s exasperation.
Alex giggles. “Okay, mom.”
“You are a funny one, little sparrow,” Robin says, her voice raising to an octave she resigns solely for Alex.
The toddler raises her hands to her mouth in delight.
Steve sighs, resting the back of his hand on his forehead dramatically.
Nancy shakes her head fondly at him. “Steve. We got it, alright. It’s gonna be fine.”
They land smoothly, Steve clapping his hands in applause of the pilot. Robin and Nancy turn their heads together, giggling at him softly.
“Alright, alright, I know, you just gotta keep your seatbelt on for another minute, I promise,” Eddie is soothing Alex, who is squirming in her seat.
“You know, I bet Max and El are going to play lots of games with you,” Robin says, trying to take some pressure off of the girl’s parents.
Alex looks back at her shyly.
“That’s right,” Nancy notes, “you haven’t met El yet, have you?”
She shakes her head emphatically.
“Oh, she is so fun,” Robin assures her, “she can do magic tricks .”
Alex’s eyes widen in awe, and Robin wonders how amazed she’ll be when she actually sees what El can do.
“Okay, okay, we’re here,” Steve says anxiously, his fingers tapping on the back of the seat in front of him.
“Honey, calm down,” Eddie shushes him gently.
The people in the front of the plane are getting out, and Alex is finally out of her seatbelt, now able to freely squirm and stretch in her seat as her dad keeps an eagle eye on the procession in front of them.
“Alright, let’s grab the luggage,” Steve orders. “Nugget, can you go to Robin?”
“Can I pick you up?” Robin asks her, holding out her arms in offer.
The girl nods, reaching back, and Robin hoists her up onto a hip. “Goodness, you are getting big. I can barely lift you anymore!”
She laughs, burying her face in Robin’s shoulder.
“Alright, get going!” Steve is still anxiously wrangling their group, insistent on getting them moving.
“Yeah, Birdie, get going,” Alex repeats.
Robin gasps, even as she starts walking. “Now who do you think you are to order me around like that? You’re just a little sparrow!”
Alex laughs as if it’s the funniest thing she has ever heard, throwing her head back frighteningly far with the sound.
“Alright, silly one, let’s go.”
They finally exit the plane, breathing in the fresh(ish) air of the Indianapolis airport, a relief after the claustrophobia of the plane.
“Down, down,” Alex demands.
Robin acquiesces, turning back towards her girlfriend and Steve and Eddie. Nancy is noticeably calmer now that they are off the plane, a light smile on her face as she gazes at Robin and Alex.
“Alex, come here, we have to find Max now, alright?”
Alex dutifully walks over to her dad, reaching up to hold his hand.
“GUYS!”
Robin turns to look where the voice came from, seeing a shock of bright red hair that leads her to Max Mayfield. The girl is smiling at them brightly, waving with one hand. The other is firmly clasped in El’s, who has cut her hair since the last time Robin saw her, a feathery bob and bangs. She waves shyly at them as well.
“Robin. Grab your bags, I’m not carrying this shit–stuff anymore,” Steve bitches.
“Geez, fine, sorry.”
They collectively walk towards the girls, meeting in the middle. Robin quickly drops her suitcase, pulling both of them into a tight hug. She lets go after several long seconds, smiling at them warmly with the release.
“It’s been forever, El,” Steve smiles, “we were so disappointed that you were sick when Max came to visit us over the winter.”
El smiles. “Yes, I’ve missed you guys too.”
“I was lonely without her,” Max adds with a fond grin. “And how are you, Alex?”
The girl hides behind Steve’s leg, shyly peeking out towards the others, then looking at Eddie in question.
“Go on,” he says, “they don’t bite.”
El kneels down, getting on the younger’s level. “Hi. I’m El. What’s your name?”
“Alex,” she whispers.
“Nice to meet you. Alex.”
Alex simply stares back with wide eyes.
Steve chuckles. “She’ll warm up to you. The trip has taken a bit out of her I think.”
“Oh! Yeah, of course, let’s go to the car,” Max exclaims.
– – – – – – – – – – –
“You drive a minivan?” Steve asks incredulously.
“Haha, no it’s Joyce’s dumbass,” Max replies sarcastically.
“Language!” Steve berates her.
“Oh fu–I mean, sh…oot. Shoot. That is what I meant to say.”
Robin snorts. “Nice save there kid.”
“I’m literally 24.”
“Sure you are kid,” Steve jibes.
“Hilarious guys. Really, just the epitome of humor, you two,” Max complains. “Now come on, get in the car.”
“ You’re driving?” Steve asks. “No. Nope, absolutely not. I am not trusting you with my child.”
“Jesus, I’ve had driving lessons, you know? I have my license now.”
“ No, ” Steve enunciates, staring her down, hands on his hips.
“Fine. Fine, be that way. El, you wanna drive?”
The other girl nods. “Sure. It can’t be that hard, right?”
“Excuse me, what?! ” Steve all but shouts.
El rolls her eyes. “Joking. I can drive.”
“Jesus, you kids,” Steve pinches the bridge of his nose.
Robin laughs at him shamelessly. “Get in the car, mom.”
“Yeah, mom,” Alex chimes in.
“You know at this rate she’s gonna be calling me mom? And it will be your fault Robin. Can you live with that?”
“I think I’ll be able to sleep at night.” She shuts the door behind him. “Alright Max, scooch your ass, I’m taking shotgun.”
Max protests, but then absolutely melts at Alex requesting her presence in the backseat.
Robin sighs overly loudly as she relaxes in the seat. “So Nance, Eddie, how does it feel to be all the way in the back there?”
“Great,” Nancy quips.
“Loving that I’m as far away from you as possible,” Eddie adds.
Robin blows them a kiss. “Love you guys too.”
El is… well to be quite frank she is quite a frustrating driver. It’s not like she’s dangerous or anything–far from it–she’s almost too safe. She drives at precisely the speed limit, always in the right lane, perfect with her signals. Oh well, as long as Steve’s appreciating it , Robin thinks to herself.
“So, El, you and Max really need to visit us more often! Now that you guys are in California too, and we’re only a few hours apart, we really need to get together more.”
“Yes, that sounds like fun,” El comments passively.
“Everything alright, El?” Steve questions from the back seat.
“I’m sorry, I’m just a little bit nervous about seeing Mike again. He’s driving down tomorrow.”
“Oh, why are you nervous?” Nancy asked, sounding concerned.
“Well, we’ve been broken up for years now, but I finally realized a few years ago that I don’t like boys at all. I sort of told him, last Fourth of July–which after everything that happened with him and Will–well he didn’t take it all that well. He didn’t say anything mean, but I could tell that he was upset that I never loved him. Or, really I never truly loved him romantically–because I did love him, in a way. I don’t know. It was weird.”
“Wait, hold on, what was everything last year?” Steve asks, confused.
“Oh, right,” Max says, “I forgot you guys couldn’t come last year because of Alex.”
“Steve, I already explained this to you,” Robin butts in.
“Yeah, well I was a little bit sleep deprived at that point Robin .”
“ Well ,” Max interludes, “Will casually mentioned that he was dating someone, which led to lots of questions, and eventually he said he was dating a guy. Some musician he had met through an art friend–I don’t know.”
“Hold on,” Eddie interrupts, “Will came out to everyone ? As in Mike everyone?”
“ Yes, ” Robin says, frustratedly, “Once again, I told you this already.”
“Half of us knew he was gay anyways,” Max continues, and everyone in the car makes sounds of assent. “It was really just Mike who didn’t know, because Will always felt like it would make things weird to come out to him. But anyways, everyone was really happy for him of course, so we asked lots of questions about this boy and whatnot. Mike, however, was a little bitch about it–sorry Nancy, but it’s true.”
“Oh no, I totally agree, keep going.”
“Yeah, so he was being really weird about it, and sort of interrogating Will.”
“It really was an interrogation,” Robin clarifies, “I would know, I’ve been there.”
“ Anyways , they ended up going off and having some sort of fight, and they weren’t talking when they came back. I still have no idea what they talked about honestly.”
“Is Will… over Mike then? If he has a boyfriend now?” Eddie asks from behind them.
“He’s not,” El replies softly. “He actually broke up with the boyfriend a little while after the last Fourth of July. I don’t think Will can just ‘get over’ Mike.”
“Oh. Wow,” Nance says quietly.
“Fun,” Max adds sarcastically.
“Well, let’s just try not to think about that and have fun, right guys?” Steve says in an attempt to bring up the mood. “It is Alex’s first Fourth of July with everyone, after all, right?”
“Yeah, right. Of course,” Max agrees, everyone else making various noises of assent.
“How much longer?” Alex whispers loudly.
“Just about half an hour, nugget,” Steve mollifies her.
“Good, I have to pee,” Eddie complains.
“You didn’t go at the airport?” Nancy berates him.
“I didn’t have to go then Nancy.”
“Okay,” Nance replies with a sigh, not bothering to argue any further.
They catch up for the remainder of the drive, chatting amongst themselves. El tells them all about her idea to write a book about her experiences as Eleven (disguised as a fantasy novel, of course). Max talks about how she’s gotten into gardening, and how with their new house they have a great yard for growing vegetables (Nancy is quite interested in this although Robin’s fairly certain that there isn’t room for them to grow anything in their small LA apartment).
They finally pull up to the Byers’s house around 5 PM, the July sun still high in the sky. Every time Robin visits, she is stuck by the sheer size of the place. Joyce had managed to negotiate with the government after Vecna, receiving a sizable payment that she and Hopper immediately used to build a beautiful house for themselves in Hawkins.
Speaking of Joyce, the woman comes running out of the house as El parks, her barely graying hair tossed haphazardly in a loose ponytail, looking like the absolute embodiment of home.
“Robin!” she says, as she’s the first one to step out of the car, “Oh, I missed you so much, come here, darling.” The shorter woman pulls Robin into a tight hug, before pulling back to look her in the face.
“Oh, you look lovely, dear, how is everything?”
“Good, yeah it’s really good. Lots of babysitting for those ones,” she gestures back at Steve and Eddie who are now out of the car, leaving Max to unbuckle Alex as they get their suitcases from the trunk.
“Oh, yes, come here, boys, it’s been far too long,” Joyce gestures at the boys to come in for a hug, and they happily consent, practically enveloping her with their tall frames.
“And I hear there’s someone else for me to meet, yes?” she adds, glancing towards the backseat of the car.
“Steve,” Max calls, “help me with this goddamn contraption. Please.”
“Ah, glad to see those manners are still there,” Steve sighs before going to help the girl wrangle the carseat.
Joyce laughs, giving Nancy a warm hug as well, murmuring a soft greeting.
“Alright, Alex, say hello to Grandma Joyce.”
Alex hides behind Steve’s leg once again, but peeks out to wave at the woman shyly, an almost smile on her face.
“Why hello there, Alex. Do you by any chance like cookies?”
Alex nods enthusiastically, her eyes getting large in wonder.
“Well, I just so happen to have just made a big batch!” Joyce says with a motherly smile.
“Oh shit, you’re going to spoil her rotten, aren’t you,” Eddie shakes his head fondly.
“You bet I am, dear.”
She reaches out to Alex, who eagerly grabs her hand, the promise of cookies making any leftover shyness evaporate, and leads her inside, gesturing for the adults to follow them.
The house smells delicious as they step in, chocolate and burnt sugar filling the air in a cloud of sweetness.
“Okay, so Will and Jonathan are around here somewhere, and Hop is at work, but today’s his last day before he takes off for the holiday–oh and there’s Will,” she says as they step into the kitchen where said boy stands at the counter eating a cookie off of the tray that Joyce has obviously prepared for everyone.
He covers his mouth with his hand as he sees everyone, greeting them with a muffled voice. “Oh, hi guys.”
“Will, my man!” Robin says excitedly, going to give him a fist bump. “How’s everything going?”
They catch up while eating too many of Joyce’s cookies as she prepares dinner, Steve offering to help but being turned down, with Joyce’s insistence that he needs to rest after the day of travel. Jonathan stops in to say hi, awkwardly shifting on his feet as he talks to the group. Although he’s shy, they don’t mind him–and while they aren’t close with him like they are with each other, they get along alright. Robin certainly felt incredibly awkward around him directly after Nance broke up with him, but since then he’s grown on her.
Hopper arrives in time for dinner of pasta and garlic bread, and this time Steve is successful in convincing Joyce to let him help with the dishes. Nancy joins him at the sink, while Robin, Eddie, and the kids entertain Alex before bed.
El is currently levitating some balls around Alex’s head, while the toddler stares on in wonder.
Robin tosses a stuffed animal at the older girl. “Here, do this one now.”
El shakes her head in affection, lowering the balls to the floor to make the stuffed giraffe float around the room. Alex chases after it, giggling as El keeps it just out of reach, grabbing at the toy with chubby arms until El finally relents, letting her tumble with a sigh into whoever’s lap is the nearest. It happens to be Will, who looks absolutely helpless with the child, awkwardly patting her on the back as Max practically falls over laughing at him.
Steve comes swooping in to save the day, much to Will’s visible relief. “Alright, kiddo, time for bed, let’s go get those PJs on.”
“I wanna story,” she complains, wiggling in Steve’s arms.
“Yeah, alright, come on, let’s go, I’ll read you a story.”
“No. I want them.” She points to Max, El, and Will stubbornly as she speaks.
Steve looks at them, pleading in his eyes, and they nod quickly, getting to their feet.
Eddie seems to notice his boyfriend's exhaustion, standing up. “Babe, here, I can take her, you relax, yeah?”
He takes the offer easily, collapsing onto the couch as the small group walks off.
“You want a beer, Steve?” Hopper asks, walking into the room nursing one of his own.
“Oh, yes, I will take you up on that,” Steve replies gratefully.
“I’ll take one too, if you don’t mind,” Robin adds with a raise of her hand.
“Got it, two beers. Nancy, anything for you?”
“I’m good, thank you though,” she responds lazily, leaning into Robin’s shoulder.
A few hours later, everyone–including Nancy at this point–is tipsy, when Steve comes up with the wonderful idea of playing a game of spoons. Hopper and Joyce have already retired to their bedroom, (as well as Jonathan to his), and the group is now sprawled about the floor of the Byers’s basement.
“This is such a bad idea. I am so in,” Robin says, the others agreeing unanimously.
Once the game is set up and a fair amount of trash talking (mainly between Steve and Max) has occurred, they start.
Nancy is the first to draw cards, then Robin, all the way around the circle ending with Eddie at garbage.
Nancy is fast as fuck at this game, placing cards next to Robin faster than she can pick them up, leaving Max next to her waiting to practically grab the card out of her hand everytime she goes to set it down. She ends up going for twos, and a few minutes into the game finds herself with three, making things significantly easier, as most cards she can just glance at and set down.
Out of the corner of her eye, she sees Max’s hand dart out towards the middle of the circle. Practically by instinct, she snatches a spoon of her own. Chaos ensues, shrieks of laughter filling the room, until eventually Eddie is left the only one without a spoon.
“Hah! Loser,” Steve shouts, a finger pointed in his boyfriend’s face. “You know what this means right? You. Suck.”
Eddie smirks back at him. “I’m sure we could arrange that, princess .”
“Ewwww,” Will groans, and quite frankly, Robin has to agree with him.
Eddie sighs, moving to sit behind Steve, wrapping his lanky limbs around the other man’s body like a backpack. “Fine, fine, I’ll get out of your stupid little circle.”
“Alright, alright, Robin you start this time,” Max rolls her eyes, “and you better hurry it the fuck up.”
Robin sends a false glare her way, dealing the cards as slowly as possible. She speeds up after a nudge of annoyance from her girlfriend, finally starting the round off slightly quicker, as per Max’s request.
This round ends when Steve tries–and fails–to inconspicuously reach for a spoon, immediately sparking everyone else to grab their respective spoons, leaving Will behind.
As everyone goes to return their cards, Eddie clears his throat. “Wait, Steve, why don’t you show everyone your cards.”
Steve glancing over his shoulder, clearly confused, but fans out his cards anyways.
“Steve, you dumbass, that is three nines and a six,” Nancy groans, hitting him in the chest with the back of her hand.”
“Ah. Oops, that it is, that it is,” Steve blushes, a hand coming up to pinch his brow.
“Wait, so am I back in now?” Will asks bemusedly.
“I don’t know,” Robin scratches her head, “Are you?”
“Um, yes!” Max exclaims as if it’s the most obvious thing in the world. “And Steve’s definitely out now.” She gives him a stern look as she says it.
Steve simply holds up his hands in surrender. “Yeah, yeah I’m not gonna fight you on that.”
The next round, Nancy discreetly grabs her spoon, leaving the rest of them playing for a full 30 seconds before Robin realizes that there are only three spoons left in the middle of the circle, and Will gets out for real this round.
“Just the girls left now,” Max smirks as El deals out everyone’s cards.
“Shithead,” Steve mutters under his breath, causing Nancy to slap him on the chest with an eye roll.
Robin finds herself starting the round with two queens, quickly picking up a third about 20 seconds into the game. A minute later, she finds herself with all four cards she needs.
“Hey Nance,” she murmurs softly.
“What,” the other woman barely looks up from her cards.
Robin reaches across Nancy’s body to guide her cheek so that they are facing each other, leaning in for a heavy kiss, startling a sound of surprise out of Nancy, which Robin counters with a soft sigh into the other woman’s lips. All the while, she reaches with her left hand to cross her body and grab a spoon, depending on Nancy being too caught up in the kiss to notice.
Nancy pulls back after barely a second, having overcome her initial surprise. Too late–El and Max have already grabbed their respective spoons, leaving Nancy the only one without one.
“You bitch!” she gasps, “That is definitely cheating.”
Robin raises her hands, “Hey it’s spoons. Anything goes.”
“She’s right,” Max nods, a clearly fake look of sympathy on her lips.
Nancy shakes her head halfheartedly. “Fine, but don’t think I’ll forget this.”
“Oh, I’m counting on it,” Robin smirks.
Will groans at the implication, while Nancy simply smiles in amusement.
“Alright, enough flirting, let’s get on with this,” Max rolls her eyes.
“Okay, wait, do I deal again?” Robin asks.
“Yup.”
Nancy lays down on the floor, her head in Robin’s lap, making it quite hard to concentrate. Even as they begin to play, Robin finds herself pausing every so often to caress her girlfriend’s hair (much to Max’s chagrin).
Out of the corner of her eye, Robin spots movement, and jerks her head up to find that one of the spoons appears to be slightly displaced from the middle of the circle. She looks at El accusatorially, but the younger woman is all doe eyes and false innocence.
Robin raises an eyebrow, but keeps playing. A few seconds later, the spoon has definitely moved, but Max seems to notice at the same time, and as El snatches the spoon she has been manipulating, Robin and Max both lunge for the remaining spoon, reaching it at the same time.
Robin tries to yank it towards her, but the redhead across from her stays strong, pulling back.
“Oh shit, shit! My hands are sweaty,” Robin cries, all the while trying to put her full body weight into pulling.
She fails, Max pulling the spoon out of her hands suddenly, leaving her falling back into Nancy.
Luckily Nance is able to catch her easily, laughing all the while.
“Hey, don’t laugh, I’m clumsy, you know that!”
“Oh yes, I remember,” Nancy laughs (still), pulling her close in a loving embrace. “Didn’t walk at the same time as all the other babies, I know.”
Robin playfully hits her on the arm, but cuddles into the other woman’s warmth.
“Gather round! Tis the final championship of SPOONS!” Max announces dramatically.
Various eye rolls ensue, but eventually everyone gathers around as Max deals out cards to herself and her girlfriend.
“You guys have to choose who to root for,” Max orders them indignantly.
“How are we–” Steve starts, but is broken off by a glare from Max. “Jesus, okay, I’m just gonna root for Max in fear that she’ll kill me if I don’t”
“El literally has magic powers, I’m more worried about her killing me,” Eddie disagrees, separating from his boyfriend to sit behind El.
“Yeah I’m with Eddie on that one,” Nancy moves as well.
“You guys have clearly never seen an angry Max,” Robin retorts. “I have seen her beat people with that cane.
Max smirks. “It’s true.”
Will stays neutral, sitting between the two groups and offering to be a judge.
“Okay, let’s get a move on ladies,” Steve gestures at them to hurry up.
Max flips him off over her shoulder, but begins all the same.
This one takes far longer than the others, and ends fairly anticlimactically with Max snatching the spoon as soon as she gets four threes. Steve and Robin cheer for her halfheartedly, although they are clearly tired even though it’s only just after 10.
“Max. Let’s show everyone to their rooms now,” El says softly, when her girlfriend is done celebrating.
“Yeah, okay, okay, someone help me up, I’m feeling lazy,” she complains.
Steve and Robin step up to the task, each grabbing one of Max’s arms and pulling her up. Will hands her her cane, but she brushes him off.
“Can you just carry it up for me, El?”
The other girl nods. “Okay, we set Alex up in Joyce’s office earlier, and you guys are staying in your normal bedrooms.”
“Sweet,” Robin nods. “Thanks guys.”
– – – – – – – – – – –
Robin falls asleep, as she always does, wrapped in Nancy’s arms, pulling the smaller woman to her chest possessively as if she can’t stand to let her go. She tends to sleep peacefully nowadays, the nightmares slowing to barely once a month in the past few years. The weeks of tumultuous sleep and nightly dreams are simply a faded memory now–although that doesn’t make the nightmares that do occur any less terrifying.
Tonight, she sleeps peacefully, until she doesn’t, waking in a start and unsure why. The room is pitch black, and for a second she forgets where she is, accustomed to the dim fairy lights that Nancy insists they turn on every night.
As she orients herself slowly, she realizes that Nancy has rolled away from her, and when Robin places a hand on the other woman’s back, her hand comes away clammy, damp with a cold sweat.
Shit. Shit, shit shit.
Nancy has gone two whole months without a nightmare now, and Robin feels taken aback, frozen in place for a second before she is spurred into action.
“Nancy,” she says softly, “Hey, it’s me, Robin. I need you to wake up now. Nancy.” As she speaks, she reaches beside her to turn on a light, then moving her hand to Nancy’s back, rubbing in slow gentle motions.
Now that the light is on, Robin can see that the smaller woman is facing away from her, curled up in a fetal position, as if she’s trying to protect herself from something. She jolts suddenly, awakening from her sleep, breathing heavily, and tears starting to roll down her face.
“Nancy. Nancy, look at me. It’s me, alright. We’re at Joyce’s for the fourth of July, yeah? Look at my eyes. What color are my eyes, Nance?”
“Blue,” she replies through a choked sob.
“That’s right, they’re blue. Look, we have the lights on, they aren’t flickering, I’m here. I’m here, Nancy.”
“You’re here,” Nancy repeats, her breathing steadying as she grounds herself in reality once more.
“That’s right, good. Are you okay?”
She rubs her eyes. “Nightmare. It’s been–it’s been so long, I thought maybe…”
“I know,” Robin frowns softly, “I know. Which one was it this time?”
“The one where Alex is taken,” Nancy’s voice cracks as she pushes the words out of her mouth.
Robin has to close her eyes for a second, feeling the other woman’s pain viscerally. “She’s safe. Do you want to go look at her? That helps sometimes, right?”
Nancy nods, shooting a grateful look in her direction before lacing their fingers together.
Robin leads them out of the room, into the office where Hopper has set up an air mattress for the young girl. She’s sleeping soundly, tucked gently into the blankets, her chest rising and falling in a slow, steady rhythm.
“Okay?” Robin whispers.
“Okay,” Nancy replies, sounding relieved.
All the same, Nancy leans on her as they walk back to their room, clinging to her as they lie down.
She hums against Robin’s chest, a comforting feeling. “I’m okay now. Really, love. I have you.”
“You have me,” Robin agrees, pulling her in closer.