Chapter Text
MAY 1986
...
Robin has a smile on her face as she enters the store. Her last day of high school is over and done with, and all that's left is the ceremony on Tuesday and her regular shifts at Family Video with Steve. With her, Steve, Keith, and a little sophomore pushover being the only employees, there's no policy saying she has to go in through the back before her shift. This means she often comes storming through the front double doors, always greeted by Steve, who is generally bored working by himself or, god forbid, with Keith. This time, however, he isn't just bored. He looks miserable, and Robin prepares herself for a Steve rant.
"Hey, Steve."
"Robin, thank god." He slumps against the front desk counter. "Kill me. Kill me now. Go to Nancy's house, grab one of her guns, come back here, and shoot me in the head."
Robin snorts. He's obviously not serious. "Jesus, what crawled up your ass and died?"
"I had the worst date of my entire life last night, Rob."
She jumps onto the counter, noting the lack of customers in the store, and slides back onto the old carpeted floor on the other side to clock in. "Which was this one?"
"Tracy."
"Right. She came in after breaking up with her boyfriend a couple days ago."
Steve nods, finally lifting his head from the counter to turn and lean against it. It's definitely digging into his back, but he doesn't mind too much. "She was pushy, and she seemed to think I'm, like, flush with cash, despite the fact that I work here. And she was rude to the waiter. God, it was just thing after thing after thing." He counts off his fingers. "And then she invited herself back to my house. I didn't want to be rude, so I let her hang out for a minute, but something about her just, like, really bugged me. So I told her I had an early shift, which was true, and I had to get to bed, like a little kid, and then I drove her home. She kept hinting at us going on another date, but I just pretended like I didn't understand until she dropped it."
"Wow. Yeah, that sounds pretty bad."
"Yep. I really hope she doesn't come back and try again anytime soon, but I wouldn't be surprised."
"Based on everything you just said? Yeah, she'll probably show up again at some point. The good news is that I'm officially done with school, so I'll be here a lot more often. Maybe I can help field any potential bad interactions with her."
"Oh, yeah, that's right! How was your last day?"
"So boring I considered banging my head against one of the desks just to feel something."
"Has anything happened with Vickie, yet?"
Robin quickly glances around the store again, just to double check that she won’t be overheard. "Nope." She pops the 'p.' "Nothing. I thought maybe she was flirting with me today, but she was probably just being nice because girls are just nice!"
Steve frowns and slides closer to her behind the counter. "Walk me through it. A second pair of ears might help."
She sighs heavily, like the weight of the world is on her shoulders. "Okay, so we're cleaning up the band room 'cause we have to every year on the last day, and she and I just happen to bump into each other right before the last bell, right?" Steve nods. "And we just start chatting, except, of course, everything I say comes out as a jumbled mess, but she's nice about it. She doesn't call me weird or look upset or confused or anything, so I figure that's a good sign at least, right?" He nods again. "And then I ask her what she's doing over the summer. She says she wants to really enjoy the nice weather, maybe go swimming, just in case the weather's bad at Ohio State, which is the college she's going to."
"Did we already know that?"
"We did not. So I say, 'That's cool, I'm going there, too!' and she seems happy about that. Like, she's smiling, and we're still talking, so that's promising. But of course I can't stop running my goddamn mouth at every opportunity, and I say we should meet up sometime, maybe we could even study together or just go for coffee or really anything. She says, and I quote, 'I'd like that. See you around, Robin.' And she smiles again and walks away like right as the bell rings. It was a really weird coincidence. So, what do you think?"
Steve sits in silence for a moment, clearly thinking his response through. It's a tough one, what can he say? "Honestly, that could go either way. It could've been a friendly 'I like hanging out with you,' but it also could have been a flirty 'I can't wait to see you again.' It's tricky."
"Exactly! Ugh!" Robin groans and yanks big pieces of her hair across her face as if to hide from the world. "Why can't this just be easy? Why can't I just know if she likes girls or not? That would help so much. Cause then, even if she doesn't like me, I'd have so much less to worry about."
"If it makes you feel any better, you're not the only one with dating troubles."
"Yeah, yeah, I know. Tracy sucks."
"Not just Tracy, though. I mean, how many dates do I have to go on, and how many people do I have to flirt with before I find someone I actually like?"
"At least you can ask them out. I can't even do that."
Steve laughs once and shakes his head. "Yeah, not always. Like, the other night, before Tracy, obviously, I must have flirted with this guy for an hour, and nothing. Not a hint of whether he was interested or not. I didn't get his number or anything. He walked out of the store with one of my recommendations, but that was it. I mean, he was really friendly, but he didn’t really flirt back or anything. And that's not even close to the first time that's happened. It's just, like, what am I doing wrong?"
"Probably nothing. You know, some people just don't realize it when they're being flirted with."
"I guess. I don't know, it's just really frustrating when all I want is--"
Robin drops the tape in her hands, finally catching up with what Steve is saying. "A guy?"
Steve furrows his eyebrows. "Uh, yeah, and it was extra unfortunate because he was hot. So hot I was weak in the knees, if I'm being totally honest." He chuckled a little.
"Wha-- You-- I--"
"Robin? Did you OD over there?" He laughs a little, but he’s, frankly, just confused as to what Robin is freaking out about.
Suddenly, she snaps out of it, picks up the tape she dropped, "You never told me you like guys!" and starts whacking him on the shoulder in between each word. "Why," smack "wouldn't," smack "you," smack "tell," smack "me," smack "that?"
"Ow, ow, ow! Quit it!" Steve tries to slap her away, but she’s unrelenting, so he shields his precious hair, which is already a bit screwy from him trying to avoid her. "I thought you knew! It's not like I was hiding it!"
She stops and exhales harshly. "How would I know? You've only ever shown interest in girls! I mean, boobies is practically your favorite word!"
"So you want me to talk about dick with my lesbian best friend? Boobies just happen to be a common interest for us!"
The front doorbell chimes as Steve finishes his sentence, and a customer walks in to see Robin still wielding the VHS over Steve's poorly protected head. "Hi, welcome to Family Video," Steve says behind his arms.
With a smile, Robin adds, "Let us know if we can help you with anything!" The second the customer is out of earshot, Robin whisper-yells at Steve again. "Why didn’t you tell me?"
"To be honest, I didn't think it was that big of a deal."
"Not that big of a--" Robin drops her head on the counter with a loud ‘thunk.’ Steve cringes at the sound. "Steve. You didn’t think maybe when I told you about Tammy Thompson that I could have used something like that? Knowing it wasn't just me?"
"Oh." Steve frowns and finally drops his arms. "Yeah, I guess that probably would've helped, sorry. I don't know, I just kind of figured that's why you told me. Like obviously I wouldn't react badly since I like both. Cause otherwise you could have just rejected me the usual way. I may have been an asshole, but I wouldn't keep trying after you said no, you know?"
"But I didn't know that, Steve."
And isn't that a little stab to Steve's heart. "Right. That's fair." It's not like he blames her for that, that would be idiotic. He just wishes he could have changed things earlier.
"Hey, listen. I understand." She can’t stand the kicked puppy look he’s obviously trying to hide. It's not like she wants him to know how much she didn't trust him at first, but it’s really just how she feels about most guys. It doesn’t even have anything to do with his whole 'King Steve' shtick. "I'm not actually mad or something dumb like that. I'm just surprised. I think it's really cool that we have this in common, okay?"
She places her hand on his shoulder and squeezes. A smile slowly spreads across Steve's face. "Yeah, okay. Sorry I didn't think to tell you." It's just… He doesn’t understand why it’s such a big deal. It can’t be that rare to like both, right? If Bowie can be bi, then wouldn't that mean other people can be, too? After all, why limit yourself when everyone's hot?
Steve can tell that Robin has noticed the gears turning in his head. He doesn't quite know how to explain that they’re stuck, and he isn’t sure how to get them unstuck either. Thankfully, she doesn’t pry. She knows he'll come to her as soon as he feels it’s right. And if it’s urgent, she would be hearing about it right now. There's no way in hell she would force it out of him. No, she respects him and his boundaries, but if he doesn’t get his shit together pretty quickly, she might be considering dragging him over to Eddie's to get him high and let the truth flow right out. But that’s a last resort.
"And, hey, now that I know you like guys, maybe I can give you some tips."
Steve just gives her a look that can only be described as incredulous confusion, which is fair. "How on earth could you give me tips on flirting with guys?"
"I've had some experience trying to get guys to stop flirting with me. Not a lot, but some. Anyway, it's pretty easy for me to tell at this point when a man is flirting. I can just let you know if I notice someone reciprocating what you're putting on the table."
Steve nods. "Do you think there's anything I should be doing differently? Like, should I be more blunt or something?"
Robin shakes her head furiously. "No. Absolutely not. Don't do that. Please, for your own sake, Steve, be subtle." Don't get yourself hurt. Emotionally or otherwise. "As much as it pains me to admit, you're not bad at flirting, but things are different with guys."
He sighs. "I guess that makes sense."
The bell chimes again, and the two of them turn to see Eddie waltzing in with a smile on his face. "How are my favorite video store employees?" In the rare warm weather, he has forgone his usual leather jacket in favor of a very distressed Iron Maiden t-shirt, but his usual ripped jeans are still plastered to his legs.
Robin smiles back at him, a little too sickeningly sweet. "We hate everything. How are you?"
"Well, Buckley," he walks up to the counter and jumps onto it, swinging his legs like a child, "I am great. Fantastic. Stellar." Robin catches Steve rolling his eyes and fighting a smile out of the corner of her eye. "I, just like you, Bugs, have finally finished my very last day of high school. For real, this time. I'm done, I'm out, I'm free!" If it wasn't clear enough from his overjoyed tone, he throws his hands up in the air and flops backwards fully on the counter, directly in front of Steve and Robin. The customer that came in before Eddie glances at them with a look of contempt and leaves the store quickly.
"Congrats, man," Steve squeezes Eddie's exposed knee, and Robin's eyes widen because, really, what the fuck? Steve seems to have the same thought and rips his hand away like Eddie's skin is radioactive. Somehow, he recovers incredibly quickly. "You're going to the graduation ceremony next week, right?"
"Honestly? I haven't decided yet. I'm tempted to just grab my diploma as quickly as possible, not even wait for my name to be called, and immediately get the hell out of dodge. Are you guys going?"
They nod in unison. "My mom wants a million pictures of the whole thing, and Steve will be there to prevent me from impaling myself. And then he’s gonna buy me dinner because I'm a real adult now." She grins and ignores Steve's glare. He had not, in fact, agreed to buying her dinner, but she knows he won’t mind, no matter how much he might complain.
"You're welcome to come with us," Steve offers. "Can't promise we'll be as fun as your weird friends, but I'll pay for your dinner, too." Robin raises her eyebrows, and Steve pointedly does not make eye contact with her. "A little 'Happy Graduation' thing for both of you."
Eddie drops his hands dramatically over his heart. "Oh, Stevie, you're gonna kill me. Buying me dinner? What a gentleman!"
To Steve's credit, his ears only tint a light pink at the nickname that rolls off of Eddie’s tongue. "Y'know, I could just shove you onto the floor instead. No skin off my back."
"You wouldn't do that to little ol' me, sweetheart." Eddie sits up and leans in close, his face just inches from Steve's. Robin can’t stop glancing back and forth between them, her mouth open in shock, because, again, what the fuck? What is actually happening right now? Has this always been happening, and I just didn’t notice it?
"Try me, Munson. Get your ass off my counter." The twinkle in his eye betrays his otherwise stony demeanor, and Eddie's grin grows even wider.
"Anything you say, sweetheart." He jumps off and strolls over to the horror section, presumably to look for something cheesy and gross, as is his usual movie-watching style, and acts as if that was an everyday occurrence.
Robin gawks at Steve the second Eddie isn’t looking in their direction anymore, but Steve doesn’t acknowledge her. She knows his tells, and that’s one of them. "Steve."
"Yeah?" She watches the blush spread from his ears to his cheeks as his eyes follow Eddie through the store.
"Steve."
He sighs and looks over at her, narrowing his eyes when he sees the thoughtful look on her face that just so happens to be accompanied by a shit-eating grin. "Oh no. What is it?"
She nods toward a spot in the store behind him. Steve swivels around to see Eddie still browsing. Confused, he turns back with a frown on his face. "I don't understand."
Robin rolls her eyes. "Eddie," she whispers.
"What about Eddie?"
"He just flirted with you."
Steve scoffs and reaches down below the desk for the bin of returns. "That was not flirting."
"Steve, come on. It totally was! You and Eddie dance around each other like children. I can’t believe I didn't see it before. You both flirt with each other constantly."
"That is not true." He gulps and refuses to look her in the eyes, just staying focused on his stack of VHS tapes.
"No, you're right. I don't think you really flirt with him. Not on purpose, at least. But he does. He literally just did."
"What? Robin, that's ridiculous."
"Okay." She pulls the bin away from him, to which he just purses his lips in frustration. "Have you noticed the way you act around him?" She nods in Eddie's direction once again.
"No?"
"You get nervous."
"I do not!"
"You stumble over your words and ramble a little, just like I do literally all the time. You try to be confident, like you are with girls most of the time, but you get all flustered."
"I do not get flustered."
"You so do. And! Who gave you their vest when you almost died in the Upside Down?"
"Eddie, but--"
"And where is that vest now?"
Steve's face pales slightly. "Uh--"
"I know for a fact Eddie doesn't have it because he used to wear it every day. And he hasn't asked for it back, likely because he's into you."
Steve shakes his head, but the blush just keeps spreading. "I doubt that."
"Babe, I love you, but you seriously need to open your eyes. Now that I know you like guys, that opens up a whole other world." He raises an annoyed eyebrow at her. "A world that includes the possibility of you," she grabs a VHS, "and Eddie." She picks up a second one in her other hand and slaps them together. Loudly.
Steve yanks both tapes out of her hands and frantically looks around to make sure Eddie wasn’t watching them. "There is no 'me and Eddie.'"
"Not yet."
"Not ever, Rob."
"Why not?"
"Because there just isn't, okay?"
"Are you saying that because you don't like Eddie like that? Or are you scared? Or are you just trying to get me to stop talking about it because you're not sure yet and I’m making you freak out a little?"
"The last one," he says honestly.
She nods. "Okay, I can accept that. But we will definitely be discussing this more at a later date."
"I really don't think that's necessary."
"I think it is because I know you, and if we don't talk about it, you might never let yourself think about the potential of you and-- Eddie, hey!"
Steve spins around on his heels, as does Robin, to greet their friend with an odd grin. It’s clear they’re hiding something, but Eddie just raises his eyebrows, backs up a step, and sets his movie on the counter. "You guys good?" He doesn’t seem to have heard their conversation, and for that Robin is immensely grateful. As much as she loves giving him shit, she'd never forgive herself if she had outed Steve like that.
"Yeah!" she says a bit too loud. "Yeah, everything's good."
"So good. Like… really good."
Idiot. She kicks him in the ankle. It’s so much worse knowing she acts the same around Vickie. And a little around Nancy, but she will never let herself think about that one. That breaks some kind of code, right? Liking your best friend's ex? And that's why she absolutely does not have feelings for Nancy. She prefers to keep pining over Vickie because at least that has exactly no chance of hurting Steve.
"Ow! Fuck, Rob, what's your--"
"Anyway!" She cuts him off with a glare and starts ringing Eddie up, waiving the usual rental fee because it’s Eddie. "Find anything good?" Robin asks, glancing at the cover of Creepshow. It’s not one she’s ever seen before.
He nods slowly. "Listen, if you guys are gonna talk shit about me, you probably shouldn't do it while I'm here." He smirks, clearly joking, but there’s a hint of worry in his narrowed eyes and shaky voice.
Steve rolls his eyes, a frequent act around both Eddie and Robin. And Dustin, but Robin figures that’s pretty fitting. "You think that highly of yourself, huh, Munson? Don't you think we have other things to talk about?"
"Sure, but those all fly out of your heads when I walk into a room. Especially yours, Stevie." He gives Steve a wink, and Steve is pretty sure he feels his heart skip a beat.
Thankfully, Robin won't leave her best friend to flail about for a response. He’s just standing there, struggling to even make a noise. "We'll see you Tuesday?"
"Absolutely, Buckley. And, uh," he chuckles at Steve's obvious internal panic, "tell Stevie over here, once he's coherent again, that dessert is also required. I think three senior years deserves a bit more than just dinner. Am I right, Bugs?"
She smirks. "Sounds fantastic."
"See ya." He salutes the two of them as he leaves, chains on his jeans jingling out of the otherwise silent store.
"So," Robin tilts her head at Steve, "you sure you don't have a crush on him?"
"Oh my god, I'm so fucked."