Chapter Text
The Wheelers' house was absolutely packed. Not with fifteen year olds, for once, although they were here somewhere (probably holed up in the basement, Robin realized, wishing she had thought of that herself.) It was packed instead with Wheelers Robin had never seen before, and relatives from Nancy's mom's side, and classmates Robin had barely interacted with in the twelve years they'd gone to school together, and those classmates' parents.
It felt a little gauche to throw a graduation party after everything that had happened that spring, but it seemed like a lot of people were all too happy to be attending a social event that wasn't a funeral or a wake. Frankly, it was hard to blame them. Except that this party was terrible.
Steve was deep in conversation with somebody's mother or aunt (moms loved Steve Harrington, it was infuriating) probably trying to get fixed up with a distant Wheeler cousin, unless he was opening his dating pool up to 40-somethings, which might be a wise move given he had to be close to having asked out every girl his age in Hawkins by now. Either way it was depressing.
Robin scanned the crowd for anybody else she knew, but came up empty besides Ted Wheeler, who was probably the only person more out of his element in this party than she was. That was a non-starter.
Nancy was in a corner, talking to two adults Robin didn't recognize. She was the guest of honor, after all, everybody wanted to talk to her. Everybody always wanted to talk to Nancy, really. But today they all had an excuse, and Robin figured she would get her chance tomorrow or whenever Nance came into Family Video.
She decided to make her move for the basement door, just as Nancy caught her eye. She had that tight smile and wide eyed expression which in Robin's experience usually meant "Rescue me, Robin will not stop talking" but this time Nancy appeared to be asking Robin to do the rescuing. Robin pointed at herself and raised her eyebrows, and Nancy's eyes got even wider somehow in the affirmative.
If anybody had been keeping a tally board of all of the times Robin said 'no' to Nancy Wheeler, well, there was no need. She hadn't ever and she couldn't ever and didn't ever especially want to.
"Sorry to interrupt, um-" Robin said, sidling up between Nancy and whoever these people were. Looking down into Nancy's face to make sure she wasn't misreading the situation. She wasn't, she was pretty sure. "I was hoping you would, uh, sign my yearbook? It's uh, over there." she said, pointing to a relatively empty corner by the stairs.
"Oh, of course!" Nancy answered, taking Robin by the arm before turning back to the people she had been talking to. Just a finger and a thumb, pinching right below her elbow. Holding on for dear life. "If you'll just excuse me, sorry!"
"I don't actually have a yearbook," Robin mumbled through her teeth as she and Nancy snuck away in plain sight.
"No kidding? You don't keep your yearbook on my parents' coat rack? You really had me convinced," Nancy gritted out, pulling them into the corner, leaning against the wall, apparently trying to use Robin as a human shield against any more small talk from distant relatives.
"Hey man, cut me some slack. Last time you needed me to do subterfuge you wrote me a resume and concocted an entire alias, complete with a makeover, however soul-crushing and boob-pinching it might have been. This time all I had to go on was-" Robin attempted an exaggerated impression of Nancy's facial expression. Emboldened by Nancy's quiet laugh, she continued, "I guess a 'Thank you, Robin' is out of the question, maybe a 'Once again your quick thinking and undeniable charisma has rescued us from the brink of certain calamity-'"
"Okay, I get it," Nancy said, smiling. Surprised, maybe, to be smiling. "Thank you, sincerely, for rescuing me from that conversation. I don't even know those people."
"Oh my God, so it's not just me?" Robin laughed. "I have never seen almost any of these people in my entire life. Where did they all even come from?"
"I don't know!" Nancy said. "I think my Dad invited people from work? I'm probably related to some? I think people are either just desperate for something to do or they wanted an excuse to come from out of town to see the wreckage in town in person and report back to their neighbors. I am nothing but a pawn in this game. Hopefully they're at least giving me money."
"Oh shit was I supposed to bring a gift?" Robin asked, sincerely worried she had committed some grand faux pas.
"Oh! God no, of course not." Nancy waved her off. She looked embarrassed, maybe. "That's just something adults do to feel less weird about attending a party for a teenage girl they've never met before."
"I mean, if you think about it," Robin said, leaning closer. "Doesn't it actually kind of make it weirder, that they're essentially paying a teenage girl for an invite to her party?"
"Huh," Nancy frowned. "It kind of does, actually." Just then Nancy grabbed Robin by the front of her shirt, maneuvering her and ducking into her to avoid somebody Robin couldn't see.
"Sorry," Nancy said, still huddled close. "Everybody keeps trying to talk to me but nobody has anything to say and I'm actually going to lose my mind if it keeps up."
It felt like a flashback, but a good one. Like running over the grass at Pennhurst in Nancy's ruffled socks, laughing and screaming. Just stupid mischief, all the big consequences still somewhere over the horizon.
"Hey," Robin said conspiratorially, looking down at Nancy. Another flashback. They hadn't been this close since the Upside Down, she thought. She didn't miss that, but she kind of missed this. "You want to get out of here?"
"Um, excuse me?" Nancy laughed, blushing, and Robin immediately regretted speaking, which was not an unfamiliar feeling for her. Just clumsy, every which way.
"No! I just meant, you know, like 'Let's blow this popsicle stand,'" Robin said, gesturing in a way incomprehensible even to her.
"Oh, God, I thought you meant, like..." Nancy didn't finish the sentence. She raised an eyebrow.
"Nope, golly, no, nothing as wild and crazy as that," Robin laughed, trying to shake off her own blush. "No I just meant, like, let's get in your car and drive to Indianapolis and buy one-way tickets to Paris and not tell anybody where we're going. Just a simple everyday escape into a life of intrigue and adventure. No big deal."
"Paris, huh?" Nancy asked, still blushing but playing along now, at least. "And what will we do in Paris?"
"Uh, well, eat croissants, obviously. And baguettes," Robin continued. "And, uh, coq au vin?"
"We're running away to Paris to eat chicken," Nancy laughed. "I like this plan."
"And baked goods, jeez," Robin laughed. "We'll dress all in black and smoke cigarettes in cafes. Mysterious American expatriates."
"You hate cigarettes."
"When in Rome."
"We're going to Rome now, too?" Nancy asked. "An entire European tour?"
"Well of course we're going to Rome eventually," Robin nodded. "But not until we're done exploring Paris. I mean, we've got to see the catacombs. If there's a European Upside Down that's for sure got to be a way in, am I right?"
"Oh. Okay now that is actually compelling," Nancy said, leaning in, looking like she was maybe actually considering this plan, now. "Though as dynamic a duo as we are, I'm not sure we're ready to take on the Euro- Upside Down without any backup."
"Maybe you're right," Robin nodded. "Maybe we just stick with the coq au vin to start and see where things go from there?"
"What about Vickie?" Nancy asked.
"I'll send her a postcard," Robin said.
"Ouch!" Nancy laughed.
"Ugh I know," Robin sighed. "That's mean, right? Forget Vickie, though. What about Jonathan?"
"I think I... won't send him a postcard," Nancy said, looking down.
"Okay now that's..." Robin huffed a laugh, tried to make eye contact but Nancy wasn't having it. "What is that, exactly?"
"I truly do not know," Nancy laughed, bitterly. "But maybe if I disappear to Paris it'll make me interesting enough again for him to come looking for me."
"You are the most interesting person I know," Robin said exactly what she was thinking. It was a curse. "I mean, look around you. Everybody wants a piece of you. I mean. You know. Like a conversational piece. Not like a... Anyway obviously he'll come looking for you, and he'll catch the tiniest glimpses of you, glamorous in big sunglasses and a scarf over your hair like Audrey Hepburn, and every time you'll melt into the crowds before he can reach you. He will pine forever if you want him to."
"Okay," Nancy smiled small. Eyes sparkling a little bit, from sadness or excitement. Maybe both. "You've got yourself a deal. Let's get going. Are you packed?"
"Oooh. Nope," Robin said. "I'm afraid not."
"Well I've always got an emergency bag in my car," Nancy said. "So I guess you can borrow my clothes again, although your ankles will probably get cold in my pants."
"Oh man," Robin sighed. "Cold ankles are my kryptonite, Nance. I think we might need to call the whole thing off."
"Yeah," Nancy said, just a normal smile on her face. Easy. "That's probably for the best. For your ankles, most importantly of course. But also, it's my party and what if my dad's coworkers need me to sign their yearbooks and I'm not here? Disaster. Entirely unfair to them."
"Obviously I would hate to deprive Ted's coworkers of your best wishes," Robin smiled. The moment was fading, but Nancy was looking at her, and she looked happier than she had a minute ago so it felt like a win. "It would have been fun though, right?"
"Yeah, I think it really would have," Nancy said.
Robin half turned back to the party to see if anybody she knew had miraculously appeared, but no dice.
"Anyway, I'm just gonna try and sneak down to the basement?" Robin said, turning back to Nancy. "I think your brother and the rest of the kids are hiding out down there. You should come down if you can find an opening. Sign a few yearbooks, kiss a few babies, then leave these old people up here to yell at each other about Ronald Reagan."
"You are just full of daring escape plans today. Hey," Nancy said as Robin started to walk away.
Robin turned back to look at her from the top of the basement stairs.
"Do you even have a passport?" Nancy asked, head tilted.
"I one hundred percent do not," Robin answered.
"You should get one," Nancy said, smiling. "For next time."
Robin felt a blush coming on, again, so she threw Nancy a salute and turned down the stairs as quickly as she could without injuring herself.