Chapter Text
One and a half months after Nancy and Robin left Hawkins for a better life, Joyce Byers’ 1976 Ford Pinto is navigating the streets of Boston, eventually coming to a stop near a small apartment building on the cheaper side of the town, Mike Wheeler and Joyce Byers exit the vehicle, making their way to the apartment building, and after ascending some stairs to they knock at the door of a single bedroom apartment.
Robin opens the door, embracing the duo in a tight hug and lets them inside the small living room, “Sorry the place is a bit messy.” she says, clearing out the stacks of paper littering the tables, “I… um… started working for some people, translating stuff, you know, the money helps.” Joyce gives her an encouraging smile, happy to see them on their feet, Robin glances at Mike, “Oh, Nancy should be here at any moment, she had to go run some errands at the last moment.” she says apologetically, before motioning at the sofa for them to sit, she looks around in panic “I am so sorry the place is really cramped and dusty--”
Joyce puts her hand on the girl’s shoulder cutting her off, “Sweetheart, breathe. It is a miracle you two were able to keep yourself afloat and find a place in such a short time, you have a life here.” she smiles making Robin smile as well.
While waiting for Nancy, they sit and talk, Joyce and Mike take the sofa and Robin pulls a chair in front of them, “So… how are things in Hawkins?” Robin casually asks, trying not to ask how her or Nancy’s parents are doing directly, she realizes Mike is looking sadder than usual, “E-- everything good at home?” she asks him, the boy just shrugs and Robin locks eyes with Joyce, who simply mouths “Later.”
The awkward silence is broken by Nancy’s timely arrival. She wraps her brother in a hug before doing the same with Joyce, “How is Jonathan?” she asks her, “He is doing fine. He wanted to come too, everyone did, but…” Joyce scratches the back of her head and gets uncharacteristically anxious, “We… Both of us have some private things to talk with both of you, and I didn’t want to overwhelm you with so many people at the same time as well.” Robin pops one of the candies Nancy just offered at her while asking incredulously, “You convinced Steve not to come?” before adding “Not that I am angry or anything, dingus can drive here whenever she wants, and she does so anyway, but impressed.”
Nancy rolls her eyes affectionately at her girlfriend’s priorities before turning to her brother, “Why don’t Mike and I leave you two to talk about whatever you too want to speak about privately? Come, Mike. Let me show you around the town” she puts her hand in his shoulder and leads them outside.
Robin finds herself alone the Joyce, unsure of what she wants to talk about with her, “Any idea what Mike is telling to Nance?” she asks at first, Joyce nods “Ted and Karen are breaking up…” she says, “That much I know”. Robin grimaces, although she doesn’t particularly care for either of the two and hates Ted Wheeler in particular, she knows this will still affect Nancy, “How is Mike holding up?” she asks, realising with a slight surprise that her girlfriend’s brother has grown on her. Joyce sighs, “He is… managing.”
They both sat silently before Joyce breaks the silence again, “I am so sorry sweetheart, I know this is awkward. I came here knowing what I want to ask but… I am just… so lost and I don’t want to offend you.” Robin glances at the woman who had acted as a mother to her and Nancy both for almost two years now, “Joyce… Whatever it is, if I can help, I would love to. Besides, I really don’t think anything you ask could offend me.” Joyce sniffles, “Will came out as gay a few days ago.” she starts, Robin mutters an “oh”. Joyce laughs “Yeah… I am fine with it, of course I am, I am proud of him for telling me about it too but…” she looks around again, “I feel… lost.”
Robin raises an eyebrow, still afraid that somehow, Joyce Byers will turn out to be a homophobe when it came to her own son, she knows this does not make any sense, but she can’t help the instinct, “About what?” she asks, trying to sound neutral.
Joyce’s answer not only alleviates Robin’s fears but makes her wonder how lucky she is to know the woman in the first place. “Well, I just don’t know how to be supportive about this stuff, you know. I try my best but I am afraid of making a mistake. What if I give him bad advice or hurt his feelings someway? I just don’t know what sort of support he needs from me and I want to give it to him.” she looks at Robin again, “That’s why I came, you know to ask you how I can be…” Robin smiles “...not be like my parents?” she completes her sentence. Joyce looks down, mortified and says, “N-- no. I meant. You might know what is he going through”
Robin laughs “It is alright, it really is. I get it, I am honoured, honestly.” she assures her. “I was just joking earlier. And, for the records, it would be fine for me if you asked it like that as well.” she stops laughing and adds warmly, “Will is lucky to have you.” before clearing her throat.
“I am not a parenting expert. Honestly, Harrington is the most mamma bear among all of us, but I think I can share what I wanted from my own parents when I was Will’s age, and maybe that will help?” after getting a quick nod from Joyce she continues, “Honestly… People like Will and me just want to be accepted.” she shrugs, “Do you speak to El about her love life? Or with Jonathan?” Joyce laughs at that “Jonathan never comes to me about that stuff anymore, but El does sometimes.” Robin nods in return, “Just do whatever you do with them, Joyce. It is enough for him to know that you are safe to speak to, when I was his age, I would kill to have someone to speak to about my crushes, or even… not to feel like I was hiding a large part of my life in every small conversation.” Robin’s smile turns into a frown.
“When your parents ask you at dinner about how if you have someone in your life and you say no because you don’t have a boy in your life. Sure, they asked for ‘someone’ and that’s not gendered but you know that’s not what they meant, you know that--” she stops herself and takes a deep breath. “What… What I mean to say was.” she continues, trying to stay on topic, while her heart is still beating “It is hard… I felt so guilty about hiding it, but I knew I had to for my own safety… so just being there for him, not judging him, no matter what he comes to you with, that is what matters… And… Not just about love life either. He might get into trouble for being like us, people bully you if they get a hint of it, they are mean and they… Some of them want to kill people like us outright.” she shivers.
She curses her anxious nature, internally blaming herself for not being able to stay calm when someone she had depended on for such a long time came to her for advice, and then immediately chides herself for it, Nancy’s words from a previous conversation echoing in her mind, “It isn’t something you can control Rob, powerful memories sometimes triggers reactions like that, we won’t judge you for it, neither should you.”
When she finally calms herself down, she glances at Joyce and finds her to be anxious as well, “Perhaps battling with her own demons” Robin thinks before reaching out and holding the older woman’s hand saying, “You know… I bet he already feels like he can trust you.” she says and Joyce smiles a bit “Yeah?” Robin nods, “Yeah. He wouldn’t have told you otherwise.”
The conversation turns into lighter topics after that, Robin learns, among other things, that her own parents do not talk about their daughter Robin, and if pushed, insist that she had gone to stay with distant relatives, this makes her heart ache. She also learns Nancy and her disappearing together, shortly after the events at Wheeler’s have become somewhat of a hot topic in the town, spoken about for weeks, and although the consensus is that they are “bad people” as Joyce had put it, no doubt censoring what was actually told about them for their own sake, there had been some folks who had looked at the couple in a significantly more positive light as well, “I suppose there are good people in Hawkins, more than you would imagine” Joyce murmurs.
When Nancy arrives with Mike, Robin can see that both of them have cried recently, although she doesn’t comment on it directly, she gives a hug to her girlfriend and squeezes Mike’s shoulder giving both a comforting smile. It doesn’t escape her that Nancy has something else in her eyes too, not just sadness, but hope. They have a silent exchange, agreeing that they will speak about it later when they are alone.