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Robin hated winter. She hated how the cold air dried out her face, hair, and skin. The cold made her hands look like they had an AARP membership. She hated the snow that came with the cold and how it tricked everyone into thinking everything was pretty and magical when really it was cold and wet. She hated wearing layers and she hated how hot her feet got wearing boots.
Point was, Robin hated winter.
Robin walked into the apartment and frowned when she was met with the same frosty temperature as what she had just walked in from her afternoon class.
“Um, Nance…” She called out as she hung up her messenger bag, keeping on her coat, scarf, mittens, and hat because, oh now she could see her breath fog out in clouds in front of her face.
Another reason Robin hated winter; things like heaters had a tendency to stop working when you needed them the most.
“Down the hall!” Nancy yelled back in greeting.
The house Nancy and Robin rented was built in the early 1900s and had a heater that, during the winter, was always finicky. Nancy was about to go round and round with their landlord agreeing to replace it.
Robin looked down at where Nancy was sitting on the floor messing with something under the heater. “Should you be messing with that, babe?” Robin tilted her head to the side.
Nancy looked up at Robin with an eyebrow cocked. “Well, Ralph won’t come to look at it because, and I quote, his car doesn’t drive in snow.” She rolled her eyes and pulled at something, grunted, and leaned down to look under the thing. Robin couldn’t believe how flexible her girlfriend was.
“Isn’t Ralph from here? This isn’t his first snow…” Robin thought out loud.
“Yeah,” Another grunt. “Exactly. I think he just hates me.” She let out an exasperated sigh and slapped both palms on the floor to stand up. She wiped her hands on the front of her jeans and turned to look at Robin. “Hi, how was class?” she smiled, her mood changing.
“Well, I passed my communications final and now I just need to study for my last one, the dreaded bio!” She groaned.
“Come on, let's cook some soup, and then I will help you study.” Nancy pulled Robin into her arms and gave her a soft kiss.
After dinner, they change into pajamas and layered over them. Robin found one of Steve’s Hawkins basketball hoodies to wear and a red beanie that Max got her.
“Nance,” Robin whined as she walked down the hall, drowning in her layers. “Why don’t we just drive home? At least your car has heat! Four out of five ain’t bad on the passing of the finals.” She made it to the living room and paused.
Nancy was sitting in the middle of the room wearing a Corroded Coffin hoodie and sparkly white ear muffs, every blanket inside their home on the floor with their pillows from the bed. Crackers, cheese, pepperonis, pickles, and olives were neatly arranged on a plate. Two coke cans with straws sat next to what looked like her bio book, index cards, and highlighters.
The most breathtaking part was there were candles all around the makeshift bed, casting an incandescent glow on Nancy’s face.
“What is this?” Robin asked, leaning against the back of the loveseat.
“Well, you need to study and we are supposed to get four more inches of snow tonight so driving back to Hawkins is a no–plus, you are going to pass this final! I promise! And I am going to help you study.” Nancy patted the space next to her and smiled over at her.
“Doesn’t this feel a little overdone?” Robin made a face but pushed off the couch and walked over to the blankets.
“Overdone?” Nancy tilted her head as she looked up at her girlfriend, offering her hand to help Robin lower herself down next to her.
Robin smiled and kneeled down. “Nance, I am best friends with your ex.”
Nancy bowed her head down, her cheeks warming, and shook her head. “No, that was,” She laughed louder. “God, that was so long ago.” Dating Steve Harrington seemed like eons ago. Especially when taking into account the fact that he was not in a serious relationship with Eddie Munson and she was planning on proposing to Robin Buckley on New Year’s Eve.
Robin’s smile stretched wider as she got closer to Nancy. “I am just messing with you.” She took Nancy’s wrists and pulled her hands away from her face to get a better look at her. “You are the much better teacher,” She winked.
Nancy rolled her eyes but leaned her forehead against Robin’s, breathed in and then out, watching a light puff of air come out. “I’m sorry about the heater.”
Robin shrugged. “Not your fault,” She pressed a kiss to Nancy’s lips. “Ralph is an old, grumpy man who probably doesn’t approve of our lifestyle.” She chuckled and kissed her again. “As long as I have you, I’m fine.”
If Nancy wasn’t blushing already, she would be now. “Okay, let's study so you can pass that last final.”
They ran through countless flashcards about the cell membrane, the animal kingdom, and DNA that Robin was sure she would be dreaming about them later when she fell asleep.
True to form, Nancy was the best study partner. When Robin would get one wrong she would come up with some sort of story for the answer, or a mnemonic to help her remember it next time and it actually worked! Robin was remembering shit.
“Okay, if you get this one correct…” Nancy chewed on her bottom lip and looked around them. “I’ll take my sweater off.”
“Nance!” Robin’s eyes bugged out. “It's colder than the North Pole in here.”
Nancy smiled in a way that made Robin quiver.
“Well, actually, body heat is what will keep us warm, and wouldn’t you believe it? It works best when there’s no clothing blocking said body heat…” She reached out and ran her fingers along the bottom hem of Robin’s sweater. When she looked up at Robin again she giggled at the sight; Robin’s mouth was slightly parted and her cheeks were red. “Or I mean, you can totally throw it and answer wrong if you are so concerned with my well-being.”
Robin felt like Nancy was stretching the truth about the body heat bit, but she was never one to turn down getting her girlfriend out of her clothes so she nodded. “Okay, let’s do this.” She crossed her legs under her and scooted closer to Nancy, their knees touching.
Nancy grinned like she won a contest and straighten up the index cards in her hand.
“Amino acids are the building blocks of proteins. What are the building blocks of amino acids?” Nancy looked at Robin from over the index cards, a twinkle in her eyes.
Robin squinted her eyes at Nancy. “Each codon in the, uh, chain thing specifies a specific amino acid… and a codon is composed of 3 nucleotides… so, three nucleotides make up an amino acid?”
Nancy giggled and put the cards on the blanket between their legs. “Good job!” She answered excitedly and pulled the Corroded Coffin hoodie off, leaving her in a pink long-sleeved shirt.
“What does biology mean?”
“Ummm…” Robin tilted her head, squinting at her girlfriend. “That is not one of the questions from the study guide.”
“Oh, yes it is.” Nancy leaned on her left hand and waved the stack of index cards toward Robin. “Now answer.”
Robin wanted to kiss that smile on her girlfriend’s lips, but she also loved this game they were playing. They hadn’t be able to be like this for the past week due to finals and working extra shifts. The most physical contact they had been when one of them would crawl into bed late at night–either from staying up too late studying or when Robin worked late at the campus cafe–both of them too tired for premeditative touching but needing to be held.
“Biology is the study of living organisms.” Robin smiled.
Nancy grinned and clapped. “Yes! Now off with your pants!”
“That’s not fair, I have more layers on top.” Robin stood up and began unbuttoning her jeans, pretending to be put off by the task.
“Mmm, oh, I know.” Nancy smiled up at her and then watched closely as Robin pushed the flannel pajamas down her thighs until they reached her ankles. Stepping out of them so Nancy could move them aside.
The coldness in the air covered her legs and she felt goosebumps follow close behind, but when she looked at Nancy she instantly felt warm from within. Then when Nancy reached out to wrap her hand around her ankle, caressing up and down her calf, Robin swore she saw flames follow her hand.
“Okay, next one,” Robin choked out as she sat down–almost sitting on Nancy’s lap instead, bio final be damned.
Nancy smiled at Robin for a beat before looking down and reading off the next question. And it went like that for seven more flashcards–Robin in nothing but her socks and boyshorts; Nancy in her knee-high socks and purple lace bra–before Robin smacked the remaining ones out of Nancy’s hand before she tackled her to the ground.
“Accepting defeat already?” Nancy giggled, wrapping her arms around Robin’s neck.
“I hardly call this defeat.” Robin bumped her nose against Nancy’s before pressing her lips against Nancy’s, wrapping her arms around her. “Besides, I answered more than half of those questions right!” She broke the kiss and began kissing down Nancy’s neck. Her fingers unhooked her bra as her tongue slid inside her mouth.
“You did! You did great.” Nancy hummed and pulled her arms through the straps of her bra, pulling it out and placing it next to them, careful to not throw them into the candles. That would be their luck.
A few more awkward manuverings and they were finally skin to skin. Nancy pulled one of the throws over Robin’s back so they could keep their body heat from escaping.
“I’ve missed you,” Nancy whispered as her hand slid down Robin’s back to the swell of her ass. She squeezed it once before pulling on her leg, moving it up, and spreading her thighs. “Missed this,” She kissed Robin.
“Missed this, too.” Robin kissed along Nancy’s collarbone and wrapped her arms around Nancy and puckered her lips, asking for more kisses.
Nancy giggled then obliged. They lay there kissing, touching, and feeling until the candles burned down to a mess of wax on the hardwood floors. They’d clean it up in the morning before Robin would pass her last final before Christmas.
As the two of them cuddled under the blankets in the livingroom Robin felt like she could get used to the winter if she got more moments like this with Nancy.