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It was hot. That was underselling it, really, Nancy thought as she lounged in her bedroom, wearing nothing but a white tank top and the shortest pair of denim shorts she owned (much to her father’s disapproval). She knew it was going to be a scorcher when she woke at 8 am to temperatures already in the 80s and climbing fast. Now, at just past 2 pm, the heat outside had soared to over 100 degrees.
If she looked outside, she could literally see the heat radiating from the asphalt, creating a hazy mirage of movement. Hot enough to fry an egg, her father had mused over the top of his morning newspaper.
It wasn’t just hot. It was hellishly hot. Nancy groaned, an arm thrown over her head as she lay in bed, unwilling to move. To move meant to sweat. Maybe if she stayed as still as possible, she could ignore the heat.
God, what she would give for AC. Any other day she could’ve gone out, maybe to the movies or even the library, those places would’ve offered some respite from the oppressive warmth. Not today, though. It was the Fourth of July and most everything in Hawkins was closed for the day. Go America!
So here was Nancy Wheeler. Stuck in a house hotter than the bowels of hell itself, attempting to find some way to alleviate the boredom and the heat both at once. An open notebook and pen lay next to her untouched for the better half of at least a half hour, just the barest bones of an outline for a mock news article about the record temperatures scratched out across the otherwise empty page. Something to pass the time with. It had seemed like a good idea at first, but writing about the heat had just made her focus on it even more so now it lay abandoned.
There was no one to commiserate with either. Her mom and father, along with Holly, had left an hour ago to visit Karen’s sister, about a 45 minute drive east of Hawkins. Mike had ditched her soon after, heading for the air conditioned confines of Dustin’s place, where he, Dustin and Lucas would no doubt be nerding out over their new obsession of the week. Nancy envied him.
She and Jonathan had broken up in the spring. The distance combined with their lack of communication had been the final nails in the coffin. Nancy had been upset- though perhaps not as upset as she felt she should’ve been. It was like a weight had been lifted from her shoulders- she was free to go her own way without having to worry what Jonathan would do. She still loved him, of course. That would never change- but it was the same way she loved Steve now. Brotherly.
There was absolutely no way she was starting this dumb article today. Rolling over onto her stomach, Nancy closed the notebook, tucking the pen into the spiral binding for safe keeping. Resting her hands on her chin, Nancy sighed softly. Honestly, she was feeling pretty damn lonely. She almost regretted not going with her parents, but sitting in a hot car with a small child only to then have to sit in another hot house with multiple small children didn’t seem too enticing.
Her eyes roamed the room, over the neat stacks of books on her desk, to the open closet door and her carefully sorted outfits, before coming to rest on the phone she had begged her parents for. Not that she used it much- she thought. For as ambitious as Nancy Wheeler was, friendship came more with more difficulty than she liked to admit.
The list of people she could call was short. There was Steve…she mulled the notion over in her head. No- she thought- he was likely to invite her to some party where she would have to play nice, plaster a smile on her face and pretend to enjoy the cheap beer they pushed on her. She wasn’t really in the mood for that today.
Then another face came to her and she wasn’t sure why she hadn't thought of her first- Robin! A smile crept to Nancy’s face at the thought of her, pointedly ignoring the butterflies the mental image of her face conjured. The two had really hit it off after Steve introduced them, much to his delight. His two favorite girls, he had said once, arms slung over both of their shoulders as he pulled them into a side hug, double the trouble.
Nancy hesitated. What if she was busy? It was a holiday after all. She was probably with family, like a normal person. But was that really the reason she was stalling?
She gnawed her lip. With the new friendship had come even newer feelings- ones that confused Nancy. Not that she didn’t know what being gay was. Of course she did. But there was no way Nancy was- how could she be? She had dated Jonathan and Steve. Maybe that’s just how all friendships felt- it’s not like she had much to go off of. She had felt the same with Barb, though not as intensely. Girls were just so pretty. Everyone had to think that too, surely. It was totally normal to want to hold your friend’s hand, to count their freckles, to wonder how soft their lips would feel on-
Nancy slammed the imaginary cover on that book swiftly, her face feeling superheated. She couldn’t even blame the record temperature for that one. She pressed the heels of her hands into her eyes until she saw stars and groaned. Totally normal.
Maybe calling Robin wasn’t such a great idea after all. She shouldn’t indulge these feelings- whatever they were. Robin didn’t deserve that. She had seemed so happy when they had the talk that cemented their friendship. Nancy couldn’t ruin that.
She wasn’t sure if Robin ever had a boyfriend before- the discussion had never come up. But Robin never spoke of it, or boys at all, for that matter. That plus the insistence that she and Steve were Platonic with a capital P led Nancy to certain conclusions, but she didn’t want to assume. She couldn’t assume- not with something like that. Besides, Nancy wasn’t gay either. Right?
Right, absolutely! And if neither of them were gay, then there was nothing wrong with two gal pals hanging out on the fourth of july. It was stupid to worry about something that would never happen, Nancy decided as she picked the phone up from its cradle, the dial tone filling the silence of her bedroom.
She punched in Robin’s number steadily, tucking the phone under her chin and ignoring the way her heart sped up pointedly as the phone began to ring. She waited as it rang once, twice, three times…she was almost about to hang up when finally she heard a raspy voice on the other line:
“Hello?”
Nancy let out the breath she had been holding as she quickly answered, “Robin! It’s Nancy.”
“Oh! Hey Nance. What’s up?” She heard Robin shift the phone to the other ear, “Is everything okay- any interdimensional monster sightings?” There was a hint of worry in her voice as she asked and Nancy was struck with the guilt that she never had really called Robin outside of emergencies.
“No, no, everything is fine,” Nancy said quickly, reassuring the girl that everything was fine, at least for now. You never knew with Hawkins.
“Oh- uh….that’s good, because it’s way too hot to go kicking ass today. So…” Robin replied after a moment of silence, a question lingering at the end of her sentence without outright asking.
“God, sorry, I’m making this weird,” Nancy said with a sigh, “I’m kind of stuck at home alone today and I was wondering if you maybe wanted to hang out?” She tried to keep the hope from her voice, so she didn’t sound quite so desperate but she wasn’t sure how good of a job she was doing.
Nancy heard a small crash, like Robin had dropped something on the other end. She heard Robin swear and the sound of broken glass before Robin answered, “S-sorry! Yeah! Totally, I would love to hang out. Uh…my place, or yours? My mom’s not home, away on a business trip. I’m sure she won’t mind though.”
“I don’t suppose you have AC?”
“Nope, sorry…you neither, huh?”
“Ugh, it sucks,” Nancy said, throwing her head back against the headboard of her bed which by comparison to her room felt cool, “I would die for just five seconds of cold air.”
She heard Robin chuckle, low and throaty and she felt her stomach do a flip flop. Normal.
“No AC- but, I think we have a sprinkler from when I was younger that I could hook up. Might even have a slip n’ slide! It could be fun. Just bring a bathing suit!”
Nancy felt her face heat again at the thought of Robin in a bathing suit, dewey with water, hair slicked back- and quickly banished the thought, “O-oh- yeah! Sounds fun. I’ll come to you then,” She glanced at the clock on her nightstand. 2:13.
“Be there around 3? I just need to change and grab some things,” Nancy asked, ready to be free of her house.
“Three’s good! I guess I’ll see you then!”
“See you then.”
Click.
Nancy held the phone in her hands a moment longer before placing it back down. Excitement bubbled in the pit of her stomach- but there was something else there as well. A nervous energy, brewing. Nancy breathed through her nose, slowly. There was no need to get so worked up- she was going to have a fun night with her friend, who was a girl. Her girl friend. And it was going to be completely and totally normal and platonic.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It was closer to 3:30 by the time Nancy pulled up in front of Robin’s house. She had to call back a few minutes after they had hung up to get the address, much to her embarrassment. Robin had found it hilarious, of course.
The car tires crunched along a gravel driveway, empty except for Nancy’s car. The house in front of her was small, single story ranch style. The siding was all red brick and there was a small enclosed porch with a single wicker rocking chair and a potted plant that was long dead. Nancy took it all in as she approached the door. She had never been to Robin’s house- in fact, she wasn’t sure any of them had.
She knocked and stood back, adjusting the oversized purse on her shoulder that held her bathing suit and make up, along with whatever else she thought she might need for the night. She waited for just a few seconds before the door flew open and Robin stood before her, leaning against the door frame with a crooked smile.
“Hey! I almost thought you weren’t going to show up.” She opened the door wider and ushered Nancy inside.
The house opened up immediately into a sitting room filled with an eclectic assortment of furniture; none of it matching. An old rattan sofa, two overstuffed loveseats, one gray and one blue. There was an old television set that looked like it had seen better days, and a vcr that looked brand new by comparison. In the corners of the room were several, long and tall glass cabinets that housed various knickknacks and tchotchkes of differing sizes and shapes.
“Don’t, uh…don’t mind the mess.” Robin muttered as she slid a pile of mail off one of the end tables near the couch and to the kitchen table, which was even more cluttered,
“Mom works a lot and I’m not home a lot so we don’t really get to clean up. If I knew you were coming over, I would’ve tried harder to straighten up but it was kinda last minute.”
“I don’t mind,” Nancy said with a smile. The house seemed very Robin- eccentric and chaotic, but there was definitely a story behind everything here, she could sense it.
“Sorry for being late, I couldn’t figure out what to wear.” She tugged self-consciously on a pink pleated skirt. She had settled on that and the same top she had been wearing. For some reason, she couldn’t find anything else with no sleeves.
“You didn’t have to get dressed up for me,” Robin said, though Nancy tracked her eyes as they roved over her outfit. She was glad she did, after all.
Nancy gave a half shrug and smiled, “I didn’t want to be too hot.” It was only a half lie. She knew this skirt was cute- and she was half hoping Robin would be looking.
Robin was- though Nancy brushed that away quickly as coincidence. Of course she’d been looking, they were just talking about her outfit.
Robin grinned, “Well, you’re not going to be wearing it long anyway.”
“I- what?” Nancy asked, her brain freezing as the words hit her. Her stomach was doing flip flops again, double time. She stared dumbly at Robin who stared back, looking confused.
“Uh…because we’re going to be using the sprinkler? Unless you want to go in like that? I won’t judge you.” Robin shrugged, tugging at her own t-shirt, “I could wear my t-shirt too if you’re uncomfortable.”
“N-no!” Nancy said weakly, fighting the blush rising to her cheeks and hoping to God Robin wouldn’t notice, “Sorry, brain just…didn’t work there for a second. Must be the heat. It’s like a five-second delay.”
Robin snorted with laughter, “I don’t need the heat for that, I totally get it. My brain is constantly on a delay. It annoys the crap out of my mom. She’ll tell me something, and I’ll be like, “What?” and then she’ll start to tell me again and then I’ll interrupt a second later with an answer.”
Nancy giggled- she had noticed Robin doing that to Steve a few times, though Steve never seemed to mind it. She was happy for the excuse, “Yeah- exactly!”
“So do you want to get wet now, or later?” Robin asked and this time, Nancy’s mind did not go straight to the gutter, though she did note the choice of words with amusement.
“It’s probably the hottest it’s going to be now, so we might as well take advantage of it.” Nancy said, fishing in her bag for her swimsuit. With prize in hand, she looked up at Robin, “Where can I change?”
Robin gestured for her to follow and led Nancy down a short hallway. The first door on the right was a medium sized bathroom with a walk in shower and rubber ducky theme.
Robin rapped her knuckles on the door and said, “Just meet me outside when you’re done. The back door is through the kitchen.” She flashed her a grin, “I found the slip n’ slide by the way- it’s going to be awesome.”
Nancy could practically feel Robin’s excitement bubbling over- it was contagious. She mirrored the grin, “I’ve never used one before- you’ll have to show me.”
“Never used a slip n’ slide? Wheeler! What kind of childhood did you have? Even I have had the pleasure of the slip n’ slide on a hot summer’s day. Today is momentous for you.” She pointed at Nancy, her grin growing even wider, “See you outside Wheeler.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Robin stood hands on her hips as she surveyed her handiwork. The slip n’ slide lay spread out before her, across the yellowed and dead grass of her small backyard. There wasn’t much there, but at least it was somewhat shaded by the two big oak trees in the far corner. One of them even had an old, homemade tire swing still attached from when she was a kid. It didn’t do much to alleviate the heat but it took away some of the searing sting of the direct sunlight.
She hauled the coiled hose from the side of the house, turning the rusty faucet a few times to get the water flowing once it was unkinked. The water surged forth, icey cold as it foamed at her feet and Robin couldn’t help but lift the stream to her lips for a quick sip. It was metallic, but crisp and refreshing. It tasted like being six again.
Pleased that the water was working (not that she had expected differently) she turned the faucet back to the off position and turned her search elsewhere.
It took her a little longer to find the old sprinkler she knew was buried somewhere in the garage, but eventually she found her prize: a small plastic piece, shaped like an elephant. The water sprayed from its curved trunk when the hose was attached. She grinned, hoping Nancy would find it as cute as she did.
Speaking of Nancy- it had been a while since she had left her in the bathroom. She glanced through the sliding doors of the kitchen, hoping to catch a glimpse. She debated going in to check on her as she set up the sprinkler, but she relaxed as the sound of the sliding door alerted her to Nancy’s presence.
“Forget how to change, Wheeler?” She needled, turning around to face the other girl as she approached. She just about choked on the last part of the sentence as she took Nancy in.
Nancy stood, towel in hand, wearing a two piece strappy lavender bikini. And God, she looked radiant. Robin gulped as she moved closer. She could smell the coconut from the sunscreen she was wearing and it was overwhelming.
Nancy snorted, pushing her shoulder against Robin’s. The spot where they touched burned pleasantly, “Sorry, just…got a little caught up. Is that an elephant?” She asked, spotting the kiddy sprinkler Robin had just finished setting up.
“Yup,” Robin said proudly, ignoring the butterflies in her stomach, “Had it since I was a kid! Still works perfectly fine."
“It’s cute,” Nancy said with a smile. She met Robin’s eyes and it was like there was more she wanted to say, but when she didn’t continue, Robin cleared her throat and spread her arms, gesturing.
“Shall we?”
“We shall.”
Robin gave her patented two finger salute and began to shuck off her t-shirt. She had thrown on her bathing suit (a bikini top with a pair of men’s shorts) under her clothes earlier to make it easier. As she pulled it from over her head, she was keenly aware of Nancy’s eyes on her. She tried to ignore it, unsure if the other girl was aware she was doing it in the first place as she shimmied out of her shorts next. She felt self conscious and gangly as Nancy studied her like some sort of specimen, pinned to a corkboard. She felt her ears go red. Surely she wasn’t that interesting.
As she began a half job back over to the faucet, she felt Nancy’s eyes fall away and she could breathe again. She threw a glance back to just check and Nancy was very pointedly inspecting the tire swing, like she hadn’t just been staring Robin down like…like what? Robin’s hand paused on the faucet. She was thinking too hard about this. Nancy wasn’t looking at her like that, not like how she looked at Nancy. She felt a little twinge of guilt at that. She shouldn’t be looking at a friend like that at all. Without thinking, she turned the faucet.
A sudden shriek jolted her out of her thoughts, “Oh, shit.” She wheeled around, biting back a laugh as Nancy dodged the spray from the sprinkler on its second go around.
Nancy looked at Robin with fire in her eyes and Robin crossed the yard, all smiles. She glowered, though a smile was starting to crease the corners of her mouth, “That was COLD. Not even a warning, Buckley.”
Robin grinned back, “Sorry Nance-” She was cut off as Nancy shoved her right into the line of fire. Robin whooped with surprise as the curtain of chilly water cascaded down around her, soaking her instantly. Nancy looked instantly gratified, running in after her and waiting for it to pass over again.
They spent a good twenty minutes running in and out of the sprinkler’s spray before getting bored. The cool water did feel great, though it was no pool. Not that Nancy really had the best relationship with pools these days. This was safer, more relaxed. No bad memories.
Eventually Robin grabbed the sprinkler and disconnected the hose, laying it where the slip n’ slide started. She stood, hands on her hips, “Alright, Nance. Time to show you the wonders of the slip n’ slide.”
Nancy came to stand next to her, one eyebrow quirked, “It’s just a plastic sheet.” She didn’t sound very impressed.
Robin scoffed, “It is MORE than a plastic sheet,” She began backing away from the start of the slide, a good few feet, “Watch and learn.”
Without any grace at all, she broke into a run towards the slide and at the very last second, dove down onto her belly and slid down the length, screaming with glee as she gained speed. She came to a halt just as she reached the grass and scrambled up, fist pumping in the air, “Tada!”
Nancy gave a polite golf clap at the display. She had to admit, it did look fun, “Alright, alright. You’ve sold me.”
Robin watched from the other end as Nancy mimicked Robin, backing up those few feet, and breaking into a run. She was much faster than Robin though. A little too fast. Robin could see how this was going to play out and she opened her mouth to call out, to tell her to slow down but it was too late. Nancy dove and slid, twice as fast as Robin and bowled straight into the waiting girl.
Robin felt the air leave her lungs as Nancy slammed into her legs and she careened over, falling straight back onto the ground. Two bodies tangled there in the sunbaked, parched and yellowed grass.
Robin groaned, lifting her head. Nancy was flush up against her, head resting against her stomach, their legs entangled. Nancy was laughing hopelessly. Robin could feel her small body shaking against hers and it only took a second before she was laughing with her. Despite her aching ribs and fluttering heart (Nancy was on top of her, Nancy’s whole body was touching her…) she laughed. When it was hard to catch her breath, she couldn’t decide if that was because of the close contact with Nancy, or because the wind had been knocked out of her.
Eventually Nancy began to detangle herself from Robin, her hands ghosting over her skin and causing Robin to shiver despite the heat. Nancy was up first and helped Robin back to her feet.
“Well, I can see why we didn’t have one of these as a kid,” Nancy mused, brushing back a lock of now unruly curled hair, “This thing is dangerous.”
“Well, yeah, if you run at it at mach 5.” Robin said with a laugh, “You wanna go again?”
“I think I’ve had my fill,” Nancy said, “Almost killing you once is enough.”
“Slip n’ slide: more dangerous than the upside down.” Robin noted as she handed Nancy her towel. When she realized she hadn’t brought one out herself, Nancy opened her arm and Robin shuffled in, enjoying the way their bodies came together, a lot less painfully this time. They sat there, maybe a little longer than necessary in the baking sun before heading back inside.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The next couple of hours passed pleasantly. They played a few board games, went through some of Robin’s cassettes (there were a lot of bands Nancy never heard of before) Now it was 7:30 and Robin popped in a movie that Nancy had not yet seen (She hadn’t seen many the last few years, not with everything that had been going on) and they settled side by side on the couch.
At first they had been at opposite ends of the couch, Robin lazing with one leg up on the couch and her arm draped over her knee and the other hand at her mouth as she gnawed at one of her cuticles.
It was driving Nancy crazy. She cleared her throat. Robin didn’t seem to hear her as she focused on the film. Nancy glanced at the screen- a pretty red head was dominating it currently. She tried to settle back on the couch, to zone back in but all she could focus on was Robin, out of the corner of her eye.
Eventually, she scooted over so their thighs were pressed against each other, skin on sticky skin. She reached up and took Robin’s hand in a sudden burst of boldness and intertwined their fingers, pointedly ignoring it when Robin whipped around to look at her like she had grown another head.
Nancy stared straight ahead, cheeks burning as she said, “I couldn’t take you chewing on your nails anymore. So…” She held up their interlocked hands, “I figured this would stop you. Can I trust you to stop?” She teased, eyebrows raising.
“Well- uh- my will power isn’t the greatest actually, so maybe just, um, hold on for now. You know, so I don’t annoy you for the rest of the film. Safer that way.” Robin said, stammering just the slightest bit, which she was grateful for. Smooth, Buckley. Smooth.
Nancy hummed in agreement, giving her hand a slight squeeze in agreement and settled against Robin.
As time wore on, it was Robin’s turn to wage her own battle with her attention-span as Nancy became increasingly more cuddly. At one point, Nancy had laid her head against her shoulder and sighed, looking so content and relaxed it made her heart ache. Their fingers stayed laced the whole film, despite how sweaty their hands were becoming in the meanwhile.
Nancy only let her go once the credits rolled to a stop. She stood and stretched and Robin watched as the white tank top crawled up, exposing the smooth skin of her belly. She quickly looked away. She was in it deep now.
“You know what would be really nice right now?” Nancy mused, looked down at Robin who was still sitting on the couch.
I can think of a few things, Robin thought before answering, “What?”
“Ice cream. I’m dying for some ice cream.”
Robin sprang up, crossing the distance of the small sitting room to the kitchen in a few strides, “I’m not sure what we have, but maybe you’ll get lucky.” She cracked open the freezer and sighed as the cold air blasted back her bangs, letting it seep into her skin for a second before she began digging around. There wasn’t much in there. A few frozen dinners, a sole frozen pizza. In the far back…a box of popsicles!
She grabbed it and pulled it forth, waving it around like a prize. Nancy’s face let up excitedly.
“Don’t get too excited, it’s just a popsicle.” Robin warned, fishing out what was the last treat from the box. There was a small moment of disappointment as it was the only one, but that was okay as long as it made Nancy happy. She held it out, “For my lady!”
“Truly my knight in shining armor,” Nancy said with a grin. She peeled back the plastic wrapper, dropping it in the trash, noting the broken shards of what looked to be a mug with amusement, and popped it into her mouth with an appreciative mmm.
Robin plopped down on a stool, happy to bask in the moment. It had been a good night, great even. But it was getting late, and she was sure Nancy would be leaving soon. She felt her heart tug with sadness at the thought. It wasn’t like this would be the last time they’d hang out, but it just felt…incomplete. She watched Nancy eat, watched her lips in silence, hoping the other girl didn’t notice.
Nancy took a seat next to her, “None for you?” She asked, head tilted.
“Alas, sacrifices had to be made. That was the last one.” Robin said with a shrug. What a shame, it was blue. Her favorite.
Nancy blinked, “Oh…” She considered for a moment then held it out, “We could share. I don’t mind.”
Robin glanced back, “You don’t think that’s gross, Nance?” Her eyebrows rose. Not that she thought it was gross- but she was surprised Nancy was so blasé about it.
“Robin…We went to the upside down. I’ve been covered in blood, guts and God knows what else. A little bit of saliva is not going to kill me now, especially not yours.” She waggled the popsicle, “Besides, I know you want to. You’ve been eyeing it like a hawk….”
Robin blushed again, “I was not!” But still she reached out a hand, only pausing as a boom sounded from outside. Nancy froze as well, eyes widening in surprise. A moment passed, blue dripped down her fingers, sticky and slow. Then another whistle, and boom.
“Fireworks,” Robin said at last, a sigh escaping her, feeling like she could breathe again. Nancy relaxed immediately, a sharp laugh echoing Robin’s sigh. Of course. It was the fourth of july. How could they forget.
“Guess we’re both a little jumpy,” Nancy murmured, grabbing a paper towel to wrap around the popsicle stick.
“Who could blame us,” Robin said, glancing out the window. Just over the tree line she could just make out the glow of a firework exploding in the distance.
“I kind of wish we could see them,” Nancy said, following her gaze.
Robin didn’t answer, an idea formulating quickly in her mind, “We probably can. Follow me.” She grabbed Nancy’s free hand and pulled her along, back through the sliding doors and into the marginally cooler night.
Nancy followed Robin back toward the garage and waited at the door as Robin struggled to drag a ladder through the small doorway. It scraped along the concrete but after a little bit of wiggling it was free. Robin angled it up against the side of the house, and gestured for Nancy to climb, holding out her hand for popsicle.
Nancy laughed, handing it over, and scaled the ladder and Robin held it steady. Robin quickly followed suit, careful to not knock their only way down over as she scrambled up the hot tiles next to Nancy. Here, they could see over the crest of the trees. Nancy gave an appreciative breathy laugh as another firework explode overhead, one that could now see clearly above them.
“Robin, you’re a genius.”
“Don’t I know it, Nance.”
Nancy nudged her, scooting close to her side. Robin plucked the popsicle from her hand and took it into her mouth, ignoring Nancy’s surprised, “Hey!”
“You said you’d share!”
“Well, at least warn a girl.”
Robin grinned, tapping it against her lips as Nancy reached back over to reclaim her treat. They settled into a comfortable silence, the only sound the muffled and distant booms of the fireworks. It cast a warm red and golden glow over both of them as they sat there on the still hot roof which was burning the underside of their thighs. Neither girl seemed to care much.
She felt Nancy grab her hand again, her fingers tightening around hers yet again and her heart picked up once more. She glanced over and jolted to see Nancy staring at her. Really, really looking at her with an unreadable expression on her face.
“Nance…?”
“Robin, I…” Nancy began softly, the hand holding the popsicle now free. She reached up, the cold fingers resting gently on the side of her cheek. Robin’s heart stuttered. She didn’t think it could go much faster, not without her passing out.
“I really want to kiss you.”
There was a ringing in Robin’s ears. From the fireworks? Could she have heard Nancy correctly? She stared at Nancy, into those blue eyes, darkened by the night sky. They looked so soft, so vulnerable…
“O-okay.”
“Okay?”
“Okay.”
Nancy smiled, leaning forward, pressing her blue stained lips to Robin’s, the artificial taste of blue raspberry still lingering on both of their mouths as she kissed her so softly. Robin inhaled sharply against the kiss, surging forward to meet her, unsure at first. She had no experience in this sort of thing, but she was a quick learner.
Nancy led her well, deepening the kiss, pulling back, peppering her jaw, her neck, her temple with kisses. Robin’s head swam when eventually she pulled back and nestled against Nancy’s side, holding on tight.
“I’ve wanted to do that all day,” Nancy said matter-of-factly.
“Holy shit,” Robin said matter-of-factly.
The pair sat until the booms of the fireworks faded, until the chirp of the crickets returned. Until it was just them, hand in hand, in the cover of the night, basking in the newness of a first kiss. Nancy was glad she had called after all.