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The world was ending and Robin was making PBJs. Not that making them wasn’t important, food is food after all, but after the Vecna showdown she thought she’d be doing something a little more action-packed. A new game plan was still being made, every day after her shift at the school she’d end up at the Wheelers where Nancy had commandeered the basement into their planning headquarters. Nancy had taking to planning with sheer grit and determination. One wall was covered with a map of Hawkins, red lines showing the earthquakes destruction and pins marking the gates. The group still hadn’t really made a concrete plan of what they were going to do and the government’s interference was helping much. Robin scoffed the first time she saw them. They’d spent all their time either ignoring what was going on or being active participants and then as soon as it was impossible for the town to ignore what was going on they swoop in and act like heroes.
It’d been a month since the earthquake and she doesn’t think much has improved. Yeah, the fires had finally stopped and the raining ash only happened for a few minutes a day. But El only talked to Mike or Will and Lucas has only left Max’s side when he was forcibly taken from the room. Dustin and Erica have stuck together like glue and the adults kept trying to put up a happy front as if they hadn’t been around for all of this and knew exactly what the group had been through.
Actually, maybe making PBJs was the best thing for Robin to be doing right now. When she went to the school nobody knew that she’d been to hell and back. Some might know her as ‘the Buckley girl from the mall fire’ and treat her a little more carefully, but most think that this was her first time with disaster. Plus, she got to hang out with Melissa. Melissa was a Red Cross volunteer from one county over and quickly wormed her way into Robin’s heart. If you’d ask Steve, this happened because Robin was trying to get over her lingering Vickie crush, which crashed and burned after Vickie and her parents left. Robin denied it, but did admit to Steve one drunken night that she thought Melissa was pretty.
Once it was realized that Hawkins would be in recovery for the long haul and that Robin wasn’t leaving anytime soon, she began working more hours at the school. Which meant more time around Melissa. Melissa was taking a gap year and then training to be an EMT in the fall. She had a wicked sense of humor and made Robin snort on several occasions. Robin’s favorite shifts with Melissa were the overnight shifts. Since the school was still being used as a temporary shelter, there were volunteers 24/7 to help if someone needed anything. At first, it was a harrowing shift. People came in with all kinds of injuries and screams pierced the air from nightmares. Nowadays, it was much quieter. Robin still had to comfort people or occasional track down a wandering child, but most nights were spent sitting across from Melissa and playing card games. Melissa usually won due to the sheer fact that after all this time Robin still had a shit pokerface. Seeing Melissa light up when she brought forth a winning hand was totally worth losing a few animal crackers.
Tonight, Robin tried a little harder to win since they were betting with M&Ms.
“Do you have any queens?” Robin asked.
“Go fish,” Melissa replied.
Robin drew a card and held back a grimace. She looked back at Melissa. Her hair was in a high bun and she wore a magenta pullover. She didn’t wear a nametag, they’d ditched those early on. Everyone knew their names now but Robin thought about the way Melissa carefully printed Robin’s name and how their fingers brushed when she handed the tag to Robin. She’s probably spent most of her time volunteering staring at Melissa. The way she deftly calmed down a kid with a story about an elephant that sneezed flowers, the way her biceps bulged when she carried giant jugs of water or how competent she was when helping the head supervisor make the shift schedules. A part of Robin wondered if Melissa intentionally put them on shifts together. There was only a small chance that was true. She wondered what it would be like to kiss Melissa or wake up to her.
“Robin?”
Robin pulled herself away from her thoughts. “Yeah?”
Melissa raised a brow. “I asked if you had any twos.”
Robin looked down at her cards and groaned. “Ugh, here.” She slapped the card on the table, but couldn’t be angry too long when saw Melissa shimmy in her seat.
“Hey,” Robin began. She tapped a nervous beat with her shoes. “How long are you going to be here for? Like, clearly Hawkins is still a disaster but you have school in a few months. Are you staying until then?”
Melissa pushed an M&M around the table. “I’d like to help out as long as I can. But you’re right I will have to leave at some point.” She reached across the table, her fingers almost touching Robin’s. “Is there a reason you’re asking?”
Robin’s heart beat fast. She wondered what would happen if she inched her fingers just the tiniest bit forward. Would Melissa pull away or take her hand in hers? “I’ve really enjoyed getting to know you and I didn’t know if you wanted to still be friends when you leave?”
Melissa grinned. “Of course I still want to be your friend Robin.” She moved her hand and was now holding Robin’s.
Robin took a deep breath. Being friends was good, Robin’s good at being a friend. Look at her and Steve! Except, Melissa was holding her hand and yes, there are platonic ways to hold hands, again look at her and Steve, but this the way Melissa is rubbing her thumb back and forth and the look in her eyes made her think it could be more.
“Do you wanna go to the kitchen with me?” Robin blurted out.
Melissa laughed. “Sure, Robin.”
They headed to the kitchen, still holding hands, and Robin tried her best to keep cool. She didn’t know exactly what they would do when they got there, but maybe Robin could come out to her? Yeah, that might work. They make it to the kitchen. The safety lights created an eerie glow and before Robin could say anything Melissa leaned forward. Robin flinched and then Melissa’s lips placed a kiss on Robin’s nose.
“Aah!” Robin shouted. Did Melissa try to kiss her?
“Oh gosh, Robin are you okay?” Melissa looked at her with concern.
“I don’t know,” Robin stammered, “were you…were you trying to kiss me?”
Melissa’s face froze and then shuttered. “No.”
Oh , she had been. Robin grabbed her hand. “Because if you were, I’d like to try again.”
They both leaned in and kissed. It was soft and firm and Robin would always remember this moment. She’d also tease Melissa the next day about the first kiss attempt and from then on when she could Melissa would always greet Robin with a little kiss to her nose.