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May 27th 1989
Jonathan Byers was tripping over his slurred words trying to explain his film project, but Steve wasn’t paying attention and chuckled with the rest of the group. It was a cool spring evening and he hadn’t seen his best friend, his ex and his ex’s ex (Christ - this and the kids, maybe closed-off Robin Buckley had a point about the people he spends his time with) since they all left for college last fall, and they were all huddled together on the roof of the Squawk, drinking some unlabeled vodka Murray had brought as a homecoming gift/excuse to get Nancy Wheeler to stop prying.
Steve Harrington had instead decided to stay in smalltown Hawkins, serving as baseball coach and sex ed teacher at Hawkins High. (much to the chagrin of the group) He’d told them it was because he kept the house his father left when he decided not to return after the “earthquake” 3 years back, but the truth was he couldn’t bear the thought of leaving his kids to face the horrors of this world alone. But now, they had all graduated and were flying the nest, maybe that could change.
“Now Smith, Smith I would consider.” Steve directed at Robin, who raised her eyebrow inquisitively.
“Oh, really? Is it the lectures on Steinem that draw you -” Robin smirked at him, “or the high concentration of women?”
In all honesty, it was because he missed his best friend. The days had passed so much slower with 8 hours of classes full of bored students than even debating the latest blockbusters on 12 hour shifts with her at Family Video, but he gladly accepted the out and replied, “Can’t it be both?”
Everybody then turned to him and giggled, and he couldn’t help but join in. His eyes wandered over each of their faces, and lingered on Nancy. Steve didn’t remember seeing her smile that genuine since- well, since Barb had gone missing. Robin, operating on his wavelength as usual, posed, “What about you, Nance? How are the babes at Emerson?”
She looked deep back into Robin’s eyes, “I wouldn’t know. I didn’t look, cause I’ve got the perfect one right here.”
What.
Robin Buckley, clearly not prepared for that announcement, blushed the deepest shade of red he’d seen since she admitted to him that she and Vickie had gotten together. Wait a minute-
His train of thought was interrupted by Jonathan snorting out vodka, failing to play it off as a cough as his nostrils were clearly burning. (Steve had tried a swig from Murray’s flask when he’d offered at the graduation ceremony, very quickly regretting his decision and choosing to abstain for the rest of the evening)
Steve, however, tried to play it cool by focusing on the least interesting word in that sentence, spluttering a “Didn’t?”
“Oh, and I dropped out three months ago.”
WHAT.
“Wow, Nance, I-” Steve tried and failed to find an ending to that sentence. “Robin, you better tell me everything. We called for two hours last week - I thought you were still with Vickie?”
“Uh- Nancy Wheeler I love you and your annoying little head putting me on the spot like this - ” It was Nancy’s turn to blush. “OK, after everything that happened, me and Vickie had been struggling - I mean, not struggling, but she had started having nightmares from the attack at the hospital and I barely got through those myself after Starcourt - and whenever I tried to comfort her, she saw my scars and the marks where his tentacles choked me and the faded bruises from the interrogation and started sobbing-”
“Robin - Robin, slow down, it’s okay,” Steve tried to comfort her as she started to ramble, her eyes welling up, and Nancy looked close to tears too - he would be damned if the two most important women in his life were crying on his watch.
“You’re right- Sorry. Just before she left for nursing school, we broke it off. I didn’t want to hold her back.” Steve frowned. He knew how much Robin loved her - especially after she was pining over Vickie for a year in front of him - and she noticed. “But it’s not like we don’t get along! We’ve stayed really close, I called her just before me and Nance drove down and she would’ve come if not for a big exam this weekend. I still love her, as much as I love you Steve Harrington - well, maybe not that much.” Robin grinned and Steve breathed a sigh of relief.
“I’m right here, babe!” Nancy exclaimed, also grinning, “You’re leaving Jonathan out.”
Jonathan had just about recovered from his accident, but was still processing the inciting incident, so spluttered a “huh?”
Robin’s eyebrows furrowed for a second, thinking. “Ask me out.” she said, completely deadpan.
Nancy was startled, Steve grinned, knowing where this was going, but Jonathan was none the wiser and confoundedly replied, “Now you’ve really lost me, Buckley, ” Robin looked on expectantly, and as he had enough to drink to be led on, “but if you insist. Will you go out with me?”
“Well, I am terribly sorry,” Robin rolled her eyes and scooched closer to Nancy, “but I’m a taken lady with the most beautiful woman in the world - as I’m sure you’re aware.” She paused to plant an over-the-top kiss on her girlfriend’s cheek, complete with a smack of her lips, bringing Nancy back to reality and embarrassment as Robin continued, “However, as a consolation prize, I can offer you a place in the highly esteemed group of my failed relationships that support my sexuality and stay closest to my heart.”
Jonathan, now understanding, answered, “I accept your gracious invitation.”
Everybody laughing again broke the tension.
Steve, still bewildered, continued, “That’s very sweet of you, Buckley, but what happened next? You and Nance went to college…”
Nancy butted in confidently, “I’ll take this one. I went to Emerson and she went to Smith in Boston, but it's only a two hour drive between the two. We were calling every couple of days anyway to check up on each other, so I proposed that we meet up for coffee every weekend somewhere between us in the city. It had been two months since then she was rambling about how the new clothing restrictions only made her classmates look hotter, when I started to look at her.” Nancy turned to look into Robin’s eyes lovingly. “Really look at her. Everything started to make sense to me. Next weekend, I blurted out that I loved her and the rest is history.”
“Wait a minute, you still didn’t explain dropping out. You worked your ass off to get into Emerson in the first place.”
“Yes Steve, I'm getting there. Getting with Robin made me miss, well all of this,” she gestured to the edge of the rooftop, overlooking rolling hills down towards the town. “Sneaking around, proper investigation, real stakes. A journalism degree is not everything it’s cracked up to be, just studying decades old broadsheets for exams. And with the help of the albeit small formal experience at the Post, and the exposés I spearheaded about the lab, I just got accepted for an internship at the Boston Herald!”
Everybody gasped. That was the type of paper Steve would see his father read (rather than spend any time bonding with his son - that doesn’t matter right now), and he recalled seeing a copy at Melvalds just after the military left, front page headlined by a story “The Facts about Hawkins and Hell on Earth” featuring interviews with re-emerging police chief James Hopper and transitional Chief Editor of the Hawkins Post, Nancy Wheeler. All of the workforce there who weren't flayed fled after the earthquake - probably off to their holiday homes, the rich bastards - ‘cept the janitor who recognized Nance from when she interned whilst at the relief shelter and gave her the keys to the building. Before they converted the office into a storehouse, (useful as it was much deeper into town than the Squawk basement) Nancy and Jonathan printed hundreds of copies of one last advertisement - the relaunch of WSQK 94.5FM, starting June 22nd 1986.
Steve refocused. Jonathan somehow looked more shocked than before, but had the foresight to put his plastic cup on the floor. Buckley looked like she was about to squeal, leaping off her deck chair and into Nancy’s arms, before fake-shoving her shoulder and complaining, “What the hell Nance, you’re gonna show me up!”
“Lemme guess. You’re pregnant.” Jonathan chuckled.
“No, way less cool than that. I was thinking about dropping out too. I’m sure as hell not getting an internship - although I’d never turn down being your partner in crime, babe - but a degree in frenchhornery doesn’t appeal anymore. I think I only stayed in band class because I was crushing on Vickie.” she admitted.
“Finally, you took a page out of my book for once!” Steve cheered, “Nance, I’m sorry, but I only passed Science ‘cause doing flash cards with you was the only way your mother would let me in your room. Scary woman.”
“I am shocked and appalled, Stephen.” Nancy grinned.
“Don’t talk shit about Mrs Wheeler, Harrington, she took on a demogorgon with a fucking wine bottle!” Jonathan added.
“Like I said, Byers, scary woman. Hey, do I have to call you Jonathan Hopper now?” This made Jonathan frown. “Hopper-Byers? Or will you finally let me just say Jon?”
“Not in a million years, Steve. And I only know about that second-hand from - wait a minute, why were you at Enzo’s anyway, Robin? I thought you were broke.”
“Yes, I very much am, but like I told Steve, I was treating my girlfriend out on a date.” The couple blushed. Steve should have seen this coming much sooner, he hadn’t seen Vickie at the graduation ceremony and those two couldn’t keep their eyes off each other from across the stands. “And by treating, I mean we went halves. I don’t have a job yet, but there is a Family Video down the road from the Herald. I’m sure Keith would put a good word in for me.”
“And Jonathan, trust me, the last thing on their minds were their last names,” Nancy leaned in closer and whispered, “Hopper paid off the band to play a slow dance - in the middle of the restaurant!”
Everybody belly-laughed. “I love you Nance, but I don’t believe you for a second. I don’t think that man has let loose his whole life! The embarrassment would be a stain on his resume.” Steve joked, but Robin passionately nodded and agreed with her.
“And you think I turn red, Steve? Joyce looked like she was choking - bright purple - and that was before he literally swept her off her feet!” Robin bellowed.
He laughed, and though they seemed so happy, Steve couldn’t help thinking how they would feel if it was anybody else. Two girls went alone to a restaurant together, in deep red Indiana, and couldn’t dream of doing anything like that. He had heard Massachusetts was better, (only ‘cause his dad always called them “little bitch blue queers” on his drunken rants whenever work forced him to go there) but it still stung - wait, did Robin say she would be working next to the Herald?
“So what, are you two moving in together now?” Steve feigned ignorance. Robin and Nancy both frowned, eyebrows furrowed - exactly the same way, god, were they good for each other - then gained composure as they realised what he meant.
“Oh! I- I was just gonna drive I guess, hadn’t really thought that far ye-” Robin started to ramble, but Nancy grabbed her chin and turned it towards her. They had a silent conversation with their eyes, lashes fluttering in the cool evening breeze. Nancy nodded, confidently. “Yes. Yes, we are.” Robin finished, shaking slightly. The couple kissed for the first time in front of anybody.
Steve obnoxiously groaned and rolled his eyes, then turned to Jonathan, “Christ, man, we really need to get our shit together. Oh! That reminds me,” Steve got up and patted Robin’s shoulder startling her, and she slowly drew away from her girlfriend, “Nancy, before you make up your mind, you need to remember Robin at her worst. Come on, the digs are in the car, we can just head in and change in the shower.”
Robin sighed, remembering, “For god’s sake, dingus, you’re gonna embarass meeee-” She noticed Nancy’s face, slightly worried, just as Steve did, “It’s not- This idiot made a bet with Henderson that if he actually flipped off the principal, we would wear some special clothes for our final meetup with him and Erica.”
“And do I get to know what those are?” Nancy asked, reassured.
“Surprise.” Robin beamed. “Come on, dingus.”
She left one final kiss on Nancy’s cheek before jumping out of her lap and following Steve off the roof.
—
Nancy’s eyes followed Robin until she left her view and breathed a deep sigh of relief.
She hadn’t planned to reveal she was a lesbian just then - her and Robin had kept an amazing disguise all day until she just had to go and say “babes”, her one weakness - but she wouldn’t play it off as a joke, or run off so she wouldn’t have to deal with the consequences. She loved Robin Buckley, and nobody could convince her otherwise.
That doesn’t mean she wasn’t worried how they would react. Steve was a pretty safe bet, Robin already told her that he knew - and he was the first ever to know - and he still loved her regardless. Sure, he was Nancy’s ex and he might be shocked for a second, but he’d get over it.
What really worried her was Jonathan Byers. Hopper. Damn you, Steve Harrington.
To her knowledge, Robin had only come out to Steve and Vickie. From the way he reacted to Will, Nancy thought Jonathan had already known or figured it out before, but that was his brother and not his ex of 3 years. They hadn’t spoken as much after everybody went to college, and even though he said it was because of a mountain of schoolwork and spending all his free time “writing, and rewriting, and rewriting his magnum opus”, she was worried that somehow he could tell and was jealous of Robin. But he wasn’t. Sure, he was very surprised, but most of his energy went into failing to hide the vodka flaring his nostrils after he snorted. Nancy didn’t need to use her journalist intuition to figure that one out.
Shit, Jonathan was still here.
She turned around to see him mid swig, slightly more than he was drinking before, but smiling. He noticed her staring and spoke up, “So, when did you figure it out?”
She didn’t really know. Too focused on the good girl persona to ever think that way about Barb, then after her, too focused on keeping her family safe. Her first impressions of Robin were, admittedly, mild jealousy. When they first met at Starcourt, even if they were both pumped full of all manner of Soviet drugs, her and Steve had such an energy together that she was starting to lose with Jonathan. And it only got worse when he moved away, and the dynamic duo stuck together all around school and would not shut up. It got even worse when she found herself in Family Video over the summer, totally not glaring at them between shelves stacked with copies of Fast Times- I mean what?
Maybe it was after they spoke in the library basement, and Robin swore that her and Steve were completely platonic. The jealousy still hung, but it felt different. Heavier. The analytical part of her brain wouldn’t stop thinking about why those two wouldn’t just get together for the rest of the day, and she tried to bury the answer it had given when they exchanged a glance, high-fiving, at the asylum (how romantic) the day after.
Maybe it was after she had officially “unmarried” Jonathan, and Robin was there when everyone reunited at the lab to hold her as she silently sobbed, after watching Erica scream for help and float back up into the sky, mortified at what could be happening to her own sister. She couldn’t help but notice her raw emotion, when Steve nearly fell off the radio tower and they embraced in her brother’s arms, when Nancy offered herself as bait for the Mind Flayer and Robin quietly begged her to turn around, sobbing. She couldn’t help but give her a look that said everything was going to be okay, and that she loved her, because Robin Buckley had become one of her closest friends.
Maybe it was sitting in that coffee shop in Boston week after week, letting her ramble on about her new classmates, somehow feeling even more jealous. When Robin let slip that she found one of them hot, she turned bright red and hid her face in her hands. “I think I knew.” Nancy had replied, voice wavering slightly. Robin looked relieved for just a second, then started hyperventilating, and the tension in the room became suffocating. An uncomfortable thirty seconds later, she mumbled some excuse about band practice and dashed out, fumbling a whole twenty onto the counter to cover their two dollar cappuccinos.
Nancy had felt awful for the next week. Why wasn’t she more supportive, why didn’t she pretend to act surprised, why didn’t she admit that she felt the same wa- Oh. I guess that was it. When they met up the same time next week, Nancy ran up to her in the middle of the sidewalk and gave her a huge hug. This week, they sat closer together and really spoke. About how they were both best friends with Barb at different times, but never crossed paths. About how they both missed Eddie Munson. About how Robin hid her relationship with Vickie. About coming out to Steve. About Steve Harrington’s awful pickup lines. How did she ever fall for him?
There was another silence, but this time it almost felt comforting, domestic. Nancy Wheeler had looked at Robin Buckley, as she had a million times, but this time undeterred. She studied the freckles encroaching her lips and attempted to take a deep breath to relax herself, but somehow managed to blurt out the only thing going through her head, “I think I love you.” They both looked sheepish, Robin vibrating in her cramped wooden chair, until they finally found each other’s eyeline and smiled gleefully. This time, they sped out together - only leaving a five - and drove back to Nancy’s dorm. She could barely manage to open the door, hurriedly fumbling her key-
“Helloooooooo? Earth to Nancy Wheeler?”
Shit, Jonathan was still here. Again.
“Sorry, I was trying to think about it. Got a bit carried away there…” she let out, resigned. “It’s not- I mean- It was after we went to college,” she still sounded hesitant before confronting his actual question. “You know that I loved you, right? I never stopped. Just because I don’t, y’know, think about guys anymore-”
Jesus, this was awful. She thought about how she could explain it best, and that former jealousy came to the forefront of her mind. “You know how those two are with each other, how they always have been, even though Steve knew. How they love each other. It’s like that, I think.” She hesitated for a moment, Jonathan giving an unreadable expression, but continued, “How I still love Steve. How Robin loves you, like she joked about earlier.”
Jonathan sighed. “Yeah, I know. I’m not trying to confront you- you don’t have to explain yourself. I get it. I know that when we broke up, I never stopped loving you. And I don’t think you did either. This sort of, I don’t know, mutual understanding, shared trauma, whatever you want to call it - it’s never going away. We’ve all been to hell and back for each other, literally multiple times, but I think even without that we would have gotten here eventually.”
Nancy nodded, understanding. A part of her wondered if Vickie would have shared that opinion, if she were here like Robin wanted her to be. They were only really acquaintances, her having left for nursing school shortly after Vecna was killed and she was let in on the town’s secrets, but Nancy’s most vivid memories of her were whenever she went to visit Max in hospital. She often saw Vickie on her rounds and they exchanged a friendly smile, or she saw her sitting by Max’s bedside on her lunch break, giggling and updating Max on the latest gossip even if she never said anything back. One thing Nancy was sure they could bond over was the dull groan everybody lets out whenever Running Up That Hill plays over the radio, and the silent mouthing to the lyrics when they remember the song is actually pretty good. And in the end, Lucas’ insistence on playing it constantly around Max had never really mattered.
To give her credit, Robin had only played it once during her stint on the WSQK. It was on Max’s birthday, about four months before she woke up, and the whole Party had gathered at the hospital to celebrate. Robin and Vickie had just started dating, but they both had to work that day so they compromised. Vickie supervised the kids at the hospital with Joyce - Erica had helped sneak in El, so Mrs Byers desperately needed the help with all six - and the kids left the radio on in the room so that Robin could send in well wishes (and “subtly” flirt with Vickie) from across the town.
The other three teens had stayed with Robin at the Squawk, Steve and Jonathan fiercely debating any other songs that Max would have enjoyed. Eddie’s presence was sorely missed here. Nancy had just hung up the phone outside when she dramatically threw the doors open to the recording booth and announced, “We’re going to play it!” groan “Wait wait wait - Right after an interview with today’s guest, Susan Hargrove!” There had been a long stunned silence, vaguely accompanied by Should I Stay or Should I Go quietly playing through Robin’s headphones, (Jonathan beat Steve, again) until Buckley broke the silence and ran up to hug Nancy exclaiming, “Oh Wheeler, you’re the best! I’m so happy I could kiss yo-”
She felt Robin quickly cover her mouth, and heard Steve quietly chuckle standing behind her. How Nancy hadn’t figured it out earlier was beyond her. Hindsight is 20/20. She had blushed, but Jonathan hadn’t noticed. Susan had arrived twenty minutes later, eyelids puffy red, and Robin sat her down in the recording booth. She gave long answers about seeing Max grow up, and being so happy for her when she found her boyfriend Lucas, and how she had closed herself off entirely after her stepbrother Billy died in the mall fire. Then she went missing for days - while a serial killer ran loose - before being delivered to the hospital nearly a year ago without her condition improving. She wondered aloud what had happened to cause this, was it drugs or was she attacked or was she an awful mother who started drinking herself to death after her divorce and made Max Mayfield try to end herself- before bursting into tears. Nancy couldn’t help but think of Barb’s parents and how she was forced to bury the truth when they were so desperate, just like she wanted to tell Susan that the perpetrator was not her, never her, but a vile monster who they were doing everything in their power to stop. Instead she and everybody else leaned in to hug her tightly, while Robin abruptly transitioned the radio over to Kate Bush.
There was not a dry eye in that room, which only worsened when the walkie switched on and the whole hospital room sobbed over the other end of the static. Joyce was insisting that Susan come over for dinner that night, so she called Jonathan over to take her and Will home to start cooking. This left the other three with Susan, where they shared stories about Max, Steve teaching her how to drive properly, Nancy doing her makeup before her first proper date with Lucas, Robin seeing her and Jane come into Scoops for ice cream most summer days, talking gossip about their boyfriends and watching Steve insist to take their cost out of his tip jar. They kept a lot closer with Susan since that day, and not long after explaining everything to her own mother with Mike, Nancy (and Vickie, even though she didn’t talk much) had helped Max explain to Susan what really happened to her and her stepbrother, and why Steve was such a damn softie when it came to those kids. (Owens had allowed them to tell everybody’s parents with his supervision, even then complaining about all the NDAs he had to sweep under the rug and why the hell they told their science teacher.)
She brought her attention back to Jonathan sitting beside her. The silence had now held for a while. He twitched nervously in his seat, like he was mustering up the courage to admit something, opening his mouth to speak multiple times before giving up and hiding it by drinking more vodka. Byers finally spoke: “I mean, I’m sure you knew - not entirely, but you had an idea - while we were together. And I- uh- I don’t fault you for that. The truth is, I was gonna…” He breathed hard and drank more.
Nancy encouraged him, “It’s okay, Jonathan, I won’t judge you.”
“Thanks. I was- I was gonna call Argyle. I… I think I miss him.”
Ah. That makes a lot more sense.
—
Robin watched Steve fumble with the spare key to the Squawk she Jimmy had given her that morning. The atmosphere was playfully tense, Steve exchanging awkward glances with her whilst trying to concentrate on the lock.
“So.” Steve sighed. “Nancy Wheeler.”
“Okay, I know what you’re gonna say, having two of your friends go out with your ex right after each other is really shitty-”
“God, is there anybody from this town who loves men?” he exasperated, playfully hitting her shoulder with his free hand.
He’s joking around!? “You’re not mad? Or, even, slightly upset? I lied to you about Vickie for over a year and you don’t care!?”
Steve had finished unlocking the door, and turned around to look directly at her huge pupils and fierce expression. “Robin. I could never be mad at you.” She sighed, thankful, and they both smirked. “Sure, I wish you would’ve told me, but I get why you didn’t. And, sure, two different people I’ve asked out decided to get together and abandon all men, but compared to, like, the entire rest of the town I’ve hit on, that's practically nothing!”
Robin laughed. That’s for damn sure. Every job she ever held was working with that lovable dingus and whenever - on the rare occasion - any girl ever showed up, this guy was on her like a fiend. Except Vickie. Probably to try and get me to do the same to her.
They walked through the radio station. Jimmy had graciously let her host the WSQK again today while she was back in town, but she did not have permission to clean his botanical substances out of the area. In all honesty, everywhere outside the booth was now a pigsty. Nancy had taken her job as station manager very seriously - even if it was only being used to send secret codes, she was a perfectionist and Robin loved her for it. Among other things.
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about Vickie, Steve. I know how much you liked her and I didn’t want you thinking I was all depressed and worrying that she would out me or anything. I swear, she would have loved to see you guys again today. I just - I didn’t want to worry you. Is that so wrong?” Robin paused to let Steve talk but changed her mind, “-And about Nancy, that wasn’t planned or anything. Not telling you was my decision, not hers. I know how much you loved her, missed her, and I didn’t want to break your heart. I’m sorry. It was selfish of me to just pretend that nothing had changed between us - come here and act all normal and drink a shit ton- I’m glad you know, but I’m glad I didn’t have to do it, you know?”
“Yeah.” He stated solemnly. They both moved the shelf blocking the secret entrance together - even though they cleared everything out long before Jimmy came back, they couldn’t be too careful - and headed downstairs. “You don’t have to apologise, Robin. I just want you to be happy, both of you. And if that means you being together, then that just means I get to see you both more, right? What’s the problem with that?”
You are too adorable, Steve Harrington. “You can come visit whenever, you know. Boston’s only a couple hours away, and you’re more than welcome to bring a nugget or two.”
“About that, I was thinking of moving.” King of Hawkins High leaving his sex ed role? What will the children do? “Get that smirk off your face, dingus. It’s just - now that the kids are going off to college, you three have your own plans, and you said Joyce and Hopper are moving to Montauk of all places - there’s not much left for me here anymore. When I decided to stay, I felt stuck, I- I couldn’t leave the kids here, going back to school like nothing ever happened. What if he came back, right? So, I got a job there. Two, for god’s sake! But now they’re leaving, and I know Erica’s still here for a few years, and the new kids are alright, but I can still come back to visit. If- fuck- if you and Nance wouldn’t mind, could I crash at yours for a few months while I get a job and everything? Not yet, but like, in the fall.”
The thought of living with Steve felt wonderful, but it crept into her mind and met the thought of living with Nancy, which flared up the butterflies in her stomach again, a blush rising into her cheeks. Steve definitely noticed, spluttering, “Oh, but if I was gonna third wheel you or anything, then just forget it.” God damn it.
“I would be thrilled to have you. But, I’m definitely the bottom of this relationship so we’ll have to ask my better half.”
They both belly laughed as Steve groaned an “Ewwwwwww Robs”.
They had reached the shower, and Steve handed Robin her clothes, ushering her inside. Having primarily been used by Hopper after every crawl, it had what may be the final faint stench of Upside Down gunk left in the pipes, a scent that Robin had forgotten how much she hated. She started getting changed as she called out to Steve, “So what about you? Any dates that actually went anywhere while I was gone?”
“I think you know the answer to that.”
Worth a shot. “Well, I do know the bar Smith students go to every Friday night, and I’d be happy to come along if you need a gaydar? Nance can be designated driver and take me home so that we can collectively have some alone time.” Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad.
“Robin, stop making me think of that. Ew.” He hesitated as Robin walked out the shower and raised an eyebrow at him, before he walked in after her and muttered, “ew.” She found a spot on the floor in the centre of the room to wait, and Steve spoke from the other room, “You know, I had my suspicions. I saw the way you looked at her every time she went through a crawl on that projector.” Robin just happened to be thinking of that right now, damn you Harrington. “I just never expected she felt the same way about you.”
And Robin thanks the gods every morning that she does.
Steve came out of the shower, picked their old clothes up off the floor and led Robin back upstairs. The whole outfit felt too tight everywhere, even torn and still covered in remnants of dry blood and puke and Russian drugs, but the nostalgia for that mostly blissful summer helped her block it out. They moved the bookshelf back, locked the backdoor and threw their clothes in the back of Steve’s car. Robin suddenly felt tense, worried what Nancy would think about Steve moving in, and still feeling guilty for not telling him anything earlier. Steve noticed, scary perceptive man, paused after shutting the trunk and turned around, “Robin, I swear to God, I am happy for you. Both of you. I know Nancy, and even if I used to be a dick back then, I know that you’re right for each other, and you will make each other happy.” He held his arms out, “Come ‘ere,” and she fell into a loving embrace.
“Thanks, Steve. Can’t wait for you to move in with us.” she spoke, muffled into his chest.
“Let’s just hope the woman on top approves.” he snorted.
“I told you that in confidence!” She hissed quietly and hit his arm, aware the roof was only a couple meters above them and silent, other than the whistling of the wind through the nearby trees. It really was a picturesque evening, with Robin’s favourite people in the world.
—
“No, you said it confidently, big difference.” Steve explained as he clambered up the ladder again, very aware of the tightness of his shorts against the cold spring breeze. He froze as a hysterical bout of laughter came from in front of him, joined by a deeper chuckle. Shit. His little sailor boat cap was just visible off the top of the ladder.
Resigned, he clambered up the rest of the stairs, followed by Robin, as she halfheartedly proclaimed, “Surprise! Ugh, dingus, you forgot to tell them to turn around first.”
“Sorry, Robs.”
They could barely hear each other under Nancy and Jonathan laughing. Even though they were laughing at them, it felt nice. They hadn’t worn these outfits since Starcourt, and the other two were too busy with the flesh monster in El’s thigh to acknowledge the store’s awful fashion sense. Them now being a size too small didn’t help either.
“You look so adorable, babe!” Nancy cooed, clearly having drunk a lot more vodka while they were gone, making Robin cringe into a ball on the cold stone floor. “But why the hell are you wearing that? Did you even wash it after Starcourt?”
“I will have you know, I took my parent’s credit card to a dry cleaners in Indianapolis, paid double to swear their secrecy about the blood, pretty much nothing. We were down in that bunker for like two days, that stuff is never coming out. But I made that stupid bet with Henderson, and I can’t break that promise. Scoops Troop and all. We’re heading down to meet him and Erica at what’s left of the mall later.”
“Yeah, yeah, very sweet dingus, but you only told me about this yesterday. I didn’t have time to mentally prepare for this thing! Let alone having Nancy see me in it again!” Robin moaned.
“Relax, it looks fine. Kinda. Very nostalgic.” Jonathan said, wistfully.
Why was it so quiet up here anyway? “So, what did you two get up to while we were gone?”
Nancy looked at Jonathan, eyebrows furrowed, posing a question. He nodded back. “Jonathan was telling me that he was gonna get in touch with Argyle again. He misses him.”
Robin and Steve looked at each other smirking, and failed to contain an eruption of laughter. Jonathan looked mortified, but Robin managed to get out between breaths, “No, no, no- me and Steve were just- just talking about Nancy - and he said is there anybody- here who loves men!”
Jonathan chuckled reservedly, and Nancy, grinning, decided to change the subject, “Steve, why haven’t you got a girlfriend - or partner - anyway? We’ve been gone for nine months and you’re telling me you just sat here and taught kids about condoms the whole time?”
“Well, I have been on many dates, but surprisingly enough, there aren’t many women who are looking for a single father with seven little nuggets.”
Wait. Seven? That doesn’t sound right. Mike, Dustin, Lucas, El, Will, Max, Erica counts, she always did, why was it never seven before? And Derek, oh he tries to be and Steve loves him but he probably isn’t nugget materi-
“Shit.” El.
The mood shifted, sombre. Everybody broke eye contact and looked at the floor.
The one thing that Steve had always loved about El was that she was never judgemental. Her childhood had been really difficult, and Steve was new to the whole babysitting gig anyway after the demodog attacks, so when he said the wrong thing around her, he felt awful. But she never cared. Her name was hard enough - thanks to that birth certificate Owens forged, legally she was “Jane Hopper”, that being the first name her mother gave her, but the Party never really stopped calling her El. Or Eleven. Steve tried to correct himself whenever he called her by her number, but he’d watched Hopper use both without caring so it might not have even mattered.
He sat her down one summer on his break at Scoops, her coming alone ‘cause Max was visiting California for the week. He apologised if he was being a bad parental figure, and said that he never meant to treat her like a subject, tears starting to well in his eyes. But she had just shrugged, downing another spoonful of her sundae, and said something very matter of factly that stuck with him for long after: “I do not mind my number. When Max calls me El, I do not feel ashamed or scared. That number is what gave me these powers, the ones that let me save everyone. By doing that, I am not what Papa wanted me to be. You do not like your parents, yes? But you still call yourself “Steve”. You took the label they gave you, and you made it yours. I did that too.” She displayed a huge grin and concluded, “Steve Harrington, I think we are bitching.” God, he missed her.
Steve turned to look at the sunset and continued to reminisce, before Nancy broke the silence and declared, “Mike thinks she’s still alive. He told me at the ceremony. That she snuck away from those sonic weapons, Kali projected her in the gate while she was bleeding out, and she wouldn’t have been able to enter his mind if she was standing there getting weakened.”
Not bad, Wheeler. Solid theory. “I like it.” Steve declared, after a pause to think through any other options which failed, “Those bozos from the lab are too stupid to think that much into it, so she may as well still be dead to them, and hell - it took her boyfriend a year and a half to figure it out. Where would she go?”
“Three waterfalls. That’s what he told me, after everything was over they would go live in a house by three waterfalls and never have to deal with the government again.” Buckley grinned. “I like it too.”
“So what, Canada? That’s a bit too close.” Jonathan pondered, “Norway? No, how would you get a flight that far without an ID…”
“What if she found somebody to help?” Nancy said confidently. “Owens has already forged documents for her before, and he swore to secrecy even when the rest of the government came knocking on his door. He was assigned to clean everything up here after she was presumed dead, so maybe he just did his job?”
Steve nodded and posited, “How about Iceland? Could probably sneak on a ferry from New Jersey pretty easily, tons of little towns you could keep quiet in over there.” There was a general nod of agreement.
Everybody wiped the tears slowly forming around their eyes, Robin headed over to wrap Nancy in a huge hug, leaving Steve to give Jonathan an awkward handshake/back pat.
“Yeah, Iceland. I think she’s doing just fine.” Nancy smiled, squeezing Robin. “Anyway Steve, you just had the best idea, so you must be the least drunk. You’re giving me and Jonathan a lift home.”
“What the hell Nance, I’ve still got alcohol in my system!? Hopper will be on my ass if I drink and drive while working at a high school.”
“Believe you me, dingus, Hopper is not on patrol tonight.” Robin chuckled, Nancy joining her.
“You guys are the worst.” Jonathan grimaced.
“Love you too, Jonathan Hopper.” Robin replied. He grimaced more.
Steve helped everybody down the ladder, as he was somehow designated driver, and threw everybody into the car. He thought it best not to leave Nancy and Robin drunk in the back seats together, so he kept Robin up front with him. Everybody was driving back out tomorrow morning, so he took advantage of the time he had left and posed his moving in to Nancy, who surprised him by how eagerly she accepted. He found it hard to keep his eyes on the road, not because of the alcohol, but because he kept looking at the three beautiful people sitting in the car with him, smiling like their lives depended on it, happy to be in each other's company after so long apart.
—
The teens didn’t clean up on the rooftop. Robin had said that Jimmy never came up here anyway so it didn’t matter, but some force thought that being sloppy was a bad idea. Could get you in trouble.
Wind whistled through the nearby trees, and the sun had now fully disappeared, so if anybody were present to see the empty plastic cups on the ground stack themselves and levitate into a nearby trash can, they would have been confused at how it was done in such darkness.
This presence turned towards the car rolling off in the distance, bass blaring something undecipherable, and she smiled.
The wind enveloped the resounding void left in its wake as it vanished.