Archive of Our Own ^beta

Nancy is just opening the door to Family Video when she watches Robin shove Steve in the shoulder. He scoffs, then shoves her back. Robin looks like she’s just about ready to jump on his back when she notices Nancy coming up to the counter. She perks up and immediately lets whatever squabble they were having go and waves excitedly at her.

“Nancy. I need to know.” She says, suddenly serious, leaning so far over the counter that she’s almost laying on it in an attempt to get closer to her. Something about it makes the corners of Nancy’s mouth curl up against her will.

“Yes?” She prompts.

“How did this dingus ever manage to pull the likes of you?” She asks, pointing a thumb back at him and ignoring Steve’s offended scoff, “Because he’s just so him and you’re just so be— Er— I mean pre— no, uh—“ She stumbles over her words for a few moments, with wide eyes.

That happens sometimes, Nancy has noticed. Like her brain-to-mouth filter only ever kicks in once she’s already started speaking her thoughts.

It always makes Nancy feel a little weird. Just the fact that there are things that Robin thinks, but doesn’t want Nancy to know. Nancy doesn’t like not knowing things. But it’s irrational to think she deserves Robin’s every thought. There are things that she thinks that she doesn’t say aloud, so it’s only fair that she patiently lets Robin take things back and stumble past near-spoken thoughts.

“You’re just uh— so much better!” She seems to finally settle on. Steve laughs quietly next to her, and Robin elbows him without looking. Nancy feels that she must be missing out on some inside joke, but doesn’t take offense to it. These two often have inside jokes. “Anyway, my point is, Steve is an idiot and he doesn’t deserve the honor of being your ex.”

Nancy tries not to laugh, “I didn’t realize there was honor in that.”

“There is when it’s you.” Robin replies, sincerely.

Nancy shakes her head in disagreement, though a smile pulls on her face. It’s nice that Robin thinks so highly of her, but really, she’s been anything but a good girlfriend in her past relationships. She’s too stubborn, it’s hard for her to think outside herself and her current objective, and she’s bad about talking about her feelings. All of which contributed to the long, drawn-out break-up between her and Johnathon. She gives herself at least a little slack, seeing as he was just as bad as her, at least towards the end. And with Steve…she still has a lot she has yet to apologize for when it comes to him. The thought dampens her mood slightly.

A moment passes while Nancy doesn’t say anything where Robin seems to get embarrassed about what she said and her eyes widen. “Right, Steve? You agree with me? Because what I just said is a totally reasonable and normal thing to say?”

“Yup. I feel plenty honored.” He agrees with a teasing smile. Then his tone changes into something more genuine and he turns to Nancy, “No, but, really? Dating you changed my life, Nance. For the better.”

Nancy looks into his eyes, sees the way his gaze softens, and can’t help but believe him, even if it’s hard to imagine. “Thanks, Steve.” She responds, then feels like the mood is getting to be a little too much for the middle of the day in Family Video, so she turns teasing. “But I think Dustin is the real life-changer.”

Steve rolls his eyes and scoffs, letting the mood drift into laughter territory like she wanted. “That little shit can go change someone else’s life for a change.”

“Oh, you love him. Don’t pretend like you didn’t literally adopt him.” Robin rolls her eyes then leans back towards Nancy again. Nancy gets a small thrill from having her attention back on her. “Have you seen the nerdy little handshake they do?”

Nancy laughs, “God, yes. It’s so lame.”

Steve immediately starts complaining, really trying to get across just how annoyed he is by Dustin, but Nancy and Robin both know it’s all for show. They share knowing glances as he goes on.

It’s not like Nancy doesn’t get it, she’s always had a soft spot for Dustin. He’s a sweet kid, something that Nancy has known way before Steve was even in the picture. She’s glad that Steve is there for him now, though. And Eddie, for that matter.

Eventually, Robin rudely stops his ranting short to ask Nancy about her day.

Nancy hasn’t really done much today— she’s already been accepted into Emerson, so no applications to worry about, it’s not close enough to the move-in date to worry about that either, and no summer job this time around to keep her occupied. Mostly she’s been reading, so they talk about that. Some of them Robin has read before and some she hasn’t, but she’s just as enthusiastic to discuss them regardless. Nancy finds herself leaning onto the counter across from Robin the longer they talk.

At some point, Steve leaves the counter to actually do his job, but Nancy doesn’t even notice until she has to move out of the way of an actual customer following Steve to check out. She offers them a small, apologetic smile.

When the customer is out of the store, Robin is slinging an arm over Steve’s shoulder. “I have to go. Family dinner,” She rolls her eyes, then lets her arm fall off of him before stepping away, “See you both later?” She asks, and Steve confirms with a ‘8pm!’ as Nancy waves Robin goodbye.

Steve and Nancy both look at the door for a few moments after Robin leaves. Nancy suddenly feels like the store is missing so much now that she’s gone, it’s like her presence warms up the place. She turns back towards Steve, who just sighs and shakes his head with a smile.

“So…” Nancy looks off to the side, then back to him. “You two really aren’t dating?” She asks.

Steve groans, dramatically. “God, not you too. I already got Henderson breathing down my neck about this.”

“It’s just— Robin’s great, you know? I don’t know why you wouldn’t want to date her.” Her face twists uncertainly.

“She is great.” Steve agrees, easily. “But, so are you. Yet, I don’t want to date either of you.” He shrugs.

Nancy rolls her eyes, and is silent for a moment. She never knows what to say when someone makes a good point against her. She’s just too damn proud to admit it most of the time, only ever saying something when it’s really important and after she’s had time to stew on it. This isn’t serious, though, so she just takes a moment to decide on how to move on without letting it show that he got her. Steve seems to know her too well, though, as he gives her a knowing look. She scoffs.

“Okay but,” She soldiers on, because it still just doesn’t make sense to her. “Robin is so smart, and funny, and she has so much personality.” She starts gesturing with her hands, “Like if I were you I would—“ She doesn’t get to finish her thought as the bell on the door loudly rings as it’s swung open.

“Ah, your royal highnesses, your jester has arrived.” Eddie loudly announces his presence.

Steve doesn’t immediately respond with some snarky comeback or play along with the royalty act like he usually would. Instead, he looks down at Nancy from across the counter and gives her a strange, questioning look. She lifts an eyebrow at him, prompting him to say whatever it is that he wants to say. He hesitates, like he’s about to spit it out, but seems to think better of it, shaking his head.

“Am I…interrupting something?” Eddie asks, leaning into the counter beside Nancy. The chains hanging off his waist clang against the surface.

Steve shakes his head again, then offers Eddie a smile. “Here to bug me again, Munson?”

Eddie scoffs goodnaturedly, then steps back and waves his arms dramatically in the arm. “I am but a jester for the king, here to entertain thee!”

“Yeah, yeah.” Steve rolls his eyes, then turns back to Nancy to whisper conspiratorially with her. She leans in and plays up the playful ‘we’re gossiping about you’ act, hiding their mouths with a hand. “I’ll distract him while you pick the movie for tonight. Can’t let him make us watch some awful horror flick like last time.” He stage-whispers, obviously wanting Eddie to hear him.

“Hey— I heard that!” He squacks, expectedly dramatic.

Nancy and Steve exchange a mischievous look before giggling amongst themselves, which only seems to spur Eddie on more. Nancy smiles to herself when Steve’s attention is diverted. She likes that she and Steve are able to joke with each other these days. There was a moment, in the heat of things during Spring Break, that she thought she might like him again. But their new found friendship is so much better.

Eddie is just starting on a rant about the ‘charm to low-budget films’ when she turns away from the two to dutifully start scanning the shelves of the store for a movie.

Movie nights have become a weekly occurrence for the four of them. Robin, Eddie, Steve, and Nancy. Eddie likes to call them the ‘royal court’, but Nancy is more privy to Robin’s ‘scooby gang’ nickname. They’ve developed an unexpected friendship this summer. Or, rather, maybe it was expected, given the trauma-bondedness of it all. Regardless, it’s been Nancy’s saving grace this summer.

She puts up a tough front in terms of handling the upside-down stuff, but since things were strained with Johnathon for a while, and then broken-off, she had lost her only support. She didn’t have a best friend, or a friend, period, who was in on everything. A part of her let things happen that way, punishing herself by never making a close friend again after she got her last one killed. So, her summer had started off basically alone, with no one to lean on when her nightmares got worse or when she just needed someone to talk to who got it.

Things started to change when Robin showed up at her house one night.

Nancy was already downstairs, curled up with a book on the couch with the lamp on. It was quiet, so she heard the sound of something being dropped on the ground outside before there was a tentative knock on the door. Nancy quickly rose from her spot, she instinctively grabbed the bat that was leaned up against the wall by the door before opening it.

“Oh, thank god.” Robin said, and quickly stepped forward to pull Nancy into a tight hug.

“What’s wrong?” Nancy asks, returning the hug with one arm and tightening her hold on her bat with the other. She wants to look out behind Robin to see if there is danger, but Robin is too tall and holding her too tightly for her to see anything but the girl’s shoulder.

“Just a nightmare.” Robin responds quickly, seeming to sense the way that Nancy has gone into protection-mode. “I-I had to make sure you were okay.”

“Oh.”

She slowly un-tenses in Robin’s arms, letting her grip on the bat loosen and then gently placing it back against the wall by the door. Then she hesitantly returns the hug fully.

She’s not sure what she should say. She’s never been good at comforting others. She tries to think about what Jonathon would say in this situation; He was always good at this kind of stuff. Before she gets the chance to try, though, Robin is pulling away, startling Nancy with the sudden movement. She holds Nancy at her forearms, almost subconsciously, and looks down at her as she starts rambling.

“I was so worried someone else was gonna open the door. Like, can you imagine me talking to Ted Wheeler? That is just a disaster waiting to happen. Was that a bat you were holding? I thought that was Steve’s thing, I’ve only seen you with guns.” She stops talking to take a deep breath suddenly, obviously having forgotten to breathe.

“You know I keep my guns upstairs.” Nancy remarks, feeling a little more confident now that the conversation has turned into safer territory. “And Steve got his bat from me.”

At Nancy’s response, Robin seems to snap back into herself. She looks down at their arms, her eyes widening, then takes a quick step back, almost tripping on the step. Nancy reaches out to steady her, without thinking, but Robin manages to straighten herself out. If it weren’t so dark then Nancy might’ve noticed that she was blushing.

“Right, so, um, I can see that you are uh—“ She gestures to her, avoiding her eyes. “—fine. So. That’s all I needed.” Robin turns around to grab her bike and stand it up.

“If you’re sure…” Nancy says, wearily. She tries not to frown, displeased with Robin leaving so soon. She doesn’t feel like she did much to help her, and she came all this way, too. She should invite her inside, at least. Or ask her to spend the night. The words never come out, though, for some reason. It’s been so long since she maybe, kind of had a friend. She feels uncharacteristically shy about it. So, Nancy just waves at her as Robin starts walking away with her bike, leaning against the doorframe.

Then, Robin suddenly stops, turns around, and speed-walks back to Nancy with determination. Nancy raises her eyebrows in surprise.

“On Fridays, me and Steve usually have a movie night. And, well, maybe you’d like to join us?” She gets the words out quickly, gesturing wildly with one hand as the other holds her bike upright. “Steve was thinking about inviting Eddie and I just thought hey! We could get the scooby gang back together, you know? Since I haven’t really seen you– or Eddie! Haven’t seen Eddie either!” She raises both arms, which causes her bike to fall. She curses, leaning down to pick it back up before going on. “What I’m trying to say is that I think it’d be cool if the four of us, like, hung out. If you’d be cool with that?” She finished, uncertainly. Then she seems to cringe at herself, closing her eyes and wincing. Still, she doesn’t say anything, finally giving Nancy the chance to respond.

“Um–” Nancy starts, surprised by the offer, but she doesn’t have to think long about it to make a decision. “Yeah. I mean– that’d be fun. I’d love to.” She smiles as Robin’s eyes fly open.

“Yeah? Yeah! Cool! Okay, I’ll uh– I’ll let you know the time. Just stop by Family Video.” Robin bounces on her feet excitedly, which gets a giggle out of Nancy. She wishes her a good night and watches her jump on her bike, stumbling only a little bit on the initial kick-off.

Ever since, Nancy has been having the best summer of her life. She’s never had so much fun with a group of people before, never felt like she fit with anyone better than she does with them. They watch movies, do a running commentary on it while it’s going, have deeper conversations about some of the more meaningful ones (which is mostly a Robin-Nancy conversation while the boys poke fun at them), and then even after the movie ends, they hang out for longer. More often than not, they get high or drunk, but sometimes they just sit and talk. Sometimes about inane, dumb things, but sometimes about their pasts, insecurities, trauma, experiences, and so on.

She’s made actual friends. Every once in a while she gets in her head about it, but then one of them is forcefully dragging her out and forcing her to accept the fact that they aren’t letting her drift away from them.

Nancy smiles to herself at the thought. Eventually, she decides on The Breakfast Club as their movie of the night.

Eddie rolls his eyes when he sees it. “Okay, Claire Standish.”

Nancy rolls her eyes, “Shut up, John Bender.” She sets the VHS down on the counter so Steve can scan it.

“You know that means we hook up, right?” Eddie wiggles his eyebrows suggestively.

Nancy doesn’t even realize she’s making a disgusted face until both Eddie and Steve are laughing.

“Jeez, Wheeler. You really know how to shoot a guy down.” Eddie says when he’s done laughing, clutching his chest dramatically and swaying backwards. Then, he suddenly straightens out and reaches out to pat her shoulder. “It’s okay, you’re not my type, anyway.”

“Good.” Nancy says, reaching out to take her rental back from Steve. He laughs at her response, then turns towards Eddie.

“What is your type then, Munson?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know.” Eddie responds, leaning towards him. “A man has got to keep some secrets.”

“Keeping secrets from your king, are you?” Steve responds, with a smirk.

Nancy is taken back by that response, because if she didn’t know any better, she’d almost say he was flirting. She stares at him in surprise as Eddie sputters, backing away from the counter. When neither her nor Eddie say anything, Steve reels back a bit and coughs.

“Right, so, see you guys tonight? Eddie’s place?”

“Right, yeah.” Eddie says, then shakes his head like a dog. “Yeah, see you.” He says, looking only at Steve. He does a goofy 180 spin and walks out, without another word.

Nancy and Steve both look at each other uncertainly, but neither comment. Nancy says her goodbyes and leaves herself, driving home.

Eddie insists that they smoke weed when the characters in the movie start smoking. For immersion, he said. Nancy thinks that they would’ve ended up smoking, regardless, but it is kind of nice to get high while the movie is still going rather than after. She thinks they should do it this way more often.

Right now, she’s sitting on the couch, with Robin right next to her, while Eddie and Steve are on the floor by their feet. Every once in a while, Robin will kick Steve out of nowhere and his reaction is just so funny, they lean towards each other and giggle at him.

Nancy finds herself leaning more and more towards Robin. The weed is making her feel loose-limbed and less inhibited, so she doesn’t think too much about it when she wraps her arms around Robin’s arm. Robin stiffens and stills completely at the touch. Nancy is just starting to think about pulling back, even though she doesn’t want to, when Robin finally relaxes. So, Nancy hugs her arm closer and sighs happily.

She only pulls away when Eddie turns to offer her the joint, already on their second of the night, giving her an amused look when he sees her. Feeling vaguely like he’s judging or making fun of her, she takes a pull and blows it in his face. Robin is laughing while Eddie is coughing up a fit. Nancy passes the joint to Robin, who just passes it along to Steve without taking a hit. Steve pats Eddie’s back as he breathes it in.

“Don’t mess with Nance, Munson.” He says as he blows out smoke from his nose.

“You people should learn to be nicer to your dealer.” Eddie grumbles, but he doesn’t seem too put out as he uses up the rest of the joint.

The others start talking when the movie ends, but Nancy can’t follow the conversation at all. She realizes that she may have over-done it a bit. She’s always had the lowest tolerance of the bunch, and figures she probably should’ve stopped after the first joint finished its rounds.

She’s still clinging to Robin like a leach. She can feel the vibrations of her talking, and decides to look up at her. She stares at her mouth. It’s a nice mouth. A pretty shape. Her lips are a nice pink color, and it doesn’t even seem like she’s wearing any lipstick or lipgloss. Nancy knows she is still talking, judging by the way her mouth moves, but she is not comprehending a single word, or even who she’s talking to. Suddenly, all she can think about is how soft her lips look.

“Do you wear a lot of chapstick?” She finds herself asking, interrupting Robin mid-sentence. She looks down at her with wide eyes, mouth open but no words coming out. Nancy lifts an arm up and places her thumb on her bottom lip, pressing down minutely. “So soft.” She says, amazed at the feeling of Robin’s lip on her thumb. She makes a displeased sound when Robin moves her mouth to say something, displacing her thumb. That reaction has Robin going back to the startled, wide-mouthed expression. Nancy is glad, because that means she can keep inspecting, moving her thumb back and forth.

“Okayy.” Eddie interjects, getting Nancy’s attention by patting her shoulders. She finally looks away from her lips, thumb still in place, to look over at him. She sends him an angry scowl at the interruption, which only seems to make him laugh.

“Jeez, Wheeler. If looks could kill.” He places his hands on her forearms and pulls them away from Robin. She makes a displeased sound, but doesn’t have the strength to resist. “Why don’t we keep our hands to ourselves like good little children, huh?” Nancy starts laughing at his teacher-tone as he man-handles her into a sitting position back on her end of the couch.

“God, you are so high.” He notes as he steps away.

Before Nancy even realizes that Robin left, she’s already back with two plates of pizza, offering one to Nancy. She takes it eagerly, letting out an un-lady-like groan at the first bite. She blushes in embarrassment when she realizes, but Robin is only looking at her with an endeared smile so she figures it’s fine.

Nancy is pretty sure she passes out right after putting her plate down, because next thing she knows, she’s blinking awake. She sits up slowly, rubbing her eyes. It’s dark in the room, and she’s alone on the couch, with a blanket wrapped around her. A small noise below her gets her attention, and she finds Robin laying on the floor, curled up into a ball and sleeping. Nancy takes a moment to look at her, smiling at the little noises she makes. The four of them have had enough sleepovers by now that Nancy knows that that’s just how Robin sleeps.

Nancy wraps the blanket around her shoulders and is careful to tip-toe around Robin, but finds it a little difficult as she sways heavily. Nancy is nothing if not quick on her feet, though, so she manages to slink away without notice. She goes into the kitchen and pours herself a glass of water, downing it to relieve her parched throat. As she sets it down, some light catches her eye. She realizes that the door is slightly open, moonlight peaking into the trailer. She goes over to the crack, and lets out a relieved sigh when she sees who is outside.

She steps outside and gently closes the door behind her.

“Hey, Steve.” She greets him quietly, taking the lawn chair beside him. He glances over at her, blowing out smoke from the cigarette he’s smoking.

“Hey, Nance. How are you feeling?” He asks, then puts out the cigarette, which makes her smile. He knows that she doesn’t like cigarette smoke, so he always stops when she’s around. It’s considerate things like that that sometimes make her question never getting back with him, but it only ever lasts for a moment. She knows how she feels about him, and it’s not that. No matter how sweet he is.

“I’m fine. Still a little high, I think.” She responds, honestly. Steve laughs quietly at her admission.

They sit in silence for a few moments. Except, the trailer park is never completely silent. There’s a dog barking, children laughing, and she can vaguely hear the sounds of a couple fighting. She kind of likes the constant noise, it’s better than the stifling silence of the suburbs.

She looks across the gravel road and notices a light on.

“Looks like Max is awake too.” She comments.

Steve laughs, “Yeah. Her and El are having a sleepover. They’ve already been over here once to bother me.”

Nancy hums, “How long have you been out here?”

He tilts his head back and forth like he’s thinking. “I’m not sure.” He shrugs.

Nancy frowns, “Why?”

“I don’t know, brain damage?” He answers, misunderstanding.

Nancy rolls her eyes, “I meant why are you out here.”

“Oh.” He looks into the distance for a moment, “Just thinking, I guess.”

She nods her head at his answer, but doesn’t prod. She wraps her blanket further around herself, pulling her legs up onto the chair to tuck under her.

“What about you?” He asks, eventually.

“Just thinking.” She says, re-using his own words, which gets a cheeky smile out of him that she returns. They look at each other for a few moments. It reminds her, vaguely, of the way they used to look at each other. Before they actually started dating, before all the upside-down stuff. The realization makes her frown, and she looks away.

“Steve?”

“Yeah?”

“I’m sorry, you know.”

“...about what?” He asks. She glances his way, taking in the pinched, confused look on his face.

“About the way I treated you.” She clarifies, glancing back to the ground. “After everything happened.”

“Nance, you don’t have to–”

“No, Steve.” She interrupts him, “I do have to apologize.” She urges him to let her continue with a look, and he shuts his mouth. She takes a deep breath. “I was– we were so young. I got mad at you for the way you just– pushed it all out of your mind, and I didn’t realize that you were just coping. We were both coping, just in different ways. And it wasn’t right for me to judge you for it.” She scratched absently on her wrist, “I also should’ve told you how I felt before getting drunk. You shouldn’t have had to hear it like that. I know I hurt you and I’m sorry.”

There’s a beat of silence after she finishes.

“Thanks, Nance.” Steve says, “I forgive you, obviously.” She lets out a relieved sigh at that, finally looking up at him. “For the record, I’m sorry for how I handled things, too.” He gives her a genuine smile that she can’t help but return. Then it seems like something occurs to him, shifting in his chair.

“Since we’re talking about our feelings or whatever, can I ask you something?”

“Shoot.” She says, suddenly feeling more playful now that a weight has been lifted from her chest.

Steve laughs at her enthusiasm. “Earlier when you were talking about me and Robin…what did you mean when you said ‘if you were me’?”

“Oh,” Nancy suddenly blushes, caught off guard by the question. “I don’t know…I mean—“ She hesitates for a moment, knowing how it might sound. But, well, she’s trying to be more honest, so. “I guess, if I were a guy, I would want to go out with her. Or if she were a guy.”

Steve suddenly looks excited, perking up in his chair. “Right?!”

Nancy furrows her eyebrows, “You mean you would date Robin if she were a guy?”

Steve laughs, “No, I mean Eddie.”

“Oh!” She raises her eyebrows.

“If he were a girl, I would’ve made a move, like, ages ago.”

“Really?” Nancy’s face pinches as she tries to imagine finding anything about Eddie appealing. He’s just such an annoying brotherly figure to her.

“Yeah, like he’s so funny and he has the whole rockstar thing going on, but he’s also such a nerd.” He shakes his head absently, “Girl Eddie would be a dream come true.”

Nancy hums thoughtfully. “Guy Robin would be so cute.” She contributes, playing along with the hypothetical. “Like the way she rambles on and stumbles over herself all the time.”

Steve lets out a relieved sigh, “I’m so glad you get it. I thought I was being weird.”

“Everyone wants to date someone like their friend, right? It makes sense.” She reasons.

Steve nods his head in agreement, then they lapse back into comfortable silence.

Except, Nancy feels a bit weird. If Steve gets it, and Steve is obviously straight, then that means that Nancy is straight too. Which, obviously, yeah. She’s straight. She’s always been straight. She likes guys. Just because she thinks Robin is a catch doesn’t mean she actually likes her like that. The whole fascination on her lips earlier was just jealousy. Robin is pretty, anyone would be jealous of that.

So, why does she feel disappointed?

The next movie night, everyone was feeling too indecisive to pick a movie at the store. So, they end up going through what Eddie already has. It’s a mix between his favorites, his uncle’s movies, and some that he’s inherited through friends leaving them behind. Nancy isn’t really paying attention, sipping her coke cola on the couch as Eddie and Robin argue. Steve comes into the room, tsk-ing at their behavior, then sits next to her.

“Wait— what’s this?” Robin asks, suddenly cutting off some long-winded argument from Eddie about The Thing. She pulls out a VHS from deep in the back of the cabinet. Nancy can’t tell what it is from where she is, but she notices the way the two of them go still.

“You—“ She says, turning to Eddie, who is going paler by the second. “You own a copy of Rocky Horror Picture Show?” Her mouth drops open. The room goes silent at the interaction. “Are you…?”

Eddie tenses, looking ready to bolt, before Robin holds him in place with a hand wrapped around his upper arm.

“No! Eddie, I mean— I’m…you know. I-I get it.” She says, meaningfully widening her eyes.

He stares at her for a moment as he seems to comprehend, then suddenly breathes out like he had been holding his breath.

“Jesus Christ, Rob. You scared me.”

“So, you’re…?”

“Yes, yes I am.”

Robin looks so excited that she’s basically vibrating, then throws her arms around him. Eddie laughs, returning it just as eagerly. Nancy gets a sick twist in her stomach at the way his hands find her waist.

In an attempt to distract herself from the feeling, Nancy glances over at Steve, hoping to gauge if he’s just as lost by the interaction as she is. Given the way that he’s giving her the same look, she figures that he is.

“Am I missing something?” Steve interjects, “What, did you find Eddie’s porn stash?”

“Ew— why would I hug Eddie over porn, Steve?” Robin mines gagging as she pulls away.

He throws his arms up, frustrated. “I don’t know! I’m very confused!”

“Aw, poor Stevie.” Eddie coos, “Feeling left out?” He teases.

Steve blushes, “Maybe. Mind explaining?”

Eddie’s playful demeanor drops. He turns back to Robin, uncertainly. They seem to have a silent conversation with just gestures, looking between Nancy and Steve and each other.

“I’m a lesbian!” Robin suddenly exclaims, immediately covering her mouth afterwards. Eddie bursts into laughter at her side, and she slaps at him to shut him up.

Nancy blinks at them, taken by surprise at the sudden confession.

“Okay? What does that have to do with anything?” Steve responds, nonchalantly.

Eddie looks uncertain for a moment but then slides back into dramatics, throwing his arms out in a big gesture.

“Because, Harrington,” He grabs the VHS, and holds it to his chest, “Only queers own well-loved copies of Rocky Horror.”

“…oh.”

Now, it’s Robin’s turn to burst into laughter. “That’s the same face—“ She cuts herself off to laugh, “That you made the last time! Oh my god. Oh, I am never letting you live this down, Oh my god.” She falls over and practically rolls around on the ground.

“Hey! Look, you can’t make fun of the guy who has brain damage, okay?” Steve rebukes, but that doesn’t seem to ease Robin’s laughter whatsoever. He rolls his eyes.

“You already knew?” Eddie asks him, eyes wide.

“Yeah, about Robin, at least. It’s uh— whatever. I don’t care about that stuff.” Steve replies, suddenly sheepish. Then he glances over at Nancy.

“Nance?” He asks, seemingly realizing that Nancy hasn’t said a word the entire time.

Eddie and Robin suddenly go quiet, looking uncertainly at her from the floor. Nancy finds herself locking eyes with Robin, blinking out of her surprise.

“Yeah, what Steve said. It’s cool.” She can feel the blush on her face as she looks at Robin, “Thanks for telling me.” She says, meaning it for the both of them but still unable to break away from Robin’s eyes. She turns red at Nancy’s words, which gives her a certain confidence that fuels her next words.

“So, are we watching this movie or not?” She asks, finally looking away from Robin to address the room.

Eddie whoops excitedly, “Fuck yeah! Oh, you two are not ready for this.” He laughs evilly as he slides the cover off the VHS. He slides it into the VCR, grabs the remote, then stands to gesture dramatically at Steve and Nancy on the couch. “Now, I need you two to remember this. Rocky Horror is not simply a movie, it’s an experience.” He makes two semi-circles with his hands splayed out, then points between the two of them. “Pay attention, because I will be quizzing you later. You got that?” He gives them a stern look, which only amuses Nancy. She nods her head in answer.

“Yes, sir.” Steve jokes, which gets a weird, strangled noise out of Eddie. Nancy doesn’t have time to dwell on it as Robin suddenly stands up.

“Scoot over.” She says, wiggling between Nancy and the end of the couch. Nancy doesn’t say anything, just giving her as much room as she can. Once the movie starts, Eddie crowds into the other end of the couch, despite the fact that it is definitely not meant for four people to sit on it at once. Nancy is squeezed between Steve and Robin, and Eddie is practically in Steve’s lap.

As the movie plays, Nancy is very aware of Robin pressed up against her. She’s always been a bit aware of her, but now it’s like she’s aware that she’s aware. Something in her mind has shifted, now that she knows that Robin likes girls, which worries her. Maybe she’s not as cool with it as she thought. Robin is the same girl she’s always been, it doesn’t matter that she’s a lesbian.

With that thought in mind, Nancy forces herself to relax against Robin’s side. That, in turn, seems to loosen something in Robin, too, who sighs quietly. Nancy leans in a little bit, encouraged by Robin’s reaction.

Then she focuses back on the movie, because as ridiculous as it is, she knows Eddie will actually quiz them and she hates failing tests.

She would describe the movie as very…strange, to say the least. Probably the weirdest movie she’s ever seen. And that’s saying something, because Jonathon loved weird movies and was always making her watch them, and Robin also brings artsy French films to their movie nights sometimes.

Her eyes widen in surprise when they get to a scene where Frank-N-Furter is doing it with Janet. She thought he was gay, since he had that whole thing with the half-naked Rocky character. Nancy slowly sits up as she gets absorbed into her thoughts. Maybe she misunderstood the wedding scene? But then he’s crawling into bed with Brad. So he does like guys? But he was doing it with Janet, too…

Is it possible…that he likes both?

Suddenly, Nancy gets it.

“Oh.”

“Oh.”

Nancy jumps at the echoed reaction, turns to her right at the same time that Steve turns towards her. They look at each other, both with a dumbfounded look on their faces. Suddenly, Nancy remembers their conversation from the week before. Her eyes widen, and Steve’s eyes follow.

“Oh.”

“Oh.”

They both say again. There’s something about the way that he’s looking at her that makes her so certain that they are both reaching the exact same conclusion.

“Would the two of you like to share with the class?” Eddie suddenly interjects.

That seems to break them out of their spell, and Steve starts laughing quietly. Nancy immediately follows his example, and they both seem to burst out laughing louder at the same time. Nancy leans over him and grabs his forearm as she cries laughing.

“We are so dumb!” He exclaims, and that only makes Nancy laugh more, snorting loudly as she nods her head in agreement. She covers her mouth in an attempt to smother the sounds, but it’s no use.

Nancy really can’t believe she was being so dumb. She was supposed to be the smart one, yet here she is, really, truly, being an idiot. Right along with Steve Harrington, of all people, too. It’s funny how life works out.

“Nancy, Steve, what is it?” Robin asks, leaning towards her, “Is this hysteria? Please tell me it’s not, I don’t think that’s treatable.” She says, seriously, which makes Nancy giggle.

“We’re fine, Rob.” Steve responds, wiping tears from his eyes from laughing so much. Then looks back at Nancy again.

They look at each other with matching grins. He glances behind her, towards Robin, then back at her with a teasing grin. Nancy blushes, nods, then makes the same gesture between him and Eddie. He blushes, too.

“Maybe it’s like hiccups, I’ll just spook it out of them.” Eddie adds on, leaning over Steve’s shoulder and loudly exclaiming, “BOO!” Which only makes the both of them laugh some more. Steve leans back into Eddie, who is now pressed against his back from where he was trying to get closer to them, to say something to him.

Robin grabs her shoulders, leaning her backwards further so that her head’s in her lap. Nancy looks up at her with a smile she knows is probably dopey as Robin inspects her head. “Nancy, you’re scaring me. Please don’t tell me the dingus has rubbed off on you.” Nancy giggles, almost feeling like she’s high. She just feels so happy all of a sudden, like there was a missing part of herself that she’s just found. She springs up, suddenly, almost headbutting Robin.

“Should we tell them?” She asks Steve, who looks very cozy in his place against Eddie’s chest. He laughs at her excitement, straightening his posture to address her properly. Then, his mood dampens slightly and he gives her a sheepish look.

“I don’t know if there’s a word for it though…” He laments.

Nancy thinks back to the celebrity gossip magazines she used to read, almost religiously, back in middle school and early high school. She thinks about Freddie Mercury and David Bowie.

“I think I know…” She says, “Do you want me to say it?” She asks, not wanting to out him if he’s not ready. He looks relieved, though, and nods for her to go on.

“Bisexual.”

Steve’s eyes widened, “Bisexual.” He repeats back, almost in wonder.

“Gay.” Eddie says suddenly, and the two turn to him in confusion. He raises his eyebrows, “What? I thought we were naming sexualities. Straight, lesbian, uh…” He stops short, looking up as he obviously tries to think of more but can’t come up with anything. Nancy watches as Steve looks at him with a lovestruck expression.

“Oh.” Robin says, getting Nancy’s attention. She turns back to her, but Robin is looking at Steve. “You’re bisexual!” She suddenly exclaims, finally getting it. Steve looks back at her and laughs at the shocked look on her face.

“Yeah.” He agrees, sheepishly. Eddie stiffens behind him, but Nancy can’t be bothered to care about it as Robin’s eyes shift to her. She blushes under the wide-eyed look she gives her.

“And– you are, too?” She asks.

Nancy bites her lip, “Yeah. I am.” She says, knowing that her blush is burning brighter. Robin blushes, too.

“Wait–” Eddie suddenly exclaims, he rolls off the couch, then shoots up into a standing position. “You’re telling me that the two of you,” He gestures wildly between Steve and Nancy, “Just now realized that you were bisexual, at exactly the same time?”

Nancy looks over at Steve and he looks back at her, then they both shrug.

Eddie sputters, gesturing wildly as he walks in a circle in front of them, starting and stopping multiple sentences. Then, he straightens up as something occurs to him, and turns back to them.

“And it was because of Frank-N-Furter?”

Nancy giggles, “Yes.” She confirms.

Suddenly Robin starts laughing, “This is priceless.” Then once she seems to get a hold of herself, she looks at both of them in earnest. “Thanks for telling us.” She says, an echo of Nancy’s earlier sentiment.

“Well, if I knew Rocky Horror was going to be the key to your guys’ sexual liberation then I would’ve shown it to you sooner.” Eddie notes, picking up the remote and rewinding. “Let’s get back to the movie. Now that I know you guys are queer, this has become required reading.”

“Don’t you mean 'required viewing’?” Steve asks, amused.

“Yeah, yeah.” Eddie waves his hand at him.

The four of them quickly get back to the movie, crammed back into the couch like before. Except, Nancy can’t help but notice that Steve is pointedly leaning into Eddie more than he was before. The sight makes her giggle quietly. Robin catches the sound, looking down at her, then over to the two. She seems to understand, sharing a knowing look with Nancy.

When the movie ends, Eddie puts on a pair of his uncle’s reading glasses, grabbing a pen and paper and pretends to be a teacher as he quizzes them on the details of the movie. Funny enough, Steve seems to have forgotten pretty much everything after the point from when they had their realization, and Nancy thinks she knows why he was so distracted.

Nancy, of course, aces all of the questions. Earning her a gold star, literally. As in, Eddie actually has a pack of stickers and sticks a gold star on her. He explains that he used to give out stickers during campaigns because the club members were stupidly motivated by it.

“So, weed? Beer? Pick your poison, people.” Eddie says once the quizzing is over.

Nancy shakes her head, “I have a long trip tomorrow, so I’m gonna go home early.” She stands up from the couch, stretching.

“I’m feeling tired, so I’d like to go home, too.” Robin says with a yawn.

Eddie boos them, “You’re turning into old people.” He tsks, then he eyes Steve hopefully. “Harrington?”

Steve looks back at him for way too long to be considered anything other than obvious before he glances back at Nancy.

“Think you could get Rob home for me?”

Nancy blushes. “Of course.”

Eddie pumps his fist in excitement at the development. “Nice.”

Eddie leads them out the door, linking both of their arms with his own as he plays up the gentlemanly escort. Steve follows behind him. Once Eddie says his goodbyes, Steve hugs Nancy first as they both laugh a few more times at themselves before he’s pulling Robin in.

“We’re talking about this later.” She says into his shoulder.

“Yeah, I know.”

Then, the two of them are packing into Nancy’s car.

Robin starts talking the moment they leave the trailer park.

“In hindsight, I should have seen this coming. Steve is always talking about Eddie. I thought it was just some weird macho-man jealousy thing.” She laughs, “Turns out it was just Steve having big, gay feelings for Eddie Munson. Who knew?”

Nancy hums, then hesitantly asks: “What about me?”

“What do you mean?” Robin asks.

“Was it obvious that I’m bisexual?”

“Oh, uh—“ Robin winces, “Sorry, but it totally blind-sided me. Like, I had no idea.”

Nancy laughs, “Well, I didn’t know either, so that’s fair.” She taps on the wheel absentmindedly. “Now that I think about it, I think I’ve had crushes on girls before.”

“Y-yeah? What kind of girls?”

Nancy blushes. She briefly thinks about saying ‘girls like you’ but even she isn’t that brave. Maybe she can find a way to talk around it, though.

“Nerdy girls, mostly. Definitely tomboys.” She answers. She realizes that it’s true. All those times she thought she was jealous of another girl’s looks or style, she was actually just attracted to them. She even had a phase where she thought about dressing more tomboy-ish, but she ended up preferring prettier clothes.

Wow, she’s been dumb for longer than she thought.

Robin doesn’t respond, so Nancy doesn’t say anything, either. She’s pulling into Robin’s driveway before she knows it. The two of them sit there for a few moments, neither making a move to say or do anything.

Eventually, though, Robin sighs. She unbuckles her seatbelt and opens the door. From outside the door, she leans forward to look at Nancy.

“Thanks for the ride.”

“No problem.” Nancy smiles at her, “Good night.”

“Good night.”

Nancy watches her shut the door, step around the car, and walk all the way to her front door before she finally gets the nerve to jump into action.

“Robin, wait!”

She gets out of the car, leaving it running as she runs up to her. Robin stills by the doorway, door partially open.

“Um,” Nancy starts out, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear shyly. She looks up at Robin, and notes the way her eyes track the movement. The reaction gives her a little more confidence and she smiles before going on. “Tomorrow I was planning on going up to Indianapolis to check out a new bookstore. I thought, maybe, you’d like to come with me?” Robin’s eyes widen, and Nancy can feel her face lighting up before she adds, quietly. “As a date.”

Robin gapes at her, hand on the doorknob going slack.

When the silence stretches on for too long, Nancy starts to nervously backtrack. “Or not. We can go as friends, if you’d like. I was thinking of inviting you anyway because you mentioned that there was a book you've been looking for but haven’t been able to find. So, I thought, they might have it. Or, you could just write down the title and I can go find it while I’m there, if you want—“

“Nancy.”

“—yes?”

Robin’s expression softens and she smiles warmly at her. “You’re rambling.”

Nancy scoffs, smiling, despite herself.

There’s a beat of silence where they just smile at each other.

“So?” Nancy prompts.

Robin’s grin widens, and suddenly she’s surging forward to pull Nancy into her arms. Nancy reciprocates immediately, arms wrapping around her waist like she saw Eddie do earlier. She feels like her hands belong there.

“My answer is yes. One hundred times yes. Of course, I want to go to Indianapolis with you on a bookstore date. Are you kidding? That’s literally a dream come true.”

Nancy giggles into her shoulder then pulls away to look up at her face. “Really?”

“Oh my god.” Robin closes her eyes like she’s in pain then re-opens them, “Nancy, I’ve been half in love with you since the moment I found out you had guns in your room.”

“Oh, yeah? You mean it wasn’t the easter brunch outfit I forced on you?” Nancy teases.

Robin shivers dramatically, “I still have nightmares about that thing. Boobs do not deserve to be pinched like that, Nancy.”

Nancy considers saying something about how Robin can pinch her boobs if she wants, but she thinks it is far too soon to be making comments like that. Instead, she reluctantly pulls away as she notices some sounds coming from the neighbors house. She almost apologizes for it, but the look Robin is giving her is far too understanding.

She lingers in front of her for a few moments. She really, really wants to kiss her. Has probably wanted to kiss her for almost as long as she’s known her. But Nancy is acutely aware of the fact that, while they could probably get away with hugging out in public, kissing, they definitely cannot. She shuffles back and forth a few times, looking up at Robin through her lashes.

Robin makes a strangled noise, “You are so cute, oh my god.” She says, almost to herself. Then she’s shutting the door, grabbing Nancy’s hand, and eagerly pulling her to the side of her house. Before she gets the chance to ask what she’s doing, Robin is already pulling her in.

The first press of their lips is feather-light, tentative. They part after barely a peck, but Nancy is immediately letting out a happy sigh and going back in. She reaches up on her toes, putting both her hands on Robin’s shoulders and lightly presses her against the side of her house.

The feeling is simultaneously the same and yet so different from all the times she’s kissed a guy. The mechanics are still the same, but Robin is so much softer. She’s also much shyer than others she’s kissed, letting Nancy take the lead and tilt her head to get the angle she wants. But, she also can’t help but note that she feels so much giddier than she’s ever felt before. She doesn’t think that has anything to do with Robin being a girl, instead having everything to do with it being Robin. The slow pressing of their lips is periodically getting cut-off by either of them giggling. Nancy takes the opportunity to pepper her face with kisses, focusing on her cute freckles, which only elicits more giggles.

Robin ends up with her hands in Nancy’s hair, while Nancy finds her place back around her waist. Nancy isn’t sure how long they make-out for, but eventually she pulls back and presses her face into Robin’s shoulder, squeezing her tighter. She relishes in the feeling of Robin’s soft waist in her hands. She doesn’t know how she ever lived not knowing what it felt like. Robin turns her head to kiss the top of her head, which gets a happy sigh out of Nancy.

“Best first kiss ever.” Robin comments, almost dreamily.

That makes Nancy back up just enough to look up at her in surprise. “That was your first kiss?”

“Yeah?” Robin blushes, obviously embarrassed. “It’s not like nerdy lesbians in small town Indiana can get much action.”

Nancy smiles up at her happily, “Is it weird that I like being your first?”

That gets a surprised laugh out of Robin. “Nancy Wheeler, always full of surprises.” She teases, leaning back down to give her a quick peck.

They kiss one, two, three more times before Nancy is finally, painfully pulling away. There are so many reasons she has to go— it’s late, they have a long day tomorrow, she left her car running— but she irrationally wants to stay where they are and kiss forever. Robin gives her a shy smile, then leads her back around to the front of the house. They hug one more time by the front door.

“So, Robin Buckley,” Nancy starts backing away, grinning. “I’ll see you tomorrow?”

“See you tomorrow, Nancy Wheeler.”

And that’s how, for the rest of the summer, The Fruity Four (as has become their new nickname) changed their weekly movie nights into weekly double dates.