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Barb was over at the Byers-Wheeler-Harrington household.
Nancy, Steve, and Jonathan had made their relationship official shortly after the younger lot graduated from high school. They couldn't get officially married for a number of reasons, but that didn't matter. They were as good as married anyway.
Nancy and Barb had made up recently, with the former finally getting over the guilt of leaving Barb alone by the pool and the latter just wanting her friend back.
Recently, Barb had been having some particular realizations about herself... No. Her... That term didn't feel right.
Barb wasn't a boy either, though. Barb was neither. An in-between. A they.
They'd expressed this to Robin first, as the girl was the Resident Queer Person to go to, and, while Robin didn't quite seem to understand, she had been supportive and assured them that the others would be supportive, too.
"Could you guys call me a they instead of a she?" they asked. Steve paused the movie and the three looked over at them.
"What do you mean, Barb?" Nancy asked.
"Like... I don't know how to explain, sorry" they apologized. "You know when someone leaves their wallet someplace and you don't know who it is, so you say 'I hope they come back for it'?"
Jonathan nodded, and the three continued listening intently.
"Well, I feel more comfortable with that rather than being called a she" Barb explained, closing their eyes and expecting judgement. "I don't feel like a girl, but I don't feel like a boy, either"
"Alright" Steve was the one to cut the tension. Barb's eyes flew open. "Sounds good"
"Thanks for telling us" Nancy smiled warmly. Jonathan gave an awkward but supportive thumbs-up. Barb couldn't help the laugh that escaped their lips.
They supposed it wasn't all that surprising that their friends would accept something out of the ordinary after everything they'd been through, but it still felt nice.
They felt seen.