In the days after the chaos of everything that happened in Hawkins, Nancy’s life became a short blur. With the town brought together to try and heal from catastrophe, Mike and the other kids busy at the hospital with Max or running around, Nancy no longer had that sense of urgency coursing through her body. There was no one left to save, she knew that was a good thing. It didn’t change how lost she felt in the sudden calm. Nancy found comfort in the things she was good at, journalism and ass-kicking. She’d grown accustomed to the crisis again, let it consume her.
Now that she wasn’t needed, she wasn’t sure what her place among the group was anymore. Tensions were so high during everything that her and Jonathan had barely managed to have a real conversation. Seeing him almost shocked Nancy, he felt like a stranger to her now. When they did eventually sit down together, it seemed inevitable that a break up would follow the long conversation. Nancy didn’t know who he was anymore, Jonathan didn’t know her anymore, and while they would always share the love and bond of Hawkins, Nancy did know that Jonathan wasn’t what she wanted anymore.
Even after that, sure she was connected to the group through Mike, but the longer she looked at her younger brother and his friends, the more she started to realize how little they acted like kids. It seemed these days they were always running off on their own adventures, dragging Steve with them who, in turn, brings Robin along as well.
So, then there’s those two. The duo. Nancy knows that they met the prior summer working in the mall at Scoops Ahoy and is all too aware of Robin’s involvement in cracking the Russian code that got them in to begin with. If you had told Nancy a couple of years ago that Steve Harrington was hanging around with band-kid Robin Buckley, she would have laughed. Despite their differences, Nancy sees the way Steve has grown into himself and how Robin’s unexpected charisma has even managed to catch her own attention.
In an effort to keep herself busy, lately Nancy had been spending long days in the high school gymnasium making sandwiches and folding clothes with one Robin Buckley. The girl was perplexingly clumsy, both physically and socially. Nancy often found herself entangled in whatever mess was following the girl that day only to end up on the receiving end of a rambling explanation. While Nancy usually had little patience for this kind of disorderly behavior, for some reason she found it oddly charming on the taller girl after everything. It became her sort of saving grace in the deafening calm of the aftermath, a distraction that allowed her to sneak soft laughs for the sake of her own sanity. Sharing those moments of peace with the other girl after surviving several excursions together had certainly solidified Robin’s place in their trauma bonded family. Passing moments turned into short conversations which turned into Nancy realizing her closest tie to all these people had become an acquaintance she met a year ago. If she’d learned anything, it was to not bite the hand that feeds you when it comes to making friends.
Nancy spends her days in a gymnasium and then returns to a dark and vacant home. Her parents had suddenly become the busiest people in Hawkins, her mother had taken Holly with her, volunteering more than Nancy herself, running from house to house to visit with family friends. As for her father, Nancy wasn’t even sure what he was doing most days, just that he was often in a somber mood and arguing with someone about something. She sometimes heard Mike making noise in the basement with some of the other kids, but struggled in finding a reason to check in on them without seeming overbearing.
So, Nancy would always turn on all the lights in the house, even if she spent most of her time in her room and she always left her speaker playing her cassettes on a quiet loop to fill the silence. She took long showers, scrubbed at her skin until it turned an angry red, trying to clean herself of what felt like permanent filth on her body. The worst of her memories crawled into her dreams, chasing her down and swallowing her whole. They covered her body in icy chills and Nancy often woke to silent sobs and a drenched pillow.
All of this considered, on a cooler evening she found herself sitting at the bottom of her staircase, clutching a small sticky note. It’s creased from how Robin had folded it into fourths and slipped it into her hand with a, “Just if you ever need it. Or want it. You don’t have to use it, just take it Nance,” before she slipped out the gym door one evening. The nickname filled her with a fondness she thought she had forgotten and so she begrudgingly took it. Only, she had never actually used it.
But tonight was different, only in this light did she allow her hands to shake. Images of a slightly purple Robin choking against vines crossed her vision as she pushed herself to her feet, making her way to the phone. As she pulled the receiver from the wall and clumsily rang the number, she laughed at the irony of her resemblance the other girl at the moment. After four rings she was met by a disheveled sounding Robin coming through the line, “Hello? Who's there?” Nancy curses herself as she suddenly realizes the late hour, but she'd already made the effort to call and so she jumps to reply, “Hey! Robin, it’s Nancy, um sorry I know it’s late. I was just calling to see if- uh if you’re doing okay.”
A moment of silence passes before, “Oh! Hi Nancy, I wasn't expecting it to be you. I'm okay, like not great but not terrible at this current moment, though I’m a little confused about why you decided to call about this in the middle of the night.”
Nancy felt heat pinch her ears with embarrassment, but she was never one to back down and the genuine kindness in Robin's voice melts away the last of her walls, “Actually, sorry Robin, I just- I’ve been having these strange dreams or nightmares rather. Maybe they’re nothing but I guess I just wanted to make sure you didn’t need saving or something."
A soft chuckle came through the receiver, relief flooding her mind, “I don’t think they’re nothing. I have nightmares about that stuff and trouble sleeping too. And for what it’s worth- I think it’s really sweet that you wanted to check in on me, that you’re always checking in on everyone. Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I think I'm just a little scared of being alone in this big house. Like my head won’t let me out of that place.”
Another moment of silence passed before it seemed Robin had an idea, “Well, if it would help, I could come over. You know, only if you want me to. Not trying to like invade your space or overwhelm you or anything. It would only take me like fifteen minutes to get there though.”
The idea had admittedly crossed Nancy’s mind before, but she her fear that she’d be projecting her own emotional turmoil onto the girl had kept her from ever asking. Loneliness is a killer though and Nancy didn’t want to be alone anymore. “I would really like that, if you want.” She hoped her smile didn’t show through her words.
As she ended the call, she realized her hands had calmed down and the tightness in her stomach had begun to let up. True to her word, Robin showed up with a soft knock to her bedroom window fifteen minutes later. She laughed as she moved to open the window for the girl on the other side as she recalled her unlocked front door and missing parents.
“Wow that is not as easy as Steve said it would be, hi there Nance,” she said as she ungracefully swung one leg through the window followed by the other. And then there Robin was standing in her bedroom huffing, in the middle of the night, looking quite frazzled and it startles Nancy the way she almost finds it cute. Friends can be cute.
“You know my front door is unlocked right? And I told you I was alone, why was your first plan of action my bedroom window?”
The scoff she receives makes her smile grow wider as Robin removes her coat and throws her hands up in defense saying, “Right! Yes, I may or may not have considered that until I was standing on your roof. How are you doing, Wheeler?”
During her rambling, Robin had crossed over to Nancy now to place a hand on the shorter girl’s shoulder. The sudden proximity stuns Nancy for a moment as she takes in the heat radiating off the other girl as well as the faint scent of cinnamon and laundry detergent. The closeness ignites a battle in her mind, lighting her body on fire in a way that makes her want to shove Robin away.
Touch had become somewhat more foreign for Nancy, until the bad stuff started up again. Robin had held her hand through each challenge and even sitting uncharacteristically still inches from Nancy to let her do her makeup for their disguises. Those embarrassingly small moments were interactions that Nancy savored as the intimate touch had become foreign to her in light of Jonathan’s disappearance to California and her family often occupied in other matters.
On the other hand, Nancy was overflowing with the need to be consumed by Robin’s comfort. “I think I need a hug, if that’s okay.”
“Of course, Nancy!” Robin scooped her up in her arms in the same way that Nancy had assumed she would, cradling Nancy’s head to the crook of her neck where the girl breathed her in. She held Nancy tightly, like she knew Nancy would need it to be that way for it to feel real. Like maybe Robin was plagued by phantom touches of the other side too.
Nancy let out a sigh against Robin’s neck as she slumped into the girl, feeling relief flood her body at having Robin right in front of her where she can see and touch her. Only then did she find her eyes slipping closed, even as stood standing.
As if on cue Robin chimes in, “Hey, are you falling asleep on me? Come on get in your bed, do you have an extra blanket and pillow I can borrow?”
Horrified at the insinuation that Robin was planning to sleep on the floor, Nancy immediately shushes her and drags her to the bed, “Don’t be silly, I want you up here with me.”
So Robin kicked off her shoes and climbed in next to Nancy. She laid there stiff on her back, arms crossed over her stomach and staring at the ceiling. Nancy kind of wanted to laugh at the sight, because she found Robin endearingly awkward, but she seemed so earnest that she kept that one to herself. Instead, she turned to pull Robin onto her side, facing Nancy. For a moment they sat there, studying each other and Nancy almost swore she could smell a hint of fear or maybe worry on Robin but looking into the girl’s eyes, she found a familiar, tired sea. Instinctually, Nancy reached out to cup Robin’s face before it clicked in her mind that people don’t normally do that without asking. The way that Robin leaned into the touch kept her from removing her hand though, it remained with her thumb brushing slightly back and forth across the girl’s cheek. With every pass over her skin, Nancy felt increasingly tired.
Yawning, Nancy moved her hand down from the girl's face to pull Robin’s own arm up and around Nancy’s own body as she turned her back so that Robin’s body was pushed flush to hers. Just like that, Nancy found sleep again in her home, easier than she had in months.
—
After that night, Nancy finds herself naturally gravitating towards Robin in the gymnasium. She began standing closer to the girl subconsciously and if they ended up on more of the same assignments, Nancy would argue she'd simply chosen the most important ones. Unfortunately for Nancy, unbeknownst to her, apparently her friendship with Robin also meant she'd have to be around other band kids. So, naturally Nancy met Vickie, a girl who had been volunteering every now and then and had slowly increased the amount of time she spent in the gym after noticing Robin's own work. She had never really noticed Vickie before but now that she’d found a sort of sanctuary in friendship with Robin, she found herself feeling sort of protective of her time with the girl.
Nancy knew jealously among friends wasn't healthy, but even when it was just her and Barb, she was used to taking up space. It wasn’t fair to either of the girls that she didn’t like Vickie, especially when she couldn’t pin down a reason other than the fact that she hung around Robin, but Nancy found herself filled with thoughts of worry that one day Robin would decide she didn't want Nancy around anymore. That she would leave her behind like everyone else. Doing her best to shove her curious emotions down, Nancy found herself clinging to Robin when Vickie was around as if to say this was her friend and Vickie couldn’t have her.
She knew it was bad when Robin had given her a strange look about her grabbing her hand when Vickie had taken a step closer to Robin and the embarrassment had her red faced and tearing up, turning to hide in the bathroom. It wasn't even a big moment so she wasn’t even sure why reacted like that to Robin's face, much less why she had done it in the first place. The look had stung like rejection, hitting her in every soft spot she had.
She had only ever felt this way with Steve. Steve had made her jealous around other girls when he was more of a douche, while with Jonathan there was simply no need for jealousy. But she isn’t jealous like that with Robin. She just survived a major life changing event with the girl so they’re supposed to be friends and so what if Nancy wants one friend to herself?
Wiping away the last of her tears and leaving the stall, Nancy decided to go home for the day in an effort to salvage her pride. In the first hour and a half of being home, part of her expected some kind of a phone call, but it never came. Shoving her disappointment down, she settled on an afternoon nap, since she found it easier to sleep in the light of day.
When Nancy woke hours later, it was to the sound of Dustin screaming incomprehensibly followed by the sound of several children gleefully shouting. Instinctually, Nancy moved down the stairs to investigate the noises, but when she caught a glimpse of Steve she quickly realized that Robin must also be around somewhere. She recalled how the last time Robin was here she had slept peacefully into the late morning. Her stomach stirred at the thought of having Robin stay over again.
She decided to shift to the kitchen to get a new angle of what was going on with the group by pretending to get a snack. That proved to be a mistake when she bumped into Robin as she turned the corner into the kitchen.
“Sorry! I didn’t mean-”
Robin cuts Nancy off by dragging her around the corner out of site and into a hug. The shift startles Nancy, she isn’t quite sure where it’s coming from when she was so sure that Robin was upset with her only seconds prior.
As if she sought to answer Nancy’s mental questions Robin, “Hey Nance, where did you go earlier today? I missed having you around for the rest of the shift. Vickie isn’t as funny as you y’know," there's an empty chuckle and Nancy can't help but notice the way her cheeks appear warmer than them before as Robin continues, "Look hey- I’m sorry if I freaked you out or something. Sometimes I can’t really control my face and I was just a little shocked that you were doing that in front of people. Anyway, I’m sorry if I made things awkward or something but I really missed you. Okay, I’m gonna stop talking now.”
Nancy’s allows all her fears to be swept away from her at Robin's words, internally rejoicing at the greatly desired validation. With her head finally clear, Nancy pieces together the rest of Robin's words.
“Wait, why would you be shocked that I held your hand in front of people? Did I make you uncomfortable?”
Robin smiled hesitantly, “Uh- well, you know Nancy, with the rumors about me at school and all, I just didn’t think that you would want to be that openly associated with me.”
“Robin, I do not listen to rumors on the street. I am a journalist with integrity.”
She expects Robin to laugh but instead she pales and swallows, “Okay, but what if they weren’t just rumors.”
And that’s something to make Nancy think. Not that she agreed with his stances, but growing up with a father like Ted Wheeler certainly made it so certain things didn’t even cross her mind as a possibility. Two girls together? A thing like that surely hadn't been seen in Hawkins, at least not openly, but Nancy Wheeler is anything but a bigot. At the implication, Nancy feels the especially inclined to make that known to Robin right then.
“Robin I would never leave you over something like that. It's okay if you’re gay, I promise I won't tell anyone. All I care is that you’re around me.”
For some reason, Robin’s face doesn’t seem to interpret that sentence the way that Nancy had intended. Instead, her face displayed caution and hesitant confusion before she switched to a smile that didn’t quite fill her face.
“Thanks Nancy, I really appreciate that.”
Since the girl’s words seem to disagree with her face, Nancy accepts it and decides to bury her face back into Robin in a squeezing hug. Robin sort of chuckles as she captures Nancy in her cage of arms.
“I love the way you smell, Robs”
Nancy has her face nuzzled into Robin’s neck surrounded by short hair, breathing in and out through her nose against Robin. Unfortunately for Nancy, Robin pulls back and says, “Come on, join us and the kids for movie night.”
She felt overjoyed at the invite to hang out, even though Steve and all the kids are there. Nancy's least favorite time of the day is the evenings she spends alone so accepting Robin's offer comes easy to her. That doesn’t mean she won’t use this moment to her advantage.
“I’ll come join you guys, if you stay over again.”
She’s playing with the rings on Robin’s fingers absentmindedly as she says it, looking up into Robin’s face to study her features. Dusted freckles under a deep tan and minor scratches, blue eyes, a long nose, and a slim chin.
“Hmm you drive a hard bargain Wheeler, I guess you’ve got yourself a deal. Now come on, I don’t want them to start it without us because those children are ruthless and will totally do it.”
The sight of Robin guiding her down to her own basement and directing her to sit on the couch next to her calling, “Dibs!” to the teens around them claiming that the “adults” get the couch, makes Nancy’s heart beat strangely. She happily sits next to Robin before Steve whines that he’s an adult too and he wants to sit with them. Nancy resigns and begins to move only to be stopped by Robin reaching out to pull her back by the waist and sideways into her lap saying, “No worries, sit down pal.”
Steve chuckles and shoots Robin a mystery look that's swept away as the movie begins and Nancy begins to process the feeling of not just sitting in Robin’s lap but being held with one arm wrapped around her back with her hand resting on her waist and her other hand sitting on her thigh.
It’s dark in the basement, only light being from the TV and a side lamp in the corner. The darkness allows Robin to drift her hand gently up and down Nancy’s thigh in a fidgety motion during the movie. Nancy notices the feeling, along with a drop in her stomach that proclaims a new kind of want for Robin. One she hadn't considered before. As Robin’s movements continue, Nancy attempts to, and promptly fails at, stopping herself from clenching her legs together. She prayed that Robin didn’t notice the movement, but disappointment filled her gut as the movement on her thigh stopped.
For the rest of the movie, Robin managed to keep her hands to herself, only whispering small commentary in her ear. By the end, Nancy had nearly convinced herself that nothing had happened at all. The kids settled down for the night in the basement, along with Steve, while Robin and Nancy said their goodnights and proceeded up the stairs to Nancy’s bedroom.
Robin, in her sleep shorts and baggy t-shirt, climbed into bed, centering herself and leaning against the headboard.
“Nance?”
Blood rushes to her ears again as she turns back to Robin after shutting the door. She's not even sure what she's anticipating from Robin, but each second has Nancy feeling like she's dangling over a ledge.
“Yeah?”
“Will you come sit in my lap again?”
Nancy feels a million things she didn’t before, drawn immediately to the bed where she straddles Robin’s lap. Her desire to please Robin felt inexplicable. One wrapped a hand around the back of her neck to pull Nancy down into her own before dragging both hands down and around the girl’s thin waist. Nancy sinks her weight into Robin, inhaling her scent like the memory of it alone could save Nancy from the things they’ve endured.
“Nancy?”
Unwilling to draw her head away from Robin and create distance between them, she mumbles a short, “Hm?” into her shoulder.
“You’re really clingy.”
Nancy does pull back this time to roll her eyes and smack Robin across the head, “I really care about you Robin.”
“Ow!” But Robin moves one of her hands up to Nancy’s own face to cup her cheek in the just as Nancy had done to her before. It’s entirely different to be on the receiving side of the movement, it feels more intimate than any of the touches they’ve shared. Nancy remains captured by Robin's eyes, as she suddenly becomes aware of her heart beating in her chest. Subconsciously, she leans further into Robin’s hand before it drops slightly lower to cradle her chin instead.
In this new position, Nancy unknowingly lets her eyes slip to Robin’s mouth, leaning in closer as the girl's thumb swipes over her bottom lip. Nancy looks up to Robin’s eyes only to find her gaze fixated lower, on her own lips and before she knows it, their mouths are slotted together in a fervent kiss.
Nancy is completely taken aback by herself, in complete bliss at the feel of this girl’s lips on her own. Robin pulls her waist aggressively, eliciting a groan from Nancy as she bites down on the taller girl’s bottom lip. Nancy’s own arms have wrapped around Robin’s neck to deepen the kiss by slipping her tongue into Robin’s mouth against hers. They share a groan at the contact and Nancy can’t keep her hips from canting into her lap. She could taste the mint left on Robin's tongue from the gum she had chewed during the movie. She liked knowing little things like that about Robin.
She had a sudden and foreign need that caused unrest in her hips. As if predicting her next ask, as they continue to kiss, Robin started to lift Nancy up to help her readjust so she had one firm thigh slotted between her legs. Robin used her hands to pull Nancy down into consistent pressure against her center. Pulling back from Nancy to help the girl grind down at a better angle on her leg, Robin used one of her hands to nudge Nancy’s head up by her chin to look Robin in the eye.
Nancy, in that moment, felt like she had discovered the ultimate cure to her solitude and need for a purpose.
Stuttering, she gasps out, “Robs- I- please?”
Robin’s eyelashes flutter over a dark, heavy gaze. She sits there, lips slightly parted and dumbfounded by the display of a needy Nancy Wheeler, grinding in her lap.
“Oh sweet girl, you can do it.”
The declaration mixed with encouragement had Nancy grinding faster and messier against Robin’s leg. She could feel the slick between her legs slide with every movement and she briefly wondered if Robin could feel it through her shorts. The unexpectedness of it all and Robin’s willingness to guide her through these movements turned Nancy on further as she found herself babbling against the girl’s throat/
“You’re doing such a good job Nance, I’ll take care of you next my girl.”
She felt Robin’s lips against her ear as the words entered her world and that’s all it took for her to find herself coming messily in Robin Buckley’s lap. Static ran through her limbs and her brain filled with fog as she sobbed out her moans.
She noticed Robin’s hands on the insides of her thighs right as she was pushed onto her back to the words, “Just one more pretty girl, let me see one more.”
Her shorts leave her, flying somewhere across the room, which, really? She’ll have to find those later, but now she's distracted by the way Robin’s lips moved across her neck to suck small marks into hot skin. Hands travelling lower make a soft appearance over her clit, starting to trace small, slow circles. It was teasing and just enough for how sensitive Nancy is, especially after already coming once, but it was tortuous enough that she couldn't sit still due to her desire for more. Thankfully, Robin had taken pity on her, speeding up those tight circles and adding more pressure before she traveled even lower, dipping past Nancy’s entrance. Her hips raise off the mattress, trying to meet Robin’s hand where she wants it most. Cruelly, Robin’s other hand pinned her hips back down, squandering any hope for release.
Finally, once she captured Nancy’s eyes, she pushed one finger in and paused to adjust before sliding in a second.
“F-fuck Robin”
The normally shy girl looked entirely different in this light as she started a quick rhythm pumping in and out of Nancy, like she knew exactly how to touch her. She felt a sudden sudden surge of possessiveness over Robin, digging her nails into the girl's back.
“Nancy, you look so pretty with my fingers in you.”
The contrast of this version of Robin to the one she sees around the kids sent her spiraling and all she could manage was a slurred, “Feels so good, god.”
Suddenly Robin is curled her fingers and Nancy was coming, clenching hard around her fingers. She covered her mouth with her hand in an attempt to hide her moans. When her muscles relaxed, reduced to heavy breathing, Robin took her face back into her hands to plant soft and short kisses to her lips.
“I really care about you too.”
Nancy laughed softly, “I’ll return the favor if you give me like ten minutes to recover and comprehend everything that just happened.”
Robin returned her laugh saying, “I’m tired, how about we save that for tomorrow and for now I’ll spoon you to sleep, hm?”
Content with that answer, Nancy kissed Robin before rolling away from her, dragging the girl’s arm with her. That night, Nancy drifted off to sleep faster than she ever had before, kept safe by Robin’s warm frame that surrounded her.