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Friendships were always something Robin found hard to find and maintain. People she became friends with often drifted away due to a multitude of reasons, whether that be her awkwardness, her lack of understanding towards social cues, her fast ramblings about pointless topics, or even just her entire personality. She seemed to be offputting for most people, and even now it still dragged her down sometimes.
When she met Steve she became closer to him than anyone else she’d ever met, and that was even after she had told him her deepest, darkest secret. He had no judgment or hatred towards her whatsoever, and the relief Robin felt was like nothing she had ever felt before. He made the most terrifying experience of her life into something beautiful, something they both saw as a good memory and not a bad one, even though the hours before that had been traumatic to put it lightly.
Robin was now faced with the same situation again, but this time around it felt even scarier somehow. Coming out to Steve was scary, knowing there was a high chance he would have thought she was disgusting, but she was proved wrong in this instance, with Steve’s unwavering support.
Now she was going to tell Nancy Wheeler.
The two had become close over the last couple of months after the Vecna ordeal. They learned that they had more in common than what meets the eye, and in the ways they were different, it still worked so well.
To say Robin was absolutely petrified of telling Nancy that she was a lesbian was an understatement. Telling Steve was one thing, but telling Nancy meant she was telling a woman, and telling a woman that she, also a woman, was attracted to women was something that could so easily ruin their friendship. Robin knew she wasn't some kind of pervert, she would never act the way a lot of men acted towards women, behaviour like that made her sick, but who was to say that Nancy wouldn't think that way, even after reassurance?
The blonde felt guilty thinking about the possibility considering she thought so highly of Nancy and there was a chance she wouldn’t react that way, but she had to think about it. She can’t expect everyone to react the way Steve did, given the fact that the world wasn't as accepting of people like her as she wished they were. So, with that, she had to think about all of the possibilities, even if they tore her in two. She knew that sharing a bed with Nancy wasn’t some kind of way for her to make moves, but if she ever told her friend this secret she might not see it the same way, even though it really wasn't the case.
“Robs, I really think she’ll be okay with it. Nancy isn’t one to judge people for stuff like that.” Steve attempted to reassure her as he stood at the counter watching her stack tapes.
“But how do you know that? Plus, this isn't just a random person on the street that happens to be gay. This is me, a friend of hers. A close friend. Things might change for the worse when she knows she's been sharing a bed with a lesbian at sleepovers.” Robin rambled.
“I get what you’re saying, and I understand why it scares you… but I'd sooner bet Nancy would commit multiple crimes before she’d think badly of you for that. She’s ahead of her time, she always has been. I really can’t see her being so closed-minded.” Steve’s face was filled with softness and honesty. Robin couldn't help but feel safer about the topic of eventually telling Nancy.
“Maybe… but I just really hope you’re right.”
—
It had been a couple of days since her conversation with Steve, and here she was, laying down on Nancy’s bed, flicking the hair tie she usually kept on her wrist at the ceiling and miserably failing to catch it every time. Damn my shitty coordination, she thought.
Nancy was downstairs grabbing a tape to watch a movie with Robin, their usual routine for sleepovers. The blonde knew it would only be about ten seconds before she’d return.
While in the middle of failing to catch her hair tie for the fifth time, Nancy walked back into the bedroom, softly closing the door behind her.
“Mike has either broken or left all of the good movies at Dustin’s house, so I’m afraid we have nothing to watch. What would you like to do instead?” She asked while closing the door.
Robin pondered for a minute before shrugging,
“I have no idea. I’m okay with whatever you feel up to, so the ball is in your court, Nance.” She said, sitting up.
Nancy seemed to know what she wanted to do straight away, suddenly asking Robin a question as if she had been thinking about it for a long period of time,
“This might seem totally random, but I just want to ask again if you and Steve are a thing. I promise you it wouldn’t be weird because he’s my ex. I feel like we never talk about your dating life, but we always talk about mine during sleepovers or when we hang out. You know, the breakup with Jonathan, the date I went on last week that I hated, all that stuff. So I’m just wondering if the reason you never want to talk about your dating life is because it’s Steve. I really don’t believe that you just ‘aren’t interested in dating.’”
It was rare that so many words left Nancy’s mouth, and it terrified Robin because she knew, she just knew that now was the time. She couldn’t keep this secret from her friend anymore. It was killing her.
“I’m not dating Steve.” The blonde answered, her voice firmer than how she felt. Nancy sat down on the bed next to her.
“Then why don’t you tell me anything about your love life? No crushes, no conversations about the celebrities you find attractive, nothing. I just want to understand.” Nancy’s voice was nothing but gentle, her eyes soft while looking at Robin, clearly noticing the blonde’s sudden anxious body language and avoiding gaze.
Robin sighed, running her hands through her hair before balling them into fists on her lap.
“If I tell you, and you want me to leave and not talk to you again, I’ll understand… but I am begging you to not tell anyone.” Her voice sounded so small, and although the blonde couldn’t see, her friend looked confused and almost hurt that Robin felt she could hate her over whatever she was about to tell her.
Nancy gently took hold of Robin’s balled-up hand, linking their hands together.
“Robin… there’s nothing you could ever say that could make me hate you. I promise.”
Without warning, Robin shot up from her spot on the bed, accidentally losing Nancy’s hand in the process before she started to pace the room a couple of times, fidgeting with her rings like they were the only thing grounding her.
“Robin,” Nancy started as she also stood up, stopping the blonde in place and taking her hand once again, “You can tell me. It’s okay.”
Robin made eye contact for the first time since the start of the conversation.
“Nance…” she whispered, her eyes welling with tears.
Nancy began rubbing her hand with her thumb to try and comfort her friend.
“You don’t have to tell me if you really don’t want to, we can drop it right now and not speak about it again, but I swear, Robin, I won’t hate you.”
At that moment, Robin decided to take a leap of faith,
“I like... girls, Nance.” The eye contact broke along with Robin’s voice as she felt shame rush over her. Tears were now slipping down her face, but the blonde couldn’t find it in herself to care.
Nancy responded before a beat could pass,
“Robin… I could never hate you for that. It’s okay.” The brunette’s voice could not have been softer, and Robin found herself believing her instantly, but still, she felt the need to make sure,
“Are you sure?”
“I’ve never been more sure of anything, come here,” Nancy let go of her hand to pull her into a long embrace. It was the most comforting hug she had ever felt in her entire life. “I love you, and you liking girls will never change that, okay?”
Those words were all it took for Robin to collapse into quiet sobs. Nancy held on tighter, whispering little assurances into the blonde’s ear, telling her that she loves her, telling her that there was nothing wrong with her, telling her that it'll all be okay. It meant more to Robin than Nancy would ever know.
After a few minutes, Robin’s sobs started to fade, turning into sniffles and hiccups. Nancy leaned back and smiled at the girl, bringing her hands up to wipe away the tears on her face.
“I’m sorry,” Robin whispered, feeling slightly pathetic. She’d never cried like that in front of anyone before.
Nancy let out a slight chuckle, “Don't apologise, are you okay?”
The blonde nodded, a small smile gracing her face now.
“Thanks for… you know… being okay with all of this.”
“Robin, you don’t need to thank me for that. Nobody controls who they love, and people need to stop being so closed-minded about it just because their version of love looks different to yours. You’re amazing, and your sexuality doesn’t change that. Okay?” Robin nodded, not trusting herself to speak as she felt like she would cry again if she did.
Nancy pulled her back into another embrace, stroking the back of her head as she did so, Robin sank into the touch, feeling more relaxed than she had in weeks, if not months or even years… because Nancy still loved her, she didn’t see her as disgusting or as a predator or anything negative. She saw her as Robin.
“God I’m really tired now,” Robin muttered into the brunette’s shoulder. Nancy laughed lightly.
“It’s been a big day for you, so I’m not surprised. Wanna go to bed?” After Robin nodded, the two pulled away, both girls secretly missing the touch instantly.
“Good thing we’ve already changed, I don’t think I’d be bothered to put on pyjamas with how tired I am,” Robin said in jest but being truthful. Nancy replied with yet another soft laugh, and Robin felt her heart flutter.
“Come on, let's get into bed. You look exhausted.” Nancy said, pulling her blanket aside for both of them to get underneath.
Robin awkwardly scratched the back of her head, “Are you sure you still want to share a bed with me… now that you know?”
Nancy looked at her as if she had two heads, “Of course I’m sure.” her voice did not leave room for argument, even though it still remained gentle, so Robin found herself under the blanket next to the brunette.
“Can I ask you something? ” Nancy asked after a few moments of silence. Robin nodded.
“Does anyone else know?”
“Steve does. I told him on the bathroom floor during the whole Starcourt ordeal. He was great about it.” Robin found herself giggling at the memory, something she did often when she thought about it.
“Platonic with a capital P. I get it now.” Nancy thought out loud.
“Yeah, anyway I guess it’s clear now why I won’t date Steve.”
The sentence wasn’t all that funny, but both girls found themselves laughing hysterically about it, how Nancy genuinely thought Robin and Steve were an item, how Robin had to tell her so many times that they were strictly best friends.
After the laughter died down, exhaustion came over the girls once again, and they had fallen asleep, little did either of them know, they would wake up in each other's arms, having drifted there throughout the night.