-On The Road- (A Steddie and Ronance Story)

The Set Up

The clearing was surrounded by trees that seemed to grow further up and up, through the clouds and into the sky. The songs of nature rang out in the beautiful glade, mixed with the gentle ambiance of frogs croaking and birds chirping. The ground seemed lush, as if it was almost alive with the energy of the area. A gentle breeze blew by, and the smell of trees and earth overwhelmed the senses. That, or maybe Nancy just liked to be poetic. After all, it wasn't much more than just an ordinary clearing. But she closed her eyes, a calm smile on her face, as she took in the quiet beauty of it all.

"GET OFF OF ME!"

"YOU FIRST, HARRINGTON!"

The moment of quiet peace was soon interrupted by the bickering of the boys, who had just woken up after they had accidentally fallen asleep on each other. Nancy sighed, knowing that this was just a taste of what the trip would most likely be like with these two. Robing stepped out of the car and stood by Nancy, watching the boys tumble out of the car.

"Idiots, the lot of them." She said, and Nancy nodded. At least Robin was here. She seemed to be at least relatively rational, which was a nice change. Rational people were few and far between in the good old town of Hawkins. So Robin was a breath of fresh air.

"Hey you two, stop flirting and let's get stuff set up, cause I'd like to have somewhere to sleep when it gets dark." Robin called to the boys, who both were glaring at each other moodily.

"Fine, as long as Stevie here doesn't get his panties in a twist over me helping set stuff up." Eddie said, and Steve scoffed, walking to open the back of the car. Nancy went to help him, grabbing out bags and setting them down. Robin turned her attention to Eddie, who was brushing off his clothes.

"Aw, you got a crush on him?" She leaned in and whispered in his ear, and he pushed her away, rolling his eyes.

"Yeah, yeah, very funny, Buckley. I'm gonna try to make something of a fire pit so we can stay warm and not like, freeze to death and shit." He said, walking towards the general center of the clearing and placing a rock there.

"Gonna need.. Rocks and wood and.. Grass. Right? I think that's how you do it." Eddie mumbled to himself, and began attempting to build a fire pit. Robin turned her attention towards Steve and Nancy, who had gotten everything out of the car.

"You guys have too much shit." Steve commented, putting his hands on his hips in a very parental fashion.

"Sorry I actually tried to be prepared, I forgot we got Mama Bear Steve to bring everything we could ever have needed." Robin teased, and Steve huffed. Nancy laughed at the antics of the two, and grabbed some bags to move.

"Come on you two, stop bickering and help me with these bags!" She said, gesturing towards the pile with her head. The two sigh, and go to pick up the bags, when suddenly a loud yelp is heard from behind them.

"SHIT OW FUCK FUCK FUCK-" Eddie yelped, his jacket having caught on fire. Nancy and Robin stood in utter shock, as Steve ran to help. He grabbed the jacket, pulling it roughly off of Eddie and throwing it to the ground, stomping out the flame. The jacket was slightly charred now, and quite dirty. Steve straightens up, and turns to face Eddie.

"How the hell did you light yourself on fire?! And who let you be in charge of the fire? God, you are gonna be the death of me, Eddie." Steve yelled, visibly frustrated. Instead of his normal sarcastic response, he slumps down a bit, looking away.

"..sorry. I think I'm gonna go get some air. I'll stop uh.. Messing around with shit, sorry." He said, and then walked into the woods. Robin followed after, worried he was gonna get lost.

"We'll be back, I promise!" She called, trying to keep up with him as he walked quite quickly. With the two gone, Nancy and Steve looked at each other, confused, but decided to just keep setting things up since it was getting dark.

- - - - -

"Stop walking so damn fast, Eddie! I can't keep up!" Robin called, but to no avail.

"Don't they say that gay people walk fast? I ain't got time to let the straight catch me!"

"Eddie, please come on, what's going on?" She grabbed onto the back of his shirt, and he paused, turning around and crossing his arms across his chest. Robin finally caught her breath, gasping for air. He looked at her expectantly.

"What is up with you? You don't usually act like that, especially not with guys like Steve." She said between gasps for air. He sighed and looked away.

"I don't know, Robin, I just.. Felt really weird and guilty when he got mad at me. Like, I know I'm stupid, going through senior year three times taught me that, but he makes me want to be more.. Smart I guess? Like I wanna show him that I'm not what he thinks I am. Cause I know he thinks I'm a freak, but like.. I'm more than that? I don't know, man." He said, sighing and running a hand through his hair. Steve frustrated him for some reason. He never felt like he really had to prove himself to anyone, but Steve was different, and he didn't like that.

"You don't have to impress him, Eddie, he's an idiot just like the rest of us. Don't let the whole high school prep boy act fool you, he's just as much a nerd as you and me." Robin said, finally catching her breath. She put a hand on his shoulder and he sighed.

"Ugh.. people are confusing, Robin."

"You bet they are. And they act like we're the weird ones."

"We're just too cool for normal people."

"Hell yeah we are, Eddie. Now, can we please get back before dark?"

"Yeah, I kinda have been breaking branches so we could find our way back." Eddie said, pointing to a nearby tree with a broken branch. Robin nodded, and the two began the trek back to the place they had set up camp.