a helping hand | ronance

ONE

ROBIN BUCKLEY HADN'T planned on telling anyone what had happened to her that night. she planned to lock it all away in a box, scared of what would happen to her if she decided to deal with what had happened.

her plans changed instantly, though, after steve saw her. unfortunately for robin, she had to work the next day. and even more unfortunately, she wasn't in a good mental state to do it.

her eyes were puffy from crying all that night when she rolled into work. the bags under her eyes had suggested she had gotten zero sleep the night before. her lack of makeup and unbrushed hair had displayed how she had no interest in doing anything to fix her appearance that morning.

she felt wrong. every inch of her body felt violated. her skin crawled in every place he had touched her. every place she had never wanted him to touch. every place she had begged him over and over not to touch.

but she had no control in that situation. no control over what he did to her. no control over her wrists or ankles that were forced down. she had to sit there and let it happen, tears streaming down her face as she begged for him to stop.

but he didn't.

steve had noticed that next day. he noticed every time she fidgeted with her fingers, biting down at the nails until it reached her nail beds. he noticed every time she was close to tears in the back. he noticed every time she'd move away from him if he got too close.

when they were hanging up their aprons after closing the shop, steve finally decided to say something.

"hey rob, are you okay?" he asked her, worry displaying his face.

he could see her bite into her lower lip to hold back her tears as they began filling her eyes. he tried going in for a hug, but she quickly moved back. she was breathing heavily, looking at him with the most terrified look on her face.

"what happened, robin? i can tell something's wrong"

she sat there for a second, just staring at him. he was genuinely concerned- robin could tell by the look on his face. after standing there in silence, she finally began telling him, tears pouring out of her eyes.

-

robin now sits on the lid of the toilet in her bathroom, staring down at the white stick in her hands. the same stick that had two lines, meaning only one thing.

pregnant.

she had never thought this was something she'd have to deal with. ever since she discovered she was a lesbian at age 12, she figured that being pregnant was something she didn't have to worry about. when the news story came on about roe v, wade being overturned, she didn't think it was anything that would affect her specifically.

but now, she stands corrected.

she was lucky her mom wasn't home, because it meant she didn't have to hold back tears. she sat there on the toilet lid, sobbing her eyes out at the piece of plastic in her hands.

she did the only thing she could think of, which was calling steve. she listened to it ring, anxiously bouncing her right leg up and down.

"hey robin," steve said on the other side of the phone. robin only replied in crying, which caused him to panic. "shit, are you okay? i'm on my way, i'll be there in 10"

promptly 10 minutes later, steve came flying into the house, using the key robin had given him months ago in case anything happened.

"robin?" he called out, following the sound of her crying. he found her still in the same position in her bathroom. his eyes darted between her, the empty pregnancy test box on the counter, and the pregnancy test in her hand. he connected the dots, walking over to her.

she handed it to him, not even being able to meet his eyes as he looked down at the two lines shown on the test.

"can i hug you?" he asked, and ended up recieving a small nod in return. he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her into his embrace. she sobbed into his shirt, but he didn't mind. he hated seeing her like this- it broke his heart.

"i-i can't have a kid," she choked out, gasping for air. "i-i won't be a good mom, i have no m-money, and m-my mom will kill me"

he rubbed her back comfortingly. "hey, you will be a good mom, okay? and i'll give you all the money you need. i'll help you. you can even stay at my place. i'm going to go through this with you"

she had no reply, only the sounds of her sniffles and attempts to breathe in air.

"i'll pay for all the hospital bills, all the stuff we need. i'll pay for it all. and i'll even get us s little house, okay? that way you don't have to deal with your mom and whatever shit she tries to throw at you next"

robin nodded slowly, before changing her mind and shaking her head. "n-no. i can't ask you to do that"

"you didn't ask, rob. i'm offering. and i won't take no for an answer. because you won't go through this alone. and we're going to give that kid the best damn life a kid could ever have"

the comment made robin smile a little bit, something steve was happy to see. maybe he couldn't make her excited to be a mom right away- which is okay, he didn't expect to. but maybe, over time, he would be able to make her realize the perks of being a mom.

and he knew for sure that he wanted to be there with her for every bit of it. he had always wanted kids of his own. and while robin's kid may no be his, he could still be in their life to help with whatever he needed to.

-

a/n:

me: i don't know when the first chapter will be up
also me: writes a chapter a few hours after publishing the title chapter