It was a busy day at the video store. Robin was working with Steve as she was stacking tapes, making him take control of customers. Steve was confused as he didn't know about Robin's condition but did so anyway. That was until a second group came in while Steve was helping out a customer that Robin had to help out. She froze as she stopped doing her tapes, mumbling about how the world hated her today.
She did have bad days with stimulating activities. This was one of them days, and it had to be a Saturday, the busiest day for the store. The lights quickly became too much so she put on sunglasses (which were owned by Steve). He had raised an eyebrow but didn't question it. Then everything got too loud, so she put on her walkman and was listening to different calming songs, trying to focus on what she should be doing and not the sound. Then when a teenager put on strong perfume in one section, that almost broke her.
She went to to the customers after turning her music on and put the friendliest smile she could put on. She was smiling awkwardly at the same time as she was saying,"hello. Welcome to family video with the greatest selection of DVD's, would you like some help?" The older gentleman grumbled about wanting some type of more films as Robin nodded snd led them over. "You know it's rude to have sunglasses on when talking to a customer," he said simply. Robin was reluctantly taking them off, letting out a small hiss of both pain, discomfort and also uncomfortableness. After about 10 minutes of trying to bell the gentleman, she was getting more and more stimulated and annoyed. "I'm getting Steve to help you, sorry," she said walking off.
Steve looked at her confused and went to help the family then. Meanwhile in the staff room, Robin grabbed the blanket she had brought to work and went under it after turning the lights off. She was in the corner so she knew she couldn't be grabbed suddenly. She also knew it was unprofessional but her shirt and bra were also too much so she took them off quickly, silent tears going down her face as she was chucking them on the table. She curled up in a ball then and was enjoying the silence, hearing the occasional bell until there was complete silence.
She heard footsteps coming to the staff room then, Robin knew it was a concerned Steve. He opened the door, confused to see the lights off, then turned them back on. He was shocked to see the vest, shirt as well as a bra on the table as he slowly went over. "Hey... Robin, are you ok?" he asked gently and went to touch her shoulder, not realising she was tense until he touched her. That let out a whimper from the younger girl as he immediately put his hand away. Robin tried to speak as she was hitting her head on the floor out of frustration after a few moments. "Hey, hey. Its ok," he said gently and was putting a pillow under where her head was as he lifted the blanket up slightly. He then saw her trying to speak and realised.
Immediately grabbing and notepad and pen, he handed it under the blanket. "What do you want?" he asked gently. In shoddy writing, Robin had wrote down 'darkness'. Steve read it and nodded, going over to the light switch and turned it off. "Lights are off. Do you want me to call Nancy to take you home because I don't think you can work," he said quietly noticing she wanted silence. A nod could be seen from the blanket moving, which made Steve leave the staff room and go to the phone, calling the wheeler residence.
After about 3 rings, there was a answer. "Hello, Wheeler residence," Mike said over the phone before yelling out to someone, presumably Nancy. "No! I'm not cleaning the dishes!"
"Hey shithead, do you know if Nancy is free to pick-up Robin and take her home? She's not doing too well," he said gently as he was trying to not be too loud due to customers and also the overstimulated girl in the back.
Mike repeated the question to Nancy as a faint yes could be heard. "Yeah, she's getting her shoes on now. Is Robin ok?" he asked genuinely concerned.
"Oh... not certain. But thanks shit-bird," Steve said then hung up, helping a customer out while being quiet.
After about 15 minutes, Nancy's car pulled up, and a rushing girl got out. She ran into the store as Steve pointed at the back as he talked to a teenage boy. Nancy went to the back and opened the door, knowing what was happening. She went over to the blanket and looked st her, seeing faint movement. Robin was still curled up in a ball. "Hey, it's me, Nance. When all the customers are out, I'll take you to my house, ok?" she asked in a whisper. Heading a whimper, she sat next to her. "No touch?" Nancy asked. A longer whimper signified it was a no. "When I get you to the car, I'll have to touch you then," she warned as a nod could be barely seen. After 5 minutes, Steve said they could leave. Nancy grabbed Robin's stripped off clothes then carefully carried Robin, making sure there was no plain skin touching and she was still under the blanket. She gently set Robin in the car where she finally peeked out to do her seatbelt. Her eyes were puffy red, tears still steaming out. She tried to speak again but couldn't. "Luckily I'm a journalist so I always have a pen and pad on me," Nance spoke lightheartedly. She handed it over as Robin wrote again in her messy handwriting. It read 'When I get to yours can I sleep and just be alone for an hour or 2?'. Nancy nodded as she read it. "Of course you can, just when you need me just come down, with a blanket over you if needs be," she spoke as she started to drive off, letting Robin go undercover.
Nancy was rushing home as she was being careful with the speed bumps and potholes too, which made the ride longer. It took 30 minutes for them to arrive. By now, it has been 2 hours of this, but Nancy didn't mind. Carefully, she grabbed Robin after undoing the seatbelt and grabbed her clothes too. She was carrying her in quickly while quietly and was rushing up the stairs. Soon Robin was sat on the bed. "I'll leave your clothes on the floor for you. I'll be in the kitchen, so if you need anything just say," she said gently. Robin nodded as Nancy tugged closed the curtains and turned off her light before she closed the door.
After 1 hour, Robin went down, hugging Nancy from behind. She would still be mute for a few hours and Nancy knew that. 'Water' Robin had wrote down already prepared. Nancy nodded snd smiled, getting her a glass and was getting her some fresh, cold water. She handed it over to Robin who was cuddled up to her side practically.
Robin downed the whole thing in one before she was on Nancy's lap, watching her write. Nancy smiled as she was kissing her forehead gently. 'I love you' Robin wrote down smiling. Nancy grinned. "I love you too," Nancy said, both settling in comfortable silence. Mike didn't question when he came back how close they were and just went up to his room. Her parents were on holiday without them luckily.
