a helping hand | ronance

SIX

NANCY, STEVE, AND robin began to hang out as a group more and more. robin was happy to go out with them as a trio- she went out often lately to get her mind off things.

one day, robin- who had been learning to drive- decided to drive steve and nancy to the grocery store. they wanted to go cause chaos in walmart. when they got in there, the three began having fun by throwing things around and laughing loudly.

robin walked off into another aisle to find something to defend herself against steve with. she began drifting further away, going up aisle after aisle. she eventually ended up in a corner, so she turned around.

when she turned around, she locked eyes with him. the guy that had sexually assaulted her almost four months ago.

robin could feel her chest tighten as she froze in place, eyes locked on the man in front of her. he definitely recognized her, as he walked over to her. he backed her into the corner, one hand on the shelf. he brushed the hair off her face and tucked it behind her ear before putting his face in front of hers. he leaned in before turning his attention to her ear.

"so we meet again," he whispered into his ear. she could feel his breath on her skin, and it made her skin crawl. he pulled away a bit after, a smirk lingering on his lips. he walked away, leaving robin behind in the corner.

she was breathing heavier at this point, tears already streaming down her face. she sat down and pulled her knees up to her chest, sobbing out of both fright and anger. she was angry that he had showed his face again, and she was angry that she didn't have the willpower to punch him right there.

she was sobbing so hard that she didn't hear the panicked footsteps running toward her. she only noticed someone by her side when the figure pulled robin into an embrace.

"it's okay, i got you. you're safe," she heard, the voice instantly giving it away. it was nancy.

robin melted into the hug, desperately needing someone to comfort her in that moment. robin's breathing began to slow back down, nancy's embrace giving her a blanket of security and comfort.

"h-he's here," robin managed to tell her eventually.

"who is? the man?" nancy asked, immediately catching on. robin nodded in reply. "let's find steve, okay? and then we can go find that man and teach him a lesson"

robin stood up with nancy's help, leaning on her for support. nancy led her down a couple aisles, before eventually stumbling upon him.

"what happened?!" he asked robin, worry filling his voice.

"he's here," nancy filled in. "the guy. we need to find him. he isn't getting out of here unharmed"

steve's face turned serious, nodding along. his eyes flickered over to robin, and she nodded in agreement with nancy's words as well.

the three began going down aisle after aisle, having robin look for him. they didn't see him in any aisle. they finally tracked down the final aisle, seeing him inside.

nancy could tell it was him by the way robin's breathing pattern increased upon seeing him. nancy nodded to steve, mouthing 'it's him". steve nodded, looking back at robin for permission once last time.

robin nodded.

"hey, asshole!" nancy yelled over. he tried to run, but steve caught him by the collar of his shirt.

"not so fast," steve told him, staring him in the eyes. steve's eyes were filled with fury as he stared the man down.

steve ran him against the shelves, knocking a few bags of chips off of it. he held him there for a second, before punching him right in the face.

"that's what you get for fucking up my best friend's life," he spat at the man. he looked over to nancy, who was already walking over to have her turn.

"you think women are easy, don't you?" she asked him, the volume of her voice increasing. steve held on to the collar of his shirt, keeping him against the shelves. "well, guess what? you messed with the wrong one"

nancy kicked him in the gut, causing the man to groan in pain. nancy and steve's eyes flickered to robin, catching the girl by suprise. she hesitantly walked closer.

"fuck you!" she told him angrily.

she kicked him where she knew it would hurt most, watching him double over in pain. the sight made robin smirk to herself.

at this point, many people had been watching. seconds after the man collapsed on the ground, police offers came rushing over.

"step away from him," one ordered.

the three stepped back as cops pulled them over for questioning. robin spoke first, explaining everything that had happened in the store and over three months ago.

they were let off the hook after speaking with him. nancy and steve were prepared to leave, but robin started walking to the man once again. they followed behind her.

cops guarded him off, especially keepinf robin away. robin managed to squeeze between two cops, standing only feet away from his face. he looked over at her, them locking eyes once again.

"so we meet again," robin recalled his words from earlier with a smug smirk on her face. she shot daggers at him with her eyes, before flipping him off and walking back towards the end of the aisle.

nancy and steve followed behind her, out of the store doors and through the parking lot. when they got in the car, nancy sat in the passenger seat, next to robin.

"how do you feel?" nancy asked.

"a bit better. still really shaken up, but that's normal i guess. but at least i got revenge," robin answered truthfully, unable to make eye contact with nancy. she fixed her eyes on the road as she began driving.

"you did good," nancy assured her.

"thank you," robin said, smiling into the road ahead.

maybe things were starting to look up for robin.

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a/n: pls tell me this chap makes sense it's basically 3am and i'm in clouds