a helping hand | ronance

EIGHT

ROBIN STARTED TO slowly get better after that. a couple months had passed now, and she seemed to be improving. she seemed mostly happier now, though she definitely had her moments.

nancy and steve stayed by her side as promised. robin was almost never left alone, as she had the two to be close.

over the past couple months, steve had become closer with the younger teens in the group. robin took a particular liking to two of them; max and will.

max was the sarcastic, firey redhead of the group. she was never afraid to put anybody in their place, even if it wasn't necessary. she was always independent and more stand-offish than the others. however, robin had liked her, and the two ended up getting along pretty great.

max had come out to her only a few days before present time. max was bi, she had her boyfriend, lucas, who she loved, but she also knew she liked girls. since robin was openly gay, max decided to tell her first.

will, on the other hand, was the complete opposite of max. he was shy and quiet, only making a couple comments here and there. robin knew he was gay from the second she laid eyes on him. sure enough, she had been right. will came out to robin shortly after meeting her, as he needed someone else who knew besides himself.

in exchange, robin would subtly talk about nancy to the younger two. she never used nancy's name or anything that could hint to her talking about the brunette, but she did talk about her. she'd tell the two about how 'gorgeous this girl is' or how 'sweet and kind and gentle she was'.

every time robin would talk to the two about nancy, they would suggest asking her out. robin always declined, saying that the girl wasn't gay and wouldn't like her back that way.

robin had thought that her crush on nancy would go away after a short while. however, every moment they spent together made robin fall in love deeper and deeper with nancy wheeler.

nancy had the same problem. every conversation or touch would set a flock of butterflies flying in nancy's stomach. this was odd for nancy, since she had never liked a girl before. she had never even considered the fact that she would like girls.

her sexuality had been really bugging her for the past month. she wasn't homophobic or anything- she just never considered the possibility that she could be into girls. however, she knew she did after hanging with robin buckley.

that same girl had been the reason that nancy realized she liked girls.

after doing some research and thinking about it, nancy had come to the conclusion that she was bisexual. she was happy with knowing, as it felt like a weight had dropped off her shoulders.

nancy had never intended to act on it. she meant to keep her feelings bottled up, eventually packing them away. she didn't want to ruin her and robin's friendship. sure, she knew robin was gay. but just because robin was gay didn't mean that she liked nancy.

that's what she thought until one day.

they were on robin's bed. robin had just spent the past five minutes crying in nancy's arms. robin wasn't having a particularly good day. she didn't feel well already, and some lady at work had commented on her being pregnant at "such a young age". but after nancy's embrace, robin felt all of her bad feelings melting away.

nancy was like a dreamcatcher to robin; any time robin felt bad, nancy would take away all of her negative emotions.

"this is freaking me out," robin had said, immediately covering her mouth. she didn't mean for it to be said out loud. as she looked at nancy, she saw the brunette's face contort as she immediately moved away.

"i-i'm sorry," she told robin, a pained look displayed on her face.

"no, i didn't mean it like that nance i swear!"

"what did you mean it like then?"

a silence fell between the two, both girls making eye contact. robin was trying her best to think of some excuse, before realizing she shouldn't. she shouldn't lie to nancy anymore.

robin was sure nancy didn't like her that way, and she was putting everything on the line. their friendship, nancy's support- everything. but she couldn't hide any longer.

"i meant it in a different way. honestly i didn't mean to say it out loud but i did and i can't lie to you anymore"

"you've been lying to me?" nancy asked, the pained look on her face increasing.

"no, let me finish, okay? look, i like you. in that way. i've liked you for months- honestly, i think i fell in love with you the day you watched me puke my guts up in the school bathroom. but i didn't realize it then. but you've been here for me all this time, supporting me unconditionally, and i might ruin all of that by saying this but every time we go out together i can't help but wish we were dating. every time we hang out i can't help but wish i could kiss you and tell you how much i love your smile and your eyes and everything about you! and i've never felt like this for anyone, and it's scaring me. but every time we hang out, i fall even more in love with you. i'm tired of hiding my feelings, even if that means we aren't friends anymore"

robin was a lot more scared than she had anticipated, but the words just kept pouring out. nancy was frozen in place. she was shocked. she couldn't believe that robin actually liked her the same way. that robin actually felt the same way.

"wow," nancy eventually managed to get out. robin's speech had left nancy unable to think or form a sentence. robin said nothing in reply, she just stared at the brunette in fear.

robin had expected nancy to walk out then, saying some unkind words on her way out. she expected nancy to call her disgusting or weird. but the shorter girl did none of that.

"i'm in love with you too, robin," was all she said, before leaning up and attaching her lips to robin's.