"wouldn't you like to know her?" | ronance !

3.

(CW for homophobia in this chapter . internalized homophobia bisexual nancy is so real to me - alongside that there is light violence / suggested pinning)

nancy stared at herself in the mirror, analyzing each feature delicately.

"nancy!" mike yelled through the crack of the door. "steve and robin will be here soon, are you nearly done?"

nancy sighed, "yes. mike. have you cleaned up the basement?"

"duhhh. hurry up!"

nancy breathed out slowly. her stomach was twisted into one tight knot.
she rested her palm on the cool knob before twisting, opening the door just as lucas and max beckoned robin and steve inside her house. robin's hoodie looked familiar.

that steves. thats why it looked so familiar. she bit her lip, blood pooling at the tip of her canine. she trotted down the stairs.

"you're bleeding," robin stared at her lips. nancy's chest tightened. whilst they were standing infront of eachother, dustin and steve were rambling simultaneously. max already returned to the basement.

robin stepped forward and rubbed the blood off her lip. nancy stiffened, resentment rising in her throat. did she treat steve like this?

"uh.. um. thanks."

steve dragged robin along. dustin pranced along behind them, still talking to steve.

nancy slunk down the stairs after them, her mood in shambles. initally she had spent the whole evening preparing to look nice for steve. which was like, totally fucking weird since she literally has a boyfriend. and she doesnt... like steve, does she?

robin was laying next to steve on their tattered couch. max, el and lucas were chilling on a beanbag and dustin, mike alongside will had piled onto a recliner.

nancy planted herself on the far side of the couch, making it clear she wanted to be as far away from robin was she possibly could.

steve slowly drifted off to sleep, his chin was placed on robins shoulder instead of like, i dunno, leaning up against the arm of the couch?
nancy stood up harshly after confirming steve was infact sleeping on robin. as quietly as she should, she stalked up the stairs. which, unfortunately wasn't very quiet.

-

robin exhaled, uneasiness creeping up her spine. she shifted steve off of her gingerly, trying her best to not wake him up.

after she had successfully untethered steve from her, she bounded up the stairs, aimlessly searching for nancy. she found her leaned over the kitchen counter, her blue eyes slightly wet.

"what are you doing?" nancy asked, bringing up her sleeve with her thumb to dab at her eyes.

"i wanted to um, well.. talk about.. steve and i."
robin managed, unsure of how to navigate such a sensitive conversation.

"this is bullshit," nancy let out a shrill curse, accidentally slamming her elbow into the doorframe as she ran up to her room.

robin chased after her, "no, it's not--"

nancy slammed her door. robin emitted a soft sigh, "nancy please, let me talk to you. its not what you think."

"come in." nancy ordered. robin pushed her door open, still on guard. mike mentioned nancy casually had guns in her room and that thought never really left robins mind.

she stood idly for a moment, taking in the uniqueness of nancys room. it was exactly what she imagined. not that she spent a lot of time thinking about what nancys bedroom looked like, or anything.

"so? spit it out." she rasped, wiping at her eyes again.

"look i'm not the most deft with going about this sort of thing but i'm not dating steve. i promise you. our friendship is totally platonic, platonic with a capital 'P.'" as robin rambled, the pace at which she was speaking grew quicker and quicker.

"you can be honest with me." nancy's voice was crackly. she stepped forward, now they were a few inches apart, robin could feel her warm breath reach her collarbones. she tensed up, only slightly.
"i don't.. care if you're dating. its okay, really," she whispered, then continued, "i dont like when people lie to me, though."

"i'm not lying," robin held up her hand, crossing her index and middle fingers, "promise."

nancy grasped her hand, pushing her into the door abruptly and with such ferocity it spooked robin.

robin felt her body stiffen up. nancy stared at her briefly, studying her eyes with parted lips as she pinned her against the door before pulling away.

"i'm sorry, fuck. i dont know what i was doing there." she whispered, stepping backwards. robin was frozen in place. nancy ran her hands through her curly hair.

"its okay. i-" robin began, she nearly blurted out that she liked girls. that she understood. but, nancy cut her off.

"i'm not a queer. i'm not.. i dont like you, buckley. dont get things twisted. i'll tell you the truth, i'm envious. you get everything you want." nancy ranted, clenching her fists together and glaring at robin, "your bandmates love you, steve loves you, you go to pa-"

im not a queer.

robin went over that sentence over and over again. each time her heart crinkled a little. beside the unusual tug of disappointment in her stomach, nancy being unaccepting of gay people only reminded robin how lonely it was being queer in the 80's, her hand gripped the doorknob. without a word, she scrambled off. flinging the door open and nearly tripping over her feet as she raced downstairs.

-

nancy stood still in her doorway. it felt like she had just been plunged in freezing waters. she felt cold, ill. sick. so sick. she grazed the door, dragging it shut as she stumbled into her bathroom, rinsing her face with frigid water. she fought back the vomit rising in her throat. what the fuck.

-

steve was awake now, he was watching the movie intently. robin crept into the basement, she bent down to whisper to steve, "i'm walking home. please dont ask questions, i'll see you tomorrow."

steve gave a slow, understanding nod. he pulled robin into a hug, her frame was taut; discomfort clear on her face.

"call me later?" he mouthed as she walked back upstairs, she shrugged.

as soon as robin had rounded the corner into the kitchen she spotted nancy, who was just descending the stairs. she awkwardly avoided her gaze as she moved towards the front door.

nancy glared at her as she made her way down the stairs, she paused at the landing.

"bye,"

robin didnt respond, she forced her already laced up converse over her heels. the friction of the fabric aganist her skin was painful.

she slammed the door shut behind her.

-

(HOURS LATER)

robin laid in her bed silently. she'd been awake since 6 in the morning. its four in the morning now.

on the bright side of things, tomorrow was sunday; meaning she didn't have work. meaning she could obliterate her sleep schedule just this night.

but, the interaction with nancy yesterday has left robin feeling exhausted and hurt. robin didn't understand how nancy felt, or what the fuck she was trying to do.

it was probably just her being a typical straight girl, toying about with robin. i suppose this time around things were different, nancy didn't even act like she had the slightest interest in her.

she rolled back over, squeezing her eyes shut. tears welt around her tearducts, but she feverishly blinked them away.