Billy's gone.
Ruby Buckley's world ended with him.
But Hawkins isn't done with her yet.
When strange deaths begin again, Ruby is pulled into the heart of the storm. Between shadowy nightmares, the town's newest outcast, and someone she was never s...
( songs for the chapter ) lady starlight // scorpions mother stands for comfort // kate bush
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Robin is the best person to ever exist.
Ruby decided that a long time ago. There simply isn't a better human on this earth than her sister, Robin Buckley. She's confident about that.
Everything else can fall apart, the world, their lives, their plans, nothing is constant. Nothing except Robin.
Robin, who might not be the most stable person mentally (but who is?), has always been the one steady point in Ruby's life. The only thing she's had since the beginning.
The only person who was always there.
Before Chrissy, before Billy, before Max, Steve, Robin was there.
No matter what, no matter when, no matter how.
Not everyone had that, Ruby realized. Some people were born only children, like Steve and Dustin. Others never had the kind of bond she and Robin share, Mike and Nancy, Lucas and Erica, Max and Billy for most of their intertwined lives.
Apparently this connection was rare. Special. Strong. Some would even say perfect.
Robin knew everything about Ruby, and Ruby knew everything about Robin.
Ruby was the first person Robin ever came out to.
Robin burst into her room, shouting, crying, everything at once, and ended up on her knees on the carpet.
Ruby wasn't surprised, not really, but her eyes widened anyway. She placed her book face-down and slid off the bed to kneel in front of her sister, pulling her into one of the tightest hugs she'd ever given. Robin's tears only came harder, her whole body shaking with the weight of a secret she'd carried for years.
Saying it out loud terrified her, but she couldn't hold it in anymore. Ruby understood intimately how suffocating hiding your identity could be. And being a lesbian in the point in time they lived in wasn't exactly a safe or accepted thing. She hoped that someday that will change.
Ruby remembered every detail. The way Robin shook against her. The way Ruby wanted to cry too, just from seeing her sister in pain.
"I love you, Robin. Nothing is ever gonna change that." Ruby had said it softly, calmly, all the reassurance she could give, since Robin couldn't see her face. "You are perfection, Robin Buckley. Fuck what people think. Love who you love."
Robin sniffled, then started choking on her tears, very on-brand, and Ruby giggled as she brushed her hair back. "Nothing's going to change for us. You're still my favorite sister."
