Chapter Text
It was a hot August Friday, the first time It happened. August 7th, if you would like to be exact, and Robin would like to be exact. She was only a bit surprised to see Steve walk back through the Family Video doors on his day off - say, 46% surprised. He was supposed to pick her up after work today, but she wasn’t off for another two hours. What did throw her off, just a bit, was the look on his face. He looked like he was concentrating very hard on something - he always got a little pouty (stuck his bottom lip out), and a wrinkle appeared between his eyebrows. He moved toward her without really looking at her, looking more at her vest.
“Heya, Steve-o,” She called. “Miss me too much to wait?”
“Yeah,” He answered faintly. “That’s what it is.” Then he seemed to shake himself out of it a little bit, pulling himself up and meeting her eyes with a crooked grin. “How goes it?” Finally making it to the counter, he leaned over and drummed his fingers on the glass. She leaned against her side to get a little closer too.
“One day closer to achieving the highest state of consciousness to ascend from the ashes of our local video store and up to Nirvana,” She sighed dreamily and then tweaked Steve’s nose. “You have your thinking face on. What’s up?’
Steve scrunched up his face and leaned his nose out of her reach. “I haven’t figured it out yet.”
“What out yet?” She shot back.
“Whether what I’m thinking about is… something. I think…” He laughed, just a couple of times, rubbing the back of his neck with one hand. “I think Eddie was flirting with me earlier. And like… flirting , flirting. Not just doing his usual… whatever . You know?”
Robin gasped, excited. “Really? What did he say?” She asked, smacking his shoulder.
“Ehhh,” He groaned a little, waving his hand around indecisively. “So, I was loading my groceries into my car and all of a sudden I heard this wolf whistle -” He demonstrated. “Which isn’t anything really crazy, you know. But I turned around, and he was there with his band friends - Grant? And… Jim? Jeff? Jeff.”
“And Gareth, not Grant. Carry on.” She corrected offhandedly.
“So I said hi, and it was a little awkward because I don’t really know his friends… at all, but whatever. Then, Eddie comes up and looks in my trunk at all my food. He cracked one of the lame ‘What’s cookin’ good lookin’?’ jokes, which is amateur hour as far as flirting goes, so I figured he was still just joking around, being weird, you know?”
“As only Eddie knows how, I agree. Continue.”
“So then, right after he says that, he looks me up and down and goes, “Speaking of, you are looking good today, Harrington,” which, I’m literally not. I’m wearing my errand clothes.” He motioned down to the faded grey t-shirt and jeans he was wearing. Robin bit her tongue at the ‘errand clothes’ comment, which was regularly one of the cutest and most embarrassing things he says. She thought maybe she should start a scrapbook. “And that’s where he started blurring the flirting-as-a-joke and flirting-as-a-flirt line, right? Am I crazy?”
“No,” Robin hesitantly agreed. “That’s pretty damn close to a flirt-as-a-flirt if I’ve ever heard one.”
“Right? He also got, like, right up in my face and said it really softly, like I don’t know if the other guys heard it kind of softly. Which is also not how you would approach a flirting-as-a-joke flirt.”
“Agreed,” Robin said. “And I can for sure tell you didn’t take it as a flirting-as-a-joke flirt, because you, Steve Harrington, are full-on blushing right now.”
Sure enough, there was a faint dusting of pink along Steve’s cheeks, which flushed stronger when she pointed it out. He hid his face in his hands and groaned.
“Shut uuuup ,” He complained. “How I took it doesn’t even matter yet. I don’t even know how he means it.”
“Was that all that happened?” Robin wheedled.
Steve mumbled into his hands, too low and garbled for Robin to catch.
“What?” She poked him, between two fingers, directly in the center of the forehead.
“I said ,” He repeated, this time way too loud, “I was all like red or whatever then too, and he said pink looked good on me and swatted my ass with his bandana?”
Robin’s mouth dropped open. Steve looked shocked that he had said what he did out loud, and then his face crumpled up in embarrassment and he hid it in his hands again.
“Oh, my god,” Robin muttered. “What an insufferable dweeb. He might be one of the grossest people on the planet.” Steve moaned brokenly into his hands. She started smiling, a tinge maniacally. “And you liked it, didn’t you?”
Steve groaned louder, and Robin started giggling. “You did! He gave you a good locker room swat to the bee -hind in broad daylight while you had a bag of string green beans and a carton of low-fat in the trunk of your car and you liked it .”
Steve lunged over the counter a little to try and put his hand over her mouth, but she darted away too quickly.
“Back to business, though. I didn’t even know he was queer, do you know he’s gay for sure?” Robin asked delightedly.
Steve shrugged, his discomfort oozing a different flavor this time. “I think so. I mean, Tommy used to joke about it. I told Tommy to stop because that wasn’t funny, so he didn’t to my face, but that’s always what I heard.”
Robin fake gagged but pulled Steve behind the counter so that they could sit next to each other. “Trash ogre,” She complained.
“Garbage goblin, even.” Steve agreed good-naturedly.
“Ok. Well, you’re queer, and he’s probably queer, so what do you think? Do you want him to be flirting with you?”
Steve lifted the back of his head back so that it rested on the cabinet behind him, and stared up at the ceiling. He sucked in a big breath of air till his cheeks puffed out, held it for a while, and slowly blew it out.
“I dunno. I mean, he’s cool. He seems like a nice guy. Major dweeb, you’re right there, and I don’t think we have a lot in common. But… It’s… cool to be liked, you know? I really don’t know, though. I think it’ll be good to take it slow. See where it goes. If it was a weird one-off, I’m ok with it being a weird one-off. I mean, it’s not like I really know the guy: we haven’t hung out since the whole Upside Down stuff. So no biggie, either way.”
Robin scooched a little closer and laid her head on his shoulder. “Ok. Cool.” She said and patted Steve’s knee.
“Cool.”
At one point, Steve remembered that he had come straight to Family video from the grocery store, and so made a quick trip outside to gather up the perishable things to stuff into the break room fridge so they wouldn’t go bad while he waited for Robin’s shift to end. There was a little rush, so they didn’t really talk anymore after that. Steve hid under the counter as Robin scanned people out, and he picked at her shoelaces (but didn’t tie them together because he was above that) and laid his head on his knees, trying to decide between Slaughter High and The House on Sorority Row for tonight’s movie. When Keith came in to relieve her, he snarled his upper lip at Steve and otherwise didn’t bother to acknowledge them as they left.
They ended up taking Sixteen Candles with them.
Robin helps Steve carry the groceries from the car. She takes mental note of the food items she slides onto the shelves - leafy greens and lean proteins (mostly cold cuts and a pack of turkey bacon), yogurt, and some fruits. The starches and carbs were sparse and strictly sequestered. The only ‘non-healthy’ foods he had bought, she knew, were for her. As she finished, he took the receipt from his trip and logged each item into a notepad that stayed by the fridge. She tried to bite her tongue.
“Stop glaring at me,” Steve said. She let out a short, frustrated breath.
“I’m not.” She denied. Steve was… complicated. Even if he himself didn’t think so. He’d been through a lot, and he was working through a lot, and had learned that he needed control in specific areas when he didn’t have control in others. She wasn’t great at being careful or being quiet, but she knew Steve well enough to have a grasp on what he needed from her.
“I’m planning to get fat and happy with you tonight,” He said, trying to placate. “It’s not a big deal.”
“Fat and happy tonight is good enough for me.” She answered. Compromised.
They gathered the junk food that Steve had bought and her bag and set up camp in front of the tv. He put the movie in while she pulled out her polish selection for the night.
“What do you think?” She asked, motioning to them. “Robin’s Egg Blue too on the nose?”
He glanced over his shoulder from where he squatted at the tv. “Since when have you worried about that?” He asked. She stuck her tongue out at him.
“Come ooon,” She whined, and good sport that he was, he took a longer look at the polishes laid out in front of her on his way back to the couch. He plopped down beside her.
“I like the purple.” He said, pointing to the light lavender in the middle. Robin nodded decisively and swiped it up as the movie started. She laid her right hand flat on one knee first, holding the bottle between her pinky and ring finger on that hand so that she could grab the brush with her left and focus. Steve watched the movie, snorting a little as Robin started muttering about accidentally swiping over a cuticle, or smudging a nail that was already done as she shifted to the other hand.
“Want me to do it?” Steve asked eventually.
“You want to?” Robin asked in return, looking a bit taken off guard.
“Sure,” He shrugged. “Why not?”
“Not too… girly for you? Or whatever?” It was something she assumed he’d be offended by, even if neither of them knew why he should be, exactly.
“Helping you paint your nails? I think I’ll survive.” He made grabby hands and she shrugged and gave him the bottle and brush. He got up so his feet were on the couch cushions, but squatted so his knees were up near his ears, and he could press his elbows into the insides of his legs to steady them.
“You look like a gargoyle,” Robin giggled.
“Don’t question my methods,” Steve answered, affronted.
“Have you done this before?” She asked.
“Yeah,” He said, shrugging again. “With Nancy a couple times.”
They both fell quiet as Steve carefully began swiping the brush over Robin’s nails.
“You’re really good at this,” Robin said, sounding surprised. Steve shot her a look without lifting his head.
“I would say thanks if you didn’t say it like an insult.”
“Not an insult!” Robin protested quickly, raising her free hand placatingly. “Just didn’t expect it.”
Steve huffed. “Stop distracting me, I’m trying to focus.”
“‘Scuse me,” Robin pouted. “Will you let me do yours?”
Steve hesitated. “I don’t think so…”
“Come on,” She whined, “It’ll be practice for me! You can pick out a color. We can take it off right after.”
“You’re just going to mess yours up, right after I did them.”
“I’ll let them dry first! I’ll be so careful!” She insisted. “Please, please, please!”
“ Ah !” Steve pulled the brush and bottle away from her as her hands twitched. “If I say yes, will you stop moving so I can finish?”
Robin squealed and wiggled her butt on the couch before immediately stilling and laying her hands back down. “Yes.” She said, calm and composed as ever. He rolled his eyes and painted her last two nails.
He picked out the purple for himself, too. Robin concentrated so hard that the tip of her tongue poked out of her mouth, which Steve felt duty-bound to point out. By then, the credits were rolling on the screen, but it was pretty late and they had work in the morning, so there were no plans to start another.
By nail number four, Robin noticed that Steve had gone still. She glanced up and caught him spaced out again, staring at the screen.
“What’re you thinking about?” She prompted, and then nudged his knee with hers. “ Eeeddiieee ?”
Steve scoffed and rolled his eyes. “Come ooon,” He complained.
“What?” She asked. “I haven’t been here for any of your crushes yet! And a gay one, to boot? Come on !”
“It’s not a crush! It isn’t anything yet! It’s been all of seven hours!” Steve argued back.
“What was the first thing you noticed about him?” She barrelled on. “Was it his eyes? His hair? How sweet he is with the kids?” Robin made her voice go all soft and dreamy.
Steve sputtered a laugh. “You’re unbelievable.” He said. “Truly. Has anyone ever told you that?”
She shrugged one shoulder. “It’s one of my best qualities, yes,” She answered. He wagged his head at her, and went quiet again. She painted another nail.
Steve’s voice was very quiet when he spoke again. “Listen, I’m really not into it right now. Not - not because it’s him , just because I’m not… I’m not there yet.”
He hasn’t been ‘there yet’. Since Starcourt. Steve had joked about getting girls, going on dates, about finally getting his mojo back out of the sailor hat. But any flirting she had caught had seemed half-hearted at best. She knew of one date he had gone on - and more than anything, going to that basketball game had been more for Lucas. Otherwise, things had been all quiet on the western front.
“Even if nothing happens,” Robin said after a while. “Not to go all… psycho-analyst on you, but even if you don’t end up liking him, or it doesn’t go anywhere, I’m proud of you for putting yourself back out there. For opening up.”
“I didn’t do anything, Rob,” Steve joked softly, with a wry grin. “I just stood there and stared. It was real awkward.”
Robin snorted. “I can just imagine.” She joked back, just as gently. “But, whatever happened, you’re… staying open to the possibility. Like, you could have booked it out of there. Or you could have shut him down. After everything you’ve been through, that would have been totally understandable. But you didn’t. Would that be fair to say?”
He shrugged but nodded.
“I’m proud of you for that. You’re really brave, Steve.” She met his eyes, which looked a little wet, though that could have been the glaring reflection of the tv screen.
Steve wanted to ask her a lot of things. He definitely didn’t feel brave, that was for damn sure. Not responding to the probably-joking advancements of some guy who had been forced into sharing a week from hell with him was not brave .
Later that night, when they had moved up to his bed and Robin had fallen asleep beside him, he lifted up his painted nails and looked at them. He wasn’t sure they really fit him, but it felt nice to try something new. To let something out, like stretching some muscles he hasn’t felt like he could use before.
He definitely isn’t ready to try anything. Thinking about Eddie makes anxiety spike through him, makes his heart pound heavily and his palms go clammy. Even though Steve did miss being in a relationship, missed that special kind of closeness, he did know that the relationships he had been in hadn’t been… good. For him. Or for the other person, for that matter. This new space he found himself in, this close, weird little friend group, was different and safe and healthy and loving in its own way, and he wanted to stay here for a while. Maybe he was afraid that he couldn’t have both.
There was… a spark of something, though. Just a little shimmer of excitement. He looked down at his nails, bitten to the quick but purple and glossy now, and thought about how this would have made his stomach tighten and roil with anxiety and self-loathing even a year ago. He thought about how much he, his life, and his friends had changed. He thought about hiding, and misplaced anger, and how that wasn’t there so much anymore. So yeah, maybe there was a spark of something. Maybe.