"Shit," Jonathan muttered, returning to where Nancy and Robin were standing. "Shit. I can't believe I forgot about my mom."

Nancy put a hand up to his cheek. "Don't worry," she said soothingly. "Once we tell her the truth, I'm sure she'll be too distracted with the Russians to be upset with you and El."

"That's not what I'm worried about," Jonathan said. "I don't care if I get in trouble. But my mom, she's been through so much already...I hate it when I make her worry about me. It feels cruel." A tear fell down his cheek and Nancy brushed it away, an affectionate smile forcing its way across her face.

Robin shuffled her feet. "So, I think I'm going to go help Steve in the kitchen." She moved to leave, but before she could make it in, Steve himself stuck his head out.

"Actually, could you send Jonathan in? I think...uh, I need his help with the Apple Taters. I can't quite figure it out," he said, adjusting the dish towel on his shoulder.

Nancy and Jonathan shared a very loaded look, then he made his way into the kitchen for quality bonding time with Steve Harrington. Nancy watched with concern, the details of several of the two boys' encounters still fresh in her mind.

"That's totally a completely innocent invitation," Robin said, raising her eyebrows. "I'm sure they're just going to talk about regular guy stuff and definitely nothing about you at all."

Nancy let out a laugh. "You're so right," she agreed, sipping her water.

There was a moment of silence. The air between them was charged, though not entirely negative. Nancy remembered her vaguely from High School; she had been involved in band and drama. They'd never spoken.

"So are you and Steve…" Nancy began, looking towards the kitchen.

"No," Robin said with a laugh. "Absolutely not. I mean, we're best friends and he's a fun person to hang out with, but no."

Nancy leaned forward. "Not even sometime far in the future?"

"Trust me," Robin said. "I will never be romantically involved with Steve Harrington. He's...not my type."

Nancy narrowed her eyes, detecting a subtle undertone in the other girl's voice. "What do you mean by that?" she asked. Though she and Steve weren't together anymore, she wouldn't let Robin be mean to him in any way.

"It's not like he's a bad person in any way," Robin said, her voice becoming shaky. "But it'll just-it'll just never happen. So drop it, please."

Closing her eyes, Nancy took in a deep breath. "Look," she said with a low tone. "I've never told this to anyone except Jonathan. But...when I was seven, I kissed my best friend."

"So?" Robin said, her eyes still averted. "Plenty of kids kiss their best friends. They don't know social boundaries yet."

"Her name was Sarah."

Robin's eyes widened. "Oh," she said.

"And when my mom found out, she flipped. Screamed at me for hours. She told me I wasn't allowed to hang out with Sarah ever again. And so I internalized that what I felt was wrong. Like it was unnatural for me to like boys and girls. That's why I dated Steve, I think. To prove that there wasn't anything wrong with me," Nancy said.

Robin bit her lip. "I see."

Glaring at the other girl for a moment, Nancy threw her hands up. "Nevermind," she said harshly. "That was stupid of me to say. Forget about it."

"No," Robin said, grabbing Nancy's wrist. "It's not stupid. Nothing about it is stupid. I went through the same thing. It's scary and it's uncomfortable and sometimes you just want to curl up and...and die."

Nancy nodded. "Yeah," she replied. "It's sort of like that." She looked down at her feet. "I guess I had it easier. I can't imagine what you've gone through."

"Well, you get used to it."

"Yeah."

This time the silence between them was comfortable, strengthening. As if the girls had known each other their whole lives. They weren't strangers that had grown up in the same town, they were survivors sharing the load they'd been carrying for years.

"So this begs the question," Robin finally said, a gleam in her eye. "Did you also totally crush on Bette Midler for your whole childhood?"

Nancy let out a loud laugh. "Yes," she exclaimed. "And you know what? There was a girl in your grade that reminded me of her. So every time I passed her in the hallway, my heart would totally skip a beat."

"Wait. Was it Tammy Thompson?" Robin asked. "Because I did, too! We were in Senior History together and every time she answered a question…" the girl fluttered her hands across her face.

"You should talk to her," Nancy insisted.

Robin grimaced. "And risk getting outed to the whole town? I loved Tammy, but that girl cannot keep a secret."

They laughed, a pure and bubbling sound that seemed to release years of stress and pain. Even the kids looked over at them with varying expressions of shock and disapproval.

"Ahoy, ladies," Steve said, popping briefly back into the Living Room. "Lunch is on in five. I hope you haven't been talking about me at all."

Sharing a glance, the two girls launched into another round of hysterics. Steve backed away slowly, a sudden fear forming of the friendship that seemed to have grown between the two girls that had broken his heart.

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Bisexual Nancy! This chapter is super near and dear to my heart. As I was writing it, I had no idea where I was going to go with it. I knew I wanted her and Robin to connect really easily. I relate very strongly to Nancy, so it was also therapeutic and eye opening to tell a little bit of my own story through her :) Obviously her being bisexual is not canon, but I think it works. It honestly might not even come up again in this story, but I wanted to have a little homage to the power of queer girls connecting and empowering each other 3