"Rob can we talk?" he said early one morning, their shift had just started and the store was empty so he figured now was a good time. She sat on the counter eating MM's that she dragged off one of the candy racks. "Sure. What's up?"

He let out a heavy breath, it was now or never. "first you have to promise you won't freak out." she reached out her pinky toward him and locked it with his. "I promise that I'll try my best not to freak out." he nodded. "okay yeah. That'll do."

A minute passed before he started pacing, "I have a secret. I um... I wasn't always Steve." he started. The intense look on her face showed that she was listening to him and wouldn't interrupt him. So he continued, "my name was Stephanie. I was born a girl. I started transitioning before we moved to Hawkins... My parents and Nancy know about it but no one else does." he let out a breath once it was all out.

Robin stayed quiet for a moment, trying to process everything that was said to her. After a few minutes of silence a smile covered her face before she hopped off the counter and nearly knocked him over with the force of the hug she gave him. "I'm so glad you told me, dingus." Robin said, her smile a bit reserved. There was another pause and Steve knew it was coming.

"You know I'm cool with it, Steve. You know that, right?" she said, her voice quiet.

"Yes I know that" He whispered. "So this doesn't change anything between us? You don't think I'm a freak?" his voice was strained and his eyes were filled with tears as he hugged her back. She sniffled into his chest and shook her head. "of course I don't think you're a freak, you idiot. You're still my best friend and I'm happy you felt comfortable enough to share that with me." She bit her lip before looking up at him again.

"Why didn't you tell me before?" she asked and there was a hint of heartbreak in those words. Steve felt his lower lip quiver, but he willed himself to ignore it. He kept his eyes shut, not wanting to see her face.

He let out a small chuckle and tightened his arms around her, "thank fucking god. I've been shitting myself for weeks about telling you. I was so fucking scared Robin, I thought you would hate me. You know my parents would have killed me if anyone found out. But if I'm being honest, I don't think that I wanted to face it. Talking about it made it feel too real- or at least that's what my parents would say. Like if I didn't say anything I could pretend that I'm not different you know. It's a lot easier to play at being a perfectly normal boy than to accept — that I am what I am,"

"I could never hate you Steve. You're my best friend... And you are a real, perfectly normal boy. — I mean apart from the whole supernatural warrior, bat-biter shit." her words were spoken with no mirth in them, a clear indicator that she was serious. The last line pulled a soft laugh out of him. "I love you, idiot."

He sighed, his tears falling "I love you too, loser." He had always known she would get it. He knew Robin would understand. His wonderful, perfect, weird Robin, who was his best friend no matter what.

The rest of the day was quiet in family video so they spent the time just talking it over, Steve recounted his transition to her and she commented on how cool Mr. Denley sounded.

After a while the bell above the door jingled and a mop of curly hair entered the shop paired with a soft hum of a song Steve definitely never heard before. "Hi Stevie, Robin. How are you losers holding up?" he asked, settling his hands on the counter his rings making a soft clanking sound as he tapped his fingers on it.

Robin gave him a fist bump before walking over to the comedy section with some VHS tapes in her arms "hey Eddie. I'm good. How's that campaign coming along?"

His eyes lit up at the mention of his campaign and he rambled out a long explanation about it that Steve didn't understand. He watched as the two spoke for a bit, Robin pretending to know what Eddie was talking about when it was obvious that she had no knowledge of DD. Eddie's hands flew around vividly as he spoke, his beady eyes bright with excitement and his smile wide.

He turned to Steve and smirked, "what say you Stevie boy? Are you up for a day at the fair with myself and the rest of the gang?"

Steve frowned, "huh?"

Eddie hopped onto the counter, crossing his legs and turning his entire body to face Steve and leaning forward so their faces were only inches apart. Steve tried his best not to look at Eddie's lips. He really did but as always he failed and his eyes zeroed in on those plush pink lips that he would kill to feel against his own.

"While you were standing here and looking pretty, I so graciously informed Robin of our plans to go to the fair once your shift ends. The party wanted a change of scenery and a little birdie told me that Robin had a great time when she went there."

Robin sputtered from where she stood, her face going bright red at the mention of her date. They had no idea how Eddie knew that and Robin didn't bother to ask.

Steve frowned at the mention of Robin's date, protectiveness bubbling up inside of him. "who told you about Robin being at the fair?"

Eddie leaned away from Steve to level him with a stare that said 'how dumb do you think I am?'

He let out an exaggerated sigh. "Really Harrington. That's all you got from my marvelous preposition?" he hopped off the counter and turned to Robin, letting out a tsk. "Is he always this slow?" She shrugged before offering a "most of the time" in return.

"Yeah just keep talking about me like I'm not here" Steve drawled, mock offense in his voice.

Eddie gave him a look that made him nervous before letting out another long sigh. "I have eyes Harrington. Anyone can see that little ole Robin over here isn't entirely heterosexual." he smirked. "plus —" he paused. "It takes one to know one right." with that he walked out of the store offering a "be ready by four, I'll see you later." over his shoulder as the door closed.

Steve's mouth hung open at Eddie's words. "Did you know?" he finally spoke up. Robin shot him a confused look. "know what?"

"About Eddie... He said —" he couldn't get the words out, his throat dry. His mind was reeling. He felt like he might stand a chance. Although the more he pondered the more he realized that he was definitely not Eddie's type. The man was a total metalhead, with all the tattoos and rings to fit the look. So him being into preppy ex-jocks was definitely not a possibility. At least not in Steve's eyes.

Robin rolled her eyes, her expression reading really Steve, it's obvious. She continued to give him that stare that she gave him when he was being dumb and not catching onto something. Her eyes boring into his skin, making it feel like it was on fire. He wished she would stop staring and just answer his questions. Usually she was a rambling mess but right now it looked like she was calculating every word she would speak.

"Robin," he uttered, his voice filled with exasperation. "please for the love of all things good, just tell me."

She somehow gave him a more threatening look than the one she had before. Shaking her head when she realized that he wasn't going to let this go that easily. She threw her hands up in frustration before marching over to the counter, grabbing her half eaten pack of mms. "Steve. It's the most obvious thing in the world. Have you seen that man. That man is gay panic on legs."

He frowned. It definitely wasn't obvious. He would have caught on if it was right? "How? He doesn't do anything gay. At least not around me. And I thought that Will is the 'gay panic on legs' in our group."

"Will is gay suffering. Eddie is gay panic. Keep up Harrington." Robin swatted his chest. "And what was that 'he doesn't do anything gay'supposed to mean? Did you expect him to come up to you and ask to give you a blowy or to see him making out with random guys around town? Is that what 'anything gay' is to you Steve?"

This time he was the one giving her an 'are you dumb' look. His irritation visable on his face. "No. You know that's not what I meant Rob." he pinched the skin between his brows for a bit before leaning forward with his elbow on the counter and his chin resting on his hand. "'S just — He doesn't look gay. I don't know how to explain it."

The air of irritation around Robin dropped as she settled on the counter. "There's no way to look gay, Steve. Those are all stupid stereotypes of what people think queer people look like, they expect us all to look and act a certain way. No two people are the same and its well hidden in places like Hawkins. These people believe that our existence is a sin and that we pose some sort of threat to them." she stopped for a bit to let out a breath, taking a minute to reign in her thoughts, "Eddie already gets enough shit in this town just because he looks a little different and listens to different music. They all judge him because apparently his leather jacket, tattoos and rings make him a satanist. So why would he bring more heat to his name by openly admitting that he likes guys."

Steve nodded, he understood. He was just as afraid to show his true self so he knew what it must feel like for Eddie. He knew about secrets that you hid inside of yourself, the kind that you only whispered late at night when you were alone. "I get it, but... how did you know?"

She smirked, "oh." A mischievous glint appeared in her eyes. "He is always flagging."

"Flagging?" She lost him at that bit. He never heard that one before. "What's that?"

Robin shrugged before turning away from him and moving back to where she had been stacking tapes. "I've given you enough information already.You'll have to ask Eddie about that bit. It's not really something I do."

"So you don't flag... but Eddie does?" he questioned again, ignoring her groan of protest.

"No I don't. In fact I haven't met a lesbian who does yet. Not sure if it's just a guy thing" she shrugged. "Now stop bothering me or I'm going to assume you have a crush on him or something."

He choked and covered it up with a dry laugh. "I don't have a crush on him. I like girls, Rob, you know that."

"Uh huh" she definitely didn't believe him, but he wasn't going to push on that matter.

Now he just had to figure out how to ask Eddie what flagging was without weirding him out.

The bell above the door jingled again, this time signaling the entrance of four hyper teenagers who came barreling straight towards the counter. Lucas got there first followed by Mike, Dustin and Will. The four boys sported massive smiles as they looked up at Steve who was giving them what Dustin called his 'mom stare.' "What do you monsters want?"

"Eddie said you agreed to go to fair with us so we figured we could stick around until it's time to go," Dustin answered as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Steve sighed. "Aren't you supposed to be driving with you brother" he pointed at Will. "and you with your sister," aimed at Mike.

Both boys shrugged, "Nancy's car broke down so she's driving with Jonathan." Mike offered. Will was the next to speak, "Jonathan's car is full."

"How. It's just Nancy and Jonathan, that leaves the entire back empty." he added, placing his hands on his hips.

Dustin rolled his eyes, "really Steve?"

"What?" he wasn't getting what their point was.

Lucas sighed before giving Steve a disappointed look. "Argyle, Eden and Suzie are driving with Jonathan. He's also going to pick up El. Eddie is bringing Max and Vickie. So you're stuck with us."

"how are the four of you supposed to fit into my back seat exactly?" he narrowed his eyes at them.

All three boys pointed at Dustin before yelling out a "no collarbone!" That meant they would be able to squeeze in perfectly fine.

"Okay I guess that makes sense." he nodded.

All four boys shook their heads and sighed before walking over to the horror section and pointing out random movies they wanted to watch. Robin walked over to him and shook her head, a smile on her lips "those kids have you wrapped around their fingers you know."

He nodded. There was no point in denying the truth, especially when it was staring him right in the face. He would do anything for those kids, El and Max included. Suzie too, and not just because she meant a lot to Dustin but also because she was sweet and may have already started to grow on Steve. He loved these little monsters more than he cared to admit.

He always loved kids. So much so that he wanted an entire mini soccer team of his own. Six, maybe seven little terrors running around and arguing about stupid shit that he would scold them out for a bit later. The thought of having kids of his own always made him smile, a fluttering feeling filled his insides at it.

Weirdly enough, he always pictured that life with Nancy by his side. They'd probably adopt and sell some shit story about Steve being unable to have kids, his load was too weak, or some stupid excuse along those lines. He always saw himself rushing their kids along after they finished breakfast, handing them their lunch bags before huddling them all into his car while Nancy leaned up against the doorway and waved them goodbye with the promise of afternoon snacks once they returned from school. It had always been that way. The same picture.

Until recently, about six months ago to be exact. Suddenly the image of Nancy and a squabble of kids wasn't as appealing as it had been before. Instead he saw a curly haired, leather clad, guitar playing, metal head. He saw him sitting in their livingroom with one of their kids on his lap, holding their kid's hands to the fret board of his guitar as he taught them one of his metal songs that Steve claimed to hate but secretly liked. He saw the smile on their child's face as they watched their father with the same intense brown eyes as Eddie. A wide smile on both of their lips and a mop of short brown curls growing out on their head. He saw Eddie's tongue poking out between his teeth as his fingers moved across the frets with years of experience. His rings glistening under the soft light that filled in through their window in the early morning.

"You know if you keep spacing out like that I'm going to assume that you're thinking about some very intimate moments with girls." Dustin's voice cut through his thoughts.

He leveled the teenager with a narrowed eyed stare. "What do you know about intimate moments?"

He shrugged before turning to Mike who had a scowl settled on his face. He looked like he wanted to explode Dustin with his mind. "You just had to bring it up, didn't you?" his tone was cold as ice as he continued to shoot dangers at Dustin.

"Wheeler are you-"

"No!" Mike cut in before he could finish that sentence. "Gross! No! He wasn't talking about me. He was referring to someone I know."

"Well I assumed it was you because your response to Dustin was extremely defensive so I had to make sure." he explained.

Mike groaned in frustration. "Can we please talk about anything else?"

Steve shook his head, he wasn't letting them get away this easily. They were known to brush over important conversations, only bringing up the truth when they were in danger.

Will placed a comforting hand on Mike's shoulder before pulling his hand back as if he had been burnt. "Mike came over to mine for help with his art project, he had to do a painting of something that inspires him. While we were there we heard weird noises from Jonathan's room and so we checked up on them and I'm sure you can figure the rest out."

Steve choked on air, "you walked in on-"

"YES! NOW SHUT UP!" Mike yelled, he shook his head in an attempt to get the picture out of his head.

Lucas looked up from where he had been going through horror tapes, "why do you care so much Steve? You jealous?"

He scoffed. "No I'm not... I'm just imagining how awkward it must have been for Will and Mike."

Robin nudged him, "getting flashbacks Harrington?"

A chorus "ews" fell from all the boys lips, including Steve.

"Robin no! Please never mention that in front of them again." Steve begged.

Mike scowled at them, "you're both gross."


Heyyy my lovely readers.

So this was just a bit of a filler. Plus a much needed Robin and Steve bonding moment.

Anywho, I'm nervous as shit about this book to be honest. I've never written anything like this before.

So please be gentle with me.

Remember to leave a review. I love hearing your thoughts on this book and it also inspires me to keep writing.