Last Christmas - Robin x Steve (Stranger Things)

Part One - Double Shift

  "I can't believe Keith's making us sort these dumb movies again. Why do I have to sort the really stupid ones, anyways?" scoffed Steve, who tossed a movie into one box of VHS tapes. He threw a glance at Robin.

  "Probably because he knows that you'll swipe some good ones if you can get your hands on them", said Robin, smiling slightly. The smile didn't last long, and she went back to sorting her own box of movies. She knew Steve was just trying to cheer her up.

  Steve's face fell, and he stared at her sadly. He and Robin had agreed a while ago that they were just friends. And that was true, they were the bestest of friends. But Steve couldn't help liking her anyways. She was different than all the other girls. He knew that he couldn't get his hopes up, though. His heart had ripped in half that night...

  This was the first time he had seen her sad, and to his surprise, that made him feel terrible as well. Steve couldn't stand the awkward silence as they kept working, he needed to say something.

  "Uh," he began awkwardly. "Sorry things didn't work out with Tammy..."

  Robin kept looking at what she was doing. "It's fine," she said, half-absentmindedly.

  "She missed out. You deserve better, anyways."

  Robin looked up this time, and Steve smiled at her. She remembered this look. Back at the mall, in the bathrooms, when she had told him. Steve had smiled at her like that. It wasn't the smile he usually wore, the one she used to envy and hate. It was kind and understanding, and it was all in the eyes, too. She felt special when he looked at her like that.

  Robin pushed away the thought. She rolled her eyes and said, "I suppose you think you're better?"

  She almost laughed when she saw Steve's face go slightly red.

  "What? No! T-that's not what I meant at all. I just—" Steve stuttered, not sure what to say, so he finished up his box of movies in silence, then gestured toward her box.

  "Want me to do the rest of those for you?"

  "It's fine, I can do it."

  "C'mon, I'll finish em up for you and you go to the cafe and I'll catch up with you there, alright?"

  "Okay", said Robin, silently grateful that she didn't have any more to do.

  I'm so glad I have him for a friend, she thought to herself. For some reason, the word friend seemed to echo in her mind. Friend...

  Steve started forward a little too quickly. He crashed into the Fast Times cutout (for like, the 500th time since he first applied here), which had gotten moved to the back last week. He stumbled forward and landed on top of Robin. She fell backwards, still standing, with her back to the wall. There they leaned against the wall, weak at the knees from laughing.

  "Honestly, how many times have you tripped over that thing?" said Robin, half annoyed, half amused.

  Steve, who had caught himself around Robin's waist, was laughing as he rested his forehead on her shoulder playfully.

  "I feel like Keith's just keeping that thing for me to trip over constantly. That movie isn't even trending anymore! Either that, or he has a fetish for it." he looked up, still grinning, to find his face just inches from Robin's. Neither of them moved.

  How long were we standing like this? Steve thought nervously after a few seconds.

  Robin tensed. She grabbed his shoulders, about to push him away and scold him for being a clumsy idiot.

  "Steve, you—" she began, but she stopped. She couldn't talk, or push him away, as if she was a film that got paused. Her heart started beating faster.

  Was his hair always that nice looking? Did that lock of hair always brush his forehead like that? It was a little cute, she admitted to herself. His hair was such a soft brown, and it seemed to glow nearly as bright as his eyes did... those same eyes that always looked at her kindly, not judgmentally. She never appreciated that enough.

  Steve could sense how uncomfortable they both were, but it seemed as if they were frozen. His eyes were fixed on hers. They were such a deep blue, like the ocean, and so mesmerising.

  A sort of electricity went traveling down his spine, weakening him, and bringing back a blurred memory of the conversation he'd had with Dustin several months ago about falling in love, back when he'd felt like an expert in that field. His eyes seemed to be losing focus as he stared transfixed into her eyes, and he felt his face slowly leaning towards hers.

  His eyelids felt heavy, his heart was pounding, and he could feel Robin's hands on his shoulders relax. He felt her top lip brush his just as the door to the back room opened.

  Robin suddenly regained the feeling in her. In less than a second, the tension that seemed to melt away from her returned, her eyes flickered open and she shoved Steve away harder than she intended. He stumbled backwards but regained his balance and he blinked as if he was just woken up suddenly. The paused film had reversed itself...

  Steve's face reddened almost as much as Robin's as Keith walked in, eating from a bag of cheese puffs, as always. He didn't seem to notice them edging away from each other. Instead he looked at the unsorted pile of movies right next to them on the table.

  "Wha— I told you to have these sorted by the time I came back! It doesn't take that long. I was really hoping you'd do better than Harrington, y'know, Robin."

  Robin bit back a retort. Why did Keith have to always act like that towards Steve, and talk about him as if he weren't there? Sure, Steve was a bit of a douche and he did treat them like that in high school, but he changed. A lot. Keith just never seemed to realise.

  Keith looked up at Robin with one eyebrow raised, and he noticed both of their faces, burning red and staring in opposite directions. He sighed.

  "Why do you guys look so ashamed? Just get them done right now and I'll let you off the hook."

  He started towards the door, popping a cheese puff into his mouth, and muttered, "jeez, they acted like they were just—"

  He paused, glanced back at them, and narrowed his eyes. Then he called out behind him as he opened the door, "from now on just get your work done when I tell you, okay? Stop getting... distracted." He eyed them suspiciously as he said that last word. Then he left out the doorway.

  Steve waited until he heard Keith leave out the front door when he looked at Robin. She was back to sorting her pile of movies, though she was doing it in a rushed, overly focused sort of way. But she was smiling slightly, her face still red.

  Steve felt a smile creep up on him and he felt a joyful swelling in his chest. He headed towards the door, but stopped to look back at her one more time, staring for a few seconds. Then he said quietly, "I guess I'll, uh, see you tomorrow, then."

"See ya, dingus." Robin said not looking up. She smiled to herself at her words as he left. Of all people, it was Steve "The Hair" Harrington, her partner-in-crime... the clumsy dingus...