PROMISE ME

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SATURDAY WAS THE BUSIEST DAY FOR FAMILY VIDEO. Robin and Steve had been working harder than any other day of the week as they prepared for the influx of customers that stopped by as they kept their own personal conversations rolling. Robin was one that couldn't ever stop talking which was understandable. She had more to say than anybody else and after a whole night of stories, she was practically bouncing off the walls with excitement.

First, she started with her heart bursting with affection towards Vickie because she had done the unthinkable— she made her laugh. Reliving it over again had her clutch the movies she held to her chest. "And then Vickie laughed. And it wasn't like a cheap, fake laugh either. It was like..." She let out a sharp breath of air when she finally set the movies down on the shelf. "It was real," she swooned. "It was a real, genuine laugh."

"Of course she laughed, Robin. It's my Muppet joke. It's hilarious," he said plainly.

Coming to the other side of the shelf, she felt disappointed in his lack of excitement for her. Maybe it had been all the times she ignored him and his sexual adventures, but she felt she deserved this one chance at finally getting to tell her own story. Hers may have not been as steamy or filled with lustful touching, but it was something to her. It made her feel alive. "My point is that I made Vickie laugh and everything, it was just like... it was perfect."

Steve anticipated more when he glanced at her. "But?"

Pursing her lips together in defeat, she let her arms fall to her side. "But I'm having this problem where it's like, I should stop talking. I have said everything I need to say. But then I guess I get nervous, and the words keep spilling out, and it's like my brain is moving faster than my mouth, or-or rather my mouth is moving faster than my brain. And it's like I'm digging this hole for myself, and I want to stop digging, I'm trying to stop digging, but I can't. And I'm doing it right now, aren't I?"

Her fast-talking, jumbled-up words came to a stop as she came up for a breath of air. Robin had turned her back to Steve as she finally let it be silent for just a meer second then just like that, her brain had picked up the pace and kicked into overdrive as more words spilled from her mouth before she could think it through. "It's not fair, you know? I-I mean, I talked to Alex about this last night and she... she told me Vickie would like me for my quirks. Which is fine, but what if this is the one quirk that turns her away, right? But then again, I couldn't stop talking to Alex, and boom, it was like old times again. That easy. She appreciated the rambling and constant jabber."

With her back turned, Robin had continued on about the night spent with Alex Henderson. It had meant so much to her that she failed to consider Steve's feelings on the matter. She had been focused on talking about her issues with Vickie and sharing Alex's opinions that she couldn't stop and think.

These were the kinds of times she knew her rambling would get her in trouble. But Steve had taken the approach to stay cool about it all. He wanted to be happy for Robin. Just to see her this excited to finally talk about Alex, it felt like he was there as well. It meant Alex was okay, especially with Robin back in her life. So he pushed aside the jealousy just for her. All he wanted was to be back to being that person that could go on about his time with Alex. Now he had to sit back and watch as Robin stole that moment from him.

But he couldn't ask about Alex. No, that would be a giveaway to how he really felt and Robin couldn't know. Not now at least. With all her constant talking, it was sure to spill to Alex if he told her anything. He couldn't risk that. So he did what he had done all of high school, and channeled in Mister Cool. He was willing to pretend he was back to the old Steve Harrington who could get any girl, flirt his way around Hawkins, and not be tied down. "So does Alex know Vickie or something? Maybe she could hook you two up."

"Oh, no, no," Robin corrected with a laugh. "No, Alex doesn't talk to Vickie like that. She's sure though that she's, as you said, into boobies. I mean, yeah, she's exactly like you— thinks the very same, it's sort of trippy."

Steve gave an attempted smile at her as he laid down more movies. He wanted far more information than that. All he needed to know was what she thought about him, what has she been doing all this time, and was there someone else in her life. "So what, did you two just swap who's got a crush on who and not actually figure out a way to talk to them?"

Robin raised an eyebrow as she slowly turned back to Steve. Realization hit her that this conversation about Vickie was far from over. He was weaving himself right into a conversation about Alex, which she didn't mind at all, his sneaky behavior was just amusing. "I didn't say Alex had a crush on anyone," she said accusingly. He had avoided her eyes as he disappeared behind a shelf with more movies in hand. Not letting him try and avoid what he said, Robin followed after playfully. "Are you trying to figure out if she's moved on from King Steve?"

"I'm not asking anything. I'm asking about you. Do you have a game plan for Vickie or not?"

"No, no," Robin teased. "That's not what you asked. I believe you asked if we swapped crush stories or not." She followed after him as he continued to keep his focus on his work. He was not going to break and tell her anything. Sticking to his story was his best option than agreeing with her on the truth. But Robin was willing to let him have this moment. "No, Harrington, she doesn't have a crush on anyone or is seeing anyone or anything in that nature. She's totally single and waiting for you to sweep her off her feet. Believe me."

"There's no sweeping happening. It's over."

Robin raised a finger in the air in correction. "Does true love ever really end?"

"Is Vickie true love or something?"

Robin's shoulders slacked at his topic of conversation diverting back to Vickie. Any normal day, she'd jump on the chance to talk about her unrequited love, but today was not that day. "She doesn't even see the real me," she dropped her finger down and followed after him, unable to hide her devious smile. "Is Alex true love or... something?"

"Alex is..." he cleared his throat and placed down another movie on the shelf. "She's not my girlfriend."

"Oh, poor, stupid, idiot Steve," she whispered. "Girlfriend or not, she is the love of the life and you are hers."

He sent her a small glare and just as quickly returned back to work. Robin pouted, accepting defeat that her attempts to reunite the two was a lost cause for the day. "Whatever, Harrington, I at least made Vickie laugh."

"Too bad you don't see she's totally into chicks."

Backing up, she let her back hit the wall in defeat. "Oh, I'm hopeless."

Steve finally looked over at her with a disappointed frown. She was desperate to have her chance at love and she found the perfect girl for her, but couldn't bring herself to open up about who she really was. Following after, he leaned up against the wall beside her and let out a heavy sigh. "We both are."

There was a silence as Robin turned her head to him. She knew how desperate he was to talk about Alex. It was written all over his face but he was too confident in himself to move on to admit he didn't want to. She couldn't let him live that way, searching for something that he wouldn't find anywhere else. Holding up her hands, she intertwined her fingers with a small smile. "If only we could just, like, combine."

"Combine?"

"No, think about it," she breathed out fast. "We know exactly what we want, and we've each found the girl of our dreams, but we just can't get the courage to ask them out. So, consider this. You go on a million dates and are still too chicken to talk to Alex yourself. You can't even get a word out." He gave in and nodded in agreement as she spoke. "And I can talk to Vickie. I literally don't know when to stop talking but still am too afraid to even ask her out. You take my ability to talk an insane amount to Alex, and I'll take your confidence in asking Vickie out. You're great at getting girls to go out on dates, you just ask the wrong ones. It's pure genius, Harrington. If we just combined, all our problems would be solved. Because I mean, alone, let's just face it..."

"We totally suck," he concluded.

"Totally and utterly," she agreed with a smile.

However, Robin's confidence in such a plan to combine would fall apart the moment Steve pulled his back off the wall and went back to work. "Look, this plan would be great, but I can't." He gave a small sigh as he picked up another stack of movies to place away. His grip was tight, putting his pain into anything else than to allow it to fall out in his words. "See, Alex dumped me. She made it pretty clear she wanted me gone. Her entire house heard it, just ask Dustin. Trust me when I say, I could talk to her, but I couldn't get her back. So, whatever, I have to move on. Find someone new."

Looking at him in concern, Robin immediately pulled herself off the wall and stalked after him. "No, no, Steve, what the hell are you saying? You're just giving up just like that?" Holding up her intertwined hands, she made a show for him. "Combine, dude! That's all we have to do!"

"Not happening. You can take my confidence or whatever to ask out Vickie, but keep your rambling to yourself. I am a free man whether I like it or not."

"You hate every girl you take out! Just because you have sex with them doesn't mean it's going to last forever, let alone the next day. Come on, Steve, my plan is brilliant." As he continued to walk away from her in hopes of ending the conversation, Robin stayed a step behind. "Listen, she told me about the whole break up and she was just emotional. Who wouldn't be? I wasn't there, but the state she was in... she's been grieving and stressed and putting a ton of blame on herself. On top of all of that, she was dealing with a lot, you of all people should understand that. You saw what she did! She literally ripped a flesh monster's arms in half with her mind! Her goddamn mind, Harrington!"

Steve came to a complete stop, causing Robin to run into him as she fell into one of her never-ending speeches. "Yeah, you know, you weren't there that night, Robin. I did nothing and she just... she snapped. So, no, I don't think she wants or even needs a relationship for a very long time. Honestly, it probably would've been better if we never went out. But I told her I loved her when I thought we were going to die because I needed her to know how I've felt about her for probably as long as I knew her. Guess what, Robin, we lived and more shit followed her and she stayed with me because she loved me long before all of this too. I can promise you, if I was some random guy that asked her out at school, no life or death situation, she would've broken up with me long before that thing even came back into her head."

Robin's eyes danced across his face, watching for the first time in a very long time Steve had finally shared how he truly felt since the breakup. Just the same as last time, she wasn't willing to accept it. "But you weren't some shmuck who asked her out, you're her goddamn soulmate, Harrington! I don't know if all that hairspray has created some sort of helmet around your brain that doesn't let you retain anything logical or what but you cannot keep putting yourself down like this. I won't allow it and I know for a fact Henderson would beat the shit out of you for talking like this."

"Yeah, yeah, go find Alex then," he said with a roll of his eyes. "Bring her here, I'll tell her exactly how I feel and she'll just shut me out like she has this entire time. Face it, Robin, she doesn't love me anymore and that's that."

"You should've seen her last night," she whispered desperately. "Steve, if you just saw what's been happening, you wouldn't say this shit. I-I mean if you just... if you heard what she told me, you'd lose your goddamn mind."

He couldn't take listening to her any longer and turned his back on her. To Robin, it was insane to see how easily he was putting it all to the side as if he was never in love with her. So she just had to fight stronger and speak a little slower for him to fully comprehend her next set of words. Taking him by the arm, she turned him to face her and held onto him tightly. Narrowing her eyes at him, she gave him a look that was more than clear enough that she was giving him a hint. "Listen to me when I tell you, if you love her still, do not move on."

Steve looked at her in confusion, brows furrowed together in suspicion. "Do you know something?"

Robin immediately dropped his arms as she took a step back. "Nothing that I can neither confirm nor deny. Just trust me."

"Trust you?" It had seemed like a lot of trust to put into her. If he listened and Robin was wrong, then he would waste his time waiting around for someone that no longer loved him and if he didn't listen and missed the chance to have her back, he'd never forgive himself. "Let's say she still loves me, it's not good for her to be with me if she's still hurting."

"And you think what she's been doing now is working? Shutting out every person she loves and sitting in this horrific pain and suffering all by herself? Are you insane or do you lack compassion?"

"I don't know anything," he fought back. "I'm throwing myself at other girls, Robin. Dustin told me to just move on."

"And you trust a child?" She scoffed at his stupidity and made her way around the counter. "If it were up to him, then Alex would have no one. Not one goddamn person to help her figure this out which is what she has been doing and it is destroying her inside. What kind of person can go through what she did and just live with it? Think about it, Steve, it could be years or even decades and she would still feel this way because that shit just doesn't go away. But being with people she loves, that makes it better. So can you just trust me for once and hear me out, and do not, under any circumstances charm, flirt, or even ask out another human being if you want her back. Promise me."

"Robin," he whispered but she held up a finger to keep him from talking. "She smiled, Steve. Just know, the same Alex that clung onto you, ate boatloads of ice cream just to see you, and loves you, is still in there. So promise me and don't move on."

He tilted his head to the side as he maintained eye contact with her. Gradually, a bright smile spread across her face as she showed him her intertwined fingers once more. "Don't move on," he repeated back questionably. When Robin nodded, he decided to give her idea a shot and nodded in return. "So she's still into me?"

"Can neither confirm nor deny," she whispered, but her raised brow and devious smile had been another story. He decided it was best to end it there, he heard her hint loud and clear. Getting back to work, he tried to stay focused but he couldn't stop himself from smiling. Taking several steps back, Robin released her hands as she grinned at him. Perhaps it took a little work, but he understood her and the message she was sending his way. Alex Henderson still loved him and he loved her all the same.