Chapter Text
Spring break flew by in the blink of an eye. It was the perfect combination of late night dates with Nancy and shenanigans with Steve and the kids whenever she didn’t have a shift at Family Video. It was just a glimpse into what the summer would look like, and Robin couldn’t wait.
Nancy picked her up on the way to school that first Monday back. Robin was thrilled about it all, knowing it would make a statement to anyone who saw them arrive together. Her and Nancy were official.
They held hands as they walked into the school, stopping by Nancy’s locker first, then Robin’s. They kissed goodbye at the sound of the bell. People looked at them with excitement. Nothing else really mattered.
Robin walked into the band room later that day with a grin she couldn’t wipe off her face if she tried. Vickie rushed over to her immediately, a knowing look in her eyes.
“It took you both long enough,” she said, bumping shoulders with Robin.
Robin laughed. “When did you know?”
“Steve’s party. I saw the look on your face when you heard she was with Jonathan. I could tell there was something going on in your head that was more than friendly. And maybe I’d been suspicious before, when we’d seen each other at Heather’s party and Nancy had come over to us, freaking out about something. You looked so protective of her. Like you’d do anything for her.”
“I would,” Robin confirmed. “I guess we weren’t as subtle as we thought we were.”
“Not even close.” Vickie laughed. “Well I’m happy for you, Robin. Even if you did totally abandon me at that party last week.”
The thought of finding Vickie in that crowd and telling her she was leaving early with Nancy hadn’t even crossed her mind. She knew word would get around to her fast enough. And it seemed like it had.
“Sorry about that,” she apologized. “You have no idea how long I’d been waiting for Nancy to tell me she has feelings for me. Once she’d actually said it, everything else kind of disappeared.”
“That’s sweet,” Vickie said, and Robin knew she meant it. “Not everyone is too happy about it, though.”
Robin’s smile fell. “What do you mean?”
“There’s a rumor going around that you hooked up with Grace over spring break. You know I never ask you about your sex life or anything, but I thought I’d let you know since this rumor is obviously a lie.”
It seemed like this cycle of false gossip was never going to die. People would continue to lie about what she’d done and who she’d done it with despite her new relationship status. Maybe Grace hadn’t heard about her and Nancy. But even so, it wasn’t fair to Nancy to have the whole school thinking her girlfriend was sleeping with other people when she wasn’t.
“It’s not true,” Robin said, angry. “I didn’t hook up with Grace. And just to set the record straight, I haven’t hooked up with half of the people who claim we did. I’ve been with you, Chrissy, Tammy, and Nance. That’s all.”
Vickie looked shocked by the number. Shocked by the information in general. It was obvious it hadn’t really crossed her mind that Robin was celibate most of their friendship. It was crazy the weight rumors held when you didn’t deny them.
“But you never said anything…”
“I know.” Robin heaved a sigh. “I thought it was cool at first. I didn’t want to deny people saying I was good in bed. I let it slide. It got way out of hand. I need to set the record straight.”
“You do,” Vickie agreed.
“I just don’t know how. How could I possibly get everyone to listen to me? Even if I got Chrissy and Tammy to have my back in this, that doesn’t mean anyone will believe me.”
Vickie’s eyes flashed. “I have an idea. It’s going to sound crazy, but I think it could work. It’s at least worth a shot.”
Robin smiled at her. “Let’s hear it.”
-----
Robin made no mention of the plan to Nancy. She wanted to keep it a surprise, but considering what she would have to do to pull it off, it wasn’t going to be easy. Vickie had agreed to help because she was a good friend and genuinely cared for Robin.
Robin looped Steve into it because he was her best friend, a strong advocate for her and Nancy as a couple, and he owed her one. She wasn’t expecting to cash that favor in any time soon, but she’d do anything for Nancy.
There was only one last person left to get on board, and it was going to be the hardest part of the whole plan for Robin. Vickie had offered to come with her, but she told her not to. It was something she needed to do on her own.
Robin parked her bike off to the side of the street, just out of range for a car to have the opportunity to run it over if the driver wasn’t paying close enough attention. She felt her legs shaking as she approached the front door.
It wasn’t like her to be so nervous. But she was asking for a lot here, from a person who had absolutely no reason in the world to help her.
Robin extended her fist, knocking on the front door three times before taking a step back. It only took about twelve seconds for somebody to answer, swinging back the mahogany wood frame and acknowledging Robin’s presence.
“Hi,” Robin greeted.
Jonathan glanced at her, pressing his lips together. “Um, hi. Are you looking for Will? He’s not here right no-”
“No, actually. I’m looking for you.”
“Oh.”
He looked completely dumbfounded. Robin understood his confusion perfectly. Nancy had told her weeks ago that Jonathan knew about them. And surely he’d heard enough around the school to piece together that they were officially an item.
“Sorry, this is weird.” Robin stepped forward. “Can we talk?”
Jonathan nodded slowly before his brain seemed to catch up to his ears and he stepped aside. “Of course. Come in.”
Robin took slow steps into his home. It was nice, the same way Nancy’s had been. He led them over to the couch, taking a seat and leaving enough space between the two of them to not make things any more awkward than they already were.
“Could I grab you something to drink?” Jonathan offered.
Robin shook her head. “No, I won’t be long. I guess I’ll just cut to the chase. I came here to ask you for a favor.”
“A favor?”
She nodded. “I know how ridiculous this may seem, but you’re really the only person I can turn to with this, and it’s kinda important. It’s for Nancy.”
His gaze softened. “Oh. Well what’s the favor?”
“I’m sure you’ve heard the rumors about me. That I’ve slept with a lot of girls. It’s not true. I want to set the record straight. It’s not fair to Nancy or myself to let people keep believing that’s true.”
It was the most simplified explanation she’d given about it all so far, and it was obvious Jonathan needed a moment or two to process everything she’d just thrown at him. Finally, he seemed to be on the same page as her.
“Uh, okay… Where do I come in?”
“I need to get the message out to a lot of people. I need credibility. I need a platform.” Robin paused. “I want to publish a statement in the school paper, and I want to do it without Nancy finding out until the paper is accessible to the rest of the school.”
Jonathan’s jaw dropped before he cleared his throat. “You do know I don’t work for the school paper anymore, right?”
“Nancy mentioned that to me before, yes.”
“Then how can I help? Nancy would never let me in the newsroom without wondering why I’m there. She’d find some way to get it out of me.”
“Don’t worry about that. I have that all figured out. I can get you access to the newsroom and as much time as you need to make this happen. This is my grand gesture for her. I need to do this. Please tell me you can help.”
He let out a long breath before nodding. “What do you need me to do?”
-----
Nancy knew that something was up, Robin could tell as much was true. It wasn’t easy keeping things from her. She knew she had said there wouldn’t be any more secrets, but since she did have intentions of telling Nancy eventually, she made an exception.
It was simple enough to keep Nancy distracted if she did start to ask Robin what was going on. They were hardly able to keep their hands off of each other. And the group of them worked as quickly as possible to get the task done.
Steve was tasked with distracting Nancy on days when Jonathan needed access to the newsroom. He had been under strict orders to not take his eyes off of her for one second unless he’d been given the okay from Robin. He’d looped in the kids for backup.
Vickie was the interviewer for the tell-all article they were piecing together, coming up with the best questions that would clear Robin’s name for good. She kept Robin focused and on track. The article would have meant nothing without her help.
Then came Jonathan. Not only was he the expert at printing and pressing an article for the school paper, he was also able to access the newsroom’s computers and equipment. He’d never been removed from the permissions, which was a miracle they hadn’t even thought they would need.
He helped organize it all. He formatted it, ordered it in with the rest of the articles. Despite how narcissistic it made her feel, it was important her story made the front cover. That was the best way to get everyone’s attention and have the most readers.
Nancy’s headline spot was moved to the back of page one, but something told Robin she would understand. At least she hoped so.
She’d texted Tammy and Chrissy both about it, asking their permission to publicly confirm their sexual history with Robin in the paper and swearing them to secrecy until the article came out. Vickie had obviously already approved. Tammy agreed with a good luck text and Chrissy also gave her the green light, going on a slight rant about how happy she was for them both.
Robin was alone with Jonathan the night before the paper went out, making sure everything was finalized and good to go. Jonathan still looked apprehensive about something. Him and Robin hadn’t exactly become friends during this whole process, but she had a lot of respect for him for helping out.
She knew there must have been something good about him for Nancy to have wanted him at one point. Her grudge had come mostly from the way he’d dumped her. And also from the way people treated Nancy afterwards.
But if Nancy was willing to move past it, Robin didn’t see any reason why she should be holding a grudge.
“It looks great,” she said, eyeing the article in all its glory.
His lips twitched. “Thanks, but there's still one thing missing.”
She thought they’d covered all their bases. If they were missing something, she had not the slightest idea what it could be. Jonathan reached into his bag, pulling out a beautiful digital camera. He held it up.
“I need to take your picture.”
Robin wasn’t all that photogenic. Her Instagram was a compilation of dumb selfies with Steve and her favorite movie scenes. She’d for sure never had her picture taken before for something so serious.
“I don’t know. Maybe we could just use a picture of something else instead,” she tried suggesting.
Jonathan shook his head. “Nothing else will get people’s attention more than this. You know that.”
“Yeah, but-”
“Just let me try, okay? If you don’t like any of them, we can find something else to use,” he interrupted, still maintaining his soft-spokenness that made her trust him far more than she was comfortable with.
“Okay.”
He led her out into the hallway. Mostly everyone had gone home by now. It was quiet in the school, almost eerie. Jonathan instructed her where to stand, propped up by the lockers. He told her how to pose, straight faced but not too serious. He told her before he took each photo, giving her a chance to prepare for the flash.
Afterwards, they went back into the newsroom. He stuck the SD card from the camera into the computer and pulled up the photos he’d just taken. They were beautiful. Robin didn’t want to tell him that, but she was sure he knew.
“How about that one?” he asked, pointing at a picture of Robin looking dead straight into the lens.
She’d been thinking the same thing. So they settled on it and she watched as he formatted the photo into the article. It really did make all the difference. She couldn’t have done any of this without him.
“We’re all set,” he told her, sending the final copy over to the printer.
“Thank you, Jonathan,” she said.
He ducked his head. “Don’t mention it.”
Before he could walk away for good, she asked, “Why did you help me?”
“For Nancy,” he answered, simply. “I was a jerk to her. She’s forgiven me for it, but doing this helps. I see how happy you make her. Thank you.”
Then he was gone. Robin grabbed her things and left the school shortly after, unlocking her bike and heading home. She had butterflies in her stomach thinking about how things would go the next day. She couldn’t wait.
-----
Nancy liked to show up to school early on days when the paper was going out. She liked to be there before anyone else to make sure the papers had printed out like they were supposed to. She needed that buffer time to fix any problems, had they come up.
But it was imperative that Nancy not show up early to school. Robin wanted her to realize what she’d done at the same time as everyone else did, which wasn’t going to be easy. She knew she needed to bring out the big guns.
“Thanks for picking me up so early, Nance,” she said, sliding into Nancy’s car before closing the door behind her.
Nancy was at the wheel, eager to get to school, but excited to see her girlfriend. “Of course. Your bike chain is broken and I wouldn’t want you to walk.”
It was a lie, but a necessary one. Or else Nancy wouldn’t have insisted on picking Robin up on her way to school.
“How’d you sleep?” Nancy asked her, making small talk as she drove off.
Robin was prepared for this. It was the most important part of her plan to distract Nancy. If she screwed this up, nothing else would work.
“Great. I had a dream about you last night,” Robin said, very nonchalantly so that it would further peak her girlfriend’s interest.
“Oh yeah?” Nancy glanced over at her. “What was I doing?”
“Nance, I really can’t talk about it. I mean, just thinking about it gets me all flustered.”
They pulled up to a red light and Nancy stared at her. “What? Was this a sex dream?”
Robin bit down on her lip, nodding. “It was beyond sexy.”
The light turned green and Nancy had to pay attention to the road again, but Robin could tell she’d piqued her interest. Her fingers were tapping against the steering wheel, distracted.
“C’mon, you can’t leave me hanging like that. Tell me what we did,” Nancy prodded.
Robin shook her head. “I can’t. I didn’t have time to take care of myself afterwards so I’m a little on edge. If I told you, I don’t think I’d be able to get through the rest of the day without exploding.”
Nancy looked anxious now, the crease between her eyebrows deepening. “But-” She paused. “I can’t be late.”
“I know you can’t. That’s why I think we should just drop it. There’s nothing I would want more than for you to touch me, but I know we have to get to the school early.”
Nancy whined, and Robin could see the way she tore herself in two over this, feeling guilty but at the same time, amazed by the pull she had over her.
“It’s just the school paper,” Nancy rationalized out loud. “Nothing ever goes wrong.”
“It doesn’t,” Robin agreed.
“I guess I don’t really need to get there so early.”
“You don’t.”
Nancy pulled off the main road and onto a side street that would lead them towards nothing but forest. Robin wanted to throw her fist in the air in triumph. Instead, she fought back a smile, leaning over to plant a kiss on Nancy’s cheek.
“You need me too, don’t you?” Robin asked, her voice husky because her being turned on was very much real despite it being a prominent part of the plan.
Nancy nodded, her skin flushed. “Always.”
Robin let that sink in. She would never get tired of hearing it, and she couldn’t wait to prove that to her.
-----
It was all fun and games until they pulled up to the school, exactly ten minutes before the first bell rang. Students were scattered all across the campus like they were most days, and Robin found herself eagerly scanning the masses for newspapers in hand. There was a swarm of nerves eating her alive from the inside out right now, and for the first time ever, she questioned what Nancy’s reaction to it all would be.
“You alright?” Nancy asked her, sensing Robin was overthinking.
She’d gotten so good at reading her. It was both a blessing and a curse. Robin gave her a reassuring nod, stepping out of the car before she could endure more questioning. She didn’t think she imagined the heads that turned to look their way as they walked into the school.
“What’s everyone looking at?” Nancy asked, confirming Robin’s suspicions. “Wait, let me guess. Another girl is claiming you went down on her behind the cafeteria or something and now everyone thinks you’re cheating on me.”
Robin could see why Nancy would think that. She could hear the irritation in her voice, see the strain it was taking on her. She’d done the right thing. She needed Nancy to know about it immediately.
“Let’s see the paper,” Robin said, leading the way.
Once in the hallway, it was a lot easier to spot the papers in everyone’s hands. Most people had a copy, either in the middle of reading it or already finished and looking over to Robin in shock.
Nancy looked worried. “Oh no. Something must have printed incorrectly.”
Robin glanced at her. “Nance-”
“Shit, what did I do?”
She was worried now, and Robin hated that. They were still far away from where the new copies got stacked. Nancy wasn’t going to be able to wait much longer without losing her mind.
“Here.”
Robin turned to her right and saw Max standing there, El at her side. The boys weren’t with them, but that wasn’t all too unusual these days. Max had the paper in her hand, her arm outstretched towards Robin. Robin took it, nodding gratefully at her.
“Thanks.”
Max smiled. “It’s badass.”
Max’s approval in that moment meant more to her than she could have ever thought it would. She turned to Nancy, handing it over. Nancy took the paper and fumbled to get it open to the front page, her fingers working anxiously.
Robin took a step back, waiting until she figured it out. Her story was on the second page, and her brain had obviously been looking for that first. Once she saw it, she read it over, relief taking over her features once she realized she hadn’t misprinted anything.
Then she started to flip through the rest of it, nodding as she went, seemingly checking off a mental list of articles she knew she’d approved for printing. Robin’s front page piece was the very last page she got to, since it had been on the front.
Nancy flipped it over, her eyebrows knit in confusion. She looked up at Robin. “Why is your picture in the newspaper? I don’t remember approving this.”
Robin paused. “Maybe you should just read what it says.”
Nancy looked at her a moment or two before staring back down at the paper. Her lips moved as she silently read the words to herself. Her eyes jumped over the page, speeding through each sentence. Robin didn’t even realize she was holding her breath.
Here’s what the paper said:
The Truth
written by Robin BuckleyVickie (interviewer): So, this is an important conversation. Did you ever think you’d be having it one day?
Robin: Honestly, no. I thought I’d just graduate and never tell anyone the truth about it. It seemed like too much work. I didn’t even know if anyone would believe me. I didn’t have a reason to change the narrative after letting it be told for me for so long.
Vickie: And now you do. What’s changed?
Robin: Well, as of a few weeks ago, Nancy Wheeler is officially my girlfriend. It took us a while to figure it out, but I’m so happy. Happier than I ever thought was possible. She knows the truth about everything. I told her a while back. And she’d never given me a hard time about coming clean to everyone else, but I want to. For us. And for me.
Vickie: That’s really sweet. You guys make a beautiful couple.
Robin: Thank you.
Vickie: So, you’ve hinted at it enough now. I’m sure everyone is dying to know at this point. What is the truth?
Robin: The truth is this: I’m not who everyone thinks I am. I don’t sleep around. I haven’t made my way through the cheerleading squad or the volleyball team or the theater club. I’ve been with exactly four girls in my life. Tammy, Chrissy, Vickie, and Nancy. Everyone saying otherwise is lying.
Vickie: I have to ask. Why didn’t you shut down the rumors before they got to this point? Maybe all of this could have been prevented if you’d just told the truth after the first lie.
Robin: You’re right. I should have. But I was in a bad place mentally, and I was young and dumb. I thought it was cool that girls were saying they’d been with me. And that I was good in bed. And as flattering as that all is, if I could go back in time and change it, I would.
Vickie: I know you’re telling the truth, but for those skeptics out there or people who are going to deny that they made it up, what do you have to say?
Robin: What I have to say to them is that I’m sorry. I’m sorry that they felt the need to spread a rumor that isn’t true. I’m not judging them for it. They had their reasons. And if people choose to keep lying about something that didn’t happen, I can’t stop them. All I ask is that out of respect to Nancy and our relationship, they do not continue to start new rumors about false encounters with me. I want Nancy. Only her.
Vickie: I think that’s a fair request. Is there anything else you’d like to add before we end this interview?
Robin: Yeah, actually. Just one thing. Nancy, I’m so proud to call you my girlfriend and I’m a better person just for knowing you. I love you.End of interview.
The interview ended there. Robin knew she’d finished reading it, but Nancy’s eyes did not leave the page. She saw Nancy glance down at the corner of the paper, realizing it was numbered as 1 and made the actual front page.
The hallway was packed with people now, both interested in what was happening with them and others just waiting to get to class. Robin tuned all of them out.
“Nance, are you going to say something?” Robin finally asked her, taking a tentative step forward.
Nancy finally looked up at her, her eyes brimmed with tears. She lowered her arms down so that the paper fell limp at her side.
“I love you,” Nancy said, launching herself into Robin’s arms and holding her tight.
Robin grinned, squeezing their bodies together before she felt Nancy shift to kiss her warmly. People around them clapped. This was her grand gesture, and it couldn’t have gone any better.
“How did you even manage to pull this off without me knowing?” Nancy questioned, genuinely perplexed.
Robin shrugged. “I had a lot of help. From everyone.” She grabbed her hand. “I’ll tell you all about it later.”
Nancy smiled, happy. “I can’t wait.”
“I love you,” Robin said, saying those words aloud to Nancy for the first time and meaning them with every ounce of her heart.
Nancy stared back at her, and there was not a single doubt in Robin's mind when she whispered, “I love you, too.”