Summary: since your first shift at hotdog on a stick starts soon, you drive dustin to the mall so he can see steve. while your killing time you flirt with robin.
-more robin readers-
-st readers-
“Stop running so fast! I swear that security guard has been watching us since the parking lot.” You were chasing after your little brother, Dustin, as he sped-walked ahead of you through the halls of Starcourt, his sneakers squeaking loudly on the linoleum causing the large man in a blue uniform to follow you two on the other side of the walkway. “Why are you in such a hurry, anyway?”
“That’s Phil. He’s had it out for me ever since he caught Mike, Will, Lucas, and I sitting in Nightmare on Elm Street without tickets.” You rolled your eyes as Dustin slowed his pace ever so slightly. “And I need to tell Henderson what I figured out last night.”
“Oh, right. The ‘Russian spy code’ thing,” you said in a mocking tone, using air quotes until Dustin spun on his heel and frantically grabbed your hands and shushed you loudly.
“Are you literally insane?!” He cried in a voice barely above a whisper. “Oh, my God, don't talk about it out loud,” he hissed before turning around as he muttered about letting the Russians get you and you quietly snorted in amusement. Dustin had burst into your room last night animatedly talking about how he’d intercepted a Russian transmission of a secret spy code. Although it sounded intriguing, you were only going to be home for about another month before you were leaving to start your first semester of college. You were pretty sure it wasn’t actually a spy message, but even so, you didn’t want to get murdered by Soviets before you left Hawkins. Unfortunately, being eighteen meant driver’s license and that meant driving your little brother around town.
“I still can’t believe you’re friends with Steve. Such a trip,” you muttered. You went Hawkins High School with Steve and the two of you were in the same grade, but you were never friends. In fact, you could probably count all the conversations you’d ever had with him on one hand. You had no clue why or how he’d become so close to Dustin. You tried to pry once but the boy never really told you much. Hell, the only reason you knew about the transmission was because none of Dustin’s friends were around to answer the phone. Needless to say you came from a very private family.
Dustin skipped ahead as you two reached the food court and you trailed behind him. You glanced up at the large clock on the wall and took note of the time. 3:20. Your mom made you get a summer job to save up some extra cash before leaving town and your very first shift at HotDog on a Stick was at four. You signed and continued after Dustin, reaching Scoops Ahoy just in time to see him bound around the front counter and to a back door labeled ‘Employees Only.’
“Hey, slow down, I just mopped!” A brown haired girl in a sailor costume chastised from behind the counter. “There’s a sign; you can’t sue if you trip.” You laughed a little and she turned forward, seeing you for the first time. Her blue eyes seemed to sparkle even under the shitty florescent lights and you felt your cheeks blush when she smiled. You knew Robin from school, too, and admittedly better than Steve, but not by much. The two of you had a few class projects together over the years, but nothing too substantial. Probably nothing close to warrant how big of a crush you’d developed on her. God, why did she have to look at you like that? You felt like a puddle already. “Hey, Y/N,” she said coolly, though her voice was slightly higher than usual as if she was surprised to see you. “How’s you summer going?”
“Just, you know, trying to get my life in order,” you shrugged. “I actually got a part-time job here.” Robin’s head cocked to the side slightly. “Not, like, here here,” you gestured to the ice cream shop. “But, like, in the…food court,” you finished lamely. Robin’s brow furrowed a little, confusion spreading over her features. You always liked how expressive she was. You absently wondered if she even knew she did it.
“I thought you were going to IUB?” You could feel your face heating up a little. You didn’t know how she’d heard about that- maybe Dustin mentioned it in passing, but the fact that she remembered made your stomach do flips. You cleared your throat a little, suddenly feeling very dry under Robin’s gaze.
“I, uh- I’m heading out mid-August, so my mom practically went handing out flyers to everyone she knows with a business.” You placed your elbows on the counter and leaned in a little closer to Robin. “I’ll have you know, you’re actually talking to the newest employee of HotDog on a Stick,” you said, shrugging like it was a big deal. Robin laughed and bit her lip.
“Oh, wow,” she said, feigning to be oh-so-impressed. “Lucky me.” Your eyes darted to her lips before you could stop yourself and you saw a little smirk dancing there. You caught yourself leaning in the tiniest bit of a fraction and you let your head fall a little as you let out a shaky laugh, trying to hide the blush that was spreading across your face. This was bad. You had it really bad and Robin didn’t even know what she was doing to you. You were in a crowded food court for fuck’s sake. Not to mention the fact that you didn’t even know if she liked girls. Which, knowing your luck was probably a ‘no.’ You let out a steadying breath before looking back up, feeling more composed after breaking eye-contact for a moment. You decided you were allowed to flirt a little, just to test the waters.
“Yeah, stick with me, baby, and you’ll never want for lemonade again.” You needed to keep it together but you could swear you saw a glimpse of something in Robin’s eye when you called her ‘baby,’ even if you were just joking around. You mentally composed yourself, not wanting to come on too strong and freak Robin out. You hadn’t even started your job yet that would mortifying. “Seriously, I can already tell my love for lemonade is going to go straight to shit.”
“Yeah,” she agreed with a nod, her smirk turning into a smile. “And hotdogs, fries, literally anything fried, probably.” You smiled and nudged her arm playfully. “At least you get one of those cute bucket hats,” she added slyly, bursting out laughing when you gave her a glare that only lasted a second because you couldn’t even fake being miserable with a literal angel laughing.
“Oh, come on. At least it’s not a sailor outfit,” she tried with a little curtsey, but you rolled your eyes.
“Please, at least you and Steve still manage to look hot in your uniforms. I’m going to be an ugly, striped cylinder. They literally make their employees look like rainbow-striped hotdogs. Like, what is that?” You spoke quickly, going on a short tangent without realizing you’d called Robin hot until after you’d finished. You hoped she didn’t notice, but you weren’t so lucky. She stood there very still, eyes slightly wider than before and lips parted softly, the ghost of her smile still evident. She blinked and shook her head slightly, furrowing her brow and biting the inside of her cheek. She opened her mouth, and then closed it, seemingly deciding whether or not to say something when the voices from the back-of-house started to grow. You saw Steve’s hair flop out from the doorway and Dustin was a few steps behind him. When he saw you Steve’s brows practically soared to his hairline.
“Y/N?”
“Hey, Steve,” you said, grateful for a distraction from the embarrassment of Robin still staring at you. She looked away then, and out of the corner of her eye you caught her tuck her hair behind her ear as her face grew red.
“How’s it going?” He made his way over to the center of the counter next to Robin. You shrugged, sneaking a glance to the girl whose eyes were trained on the register before turning your attention back to Steve.
“Not bad, just waiting for my shift to start. Dustin wouldn’t stop bugging me about coming here all morning so I had to leave a bit earlier than I planned.”
“I forget that you guys are related,” Steve said with a laugh and Dustin huffed next to him, hand already digging a testing spoon into a tub of ice cream.
“I wish I could forget,” he muttered. You scoffed.
“Shut up, you love me.” Dustin made a noise of disgust and you couldn’t help but smile. The two of you didn’t share your personal lives with each other very often, but you and Dustin had your own sibling adventures over the years. From days at the arcade, to driving across Indiana to see a Star Wars trilogy marathon in Bloomington, you knew the kid really did care a lot about you.
“Shift where?” Steve asked as he swatted Dustin’s hand away from the toppings. You jabbed a thumb behind you to where the bright neon sign stood behind you across the sea of messy tables and people eating greasy pizza. Steve caught where you were gesturing and grinned. “Ah, I see. Going to be one of those cute HotDog on a Stick girls, huh?” You felt your face heat up immediately.
Steve Harrington had never flirted with you before. If it had been a few years ago, you would’ve died completely. Having Steve ‘The Hair’ Harrington talk to you like that would’ve melted you like butter, even when he was a total douchebag. You knew Steve wasn’t the same guy he was sophomore year, if his being so close to your brother was any indication, but you’d changed a lot over the years, too. There was no denying that Steve was incredibly gorgeous, but that crush had long since fizzled. You’d had your eye on someone else for a while. Someone who also happened to be standing right in front of you.
“I don’t know about that,” you said, trying to regain some composure. It was getting very hot despite you being so close to an actual icebox and you could feel your palms getting sweaty. You were desperate to get the attention off yourself. “Dusty,” you called quickly, trying to change the subject, “did you tell him about the transmission?” Steve blinked as Dustin began to excited regale his findings, watching you curiously for a moment before turning his attention to the kid.
You sighed internally once the spotlight was turned on someone else and chanced a glance at Robin. She looked distracted, blue eyes flitting back and forth like she was thinking deeply about something. You turned to check the clock again and your first shift started in fifteen minutes. You decided you might as well run away now and try to distract yourself with the assumingly terrible job training you were about to endure. You pushed off the counter, gaining some attention from both Robin and Steve. “I’m going to head over. Don’t want to be late,” you said, looking at Dustin and Steve and trying very hard to not stare at Robin.
“Oh, okay. Bye, Y/N,” Steve said, sounding a little disappointed you were leaving so soon. Dustin muttered a quick ‘buh-bye’ before going back to his conversation with Steve. You finally looked over at Robin and you hated that it was one of the few times you couldn’t read her face at all. You would’ve given anything to read her mind.
“I’ll see you later?” you offered, and Robin smiled softly.
“Yeah,” she said quietly with a nod, as if confirming it. You had no idea what the damage would be from that conversation but you tried to brush it off as you turned around and made your way upstream to HotDog on a Stick. You met your manager and trainer for the day before getting started on the basics. After about an hour you heard a familiar voice talking to one of your coworkers. Your head shot up to see Robin, changed out of her uniform and into her regular shorts and shirt, chatting easily with your manager. You tried to focus on the task you were learning- how to smash the lemons, while straining to hear what they were talking about.
“-but I’m finally off so I don’t have to deal with that anymore,” Robin finished. You wondered what she was talking about as your manager laughed. She wouldn’t talk about you- you knew that. But that didn’t mean your subconscious was reasonable. Your stomach twisted as you started to grow anxious. “Actually, do you mind if I steal one of your employees for literally a minute?” Robin asked shyly and you felt like you might pass out.
“We’re supposed to carpool for church tomorrow and I wanted to make sure she knows where to meet.” You couldn’t help but snort at her quick excuse to talk to you. You tried to cover it with the sound of your smashing, but it didn’t work out too well. You just turned all your attention on the bucket of lemons in front of you.
“Y/N,” Robin called, this time a lot closer, and you looked up to see her leaning on the doorway beside you, nodding quickly toward the main food court. You nodded and held out the handle of the stomper to your coworker before rubbing your hands on your apron and following her out and a few tables down. She turned around and smiled at you, grin growing as she looked up at the hat. You instantly blushed.
“Don’t,” you warned. She smiled widely, full teeth, and you couldn’t help but crack a smile as well. “What do you want?” you asked, pretending to be harsh though it had no bearings considering how much you were grinning now too. Now it was Robin’s turn to blush.
“I-um…what are you doing tonight?” The question took you by surprise as your heart began to hurt in anticipation. You were pretty damn sure where this was going and your head was spinning with disbelief and excitement.
“I-I have work until 8,” you stuttered, a little frozen just thinking about Robin literally asking you out. Robin laughed a little, and you could tell you sounded a little Steve-ish but sometimes talking to Robin made your brain fry. How were you supposed to act normal anyway with her staring at you like that with her amused grin? You wished she would just put you out of your misery already.
“And after?”
“Whatever you’re doing,” you said with a shrug, snapping out of your stupor enough to regain control of the situation. Robin bit her lip, trying to hide her big grin as she tucked her hair behind her ear.
“Cool,” she said, though her eyes told you everything she didn’t dare say out loud. Things you’d both reveal later behind closed doors and out of reach from unwanted ears. “So, 8:30?” she asked and you nodded. She glanced back up at the hat before gazing into your eyes again. “You really do look cute in that hat.”
