#wheeler family dynamics

[assignedpeanutallergyatbirth]

I’m not entirely sure how to articulate this thought, so bear with my internet. I would like to discuss two scenes in Stranger Things.

The first is S2 E1 starting 30:50, it’s a Wheeler dinner scene and Mike is told that he needs to put together two boxes worth of things to sell at the yard sale.

When he protests it goes like this:

Mike: “I’m fine with you giving away a couple, but the other ones just have way too much emotional value”

Karen: “Emotional value?”

Ted: “They’re hunks of plastic Michael.”

As the scene goes on, we find out that they’ve already taken away his Atari, and that the reason the Wheeler parents are doing all of this is because Mike has been acting out. This scene is particularly interesting because it falls between Lucas and Dusting finding out who Max is (plot relevant) and Nancy and Steve having dinner with Barb’s parents (plot relevant), but it doesn’t appear to have any plot relevance itself. Mike’s behavior isn’t mentioned again, and the only purpose this scene seems to serve is to show that Mike is struggling without El. Or to show that the Wheeler parents don’t understand him and do not try to.

The second scene, and the one that stands in sharp contrast in my mind, is in season 4. In S4 E9 1:52:19, right before the California crew shows up at the Wheeler house, Karen brings out a box of Nancy’s old things that she found in the attic. They are packing boxes to bring to the shelter at the school. Nancy finds her childhood stuffed animal Mr. Rabbit in one of these boxes, and Karen says “It’s okay if you want to save him, you know?” She acknowledges that this toy has emotional value to Nancy, while she scoffed at the concept that Mike’s possessions might be important to him.

Obviously the context of these two scenes is very different. Mike is being punished, while Nancy is donating voluntarily. In season 4, Hawkins has just experienced a massive earthquake and I’m sure Karen is very worried. She even expresses more worry towards Mike than we have ever seen when he arrives. But there is no reason why she should not have been this sympathetic in season 2. By that point Mike had already been through some shit, and even if she did not know the full extent, she knew that Will was presumed dead and was visited by the government officials who said that he was in great danger. But in season 2, she brushes it off as “We know you’ve had a hard year, Michael, but we’ve been patient.” She acknowledges his struggles and immediately dismissed them.

And I know that comparing scenes like this gets a little iffy, and that the Duffer brothers haven’t watched season 2 in a while — hence Will’s birthday. But the one thing that stays consistent is character writing (Mike’s character is consistently written, and I will probably have to word vomit a post about it at some point). So while I doubt that these two scenes are supposed to stand in contrast, the family dynamics that they highlight do stand out, and I feel that comparing them in this way is fair game.

Which gets me to the point of my argument. So often while discussing the Wheeler parents, we focus on the differences between Ted and Karen. But they both kind of suck. More significant, I would argue, is the difference in how the parents treat Mike and Nancy. Karen especially connects with Nancy more often than she does Mike. Any heart to heart conversations that we see her have are with Nancy. Her character building is done through connecting with Nancy, most especially the scenes after Nancy is fired from the newspaper. With Mike, the only support he seems to get from his mom comes in the form of 3 hugs: after they find “Will’s” body, after the Byers’s move, and after he comes back from California. If you read the novelization Lucas on the Line, Karen tries to help Mike in his (apparent and obvious) depression by inviting Lucas and Dustin over. She plans this whole themed sleepover, but then calls her son foul to Lucas, in front of Mike. She disregards anything that is important to Mike, yet still expects him to come to her with important things. However with Nancy, she makes more of an effort. She reaches out to Nancy first, after Nancy was fired from the newspaper. Karen has to knock on Nancy’s closed door in order to have this conversation. This is a decent amount of effort put in. Karen makes the first move, whereas with Mike, she relies on him to reach out, even going so far as to stop Ted from talking to him after “Will’s body is found because “He’ll come to us when he’s ready.”

And please note: I have nothing against Nancy. I love Nancy as a character. I just think that the way the Wheeler parents, especially Karen, treat Nancy and Mike is very different and worth noting.

[elitehoe]

YUTA THEY ALMOST LEFT YOU AT THE ARENA PLEASE WAKE UP THEY ONLY CARE ABOUT OWNING YOU HONEY

[pinkeoni]

There's only one Jonathan Byers. No one else is like him. The parentified older brother with an abusive-abstentee father from a low income household who had to step up both in terms of helping out the family financially and looking after his little brother.

Nancy's relationship with Mike is not like Jonathan's is with Will, but she's not a bad sister because of that. Mike's relationship with Holly is not like it either. The Sinclair sibling's relationship is different too, and that's all okay. They all have unique dynamics.

[lighthouseas]

begging people to understand that "mike is not being abused by ted and karen" and "ted and karen are not good parents towards mike and this is something that we are supposed to take notice of throughout the show" are two statements that can and should coexist

[lukas-dusk]

Pov : Eddie survive the upside down and just join the babysitter club

Jonathan : You really put everything aside and came all this way for me? How did you even get here so fast?

Nancy : Three counts of resisting arrest.

Robin : Roughly thirteen cans of energy drinks.

Steve : Several traffic violations.

Argyle : Also, that’s not our van.

Eddie : I have never been so terrified in my life.

[cringengl]

So I just watched the music video for Smalltown Boy by Bronski Beat, and there were A LOT of Wheeler family parallels....

The first time you see the family of the 'Smalltown Boy', it's clear that there are tensions within the family, especially with the father.

The Wheeler family are dishonest with eachother and are clearly isolated despite on the surface appearing like a strong family unit with their nuclear family image. Here's the Stranger Things version of the meal scene:

The father is very distant and is basically Ted Wheeler's better-sighted clone: outfits, dynamic, personality and all.

Whilst the mother doesn't look as alike, the dynamic between the mother and son and Karen and Mike are also very similar.

They're closer than the father and son/Ted and Mike, but they don't understand eachother, shown in Stranger Things in s1 when Karen tries to ask Mike to open up after Will's disappearance, Mike doesn't tell her the truth about what's going on and Karen still doesn't know about the Upside Down and what her kids have been through even after 4 seasons. Similarly, "Mother will never understand why you had to leave" is a lyric from Smalltown Boy.

The mothers easily hug their sons, but the fathers stay away, because although it looks like the father in the music video is going to hug his son, he doesn't, he just gives him a crumpled (£10?? Idk it wasn't very clear) note as his son is leaving. Similarly, Ted hangs out in the background whilst his son is clearly upset.

Finally, there's this scene, where the boy has been brought back home by a police man after being beat up by some homophobes in the music video, compared with Karen and Ted being questioned about El's whereabouts in s1, just look at the similarities!!! Especially since this is the scene where Ted says "our son with a girl?".

Although on first thought it's confusing why this song about being gay is in Mike's playlist (the very first song in it as well) instead of Will's, as Will's queercoding has always been more obvious/explicit, especially as I'm pretty sure the playlists were made after s2, when mleven was most likely at its peak popularity. However, it actually makes more sense if it's in Mike's playlist, as not only does it suggest he's gay, giving clues for his overall narrative arc, but the role and dynamics that the family in the music video and the Wheelers share are almost indistinguishable from each other and completely different to the Byers.

So I wonder if the Duffers watched this music video before beginning writing Stranger Things???

[fairchilds-glasses]

Hello I’m being extremely normal again

This shot just makes me so happy 🥹

[runninguplenorahills]

This is so random, but I’m studying for my linguistics midterm rn and I’ve arrived at the slides about Occam’s razor which has a follow up slide warning about oversimplification.

And it really made me think about some people on byler tumblr who basically just water down everything that is shown to us in the source material (not just about byler), sometimes even fully disregarding canon information, in the name of Occam’s razor.

It’s the same thing with people who state the exact opposite of what the creators say about the show and pretend like they’re in the right because they’re film students.

Yes, production errors happen and Occam’s razor is valid but if the source material and the people involved in making it directly state/show that they’re being incredibly precise to the point where it doesn’t make sense that very easily avoidable inconsistencies in costume design are just “production errors”, and that we have to look beneath the surface because the simplest explanation does not reflect the truth of what is happening, then maybe Occam’s razor and the fact that you learnt that production errors can occur just aren’t as relevant to this show as you think they are.

[wibble-wobbegong]

yeah so um let’s talk about how mike has parallels with ted forced by karen through his clothes and when he tries to act normal but parallels with hopper when he’s being himself, specifically with el, and how hopper is the one who mike hugs because in his heart mike truly is nothing like ted and ted could never be a proper father to mike the way hopper has been and that’s why we get a hug specifically between these two adults and mike. karen is still mike’s mom and he loves her but hopper? that’s mike’s dad. fuck ted.

[streets-in-paradise]

Andy *to jake and junior*: I never could get you little grubs to pull a trigger on a single deer.

Jake: Talking about Bambi, man.

Andy: You don't shoot Bambi, jackass. You shoot Bambi's mother.

[pretty-emo-dad]

If I ever come across as a Nancy anti I promise I’m not, she’s one of my favorite of the older teens and I love her, but when I’m talking about characters like Mike and Jonathan, some of their main conflicts are the result of her stubbornness/inability to recognize when she’s wrong

[butchjess]

anyways stranger things netflix s1 is crazy insane i forgot how good it was. the waythe byers and wheelers function as narrative foils within the story itself its jonathan and joyce and will who care for each other so much more openly and easily than the wheelers ever have or will how they’re a little broken but together and theyre the heart of it all and in contrast the wheelers are so trapped within their own respectability and expectations and conformity to the Nuclear Family Postcard and mike and nancy ask for help and they’re met with their parents who cannot possibly understand them. and that this manifests in nancy most acutely who is trapped by her own life and her future the same way her and jonathan are stuck between genres. too young for the detective noir and too old for the fantasy adventure. Like. she sleeps with steve and she walks home alone and she nearly cries when she’s confronted on what’s happened like sometimes the Natalia Dyer Line Delivery will just wallop you on the head why did she say it like that. you can tell me anything. nothing happened. Nancy. nothing. happened. she is literally um a tragic greek heroine.To me. and how she’s paralleled to joyce they ask for help and nobody believes them and they need SOMEBODY to believe them and GOD s1 hopper. he’s like an open raw wound that’s never going to heal bc he won’t let it. st1 thesis statements every single episode thesis statements everywhere!! you act as if you’re all alone out there but youre not!!! you’re not alone!!! do you ever get that feeling, like… you’re cursed? you’re not the monster. you are not the monster. what happened to the lost knight? and the proud princess? and the weird flowers in the cave?

[conflictofthemind]

Thoughts on "Escape from Camazotz"

Oppressive Suburbia, Conformity, and Season 5 Themes

I've long thought that a major focus of Season 5 will be the contrast between the families of The Wheelers and The Byers, and exploring how non-traditional family environments can be freeing vs the oppressive structure of the nuclear family.

In a Wrinkle In Time, Camazotz is a planet controlled by the big bad of the book, the "IT", who forces the citizens into a conformity that resembles American suburbia. All of the houses the same, the citizens the same, doing the same things at the same time without individual identity. Without anything different. Different means a lot of things, but with Stranger Things dropping different in reference to Will's identity and the presumable themes of this season, it will heavily codify as queerness and how it threatens the cisheterosexual family model.

Henry was raised in the 1950s, a decade still revered by conservatives for it's traditional family dynamics that supposedly were the peak of culture and happiness for all. That was all a lie, of course, and Henry knew so as he shows to Nancy and Eleven during his monologue. The second most conservative decade aside from the 1950s in American society is widely considered to be the 1980s.

The Creels will serve in parallel to The Wheelers; the worst example of what they could become and the damage that this type of family could do to a child that is different in any way. Notice how Vecna selectively shows Nancy visions of The Wheelers dying, but not anyone else she may consider family or friends (like Jonathan).

That is; unless they change their ways and come together as a healthy functioning family facing their traumas, The Wheelers will be toast.

Karen has been moved up to a main character role this season. Ted's actor says the father starts to show up more for Holly (hold that) and realizes he wants to act differently. Holly has been recast. Finn has said Mike goes on a much more personal journey this season, and steps up as a leader.

Oh, also: the catalyst for all of this is that Holly goes missing. The contrast will help show how the Byers (including El and Hopper here) were able to pull together and help solve Will's disappearance, versus how the Wheelers as a closed off nuclear family grapple with Holly's vanishing.

Each of the Byers is in some kind of a non-1950s conformist relationship, but particularly Will (not in one now but we all know he will be). I think El might represent, after she breaks up with Mike, the fear of the unmarried woman being satisfied without a husband. The above shot really emphasizes my point.

I predict that Will will end up coming out to his family rather early on, and we will see all of them immediately accept him with little surprise or push-back. Will is a visible gay man who comes from an open minded non traditional family (divorced, non-married, adoptive) that is willing to have honest conversations.

But this theme will place the most focus on the Wheelers. Mike is the main character of said family and this will particularly focus on his arc, and his acceptance of his queerness in the midst of suburban conformity.

He is not visible, he comes from a Reagan-supporting family who don't communicate with each other. He is not particularly close with his family like Will is. He pushes his feelings down and tries his damn hardest to be normal despite it all. His trauma hasn't really been addressed at all. He is falling back into his usual habits - the one thing he dared to do different (grow his hair long) has gone back to how it was.

It's not all doom and gloom though. This season above all will be a redemption arc of the American nuclear family, how they choose to escape their conformity and learn to be there for each other, thus overpowering Vecna. Not that the Wheelers are going to end this personally.

"Great, more hysteria. Just what we need". "It's the news, now indistinguishable from the tabloids".

[shares-a-vest]

@steddiemas Day 16: Angst-Themed (Saturday Sentence Starters)

wc: 1k | Rated: T | cw: Steve’s parents are arguing (he is overhearing it briefly but there are some descriptions of yelling), toxic family dynamics, unstable marriage, cheating

Tags: Steve Harrington Has Bad Parents, Angst with a Happy Ending, Unstable Marriage, Toxic Family Dynamics, Cheating

“I don’t want to fight with you, Caroline,” Steve hears his father bellow from downstairs, “Not tonight.”

He snaps his comic closed and tosses it on the floor.

Steve has no idea what his parents are arguing about. Hell, they don’t even need an excuse these days, he thinks. Someone can so much as fart and it will start a goddamn screaming match.

He guesses he shouldn’t be surprised. It’s the holidays and his parents are both off work until the beginning of the New Year. It’s snowing heavy out so they can’t go down to the Martens’ house – their best friends-come-buffer zones.

“Oh, John!” his mother chides before there is a lower muffle that he can’t quite make out.

While being hard of hearing allows him not to hear anything below a shout, the broken argument is still frustrating.

His parents might not need an excuse to fight, but he’d still like to know what it’s about. Gain intel for the inevitable coming days of being stuck in the middle.

Steve has a few guesses as to what it could be.

His mother bought a new car with her Christmas bonus finally topping up her bank account and thus justifying an indulgent and expensive purchase. His father always hates that.

Steve smirks.

If his father didn’t like that kind of independence, why did he marry a high-paid lawyer?

But, the more likely scenario considering his father’s apparent insistence he ‘doesn’t want to fight’ is that he is cheating again.

Cindy, his secretary, or someone new – take your pick.

The telltale signs have been there for a month or two. A renewed cheery attitude, longer office hours, a fresh haircut and new clothes.

Actually, now that he thinks about it, it might be a little bit of a motivator behind his mother’s car purchase too – 

“ – Cindy!” his mother shrieks.

Yep, there it is.

Steve rolls off the bed, planting his feet on the carpet right by his shoes.

“Fuck this,” he mutters, scooping up his keys and wallet from the nightstand.

He’s just about halfway to Forest Hills, driving at a snail’s pace because he can’t see for snow, when he begins to regret his decision to leave the house.

Maybe he shouldn’t just barge in on the Munsons unannounced. Like sure, his friendship with Eddie is… teetering on not being entirely platonic. But this might be too much.

He always thought it was too much when he’d walk down to stay at Carol Perkins’ house for an impromptu sleepover. And there was always this awkward, knowing going on with the Wheeler’s when he was dating Nancy and spending a lot of time just hanging about.

Lingering for too long in the kitchen chatting to Karen or watching a game with Ted until the guy started snoring too loud to hear the commentators.

It was all there but largely unspoken.

Only Robin knows the details. And even then, he’s sure that her father’s friendliness towards him was partly due to his daughter telling him all about the trouble at the ‘ol Harrington house. He doesn’t blame his best friend for likely doing so. And he doesn’t consider it blabbing, either. Robin’s parents – her whole family – are amazing.

But some of his parent’s shit is stupid at best, hard to take at worst.

And he is scared to let Eddie in on it.

It’s too much.

He’s too much.

Being a Harrington is too much.

Wayne answers the door with a cup of cocoa that seems glued to his left hand in winter.

“Steve,” he says, voice gruff as ever despite a warm smile.

“Hi,” he replies, looking down at his snow-covered boots, “Eddie in?”

Of course, he’s in, his van is parked outside.

Steve can feel the warmth from inside the trailer. See the twinkle of lights from the Munson’s small, but heavily-decorated, Christmas tree. The smell of cocoa overpowering the ever-present hint of cigarettes.

“Eddie!” Wayne calls over his shoulder, “Steve’s here.”

In a flash, Eddie runs to the front door and practically bumps into his uncle.

“Come in!” he insists, wide-eyed as he looks past his shoulder at the falling snow.

And before Steve can even step in, Eddie is pulling him by his parka sleeve. He only just manages to scrape off his boots on the ‘Home Sweet Home’ adorned welcome mat.

“What some cocoa?” Eddie offers, eliciting a grumble from Wayne.

“I asked if you wanted some,” he chides.

“But Steve might want some,” Eddie grins.

“How about I heat up a pot now, and whoever wants some’s got it?” Wayne suggests, pursing his lips at Eddie and moving to the stove before his nephew can make any more requests.

“Follow me,” Eddie says, grabbing his hand, “I made cookies.”

He wiggles his brows and begins leading Steve to the kitchen.

As he is pulled along, Steve tries not to think about the fact that they are holding hands. Or how he wishes his fifteen-minute-ago Self had thought to bring an overnight bag and allowed himself to assume the Munsons would allow him to stay the night.

But it might be even harder to stop himself from squeezing his friend’s hand and lacing his fingers with Eddie’s.

Eddie lets go of his hand to gesture to the tray of Christmas-themed shapes, all looking a little too dark for gingerbread as they rest on the kitchen island.

“Pick one, Big Boy,” Eddie beams.

Steve reaches for a reindeer, flexing his fingers as he goes and commits the feeling of Eddie’s rings to memory.

“No!” Eddie shrieks, lightly smacking his hand enough that he drops it, leaving the cookie to snap in half as it falls back onto the tray, “His antlers are broken.”

“Christ, boy!” Wayne curses, stirring the pot on the stovetop.

Okay, a tree then…

“The star is missing!”

A bell?

“That was already snapped in half when I got them out of the oven”, Eddie admits with a tight-lipped smile.

Steve places his hands on his hips and rolls his eyes. To him, they all look at least a little crumbly – some he would even describe as lightly charred.

“How about you pick one for me then, Betty Crocker?” he chuckles.

Eddie giggles, twirling a lock of his hair as he carefully considers the tray of mostly broken, dry cookies.

He watches Eddie for a long enough time that Wayne pushes a mug into his hand, the warmth of Eddie’s hand remaining in place due to the heat of the cocoa. It’s a Chicago Cubs mug, one that he finds himself holding at some point each time he is here as if Wayne considers it Steve’s own.

He smiles for the first time in three days.

[queen-of-hawkins-why-ler]

It’s ironic to me how we are always accused of reading too much into things, when almost every M*leven, St*ncy shipper, or GA is so insistent on this idea that Mike and Nancy have this deep relationship struggle and intimacy issue because of their parents’ supposedly loveless marriage. Like, that’s such a reach lmao???

Not saying there’s no evidence for this, bc of course belonging to a traditional conservative family is part of their stories, but people take it so far as to say that the central part of Mike’s character arc is that he can’t overtly love his girlfriend BECAUSE he is traumatized by his parents’ marriage. My guy… Will’s love for Mike is literally canon and central to the plot, but WE are the ones who get accused of reading too much into things when y’all believe THAT about Mike??? What evidence is there to suggest that Mike is that deeply troubled by his parents’ relationship that he can’t demonstrate outward affection?? Same with Nancy???

Like, a big portion of the audience of this show genuinely believes that the Wheelers are a couple of traumatized siblings with intimacy issues who can’t demonstrate love bc of their parents… and that’s… literally a headcanon lmao like w h a t and w h e r e did that idea even come from?? The idea of Mike and Will being canonically in love literally has more of a basis in canon based on the events that we’ve seen thus far than the idea that Mike and Nancy struggle with love bc of their parents.

The lack of sex or intimacy in Ted and Karen’s marriage is not even a central point of Ted and Karen’s own storylines lmao like it’s barely even a side plot it just literally isn’t central to the show. Absolutely wild how people deduce that this bit of information about the Wheelers’ family dynamic that can be inferred at absolute best is at THE CORE of Mike and Nancy’s characters. It’s like they’re watching an entirely different show from us bc wtf are you talking about

[robinsno1lesbian]

hey, hey!! hope you’re doing well <3

i have a blurb request! maybe a lil ronance x reader thing where r is feeling insecure that she isn’t loving them equally and hard enough, so they both remind her that she is being the best girlfriend to each of them <3

𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐥 𝐰𝐞 𝐦𝐞𝐞𝐭 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧 ⋆౨ৎ˚⟡˖ ࣪

- ronance x reader

summary: after going to university with one of your girlfriends, you worry that robin might feel lonely back in hawkins.

warnings: fluff fluff fluff, pet names (baby love, my girls, love), established poly relationship, i -once again- did not beta read this, i do want to mention that i’m not poly myself! so if there’s anything in this that isn’t accurate to the actual experience or if there’s anything wrong with the terminology, please let me know!! :)

a/n: @eds6ngel thank you so much for your request!! i really hope this is what you had in mind for this! it’s basically a little hurt with looots of comfort! it kind of turned into ronance comforting r about their dynamic, i hope that’s what you had in mind! <3

you’re hanging on the telephone, trying to make the minutes of the call last. you’re curling the cord of it around your index finger absentmindedly, your legs draped over nancy’s lap on the semi-comfortable bed of your shared dorm room.

she has already talked to your girlfriend, who’s currently rambling on about her shift with steve, and has handed you the telephone to get a taste of robin’s adorable rambling as well.

you’re still new to this. to them.

not dating in general; you did have somewhat of a girlfriend back when all three of you still lived in hawkins. so you’re not new to your sexuality or the fact that you love women. it’s the dynamic that’s new to you.

when you met robin and nancy, you quickly figured them out. in their defense they were trying to be sneaky about it, presumably expecting you to be as oblivious to it as everyone else around. unaware that you knew the hiding, the stealing kisses and loving in secrecy. that you experienced it yourself and saw it in them immediately.

how exactly it happened, neither of the 3 of you can recall. maybe it was between the glances you shared, the way they caught you staring at their proximity. perhaps it happened because of the lingering touches: robin’s hand on your waist when moving past you, nancy’s palm brushing over your own whilst praising you for your relentless, determined studying. or maybe it was none of these at all. maybe it was when you had the wheeler’s basement all to yourselves and one shared bottle of liquor turned into two, which led to your fumbling confession of the confusing feelings you had developed for both women.

they were not confusing at all, as it turns out. loving them both came to you easy. easier than anything you could’ve ever imagined before.

there was still lots of secrecy to it, as to be expected from dating two women in hawkins, indiana, in 1986. but they weren’t scared to love you, like your previous lover had been. they weren’t afraid of loving you at all. if anything, they were proud of having you as theirs.

what started as “trying it out” ended up with waking to the soft, floral scent of nancy’s sheets, sandwiched between two warm bodies. it ended up with shared kisses in the morning, at noon and in the evening too. two pair of shoes by the door turned into three. three toothbrushes in the bathroom, three plates set up for breakfast. three bodies curled up in bed together.

it ended up with the most loving relationship you could’ve ever wished for.

and it was perfect, even with the limited time the three of you had been given in hawkins together:

the plan had been settled before. when you’d been just a friend to the couple and nancy had asked you to share a dorm at university. you had obviously accepted, happy to have someone there with you, someone who wasn’t a stranger. robin would stay in hawkins, save up money to go to europe and work shifts at family video with steve. and you & nancy would leave, study at emerson together and become roommates.

now you’re in said room, close to nancy, and wishing robin could be here with the two of you. to have more of her than just the voice through the receiver.

“so anyway!” the girl tells you. “i told steve not flirt with her because -duh?- she’s heidi’s mother but he didn’t know that so-“

her voice sounds raspier than usual through the static of the receiver. she sounds happy. and, god, you hope she is. you don’t want her to feel left out, like you’ve left her behind in hawkins to be with nancy. you know that, rationally speaking, robin is okay. she misses you, of course. how couldn’t she? you’re her girls after all. but she’s happy that you get to pursue your dream while she works on her own from home.

still, you can’t help the nagging feeling that you’re not being fair. that you’re not loving them equally; the way they both deserve to be loved.

“hellooo?” her voice snaps you back to reality. “y/n? you still there?”

“yes!” you snap out of your thoughts suddenly. nancy notices and looks up from the book she’d been reading. “yes! of course! yes! sorry. steve was flirting with heidi’s mom?”

“he was!” robin nods, her smile evident in the sound of her voice. “he so was and he didn’t even know!”

you chuckle, accompanied by a gentle shake of your head. “typical steve move”

“that’s what i said too!”

the two of you share a moment of laughter over the phone before robin trails off.

“i miss you” she whispers.

“we miss you too!” you assure her immediately. “but summer break is right around the corner. then we’ll be back with you!”

robin hums her agreement. “yeah. i can’t wait to see mes filles”

you smile at the way she pronounces the foreign word. she’s already made plenty of use of the french dictionary you gave her when you left.

“your…?”

you can practically hear her beaming through the telephone. it makes you smile. “mes filles!” she repeats, slower this time. “my girls”.

“your girls” you repeat softly, just a breath, but robin seems to pick it up anyway.

“i can’t wait to see you” she says. “i love you”

“i love you too, take care of hawkins while we’re gone yeah?”

“will do” she assures you. “I’ll see you”

you blow her a kiss through the speaker before you say your goodbyes and hang up.

nancy is by your side immediately, nudging your leg softly.

“hm?” you snap out of your thoughtful trance and look up at her.

“what’s up with you, love?” nancy asks gently, and puts her book down. “you seem…?” she trails off.

you huff. of course nancy would notice. she’s majoring in investigative journalism after all.

“it’s just-“ you sigh. now nancy’s sits up, your vagueness alarming to her. she wraps an arm over your shoulder and pulls you against her body soothingly.

“hm?” she kisses your temple, her index tracing the moles on your arm.

“i don’t want her to feel alone” you admit under your breath. “robin. i don’t want her to feel like we’re leaving her behind in hawkins”

“oh baby love” nancy says, her lips ghosting over the side of your face. her grip tightens around your body too, pulling you closer to her.

“it’s just-“ you sigh. “i love her. just like i love you. but you’re here and she’s not and- and i feel like it’s obviously harder to show her all that love i have for her. at least from afar. but i want her to feel it! i want her to feel loved”

“she does” nancy softly interrupts your train of thought. “she feels loved baby! you have like- the biggest heart ever! it’s hard not to feel loved when it’s you”

you still smile against the odds of it all when your girlfriend speaks so fondly of you.

“she knows she’s loved, y/n” nancy says, slightly more firm this time. “we knew it would be like this. and of course the distance sucks! i wanna love both of my girls from up close too!”

you can’t help but chuckle a little and nancy side eyes you.

“pervert” she whispers under her breath, followed by another kiss to your face. “it’ll be easier once we’re all together again. but she loves us. so much”

it’s enough to ease your worries for now. you know, of course, that the love for the two of them will be enough too. it’ll always be enough.

⋆౨ৎ˚⟡˖ ࣪

“y/n!!” a voice that is unmistakably robin’s calls over the airport lounge.

it’s hot in Indiana, warmer than it had been when you boarded the plane in massachusetts. robin is wearing a pair of loose shorts, presumably steve’s with how low they’re sitting around her waist. she’s got her short hair up in a messy bun, and her arms spread for you and nancy.

you drop your suitcase immediately, already chasing towards her with open arms. you’re squealing like a little child when you finally find yourself back in the taller girl’s embrace. nancy joins the two of you just a couple of seconds later, just as long as it took her to catch up with you.

“hi” robin whispers against your hair. she can’t be overly affectionate with the two of you yet, at least not as much as she wants to be, but her arms around your body are enough to finally soothe the ache her absence had left in you.

“hey” you whisper against her neck. hidden from the sight of anyone who might pass by, you press a quick kiss to the side of her neck. robin responds with a low hum.

“is she teasing already?” nancy smirks from behind you and the three of you loosen the hug enough for robin to present two separate flower bouquets: one of nancy’s favorite flowers, one of yours.

“robin” nancy says. “you didn’t have to!”

“i know” robin shrugs casually. “wanted too, though. my girls made it through their first year at emerson! how cool’s that huh? god i’m so proud of you. i could kiss you right now. i would. i really want to, to be honest. but- you know” she gestures around. you and nancy both share a grin. robin hasn’t changed at all.

⋆౨ৎ˚⟡˖ ࣪

once you’re behind the closed doors of robin’s house, the girl is all over the two of you -and you’d be lying if you weren’t all over her too.

she’s got an arm draped over each of your shoulders, alternating between placing kisses to your temple and nancy’s cheek, joined with sweet whispers of: “missed you. missed you so so much”

you don’t even have time to properly unpack your luggage before you find yourself in robin’s bed. she had to size up ever since you’ve gotten together, saving up money to replace her small single bed with a queen sized one to make enough room. she’d done it happily, had been bouncing off the walls the day you were putting together the new furniture.

she’s sandwiched between your bodies, lying in your middle and curling against the two of you happily.

“wanna spend forever like this” she tells you. nancy chuckles and you grin.

robin turns her head to look over at you. you can feel her watchful gaze studying your side profile.

“hey” she whispers, nudging you with her shoulder. you turn over at her. nancy is watching you too. you know, right in that moment, that she must’ve told robin about your worries. you’re not gonna hold it against her, exactly. if anything, you’re happy nancy has told her. you doubt you would’ve found the words to express your feelings to her.

“hm?”

“you know” robin says, simultaneously reaching for your hand to rub your knuckles with her thumb. “i am so lucky to have you. to be loved by you. the two of you.”

“me too” you tell her quietly.

“you don’t have to worry, baby” she continues “about…me not feeling loved enough. or whatever it is you worry about in that brilliant mind of yours”

nancy smiles from behind robin. she’s holding her free hand as she speaks.

“even with the distance?” you whisper softly, chewing your lower lip absentmindedly. robin reaches out, gently pulls your lower lip down from between your front teeth before kissing your mouth gently.

“even with the distance. with everything.”

she mumbles against your mouth. she has crawled closer, but nancy has followed immediately and is now spooning her from behind.

“you’re my girls. you really think some stupid amount of distance would change that?“

a smile makes its way upon your features. she’s right, of course. your love for the two girls in robin’s bed isn’t limited to their physical presence. it couldn’t be.

“i love it even more when i have you both here with me, though” she grins and wraps her arms around your waist to pull you on top of her. nancy giggles behind her, her arms coming up from behind her to hug the two of you

“sure?” you ask.

“1000%. i’ll make sure you guys have the best vacation in hawkins. well. as good as possible. we’re in hawkins after all.” robin scrunches up the freckled bridge of her nose.

“we’ll make it work” nancy chimes in, brushing robin’s hair behind her ear.

it’s new, to all three of you. but you know, right then and there, that it will be okay. that everything will work out just fine, no matter what.