Follow up to the Robin and Hop convo?
‘do you - did i do something wrong?’
robin stares at little byers, confused. ‘what?’
he grimaces, stares down at the muddy tips of his shoes. ‘sorry, that’s stupid. i just wondered, because you - you left really quick last week. and i thought maybe...’ he trails off, offers a little shrug.
robin twirls her pen around her fingers. once, twice. ‘no. you didn’t.’
will peeks up at her through his bangs, eyes searching. whatever he sees makes him relax, a deep held breath escaping him, and his grip relaxing on the strap of his backpack. ‘oh. okay. good!’ he smiles, ducks his chin to hide it. a moment later, he looks up again. ‘then, is everything alright?’
‘all good, little byers.’
will frowns at her, uncertain. she thought she’d nailed lazy, bored, unconcerned, but apparently not. still, sweet kid that he is, he nods.
‘okay. good. um - in that case, we wanted - the party, but mostly el, not that the rest of us didn’t want to invite you but el was really insistent -‘
‘spit it out, kid.’
he rolls his eyes at her but stops his rambling obediently, pulling his backpack off one shoulder to reach into its front pocket. from it, he removes a carefully folded flyer, which he hands over. ‘el wants to invite you to her birthday.’
robin takes the folded paper between two fingers. she doesn’t read it yet, just holds it, and quirks a brow. ‘didn’t know you’d been hired as our local delivery man. good for you.’
he rolls his eyes again and ducks out of the way of her hand when she goes to ruffle his hair. ‘so? will you come?’
robin gives a noncommittal hum. unfolds the paper oh so slowly, mostly to make him squirm with impatience. she can’t help but smile, though, seeing the detail el—and no doubt will too—has put into the invite.
‘robin buckley,’ she reads, ‘you are cordially invited to attend the birthday celebrations of jane hopper—‘
‘that’s el’s legal name,’ will supplies.
‘—july first.’ robin hums. ‘her birthday is july first? that’s cool, like exactly halfway?’
will beams. ‘it’s not actually, she’s got two birthdays—when her mum, y’know, had her,’ he says awkwardly, making robin snort at his typical boyish aversion to the topic, ‘and what doctor owens put on her certificate. but we didn’t really get to have a party this year, either of us, so we thought it would be funny.’
robin flips the page over, scans it again. ‘please bring a swimming costume and pyjamas if you want to stay for the sleepover. where’s your name?’ when will just shrugs, robin presses a little harder. ‘if you’re having a joint birthday party, you got to invite people, right?’
‘we kinda have all the same friends.’
‘and you’re doing something you like doing?’
will just shrugs. ‘yeah, of course.’
robin narrows her eyes until he takes a nervous step back. she lays the invite down carefully, and points a warning finger directly at him. ‘what’s going on?’
‘what?’
‘what’s going on? in your brain. because i’m hearing that it’s a shared party but what i’m seeing is that it’s jane’s party.’
his fingers twist into the straps of his backpack. ‘well, it’s - ugh. fine. don’t tell her, okay? i suggested that we have a party but it’s not really for me. i got to have a party with mum and jonathan so really it’s so el can celebrate now that hopper is home. it’s…different. getting to celebrate with your dad,’ he tells her softly, eyes distant.
it’s robin’s turn to duck her head, not sure what will would be able to see on her face but not wanting to risk him seeing anything at all. she taps her pen against the corner of the invitation. nods. ‘that’s really sweet. but unfortunately, it’s incredibly obvious that you’re doing it all for el and if you don’t want to get rumbled—‘
‘rumbled?’
‘discovered! your plans revealed by someone else! honestly, what are they teaching you in californian schools, you don’t know the word rumbled?’
he laughs. ‘are you sure it’s a real word?’
‘i’m going to ignore that in favour of staying on track,’
‘first time for everything, i guess,’ he interjects, a mischievous glint in his eyes.
‘you, sir william, are spending far too much time with mike, that little shit.’ that surprises a laugh from will, and she takes the momentary pause to tell him, ‘pick your favourite movie. right now.’
‘what? why?’
‘so you don’t get rumbled. honestly,’ she mutters, ‘it’s like you weren’t even listening. you’re going to tell me what it is, and your favourite movie snacks, because no sleepover is complete without movie and movie snacks. if you have something you can say you picked and want to do, then it seems more like a shared party, don’t you think? and el won’t be suspicious?’
will tilts his head. after a watchful moment, he says, ‘it kind of just seems like you want to make sure i have fun,’ far too direct, far too earnest for not quite ten in the morning.
she scoffs. ‘i just can’t stand a half-baked plan. movie. snacks.’
shoving her pen into his hand, robin scrounges up some receipt paper for him to write on. he does, smiling the whole time.
‘does this mean you’ll come?’ he asks, bent over the counter as he works on his list.
robin pauses. did it mean that? she doesn’t want to say no and let down el or will, but on the other hand—hopper will be there. that’s obviously the entire point of the party, as will said, so there’s no way that he won’t be. she fiddles with her rings, twisting the heavy one on her thumb, and only stops when she feels will very slowly and carefully touch her hand. he pulls his hand back immediately with a,
‘sorry! sorry. you, um, zoned out.’
robin shakes her head. ‘it’s fine.’ to prove it, she pats him on the shoulder.
he smiles but his eyes are dark with worry. ‘you don’t have to come. el wants you there because she loves girls—‘ he laughs when robin raises a brow. ‘she thinks nancy is so pretty and smart and follows her around.’
‘good taste,’ robin nods approvingly.
‘and she thinks you’re so cool,’ he says, dropping into what is obviously an impression of his sister, eyes wide. robin laughs, but can’t deny being a little flattered, even if will is joking. ‘it’s kind of a girls day, actually - the pool party, i think it’s you and nancy and el and max, but i told mike what was going on so we’re probably going to crash the party.’
‘naturally.’
‘but, you don’t have to come,’ he says again.
robin’s smile twists into place. ‘no, it’s - of course i will. can i-‘ she pauses. tries to figure out a way to phrase this so will doesn’t worry. ‘can i ask you something? about chief hopper?’
will frowns and nods.
‘he’s - what’s he like? because he seems sort of…’
‘over protective?’ will suggests, and shrugs. ‘he’s nice, i guess? he makes my mum happy.’ as soon as he says it, he flushes pink. ‘um, i don’t think they’ve told anyone.’
‘it’s obvious to literally everyone. max knows, and she’s mostly blind,’ robin points out casually, and doesn’t flinch at the reminder of the hurt her friend has been through. will’s face falls. ‘okay. overprotective but nice. good. cool. good to know.’
will nods. he looks confused by the question but doesn’t press, instead looking down at el’s invitation and back at her with hope brimming in his wide eyes. ‘so? can i tell her you’ll come?’
robin sighs. ‘yeah. yes, i’ll come to her party. but you have to come with me to find her a present.’
‘deal!’ he hoots, and practically bounces out the door. she hears him yell to someone before it swings shut behind him. ‘she said yes! she’s coming!’
robin groans. slips back into her seat. great.
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