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Robin Buckley hated summer. Every week day, and, occasionally Sundays, Robin would work at Scoops and serve little sweaty sunburnt children that’d been out in the sun all day.
Maybe it wouldn’t have been so bad if she wasn’t working with Steve “Lady Killer” Harrington. Although, the name didn’t suit as he hadn’t been scoring any points with the ladies recently.
Harrington was a total dick in highschool, but Robin had to admit - he wasn’t all that bad. She’d made tons of jokes about him, to his face, been a bit of an asshole about it too, but he’d just laughed them all off. Every time.
Something, though - something was off about him. Some days he’d show up to their shift looking... Haunted. Pale, and with dark crescents under his eyes like he hadn’t slept. Other days, he looked fine. It was a little concerning, to say the least. Robin thought he probably wasn’t over the breakup with that priss, Nancy Wheeler. It’d been almost a year, but she figured heartbreak must hit hard or something. (Not that she’d ever dated anyone to experience it.)
Sometimes, middle schoolers (“We aren’t middle schoolers anymore, Steve!”) would stop by to chat with Steve. He’d give them discounts on ice cream and even sneak them throught the backrooms so they could sneak into movies. Robin just wondered how Steve had gotten close with this pack of children. Wasn’t he worried about his King Steve reputation?
One day, though, it wasn’t a child who came in asking for Steve.
Robin leaned on the counter with her head rested in her hand. It was about 7 pm, and her and Steve were preparing to lock up soon. The last customer had just left, since no one tends to get ice cream past, like, 6 o’clock, and Robin was bored out of her mind watching the clock as the seconds went by.
So, naturally, it surprised Robin when a girl, around her age, strolled in. Her long brown hair reached just above her waist and she had a little mole on her cheek.
“A-Ahoy!” She exclaimed, awkwardly. Oops. Robin thinks she’s got a bit of a crush on this mystery woman.
“Hi.” She greets plainly. “Is the guy that usually works here in today?”
“Oh - yeah.” God, of course she was after Steve. Just her luck.
She shouts over her shoulder, “Hey dingus! Someone’s out here asking for you!”
He opens the breakroom door and Robin watches as a thousand emotions flash in his brown eyes as they grow wide at the sight of the girl.
“You- Gwen?” He squeaks, his voice slightly breaking.
‘Gwen’ smiles, her blue eyes filled with unshed tears.
“Finney...”
Robin quirks an eyebrow at the name.
Steve rushes over, enveloping the woman in a hug.
“You look fucking ridiculous,” She says. Steve lets out a laugh, but it comes out as more of a sob.
“Gwenny - How...How did you find me?” He asks after a while, unlatching himself from her grip.
“I finally dreamt something with a name.” She blinks up at him, smiling, “Starcourt Mall. Scoops Ahoy.”
“Shit. Did you dream... Anything else?” His voice gets lower and he glances over at Robin warily.
She nods and whispers something unintelligable that Robin can’t make out.
“I can’t believe you went through all that without your baby sister, Finn.”
He shrugs, and they hug again.
Now Robin is left confused. And awkward. This exchange appears to be private, and here she is not being able to keep herself from listening, because they’re right there! Also, who’s Finn? Steve has a sister? And what do they mean by ‘dreams’?
Her chain of thoughts are cut off when Steve says,
“Here, let’s talk in the breakroom.” He glances back at Robin again in the same manner he had before, “We’ve got a lot to catch up on.”
Ok, Robin’s got no excuse to eavesdrop this time except for purely being so deeply invested. So, she put her ear to the door, and listens.
Steve can’t believe it. Finally, finally, after all these years, he’s able to talk to his sister again. After all the shit that went down in Denver, the court sent him to live with a different family in Indiana. Those people, unfortunately, had not been very nice people. They swapped his first name for his middle name and made his last name theirs. And, honestly? They were just never around. The worst of it all, though, was not being able to contact his sister throughout all of this.
After entering the breakroom, Steve plopped himself onto the couch with a sigh, gesturing for Gwen to sit next to him.
“Gwen. I was taken in by important people, the Harringtons. They switched my last name to theirs, and now I got by Steve.”
“What, Steven? Your middle name?”
He nods, “And they’re shitty people. Never home. Maybe’ve come home fourteen times in the past five years.” He knows he’s exaggerating, but honestly? It’s not too far from the truth.
“Shit, Finn. I’m sorry.” She soothes. “I’ve been in and out of foster homes. This whole time, I’ve been dreaming, and waiting for a clue on where you were.”
He hugs her again, rubbing her back as she begins to cry into his chest.
“I-I just t-thought I’d never see you a-again, Finney.” She sobs, muffled by the fabric of Steve’s stupid sailor’s uniform.
“Well, Gwen, here we are. Don’t dwell on the past, sis.” He says, patting her shoulder firmly.
She laughs, wiping away the tears leaking from her eyes.
“Whatever, chicken.”
This is where Robin feels she’s invading their privacy enough to stop listening.
“H-hey dingus! Time to lock up.” She says after opening the door to the room, feeling awkward.
“Oh! Right, yeah. Sorry.” He says, rushing to get up. “Hey Gwen, you got anywhere to stay?”
“Er, no, not really-”
“Great, stay with me.”
“What?”
“You heard me. Stay. As long as you want.”
She smiles up at him, eyes glinting with tears.
After Steve and Robin lock up, the three of them walk through the mall towards the exit.
“Hey, Robin? Do you need a ride?” He asks her, twirling his keys around and successfully snapping Robin out of her thoughts.
“Who, me? Uh, no—” She pauses, “Oh, actually, yeah. Thanks.”
He quirks up an eyebrow, but continues chatting with Gwen, arm around her shoulder.
Jeez, what has Robin gotten herself into.