(Ep. 7: The Bite)

This was the worst Gwen's ever felt.

Coming down from an all-time high just to fall back into her senses had been much worse than she anticipated. From feeling like she was on top of the world and being overjoyed with a new level of confidence, she was disappointed to be back to her ordinary self.

No more joking around. No more ignoring the troubles coming after them, because they were still being chased by Russians and only now that she's sober, she saw the severity of it.

It had been a few minutes since she came barging into the bathroom and it didn't seem to get any better. Whatever those guards gave them must have been really strong if it was making her incredibly sick.

Her throat ran dry as she held her hair back into a messy ponytail. The pit of her stomach burned and her chest heaved with every struggle that felt like blades were cutting through her. She tried gasping for breath, but every time her chest constricted, more fluid came out, allowing for a few tears to escape the corners of her eyes.

She had never been this sick. Not even after getting food poisoning when eating a piece of undercooked chicken her mother made. Hell, not even when she rode the same roller coaster three times because Dustin kept wanting to go on it. This felt different, much worse and more painful.

Not sure how much time had passed, exhaustion began taking a toll on her that she ended up sprawling all over the floor. Her legs were stretched out against the door and her hair was laid flatly on the tiles. They felt quite refreshing on her back that she couldn't be bothered to care for how dirty the floor was. It wasn't like she was going to keep this outfit anyway or could even return it to The Gap because she just had to steal it. Of course, even if she had bought it, no store would take back this disgusting outfit covered in puke.

Gwen wished to leave this mall and head home to take a nice long shower and get under the covers of her plaid cotton sheets that she had taken for granted until now. She wanted to leave and never have to set foot into this building again, but with those Russians still looking for them, it wasn't safe to go home until who knows when.

"You guys alright?" Steve asked, eyes focusing on the ceiling to see if it stopped spinning. 

"I think I'm good," Robin softly said, and lay on the floor with her legs pressed against the stall.

"Pretty sure I'm all emptied out," Gwen leaned forward and pushed her knees together as she buried her head in her arms. Having the drug in her system had surprisingly taken the pain in her face and limbs away, only now that it was gone, her aching had become magnified.

Steve didn't say anything after that. She heard him make his way to her stall and noticed his blue sneakers coming closer to the door. He stood hesitantly for a while, as if waiting for her to say the words. She faintly smiled and held the bottom of the door to pull it open.

"I didn't want to be alone over there."

Robin scoffed and kicked the stall, "Get used to it, dingus."

Steve rolled his eyes, "Seems like you're back to being a pain in the ass." He then felt a slap on the shoulder, causing a hint of laughter to escape his cut lip, "What was that for?"

Brown and blue eyes collided. 

He had trouble refraining from smiling like an idiot when she rolled her eyes at him. Even when she glanced away, his gaze remained intact with no intentions of losing sight of her. 

Robin grew uncomfortable at the silence. She considered the possibility that they were making out again, so she shut her eyes and covered her ears just in case, but not even through the darkness of her eyelids did the previous image fade. "Ugh, don't tell me you two are going at it again?"

Gwen felt a tinge of embarrassment. Mainly since she never liked public displays of affection and ever since she started dating Steve, she went against her previous beliefs out of the challenge of controlling herself. 

(Maybe she was indeed a hypocrite.)

"For my sake, please tell me you didn't see us," she pleaded.

"Oh, you'd like that won't you?"

Steve stretched out his foot to kick Robin's, "At least we're getting laid. Can't say the same about you."

Robin's heartfelt laughter suddenly faded into a silence. 

"You okay, Rob?" Gwen asked, slightly getting closer to the stall to get a better listen. She waited for a word or even a sound, but there was nothing other than silence. "Robin?"

"Are you alright there?" Steve asked, shifting uncomfortably in his spot. "Did you choke on your own vomit?"

Robin lay her head against the wall. She pushed her knees together as millions of emotions overwhelmed her. Despite the circumstances, she was happier than ever, but all she could focus on was worrying how her new friends would react to her secret. 

Would they still want to be her friend?

Would they leave like everyone else did? 

Her voice was shaky as she said, "Nope, I'm still very much alive."

Both of them didn't have to think twice. They hastily slid their backs on the floor to reach her stall and proceeded to position themselves in front of her. 

Robin feigned a small smile, "You idiots, the floor's disgusting."

Steve nonchalantly shrugged and looked down at his red tie and navy shirt, "Yeah, well, we're already covered in puke and blood, so..."

"And we're definitely not keeping this," Gwen added. 

Silence fell between them.

The tension was heavier and could be cut with a knife, as if a barrier had been placed between them and they had fallen back to square one -- to when they first started working together and exchanged awkward conversations. 

"Can I ask you guys something?" Robin softly spoke, her hands trembling beyond measure. "What happens after this?"

Gwen was uncertain if she was referring to the Russians or them, "What do you mean?"

"You know... when this is all over," Robin explained as her heart raced uncontrollably. "When we're not translating codes or working together anymore, because you're leaving and he's probably going to end up hanging out with other people."

Steve shook his head, confused on why she believed he'd want to hang out with anyone else, "I'm not doing that, Robin."

"And just because I'm leaving, it doesn't mean we can't still be friends," Gwen assured her. "I can promise you, I'm not going anywhere."

"But... you are," she argued. "And it's not like you can make promises because they're just bound to break."

Steve once believed that. He held it deep in his heart like a silent oath, but being with Gwen made him open his eyes to the truth that it was worth taking a leap of faith. He refused to dwell on an outcome that could be unfavorable, so for now, he was taking a risk. 

"Some do and some don't," he told her, "It's worth taking those odd because it's worth it."

"Guys," Robin spoke with much firmer tone, almost austere. "You don't even know me, and even if you did, I'm not sure you'd want to be my friend."

"That's not true," Gwen quickly denied.

Steve agreed, "That's far from the truth."

"I just- I really like you guys," Robin stared at her two friends, as if she were memorizing their faces before the worst happens. She never envisioned herself liking or caring for Steve Harrington and Gwen Henderson, but it seemed life had a strange way of working. "But I'm not like your other friends. I'm not like Nancy Wheeler, or Jonathan Byers, or even Daphne Sinclair."

Steve exhaled sharply, not understanding why that was a problem when it was one of the reasons as to why he liked her. She wasn't like them. She was her own person. "That's why we like you."

"Do you guys remember what I said about Click's class about me being obsessed with you two?"

Gwen remembered how confused she was on not understanding why someone as amazing as Robin would've wanted to be like her. Gwen was nothing but ordinary. She was just a floater amongst the crowd trying to hide herself from the world, because once you trust someone, they were just bound to disappoint you.

"Don't think it was because I had a crush on you," Robin emphasized the last word, her eyes focusing on Steve before quickly glancing at the girl beside him. "It's the fact that she wouldn't stop staring at you. She would come in with her burgundy backpack and purposefully hit your shoulder. She'd make fun of you, say her snarky comments that always got on your nerves. Even when she claimed to hate you, I'd always catch her staring at you from afar. You'd be speaking to your friends and she was just unable to pull her eyes away from you or your stupid hair."

Steve turned silent and tried to process what he was hearing. Maybe that blue juice made his brain process things slower. It'd explain why he wasn't understanding her.

On the contrary, Gwen was able to comprehend everything. She was certain of what she meant, but was afraid of misinterpreting it. She wanted to say something, but the words died on her lips that all she could do was listen.

"Are you talking about Mrs. Click?" Steve blurted out, glancing at the wall like it'd have the answers he was searching for.

Robin shook her head, her blue eyes meeting hers, "No. I'm talking about her."

Gwen's heart took a leap at her confession.

"I wanted her to look at me, but all she cared about was you. I tried convincing myself that maybe it's not so bad because she hates you," she smiled to herself and looked down, now even more terrified as she was certain Gwen figured it out already. "But it doesn't take a genius to know she didn't actually hate you. She... liked you and tried hiding it with insults. And all I can remember was going home and screaming into my pillow, because even though I wanted to be like her, I also just wanted her."

Gwen remained silent.

So did Steve.

"Then came Tammy Thompson. She was preppy and filled with dreams of being a singer, and she was... nice to me."

"But..." Steve briskly leaned forward, still confused as ever, "Gwen and Tammy are girls."

"Steve," Robin softly said, her hands clenching as she waited for him to realize... to understand her words and take in everything... to take in her truth.

It was only after a few seconds that he perceived her words. He felt a wave of confusion and surprise, but even if he didn't understand the idea, all he could think of was why in the world did she have a crush on Tammy Thompson?

"Oh," he tried offering words of reassurance, but was unable to form anything. "Holy shit."

"Yeah, holy shit," Robin repeated, and waited for him to say more. Maybe insult her or demand that she stay away from them, but he remained silent. Just staring at the emptiness with widened eyes.

Gwen took a deep breath. 

She was surprised that she was crushed on by Robin, because in what universe could she have imagined that anyone could like her? It didn't make sense and the fact that Robin was trusting her with something so important made her feel like the most privileged person to exist. 

"Gwen, did you OD over there?" Robin asked, and braced herself for the worst.

"You had a crush on me?" Gwen's cheeks turned a pinkish color as her heart leapt excitedly. She couldn't understand why Robin would believe this would compromise their friendship, because nothing had changed. She was still the girl that always made her laugh whenever she was down, the girl who offered advice when she needed it, and mostly importantly, she was the girl that gave her the most important gift of all – unconditional friendship.

"Of course I did," her voice came out lower than intended. "Who wouldn't?"

Gwen playfully nudged her knee and smiled at her, ultimately giving her friend a sense of relief that she wasn't being abandoned... she was being accepted.

"You crushed on Tammy?" Steve asked in disbelief out of not comprehending her taste in women. "With Gwen, I get it. Tammy might be cute and all, but she's a total dud."

Robin's eyes widened, "She is not!"

"How is she a dud?" Gwen incredulously asked, confused on how someone with dreams could even be placed into that category. 

He lightly scoffed, "She wants to be a singer and move to Nashville and shit."

Gwen was even more puzzled on why he considered it a flaw, "She has goals..."

"And dreams," Robin added.

"She can't hold a tune and is practically tone deaf!"

(Now that was actually true). 

Gwen didn't know much about singing, but Tammy's singing sounded... peculiar. It wasn't terrible, but not great.

"That's not true!" Robin shoved her foot harshly against him before turning to her. "She agrees with me. She knows Tammy's a great singer."

Gwen pressed her lips together to refrain from saying anything offensive, but her silence worsened everything once Steve pointed an accusing finger at her. "You see? Her silence says it all! The girl can't sing!"

Annoyed her friend wasn't taking her side, Robin kicked her foot and gave her a disapproving nod. "Well, of course she's going to take your side! She's your girlfriend so she's technically forced to!"

"That's not true! Me dating Steve has nothing to do with this," Gwen stated, and waved her finger all around in a sassy way.

"Uh huh," Robin teased, sending an accusatory glance at her before addressing Steve. "Either way, you're still wrong."

Steve boastfully tugged his collar, "Don't believe me? Listen to this." 

He then started singing the lyrics of "Total Eclipse of the Heart," causing the girls to laugh at their embarrassment for his terrible singing.

"She does not sound like that!" Robin snapped.

"She actually does!" Gwen leaned closer to Steve as they begin singing the lyrics and press their ears as if they were holding an earpiece.

Robin groaned and proceeded to cover her ears with her hands, "You guys sound like muppets!"

"Because she sounds like a muppet!"

"Like a muppet giving birth!"

There was no use in arguing with them, because even though Robin wanted to defend Tammy's singing skills, she was just unable to stop her laughter because they were right. She did sound animated, but would she let them know? 

Of course not.

The three of them now sang together. Their voices grew increasingly louder as ecstasy filled the atmosphere. All the Russians and all those tortuous hours of being underground had been left behind as they couldn't even be bothered to care about anything except for this very moment.

A loud crash suddenly came from the bathroom door. The trio snapped their heads in its direction to then be received by the angered glares of Dustin, Erica, and Daphne. Their faces were a bright red and they breathed uncontrollably, indicating how frustrated they were with them.

"Okay, what the hell?!" Dustin flailed his arms in the air as all his patience was now long gone, which only made Gwen laugh even harder. "So you think this is funny?!"

"What part of not going anywhere did you guys not understand?" Daphne stomped on the ground, rolling her eyes as she crossed her arms across her chest.

Slowly, the trio turned to each other. They knew better than to infuriate their friends even more, but another fit of laughter was exchanged between them, much to the others' dismay.