#stobin being disgustingly codependent pls and thank you

[tending-the-hearth]

so steve DOESN'T die in season 5, but he and robin get separated.

idk, maybe steve, jonathan, and nancy go off fighting a group of demogorgons in a parallel to s1, and robin's with erica and max at the hospital, fighting off demodogs, and when the mindflayer dies, there's a horrible, horrible moment where robin sees the place that steve ran off to explode, and she feels like she wants to throw up

but then the party converges back to the hospital, and mike, lucas, and dustin are the first to get back, and lucas throws himself at his sister and girlfriend, and the three of them are crying, and dustin hurtles into robin's arms, because he saw the explosion to, and mike pretends to be nonchalant, but he's clinging to dustin's sleeve.

murray, joyce, and hopper are next, supporting an exhausted eleven and will, and it's then that mike's calm facade breaks, and he sags with relief. at this point, eleven and mike are broken up, maybe will has told mike how he feels, maybe not, but mike just hugs both of them, and they hold onto him, and hopper checks in on the rest of the kids while joyce stands with robin and dustin after surveying the room and realizing who's missing.

and they wait too long. they wait for longer than they should if the trio is still alive. but robin doesn't move from her spot, doesn't sit, doesn't listen to anyone trying to coax her away from the window.

it isn't until the sun is beginning to peak over the horizon that she spots three figures approaching the hospital, in various states of injured and limping, and robin lets out a shriek as she flies out of the room, mike and joyce following at her heels, but robin's the first one out of the hospital.

she doesn't slow down, doesn't pause, she collides with steve in a way that makes them both wince, but his arms are wrapping around her waist just as tightly as her arms are around his neck, and she buries her face in his shoulder as he presses his nose against her hair, and she can feel the sticky blood on his arm, and he can feel the bruises on her side, but none of that matters.

vaguely, they can hear mike and nancy crying as they reunite, nancy cradling her brother in her arms like he's a child again, joyce has jonathan tucked into her side, but all steve and robin care about is that their Platonic with a Capital P soulmate is alive and safe.

in a few minutes, robin will pull away and punch steve's uninjured arm, and ask him through her relieved tears what the fuck took him so long, and he'll explain that he, nancy, and jonathan wanted to make absolutely sure everything was closed, and jonathan will roll his eyes and say that steve got the worst of the injuries protecting him and nancy, and mike will, for the first time, separate from his sister and hug steve tightly.

and later that night, the Party will descend upon steve's house, and pile blankets and pillows into the living room, and robin and steve will fall asleep in each other's arms, dustin starfished over steve, erica pressed against robin's side, the rest of the kids curled up with each other like a giant puppy pile.

but for now, steve and robin cling to each other, tears falling down their cheeks, shoulders shaking with sobs, relieved, heavy sobs. in the back of their mind, they'll both have the same thought, because they're the same person, the same soul. they'll thank whatever deity is listening that they were paired up at scoops, because neither of them ever, ever again wants to possibly imagine a future where they don't have each other at their side.