A Musical Pan

You blink at her – not unlike a frog, if she’s being completely honest, one eye closing before the other – with furrowed brows before your eyes flit towards the stark whiteness of your surroundings.

“Hospital.” She explains at your confused expression. “You fell. Big time. We thought you were dead at first. Steve was hysterical and wouldn’t let anyone touch you until Nancy called an ambulance. He’s going to be so pissed that you woke up while he was gone.” Robin recounts with a nervous chuckle. You really did scare the shit out of her; out of all of them.

“Steve?” 

Robin misinterprets the confusion in your tone as she shifts her chair closer to you. “Yeah, he’s been here the whole time; the nurses were not impressed, but he wouldn’t leave. Dustin finally managed to convince him to leave long enough to shower and change at least. We had to tell him he was starting to smell bad. He didn’t, mind you, but don’t tell him that.”

You blink at her again, this one less amphibian in nature. “Steve?”

“Yes…Steve,” she parrots, wondering how long the two of you might sit here volleying the man's name back and forth. 

“As in Harrington?” 

“No, as in Steve Guttenburg from Police Academy,” she deadpans. “Yes, Steve Harrington.”

“Why on Earth would Steve Harrington care if I was in the hospital?” And Robin can’t even take the time to be proud of you for getting all of those words out together in a row when reality crashes down on her. 

Now, Robin will admit that it’s a little shameful how long it takes her to realize something isn’t quite right. She probably could have – should have – assumed, seeing as you are currently laying in a hospital bed; nothing is quite right about a person hooked up to a heart monitor.

Of course, of course Steve leaves you under Robin’s supervision for maybe twenty-seven-and-a-half minutes only for you to wake up in your severely concussed state unable to recall that you’re dating the biggest dingus from high school, and have been for a while.

Why did Robin insist Steve leave? Why would she tell him she could handle this? Why does anyone ever trust her with anything ever?

Fortunately, she’s saved from needing to find answers to those burning questions at Dustin and Steve’s return. Unfortunately, she has no time to answer your burning question (or warn a certain Steve of the current predicament) either. 

“The coconut ruins it,” Robin hears Steve argue with his mouth full as the two boys materialize in the doorway, both too wrapped up in whatever argument they’re having to see the two occupants staring at them in bemusement and horror. 

“The coconut rui- the coconut ruins it!? Steve, the bar is coconut. Coconut is the fundamental component of it,” Dustin sputters. 

“I just think it’d be better if it was, like, peanut butter or something.” 

Dustin scoffs incredulously. “Then you buy Reese’s or a Bopper! Why would you buy an Almond Joy if you don’t like coconut?”

“I didn’t say I don’t like coconut,” Steve argues, looking at the teen as though he was an idiot. “I just meant it would be better if it wasn’t coconut.”

“You’re insane.” 

Robin’s inclined to agree.

She clears her throat. “Hey, so-”

“Whoa! Look who’s up!” Dustin interrupts with a smile, Steve’s head whipping to the side to see you staring at them with wide eyes.

“Whoa, hey! Hey, hey hey hey, wow. Holy shit, hi baby. How long have you been up?”

“Uh, not long,” Robin interjects, voice steadily rising in both volume and pitch. “Listen, we-”

“How are you feeling?” Steve continues as he abandons his coconut monstrosity on a rolling table and makes for your bedside, ignoring Robin and the pointed looks she’s shooting at him. “Are you hurting? Are you thirsty?”

You go to respond but Robin beats you to it. “Steve, I-”

“Have you had any water yet? Robin, where’s her water?” Steve continues, fussing with the blankets that have been untucked from your legs as his eyes flit around the room for the bottle of water he’d set aside for when you needed it. “Why haven’t you given her water yet?”

“We haven’t exactly had time, Steve. Listen-” 

“Have you called the nurse?” Steve asks, shaking his head before even waiting for a response. “Dustin, go get a nurse.”

Dustin doesn’t hesitate before he’s jogging out of the room in search of a nurse. 

“What’s Robin doin’ to ya, huh?” Steve coos at you as he perches on the edge of your bed and presses a careful kiss to your temple, flagrantly ignoring the way Robin is frantically waving at him and mentally screaming Earth to dingus!! “She’s got terrible bedside manners, can’t even take care of my girl properly.” 

You turn your horrified gaze to Robin as though you dating Steve the Hair Harrington is somehow her fault (it is a little bit; she’s the one who re-introduced you two, insisting he was a changed man since high school). 

“Steve!” Robin finally shrieks, missing the way you wince at the volume as Steve turns to look at her like she’s grown three heads. 

“Well, it’s true! You didn’t even get her water, never flagged a nurse-”

“We didn’t exactly have a lot of time before you two showed up,” Robin counters as Dustin returns. 

“The nurses are just doing a shift change, said someone will be with her shortly.” Dustin reports as he hands Steve a new, cold bottle of water for you. 

“Okay, alright. That’s alright, yeah?” Steve confirms with you as he cracks it open. “Are you in pain? If you’re in pain, I can go tell them you need help now.”

Robin watches as you take stock of yourself before side-eyeing her. “I…don’t think so.”

“You don’t think you’re in any pain?” Steve asks gently, bending over slightly in an attempt to regain your attention. Robin finds her heart squeezing at how soft he’s being with you.

Your heart seems to do the same, eyes flooding with tears as all three occupants in the room tense at the sight.

“Hey, hey hey hey, what’s the matter, huh? What’s with the tears?” 

Robin stands. “Steve, I really-”

“Are you in pain? What hurts?”

“Steve-”

“What, Robin?” Steve finally snaps, turning towards her like she’s a fly that finally landed on a lampshade after spending the entire afternoon bothering the shit out of him. 

“She woke up a little…” Robin pauses, looking towards your teary form as she considers how to explain this gently, “confused.”

“Confused?” Steve parrots before turning back to you. “Confused how?”

“Confused as in she didn’t understand why Steve Harrington has been haunting her hospital room.”

Steve’s brows furrow as he considers you before realization dawns on his face. 

“Awe, sweetheart,” he sighs. “Okay, I’m sorry you’re confused, baby. You’ll feel better soon, alright?”

The sound that escapes you in response borders a sob. Robin feels a little bit like doing the same. 

“Don’t cry, honey,” Steve all but begs as he scooches closer towards you on the bed, one hand grasping yours and leaning his weight on the other as he rests it against the bed by your opposite hip. “Hey, did Robin tell you about the wicked burn Max delivered to Mike earlier?”

Dustin perks up. “Oh man, he got so red; worse when El started repeating it afterwards.”

“Mike accused Max of purposefully turning El against him.” Steve agrees. 

“Again. Hey, when they get here, make sure to call Mike a-”

“I don’t want anyone else in here,” you interrupt Dustin quickly, wiping roughly at your face with the hand not currently occupied by Steve’s. “I don’t- it’s…they’re too loud.”

Robin laughs. “Yeah, they are too loud. You comin’ around?”

You suck in a deep, shuddering breath and let out a noncommittal hum in response. 

“Okay, no one else will come in here,” Steve agrees, gaze locked onto your face as he rubs his thumb along the back of your knuckles, cautious of the IV taped to the back of your hand. “Do you want any of us to leave?”

The question is innocent enough, though Robin knows he’s mostly asking you if you’d like him to leave.

You shake your head no, though, and give his hand a gentle squeeze. 

“Okay,” he whispers, leaning forward to press another kiss to your head and humming at you in question when you lift your chin, obviously asking for a real one.

Steve hesitates, clearly concerned he’s not reading your queues right and wondering if you’re feeling at all more cognizant. Apparently, though, rushing your unconscious girlfriend to the hospital and being without kisses for nearly sixteen hours makes a man a little desperate, finding him ultimately pressing a cautious kiss to your lips anyways.

“You’re okay, hm?” Steve murmurs into the corner of your mouth, dotting a few more kisses to your face before sitting up. “Scared the shit out of me.” 

“M’sorry,” your whisper back. 

“Yeah, you should be. He’s been insufferable,” Dustin comments, earning him a glare from Steve and a half-smile from you. 

“Yeah, yeah. Okay, that’s enough out of you, wise guy. What the hell are you two still doing here, anyway? Shouldn’t you guys go alert the others that she’s awake?” 

“Alright, dingus. Say less,” Robin sighs as she stands, Dustin playfully muttering about how he knows when he’s not wanted. 

You pay them no mind, looking up at Steve shyly; it reminds Robin of when the two of you first started hanging out. Awkward, tentative, careful. Steve looks like he’s shielding you from the entire world with the way he’s leaning over your form, you’re looking at him like he might disappear if you blink for too long.

The two of you are disgusting; she loves you both so much. 

Robin pauses at the door to take one last look at two of her favourite people, you bite your lip as you ask Steve a question that Robin can’t hear, he chuckles before replying, a little louder, “’course, sweetheart. You can have as many kisses as you want.”