Chapter 38

May 1986.

“Can’t believe we’ve graduated” Sofia said, diploma sitting next to her, along with her bag.

“Yeah, and with only like… two military tanks around!” Robin said, sarcastically, before taking a bite of her burger, and then saying with her mouth full “All thanks to you, by the way…”

“Don’t make me blush!” Sofia said, blushing and smiling shyly.

“It’s true though! If the military crumbled over your letter, imagine if they were here for the federal budget debate…” Robin said, completely in awe with her girlfriend.

“I just asked politely to let us have a normal graduation” Sofia said, a sarcastic tone in her voice, though her smile showed she was proud.

“Yeah, very politely” Robin said, chuckling, eating a fry.  “I think we have a delivery today”.

Sofia sighs. But quietly, so Robin doesn’t notice. “Already?” she asked, looking at her burger.

“It’s on time” Robin corrected her, taking a distracted bite of her burger.

Sofia doesn’t say anything else. 

It’s always the same. They get the information, she and Robin find a way to say it on the radio. During the crawl, she drives with Steve and Dustin. Then, they never learn anything new. She kisses Robin goodbye when nobody’s watching. She goes home and cries herself to sleep.

After lunch, Sofia drives to the Squawk, one hand on the steering wheel and the other holding Robin’s. Her Bowie tape is playing quietly.

“How’s the job search?” Robin asked, rolling the window up so she could hear her girlfriend talk.

“Not good. I don’t know what I’m doing honestly” Sofia said, letting a chuckle out. Robin looks at her with worry.

July 1986.

A life of unemployment never did good to anyone, let alone Sofia Henderson. But don’t fear, because she finally got a job: cleaning lady, in the hospital.

Just what she needed. To be around dead people, like she isn’t a living corpse. But a job is a job, and she wants the money.

The other day, Sofia cried while looking at the world map. She’s jealous of it, but the two are stuck in Hawkins, so they’re even in a way.

But God, how agonizing is to be stuck inside this town. For so long she dreamed of a way out: a happy way of life, with Robin, somewhere where they’re safe, and not constantly scared.

Some days, during quiet shifts, she likes to go visit Max. She talks to her, about her bad thoughts and feelings, sure the redhead would understand completely.

“Everyone seems to be able to deal with all this and I feel so alienated. We’ve encountered a deadly interdimensional being, and everyone acts like it’s normal…” Sofia said, hoping Max could hear her. “But I guess you know that too well”.

When she can’t go in Max’s room because Lucas is there, and she doesn’t want to explain what she’s doing there, she’ll hide in the storage room and write.

Poems, letters, essays about anything. Politics, art, music, films. Anything that will distract her from the reality she’s in.

“Oregon? Really?” Robin asked that one time, looking funnily at the pamphlet in her hands. She was resting her head on Sofia’s chest, as she stroke her hair.

“I wanted to be more ambitious, but my grades don’t help” Sofia said, quietly, loving the feel of Robin’s weight on top of her.

“I think it’s perfect for you” Robin said, turning over to look at her girlfriend. “Political science suits you. Plus, you look really hot when you’re debating…”

Sofia chuckles at that, Robin becoming more bold with each passing day. “Yeah? Say that again” Sofia said, a teasing smirk on her lips.

And so Robin kissed her, very passionately, doing every little thing that just drove Sofia crazy. Their legs tangled, lips swollen, hopes of a good future.

August 1986.

Sofia can’t seem to fall asleep. It’s been a problem for the last couple of weeks, and it’s driving her crazy.

It started with their last Crawl, by a scare they had with Hopper. It turned out okay, but ever since then she’s having trouble sleeping at night.

So she finds herself falling asleep at the Squawk, or the back of her car, or in the supply closet during shifts. But at night, she can only fall asleep if Robin’s by her side.

It’s all about Cher. It’s about how she let her best friend be so shitty towards her for so long. It’s about what Vecna showed her. It’s about Robin dying. It’s about the stupid town she’s grown to hate.

At least people find it normal for her to always been sleeping. That’s her thing.

But Robin sees the light in Sofia’s eyes has left. The girl who used to read about everything, to be excited about every small thing, to be able to light her up. 

When Robin was feeling down, Sofia was always there to pick her up. But now, when Robin’s feeling like her brain is melting, they just rot together.

Sofia can’t seem to fall asleep. So she gets up and goes for a drive.

To dodge the military, she drives through dirt roads to the parking lot near the old trailer park.

It’s cold, and her pajama shirt and tiny shorts don’t help. But she seats on the hood of her car and stares at the car on the other side of the small parking lot, and the two people talking in front of it.

If it is the military, she’s in too much trouble, but she doesn’t care enough to move.

So she stares, and then a little bit harder.

“Gareth?” she yelled, recognizing the person. 

He stops in his tracks, the other person flees. Then, he starts walking towards Sofia’s car.

“Sofia Henderson” Gareth said, surprised. “What are you doing here?”

“Couldn’t sleep” Sofia replied, as he sat next to her. For her surprise, he wasn’t high. “You?”

“Just… working” Gareth replied, sounding as foolish as ever. “You good?”

“No” she replied, dry. “Still wearing the Hellfire shirt?”

“Only at nighttime” he said, after chuckling. “Don’t want those jerks giving me a hard time like they do with your brother”.

“Yeah, you’re smart” Sofia said, before adding “I just want to kill them sometimes”.

Gareth laughs, but doesn’t say anything. Sofia looks up at the stars.

After a moment of silence, she hears him messing with a plastic bag. “Here” he said, and so she looked at him.

A joint. “I don’t have any money, sorry” she said, though she wouldn’t mind smoking right now.

“It’s a birthday gift. Take it” he said, bringing it closer to her.

“It’s not my birthday” she said, bluntly, debating if she should refuse first to be polite or take it already.

“You could always pay me with a kiss” Gareth said, a stupid smile on his lips.

“In your dreams” Sofia said, before taking it. She put it in between her lips and he lit it up.

And so, Sofia spent the rest of the night getting stoned with Gareth the pothead.

October 1986.

Sofia was fuming. 

Because if having to clean up vomit from her shoes wasn’t bad enough, having to clean Dustin’s bloody nose was even worse.

She left the hospital later than usual, and on her way home she saw Dustin biking alone, so she slowed down and told him to come in. He refused, but then she stopped the car right ahead of him, so he had to come in.

“What happened?” Sofia said, very surprised, once Dustin sat on the passenger seat.

“Nothing” Dustin replied, bluntly, emotionless like he has been for a while.

Sofia sighed, because she was mad. She wanted to yell at Dustin, to yell at him so he’d react, so he’d stop provoking those stupid guys, but that’s blaming the victim and he didn’t deserve it.

Dustin didn’t want any help, but Sofia needed to help him. She misses the old him, but she’d never say that out loud.

As she cleaned his dry blood, she started getting angrier and angrier. 

“Does it hurt?” she asked, trying to keep her voice soft and understanding.

“No” he replied, looking up at the ceiling.

“If you’re going to get into fights, you need to throw a few punches at least” Sofia joked, trying to lighten up his mood.

He chuckled, and that was good enough for her. More than she’d heard from him in the last few months.

And it was thinking about her brother’s adorable chuckle that she was driving to Robin’s house, to spend the night since her parents would be out.

So yes, she was listening to Bowie, the song “Tonight” screaming in her ears. Everything will be alright tonight, she sang along.

But no, it didn’t make her any less angry, it just made her thoughtless.

Driving by one of the dirt roads, she spotted three guys, biking slowly. And she recognized them quickly. And it just made her so, so much more angry.

Sofia was fuming, so…

“What’s wrong?” Robin asked, right when she opened the door, right when she noticed an expression she’s never seen before in Sofia.

“I just ran over three guys” Sofia answered, a calm yet unsettled tone, while entering the house.

Robin closed the door. “What?!” she said, knowing straight away that the brunette wasn’t joking.

“Dustin came all beat up from school-“

“Again?!” Robin said, almost entering a spiral of rambling.

“Yeah, and I’m just so tired of seeing him like that…” Sofia said, trying to find the words, as she was walking to the living room. “And I was driving here, listening to Bowie, and they were right ahead of me-“

“No way…”

“So I started driving faster. I just wanted to scare them, you know? But they didn’t move, so I ended up knocking one of the bikes down, and the others went with him, you know, like a domino-” Sofia explained, ending up with a smile on her lips.

“Oh my God…” Robin said, her lips curling into a smile too. Were they just nervous or actually happy about it? “What did you do next?”

“I drove away! I saw them getting up, they’re fine” Sofia replied, really not caring if they were alright or not.

“You think they recognized you?” Robin asked, walking nervously around the living room.

“Maybe, they’ve seen Dustin in my car before” Sofia answered, putting her hair up in a bun because the anxiety was making her hot.

“But you were driving on the dirt road?” Robin asked, her anxiety coming to a stop.

“Yes, of course” Sofia said, taking off her jacket, leaving her with a blouse tucked in her denim jeans.

For the first time since Sofia arrived, the house hears silence.

“You’re insane” Robin said, shaking her head while smiling, “and they deserved it”

“You don’t think it was too much?” Sofia asked, walking towards Robin.

“Maybe… I mean, morally? Yes, definitely. But they do deserve it, so…” Robin said, pushing Sofia closer by her belt loops.

“I don’t feel bad at all” Sofia said, placing her hands around Robin’s neck.

“Good” Robin said, quietly, pulling Sofia into a kiss. It was fast, rushed, but passionate. 

They were always craving for moments alone, because they didn’t come often. Either Sofia was too depressed to move or someone was in the house. But tonight, they’re alone.

So they kissed. And Robin undid the buttons of Sofia’s blouse. 

Later, they watched The Apartment.

Before going to bed, they got stoned on the porch.

“Isn’t this your third one of the week?” Robin asked, halfway through the joint, the constant worry stuck on her throat.

“Yeah” Sofia replied. 

It was the sixth.

A/N: hiii guys prepare yourselves for the next chapter cuz its a heavy one…. and im actually really nervous about publishing so i hope yall enjoy
 p.s.: if you read 2026 instead of 1986…. no you didnt