Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It had all began when Robin asked Nancy if she would want to accompany her to California for the national championship soccer game. But Nancy hesitated on answering, and Robin, being who she is, began to ramble on about how it was really okay if she didn’t want to, how she didn’t want to put any pressure on her to come, and how it would really be boring for her to come anyway so she might as well just skip it and before Nancy got a word in the conversation had ended. Nancy knows that she probably should have called Robin back and said yes, that of course she wanted to come to her game but something stopped her, a deep fear that Robin truly wouldn’t want her there. But about two days before the game, and after a long conversation with Steve, Nancy decided the best course of action would be to o and surprise Robin.

Now, it was the morning of nationals and Robin was petrified. Standing alone in her hotel room bathroom, in nothing but her favorite sports bra and spandex, the freshly washed uniform laying over the sink. It was as if every doubt she’d had, related to her soccer skills or not had been rushing to her all at one moment. And she wasn’t even nervous about playing what would probably be one of the most important games of her life but rather she was stuck on the fact that Nancy wasn’t here. She wanted nothing more than to have Nancy at her side, but Nancy was across the country, probably hard at work two timezones from where Robin was in this bathroom freaking out about every single decision she had ever made.

She was stuck on the fantasy of looking out into the crowd and catching Nancy’s eyes, stuck on the mere idea that Nancy would come and surprise heer. But Nancy had things to do, things in her life that forced her not to center Robin all of the time, and that was okay, healthy even. Still, Robin couldn’t quite get her brain to accept the rationale and continued to linger on the thought of running into Nancy’s embrace after the game.

And yet the world did not care about Robin's breakdown or daydream, and before she knew it she was on the move. Dragged by her teammates to grab lunch so they would make it to the field in time to settle down before starting warm ups. Robin sat through each part of the morning anxious to start moving, for something to pull her mind away from the hole it had dug itself. She figured that once she got her feet on the ball everything would be okay. She’d be zeroed in and ready to go.

Robin sat on the bus and recalled how every person she’d met had simply been shocked by her involvement in sports, and how they were even more shocked that she was good at them. She couldn’t quite describe it herself but there was something about being on that field that just made everything make sense, it was where she felt most confident.

Nancy was in a panic. Despite the many hours she had left herself to get to the airport she had still managed to run behind. It wasn’t exactly her fault though, she just got so enraptured in her research for an upcoming article that she simply managed to tune out her four alarms, each one signifying different tasks that had to be done before she left. She raced to the airport and got through security with about ten minutes to spare before her flight boarded, where she was finally able to settle herself. Though she quickly found there was no more calm to the waiting then there was to the rushing, because she couldn’t help but feel like the idea of surprising Robin was a huge mistake. It had been months since they last saw each other and she was worried that making it a surprise wasn’t the best way to go about it.

Endless possibilities rushed through her mind of Robin not wanting her to be a part of this world. This was the first game of Robin’s she’d ever been to and she began to worry that maybe Robin liked it better when she was kept separate from her life in soccer. Her mind continued to race with thoughts of this nature until she was in her seat, buckled in, and she realized this was now happening regardless of her input and so she put her headphones in and attempted to relax for the 4 hour flight where nothing was in her control.

And finally it was game time. Robin sweeped the crowd once more before the whistle blew, hoping to catch familiar eyes in her own, not that it was worth much of an effort. The stadium was packed and far more people than Robin would have ever expected to be interested in a girls soccer game were watching.

Nancy knew she was late and it was sending her into quite the frenzy the buildup of nerves and anxiety almost overtaking her until she set her sights back on the goal, being there for Robin. She slid into her seat about 20 minutes into the first half right in time for Robin to masterfully trap a punt from the other teams goalie and passing it with what seemed like little effort. It was magical for Nancy to see Robin like this, so confident, so sure of herself, and Nancy loved every moment she got to watch her girlfriend like this.

Before Robin knew it, it was halftime which provided her with her first break of the game. The perk (or curse) of being a centerback is that you do enough running that you get tired but not enough that coaches really look to sub you. As her teammates strategized with their coach Robin took another sweep of the stadium, allowing her eyes to move a little slower, and linger a little more on each section until a voice pulled her out of it. “Buckley, get your head on straight. It is essential for the back line to communicate right now, if you all are not covering for one another than we lose our shot” her coach practically barked at her. Robin looked to the scoreboard that indicated the 1-1 tie and 45 minutes left in the game, her stomach turned and she managed to convince herself it was because of the score.

The first 40 minutes of the half practically flew by without a change in score, both teams desperate to prove themselves and not go into overtime. Robin was nothing if not consistent, trapping balls, lobing balls, and cutting off the other team from shooting like she always had. She was totally and completely in the moment and Nancy would be lying if she said that she didnt find it incredibly hot. It was getting down to the last minute and it was like a miracle had happened. A steal from Robin leading to the perfectly placed long ball to the feet of their left forward who, in one gorgeous motion both trapped and crossed the ball to center where the striker hit the ball straight in. The crowd literally went wild, and Nancy felt so much pride, she wanted to scream out that Robin was her girlfriend who set that game winning play in action, wanted to run down to the field and tackle her. Still, 30 seconds remained in the game and the other team looked hungry, but Robin didn’t let up. Her and her teammates kept their lead with grace and ease.

As the buzzer blared the team came crashing together on the field and ended up in some sort of moshpit-hug hybrid. Robin felt so much joy, but couldn’t help but to feel like something was missing. Nancy practically ran down the stairs from her section to the field where Robin was. But as she was descending the last flights of stairs she felt the same pit in her stomach she felt the night Robin originally asked her if she wanted to come, the thoughts of ‘what if she really doesn’t want me here’ plagued her again. As she was staring off, contemplating turning around, she heard her name called by the voice she had missed so much.

“Nance!” Robin half yelled as she essentially flung herself at the smaller girl “why didn’t you tell me you were coming.” Nancy took a moment to squeeze Robin around the hips before replying “Well Steve told me that surprising you would be way more romantic and also I wasn’t totally sure you’d want me here. But it doesn’t matter about me, you played amazingly. Like seriously why have I never watched you play before.” Robin pulled back for a moment, looking Nancy up and down before pulling her back in tight. “I will always want you with me” she whispered before placing a soft kiss on Nancy’s lips that said everything else she couldn’t.