she likes girls, duh

✧

"IT'S A MIRACLE!"

"She won't see it that way . . ."

"There's not one scratch on her! Evans, this is amazing!"

Evans rolled her eyes at her partner. She snapped on her blue rubber gloves, softly pressing her hands around the sleeping girl's chest, neck and face, checking for injuries.

"You saw that car, Ella," He spoke up again, reaching across the ambulance for his own gloves. "She shouldn't have survived it."

Ella Evans scoffed, choosing to ignore his words as she blew her kinky curls out of her face. "Her nose is bleeding," she said, wiping the blood away with a cotton ball. "There might be internal bleeding. She must have hit her head."

"How is she still breathing?" He muttered under his breath.

Ella brightened when the girl on the stretcher stirred, slowly waking up.

"Shit, okay. Jacob, go tell Chris to hurry, she's waking up."

"What?"

"Tell Chris to fucking step on the gas!" Ella exclaimed before turning her attention to the girl who was now wide awake, trying to sit up. "No, lay back down."

"Where am I?" she asked, her green eyes looking around the place. It was small, and it felt like it was moving, was she in a van? Did someone kidnap her?

"You're in an ambulance, babe. There was a crash," Ella spoke slowly, turning to reach for a small flashlight.

The girl blinked dizzily.

"Follow the light for me," Ella said, flashing a bright white light on her face. And She did what she's told. "Alright, do you remember your name?"

"Rue."

"Your full name?"

"Ruth Newby," she said, looking around the small space in the ambulance. "Where's my mom?" she asked. When the two paramedics didn't answer, she began to panic. "Where's my mom?" she asked again. "Where—"

"Your mom's in a different ambulance."

"Why?" she asked, and they didn't answer. "I wanna see her."

"You can't,"

"Why not?"

"Because —"

Rue didn't let them finish as she began to pull off the needles that were attached to her arms.

"Hey don't—"

"Where's my mom?" She bellowed, staring at them angrily.

Something flashed in Rue's eyes, "Tell me why not." she spoke in a smooth and silky voice, and the two paramedics' eyes became dazed for a moment before the man spoke up.

"She was announced dead on the scene."

Ella quickly snapped out of her daze, and she hit him on the shoulder for telling, despite the fact what he said was sitting at the tip of her tongue. "Jacob!" she hissed.

Jacob blinked, "What?"

"Why would you say that?"

"Say what?"

Ruth blocked out the fighting, and a soft ringing noise filled her ears. She was announced dead on the scene, played in her head over and over before she finally caught on. And it all hit her while a weight of trucks on her shoulders. She remembered all of it: the crash, the song, the protective bubble, the glowing, the drunk, the death. The murder. Before she had the chance to process it all, the ambulance came to a sudden halt.

"What's going on?" Ella asked, and then the lights began to flicker. "Jacob . . ." She started, turning to face him, but he had his hands in the air.

"It's not me!"

Rue swallowed the lump that grew in her throat. The ambulance became cold, really cold. She jumped at the sound of growls.

"What's that?!"

"Maybe it's a bear."

"No. . . " Rue mumbled and turned her head to the sound. There was now something scratching against the metal sides, and the growls began louder. Rue's stomach dropped. They sounded so familiar. But why?

They always said there was calm before disaster, and the silence that followed after the scratching stopped was much scarier than the growls itself.

Jacob was breathing heavily, his hands shaking as he reached for the doors, but Ella quickly stopped him. "Don't," she huffed, "we don't know—"

"Well, it's gone isn't it?"

"Jacob, don't open the door."

If only he had listened.

As soon as his hands turned the handle, the door burst open. He got pulled out of the ambulance. Ella began to scream, and Rue felt herself become paralyzed.

"JACOB!" Ella cried, inching to go after him.

"No! Stop!" Rue grabbed her arm. "Don't — don't go!"

The back doors of the ambulance swung open for a short time, and the moonlight and summer night breeze filled the vehicle.

The two girls' loud breaths were the only things heard before they shrieked when there was a thud on the rooftop, and then whatever had fallen on the roof rolled off and flopped to the ground before the door. Rue and Ella let out blood-curdling screams when they saw Jacob's body crash on the road before them.

Rue's nails dug into Ella's arm as she stared at the body, it looked chewed up and eaten, and the longer she stared at it, the more it looked like her dad. Tears filled her eyes as she let out a sob. "No,"

Another growl echoed, and she shrieked when she saw it.

The dogs. The Demo-dogs. There were three of them, and the one in the middle opened its flower-like mouth tauntingly before it jumped into the back of the ambulance.

Rue tried to crawl away when the other two Demo-dogs jumped in, too. "NO, LET ME GO!" She screamed when she felt teeth digging into her leg, dragging her away. "NO!" she cried, trying to hold onto Ella, who sobbed for her.

"Rue!" the young black woman cried, holding onto her shoulders.

"Don't let them take me!"

"Rue!" she cried again, shaking her shoulders, causing Rue to sob as the pull on her leg became harder, teeth slashing on her soft skin.

"Rue!"

Rue jumped awake, breathing heavily. She sat up on her bed and choked and began to cough. Her throat was dry, and she felt like she might end up coughing up blood soon.

"Rue," a gentle voice said in her ear, and an arm wrapped around her.

She jumped at the touch, jerking her head around. Rue rubbed her eyes, trying to focus her vision and then she realized it was just Max, a soft yet tired smile on her freckled face.

Max cupped her cheeks, slowly wiping away the tears that rolled down Rue's cheeks. She didn't even realize she was crying until then. And she also noticed the way her shirt stuck to her sweaty skin.

"Are you okay?"

"We're fine,"

Max stiffened for a moment, "We're?"

"Sorry," Rue quickly mumbled, leaning her cheek to Max's touch. She closed her eyes, trying to calm down. "I meant — I'm fine — I'm great — well . . . I'm not great — I meant — it — it . . . it's just a nightmare," She rambled.

Max smiled again, tucking a strand of Rue's hair that had slipped off its bun as she slept behind her ear. She led Rue to lay down and wrapped her arms around her.

Rue hummed as their legs became tangled, and she tucked her head on Max's chest. "I'm sorry if I woke you."

"It's okay," Max mumbled, beaming at the scent of Rue's shampoo, cinnamon. "I get them too," she said, lazily drawing figures on Rue's back. "It's only five," she added, "do you want to go back to sleep or just cuddle."

Max laughed as Rue snuggled closer.

"Cuddle me pwease!"

"Can you guys shut up?" Another voice said across the room.

"Fuck off, Will," Max flipped him off before pressing a kiss on Rue's forehead.

Will mumbled something they couldn't hear, and he lifted his hand, flashing his pinky finger at her.

"What's that?" Max laughed, and Rue smiled at the feeling of her chest bubbling.

"The Chinese middle finger!"

"The what?" The ginger chuckled, "That's not a thing!"

"Sure it is!"

"Hey, Will?" Rue called, without moving in her spot.

"Yeah?"

"Shut up."

（ ₊˚. ✰┊📼 ! ）

"Rue," Max said slowly, holding onto the girl's hand so tightly her knuckles turned white. "Are you sure this is a good idea?" she added worriedly, chewing on her lower lip.

Rue laughed, nodding, "Why not?"

Max frowned, shaking her head. "Won't it hurt?"

"Yeah, so?"

"So, you don't care?"

"Not really? The pain will go away, Max," Rue said. On the outside, she was giggling at Max's worry, and inside she was slowly melting into putty in Max's hands. She was worried for her, and Rue would jump off a building if it meant Max would catch her.

Someone clearing their throat caused Rue to snap away from her thoughts. She looked away from Max and to the woman in rubber gloves. "Ready, Rue?"

"Yep," she beamed, leaning back on the chair. Max held Rue's hand tighter, which caused the girl to glance at her for a second. "Max, you're going to break my hand."

"Sorry." she muttered, loosening her grip in the slightest bit. Max shook her head, staring at the needle that inched to Rue's skin. It was supposed to be a joke. Their game Mall Roulette, where they have silly things to do in the mall in a hat, and they'd take turns to pull a slip of paper out and buy/do whatever it said.

Max wondered why Rue wasn't as nervous as she was. "Maybe you shouldn't," Max let out quickly. "Maybe it's a bad idea."

"You only live once," Rue shrugged, "fuck it."

"Do you want the piercings or not, kid?"

Rue grinned, nodding, "My ears are all yours, Maria."

Maria rolled her eyes and pushed the needle through Rue's ear lobe, then added a small earring, and she did the same on the other side. "Do you want a helix one, too?"

"Yeah, sure,"

Maria nodded, turning around.

Max narrowed her eyebrows, leaning closer to Rue, "Where's your helix?"

"I have no idea."

Her eyes widened, and she slapped Rue's arm, "Rue!" Max squeaked, making the girl laugh. "You can't just do that!"

Rue faked a pout, "Don't hit me, you'll hurt me more than I already am," she joked, pointing to her ears. If she was honest, it did not hurt as bad as people made it seem. It felt like a pinch, and sure, it stung a little, but it won't last forever.

"Alright, hold your breath," Maria said, turning back around. She marked a dot on a higher area on Rue's ears before pushing the needle without warning.

"Shit — what the fuck!"

（ ₊˚. ✰┊📼 ! ）

"Maybe you were right," Rue groaned, itching to rub the ice cream before her on her ears as they throbbed in pain.

Max hummed from beside her, shaking her head. "I'm always right," she said, popping the cherry on top of her Sundae in her mouth.

Rue pouted and shuffled closer to Max in the circled booth they had occupied in Scoops Ahoy. Max chuckled, turning slightly to face Rue, "Give me your hand," she swallowed the rest of her cherry.

"What?"

"Your hand — hold it up for me."

She tilted her head in confusion for a moment but held her hand up anyway. Max grinned, smacking hers against Rue's like a high-five, but instead of letting go, she slowly locked their fingers together, and she kissed the back of Rue's hand.

Rue didn't say anything — she was terrified that the family of butterflies that moved in her stomach were going to fly out her mouth if she did. Her face went red, and she bit her lower lip to suppress a smile. "You're going to be the end of me, Max Mayfield," Rue sighed, gawking at their locked hands. Oh, she loved the sight. Rue could stare at it all day if she could.

Max's eyes widened, and she blushed deeply, slowly lowering their hands, they sat on her lap. She looked away from Rue to hide her red face and continued to eat her Sundae. "W-well," she stuttered, "it doesn't hurt anymore, does it?"

"What does?" Rue asked, her mind a mush of pink and red hearts, and she left like Cupid had struck her, not once, but twice.

Max smirked, glanced back up at Rue, "Your ears?"

"Why would they hurt?" she said stupidly.

The ginger let out a laugh that caused Rue's knees to feel weak. God, she was lucky she was already sitting down or else she would have fallen for Max Mayfield.

"Nevermind, Rue," she smiled, "your ice cream's melting,"

Rue looked down at her other hand to see her ice cream was, in fact, melting. "Oh, no," she frowned, watching the vanilla slip between her fingers as she fisted the waffle cone. "I should get another—" Rue went to stand, only for Max to pull her back down, "Jesus, Max, you're gonna rip my arm out—"

"Shh!"

"What—?"

"Shh! Look!" Max pointed to the counter with her spoon. "Isn't that the girl from your baseball game?"

Rue leaned on Max and followed her gaze, "Sky?"

"Shh!" Max huffed, "Why are you so loud?"

Rue raised her hands in surrender, forgetting they're locked with Max's, and she accidentally knocked their hands to the table. "Ouch!"

"Rue!" Max hissed, pulling her hand away.

"I'm sorry!" Rue cried, taking Max's hands and caressing them softly, "I didn't mean to," she mumbled, rubbing her thumb over her knuckles. "I didn't want to hurt you."

"You're so soft," Max muttered, trying to hide the fact her heart was racing much faster than before. Rue looked up at Max through her eyelashes and smiled.

"Why would you willingly come to Hawkins?" They heard Robin Buckley laugh, causing them to look away from each other and to the front counter, where Robin was, scooping out ice cream into a small cup.

Robin Buckley worked in Scoops Ahoy. Rue and Max loved to team up with her to annoy Steve Harrington, which is why they were at Scoops Ahoy in the first place, however, just for them to find out Steve was on break, and at the other side of the mall. So, Max and Rue decided to buy ice creams and wait for him to come back.

Rue and Max heard her laugh again. This time, it laced with another chuckle, the short-haired ginger who was ordering ice cream, Sky Butcher. The girl Rue had met at her game just a day ago.

Sky took the ice cream cup from Robin, a teasing smirk on her face. She said something to Robin that made her go red, and Max and Rue wondered what she had said.

Max tilted her head, watching as Sky lingered by the counter even after she had gotten her ice cream. "Is she . . . flirting?"

"I think so," Rue snickered, wiping the sticky melted vanilla ice cream from her hands.

"With Robin?"

She nodded, slurping the rest of the ice cream from the waffle cone. "Looks like it."

Max scrunched her nose. "Why?"

Rue playfully rolled her eyes. "I don't know Max," she said sarcastically, "why do you think people flirt?"

"But why is she flirting with Robin,"

She laughed, shaking her head. Rue nudged Max's shoulder, causing her to look at her. "She likes girls, duh,"

Max's eyes went wide, and she looked at the two older girls again. "Oh, shit," she gasped, and then she frowned, turning to Rue. "Does this mean you like her?"

Rue choked on her ice cream, "W-what?" she sputtered.

"Do you like Sky?" Max asked, looking at Rue expectantly.

"Why would I like Sky? I don't even know her."

"I don't know . . ." Max mumbled, shrinking in her seat, "you both like girls, so I just thought — "

"Oh, so you like Mike?"

Max quickly sat up, "W-what?" she coughed, "What — what made you think that? Why would I—"

Rue smirked teasingly, "I mean . . . I don't know, you're both straight — so I just thought . . ." she mocked.

Max's cheeks flared pink, and she crossed her arms over her chest. "Very funny," she said quietly, rolling her eyes and looking away from Rue.

Rue frowned, "I was just kidding," she said, but Max wouldn't look at her. "Max," she slid closer, and she still wouldn't budge. "Maaaax," she hummed, leaned her head on her shoulder, looking at the girl with puppy eyes.

"Maxine," she sat up, starting to get bothered by the sudden lack of attention. "Hmpt," she huffed, reaching to cup Max's cheeks and turn her around. She expected to see an annoyed look on her face, but Rue beamed when she saw Max smiling.

Rue scrunched her nose, grinning, "That wasn't nice. I thought you got mad at me for a second."

Max shook her head, leaning closer to Rue's touch. "I could never get mad at you."

Rue let out a giggle that caused a few butterflies to float around Max's stomach. God, this summer was going to be great. Rue was bright and healing, and she was happy herself. What could go wrong?

Max felt herself leaning closer, and Rue held her breath. She tried to keep eye contact and not glanced down at Max's lips. However, it wasn't fair because Max's blue eyes were already staring at hers. A tingle of joy sparked down Rue's back as their freckled noses brushed together, and it seemed the two girls had forgotten they were in public until someone reminded them.

A loud THUMP on the table maybe them both break away and slide a few feet away from each other as their faces reddened brightly and their hearts were beating out of their chests.

"Alright, what did you two want from me—" The voice of Steve Harrington rang in their ears, which was surprising they could still hear it with the loud beatings of their hearts. "Oh, shit, I just—" Steve started, noticing the two girls flushed faces and pants. "Did I—"

"No, — it's fine," Rue shook her head, composing herself. "Yes, we were looking for you,"

Steve rose a brow, glancing between Rue and Max, who wouldn't even look at him. He frowned but sat down next to Rue anyway, fixing his 'Ahoy,' hat. "What did you need?"

"Nothing really, we just wanted to annoy you," He heard Max grumble.

Steve looked down at Rue, "Did you pierce your ears?"

She beamed, nodding, "Yup! 'You like 'em?" she leaned closer so he could see the green and blue earrings she had picked out.

"Yeah, it looks nice," He said.