the kids are not alright

✧

TEA. IT WAS HOT WATER with dried herbs that melted away in a little bag. There was nothing special about it. But it got settled into people's minds that tea could calm their nerves, ease their minds and push away their worries. . . . Oh, yeah, and help with stomach aches.

Rue Newby thought it was all a bunch of bullshit.

The minute Jonathan had set the cup before her, she knew it. "Come on, Rue — just drink at least half of it," He told her, his hands placed on her shoulders softly, careful not to hurt her.

Rue fought the urge to roll her eyes — if she did, it would only increase her headache. She sighed, gingerly taking the cup in her bandaged hands. "Jonny, you know I don't like tea. . ." Rue pouted, looking up at him as he sat in front of her on the small table.

Jonathan frowned, reaching across the table to delicately push away the hair that flopped over her face. He looked at the girl sadly, almost in disappointment, not at her, but himself. As her older brother, it was his duty to keep his baby siblings safe. He was Rue's first sibling — her older brother. He was supposed to protect her.

Rue huffed, sipping on the drink. After she woke up, Nancy and Jonathan had been shoving food and drinks down her throat, saying it was for her health. And Rue knew it was — Rue hasn't eaten anything since yesterday morning, and that was just a granola bar. Rue tried to tell she wasn't hungry, and they only listened when she threw back up the eggs Nancy made for her.

This leads to now, Jonathan trying to get Rue to drink something.

Rue tapped her fingers against the rim of the cup, staring blankly at the old wooden table. She felt uncomfortable, not her clothes, they were soft and fresh from El's closet. But the bandages — her wounds were itchy and she tingled to scratch and pick at them, but fought upon it, not wanting Max or Nancy to get mad.

"Rue?" a voice pulled her away from her thoughts and she looked up from the green tea to El, who slowly stepped towards the table, nervously playing with the black bandana in her hands. It was planned that El would go into the void and find the Flayed.

"Yeah?" Rue smiled.

El mirrored her shy grin. She sat next to her on the table, sending Jonathan a quick nod in hello before turning to Rue. "I want you to go with me," She said quietly. "To the void — I think I found a way you can come with me."

If El didn't want to be heard, her wishes weren't achieved because Nancy had quickly put an end to El's idea. "No, no. El, you know Rue's hurt."

Once she had explained what happened at Sky's house to everyone, they'd all become cautious around Rue, treating her like glass. That, or they'd feel disappointed in themselves. Just like Jonathan, and Max, and El . . . and Will. Rue hated it, she tried to tell them it wasn't their fault — that it was her own. But they wouldn't listen, and they'd always reply by saying they should have never split up. In the end, they wouldn't let Rue do anything that would work her up too much.

El spun around in her chair, looking up at Nancy with pleading eyes. "Yes — but —"

"No, we can't risk her going—" Nancy stepped closer, lowering her voice, "—to the void. You guys haven't done this before, and the last thing we need is something going wrong in a world we can't get into."

"But—" El tried, and she shut her mouth when Nancy gave her a motherly look. She turned to Jonathan, trying to get him to talk to Nancy and change her mind. However, he seemed to be more interested in the patterns on the table cloth.

"Nance," Rue said gently, trying to sound as confident as she could. She wanted to at least try this method El had come up with, "Maybe you should let me go with her."

A dazed look flashed over Nancy's eyes for a moment, and she looked like she was about to agree. But that little moment quickly ended when she blinked. "Rue," she sighed, running her hand through her hair. "Please, don't use your powers on me."

Rue's face dropped, "What? I didn't — I'm sorry — I didn't mean to — it's new. . ."

"My final answer is no. It's not safe. El, this is something you have to do on your own and we're running out of time. Good luck." Nancy squeezed her shoulder comfortingly and led her to her room.

El glanced at Rue as they walked away, "Don't let her take me!" She thought, making Rue chuckle when she heard it at the back of her head.

She bit on her lower lip to hide a smile, and she shrugged, "Sorry!"

（ ₊˚. ✰┊📼 ! ）

"What's it like?" Alex had asked, pushing his curly hair out of his face as she sat next to Rue on the kitchen counter. He had a box of colourful Fruit Loops cereal in his hands, one that he had stolen from Mike and Lucas — who were eating from the box last night before they had fallen asleep.

Rue made a face, tilting her head as she looked at him, "What do you mean?"

"I mean," he munched on the cereal, "What's it like almost dying?"

"Alex!" Will scowled as he walked into the kitchen, searching for a snack.

"What?"

"Don't ask dumb questions like that!"

"It's not dumb! I'm curious!"

"Too much for your own good," Will muttered under his breath as he opened the fridge. He shut it when he felt tones of little Fruit Loops bouncing off his back. "Hey!" He spun around to find Alex looking around the room innocently.

"Did you ever notice that coffee mug," He pointed, nudging Rue's shoulder softly to look at what he was pointing to.

"You've never been in the cabin before," Will huffed, sitting next to Alex on the counter as he bit into an apple.

Alex shrugged before turning to Rue again, "So. . . come on! Tell me — did you see Jesus or am I following my parent's religion for nothing?"

Rue snorted a laugh, shaking her head. "I didn't see —"

"I knew it!"

"Anything at all! I didn't see anything. . ." She trailed off, now that the topic was brought up — Rue hadn't thought about what she might've seen if she had died. In the woods, she didn't see a stairway to Heaven or an elevator to Hell. There was nothing but darkness that was slowly eating her up and swallowing her whole.

But how was she supposed to tell her friend that nothing was waiting for him after death? Nothing but eternal darkness.

It wasn't very reassuring.

"You saw nothing?" Will echoed, leaning forward on the counter so he could look at his sister — she had gone pale like she's seen a ghost.

"Yeah. . ."

"Are you sure?" Alex rose a brow.

Rue shrugged, masking her worry with a forced laugh. "I mean — that was closest to death so far."

"So far?" Alex choked.

Will shook his head, "Rue has dodged death more than you've dodged a dodgeball in Gym," he smirked as Alex gasped and punched his shoulder.

Rue grinned at the two, glad they were getting along again. But her attention was pulled away from the two boys to Max's voice. She smiled sheepishly at the girl who argued with Mike for the millionth time that day while Lucas chatted with Nancy and Jonathan. Rue had no idea what they were arguing about this time, but she was too busy admiring Max to care.

Noticing someone was staring, Max put one finger in the air at Mike's face — instantly shutting him up. Max glanced at her and smiled at her in a way that made Rue blush and look away.

（ ₊˚. ✰┊📼 ! ）

"It can't be good for her to stay in there for that long," Mike spoke up, pacing around the cabin. His footsteps were loud like he was purposely stomping his feet on the wood so everyone would give him his attention.

It was probably the midway in the afternoon by then, not long after lunchtime. El had been locked in her room for some hours now, and she only came out rare times for water or to tell them how her progress was going. She had tried to sneak Rue into her bedroom a few times, but Nancy seemed to have eyes at the back of her head, and she caught them every time.

Now, as the sun shined brightly outside on a beautiful Fourth of July, and the kids were sure there were families enjoying it — having barbecues or picnics at the park. Or they were going to the Fun Fair. And the kids envied that because they had made plans to go there that night, but instead, they were stuck monster hunting.

"Mike, you need to relax," Max told him as Rue finished braiding her hair into two thick braids that sat on her shoulders. She shifted in her spot, dropping her head back to look at Rue, who smiled back at her.

"What if she gets brain damage or something?" Mike asked nervously.

"Oh shit. . ." Lucas gasped, "Is that like a real thing?"

"No, Lucas, she'll be fine. She's been doing stuff like this all her life. Mike doesn't know what the hell he's talking about," Max said, glaring daggers at the boy who had abruptly stopped his pacing.

"Oh, and you do?" he spat.

"No. . ." Max admitted, but she wasn't going to give up on an argument with Mike. The two began to quarrel, and Lucas shared an annoyed look with Rue. But they weren't going to interfere, they had once — at the beginning of summer when they were choosing what to do on the first day of break. Max wanted to go to the arcade while Mike wanted to rent a movie so they could have a movie night — everyone knew he said that so he could make out with El in the back of the room. Lucas and Rue tried to break the fight, saying they should go to Starcourt, and Will suggested to play D&D.

In the end, Mike and Max stormed off, pissed at Lucas, Rue and Will for not taking their side, and they didn't talk to each other for a week. This was great because they couldn't argue if they weren't talking — but it caused making plans really difficult.

"Okay — can you guys settle an argument for us?" Max asked, getting up from her spot between Rue's leg on the floor and storming towards the kitchen, where Nancy and Jonathan were struggling to call people who they think might help — Will and Alex were making lunch.

Mike had followed her hot on her trail, leaving Lucas to help Rue stand and walk there.

"Who do you think should decide El's limits?" Max inquired, "Mike? Or Eleven?"

Will sighed, already knowing where this was going. He busied himself with cutting tomatoes while Alex watched the scene with wide eyes as he sipped from his tea.

"The way that you frame that is such bullshit!" Mike scoffed.

"It's not bullshit, Mike. This is your whole problem!" She yelled at him. Lucas and Rue smirked, knowing Max had the upper hand so far, while Alex watched with interest. "And it's also precisely the reason why she dumped your ass."

"El dumped you?" Nancy raised her eyebrows.

"Yeah!" Mike exasperatedly, pointing his finger at Max. "Because she is conspiring against me!"

"Because what is there not to conspire about," Alex pointed out, "go on, tell him, Max," He grinned, taking another sip of his drink.

"Alex, don't tell me you're on her side?" Mike exclaimed, looking at the boy with wide eyes. "She's corrupting El!"

"Mhm," Alex hummed, nodding, "yeah — go and tell her, then. Tell her how you feel."

"You're not making it any better," Will whispered in his ear, and Alex beamed.

"Oh, I know."

"No," Max scoffed, "I'm enlightening her," she corrected him. "The fact is she's not yours — she's her own person fully capable of her own decisions."

"She's risking her life for no reason!" Mike shot back.

"Ooh," Alex cringed, "he's gonna regret that," he smirked, nudging Rue's shoulder, who tried not to laugh at his commentary.

"For no reason?!" Nancy fumed, raising her voice at her little brother, "Mike, the flayed are out there doing — God knows what?"

"Killing. . ." Lucas said.

Rue made a face, "Flaying . . ."

"Transforming into monsters!" Will snarled, rolling his eyes at his best friend.

"You saw what Billy did!" Max bellowed, "And look at what Sky and her uncle did to Rue! She practically killed her!"

"Which was technically your fault," Will muttered under his breath, continuing with cutting the tomatoes.

Mike buried his hand in his hair as his eyes went wide. "MY FAULT?"

Rue jumped at his voice and rose a hand as if she was in class, "Um, it's not—"

"Yeah!" Will snapped, dropping the knife on the cutting board. This was the only thing that was rolling through his mind after Rue had told them what happened. "If you weren't such a bitch to Sky — Rue wouldn't have needed to take her home!"

"Woah — wait a minute —" Jonathan started. "Let's not point fingers —"

"Mike, how do you feel?" Alex proposed, raising a brow.

"Dude, stop," Lucas told him through gritted teeth — the silly argument between Max and Mike was not going the way it should've.

"It's not my fault," Mike sputtered, and he looked at Rue, who seemed like she would rather be anywhere else than in that room. "It's not my fault, right?"

"No—"

"SEE?" he looked back at Will, "If I hadn't said anything Rue wouldn't have taken her home and she would've stayed with us! And then what? She would've killed us all?"

"IF YOU HADN'T SAID ANYTHING — RUE WOULDN'T BE HURT RIGHT NOW."

"OKAY, THAT'S ENOUGH," Rue stumbled to stand, and she looked between Will and Mike, "It's none of your faults! How many times do I have to say it? None of you! It was a trap and we didn't see it coming. . . it's fine."

The room went silent for a second, only the sounds of Will's angry chopping and Alex rinsing his teacup.

"Besides. . ." Lucas was the first to speak up. "El could've stopped Sky and Rue wouldn't have gotten hurt."

Rue smiled at him, thankful for smoothly changing the topic. "—And El's not stupid," she added, "she knows her abilities better than any of us."

Max smiled and nodded, "Exactly! Thank you!"

"And she is her own person, with her own free will," Nancy replied.

"Exactly, El has saved the world twice and Mike still doesn't trust her."

"You wanna talk about trust? Really?" Mike spun around to face Max, "After you made Eleven spy on us?" He stood taller as if he had won the argument.

Lucas frowned, confused. "Wait what?"

"Oh, she didn't tell you?" Mike turned to him, "Remember that night at my house? Max used El's powers to spy on us!"

"No, no, no — I did not make her!" Max defended herself. "It was her idea. Why are we even talking about this, seriously?"

"Yeah, who cares?" Will agreed, tossing the tomatoes into the salad.

"I care!" Mike barked. "Yeah, I guess girlfriends don't lie — they spy!" He yelled at Max's face.

Max shook her head in disbelief, "We were just joking around."

"Wouldn't it have been so funny if I was taking a massive shit or something?"

Max scrunched her nose, "But you weren't."

"But what if I was?" He mocked.

"Then gross!"

"This is not the time to be arguing about this!" Nancy scoffed.

"I'm just trying to demonstrate how careless Max is with El's powers. In fact, how careless all of you are!" Mike said, waving his arms in the air as he prepared himself to rant. "You're treating her like some kind of machine — when she's not a machine, and I don't want her to die looking for the Flayed when they've obviously vanished off the face of the earth. So can we please come up with a new plan because I love her and I can't lose her again!"

The room went silent again. Everyone shared shocked expressions, however, Lucas was the only one smirking, knowing this information about his best friend for months.

Rue crossed her arms, "I'm not careless about her powers," she muttered, but then she thought about all those times they'd fool around in the backyard with their powers when El comes over. There were times El would lift Rue from the ground when she wasn't looking, or Rue would flick her wrist, and El's would foot out step weirdly, causing her to fall. Or they'd move objects when they were reaching for them before they could grab them. It was small silly things that brought out the child in them. "Just. . . a little carefree. . ."

"What's going on?" El entered the room, blood rolling down her nose.

"Nothing," Mike shook his head, his face reddening. "Nothing."

"Liar," Max snickered quietly.

"Just a family discussion," Lucas shrugged.

"Oh," She hummed, "I found him by the way."

（ ₊˚. ✰┊📼 ! ）

The television in the living room was sounding off static all around the cabin as El sat in front of it. She had her blindfold on, searching hard for Billy again. Everyone sat around the room on the couches, keeping their attention on Eleven as the girl began to take shallow and quick breaths. El ripped the blindfold from her head, panting. Max leaned forward, "What's he doing now?"

Eleven looked up at her, breathlessly telling her that he was sitting around his room.

"And that's not normal?" Nancy asked Max as El rushed to the kitchen for a drink of water.

"Billy? Staying in his room on the Fourth of July? No, that's not normal." She bit her lip, "He'd normally got to the fair or something."

"I wish we were at the fair," Rue muttered, and Max looked at her sympathetically, moving to place her hand over Rue's. She turned her hand, and their fingers instantly interlocked as Rue rested her head on Max's shoulder.

"He wants us to find him," Will explained.

"Yeah that's what I'm afraid of . . ." Nancy chewed on her nails, "If we go to Billy, then the rest of the Flayed know where we are."

"Rue. . ." Jonathan asked carefully, "did Sky see where you went last night?"

"I don't know," She answered slowly. "I don't think so. . ."