𝙲𝚛𝚘𝚜𝚜 𝚖𝚢 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚝, 𝚑𝚘𝚙𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚍𝚒𝚎.

𝙱𝚞𝚛𝚗 𝚖𝚢 𝚕𝚞𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚌𝚞𝚛𝚜𝚎 𝚖𝚢 𝚎𝚢𝚎𝚜.

𝙸'𝚟𝚎 𝚕𝚘𝚜𝚝 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚛𝚘𝚕 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙸 𝚍𝚘𝚗'𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝 𝚒𝚝 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔.

𝙸'𝚖 𝚐𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚗𝚞𝚖𝚋, 𝙸'𝚟𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚑𝚒𝚓𝚊𝚌𝚔𝚎𝚍.

𝙸𝚝'𝚜 𝚊 𝚏𝚞𝚌𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚍𝚛𝚊𝚐.

𝙸 𝚝𝚊𝚜𝚝𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚘𝚗 𝚖𝚢 𝚕𝚒𝚙𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙸 𝚌𝚊𝚗'𝚝 𝚐𝚎𝚝 𝚛𝚒𝚍 𝚘𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞.

𝚂𝚘 𝙸 𝚜𝚊𝚢 𝚍𝚊𝚖𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚔𝚒𝚜𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚊𝚠𝚏𝚞𝚕 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚍𝚘.

𝚈𝚎𝚊𝚑, 𝚢𝚘𝚞'𝚛𝚎 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚜𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚗 𝚗𝚒𝚌𝚘𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚎, 𝚗𝚒𝚌𝚘𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚎.

𝚈𝚎𝚊𝚑, 𝚢𝚘𝚞'𝚛𝚎 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚜𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚗 𝚗𝚒𝚌𝚘𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚎, 𝚗𝚒𝚌𝚘𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚎.

As Eddie sped off, the sudden jerk of the van caused Lennon to lose her balance and she was flung back onto her ass, fumbling once again.

"Shit!" Eddie cursed when he heard the loud clattering. "Sorry! You alright?"

"Just keep driving," she groaned, gripping the side bench behind the driver's seat for dear life as Eddie headed toward Lovers Lake. "What did Steve want?" Lennon heaved, taking a moment to catch her breath.

"Apparently you're on the run," Eddie gave the road a sideways smirk as he entertained the two of them.

"Am I?" Lennon smiled sarcastically.

"Oh yeah," Eddie nodded. "Wanted. I was actually thinking about cashing you in for the reward."

"How much?" Lennon chuckled, turning toward the rearview mirror to find Eddie staring intently out the windscreen to make sure they made it to their destination in one piece.

"It's funny," Eddie tilted his head to the side charmingly, keeping his eyes on the road but sounding all too amused to have been entirely focused on it. "Digits didn't come up," he pouted theatrically.

"So you would give me up for as much as a penny?" Lennon teased in disbelief.

"I don't know," Eddie shrugged. "Someone who has a search party out for them is bound to be desperate enough to pitch in more than a penny."

"I didn't know Steve and Brontë were considered a search party," she countered playfully, distracting herself from getting anxious by collecting all the trash Eddie had discarded on the ground.

"I didn't know you were a cynic," Eddie replied with a smile, looking into the rearview mirror after hearing crumpled plastic, finding her scouring for trash. "Hey," he called out discouragingly.

"I'm very cynical, actually-"

"No. Quit that," he turned in his seat to glance over his shoulder and swatted at the air as if to stop her from cleaning his mess.

"Eyes on the road!" she reprimanded, feeling her trust in him falter as he briefly drove without looking.

"Lennon," he sighed in defeat, falling back in his seat and focusing on the road as she wished. "There's nobody on the road," he scoffed.

"As of yet," she countered. "By the angels, you're gonna get us killed."

Eddie grew suspicious of her.

She didn't drive, she didn't seem interested in driving, and she acted fearful of being on the road. It was peculiar.

"Lennon, there's literally no one around," he dragged his eyes across the entire road, looking behind him and down each street to verify his statement. "Unless that tree over there is gonna sprint into the middle of the road, I think we're okay."

"Don't make fun of me," she smiled past her insecurity and tried focusing on picking at the crumbs she spilled from the bag she fell on.

She could feel her limbs go numb and her throat started to swell but she didn't want to focus on yet another thing to ruin her day. Between Brontë, Steve, and now Billy, she didn't need her anxiety to be added to the mix.

"I wasn't making fun of you-"

"Yes you were," she countered playfully.

It had become something Eddie enjoyed; picking on her.

It was his only way of expressing his admiration for her. He couldn't care less if she showed up in a tight dress or sweat pants and a stained t-shirt. He couldn't care less if she aced a test or flunked miserably. He couldn't care if her hair looked nice that day or if her makeup looked particularly good that day. He didn't care. None of that impressed him.

He liked the things she hated about herself.

He liked how frantic she got about his driving because it meant she cared. He liked how she acted nervous around his uncle because it meant she liked him and it mattered how Wayne felt about her. He liked how cynical she was and how open she was to new things. He liked how stubborn she was and how she tried to hide her feelings through redirection.

But he didn't know how to tell her without sounding like a complete sap. He didn't want to scare her away so he made fun of the things he liked about her instead.

It's why he teased her about Billy being her boyfriend, it's why he was teasing her now. They were flaws and yet they made her all the more perfect.

They continued bickering and smiling to hide their affections until they reached the Hargrove household. She didn't appreciate his mockery and yet she adored that about him.

She wouldn't answer his question flat out but what kind of writer did? She would use as many metaphors as humanly possible and mislead him in the most perplexing of ways to get out of having to expose the truth behind her PTSD. She had to make everything poetic and meaningful. It was what she was good at.

But to her luck, she didn't have to continue avoiding Eddie's pestering because they had arrived at the house on Lover's Lane where Max and Billy lived.

Eddie dropped her off in front of the house and told her he'd be sitting a few houses down whenever she came back.

Their house was large considering it was just the four of them living there. Brown, horizontal planks climbed halfway up the exterior of the home before turning white. There was a screened-in porch that reached either corner of their house, forcing Lennon to enter in order to reach their front door.

She took a deep breath and opened the screen door, feeling uncomfortable having just entered these people's personal space without permission.

A bench swing occupied one end of the porch while a wooden bench occupied the other. House plants, books, half-finished macramé projects, and sports equipment littered the area when Lennon scraped her knuckles across the front door.

It smelled strongly of mildew and as dingy as the color was, the place was decently kept up. The rest of the neighborhood had pieces of the roof missing, broken down cars in the yard, mold, spores, and several species of plants growing up the sides of houses.

That's when someone appeared from inside. There were three small panels of glass at the top of the door that allowed Lennon to peer in if she wanted. The only reason she did was that there was movement from inside. Otherwise, she wouldn't have dared to invade their privacy.

A man approached with a disgruntled look on his face. He didn't look happy but it could have been for the fact he wasn't expecting company. Lennon couldn't tell.

He locked eyes with her through the glass and walked up to the door to greet her.

He had a round face, not overtly fat but obviously living a comfortable, leisurely life. He had eyes that looked similar to Billy's but they were colder; duller. It was like life had washed the blue from them and drained the youth from within them.

Nothing about his face stood out to her except for the grey mustache sprouting from her upper lip. He looked like someone she could pass in the street and not remember seeing a few hours later. He looked ordinary, completely average in every way.

"Can I help you?" he held the door and the doorframe in either hand as he met Lennon's curious stance with one of hostility.

"Hi," she said timidly, trying at a smile but feeling intimidated by this man's introduction. "I'm Lennon Seagrave," she pressed her hand to her chest and tilted her head to show her friendliness. "I go to Hawkins High with Billy and Max. I was wondering if they were home..."

The man's face hardened.

"They're at the hospital," he grumbled before realizing why her name sounded familiar. "Aren't you that girl my son went to that party with last night?" he narrowed his eyes and began eying her up and down with a judgmental stare.

"The hospital?" Lennon pondered, knowing now that whatever she was eavesdropping on at Benny's Burgers was real. Something did happen last night. "What happened? Are they okay?"

"Maxine is fine," Billy's dad drew out lazily. "Do you want to come in?" he offered, seeing as it was beginning to snow again and if he was about to tell Billy's date about the accident, he found it best to sit her down beforehand.

"Well... sure. But is Billy alright?" Lennon took a deep breath and had her earlier discomfort dissipate.

Billy's dad stepped aside and let Lennon in. Lennon got a strong whiff of cigarette smoke and a hint of alcohol as she stepped inside. She was standing in the middle of the living room when the door was closed behind her. A couch was sat against the left wall by the window and a box TV was sat on the other end before opening up to a dining room.

Again, everything looked so normal.

Boxes were sat by corners as if they hadn't finished packing. A fresh coat of sage green and beige paint was applied on the walls, pictures were hung and set up on tables and counters, and the floors were damaged enough to know they were lived in but not neglected.

"He's gonna be fine," Billy's dad chimed in, causing Lennon to turn to face him.

He was wearing a white t-shirt with a brown flannel draped on top and a pair of long lounge pants. It was clear to Lennon that he hadn't been out for a while or he was recently woken up. She knew if something happened to Billy between the time she left him with Tina and now, the man was sure to need sleep somewhere. She just hoped she didn't interrupt.

"You wanna take a seat?"

She followed Billy's dad to the couch. She sat on the side and his dad had taken a seat on the loveseat off to the side.

"The little brat was driving too fast and with the snow on the roads and the cold, the brakes must have locked up or something and he slid into a pasture on his way home last night," Billy's dad explained slowly.

He didn't sound overly concerned with Billy but Lennon could tell he was rattled. There was something he was trying to hide from her. She just didn't know what.

"Is he alright? I..." she trailed off, thinking back on what she heard behind Benny's Burgers. "I heard some people talking about a broken arm?"

"Yeah," he shrugged, brushing off her concern as if it weren't worthy. "His shoulder popped out of the socket and there were a few fractures but nothing serious."

"Sounds pretty serious to me," Lennon said defensively.

"Oh, he's okay, dear," Billy's dad insisted. "The car is fucking totaled but Billy's fine. His mom and sister are there with him now. He's gonna be fine."

Lennon made note of his tone. It sounded bitter, almost spiteful like he would have preferred the car to have come out as fine as Billy had.

"And Max?" Lennon wondered.

"What about her?"

"Is she okay? Must be scary..." she tried to give the man room to redeem his earlier disrelish over his son's wellbeing.

"Max and Billy haven't always gotten along, dear," he shook his head and smiled slightly. "Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if she'd be happy if something happened."

"I highly doubt that," Lennon widened her eyes with interest and darkened her tone. "Max might not like Billy but that doesn't mean she would want something bad to happen to him. Can you tell me which hospital they're at? I wanna check in on them if that's okay," she quickly tried to escape the man's company.

It wasn't that she was afraid of him but she didn't appreciate his tone. He wasn't empathetic in the slightest and it took everything in her to even believe he cared about either of his kids.

She knew she was at the right house and she knew she was speaking to Billy's father, Max's stepdad, but she wouldn't have guessed this man to be any closer to them than a neighbor who despised their loud music and thoughtless playing. She wondered why that was; why he acted like he was more concerned with the condition of a car than he was with his own kids.

Billy's dad gave her the address on a piece of paper before turning his skepticism onto her.

"Not that I'm not grateful, but why was that other girl in the car with Billy and not you? I could have sworn he said it was a Lennon he was taking out..."

Lennon froze in place.

"Actually, I know it was a Lennon he mentioned because we started talking about the Beatles when he told me..."

It was messy and it just kept getting messier. She couldn't exactly tell Mr. Hargrove that she was pretending to like his son and went with him as a part of a favor she owed him. Even if she kept the lie alive, Billy's dad already seemed to have it out for him. Telling him his son was caught kissing another girl wasn't something she wanted to share with him.

"Billy seems really nice," she fibbed. "But I don't know him very well so I was just trying to get to know him a little better to see if... anything was there," she explained to him, taking the paper and folding it into her jacket pocket. "But I knew Tina really liked him and some part of me was kind of hoping they'd hit it off so... I took my leave when I saw them getting closer... Didn't want to intrude."

"Oh, I'm sure he was loving that," he rolled his eyes and grumbled.

Lennon didn't like the direction the conversation was going and she got to her feet with a forced smile. "Well, thank you so much, Mr. Hargrove. I really appreciate the help," she extended her hand and watched as she surprised the man with her sudden urge to leave.

But it was more than that. It wasn't just the fact she was trying to run away so quickly, it was the fact she was so hospitable. He hadn't met someone so young, so womanly to be so courageous and welcoming before. A handshake seemed odd in her leaving but he stood and took it anyway.

"Please," he clasped his hand around hers and made note of her firm handshake. "Call me Neil."

"Neil," she addressed, growing more and more uncomfortable as time grew old. "Thanks. You take care," she quickly snatched her hand from his after a moment and practically scurried to the door.

"You too, dear," he called out after her. "Go easy on the roads."

"I definitely will," she widened her eyes and slipped outside with a chest full of nerves and a body full of tension.

She didn't know why, but there was something unappealing about Billy's dad.

He didn't seem like the predator type but he didn't seem right.

With Billy, Lennon could sense a looming darkness somewhere inside him. But with Neil, it was completely different. This darkness felt dangerous. It wasn't serial killer dangerous, but it wasn't a kind feeling she got when around him.

She had speedily walked over to Eddie's van and hopped in, feeling all the anxiety and discomfort leave her body the instant the warmth swallowed her whole.

Even though the heat felt better than the cold, she didn't think it was the warmth that made her feel safer.

No, no it definitely wasn't...