Stranger Things BillyxOC

Chapter 10

They finally arrive at the junkyard and Steve gives his stamp of approval.

They dump what's left of their buckets of meat in the middle of the junkyard, just as they hear Lucas' voice.

"I said, medium-well!" The four of them look up to see Lucas pushing his bike with Max next to him.

Lucas waves and Ruby frowns, a little concerned for the girl. She's getting caught up in something that she would definitely be better off not knowing.

"Who's that?" Steve asks as the two teens walk towards them.

Dustin pulls Lucas off to the side to talk and Ruby works with Steve while Kit works with Max to fortify the old school bus.

"Dumbass." Ruby says, whacking him in the arm. "Obviously Max is the girl Dustin likes. Lucas also likes her and to top it off, she's Billy's step-sister."

Steve looks horrified but Ruby shakes her head.

"She's really nice, don't worry. I've only met her once or twice though."

"That's not the point, though." Steve hisses. "She's Hargrove's sister. What happens when he finds out."

"He won't." Ruby frowns and Steve sighs.

"You really like him, don't you?" Steve asks and Ruby nods.

"Which is why I'm not telling him about this." Ruby says, grabbing a sheet of metal. "When you're younger, it's probably easier to accept the nutty things going on here but the older you are, the more likely you are to lose it. And he's safer not knowing."

Steve sighs. "I'm sorry."

"What are you sorry about?"

"You've already resigned yourself to you and him not working out because of this, haven't you?"

Ruby tries to deny it but realises that he's right.

"Look, I might not like him but you obviously do. And from what he said to me the other day, I think he really likes you too."

Ruby blushes but walks off, not really wanting to talk about it.

Steve walks over to the two teens hiding behind a car and gets them to help out.

Once they've set up, Ruby and the four younger teens get into the bus while Steve pours a line of gasoline from the meat to close enough to the bus that he can light it and they wait.

It quickly gets dark and Ruby watches as Lucas climbs up the ladder to the roof of the bus.

Steve plays with his lighter as Kit and Dustin have a hushed conversation on whether Lucas should have told Max or not.

Max watches Ruby and Steve as they wait silently.

"So you really fought one of these things before?" Max asks and Steve and Ruby nod. "And you're, like, totally, 100% sure it wasn't a bear?"

Ruby smiles tiredly and shakes her head.

"Shit. Don't be an idiot. Okay? It wasn't a bear. Why are you even here if you don't believe us? Just go home." Dustin says meanly and Ruby frowns at him.

"Geesh. Someone's cranky. Past your bedtime?" She asks and goes to climb up the ladder.

"Wait, Max." Ruby stops her. "Sorry, I just wanted to talk to you."

Max and Ruby go towards the front of the bus and Max looks at her.

"I just don't really know you that well and my brother and his friends do and you're Billy's step sister..." Ruby trails off when she notices that Max is looking at her weirdly.