bitchin'

Chapter 25

"If he finds out where we are... will he send those dogs after us?" Max asks. Lindsay, Lucas, and Max sit in the hallway of the Byers' house.

"He won't find out," Lucas assures her.

"Yeah, but, if he does..."

"Judgement day," Lindsay comments. Her hair dry now, Max pulls a brush through it, "ow!"

"Sorry!" she exclaims. The brunette groans as Max untangles her hair. Lucas stands up and walks to the living room. The girls can hear him quietly talking to Dustin.

"Max?" Lindsay asks.

"Hmm?" the redhead hums from behind her. Lindsay's heart pounds and her fingers shake. Her stomach does turns and her chin trembles.

"Do you... like me?" she hesitantly asks.

"Of course I like you, you're my best friend," Max answers. Lindsay's heart jumps.

"No, I mean like... do you like-like me?" she elaborates, growing regretful with every word that leaves her mouth. Max falls silent. Lindsay's eyes water but she closes them, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked that."

She stands up and walks to the bathroom. She shuts the door and locks it, Max sits outside confused. She sighs, tears in her eyes too. She doesn't know why she went silent, why she didn't say that she did like her. Because she does like Lindsay, she likes her a lot.

"I think he's talking, just not with words," Chief Hopper says from the kitchen. Max disappointedly stands up and joins Steve, Nancy, Dustin, and Lucas in the kitchen.

"What is that?" Steve asks, looking at dots and dashes on a piece of paper.

"Morse code," the younger boys answer.

"H-E-R-E," the chief translates the code, "Will's still in there. He's talking to us."

***

"Close gate," the group reads. The phone rings, startling them. Dustin runs over and pulls the phone off to end the call. It doesn't work and the ringing continues. Nancy pulls the phone off the wall and throws it to the ground.

"Do you think he heard that?" Max asks. Lindsay comes out of the bathroom, having composed herself. She doesn't stand next to the redhead. She isn't angry, just embarrassed and slightly hurt. She thought Max liked her.

"It's just a phone. It could be anywhere. Right?" Steve says. A growling noise and a familiar demogorgon screech can be heard in the distance.

"What's going on?" Lindsay asks. Max tries to get the brunette to look at her, but she avoids her gaze.

"That's not good," Dustin comments. Jonathan comes in, carrying Will. Joyce and Mike come running in too. Hopper comes in last, with a shot gun. Jonathan shuts Will's door as everyone congregates in the living room.

"Hey. Hey, get away from the windows," Hopper orders. Dustin and Lucas back up from the front window. Max and Lindsay stand in the middle between the living room and kitchen, "Do you know how to use this?"

"What?" Jonathan questions.

"Can you use this?" he asks.

"I can," Nancy offers. The chief tosses the gun to her and she cocks it. He then takes the machine gun he took from the lab and checks the mag.

Hopper, Steve, and Nancy stand in front with weapons drawn. Jonathan stands in front of Joyce, with Mike, Dustin, and Lucas next to them. Lindsay stands in front of Max, but behind her brother. Her fists are clenched tightly.