"Are you holding my hand?"
"I'm scared as shit right now, so yeah, I'm holding your hand."
Steve Harrington x fem!oc
Summary inside
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As expected, Halley spent her time at the station running errands that weren't necessary. There was no need for her to go to the store because Calhoun likes cubed sugar and not refined—especially because she ended up paying with her own money because the measly dollar he had given her only covered half the expense.
She knew the only reason Calhoun was being such a bastard was because Hopper was out investigating some pumpkin patch scandal, meaning there was no one to stop the other police officer from showing Halley just how much he disliked her. Frankly, she believed it was childish for a grown man to have such a vendetta against a teenager, but she would have to give it to him: she didn't exactly make his life easy. Every time he had brought her in for underage drinking, or attempted robbery— the latter only because her brothers needed to eat, Hopper always let her off the hook.
Still, that didn't give him the right to treat her like a maid. She didn't want to sound self absorbed, but she wholeheartedly believed that she deserved to be out on the field with Hopper more than anyone else in the office. Was that egocentric? Probably. But, she had witnessed first hand things that the men at the station couldn't even imagine, especially Calhoun. That had to account for something.
It was around 6:30 when Flo relieved her from mountains of paperwork. Most of it noise complaints from the richer parts in Hawkins; older couples complaining about high school parties. They were all the same, and all very boring.
Halley had almost bolted when Flo said she could go. She said goodbye to Powell before taking off, the singular deputy who wasn't a total douchebag to her.
Thankfully, she had the car. She slid into the driver's seat, her backpack still sitting in the back seat from where she had left it after school. Will had been picked up by their mother for a doctor's appointment at the Lab, and while she had dropped Jonathan off at home, she hadn't had a chance to actually go inside.
She shed her jacket, throwing it onto the passenger seat and grabbing her keychains; she had finally gotten around to making a copy of the car key, and started up the engine. One of Jonathan's old tapes was still in the player, and The Talking Heads began to fill the silence of the car.
Driving her usual route home, she passed the arcade. It was a weekday, so it had closed earlier than usual; most kids were at home doing homework at this time, and it wasn't worth the cost of electricity to keep the place open for two or three kids. But what was odd was the figure sitting on the curb outside of the building.
All the lights were off, and it was very clear the building itself was closed. Was this another drunk? That had happened before, a few times, but only ever on the weekend, usually after a particularly hard rager at Tommy's house, or so she'd heard.
With a split second decision, she pulled into the parking lot, it was going to be a cold night. Also, she didn't want the place broken into, because no doubt she would be the one to write the police report for it, and then clean up the mess on Saturday— Keith was useless with a hammer. Or any tools, really.
Except, when Halley pulled up to the curb, there was no drunk. Instead, there was a preteen, red haired girl. And she looked pissed.
She had startled at the car, seeming to think Halley was someone else, but after blinking past the bright headlights, she visibly deflated at finding who it really was.
Halley rolled down the window, very surprised to find a completely sober trespasser. Though, it didn't seem like she was trespassing on purpose. "Hey, Max, right?" She kept a stoic look, but nodded. "What are you still doing here?"
"My shit step brother was supposed to pick me up." she crossed her arms, and despite trying to hide it, Halley could see her shivering. From the few conversations the two had had, she knew that Max came from California, and that meant she was definitely not used to their cold autumn nights yet.
Unlocking the car, Halley reached over to throw her jacket in the back. Max watched her skeptically. "Come on, lemme give you a ride home." There was no way she would let Max just sit out here in the dark waiting for someone who may or may not show up. She wasn't letting anyone else go missing.
The younger girl thought about it, weighing her options before she gave in, marching over to the other side of the car and plopping down beside Halley.
"So," Halley started, pulling out onto the road, "where am I driving?" Jonathan's tape was still playing softly, psycho killer reverberating quietly through the speakers.
"Cherry Lane." Max didn't look up. Instead, she stayed focused on the window beside her, watching the trees pass by. Her lips were pressed into a fine line, and her fingers tapped against the center console.
They pulled to a stop at a red light. "You okay?" Max turned to face her, she was fiddling with a worn friendship bracelet.
"I'm fine," she said. There was little room for conversation, and Max was being exceptionally cold. Strange, because the two had been friendly during Halley's shifts at the arcade.
Taking a left, Halley refused to give up. "Hargrove is your brother, right?" it was stupid to ask because everyone saw Max get out of Billy's Camero that morning, but she was determined to break the ice that formed between them.
"Step brother." She leaned back, looking up at the ceiling of the car. Halley waited for more. "He was supposed to pick me up at 6, said if I was late he was leaving." She tucked her hair behind her ear, taking a deep breath, "I figured I'd get like a two minute buffer, but apparently not." She blew the air back out through her teeth, and something told Halley that this wasn't the first time she was faced with a situation like this.
"He just left you there?" Halley asked, surprised. Leaving a girl Max's age to walk home alone in the dark wasn't something that happened often—even before Will's disappearance.
Max shrugged, "his dad would have eventually realized I wasn't there, and made him come get me. By that time I'd probably be halfway home, except I don't remember how to get home from the arcade, so here we are."
Speeding up down a straight shot, Halley scrunched her nose. "That's a dick move on his part."
"Yeah, well, that's his defining trait." she picked at the skin around her nails. "Sorry about crashing your drive home," she said finally, her eyes finding any place to look but Halley.
They turned into Cherry Lane, and Halley glanced over. "Don't worry about it. I intern at the police station every day after school, it's about three blocks away from the arcade. If you ever need a ride home, I've got you covered."
She pulled to a stop in front of a two story house with a blue Camero parked out front. "Thanks. I, uh, guess I'll see you around," Max said, giving Halley a small smile as she slipped out the car. Right as she was starting up the driveway, the front door slammed open, revealing Billy Hargrove. His keys dangled from his fingers and he had a dangerous look in his eyes.
There was some sort of argument between the two— Billy was waving his hands around while Max ran her hand through her hair, said something, then stomped inside. Halley watched from her car, making sure Max got inside safely. She spared Billy a wave, despite the dagger filled glare he sent her.
