1983 || Stranger Things

ғᴏʀᴛʏ-ᴛᴡᴏ | ᴛʜᴇ ʙʀᴇᴀᴋɪɴɢ ᴘᴏɪɴᴛ

      Julie hadn't been home since yesterday morning, before her and the girls went to the Wheelers, and she hadn't seen her father in over three days. Julie knew she had to go home. She needed to shower, she needed clean clothes for her and Max, and she needed to gather some of her stashed monster fighting equipment.

      Max was firmly against the idea of Julie going home alone, but Julie shrugged off the concerns. She would be fine, and she was just going to be in and out quickly.

      In hindsight, she probably shouldn't have gone home that night.

      Julie arrived at her house when Jonathan dropped her off. Everyone else was going to the Wheeler's basement. Jonathan would be picking her up 45 minutes later. She walked up the steps with uneven breaths. The girl was exhausted, dirty, and not in the mood to deal with the storm incoming that was Neil Hargrove.

      She walked in the unlocked front door quietly, and quickly slipped her shoes off. The house was dark, and Julie hoped that meant her dad and Susan were sleeping. She walked towards her bedroom with soft steps, and made it there without getting caught.

      Julie grabbed some clothes to sleep in, and emptied her backpack of its contents. She stuffed clothes for Max and El to sleep in inside, as well as clothes for Max to wear tomorrow. She shoved in a hairbrush and her stuffed seagull, as well as her walkman, headphones, and mix tapes. Julie tossed the filled backpack onto her bed, and trudged to the bathroom to shower.

      She didn't want to waste time, so the Hargrove girl immediately stripped of her clothes and turned the water on, stepping under the cold stream of water. Julie washed her thick, disgusting hair, and then moved on to scrubbing the rest of her body clean of any guts. By the time she finished, Julie looked like a whole new person, save for the bags under her eyes and the added marks to her neck.

      Julie dried her body off when she stepped out of the shower, and tugged her clothes on. She left her hair down, and quietly left the bathroom in the hopes of making it to her own room before anyone woke up.

      As she walked past the living room, the kitchen light turned on, and Neil was standing there. He was staring at his eldest child intently, as if she had just told him she killed someone. Julie froze in her place, as her mind swarmed with dark 'what if's'. She turned around, and met her father's dark eyes.

      "Where have you been, Juliana. It's been days since I've seen you. Susan said you left yesterday and didn't come home." Neil said. On the surface, the man seemed to be calm, and collected. One might even think he would be civil about the whole thing, but Julie knew better.

      She took a breath in, and blinked for a second to buy herself some time. "I'm sorry I didn't call. It was an emergency with my friends. As for the other days, I've been working a lot." Julie said. She knew this would end badly. Her gut was screaming at her to run, to go to the Wheeler's, to try to contact Hopper or any police officer. She stayed put. There was no escaping the inevitable.

      Neil scoffed loudly. "You weren't working. You're a good for nothing slut, who was probably whoring around, while her brother and sister are missing. Where are Billy and Maxine?" He demanded, raising his voice. Julie winced at his volume.

      Julie gulped. "Max is with her friends, and I don't know where Billy is. He's not my reponsibility." She said. Despite the battles going on in her mind, she was calm. She had to be calm.

      Neil stalked towards his daughter, like a lion seeking out it's prey. "You're the oldest. Your siblings are your responsibility. Just because your whore mother--"

      "Don't finish that sentence. Don't talk about my mother." Julie warned, stepping closer to her father. She didn't care about the repricussions of her actions at that moment. Julie had to protect her mother, even if her mother failed to protect her.