mind games // eleven

YOU'RE VERY SCARY

Chapter Fifteen: You're very scary
(Sorry it took a while to update - love u <3)

El was still sat with Amber in the bathroom, washing her face as Amber watched, sat on the side of the bathtub.

"You okay now?" Amber asked her as she played with the ring on her finger. El nodded, but Amber didn't see it, too busy looking at her hands, "you know, you should use your voice more."

Upon no reply from El, Amber looked up to see El already looking at her, "you're very shy."

"You're very scary," El replies timidly, making Amber's eyebrows furrow.

"You're scared of me?" Amber then asks, her voice sounding hurt. She'd been nothing but nice to El... most of the time, and had comforted her, and el was scared.

"No, I mean-" El tries to reiterate, realising the hurt Amber was feeling.

"No, I know what you meant," amber shook her head, standing up, "fucking hell, you're the one person I'm actually fucking nice to, and you're scared of me."

The words didn't sound angry, her voice wasn't raised. She was hurt, deeply, by the thought of El being scared of her. If it was anyone but her Amber wouldn't have cared, but the fact that it was felt like a punch in the stomach.

She'd never felt a need to look after another person, or care for another person, as she felt no one did it for her. She'd tried to with el, and it had just ended in her being hurt.

"Don't know why I try," Amber mumbled, opening the door to the bathroom and walking out, slamming it behind her. The group that was talking in the kitchen all stared at her as she walked out from the corridor, refusing to make eye contact, and watched as she made a b line for the door.

"Amber, where are you going?" Mike asks her as him and Nancy share a look. Amber doesn't reply vocally, holding up her middle finger to the group before opening the door and leaving.

Hopper started to walk to the door. He didn't want a young girl out on her own at night, especially when she was being looked for by the government.

"Wait, Hopper," Nancy said, standing up, "I'll go after her," she told him, running past him and out the door.

"Amber!" Nancy yelled, looking around for Amber. She walked a bit further out, scanning the woodland around her, before seeing Amber sat in a tree, staring in the other direction, "Amber, please come down, what happened?"

"Nothing," Amber said dismissively, her hack on the main spine of the tree as her legs dangled from either side of the branch.

"It's clearly something, I'm not dumb," Nancy said to her, "I dont know what you're feeling, but I know this whole situation is new and scary, but you closing off isn't gonna make it any better."

"It's not scary!" Amber suddenly yelled, the word getting on her nerves, "this isn't scary, I'm not scared. I'm not scary."

Nancy furrowed her eyebrows at the last statement, staring up at her sister and not hearing Mike approach in the background.

"Then what's wrong?" Nancy asked her.

"Can you please just leave me alone!" Amber yelled, refusing to open up. She didn't want to suddenly be close with her sister, she didn't wanna be close to anyone. El was scared of her, the only person she had even considered caring about, so what was the point.

"That's the Amber I know," she suddenly heard Mike's voice, "it gets too much and she runs away. You're such a coward. Such a baby."

"Shut up, Mike," Nancy said as Amber stayed silent.

"You know I'm right!" Mike continues, "she started this as a game, and as soon as it's not fun anymore she wants to quit. She's just a selfish person who cares for no one but herself."

There was a second of silence between the three siblings, before suddenly Amber jumped down from the tree and ran at Mike, yelling as she pushed him to the ground.

"Fuck you, Mike!" She yelled as she punched him round the face, her vision turning red as Nancy's yells became blurred and Mike's yelling became non-existent.

She just kept trying to hit him, her legs around his waist to keep him still, when hands grabbed her from behind and ripped her off. She forced her head back to head butt whoever had grabbed her, and tried to get at Mike again.

"Amber, stop!" She then heard Hopper, who grabbed her again. She fought against it for a minute as hopper just held her again, unaware of the crowd watching from the window inside, including el.

"You're fine," Hopper said to her, confusing her as she painted our breaths, Nancy helping mike back inside quickly so it was only Hopper and Amber outside.

The adrenaline began to leave Amber as she began to feel different parts of her body again, no longer being numb.

Instantly her knuckles hurt, but that was normal. What wasn't, was the tears she felt covering her cheeks. She frowned, bringing her hands up to wipe her eyes as she stared ahead in confusion. She never cried in front of people, and rarely cried in general. How had mike angered her enough to make her cry?

"Are you calm?" Hopper asked from behind her, making her nod her head, no words leaving her mouth. He let go of her slowly, her feel properly touching the ground again as she just stared straight ahead, her body not really able to process any emotions, her heart numb.

"You gonna be okay to go back inside or are you gonna pounce again?" Hopper asked her. Amber just shrugged her shoulders, making the older man sigh. "Come on, kiddo."

He put his hand on Amber's shoulder, leading her back to the house. As soon as they walked in, everyone stared, but amber paid no notice. Hopper signalled with his free hand for them to look away, as he lead her through the house to Will's bedroom.

"Stay in here, okay?" He says to her as she sat down on the bed, "just try and stay calm, I'll come get you if anything important happens."

Amber nodded her head, and he just sighed, giving her one last glance as he left the room.