𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐦𝐲 𝐰𝐚𝐲

xii. the bench.

    

     JAMES CROSSED his arms and rolled his eyes as he leaned against the wall. "Wheeler, would you stop pacing?" He asked him and the boy turned to him. "You weren't in there, James, that lab is swarming with hundreds of those dogs." He said and James leaned down to his height. "Demo-dogs. And besides, she's El! And she's with my dad." He said and Mike just rolled his eyes.

"Like she needs protection." Max said with widened eyes and James glanced at her before looking at Mike. "Listen, dude, a coach calls a play in a game," Steve said as he walked in and stopped next to James, "bottom line, you execute it. Alright?" He said before wiping his hands.

"Okay, first of all, this isn't some stupid sports game. And second, we're not even in the game. We're on the bench." He said and James looks at Steve. "Right. So my point is..." He paused and looked at James. "Steve's point is we are on the bench, so there's nothing we can do but shut up and just stay put here, alright, Wheeler?" James said as he looked back at Mike who huffed.

"That's not entirely true." Dustin said and James turned to look at him right away, glaring as he straightened up, no longer leaning down. "I mean, these Demo-dogs, they have a hive mind. When they ran away from the bus, they were called away." He said and James scoffed.

"So, if we get their attention..."

"Maybe we can draw them away from the lab."

"And clear a path to the gate."

"Yeah, and then we all die." Steve exclaimed and James points to him. "That's one point of view." Dustin said and James rolls his eyes. "It's not a point of view, Henderson, it's a fact." He says and Steve nodded right away. Mike gasped softly and brushed past James and Steve. "I got it!"

"This is where your dad dug a hole, James, this is our way into the tunnel. So... here, right here." He lead them into the hallway. "This is like a hub. So you got all the tunnels feeding into here. Maybe if we set this on fire..." He said, sitting down.

"Oh, yeah? That's a no."

"The mindflayer would call away his army."

"They'd all cone to stop us."

"Then we circle back to the exit."

"Guys." Steve says.

"By the time they realize we're gone..."

"El would be at the gate."

"Hey! Hey!" James yelled at them and they all looked at him. He raised his eyebrows, "not happening. I'll let you have your little fun, your little fantasy of saving Hawkins, but you're not. Steve and I promised to keep you little shits safe, and that's exactly what we're doing. We're staying on the bench where we wait for the starting team to do their job. Okay? Okay, excellent." He gave a thumbs up to them before walking away.

In the distance, there was an engine revving and it caused Max and Lucas to rush over to the window. "It's my brother. He can't know I'm here. He'll kill me." Max said and looked at Lucas. "He'll kill us." He said and James groaned. "Not that douchebag." He mumbled and Steve sighed.

"I'll deal with it..." He said and suddenly pecked James' cheek before walking away. James' face turned red and he walked over to the kids, "okay, guys, we need to hide..." He said but they all stayed there and stared out the window anyway. "Am I dreaming or is that you, Harrington?" Billy asked when he saw Steve outside.

"Yeah, it's me, don't cream your pants."

"What are you doing here, amigo?"

The group kept watching out the window until Billy pointed towards them and Steve turned to look over his shoulder so they all ducked to hide. "Shit! Did he see us?" Dustin asked them. "Fuck," James groaned with a hand over his face, "get up, get up, over here, come on," he ushered them towards the kitchen but then the door swung open. He turned around and sighed, "Billy," he smiled widely.

"How's it going, man?" He held out his hand and Billy grabbed onto it tightly. "Evening's going great, how about yours?" He smirked and James glanced down at the hand tightly holding onto his, then Billy punched him across the face, he fell towards the floor and laid there for a while, groaning as Billy approached the four teens.

He attacked Lucas as the three others yelled at him, "hey, hey, you okay?" Steve said, hovering over him and he nodded, getting up with Steve's help. "I said get off me!" Lucas shouted from the kitchen. "You're so dead, Sinclair! You're dead." Billy yelled at the teen and Steve turned him around. "No. You are." He said before punching him.

James gestured Lucas towards them and then his friends embraced him into a hug as James stood in front of them to guard them. Billy was laughing as he looked at Steve. "Looks like you got some fire in you after all, huh? I've been waiting to meet this King Steve everybody's been telling me so much about." He said and Steve pushed him away.

"Get out." He said and James glanced between the two before they started fighting again. The kids were yelling behind him, cheering Steve on. Billy grabs a plate, smashing it over Steve's head and then James ran over, pushing Billy. Billy grabbed him and punched him before throwing him towards the back door, where he laid and groaned. "James!" Dustin and Lucas came over to help him as Billy went towards the livingroom with Steve, holding onto him. "No one tells me what to do!" He said then he grunts as he headbutts Steve.

James stood up slowly and ran over, stopping there where the kids were and watching Billy punch Steve over and over again. "Hey! Stop!" He ran over and tackled Billy to the floor. He straddled the boy's chest, holding him down. "Get off me, you fucking queer." Billy tried fighting and James grins. "Do you mean get me off, Hargrove?" He said and then looked up when Max approached them and put a needle into Billy's neck.

"Max, what the fuck!"

James stood up and Billy barely tried to fight, taking the needle out of his neck. Max picked up a bat, the one with the nails on it. "From here on out, you leave me and my friends alone. Do you understand?" She said and James raised his eyebrows. "Screw you." Billy says.

Max swung the bat and hit the floor between his legs. "Say you understand! Say it! Say it!" She screamed and James looked to the other three teen boys. "I understand." Billy says, sounding drowsy. "What?" Max said, pushing his buttons. "I understand." Billy said softly before closing his eyes and Max simply drops the bat.

  

  

   

  

   

   

   

   

   

     

authors note i'm excited to start part three, u guys will not believe the ideas i have 😌