Breathless~Stranger Things

chapter eleven✔︎

Daniel Dare couched behind the red car with his friends, watching with a disappointed look as they argued. 

The walk had been fun, Joey and Daniel had conversations about everyone and everything while Dustin and Steve threw meat down behind them(a job they had volunteered to do.) It was the closest Daniel had felt to his brother in a while. He explained more about his friends and the upside down and the new girl Max. They'd enjoyed the whole walk and talked as time slipped by.

Daniel frowned, disappointed at Dustin's reaction to Max's presence. 

"You told her?"

"So what?"

"So what?" Dustin mocked, shaking his head at Lucas.

"You wanted to tell her too!"

"But I didn't all right. We agreed not to tell her and to look for Dart-"

"-Who you have a weird, creepy little bond with." Dustin opened his mouth, offended. "Yeah, but that was before he turned into a Demogorgon and ate my cat!"

Lucas shook his head, gesturing to Daniel. "What about Daniel? He told Joey. Why isn't he getting yelled at?"

"Don't bring me into this, Sinclair." Daniel said. Lucas rolled his eyes, mocking Daniel with a face who leaned over and pinched him. "Ow!"

Daniel huffed. "Look. You two need to get over your stupid little rivalry and focus on what's going on right now. It's good that Max is here. Now we have extra help. And no one else is picking up. Not Hopper or Mike or Will so this is the best we've got. So man up, shake hands, and let's kill this fucking thing." Daniel shot them a warning look before getting up and storming off.

Lucas and Dustin sat in silence, their faces filled with surprise. Lucas snickered, "Jesus, I've never heard him curse before. Mama Daniel's on the move."

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Joey walked with Max, throwing the pile of metal against the bus. He frowned, checking his fingers for cuts. It would a miracle if he didn't have Tetanus after this. 

Max nudged his side and Joey looked up. The red head smiled and sat down, gesturing for Joey to join her. He rose an eyebrow but complied, wrapping his arms around his body. She turned to face him. "You're Joey Dare, aren't you? You go to the high school?"

He nodded, "Yeah. Why do you ask?"

Max shrugged, looking off in the distance. "My  step-brother talks about you a lot."

Joey's forehead crinkled in confusion. Who did she mean? "Who's your brother?"

Max's face scrunched in disgust before answering. "My step-brother is Billy Hargrove. He talks about you a lot at home." She said.

Joey frowned at the thought of Billy. Billy's voice flooded his brain, his words piercing Joey's heart. Joey pulled his legs to his chest, taking a deep breath.

"You know, it's not his fault he's that way." Max sighed and picked at the grass. "His dad's a dick. He treats Billy like shit. And Billy takes his anger out on other people. It's not right. He said once that it was to protect me but I don't see how that is when he says he hates me. The point is, I know about you and him and how he was forced to break up with you."

Joey almost interrupted to clarify that they were certainly not a couple but let the girl continue instead. 

"Neil, his dad, hates gay people. In California Billy brought a guy home once and Neil beat the dude up and made Billy sit there and watch. We moved not long after that. Someone told Neil about how they saw you and Billy hanging out somewhere together. Neil yelled at Billy for an hour straight before sending him away to go break up with you. It's not his fault.