- 𝗍𝗈 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝗆𝗈𝗈𝗇 -

-12-

Wednesday. 7.30 PM. Maple Street. The one with the blue roof.

She could do this. She wasn't going to let the lack of her costume get to her. Sure she was missing a few stitches and the sneakers she wore were very noticeably, a much darker white, but overall Max felt like she pulled the look off well.

Playing with her fingers, Max leaned over the dashboard to lower down the volume of the loud music blaring from the small radio. "Oh come on Mad Max, you're no fun tonight." Billy chuckled, cranking the volume back to its ear-splitting loudness and then laughing at the sight of Max's unamused face.

"Billy, it's past 6. There are kids trick-or-treating and they probably find your music distracting too." Max lied, looking out the window and scanning the array of children dressed as ghosts, monsters, and heroes. The odd combinations of their costumes paired with their happy round faces made Max's heart smile as she remembered the times when she used to trick-or-treat with Eddie and Nate.

"Okay, we're here. Now next time, get your fucking drivers licence because 1.) i'm not your mommy and 2.) you're sixteen. Buck up, Maxine." Her full name stung her ears and Max's face became a furious shade of red. "God damm it, why did you even agree to driving me here than?"

"Because Neil broke your skateboard."

"He did WHAT?!" Max shrieked, one hand poised to open the door.

Billy shrugged, his ocean eyes showing his true emotions. He was happy and disappointed. The sick man was happy that her most prized possession that she had always taken around with her since she was ten was now broken. Gone. Probably unfixable, the shards of wood probably dumped in the garbage truck.

One more thing that had stopped being hers.

"No, No, he wouldn't. I don't skateboard around the house, and neither do i do anything remotely angering to him." Neil, fucking Neil. Oh, she would have his head. Whether he was intimidating or plain scary, and probably hold a gun to her head, she would make him pay. Fear and anger swirled inside her and mixed together into a terrifying concoction. Never, never had Neil ever initiated war on her, but maybe things had changed. Maybe she had done something and just didn't know it yet.

But first, she had a party to go to. And all hate and tears would have to wait.

"You know, you and i are a lot alike." Billy slurred, flicking his lighter and lighting up the cancer stuck gripped in his fingers. Taking a drag of the intoxicating smoke, Billy smirked. "It's no use trying to fight back, Max. You don't win with Neil Hargrove, you move on and get over it. You surrender. With him, you can't just defeat him and have your slice of pie," Billy looked over Max, "Because in here, the only true monsters are the ones hidden behind faces. Not men in boiler suits and masks, not men with burned faces and knives for fingers, but men, real normal business men, that eat with their family and invest in their money. That's where you'll find your plethora of monsters, behind the faces of men."

"Men, like Neil."

Max looked at Billy, shocked. Her jaw was agape and the party was the furthest thing from her mind. They were parked right outside the house, but Max could hardly care about that now. By far, this was the most Billy had ever said to her. Ever in her life.

Some part of her adored that part of Billy, as much as it disgusted her, and craved more of that brotherly attention. But she was far from a good sister and he was far from a good brother. They couldn't support each other. And that lonely vulnerable part of Max was telling her to build her walls back up. To cement them with metal and make sure that nothing could make her soft. She would never be like her mom. She would never let a man control her life.

"I-"

"There are no heroes, Maxine. That's what i'm telling your dumb ass. He broke your board. So what? are you going to let him get the best of you? Fuck, if so, you're weaker than i thought, Maxine," Billy uttered, "Now get out of my car. I'll pick you up at 11."

Without a word, Max jumped out of the car and watched the impala move towards the darkness, covered by a blanket of shadows.

" That's where you'll find your plethora of monsters, behind the faces of men."

She shivered. Max would prefer dangerous sleepy Billy to this much more quiet, unpredictable Billy. But fuck her if she didn't take the advice, Billy could just be messing with her. He loved doing that all the time back in California.

"Hey Max!" A voice called out outside her thoughts.

Stalker. And Bicycle boy. Waving at her from the open doorway like kids getting high on sugar for the first time. Their smiles covered their faces and if she looked behind their head, she was sure that their smiles would be wrapped around their heads like a scarf.

"Come in!"

And she did. Running towards the warmth like a bear seeking honey. The voices, the anger, and the pain was drowning her and this party, even if it wasn't her permanent island, was her float. Her raft for now.

A float she needed to keep from falling under.

________

☮︎✧✞ nicole speaks! ;
There's a reason why I'm adding in a lot of moments with Billy and Max and Max and El, etc. I do it to make the story interesting and not just focus on Madwheeler (though it is a Madwheeler fanfic, I didn't want it to be boring by just zooming in on the couple). And yup this is a slow burn, but a good one because when has anyone ever really fallen in love quickly and got the person of their dreams? Trying to balance between being realistic with a touch of whimsical-ness haha. Thank you for all those votes and comments, they make me laugh and smile and I'm really thankful for all the reads too, the reads make my day! :) ❤️