✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*🐝 *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧
WHEN NIGHT HAD FALLEN AND THE SUN HID ITSELF FROM VIEW, THE CREW WAITED PATIENTLY IN THE TRAILER. Steve sat opposite Audrey, playing around with his lighter, opening and closing the cap to cure his boredom. Audrey, picked at her fingernails, a bad habit she had acquired over the past year, with the recent happenings. While most of the group was waiting in anticipation for what was to come, Max wanted to see whether they had all been serious or not. There was a part of her that wondered why she associated with the group - especially considering the fact that they may be completely and utterly delusional, but the idea itself was too intriguing not to check out, although she couldn't quite wrap her head around the idea of a monster being conjured from a board coming to find them.
"So you really fought one of these before?" Max broke the silence, looking at the two older teens with her arms crossed. She watched them carefully.
The duo nodded silently in response.
"And you're like, totally, one-hundred percent sure it wasn't a bear?"
Audrey's scar from that unforgettable night burned a hole in her abdomen at the her words, desperate to show its ugly face to prove a point, but Audrey couldn't bear the sight of it. She thought the scar was a representation of how weak she was, her inability to protect not only her friends, but herself in a moment of need. To her, it symbolized failure.
So she stayed silent.
"Shit, don't be an idiot, okay? It wasn't a bear." Dustin grumbled, pacing back and forth in frustration. "Why are you even here if you don't believe us? Just go home."
The older girls' brows furrowed as she looked at the Henderson boy. This wasn't like him. The only thing that she thought would explain this behavior would be the horrendous advice her best friend had given him just a few hours prior. She lowered her head, regretting ever leaving them alone with one another.
"Dustin..." She said quietly, him only sparing her a quick glance, leaving her feeling defeated.
"Geesh, someone's cranky. Past your bedtime?" Max snorted, hopping up and making her way to the ladder which lead up to the roof. She didn't leave him room to reply, however, and climbed up it, disappearing from view, leaving the remaining three. They were once more engulfed in silence until it was broken minutes later.
"That's good, just show her you don't care." Steve complimented, nodding his head proudly.
"I don't." Dustin replied curtly. Audrey remained silent, shaking her head.
"Why are you winking, Steve? Stop."
Steve raised his hands in defeat, leaving not a single noise in its wake. This overwhelming quiet caused Audrey to think. Words were gnawing at her that she felt she had to get out. Something she figured Dustin needed to know.
"Dustin, I think you should just be honest with her." Audrey chimed in, finally. It had taken her a second to muster up the courage to say something, knowing she needed a strong case.
The boys looked toward her.
"With Max." She started nudging her head upward to singnal where the young girl had gone. "Just tell her you like her. Girls like honest guys."
"But what if she doesn't like me back?" He asks nervously, finally exposing his vulnerable side to her. This was her Dustin. The truth is, he didn't want to tell her he didn't care. He didn't want to meet her kindness with aggression. He just wanted to be himself.
