Here's chapter 8, hope you enjoy! I do not own Stranger Things

Petal

Halloween had been a resounding success although she woke up that morning looking like hell, make up smeared all over her face, her hair a rat's nest, and Eddie's love bites all over. He was still snoring soundly as she washed her face, showered, and dressed in some of his spare clothes. She wore his favorite Metallica t-shirt along with a pair of his sleep pants. She looked at the time and it was nearing 7am. She groaned and crawled back onto the bed where Eddie lay on his side, the sheets had slipped down to his waist, just barely protecting his modesty. She ran her hand along the tattoo on his chest "Eds, baby wake up we need to get going to school soon." She said softly, not surprised when he just grunted and buried his face in a pillow.

"Eddie" She says a little louder, the smile on herface widening a little when he finally turned to her blearily.

"Can't we skip?" he grumbles running a hand as best he could through his very tangled hair.

"Nope, I've got a quiz today and you can't turn in your math work late to Hopkins again or she'll have a fit." She joins their lips gently, slowly pulling him out of his sleepy state. She feels him slide a hand under his shirt ever so slightly and she pulls away. "I'm serious Eddie, we need to go to school." He gives her a pouty face "Oh it's one day..."

"They add up" She kisses his nose. "So get up sleepy...or no more sleepovers." He grunts as he gets out of bed, slowly making his way to the shower. She stretched and laid back, listening to him turn on the shower. After a few moments he poked his head out of the bathroom, "Baby you gotta trim your nails" She stands up confused and looks in the bathroom at him. He gestures to his back which is covered and thin angry red lines. She touches them gingerly "Oh Eddie I'm sorry..."

He smirks slightly "It's partly my fault." He winks at her and she rolls her eyes. "If your head gets any bigger you'll split this trailer in half."

"Not the only thing I split in half-"

"Shut it!" She closes the door to the bathroom as she heads back out to the rest of the trailer. She slips on a pair of shoes from her bag and hunts for the pants she'd shoved in there as well. After putting on jeans and running a brush through her hair she decided to wait outside on the porch for Eddie to be finished. She sat in the cool autumn air, taking in the soft morning sounds when she heard another door open. She looked across from Eddie's trailer and saw someone she'd seen before. It was a younger looking red head... "Max?" She called out, unsure

The younger girl turned and looked shocked. She ran over with a confused look on her face "Petal?" Petal got up and embraced the younger girl "You've gotten taller!" She laughs

"I haven't seen you since we moved!" Max grins at her but Petal can see the tiredness in her eyes. "So this is where you all headed to? Small world!" She smiles, "I can't believe I didn't realize till now. I've been here for a couple months."

"I've been...I've been keeping to myself." She shrugs "So...are you dating Munson?" She asks looking behind her at the trailer

"Yeah, he's sweet. So how's Billy?"

Eddie

He grimaced as the hot water from the shower stung his back but he couldn't help but smirk proudly at the same time. As he got out of the shower he could hear talking out of the tiny window in the bathroom, he knew one of the voices was petal but he couldn't recognize the other. Definitely a chick...he thought. He dried his hair with the towel quickly before pulling on some boxers and jeans. Without waiting to pull on his shirt he goes for the front door to see who she was talking to. When the door opened he was greeted with the sight of a weeping Petal, hugging his small red headed neighbor. "Petal? What's wrong?" He steps out and puts an arm around her

"I just..." She sniffed, "I didn't realize that Max was in Hawkins...or that Billy-" Her voice cracked as she spoke, hugging the younger red head harder. Eddie looks down at her strangely "Billy Hargrove?"

She nodded tearfully "How do you know them?" He asks incredulously

"When I lived in Cali with dad I used to go to the beach near their house a lot...I've known Billy since I was 12" She whispers into the younger girls hair. He caught sight of Max's face for just a second but he could see that she too was holding back tears. Eddie fidgets a little before dropping a kiss on Petal's head. "I'm sorry baby" he drops an awkward pat on the younger girls shoulder... "I'll...I'll leave you two to it." He steps back inside to grab his school bag along with his shirt, leather jacket, denim vest, and shoes. Once he's gotten all of his stuff together he goes back out to see the two thankfully wrapping up the tears. Petal wipes at her eyes and sniffles slightly. "Eddie is it ok if we give Max a ride to school? I hate to have her skate in the cold." She doesn't even mean to make the puppy dog face but he melts all the same. "Sure, go ahead and get in the van ladies. I'll grab your stuff baby" He gives her a small smile as she ushers the younger girl into the van. The drive to school was silent and mildly rough for him. The only sound other than rubber on road was the occasional sniffing from one of the girls. As they were pulling up to the school Petal finally spoke. "Can you come sit at our table at lunch Max? I think we should catch up, I've missed our girl talks" She gives the younger girl an only slightly watery smile, she gets a nod in return and before she runs off to class Max gives her a hard hug. Petal shoulders her backpack and shuffles her feet a little awkwardly as Eddie locks up the van.

"So...you knew Billy Hargrove?" He says walking slowly towards the school, not caring if he'd be late.

"Yeah...he was...he was my first boyfriend" She says very quietly, not liking the way his head turned to look at her.

"Oh"

"But we broke up when we were like 14. I was moving...but we decided to stay friends. We just ended up losing touch when he moved away from his place in California..." She looks at him worriedly

"He died in the mall fire this past summer" He says quietly, she nodded somberly but suddenly whipped her head around. She looked behind them as though she expected someone to be there. "You ok?"

"I-...I should go to class. I'll see you at lunch Eddie." She kisses his cheek and runs off to her first class of the day, leaving her now slightly concerned boyfriend in her wake.

Petal

"He died in the mall fire this past summer" Eddie's tone was sober and soft, she nodded in understanding when breath blew past her ear "Lies" She whipped around finding no one but still feeling on edge. She turned to Eddie and his concerned face said it all. He hadn't heard it. No one ever did. She made up an excuse to get away from Eddie, bidding him goodbye with a kiss to his cheek. She practically ran for the bathroom rather than her first class. She locked herself in the stall farthest from the entrance and hugged her knees to her chest. She felt her heart beating in her ears. She hadn't heard Billy's voice since it had begun to squeak and crack, deepening as he got older. But she'd not heard it fully changed, could it be the deep tone that haunted her? The sound of footsteps echoed in her ears as they crept closer and closer. They were rubber soled black biker boots appeared before the bathroom door. "It wasn't a fire gorgeous" The low voice whispered through the door. "They did it" his voice was getting deeper now.

"Billy?!" She whimpers, the tears now streaming down her cheeks. "Billy please-" She whispers

"You don't have to beg, you won't wait long." His voice was so low and almost demonic she felt like she was having a heart attack. Something slammed against the door of the stall, making her cry out in shock and fear. She trembled, closing her eyes as his laughter filled her ears and the banging continues over and over. Boom. Boom. Boom. "Go away!" She finally squeaked, fat tears still falling down her cheeks.

The banging stopped.

The laughter was slowly fading.

The boots underneath the door walked away.

The smell of cigarettes and beer lingered in the air.

Petal broke down and sobbed into her knees. The bell rang, starting the first class of the day. She didn't care, her knees were still shaking and her heart was aching.

Lunch

Eddie wasn't eating, he didn't have his nose in his campaign notes like he normally did after a Hellfire night, and he certainly wasn't joining in the conversation at the table. Instead he kept his dark eyes on the door, waiting for Petal to walk in.

"Eddie? Everything ok?" Dustin asks carefully, poking at his corn on the tray as if he was waiting for Eddie to lunge for him at his question.

"Has anyone seen Petal today?" He asks tiredly, finally shifting his heated gaze from the door to the table at large. He was met with a series of head shaking. He sets his jaw and looks back to the door. "She's off today boys...so be nice."

"What's up?" Jeff asks, his mouth full of pretzels

"Ex died this summer and she found out from his sister this morning." His voice comes out gruffer than intended but his face said it all. Jealousy and worry lingered on his brow long after he'd finished speaking. Hie eyes were still glued to the doorway.

"She's usually late to lunch anyway Eds. It's only been like five minutes" Lucas says through a mouthful. Eddie doesn't have a chance to retort as he spots two redheads walking into the lunchroom. He could tell by Petals face that she wasn't herself, but her small smile to the younger girl gave him comfort. He looks at Keith "Move. She's got the sister sitting with us today."

Keith sighs and moves down to sit on the other side of Lucas so that Petal and her little friend could sit between Dustin and Eddie. Eddie is watching the ladies' approach and they were both engrossed in their conversation, not really taking in the people around them. Even as they sat down Max hadn't acknowledged the fact that she knew three boys at the table.

"We could go after school to visit...if you want. Mom won't go" Max mumbles, not feeling the eyes of Mike, Dustin, and Lucas burning into the side of her head. Petal smiled and opened her mouth to answer as Lucas piped up.

"Max? What are you doing?"

Max's head whips around and she gapes at the boys sitting on the other side of Petal. "Hi..."

Petal gives the boys a look (mostly Lucas) "Max is sitting with me because we needed to catch up. Is that an issue?" Her voice came out colder than any of them had heard her before, seeming to freeze them to their seats. No one answered and she turned back to the girl sitting between her and Eddie. "I'd love to go with you, after school?"

"Sounds good" She says quietly. The two continued to talk quietly although Max now seemed to shy away from the three boys her age. Lunch had become tense, Eddie feeling like an observer at the table as he watched Lucas become more and more frustrated at the end of the table as the youngest redhead seemingly refused to meet his eye. It was only when Petal and Max left that he got the rest of the picture.

"I still don't get it." Lucas began to complain once again, causing a collective eye roll from the older students at the table. Gareth finally spoke up, crushing his empty Dr. Pepper can. "Dude you seriously need to fucking drop it. Let her get through her own deal the way she wants."

"I don't get what I did wrong"

The older members of the party stay silent, knowing the boy was still reeling over it. His immaturity showing through despite what he'd have them believe. But Eddie hardly paid one of his young members any mind, his thoughts still dominated by Petal, not knowing the strangeness would only intensify.