Here's chapter 22, I hope you enjoy! (So sorry it's late again, life came up) Apologies that this is a little shorter than the previous chapters, it just felt like a good spot to leave off.

I do not own Stranger Things

Sunday Afternoon

The Munson household had settled into the lazy heat that baked the little tin building. Steve laid across the couch with his head in Odette's lap, her fingers curling through his hair boredly, the little radio in the corner crooning out an old Dolly Parton song. Eddie sat on the floor, his back leaning against the couch as he tinkered with a mini in his fingers, attempting to super glue the arm back on after it had been stepped on by Odette. "Attacking an unarmed barmaid! For shame!" He grunted as he glued the arm to his thumb for the fourth time.

"I said I was sorry. She also was left on the floor by the fabulous Dungeon Master" She mutters with a roll of her eyes, Steve chuckled with a small smile gracing his relaxed features. Odette ran her fingers through his hair again, trying to ignore the mutterings of her older brother. "She was sitting out to dry!"

"On the floor in the hallway?" She smirked a little with her eyebrows raised nearly to her wild hairline. Eddie glared at her "If I can't fix it you're buying me a new one!"

She shrugs and continues to play with the chesnut locks in her fingers. The phone rang suddenly, breaking the soft bickering of the siblings. Eddie threw her a dirty look and tossed the mini in the trash before grabbing the phone off the wall and answering it. "Hello?" His frustrated brows furrow further in confusion "Yeah...he's here. What's it to you?" He then looks at the phone irritatedly "She hung up on me!" He slaps the phone down onto the receiver and huffs. "Women today."

"I step on one little mini and Robin makes one comment, and women are just awful today?" Odette giggles

"Robin compared my hair to Stevie Nicks and you killed an innocent NPC"

"Who hung up on you anyway?" Steve chuckles, his hands reaching up to rest on his stomach contentedly, closing his eyes at the feel of her slim digits in his dark hair. Eddie huffed and slumped back onto the floor with a joint peaking out of his pocket. He slipped it out and screwed it between his lips before clicking open the lighter. Once it had been lit he took a deep inhale before blowing out the blue tinged smoke with a name. "Wheeler..."

Steve's moment of peace cracked open like an egg, he sighed "Nancy? I doubt Holly or Mrs. Wheeler were calling around."

Eddie nodded, he looked over his shoulder to the brunette with a softer expression "Take a puff Harrington. She was calling about you, all in fuckin hurry" He slipped the blunt between Steve's fingers and sighed, more smoke billowing from his nostrils.

Steve sat up, taking a hit before handing it back to the older teen "Shit!" Odette groaned, she climbed nervously off of the couch with her bottom lip caught between her teeth, gnawing at the pink flesh there. "I never did call her about you." She ran a hand through her wild hair "She's got every right to be pissed at me."

Steve blew out a small plume of smoke with a snort "She'll be fine.-"

Odette threw her hands in the air with a scoff back at Steve. "She was worried about you! Even if I don't like her I could have still eased her worries! I should have at least let her know they released you!" Odette sniffled to herself and ran her hands up and down her bare arms. Steve sighed, rolling his eyes just a little "Angel, it's not too big of a deal. She could worry about her own boyfriend who got snagged by a demogorgon" Steve muttered, sitting up more fully now with his elbows "She'll get over it in time Angel. I told you not to call her."

She sighed, a pout evident on her lips. "I'm sure we'll hear from her soon enough." She soberly made her way down the tiny hallway to the bedroom followed by the sound of the door shutting gently. "She'll get over it big boy." Eddie took the smoldering blunt from Steve and took another puff. "She's just not used to people not liking her."

Steve chuckled a little at that. The two of them turned their attention to the tv and flipped to a rerun of Happy Days. Softly making fun of Fonzie jumping the shark. They'd gotten halfway through the episode when the distant sound of crunching gravel met their ears as tires rolled over the all but abandoned land of the trailer park. Eddie sat up a little more but shrugged at Steve. His quiet hope that it was one of the four remaining neighbors they had coming home early was dashed when knuckles cracked harshly against the rusty metal door.

Steve groaned and pulled himself up from the couch to answer the door only for Eddie to grunt and get up himself. "Women today" He mutters before pushing the door open and leaning against the frame. He towered over Nancy with a slight grin. "Wheeler! To what do I owe the pleasure of having you here at Castle Munson?"

"Where's Steve?" Her voice was steady but icy. Eddie turned over his shoulder to look at Steve on the couch with a grin. "Who? King Harrington? Nah, only us lowly Knights!"

Nancy huffed "I'm in no mood Munson". Eddie cackled a little, Steve had started to feel a little lighter as he'd smoked and he joined in with Eddie. "Are you high?!" Nancy hissed, pushing past Eddie to stand in the middle of the room. She looked at the thin little watch on her right wrist "It's barely 3! And you're high?"

Steve snorted and leaned further back on the couch "I think I deserve it Nance." He held up his broken arm with a raised brow, letting in a deep breath before laughing again a little. "After all this crap that's happened I think I need to let loose!" Eddie pulls the door shut again, cutting away any nosy neighbors from the rapidly changing topic. Nancy's harsh glare faltered a little, moving forward to sit beside him "Steve-"

"No! I broke my arm! My house is in a pit! And my ex is acting like she's got a right to my life!" He's glaring at her now, eyes slowly reddening as he sunk deeper into the high. Nancy's softened expression flew off her face as she scoffed at him "I'm not allowed to care after all we've been through?!"

"How's Jon?" Steve glares at her and waits for her answer. She flexed her fingers on her knees and blew at the hair falling in her face "He's fine. His mother says he's been running circles around Will at the hotel room." She raises her chin with her eyebrows nearly in her hairline. "Why?"

Steve rolls his eyes "His mom says huh? Is he not talking to you?" Eddie finally taps out the flame on his roll and leans against the tiny kitchen counter. His dark eyes were reddening too and they were trained on Nancy as she clenched and unclenched her jaw, seeming to pray for patience with the two of them. "No. Jon is not talking to me right now. And I thought it would be best to...give him some space."

"Same kind of space you gave me when you kissed another guy?" Steve snorts again and reaches for the glass of iced tea Odette had left behind on the side table. He takes a long drink and shakes his head, like it had gone slightly foggy and Eddie "How strong is that stuff?"

Eddie grins a little wolfishly "Can't sell all the good stuff can I?" Nancy scoffs again "Where's your sister?"

As if she'd been summoned, Odette's bedroom door snapped open and she stepped out. She was holding a small bunde in her fingers and she didn't look like she'd noticed Nancy just yet. She walked into the kitchonette and laid the bundle down on the small amount of free space by the counter. Finally as she looked toward Steve, mouth opened to say something when she caught sight of the other teen. She snapped her mouth shut and dug into her pocket. Her fingers returned without anything to show for it. "Shit, Eddie can I use your lighter?" She asks quietly, holding out her hand.

"Getting high seems to be a Munson pass time-" Nancy muttered but her voice carried through the still air and landed in Odette's ears. She slapped her outstretched hand onto the counter's edge. "Is there a reason you're here? Other than to try and get with my boyfriend of course." Nancy's cheeks got very red "I told you to-"

"Tell you when he woke up. While I was going to, I decided to respect Steve's wishes. He asked me not to call you." Odette straightened her shoulders a bit as she spoke, her free hand flying to the little cloth bundle and pulling at the fabric absently with her fingers. Eddie slides the lighter across the counter and she catches it in her free hand. "There's not much we can do right now-"

Nancy huffed sharply "Your parents called me Steve." Steve's head shot up sharply, brown eyes wide with surprise. "They what?"

She turned so she was facing him solely, as if the Munson siblings had disappeared. "Your mother called me this morning. She asked me to speak to you." Nancy clenched and unclenched her hands. "Did you seriously disown them for a girl you didn't know two months ago?!" Steve set his glass of ice tea down hard onto the surface of the side table and sent her a glare that sent chills up her spine. She steeled herself under that glare and as Steve sat forward with his elbows on his knees, that hateful look still plastered on his boyish features she spoke. "You wouldn't even really talk to them? And setting Eddie on them like an attack dog-"

"Hah!" Eddie's short bark of laughter slammed through her resolve. He was now leaning on the fridge and fidgetting with the rings on his right hand. "Fuckin precious isn't it Harrington?"

Nancy bristled, if she'd been a cat her hackles would have been raised. "What's that supposed to mean?!"

Eddie scoffed and threw a look to his wild haired sister. "I'm a freak Wheeler. I've been a freak since fucking birth. But I didn't come out tatted sweetheart." He smirks a little but there is no humor in his dark eyes. "I didn't spend my toddler years headbanging either. I'm a freak because my dad's in the joint. You wanna know why I deal drugs?!" He leans down towards her level with his lip curling into more of a sneer. "Because I was accused of it at 13. Some chick two trailers down OD'd and they grab the nearest Munson. I met my connection in the joint before Wayne managed to convince them I had nothing to do with it." Eddie's voice had dropped an octave, long gone was the boyish tone, instead seemingly replaced by an unforgiving deity. "You know what the worst thing I'd done before that was?"

Nancy stood with her mouth slightly gaping, at his question she shut it with a snap. Only shaking her head in response. Eddie began to mess with his rings again. "I'd crashed some birthday party at a bowling alley when I was like 9. Just for a hot dog and some chips since there'd be nothing at home for me that night." Odette reached out a hand and gripped her older brothers shoulder, blinking furiously as she did. Eddie sighed, the fire dying slightly. He brought his gaze back to Nancy. "He didn't tell them to get lost till they insulted Odette and I...and I didn't fucking attack them." He shifted out from his sisters grip and walked down the narrow hallway to his bedroom where the door shut behind him with a snap. All that was left of him was the Metallica poster on his door and the lighter he'd handed Odette.

Nancy sniffed slightly "I didn't mean to upset him so badly-"

Steve spoke up now "Nance. Did I ever introduce you to my parents? Ever?" She shook her head again. Odette pressed her lips together tightly and signaled to her boyfriend that she'd be in the other room. After he nodded minutely to her she made her getaway, though her door didn't shut all the way. Steve rolled his shoulders before continuing. "There was a fucking reason for that. My parents don't give a shit about what I do or who I date as long as it doesn't embarrass them. I'm surprised they even remembered your name, probably asked the cleaning lady who practically raised me." He ran a hand through his hair with his free hand, the one encased in a cast lying stiffly in his lap. "What did they want you to do? Get me to dump Odette? Move into some hotel with them? Hand them my choices on a silver platter?"

Nancy sniffled a little "They just wanted you to come back with them Steve. They're your parents-"

Steve scoffed "You know Odette said the same thing?" He wanted to laugh at the shock on her face but he dismissed it. "Yep. Told me she didn't want me to regret choosing a relationship over my family. She even said the same thing about our relationship being too short to make that kind of decision."

Nancy moved to sit next to him and put a hand on his shoulder only to be quickly shaken off. She sighed, "If even she can see how bad this decision is then surely-"

Steve got up with a grunt and glared at her again "Are you kidding me Nance?! My parents lied to you about what happened yesterday. They decided to say I was the one at fault and made Eddie sound like a fucking animal. He asked them to send him a postcard Nance. He was being an idiot. But not an asshole." Steve looked at her pointedly but when she said nothing at all he grabbed the handle of the door and shoved it open. He gestures to the door. "Now if you have nothing to say to me, Odette, or Eddie, I'd like you gone." She opens her mouth to protest but he holds up his hand in a cast to silence her "If something with the Upside Down happens or if Mike needs something feel free to call. Ta ta now" He gestures to the door again, she waits for half a heartbeat before getting up with angry tears breaching her eyes. "I was just trying to help."

"And getting me and Odette to break up was a bonus?" He asks as she steps out onto the concrete steps. She glares at him again but just stomps to her car and gets in as she aggressively rubs at her cheeks. Steve felt a little bad at that, wondering if he'd gone too far. But as Nancy flipped him off as she drove away he decided even if he was the asshole here...he didn't think he minded that much.

A week soon passed with no word from Nancy or the Harringtons. Robin and Steve had both gone in for jobs at Family Video and were hoping to hear back...and Billy had stopped coming to the witchy meetings on Wednesdays. Max had been quiet on her stepbrother's status. Said nothing save for how he'd not been in a very good mood lately. A few more weeks of this passed, no whispers of Peter all the while. It left the party walking on eggshells...trying to appear normal to the outside. Steve in particular felt on edge, not liking how they'd left things with Peter destroying half of Hawkins...then falling completely silent. He expected every evening for something unexpected and awful to happen each night. Then one night, he was finally right.

The sound of fists slamming on the metal door to the trailer erupted through the soft sounds of Eddie tuning his guitar and the bubbling of the pan on the stove. Steve got up from his seat at the table, setting down the worn copy of The Fellowship of the Ring he'd been trying to get through. He unlatched the door and allowed it to swing open, revealing the sweating form of Max. Her hair stuck to her face as she panted. "Steve!" She hisses, pushing her way into the trailer. She's wild eyed and scared. "Odette!" She calls down the hallway, summoning the wild haired older girl. Odette steps out of the bathroom with her hair half brushed as she takes in the younger girl. Steve yanks the door shut after making sure there were no more rugrats loitering outside. Max launches herself at Odette, her words muffled in the older girl's shoulder. "Take a breath red, we don't understand" Eddie had set his baby aside and gripped Max's shoulder comfortingly.

Max quiets for a second before pulling away from Odette's shoulder with red rimmed eyes. "Something's wrong." She says softly.

"What?" Steve asks, looking out the window, as if he expected a demogorgon to appear in front of the trailer. Max sniffed harshly "Billy's been weird lately. He's been more...scary." she bites her lip before continuing "He threw his weights through the bathroom door last night...but...I don't think he did it with his hands. And he's been arguing with his dad...he never talks back to him. And last night his dad...his dad went to hit him and Billy hit him first!" The red haired girl was shaking slightly as she seemed to relive the night before. "They really got into it...I think Billy had a broken nose before...before he fixed it."

Steve ran a hand through his hair and raised his gaze to Odette's, "What do we do?"

Odette bit at the nails on her right hand for a moment, scanning the floor as if the answer would pop out of the linoleum. "How often have you seen Billy using his magic honey?" Max bites her lip "I don't see him do it like...like you. I think...I think it's accidents...it just...happens"

Odette pulled at a lock of her hair in thought, her feet tapping slightly on the floor as she did. "Has he talked to you about any of this?"

Max scoffs derisively "As if he'd talk to me about any of this." She looks up at the three teens around her, rubbing her hands on her pants to hide the shaking. "I...I'm scared of what he might do by accident Odette."

Odette nodded a little "I...I'll call him...see if he'll talk about it. How old is he?"

Max crinkled her nose a little but muttered "18"

Odette sighed "How long has it been this bad at home?" She asked, now pacing back and forth from the kitchenette to the living space

"He didn't do it for like the first two months him and mom were married...but I think he did it before we moved in too. Billy's got...he's got some weird scars he won't talk about." Odette nodded a little absently before she turned to the phone on the wall. She pulled it off and spied Billy's number written on the little pad of paper they kept on the counter. She punched in the numbers, biting her lip as the phone rang. She was getting ready to hang up the phone when someone finally picked up. "Hello?" Came a voice that could only be Max's mother Susan. "Hello Ma'am, this is a friend of Billy's. Is he home?" Her voice comes out only a little strangled as she pulled at her hair worriedly. There was silence for a moment before Susan's soft voice was replaced by Billy's harsh one "What?"

"Billy it's Odette…we've been worrying about you on Wednesdays." She looked over her shoulder a little awkwardly "Will you please-"

"Listen Munson, I humored the stupid little classes but I'm done with them now. Don't call me anymore."

"Billy-"

"I'm serious, leave it alone Munson." The line goes dead, the dial tone filling her ear instead. She hung up the phone while biting her lip. "Max…why don't you stay here with Eds and Steve? I'll run out and check on Billy." She reaches into the little ceramic bowl where Eddie kept his keys and snatched them, not hearing the clink of metal over the protests of the two men there with her. "Detta that's the stupidest-"

"Angel I'll go with you, there's no need-"

"Haven't you ever seen a horror movie?! Going alone is the worst-"

"SHUT. UP." Odette shouts suddenly, clenching the keys harder in her hands. "I can handle going to assess the situation on my own. If I see trouble I'll call you two ASAP and we'll take care of it." She huffs at them before shooting Max a look "Watch these two for me will you?"

The little redhead nods with a little self satisfied smirk on her lips. Odette manages to slip on a pair of sandals and get out the door before she's caught by Steve coming out of the house after her. "Angel…I know you're gonna be fine. I just worry…" Odette's hard glare she'd fixed him with softened slightly. She leans against the side of the van with a sigh "I know you worry Stevie, but I promise I'll just be." Steve only nods, stepping just a little closer so he can press a kiss to her temple. "You sure you don't want me to come with you?"

"I'm sure Stevie…I feel better about leaving Max with the two of you. She won't let on too much…but I think she's frightened of the both of them…Billy AND his dad….and maybe I want her to have some positive male role models." She blushes a little at that. She'd started to get protective of the younger redhead in the recent weeks, she'd even come to their witchy classes on Wednesdays with El. Steve grinned a little at that, leaning against her and pressing her into the side of the van. "I'm a good male role model?"

Odette rolled her eyes a little bit but nodded "Yep, don't be too smug about it either. She's already snarky enough." She kisses him again then gets into the driver's seat. He moves to the steps of the trailer and watches her pull out of the park with a wave of his cast encased arm. The drive was as smooth as it could be with the waves and waves of road workers blocking off every third or so street. Some places were just completely uninhabitable, some only had a little work left to do on the roads, and some would surely be under construction well past Halloween. Odette managed to weave through the clear streets until she pulled up to the Hargrove household. She looked into the open garage and noticed that Max's mother's car wasn't there…just Billy's muscle car and his father's truck. Odette bit her lip, putting the van into park and sitting back for a moment and listening for something…anything. The street was silent, most of the parents being out at work or running errands, all the kids on the street were either inside or out with their parents….it was so silent she could hear the soft hum of the construction equipment three streets over.

It was only when she'd decided to head back home that she heard the shouting start. She couldn't quite make it out but she knew Billy was certainly yelling. She heard his voice through the window that was cracked open. She couldn't hear the exact words, but it was nothing like she'd ever heard…then came the crashing sounds. The sounds of shatter glass and thumping met her ears. Odette froze in the driver's seat, not able to move as she listened to the rapidly worsening state of the house beside her vehicle. After yet another loud crash she dove for the walkie talkie in the glovebox. "Steve?! Dustin? Literally anyone! Billy and his dad are fighting…I need backup stat…preferably not a 12 year old!"

She let go of the microphone button on the walkie and listened to the concerning mixture of sounds; the soft buzzing of the walkie in her fingers, and the continued shouting…but now it was softer. No longer did it sound like a war between the father and son…no…she sat back up and leaned out of the van's window to listen a little harder.

"We're partyin now aren't we old man?!" SLAM there was the sound of something…a person…hitting a hard surface. Then there was silence save for the crackling sprouting from the walkie. Her blood runs cold, ice stabbing into her head as the silence spread. She didn't hear the sudden voice of Dustin coming from the walkie as she unbuckled her seatbelt and opened the door, her sandals had only just landed on the pavement when the front door opened. Billy stepped out, a split lip and quickly swelling eye. Her mouth which had gone dry dropped open just a little as Billy popped a cigarette into his mouth and lit it without any indication that something amiss had just taken place in the house. She stood there, leaning on the door of the van with her eyes glued to the blonde man, puffs of smoke rising slowly in the air...then his eyes met hers. He grimaced and dropped the cigarette, twisting his boot over it and starting to walk over. Behind her in the driver's seat of the van, the walkie laid as an increasingly more panicked Dustin called out for her to answer him.

"Hey Munson." He looks into the open window of the truck, seeing the now screaming little walkie sitting there. He lets out a soft scoff "Detta?! Do you copy?! I'm calling Steve!" Dustin's poor voice is cracking as he thunders through his house to the landline in the kitchen. Billy rolls his eyes "Just go home Munson...and call toothless-"

"Don't call him that" She chokes out, she stares over Billy's shoulder at the very still house behind him. "What did you do Billy?"

"Go home and call the kid. This is none of your business-" Billy's voice has gone colder now, glaring at the frantic walkie in the driver's seat.

Odette whimpers a little at that "Is he dea-"

"NOT your business Munson." Billy yanks the van door from her grip and holds it as open as it can go, gesturing inside with his other hand. "I can handle it."

Odette shakes her head blearily, the silence of the street only growing more and more eerie. "Max was scared-"

Blue eyes pierced hers as he snaps back to look at her, Billy's knuckles go white from his grip on the door. "She at your place?"

Odette nods frantically "She's with Steve and Eddie-" He puts a hand on her shoulder, shoving her into the van. "Slumber party with the witch then! Braid each other's hair, talk about boys or some shit, and have a fuckin pillow fight." He manages to get her all the way in and slams the door shut to trap her in. He leans into the window, almost nose to nose with her. "Keep her away from here for a while. Now LEAVE" He smacks the door to the van harshly, waving goodbye with a glint in his eye. Odette doesn't move, so he snaps his fingers, and the ignition turns without her. He turns and heads towards the house but is obviously listening for her to be driving away. Shaking, she grabs the still crackling walkie and presses the microphone button "Dust! I'm ok! I swear!" She lets go of the button and spares one final look at the house, seeing Billy still standing by the door "Why didn't you answer?! I almost called Steve! Do you still want me to call him?"

She puts the car in gear and starts down the road, her stomach swirling in knots as she does. She presses the button again "Yeah...tell him I'm on my way home...and that something is up with Billy again."

She lets the button go and tosses it into the seat beside her, only as she turns down another road does she hear the sirens. She looks into the rearview mirror to find an ambulance and a police cruiser.