A/N: Thank you all for the continued support and reviews and favourites! I really appreciate them! I hope you like this chapter! If you guys are on tumblr, feel free to come see me there! It's 'asirensrage'. I'm always up for meeting new people and talking about...everything, including my fics (and things like who I currently have headcanoned/face claimed for the characters like Tammy's parents). Thanks again and enjoy!

Chapter Twenty-Six

We barely got a moment's rest. The Wheeler kid was anxious to get back to someone called Will and an El. It turned out that the car wasn't Steve's. It was Billy's. They had apparently drugged him and left him passed out in the Byers house. I looked at Steve. Billy was also the cause of Steve's state because of course, he was.

Steve drove Billy's car back to the Byers house. I drove mine. Max decided to ride with me and while we were in the car, she asked me for a favour.

"Can you drive us home? Billy's dad is going to kill us. We're so late."

I glanced at her. She genuinely looked a little scared probably of that asshole. "Course I will. Don't worry."

She smiled at me. "Thanks."

"No problem. I told you before, you can come to me."

oOo

There was a car outside the house when we got there. The kids all scrambled out as soon as we stopped. I looked over at Steve who got out of Billy's car but stood next to it. He looked lost.

"Are you coming?" I called out to him. He jumped slightly and looked over at me. "If Billy's still passed out, I won't be able to lift him alone. Come on." I headed inside.

There was a lot of noise happening as I got inside the house. Too many people were talking at once and most of them sounded like the kids. They surrounded someone who lay on a couch in the living room. There was some punk girl with them. The whole place looked trashed, like a party gone wrong. Glass was everywhere.

"Kate?"

I looked up as my name was called. Jonathan was across the room, next to the couch, looking at me totally confused.

"Hey," I said. I wasn't sure exactly what to do. I should have stayed outside with Steve, or gone home. I promised Max though.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, moving away from the couch to walk towards me.

"I...I'm here to take Max and Billy home."

"Billy?" I looked over at the new voice. It was the girl from school, the one who had been talking to Jonathan by the lockers and who got called a slut. "He's here?"

"Yup," I said. "Somewhere. I'll just grab him and get out of your hair." She looked confused but I watched as her eyes went to something behind me.

"Steve!"

I stepped aside as she moved forward. Jonathan followed. I stood in the middle of the room, watching over the kids and I realized that whoever they were crowding on the couch was another kid. Next to them was Joyce.

She caught my eye. A hand went to her mouth and it looked like she was about to cry. She stood up and moved quickly to me. She hugged me tightly.

"What are you doing here?" she asked. I hugged her back. It seemed like she needed it.

"I came across the kids earlier. Helped them out a bit. Now I'm here for pick-up duty. I'm going to take Max and her brother home."

"Is that who's passed out in my kitchen? Hop's in there looking at him."

"I think so," I said. Considering I hadn't explored the small house, I couldn't be sure but it seemed likely.

She let go of me and smiled slightly. It looked unsteady and watery. "Come back," she said. "After you take them home. Please. I...I need to talk to you."

Her face was serious and I was suddenly a little afraid of what she wanted to say. I nodded though. "Sure, I just gotta call my parents. I was supposed to make it home over an hour ago."

"Okay," she nodded. "Phone's over there. I just...please come back."

"Are...are you sure?" I glanced over at the kid lying on the couch. "I can come another day. Don't you want to be with your boys?"

She clasped my hands. "My boys are fine, we're safe now. I'm sure after all this you have questions. We need to speak." She stressed the need part of that sentence and I nodded.

"Let me call."

oOo

The phone was in the hallway. I dialled the number for Tammy's house that I had forced myself to memorize considering cells and contacts weren't a thing. Someone picked up on the second ring.

"Hello, Thompson residence."

"Hi, Dad!" I tried to be enthusiastic.

"Tammy! Where are you? Do you have any idea what time it is?" He was doing the stern voice he tended to use when he got called to save me in the principal's office.

"Yeah, I'm sorry. We got back a bit ago. I just had some car trouble, but it's going to be okay. I'm over at Joyce Byer's house. She passed by me while I was stopped."

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. It's just late so, if it's okay with you, I'm just going to crash here. I'm really tired and I know I'm close but I'll get the car sorted in the morning and come home. I just wanted to call you and let you know I'm okay."

"You need me to come get you?"

"No, I'm okay. I promise."

"Okay. Call me if you need me to get you. Any time."

I felt myself smile as I listened to him. "I will. I'll see you first thing in the morning." We said goodbye and I hung up before turning around. "Alright," I called out. "Where's Billy?"

oOo

Steve and Hopper, who had been examining Billy's body to make sure he wasn't dead, helped me get Billy's body into the backseat of his car. We had come up with a plan of sorts. I would drive Billy and Max home, Steve would follow. I asked Steve to park on another street while I got them home. It was partly because I didn't know how Billy would react if he woke up and saw Steve, and I didn't want Steve to see if anything happened with Billy's dad. It wasn't his business. Steve agreed.

Once she took out all the adjustments she made so that she could reach the pedals and drive, Max climbed into the passenger seat. I adjusted the seat so that I could see everything, and off we went.

Max gave me directions as best as she could. As we turned, heading off the road that led to Joyce's, Billy groaned. Max stiffened, glancing at the back seat with what looked like trepidation. I took the initiative to take control of the situation as best as I could.

"You alive back there?"

There was another groan and a glance in the rearview mirror told me he was starting to move. "Who...who the fuck's driving my car?" His voice was slightly slurred as if he wasn't fully awake. I wasn't surprised that he recognized his car from his own backseat though.

"That would be me."

"Fuck, Angel, how the fuck did you get here?" He moved, and I felt him hit the back of the seat as he struggled to sit up.

"Teleportation." I couldn't help but snark. He rubbed a hand over his face. I looked at Max who shook her head quickly and whispered: "he doesn't know!" I raised my eyebrows, hoping she'd explain. Did he not know about the drugging or….? I went with my best guess.

"Max called me. Said there had been a fight and she needed help."

"Did she now?" He groaned again. "Where are we going? Who told you you could drive my car?"

"I did. I'm taking you home."

"What?" He leaned over the seats to look at me.

"I'm taking you home. You can sleep off the effects of the fight or whatever. In your own bed."

"Are you gonna join me?" he asked with a leer.

"No." Max had wisely been silent during this time.

"Come on, sugar, I'll be good to you."

"You're not even good for yourself," I said. "Look at you."

He flung himself back. "The fuck you know. This is about Harrington, isn't it? I don't see what the big fucking deal is about him?"

I glanced back at him. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"You fucking Harrington!"

I tried not to roll my eyes. "I'm not," I snapped. "And if I was, it wouldn't fucking matter to you. It's none of your business."

"I want it to be," he was back to leaning forward between the seats.

I tried to think up something quickly. "I'm seeing someone."

"What?"

"Yeah," I shrugged. "I met someone."

"Where? When?" He looked so disgruntled that I tried not to laugh.

"At the Prince concert I got back from."

"So it's new. It's not shit then."

I glared at him. "The hell it is."

He grinned at me. "What's his name then?"

Fuck. I had to think quickly. For some reason, Keanu Reeves popped into my head. I couldn't say that though. He was an actor. He… "Ted." I said.

"Ted?" He looked unimpressed.

"Yup. Ted Theodore Logan." It was from one of my favourite movies. Considering neither of them reacted to the name, I was safe from them recognizing it. At least for a while.

"What type of stupid name is that?"

"Well, it doesn't start with h for one."

"What?"

"Nothing." I looked at Max. "Hey, are you okay?"

"Why the fuck wouldn't she be okay? You should be asking me that. I'm the one she fucking drugged. Where the hell did you get that shit anyways?"

"I'm asking because if you weren't a fucking asshole and gone around trying to fight someone, she wouldn't have needed to drug you. Do you have any idea what that probably felt like for her? You weren't fighting for her. You were fighting for you!"

"I was fighting for you!"

"The fuck you were!" I snapped at him. "If you had any fucking clue you'd know I've barely spoken to Harrington before tonight and the only reason I did is because I had to come get your ass. You could have done better." I looked at him in the rearview mirror. "You couldbe better."

"Fuck you, Thompson!"

"You wish."

"Guys!" I looked over at Max. "Can you please stop fighting! Like there's enough going on now, with everything that happened and someone dying and it's all too much! I can't listen to you fight! Not now."

I glanced at Billy who looked stunned. I looked at Max before looking back at the road. "Who died?" Max looked away from me. "Max! Who fucking died?" She didn't answer. "Max!"

"I don't know!" she cried out at me. "They just mentioned it when we were at the house! They said some guy Bob didn't make it out. Mike said the dogs...they got him."

I felt myself freeze.

"Bob?" Billy asked. "Who the fuck is Bob? What the fuck are you guys doing that people are dying? They were probably just trying to scare you and you fucking fell for it."

"Bob?" I asked. My throat tightened.

"What the fuck type of name is Bob?" Billy snarked. It couldn't be. It couldn't have been Bob. But I was very suddenly aware of how Joyce was adamant that I come back, that we speak.

"SHUT UP!" I screamed. I couldn't stop myself. "Just shut up!"

They both stared at me. Panic felt like it was crawling up my lungs and tightening its grip on my throat. I tightened my grip on the wheel. It wasn't their fault. They didn't know.

"Sorry," I croaked. "I…" I tried to take a deep breath. They stayed silent.

I felt the muscles in my shoulders and back tighten as I tried to stay calm. Maybe they were wrong. With everything else that had happened this weekend, they probably weren't. My luck was not going well lately. Not since I ended up here.

"Turn at the next street. It's ours." I nodded and flicked the lights to warn Steve to stop.

We stopped in front of the house and I parked in the driveway next to the car. Billy got out first, slamming the car door. He headed for the house first and I hoped no one was up. I got out of the car slowly. Nothing felt real right now.

Arms wrapped around me. I hugged back automatically and looked down. Max was hugging me tightly.

"I'm sorry about your friend. Are you gonna be okay?" She looked up at me.

"Yeah." I nodded and tightened my grip on this girl. Life hadn't been easy for her so far and I wasn't about to make it worse.

"Thank you," she said quietly. "For everything."

"Of course."

I waited until she got inside and the door closed. Someone was watching from the living room window and as I stared back, I realized it was the dad. I waited until he closed the curtains, turning away sharply, before I left.

oOo

Steve was waiting outside the car on the next street. He pushed himself off of the car as he saw me turn the corner.

"You alright?"

I stared at him for a moment. His hands were shoved into his pockets and despite all the energy we had running around in the tunnels, he looked exhausted. He had probably been at this since I left Dustin with him the other day.

I nodded. "Yeah."

He stared back. "Okay." He walked over to the passenger side and opened the door. "We going or what?"

I started to nod but the lump in my throat caught up to me and I felt myself start to cry. I put a hand over my mouth as I shut my eyes tight. I couldn't stop it.

"Hey, hey, hey...it's okay."

I tried to swallow back the tears. "I'm..I'm sorry." I wiped at my face and forced a smile.

"It's okay," Steve stepped forward, back to the driver's side. He wrapped an arm around my shoulders and led me to the passenger side. He opened the door. "I'll drive." I sat down. As he closed the door, I bent forward, trying to regain the ability to breathe without sobbing. He couldn't be dead. He couldn't.

Steve got in and I wiped my face again. He started the car. We drove in silence aside from my sniffles.

"It's okay to cry," he said. He was very pointedly not looking at me."It's pretty fucked up what happened in the tunnels. Who knew we'd have to deal with demadogs in this town."

"You held up well," I said softly. I tried to shove my emotions back, at least enough so that I could get through this car ride without making it more awkward.

"Yeah," he forced a laugh. "No choice, really. I couldn't let those dipshits go down alone."

"Yeah you could," I said. "But you're a good person, so you didn't. That's important."

"Well, it helped that you showed up." I snorted and he glanced at me. "I'm serious. You have no idea how glad I was that I wasn't alone in trying to keep them alive."

"I couldn't let them go after I saw Max driving a car full of screaming people," I said softly. "They're good kids, for the most part." I made a face. "Well, maybe not that Wheeler kid. He was kind of an ass."

"He is! Thank you!" Steve agreed.

I tried not to laugh at his exuberant response.

"Is he always like that?"

"I don't know. His sister isn't. Or she wasn't…" he trailed off. I remembered seeing him chase after a girl at the Halloween party. The same girl who was at the Byers house. I tried to change the subject.

"Are we almost there?"

"Yeah."

The drive was silent and I was able, for the most part, to shove back my emotions. I was probably going to bawl as soon as I saw Joyce though. I knew that much.

Steve pulled into a driveway of a large house. We both got out of the car.

"This is me," he pointed with his thumb to the house behind him.

"I hope so considering you drove here," I said.

"Yeah," he chuckled lightly. "I'll see you around."

I waved him off and got into the car. I waited until he got into the house before backing up and driving to Joyce's. It took me a bit before I remembered where I was going but I found it easily enough.

It was dark and far quieter than it had been when I was first here. There was a light on in the house though and as I parked the car, the front door opened. I started crying as soon as I saw Joyce. The look on her face told me it was true.

She ran out to me, hugging me tightly. She was crying too. Hopper stepped into the doorway and followed her out.

"I'm sorry!" she said. We collapsed to our knees and I felt my body heave with sobs. It wasn't fair. He was so good. He was the only one who knew everything. It felt like all the stress, all the pain of the fight with Robin and nearly getting killed came out as I knelt there in her arms.

Joyce stroked my hair as I cried and I felt myself babbling as my tears slowly stopped.

"It's not fair. He was the only one, the only one who knew the truth and now I'm alone! There's no one else here and he's gone and she said I would lose him, she said I'd lose my best friend but I didn't know! It wasn't supposed to be him. Who's going to help me now? He saved me. He saved me every day since he knew the truth and now he's gone."

"What truth?" I looked up at Hopper. Shit.

I wiped my face and pulled away from Joyce. She was staring at me concerned. She was still crying.

"It doesn't matter," I said. Joyce grabbed my hand with both of hers.

"It does," she said. "To you and Bob. Please." It was the please that got me and the memory of Bob telling me to let people in.

I started crying again as I told them. I told them about waking up alone and confused and in a body that wasn't mine. I told them about breaking down in Bob's store and becoming friends as he promised to help me. I told them about how scared I was all the time and how nothing here made sense sometimes and I was alone, more so now without Bob.

Hopper didn't say anything but Joyce hugged me tightly. She ushered me to the house and somehow managed to tuck me into her bed. She had a no-nonsense tone as she did so, ordering me to take off my shoes and go to sleep. She kissed me on the forehead.

"You're not alone, Kate."

[tbc]