WARNING: DO NOT ENGAGE [stranger things] [1/2]

XXXIII - River

"Tales of an endless heart

Curses is the fool who's willing

Can't change the way we are

One kiss away from killing"

•

Rosemary felt bad about leaving Nancy that night. It wasn't like she was leaving her alone - there was no doubt Jonathan would stay the night with how shaken he was as well, but Rosemary knew she should be there for her friend. It was just that she felt it would be more harm than good now. She was too jittery - someone getting up to go to the bathroom could have thrown her into a frenzy if they made too much noise.

And so, a good (not so good) nights sleep later, and a breakfast she rushed herself through, Rosemary was back in her car, trying desperately to clear her head and shake her nerves back in to place. It wasn't working - no matter how many cigarettes she smoked, or how long she drove around and around Hawkins, she still felt an itching under her skin and a ringing behind her ears. She was too dangerous to help anymore. She could barely keep herself safe at this point.

She would squeeze her arms around her sides and feel like she was suffocating, or clench her fists and have blood drip down her arm. Biting her lip made her skin bleed and running her fingers through her hair meant she was going to catch her nail on her scalp. By her second lap of the town, there was dents where her hands lay on the steering wheel, and blood dried into her forearm and hair. She felt the need to scratch at the tattoo on her arm until it all flaked away, and a burning desire to run away early. But she couldn't run away early, and there was some sick sentiment attached to the ink. Hell, she could barely go for a drive without something happening.

"Oh, shit." Rosemary sighed as she caught sight of the cop cars. She pulled over, watching out of the window as Jonathan Byers was cuffed. She grabbed a hairband and scraped her hair back to stop anyone from seeing the crusted blood, and grabbed her jacket from the passengers seat to hide most of the damage before she got out of the car. "Nancy!" She called from the mouth of the alleyway as the door was shut on Jonathan and another cop returned. Nancy immediately walked towards her, a hand over her mouth and a crease between her brows. Rosemary cringed at how distressed the girl looked, and wasn't surprised when Nancy tucked her arm under hers as a form of comfort. "What happened?"

"Steve... and, and Jonathan. He wrote this- this thing on the sign, and he said some... Rosemary, it's bad. They want to check Jonathans car and it's not good, and they're both so bad... I don't know what to do." She seemed to fold in on herself.

"What did Steve write?" Rosemary asked first, mentally trying to figure out how to interpret what Nancy had said.

Nancy grimaced, hanging her head as she whispered out, "'Nancy "the slut" Wheeler'. He came by last night. Saw Jonathan in my room. But he- nothing happened! He misunderstood, and it got too far." She frowned, and immediately tried to straighten herself out when she felt Rosemary tense. "We - we have bigger problems than Steve." She stared at the cop car with Jonathan in it as it pulled out of the alley. "I need you to drive me to the police station. He can't be there alone."

"Yeah, no, I get it. Come on." Rosemary agreed immediately, leading Nancy to her car. Nancy wasted no time speed-walking around to the passengers side, getting in. She stopped , hand on her seat belt as she finally took Rosemary in. "Wait, what happened to your hand?" She asked, furrowing her eyebrows. "No - no, don't you dare say nothing." She added quickly.

"It isn't nothing." Rosemary agreed, starting the car. "It also isn't important now." She pulled away from the curb and started on route to the station. "It's honestly worse than it looks - just a few scratches that bled too much. I'll wash it off in the bathroom when we get there. We need to focus on Jonathan now, not my hands." Nancy didn't seem to like the lack of explanation, but she gave a short nod of agreement nonetheless, and they drove to the police station in an uncomfortable silence.

Rosemary did go straight to the bathroom when she got to the station, leaving Nancy to go sit with Jonathan. She took her jacket off and started to scrub at the blood on her arms and hands. When it was gone, she flexed her fingers as a tester. The crescent cuts on her palms started to pool with blood once again, and she hissed out a curse as she stuck them back under the water. "Get a grip." She muttered to her reflection as she caught herself in the mirror. Her eyes drifted down to her arm, and the searing '009' tattoo that taunted her where it lay. Years of long sleeves in the summer in the form of three numbers. It was the worst excuse of a joke Rosemary had ever heard. The best excuse of torture. She managed to escape hell, only to be kept with one finger basked in hot coals.

She turned the tap off, and dried her arms. There were bigger problems at hand now than a tattoo.