✓ Her Mixtape, Stranger Things

lii. how to get away with murder

And while she's seen it, she's felt it too. Her gift of empathy was also a curse because it made it hard for her to distinguish between her feelings and someone else's. And when she was around someone in love, she was forced to feel it too. It was an overwhelming emotion, and it terrified her.

Rue, of course, has a fondness for stuff. She adored music, her new family, her friends, her clothes and makeup, and her father. But there's a distinction to be made between loving things and falling in love with someone.

She's always tried to deny it, ever since she felt the first glimpses of it, she knew her heart couldn't bear the heartbreak if it ever happened. But no matter how hard she tried to pretend those sentiments didn't exist, to replace them with someone else, to convert them into hatred, it was practically impossible.

All she knew was that she did love her. The moment her heart had broken and cracked and bled at the sight of her nearing the edge of the tightrope, seconds away from death, the moment she'd held her again and known that she would do anything to keep her safe, there was no doubt in her mind that what she felt was love.

And that scared the fuck out of her. More than Vecna closing in on her and her friends. More than the demons that lingered in the shadows. Because she had dealt with each of them before and had skills to help her solve them. But she had no idea how to deal with the feelings she had acknowledged.

"You're staring," The voice of Max Mayfield had torn Rue Newby out of her thoughts. The red-haired girl grinned as she pressed her cheek to her fist, her other hand holding onto a red crayon.

"I don't stare," Rue rolled her eyes and leaned back on her chair, crossing her arms.

They'd chosen to go back to the Wheeler's house and hang out upstairs rather than in the basement. Holly Wheeler had already sat at the breakfast table while her parents congregated around the kitchen island. Karen Wheeler was baking pancakes for at least a dozen people, and the fragrance made Rue's stomach rumble as she suffered from the munchies.

Max raised her brows at Rue's quick remark and looked at her in disbelief. "I can feel you burning holes into my head."

With a scowl, hoping to hide the fact she was embarrassed by being caught, she pointed at the headphones around Max's neck, "Shouldn't have those on? Y'know, to block out Vecna. It would suck if you started floating and slammed against the roof."

Holly, who was sitting by Rue's side and fiddling with her Lite Brite, looks up from her tablet with wide eyes. "Why would she start floating?"

"Floating from happiness!" Rue recovered swiftly, her voice rising to a higher pitch as she turned to face the six-year-old. Rue twisted Holly's blonde hair around her finger before lightly pinching her cheek, smirking as the girl groaned and pushed her hand away. "Ignore me, Holly. I say stupid things all the time." Rue told her, and then she pointed at the Lite Brite. "I like your bunny."

"Was that a stupid thing?" Holly asked.

Rue furrowed her brows in confusion, "What?"

"What you just said. About my bunny? You said you say stupid things all the time, did you mean that about my bunny, too?"

"No!" Her voice cracks as she shakes her head, "No, of course not. Your bunny's cute. It's the cutest glowing bunny I've ever seen- It's... I'm going to stop talking now."

"No, please continue," Max teased, "Listening to you ramble on for hours is music to my ears."

"You're such a..." Rue stops herself, remembering Holly was still at her side. She narrows her eyes at Max, who was grinning at her with teeth and all, and it was hard for Rue to feign her annoyance, "You're such a butt, Maxine."