𝐋𝐈𝐓𝐓𝐋𝐄 𝐅𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐊, stranger things 1

𝐬𝐢𝐱𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐧 - 𝐬𝐡𝐞'𝐬 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤

"so. . . you're always uncomfortable?" arlo questioned, earning a nudge from the older boy. "hey, i got a question."

"shoot." apollo mumbled, starting to pick away at his chipped nail polish.

"why did you believe us so easily when we told you and percy everything on the bus?" arlo asked, her eyes landing on will, who was on the couch across from them, before she turned to look at apollo.

apollo let his hands drop into his lap, deciding that he could pick at his black nail polish later. "because it wasn't that hard to believe. i mean, if i was any other person than yeah, i wouldn't have believe you until i got some kind of proof. but luckily. . . i'm not any any other person."

"what's that suppose to mean?"

"just that. . . everyone has their secrets and everyone has a past." apollo shrugged, taking out his zippo lighter from his jeans. he flicked it open, a flame automatically appearing before he flicked it closed. he repeated his actions a few times, arlo watching closely.

"hey, how do you do that?" she asked.

"do what?"

"whenever you flick your lighter open, a flame is already there. but that's not how lighters work. you have to turn that little wheel thingy to create a spark." arlo explained, her eyebrows furrowed slightly.

apollo smiled, the harrington girl being the first person to ever notice that besides percy. he knew why he was able to do it, but he only percy and their mother knew about it, so he decided not to reveal the reason. "a magician never reveals his secrets, little harrington."

arlo opened her mouth to ask what he had meant by that, but a familiar voice appeared. "hey." both apollo and arlo turned to see that it was max.

apollo smiled, noticing the way the two girls were looking at each other. he quickly put his lighter back into his jeans pocket before he got up from the couch. "i gotta take another leak, anyway." he mumbled as he walked past max. "mayfield."

max nodded awkwardly, waiting for apollo to leave the living room before she sat down in his previous spot. "aren't you supposed to be trying to sleep or something?"

"there's no point in trying." arlo shrugged. "i am a lot relaxed now that you're here though." she quickly added, placing her head onto max's shoulder. "do you need to go do something else or can you sit here with me?"

"uh, i can - i can sit here with you. i can 100% sit here with you." max nodded, her voice soft. she shifted slightly so that arlo could be comfortable. silence fell over the two girls, the both of them listening to everyone enter and leave the house as they got the shed ready.

about five minutes into the silence, max had heard little snores start to leave arlo's mouth, making her look down. she smiled when she saw arlo's calm and peaceful face. the strawberry blonde moved arlo without waking her, bringing her head down to her lap. arlo didn't even stir in her sleep, only snuggling more into max. the taller girl smiled once again, gently tucking some strands behind arlo's ear. she then felt like she had won some kind of reward as she looked down at the harrington girl. not only because the amazing girl wanted to be her friend. . . possibly more, but because she now knew that she was able to make arlo feel safe enough to sleep.

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𝐎𝐕𝐄𝐑 𝐀𝐍 𝐇𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐋𝐀𝐓𝐄𝐑, 𝐀𝐑𝐋𝐎 𝐖𝐀𝐒 now wide awake. she hadn't even remembered going to sleep, but when hopper had shaken her awake she realized that she did. when she realized who she had fell asleep on, her face heated up. she can't believed that she had fallen asleep on max. and what was even more surprising was that she didn't have one nightmare while she was asleep. the shed was now set up, will, joyce, hopper, jonathan, and mike being inside while everyone else was sat waiting inside the house. arlo had practically begged hopper to let her go out there, but he told her that he needed her inside just incase anything happened. which led to her sitting on the floor in the hall with max next to her and lucas across from them. arlo had been opening and closing her hand, making a small amount of shadows flare around her hand. max and lucas watched her carefully, the latter smiling since he knew that she wasn't able to do that when she first got her powers. she was gaining more control.