mary. [ BILLY HARGROVE ]

xxxi. CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

     The buzzer on the scoreboard rang out, Mary nearly jumping at the loud sound. She saw the Hawkins team break from their circle, Billy, Alex, and Steve all running onto the court with two other boys. The ref blew the whistle, Mary barely concentrating on the game or even Billy. She could feel Eliot's stare against the side of her head, waiting for her to do what he wanted her to. 

     Sixty dreadful, awful minutes later, the game was over. Hawkins had won, and they would move on to the next game that was only in a few days. Mary had her eyes glued to Billy, watching as he cheered and hollered with his team, celebrating the win. His joy made her want to be happy, but under the circumstances, she wasn't sure anything would make her happy. 

^PLAY THE SONG NOW^

     Eventually, the boys all began to calm down, the coach talking to them for a few minutes. Mary felt like he knew what was about to happen, and was making her wait more just for the pain to settle inside of her. Or, he was trying to give Billy just a bit more time. But finally, they screamed the school mascot's name, then turned to go be congratulated by the students. Billy immediately turned to find Mary, moving through all the people to try and spot her. Finally, he could see her standing at the end of the bleachers, and began to rush to her with a wide smile on his face. 

     "Mary!" he called. The girl's heart plummeted, and she thought she was going to start crying again upon hearing his voice. She blinked away the tears, Billy immediately pulling Mary into an embrace. He laughed as he held her, happy to see her after the win. He stepped back, looking down to see her solemn look. "W-What's wrong? We won." 

     "I-I know you did," Mary said with a small nod. She glanced behind Billy to see Alex and Eliot standing together, staring right at them. Her eyes flickered to Billy's again, then down to her feet. "It's just, uh..." She trailed off, feeling the tears coming up again. 

     "Hey, hey, it's okay. Come on, let's get you some air," Billy offered, taking her arm and trying to pull her outside. 

     "No, no, stop," Mary said, pushing his hand away. Billy looked down at her confused again, watching as the tears left her eyes. Mary frowned, a small sob escaping her lips. 

     "Mary?" Billy asked, eyes softening as he realized just how much the situation was escalating. She took a deep breath, looking up at him and wiping her eyes. She breathed as best she could, then gave Billy a small smile. 

     "I'm sorry," she told him, her voice nearly a whisper. "I... I think we need to break up." Billy could feel his heart stop beating. His face flushed from fear and confusion, but sadness was creeping up quickly, too. 

     "W-What?" he asked, furrowing his eyebrows. 

     "Yeah," Mary nodded. "I'm sorry." She turned, walking out of the gym as quickly as possible. Billy stayed in the same spot as he watched the door close slowly after Mary left. She bumped into someone, looking up to see it was Steve. 

     "Hey! Did- Wait, are you crying?" Steve asked, immediately getting concerned. Mary pulled her keys from her pockets, shoving them into Steve's hands. 

     "Drive her home for me, 'kay?" she asked, nodding slowly at Steve. 

     "Wait, Mary, what?" Steve asked in confusion. Mary turned and walked down the hallway again, Steve still confused as he watched her. Mary pushed open the double doors, sprinting through the parking lot and towards the road. Billy walked out of the gym, looking to see Steve standing there with his parents in front of him and Mary's car keys in his hands. Steve looked to his teammate, confused with his expression. "Hargrove, what the hell just happened?" A tear fell from Billy's eye as he stared forward, not quite knowing himself. 

     "She just broke up with me." 

~*~

     Mary finally stopped running at some point, only to keep herself from vomiting and crying at the same time. She was walking through the woods, down the path that was made from the car going in and out of its spot in front of the cabin. She was kicking leaves every so often as she stared down at the ground. Finally, she could see the Sheriff's car parked in front of his cabin, Mary walking to the doorstep. 

     She walked up the steps, knocking on the front door. After about a minute, Hopper opened the door with a swing. His eyes landed on the crying teenager in front of him, confusion filling him, too.

     "Mary, what are you doing here?" Jim asked, not quite sure why she was on his doorstep. 

     "I had no where else to go," she answered. "Can I come in?" Jim peered out the door, then nodded slightly. He stepped back for her to come into the house, Mary stepping inside. She saw Eleven sitting at the kitchen table, slightly alarmed from Mary's presence. 

     "How do you take it?" Jim asked, walking to the pot of coffee that was on the counter. 

     "Alcoholic," Mary answered. He turned to her, raising an eyebrow. "Sorry, forgot you're a cop. Black is fine." 

     "Have a seat," he told her, nodding to the table. Mary slowly sat across from Eleven, the two girls staring at each other in silence. Jim finally walked up to the table, setting the cup of coffee in front of Mary. She took a sip, grimacing at the taste. She hated coffee, but thought that maybe it would taste different when she was sad. "So," Jim started, pulling up another chair. "Tell me the whole story kid. Start to finish." 

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oh GOSH i am SORRY

the song made it worse for me
it's not sad, but it's intense
i'm so so so sorry
forgive me

but, what do you think will happen next?