𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐌𝐈𝐒𝐄𝐒 | b. hargrove ²

𝟭𝟭| 𝙇𝙄𝙈𝙄𝙏𝙎

Lili felt like crying. She felt like taking her calendar and ripping it up into tiny pieces. She felt like her life was turned upside down, if it wasn't already.

"Lili?" Nancy knocked on the door. Lili sat on the floor, crying. It's just a mistake, it's just a mistake, it's just a mistake, she kept telling herself. She never wished for her period to come so soon.

"Lili?" The door opened a little bit. Lili shot her hand out and slammed the door shut.

"I'm fine!" Lili shouted.

"What's wrong?" Nancy asked. Lili didn't answer. Her hands balled into fists as she let her tears fall onto the hardwood floor. She heard Nancy sigh and lean against the door.

"I'm sorry," Nancy sighed. "That was insensitive. We'll find a way around this. I'm sure we can get the Mind Flayer out of him."

She was talking about Billy. Lili started to sob when she thought of him. He didn't even know that she was... god, she couldn't even think about it. He was in some cave standing like a zombie. He was a slave to the Mind Flayer.

It seemed that problems kept on piling up for Lili. She couldn't catch a break. She couldn't sit down and breathe. She couldn't go one second without having to look behind her shoulder or be scared of what lies ahead.

Lili tried to see that there was a happy ending. But her mind couldn't go past tomorrow. If there was a tomorrow.

I'm not ready, she thought. Not now. Please not now.

She couldn't bring a child into this messed up world. One where their father is just a cocoon of the man he used to be. And it wasn't even his fault. It was all torn away from him.

What if that happens to the child? Lili couldn't stand the thought of doing that to a baby. She couldn't stand the thought of having one.

"Lili?" Nancy knocked lightly on the door. This time, Lili didn't even try to close the door again. Nancy walked in and when she saw the girl on the floor, she raced over to her and wrapped her arms around Lili.

"It's okay," Nancy said in a hushed voice. Lili couldn't help but think of Billy. His smile, his eyes. His gentle touch, his soft words. The way he made her smile and the way he made her heart skip a beat. How he was amazed and fascinated by her every time he saw her.

And now it's all gone. She'll never see him again. Well, she'll never see that Billy again.

"It's not fair..." Lili sobbed. She gripped Nancy's arms. Nancy started to rock her back and forth. She didn't really know Lili that well and whenever they hung out, it always seemed to be when the end of the world was near. It made her think of Jonathan and how they used to only be together when monsters were attacking.

Nancy thought about Jonathan for a while. About how if he were Flayed, like Billy, how would she handle it? She didn't think she could. She suddenly felt an immense pain in her heart and a ten ton weight on her chest just thinking about how Lili must've felt.

"I know it's not fair," Nancy said. "We just need to keep playing the game until we win."

"You're starting to sound like Steve," Lili laughed, thinking about last year in the Byers' house.

"Oh god," Nancy laughed. "Kill me now."

Lili let out a chuckle and detached herself from Nancy. She looked at the girl with the awful perm and smiled. "Thanks."

"It's no problem," Nancy grinned. Lili smirked at that and Nancy grabbed her hands to help her off the floor.

"We'll get through it," Nancy assured Lili. "I promise."