"this tainted love you've given,
I give you all a boy could give you,
take my tears and that's not nearly all,
oh, tainted love,
tainted love."
Hawkins was a place where nothing happened. Everything was routine. High school football ga...
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ONE MONTH LATER...
MALLORY INHALED THE sweet scent of chocolate brownies and pudding wafting from the kitchen, filling her with warmth. It reminded her of her childhood when her mother would bake brownies weekly. Sometimes, Mallory would help, but only to lick the bowl when she was done. She hummed along peacefully to the cheery Christmas carol playing from the record player and as she cascaded colourful Christmas lights over the freshly-cut Christmas tree that grazed the high rooftop of the living room. She glanced above her at Alice, who was balancing on a ladder to decorate the top of the tree with red and gold baubles. She didn't know the carol playing softly from across the room, but she swayed peacefully nonetheless. Mallory smiled as she watched how content she was.
Her first Christmas.
The small, non-traditional new family had little plans for the upcoming big day. Mallory had been explaining Christmas traditions to Mallory. She had told her all about the exchange of gifts (Mallory had bought her several books), the big Christmas feast, snowball fights and how their mother would let them stay in their cosy pyjamas all day if they wanted. Their mother.
Violet hadn't hesitated in taking Alice into their home, though she had her doubts. Part of her kept thinking that she needed to focus on Mallory, her daughter she had pushed away from the better part of two years. She knew she needed to mend that relationship. But that had to start with protecting Alice too because her daughter wouldn't let anything bad happen to her. Especially after what happened to El.
The girl had risked her life in the high school the night Mallory, Alice and their friends fought the demogorgon, the same night Will was rescued from the upside-down. According to Mike, Lucas and Dustin, she had vanished in thin air, dissipating in black smoke along with the demogorgon. She had died saving them.
Mallory finished up with the lights and moved to the box of dusty ornaments which had been untouched for over a year. The previous year, Mallory hadn't felt the Christmas spirit and didn't want to set up the Christmas tree alone, with her mother in bed and her father at work. She sifted carefully through the ornaments until she pulled out a red bauble with glittery, golden handwriting on it, though the handwriting was clearly that of a child.
Merry Christmas, Dad. Love from Mallory, it read.
Mallory felt her throat tense and she quickly swallowed. She hadn't heard from her Dad since the day he left and her mother had been quick to hide the evidence of him ever living there. She had removed all the photos from the entire house. Empty frames sat on the fireplace, the wall of the staircase, the beside table of Violet's bedroom. His study was cleared of all his possessions, leaving nothing but a random assortment of books that Alice loved to study, slowly expanding her vocabulary. The only evidence of Andrew O'Neil's existence in the home was in Mallory's room. She had managed to steal some of the photos before they were scraped and they remained tucked into her desk drawer. She refused to look at them, but she refused to throw them away too.
