chapter fourteen
trick or treat, freak!
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Rue recalls the Wheelers house as being rather large, tall, and wealthy-looking. The trees around it had lost their green leaves, and the grass was covered in dead brown and orange hues. Halloween decorations had been affixed to the windows and entrance.
The front door swung open once Jonathan parked the car, and three boys ran out. They were practically screaming at each other, yelling out quotes from the movie, and even stopping halfway through the lawn to re-enact them. Rue sat in the car, staring out the window, wondering when she had become friends with a bunch of nerds.
She turned off her Walkman, grabbing the empty pillowcase Joyce had given her. Will followed her actions and went to open the car door and join the rest of his friends while they beckoned him and Rue to get out already so they could begin their long night of trick-or-treating.
"Hey, wait," Jonathan called before the two got out.
Will flopped back in his seat and said, "Yeah?"
Jonathan hesitated, "If I let you guys go on your own... Do you promise to stay in the neighbourhood?"
Will turned in his seat, glancing at Rue for a split second before turning again. The corners of his mouth pulled into a hopeful smile.
"Yeah," he quickly nodded, bouncing in his seat, "Yeah! I promise! Totally, right, Rue?" He looked back at her again.
"Yeah!" said Rue.
"And be back at Mike's by nine," Jonathan declared. He's unable to keep a serious look on his face after watching his little brother beam widely.
"Nine-thirty?" Will tried.
"Nine," he repeated, not willing to bargain any further. "Deal?"
"Yeah! Deal!"
"Rue, make sure he comes back by nine," He turned to face the girl, hoping that if his brother forgot, she would remind him.
She grinned, "You got it," and gave him a fist bump before opening the car door and walking out with Will.
The moment Will shut the car door, he turned to Rue, giddy on his feet. He practically giggled, jumping into her arms, and shaking her shoulders, shouting out into the wind.
"Hey, Will," Jonathan interrupted his brother's celebration. Will coughed, embarrassed; however, he nodded anyway, waiting for Jonathan to continue while Rue snorted from behind him.
"Please, don't let any of your spazzy friends use this, okay?" Jonathan noted, and he reached behind his seat and handed the video camera to Will through the open window.
If Will Byers hadn't been thrilled before, he surely is now. He was nearly trembling while taking the camera, instantly turning it on and pointing it at Jonathan. "All right!" He exclaimed, and when Rue and Jonathan gave him a weird look, he shrugged it off, pushing past Rue and toward his friends.
"Make sure he gets home safe, Rue," Jonathan said one last time. Rue nodded, waving a quick salute, which made him grin. "Go, get out of my face," he said playfully, starting the car again, "Have fun."
Rue skipped on her way to join the rest of the boys, smiling as she watched them jump all over Will, all four of them equally excited to go trick-or-treating without the eyes of any babysitter.
"Egon!" exclaimed Dustin, wrapping his arms around Will. Then he smiles at Rue, "Hey! You made it!" He took an awkward step toward her, his arms out as if he was about to hug her the same way he did with Will, but then Dustin stumbled as if he had realized Rue was a girl.
He cleared his throat, dropping his arms and patting her shoulder. "Nice to see you, man. Uh, dude- uh, I meant... whatever, let's get the fuck out of here."
Rue watched him spin around and hurry ahead to lead the way while pulling out a map of Hawkins from his pocket. Mike and Will followed him closely, while Lucas strayed behind with Rue.
He burst into laughter the moment Dustin was far enough away so he wouldn't hear while pulling Rue close and wrapping his arm around her shoulders. "Oh, shit. You've gotta admit that was funny."
Rue smiled sarcastically, her steps matching Lucas's as they walked behind the group. "Oh, definitely," she rolled her eyes, "the way he froze up was hilarious. Just for a split second, he seemed to forget I had overies."
That makes Lucas laugh even louder, and he even wipes his hands under his eyes, almost missing the way Rue scoffed at him. "C'mon," He says, squeezing her shoulder, "Dustin's an only child, he doesn't know how to act around girls that aren't his mom yet."
"Oh, yeah? Is that why you two stalked MadMax last night?"
Lucas nearly trips before he stops, letting his arm drop from Rue's shoulder. It was Rue's turn to laugh now, watching the way his mouth opened and closed helplessly. "Uh- that's not what happened."
"Yeah, of course it isn't," Rue teases, "I mean, following her around town, watching her with binoculars. Totally not stalking."
Lucas rubs his hands over his face in embarrassment. He's grinning shyly under his palms, and Rue can see it, and it makes her smile too. "Oh, fuck, please stop," he groans, and it makes Rue laugh again before she punches his shoulder playfully.
"Aw, look at you getting all nervous," She says, continuing her walk down the street which started to be filled with other kids trick-or-treating. She glances at Lucas over her shoulder for a second before smirking and pretending to be distracted by the colours of the setting sky. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you have a crush on MadMax."
"Shut the fuck up, no I don't." Lucas quickly denied it. "Stop looking at me like that. Why are you looking at me like that? I don't have a crush on her. Hey, don't walk away. Rue, I swear I don't! Don't tell her I have a crush on her... because I don't!"
Rue runs up the steps of the first house, bumping shoulders with Will, while Lucas catches up to them before Dustin rings the bell. Mike glances at Lucas and Rue from the corner of his eye and huffs, looking at the door again while the bell rings.
"Took you long enough." He mutters.
Rue rolls her eyes just as the door opens, and two young parents stand behind it, holding a baby dressed as a dinosaur in their arms. The five kids quickly flashed the small family their widest and most adorable smiles while holding out their candy bags, "Trick-or-Treat!"
Trick-or-treating hadn't changed much, according to Rue's hazy memories. And let it be known that Halloween in Hawkins was a billion times better than it was in Chicago, where the neighbourhoods were wide and suburban, enough children in the streets that their chatter could be heard from all over the place even after the sun set hours ago.
Rue had realized how close Mike Wheeler and Lucas Sinclair lived to her house after rounding the corner down the street; although no one was there, she could see her home, lights off and adorned for Halloween. Mrs. Wilson's vivid pink roses were also visible beyond the white picket fence across the street, a house that a lot of children avoided that night.
"I hope someone eggs her house tonight," Rue heard Mike Wheeler mutter over her shoulder.
Her eyes widened as she pivoted to look at Mike. Rue never liked Mrs. Wilson, but she didn't know why Mike wouldn't either. In her mind, Rue imagined Mike turning out to be just like Mrs. Wilson once he was old and wrinkled. The thought of it made her laugh.
"Mrs. Wilson's house?" she asked, an amused twinkle in her eyes.
Mike blinked at her, then nodded, "Yeah, I can't stand that lady."
"Why's that?"
He scoffed, "The bullshit she spreads all the damn time," Mike rolled his eyes, "especially about my older sister. She needs to kick the bucket already. No one will miss her anyway."
Rue couldn't hide her surprise, especially since her brows had flown up to her forehead. She had always assumed Mike was just worried about himself and his friends. Rue appeared to have passed judgment on him too soon.
"I also heard what she said about you," Mike adds. He glances at Rue, who's already looking at him. Mike hesitates, "You're not... you're not retarded the way."
Rue blinked, taken aback. That might have been the nicest thing Mike Wheeler had ever said to her. "Thanks?"
"Yeah, whatever," he sneers, offering her a half-apologetic smile, "just don't let me fail that stupid health assignment, and maybe we could be friends. You know, we could egg Mrs. Wilson's house together or something."
Rue bites back a snort and decides to play along. "I thought we already were friends, Michael."
There's a ghost of a smile on his face when he looks at her. It makes Rue beam, no longer able to hide her emotions once she realizes that maybe Mike Wheeler isn't that awful.
"You wish, Ruth." He grins.
"I don't believe my eyes," Will's voice ripped the two of them from the moment. He appears from behind them, holding the camera up to their faces while grinning widely. He's having the best night of his life. "Did you guys just become friends?"
"No," Rue quickly shakes her head.
"Ew, gross." Mike scoffs.
"I'd rather die than be friends with someone named Michael."
"She killed Leon. Three times!"
"Look at his hair!"
"What's wrong with my hair?"
"What's not wrong with your hair?"
"Okay, never mind," Will mumbles, annoyed with their bickering only seconds in. He looks the other way and chases after Lucas and Dustin as they run up the steps of the fourteenth house of the night.
"Trick-or-treat!" They all exclaimed after the door swung open. They gathered together on an elderly lady's little porch, barely able to fit all five of them.
The woman beamed at the sight of them, pushing her glasses up her nose with one hand and holding onto the bowl of candies with the other. "Oh! Well, aren't you cute? The little exterminators!" When her gaze landed on the only girl, she grimaced and asked, "And their... secretary?"
Rue felt her smile drop just as quickly as the boys' had; her costume made no sense without Velma or anyone from the Scooby-Doo gang. And apparently, the Ghostbusters weren't nearly as popular with everyone as the party made them seem.
Dustin scoffed, taking a huge handful of candy, then all the other boys and Rue. They didn't leave after that, however; they only backed away so Rue could push herself to the front. She smiled at the lady, curt and soft.
"Hi, Miss. Must I say, you look great tonight."
Rue heard Lucas snicker from behind her, and she stepped on his foot to shut him up.
Baffled, the woman began to stammer, "Well," she let out an odd, watery laugh. "You're- aren't you a sweet little thing?"
"I try to be," Rue said, shrugging casually. "My mother had always told me it was better to be known for my kindness. She says rudeness is the weak person's imitation of strength because kindness is the strength they're looking for..."
Rue paused and stared at the woman for a split second. Those few seconds were all she needed to gather enough information for her to add, "I know it seems hard now, like nothing ever goes your way, but trust me, it gets better. You'll feel better if you call him."
It was a strange conversation, definitely one-sided. Rue spoke reassuring words, promising the woman happier endings. Within the five seconds they faced each other, Rue seemed to know everything about her.
There was a funny, dazed look on the woman's features. Tears had grown in her eyes as she pursed her lips together and said, "I would feel better, wouldn't I?"
Rue looked at her sadly.
She sucked in a breath, nodding to herself. "Oh," she sighed, "thank you, sweetheart. I'm... I'm gonna call him." She froze, staring at the candy bowl in her hands, before thrusting it toward Rue and saying, "Here, take as many as you want."
Rue didn't hesitate before she took another handful, throwing all the candy in her bag. "Bye!"
"Yes, yes." She nodded, returning to her home.
The porchlights shut off while the five kids made their way back onto the street.
Lucas cheered loudly, thrusting a fist into the air, "That's the sixth time tonight!" He pats Rue's back as she splits up the extra candy for all of them. "We might not even have to go to Loch Nora if you keep it up."
Dark heat blossomed on Rue's cheeks as she smiled shyly.
"How'd you know what she needed to hear?" Will asked, pointing the video camera at Rue. "Like, for the past six houses, you've been sucking up these old motherfuckers."
"Don't you know, Will? I'm secretly psychic," she jokes, sticking her tongue out at the camera. "I'm a real-life Charles Xavier."
Dustin gasped once he caught the reference, "You read X-Men?"
"Who doesn't?"
"You're so cool," Dustin whispers.
"You're not actually Charles Xavier," Mike rolled his eyes.
"Obviously not," Rue says, "I was joking, Michael. Couldn't you tell?" she shakes her head, walking ahead, "Superpowers aren't real."
"I think it's pretty cool," Will hums, "you can like, read minds or whatever."
Rue shrugs, "Or I'm just crazy good at understanding body language."
"That's cool," Will said, then nudged Mike on his side, "isn't it cool, Mike?"
Mike paused at first, and he glanced at Rue and then at her nose and then at her hand. "Yeah, sure. Whatever."
"I swear if I get another Three Musketeers, I'm gonna kill myself," Lucas sighed after counting his candy.
"What's wrong with Three Musketeers?" Dustin asked.
"What's wrong with Three Musketeers?" Lucas mocked him.
"No one likes Three Musketeers," Mike butted in.
Will nodded, "yeah, it's just nougat."
"Whoa, 'just nougat'?" Dustin said in disbelief. "What about you, Rue?"
"I prefer sour candies and lollipops."
All four boys collectively groaned, rolling their eyes at her. "You and your stupid sour candies."
"Lollipops are such a girl answer."
"Well, I am a girl."
"We know. You won't let us forget it."
"It's all rainbows and unicorns with you."
"And pink. So much fucking pink."
"Okay, wow. Fuck you. All of you. No wonder you get bullied at school."
"Low blow, Rue."
"Yeah, not cool."
"Whatever. You guys are losers anyway."
"Anyways, Three Musketeers are in my top three."
"Top three? Really?" Mike scoffed and rolled his eyes again, saying, "Oh, god, give me a break."
"If he keeps rolling his eyes like that, he's going to get them stuck," Rue thought.
The snort-like laugh Will let out had caused Rue's head to shoot up from her feet and glance at him. The boy clasped one of his hands over his mouth as he awkwardly slid away from Dustin's side to walk next to Rue.
"What's so funny?" She asked him.
"You are," Will snickered, pointing the camera at her again. "Don't worry, though. He didn't hear."
Rue glanced at him weirdly. She didn't know what he was talking about, and her confusion continued to rise when his eyes widened at her face. Then Lucas had gasped, calling her name, "Oh shit, Rue—"
Rue blinked, not hearing what he had said. "What?"
"You're bleeding."
Rue panicked and looked down at her pants, fearing the worst. That was before she became aware of the trickle coming from her nose. "Oh," she quickly wiped it away with her sleeve, watching as blood stained the purple fabric.
Sniffing, she looked back up to see Dustin, Lucas, and Mike staring at her. "What?" she asked again. Their stares made her more worried than she should be, and Rue felt the same way she had when she first met them all over again. "Don't look at me like that. It's just a nosebleed, I get them all the time."
Mike opened his mouth to say something, most likely in response to an argument. Michael Myers came out of the woods, waving a knife in the air and yelling at the group before he could say anything.
They had all flinched and jumped. The group pressed closer together, each of them shouting something. Rue believed she heard herself screaming before realizing it was Lucas clinging to her arm.
Rue could feel her heart slowing somewhat when a familiar laugh sounded behind the mask. Her hand held her pillowcase full of candy to her chest, and she slowly stepped closer to Michael Myers after prying her arm away from Lucas.
"Max?" she called.
To answer her question, Michael Myers removed his mask, revealing Max Mayfield. She was beaming from ear to ear as she held out her fake knife. "Sup, Daph!"
Dustin furrowed his eyebrows and said, "MadMax?"
"Holy shit!" She laughed at all of them, saying, "You should've seen the look on your faces. And you?" Max pointed at Lucas. "Who screams like that? You sound like a little girl."
Still stunned, no one from the group had made a move to follow Max when she let out one more laugh and began to walk down the street.
She spun around, raising her eyebrows in question while waving her pumpkin basket around, saying, "Hey, you guys coming or not? Oh! I heard we should hit up Loch Nora. That's where the rich people live, right?"
Max didn't need to say anything else before Rue ran up to join her. "Hey, you," she said breathlessly, "You made it after all."
Max stuck out her chest proudly, "I promised you the best night of your life, didn't I?"
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The night had not been as young when they began trick-or-treating. There was a cool breeze in the air now, and the temperature had dropped to the point where their breaths had fogged up in front of their faces when they spoke.
Rue Newby hadn't let that bother her as she puffed out another laugh. Her cheeks had been starting to ache from smiling so much while Lucas and Max went back and forth with bad jokes.
They'd gone up to Loch Nora regardless, leaving Rue's weird and manipulative method of sweet-talking her way into extra candy behind once Max had shown up. They had gone to five houses in the wealthy neighbourhood, and their bags were nearly full.
"Another full-size," Dustin started, skipping down the lawn of a mansion. Lucas, Max, and Rue followed him closely, "Like, seriously, rich people are such suckers," he paused, then glanced at Max, "Wait. You're not rich, right?"
Max chuckled, "No, I live up on Old Cherry Road."
"Oh."
"Wait," Rue reached out, her fingers curling around Max's wrist gently to slow her down. "You live on Old Cherry Road?" she asked, and Max nodded slowly, "That's like, across town... you said you wanted to walk me home yesterday because it's on your way home."
"Oh, right. Uhm. Well, technically, it is on my way home."
"No," Lucas butted in, throwing his arm over Rue's shoulder, "it's the complete opposite way to your house."
Rue smiled at Max while she leaned closer to Lucas for warmth, saying, "If you wanted to walk me home, you could have just said so, MadMax."
Max rolled her eyes, a red tint on her freckled cheeks, while her blue eyes darted between Lucas and Rue. "Yeah, whatever, overalls."
"I think it's totally tubular," Dustin snickered, "What? Is that not how you say it?" He asked when Max gave him a judging glance.
"No, no," Lucas cleared his throat, "It's like, totally tubular," he said with a surfer's pronunciation.
"Totally tubular!"
"I think it's: Totally tubular!"
"Yeah, Rue's got it," Lucas chuckled, "what a gnarly wave, dude!"
"Stop," Max had finally burst into a fit of laughter, "my ears are hurting."
It was then that Rue noticed Will and Mike had been missing from the fun. She slipped out of Lucas's arms and skipped their way, "Hey, guys," she smiled, then pointed ahead, "They're thinking about hitting two more houses before we head back, is that good?"
"Of course, they'd never run it by me or anyone," Mike said, each word carrying a bitter, painful edge.
Rue had stopped skipping, and her smile dropped. Her hair had started to fall out of place as she asked him, "What's wrong?"
When she looked over at Will, he was still holding the camera up to Mike's face, who grew irritated and shoved it away. Will shifted his gaze to Rue, the camera capturing the way her face fell.
"He's just annoyed Max showed up, that's all."
"Why? She's cool," Rue defended.
"She can't just show up out of nowhere and suddenly be a part of our party," Mike explained, his lips curving into a deep frown, "She has to earn it. Or at least it should be talked about with the rest of the party. That's what we did with you."
"Right," Rue squinted at him, "And did I pass your party's judgment?"
Mike doesn't miss a beat to answer, "It doesn't matter."
"No, I think it does, you know?" Rue had no idea where the sour edge had come from, but Mike's attitude was uncontrollably mingling with hers. "Am I good enough to be friends with Mike Wheeler? God, I sure hope so."
"Guys, come on," Will Byers tried to cut in, finally taking the camera out of his friends' faces.
"If you wanna know so bad, fine! We agreed it was best if you weren't an official member of the party, Rue Newby." Mike spat.
Rue let out a bitter laugh, "And why is that? Because I'm a girl?"
"No," he scoffed, "I don't care about that."
"Really? Because that's all you guys fucking talk about. You make jokes here and there, and I laugh. Because you know what? Whatever. Boys will be boys. But shit-"
"It's not because you're a girl, Rue!"
"Then what is it?"
"It doesn't matter."
"No, I think it does."
"I swear! You're making it a bigger deal than it actually is."
"If it's not that big of a deal, why can't you just say it?"
Mike stayed silent.
"Go on, say it, Mike."
He glared at her, his gaze cold and sharp. Then, he blurted, "El! It's El! We all agreed you remind us of El in some fucked up way! I don't fucking know! It's messed up! Okay? Are you happy now?"
Rue felt her face drop, watching as tears started to brim at the corners of Mike's brown eyes. She had never seen him this way before; he looked like a kicked puppy; his heart ripped out and stomped on continuously.
Mike took a step away from Rue, blinking away his tears and rubbing his fists against his eyes. He glanced at Will, then slowly looked at Rue. Mike's sorrow turned into anger, then confusion, and finally horror as he stared at the girl dressed in a pretty purple dress, illuminated by streetlights and the moonlight.
Rue didn't know what to say. She swallowed thickly, and anxiety bites her chest and heart as Mike stared at her with tears rolling down his freckled cheeks. She made him cry. Rue opened a healing scar in Mike Wheeler's heart. It's bleeding all over, and there's blood on the floor. "Mike..." she starts, "Mike, I'm sorry."
When Rue took a step towards him, he took another step back, shaking his head. Mike held a hand between them, keeping the distance. "Stop."
"I shouldn't have pushed it."
"Stop it."
"I'm sorry-"
"Just shut up!"
Rue stops, holding her breath. She starts to tug at the knuckles of her fingers, and she can feel the creeping hands of guilt crawl up her spine, tugging at her shoulders, whispering in her ears. "Mike, I never meant to-"
"You're bleeding," he cuts her off. His voice is low, and his eyes never meet hers. Mike stares at Rue's nose for just a second before dropping them to stare at her shoes and the spots of blood on the floor.
Rue holds her hands up to her nose and mouth, where her fingers are quickly coated with crimson red. She could taste the familiar metallic before she could understand words, and blood dribbled from her chin. She exhaled slowly, her gaze shifting from Will's apprehensive eyes to Mike, who seemed split between breaking into tears and rushing to her aid.
"Head down, head down," Another voice told her while two hands made a home on Rue's shoulders. It was Max. "You don't wanna inhale it, okay? Keep your head down."
Rue kept her head down as Will and Max guided her to kneel on the floor. There was a small puddle on the dark concrete, and Rue felt a gentle hand rubbing her back while Will left her side after mumbling something she never caught.
She raised her head to look for him, but another hand pushed it back down and warned her not to move until someone found napkins.
People were staring, and there were a lot of them. Rue didn't bother glancing up to know this. Rue hadn't felt this exposed in a long time, and everything made her want to cry.
Her lip quivered as she heard everyone around her speak over each other, some of them wondered what to do, and others wanted to know what the hell just happened.
Rue wanted to know that, too.
She wanted to know what the fuck happened.
"I'm fine," Rue rasped, finally pushing all the bodies around her away. "I'm fine! I just need space. Back off."
She pulled herself to her feet, grimacing at the thick blood that had ruined Dani's shoes and dress. "Ah, fuck."
"Take this," Dustin put a bottle of water and a handful of napkins into Rue's hands. "Will and I went to the nearest house to ask—"
Will. Rue thought. Will. Will Byers. Where was Will?
Rue looked at her surroundings, spinning around to search for the small boy in a homemade brown Ghostbusters costume, sputtering out his name under her breath. Then, someone grabbed her shoulders, stopping her from moving so much.
It was Lucas, "Don't do that. You're going to make yourself nauseous. The last thing we need is you throwing up."
Rue held onto his arms, leaning closer. "Where's Will?"
His brows furrowed, "What?"
"Will." She spoke more clearly, "Where is Will?"
Lucas slowly dropped his arms from her shoulders, letting Rue hold onto his hands as he looked around. The longer it took Lucas to spot Will, the more panicked he became, "He- he was right here a second ago."
"He was... he was right behind me," Dustin joined the panic, he was gripping onto a handful of napkins, eyes wide in horror. "I fucking swear he was right behind me!"
Without another word, Mike Wheeler had already run off to search for Will Byers. And Rue went to follow after him, but Max stopped her, "Hey, no. Rue, stay here."
"But-"
"No," She said again, and she cupped Rue's cheeks, keeping her head still so she'd look at her.
When Rue's eyes meet Max's, she pleads, "Max..."
"Lucas is on it," Max told her, and to prove her point, Rue spotted Lucas runoff from the corner of her eye, calling for Will. Max tilted her head, "Hey," she whispered, tapping her fingers gently against Rue's cheek, "Hey, Rue?"
"Hmm?"
"You're alright, aren't you?"
The desperate look Max had given Rue made her dizzy. Rue couldn't help but smile softly, bloody teeth and all. "Always."
Dustin eventually returned, gasping with a thin layer of nervous sweat glistening on his face. "We found Will," he huffed, then nodded for the two of them to follow him.
Luckily, within the few minutes of Will's disappearance, he hadn't gone too far. About five or four houses away from where they had once stood, he hid behind a fence that leads to someone's backyard.
Dustin, Max, and Rue stumbled down the few steps and found Will shaking Mike's arms. He had curled himself into a ball, sobbing while desperately looking all around him, almost as if he were waiting for something to appear out of the thin air and snatch him up from the safety of his best friend's arms.
"Is he okay?" Lucas asked, kneeling next to Mike and Will.
"I don't know," Mike said. He turned his attention to Will and frowned, "I'm gonna get you home, okay?"
Will whimpered, and Rue could feel her heart shatter.
"I'm gonna get you home," Mike said again, "Hold on," he struggled to get Will to stand.
Dustin noticed and reached out to help, saying, "Take it easy."
"I got him," Mike pushed him away.
"Mike—" Lucas tried, but Mike also shoved him away.
Stubbornly, Mike had finally pulled Will to his feet. He wrapped his arms tightly around him and scoffed, "Keep trick-or-treating," Mike told his friends, rolling his eyes as he led Will out of the cramped space between the houses, "I'm bored anyway."
As a final attempt, Rue stepped forward. She barely got Mike's name out before he glared daggers at her, shutting the girl up instantly.
Without another word, Mike stormed out and pulled Will along with him. The others watched as Mike left them behind, unsure how to go with the rest of the night. The excitement of Halloween faded as the little group became worried and scared.
Slowly, they all stepped back onto the street and stood in silence.
Rue watched as Mike walked Will down the street, most likely back to his place. Rue considered following them from a distance because Lucas and Mike's house was only a street away from hers.
"I think I'm gonna go home," Dustin was the first to break the silence. "Bye, guys."
Lucas had hugged him before he left, and Dustin waved goodbye to Rue and Max before turning on his heels and walking down the other street to get home.
"We should probably leave too," Lucas mumbled once they could barely see Mike, Will, and Dustin.
"Probably," Rue said, she would at least have Lucas by her side when she walked home since they lived in the same neighbourhood. Before deciding, Rue glanced at Max and tilted her head, "You coming?"
It took Max a second to realize what she meant. Then she was nodding, hurrying to keep up with Rue and Lucas.
The three walked back home in fragile silence. Lucas' shoulders were tense, and he had to strain his eyes to see through his exhaustion. Max was less stiff, but she walked with a saggy sigh on her shoulders as she was left bewildered. She'd also cast peculiar glances at Lucas, which Rue had noticed a few times but never said anything about it.
Rue locked arms with Lucas, leaning her cheek on his shoulder. She thought about Mike longer than she'd like to admit; the tears that ran down his face; the guilt; the anger; the sorrow; El. Rue had a blurry idea of who El was: an old friend who'd left Mike behind. It was her best guess. She'd never ask for confirmation. Not from Mike, not from Will or any of the boys. Whoever El is was meant to be a secret to be kept in a safe. Rue would never pry, she's hurt enough people already.
Lucas hugged Rue tightly before he went into his home. The two swayed from side to side before parting ways. Lucas gave Max a gentle smile and a nod before he closed the door and disappeared behind it. Rue stared at the door a minute longer than she'd like to admit, still with her head in the clouds, before Max pulled her back to Earth.
Max had turned to lead the way to Bob Newby's house, but Rue grabbed her hand and motioned toward the Wheelers. "I need to make sure Will is okay."
Max huffed, "Mike said to leave them alone."
"I really don't care what Mike said," Rue told her, then grabbed Max's arm again, dragging her towards the house.
The sound of bushes rustling beside the two girls as they traversed the walkway leading to the front door forced them to come to a halt. They turned to look at the source of the noise and flinched when a high school boy staggered out of the bush. He froze when he noticed he was caught, and he held his hands up in defence.
"This isn't what it looks like," he said quickly while his hair flopped before his face.
"Are you breaking into—?"
"No!" He almost screamed, and then, recognizing he was being too loud, he hurried closer to them and spoke more quietly. "I wasn't—I wasn't breaking in. I swear."
When he got close to the girls, Rue drew Max away as she took a step back. Max, on the other hand, drew her arm out from Rue's clasp and took a step closer to the high schooler. She squinted before pointing at him with her jack-o-lantern basket. "Are you crying?"
A look of surprise dawned on the boy's face as if he hadn't even known he was crying. "No," he mumbled, running his hands over his face. "No, no. I'm not... I'm not crying."
Rue frowned and asked, "Are you okay?"
"I said I'm not crying! I'm fine. It's just... allergies."
Max snickered, "What are you allergic to? Halloween? Candy? Kids?"
"Listen, kid. That's none of your business. Just go back to trick-or-treating or whatever."
"Okay," Max challenged, "then you go back to breaking into the Wheeler's house."
He pointed a finger at Max, then wagged it in the air like a mother would to scold their child, "You..."
"She didn't mean it," Rue cut in, pushing Max behind her, "she's just in a pissy mood right now." Rue heard Max make a sound of offense behind her, but she chose to ignore it.
"Right," he muttered, then dusted his pants off and turned to walk away. But then he froze and spun back around to the girls. "By the way, so you don't go telling people that I was breaking into the house, when I wasn't. I was just visiting my girlfriend—well, my ex girlfriend, apparently...."
"You got dumped on Halloween!" Max snapped her fingers, pointing at the boy. "That's why you're crying."
He rolled his eyes and said, "Yeah, rub it in, won't you."
"Don't feel too bad, my dad left on Halloween," Rue tried to ease the older boy's pain. "It was seven years ago, and he's actually my legal guardian now because my mom died a few months ago, but, you know," she shrugged, "Halloween sucks, right?"
He scrunched his nose and glanced at her oddly, "...Right. What are you supposed to be, anyway? Zombie Daphne?"
"Close! Just regular Daphne, I got a crazy nosebleed."
He made a face and said, "You're a weird kid."
The three exchanged no further words as the older boy got into his car and drove away. Max and Rue had returned to knocking on the Wheeler's front door.
While Karen Wheeler let the two girls in, Rue wished she hadn't listened to Max or Will. She wished she could have stayed at home with Joyce and Bob and joined them for their horror movie night. Halloween, according to Rue, was cursed in some way she couldn't explain.
author's note: so i may or may not have changed rue and mike's dynamtic slightly. JUST SLIGHTLY! i wanted to add more of them two bickering cause i love those two idiots <3 they're also soo much closer with each other now (in their own weird way idkkk)
mike is soooo important for rue's story in season 2 like you guys aren't ready for all the changes i'm making during the lab scenes 😈😈
like you know how dustin was crazy important for rue's arc in season 4?? yeah it's going to be like that but instead season 2 😻
also lucas and rue's friendship </3 the way those two instantly clicked and haven't stopped being bffs since day 1, yeah i love them!!
( word count: 5 892 )