☡
The next morning when Clove woke, she sat up in confusion, not feeling Max beside her. Looking to her right, she grabbed the small note on her bed side table.
Clover,
Didn't wanna wake you but I had to get home, had a great time last night see you soon
-Max ♡
Clove smiled as she stuck it under her pillow and slipped on her bunny slippers.
"Hey Dad, are you awake?" Clove asked as she looked into the living room where he usual was watching the morning show. She heard laughing from the kitchen, a woman's laughter.
"Dad?" she asked again but when she circled the corner, she saw much more then only her Father.
"I didn't wanna ruin your goodnight sleep." Stella Reyes spoke as she stood, causing Cloves eyes to widen.
"M-mom." she shuddered while the strawberry blonde smiled and raced to her daughter while the two began to cry.
"I thought you were gone, where were you?" Clove cried out as she hugged her Mom tightly.
"I know baby, i'm sorry but I had to stay away for a while so no one would ask questioned about what happened. I'm home now though, that's all that matters." Stella spoke as they pulled away from each other and she wiped her daughters face to get the tears off before she did hers too.
"Where were you? Were you safe?" she asked while Stella nodded.
"Yeah, yeah i'm okay. I found a underground bunker in the woods, look I had some company to." Stella said while leading her daughter over to the dinning room where a golden retriever played with Levan's old tennis shoes.
"Oh my gosh, he's beautiful." Clove smiled as the dog came over and let Clove pet him.
"Found him just roming, figured he'd make a good match for us." Stella said as she leaned down next to Clove who kneeled down so the dog licked her face.
"Does he have a name?" Clove asked while looking back at her mothers brown eyes.
"I named him Buttercup, sometimes just cup for short." Stella said as Clove giggled and leaned into her Mom more.
"Can't believe we have two kids named after plants." Levan joked as he sat with them on the floor as the two woman laughed.
"Im really glad you're home, Mom." Clove said as she looked to her Mom who gave a sad smile and hugged her daughter again.
Clove spent that whole day with her Mom, they talked and laughed and just felt whole again. Something Clove missed, even though she knew deep down something still wasn't there. She felt guilty the next day when her Dad woke her up.
"Honey, Dustin is coming through on the walkie upstairs. Says it's extremely urgent and you have to answer." Levan spoke as Clove hurried to her room.
"Dustin?" she asked in a panic.
"Clove! Jesus why didn't you pick up all yesterday?" he asked as Clove sighed.
"I'm sorry, it's a long story. Are you hurt?" she asked as she heard someone else with him.
"I'm fine, I need you to meet me at the old junk yard." Dustin said as Clove nodded even though he couldn't see her.
"Is that Lucas with you?" she asked.
"No, Lucas hasn't pick up yet either, it's Steve." Dustin said as Clove frowned in confusion.
"Steve?" she asked.
"Yeah Steve Harrington, remember the guy you feel asleep on at the hospital when we found Will?" Dustin asked.
"Oh Steve!" she shouted .
"Yeah, get here quick okay? Over and out." he said while Clove shut the walkie and quickly threw on some clothes before running down the stairs.
"Okay so I know we just got hit with Mom coming home and all and we're supposed to be having family time but if is very important that I go to Dustin right now." Clove spoke to her Mom and Dad in the kitchen.
"Okay sweetie, is everything okay?" Levan asked as Clove nodded.
"I'll explain soon, I love you guys." she called out while giving them both a peak on the check, jumping on her bike to rush down the street.
"Guys!" Clove shouted as she jumped off her bike, seeing Steve and Dustin.
"Hey, Four Leaf Clover! Long time no see." Steve said as he pulled the gloves off to hug her.
"Steve Harrington, how did you get involved with Dustin?" Clove asked as he pulled away from her.
"His pet ate his cat" Steve shrugged as Cloves eyes widened.
"What?" she asked .
"You didn't know..." he trailed off while Dustin ran over.
"Okay, okay I know you'll be mad about me keeping Dart-" Dustin began.
"You have Dart? Is he okay?" Clover asked as Dustin sighed.
"He was but then he grew to the size of a large dog and ate Mews." Dustin said as Cloves mouth hung open.
"Mews was eaten?" Clove asked as Dustin nodded.
"Yes and I know it's sad but right now i'm gonna need your help okay?" Dustin said as he pulled Clove over toward the junk yard, where they dumped a thing of raw meat.
"Gross." Clove commented.
"I said medium well!" Lucas shouted over at them with Max by his side ,causing Clove to wave .
"So Lucas told you." Clove said a few minutes later while her and Max helped Steve get stuff that would lead Dart to them.
"Yeah." Max shrugged .
"Are you mad?" Clove asked as she frowned slightly.
"I'm not mad, I would have just rather heard it from you." Max shrugged as Clove grabbed her arm to stop her from picking up stuff.
"I'm sorry, I just didn't want to get you involved because it's dangerous. We all almost died last year, I didn't want to take the chances of that happening to you." Clove said as Max looked down at her.
"You mean that?" she asked as Clove nodded her head and was embraced by a hug.
"Hey um, my Moms back." Clove said as Max pulled away quickly .
"Really?" she asked as Clove nodded with a big smile.
"She's been staying in a bunker, was waiting for the cost to be clear before she came back. Had a dog with her." Clove giggled as Max chuckled.
"Well, i'm looking forward to meeting them both." Max smiled as Clove did back.
"Hey dickheads! How come the only ones helping me is this random girl and ankle biter over here?" Steve asked the two boys who were crouched behind a car as he pointed toward the redhead and brunette.
"Oh, real sweet Harrington." Clove rolled her eyes.
"We loose light in forty minutes, let's go!" Steve said to the two boys who quickly followed them.
Spending the next forty minutes they made many traps and anything that could possible help them with ending Dart. As night finally hit, they finished and ran inside a old school bus while Lucas peered out the top with his binoculars. Max and Clove sat side by side in the bus, watching Steve flick his lighter .
"So, you really fought one of those things before?" Max asked the older teen who looked over and nodded.
"And you're like, totally 100 percent sure it wasn't a bear?" Max asked .
"Shit, don't be any idiot it wasn't a bear!" Dustin said as Clove gave him a look.
"Shut up Dustin, don't be rude." Clove glared.
"Why are you even here if you don't believe us?" He asked, eyeing the redhead who held a hurt look .
"Someone's cranky, past your bedtime?" Max asked while she climbed up the latter.
"That's good, just show her you don't care." Steve grinned to Dustin causing Clove to roll her eyes.
"You two are such idiots." she commented while climbing up the later.
"Hey Lucas? Do you want me to take watch for now? Let you re-charge?" Clove asked as the boy gave her a grin.
"You sure?" he asked as she nodded, pulling her body on top of the bus.
"Thanks Clove." he said while climbing down.
"Hey, don't listen to Dustin, alright? He didn't mean it and you aren't a idiot, i'm glad you're here." Clove said over to the girl who couldn't help but grin.
"The fog looks like the ocean." Max commented as they stared out at it.
"You miss it?" Clove asked her.
"What?" Max asked with frowned eyebrows.
"The ocean, the sun... California." she shrugged while looking over at her.
"Hawkins seems pretty lame to comparison to that." Clove laughed when Max didn't answer.
"No, no, no it's not that it's just-" Max began but cut herself off as she looked into the lap. Clove hesitated but reached over and gave her hand a small squeeze.
"My Dads still there so..." Max trailed off while squeezing the smaller girls hand.
"Why? For his job?" Clove asked her.
"No, it's a legal term called divorce, when two people don't love each other anymore." Max shrugged while Clove nodded.
"Yeah, I know what it means. I'm sorry." Clove said as Max nodded.
"My Mom and my Step Dad... they wanted a fresh start. Away from him as if he was the problem, it's just total bull. And things are just worse now, my step brothers always been a dick, but now he's just angry all the time and he can't take it out on my Mom so..." Max trailed off.
"So he takes it out on you?" Clove asked the girl who's eyes were filled with tears.
"I don't even know why i'm telling you this, it's just... I know I can be a jerk like him sometimes. And I don't want to be like him, ever." Max stared as Clove nodded.
"You're nothing like him okay? You're cool, and different, and you're super smart, and really pretty. Totally tubular." Clove joked as she heard the boys say it to her in Halloween, causing Max the laugh.
"No one actually says that, you know?" Max laughed as Clove smiled.
"Well, we do now I guess." Clove shrugged.
"And that makes you seem really cool." Max said as the two girls gazed at each other once again, causing Max to lean over some before a loud screech was heard in the distance.
"Clove! What's going on?" Dustin called up to her while Clove looked around.
"Hold on!" she called back, using Lucas' binoculars.
"I've got eyes! Ten o'clock!" she said while seeing the large creature move through the fog.
"Steve! Steve, get back in the bus!" Clove yelled as she saw the boy walk out with his bat in hand.
"C'mon buddy, human taste better then cat." Steve tried once again as Cloves eye caught sight of another dart.
"Steve! Watch out!" she shouted to himz
"A little busy here!" he called back to her.
"Three o'clock!" Clove shouted back to him, causing the boy to glance over and noticing another one coming for him.
"Steve! Abort!" Dustin called back while Clove climbed down and opened the bus doors. Steve ran and flipped over a car as he hit one of them with his bat, jumping into the bus just as Dustin shut the doors before, what looked like Dart, could get to them.
"They can't get in!" Lucas shouted as one broke threw the glass, causing Steve to start hitting it while the four raced to the back of the bus.
"Is anyone there! Mike! Will! Anyone!" Dustin shouted as another one dented the bus in the back, causing Clove to scream and wrap her arms around Max who pulled her closer to her. The two slowly looked up as they heard footsteps on the roof before the demodog looked down at them through the skylight. Both girls scream loudly while it did back.
"Out of the way! Out of the way! You want some?" Steve called up to the creature as it looked to it's right before running off. Everyone shared a look as Dustin looked at Clove and Max, who were still holding each other.
"What happened?" Lucas questioned while they all slowly walked out of the bus
"I don't know." Max stated.
"Steve scared them off?" Dustin asked.
"No, no they're going somewhere." Steve said as he looked back at the young teens, who all held wide eyes.
••••••
awwww look Stella is back! And our girls are literally nearly cannon omg. I cant believe I only have three more episodes