Chapter Text
Stepping out the front door of the prison, you took in a deep breath of fresh air and sighed with relief.
365 days behind those walls and finally you were free.
"Look who it is!" A familiar voice called out.
You looked up to find Billy standing beside his blue '79 Camaro and you couldn't stop the smile spreading across your face.
"Hey, bro." You greeted, walking over to him as he flicked his cigarette away and pulled you into a tight hug.
"God, I missed your stupid face."
You chuckled softly, "I missed you too."
Eventually, your brother let go and you looked him up and down for any signs of injuries out of habit. But he seemed to be fine.
"So, how's Hawkins and the new house?" You asked, but the look on your twin’s face was enough of an answer. "That bad, huh?"
"Understatement of the century." He muttered, pulling open the passenger side door of his car for you. "Ready for a 24-hour drive back to that shithole?"
"Hell yeah. As much as I love California, I never want to see this place again."
You spared one last glance at the tall, barred prison fence before climbing into the Camaro. Billy started the car with a roar, and you watched the prison disappear through the side mirror as he drove off.
Neither of you said anything for the first hour of the drive. Billy's heavy rock music blasting through the speakers as you leant your arm against the open window taking in the fresh air.
"You know if we're going to be driving in silence all the way to Hawkins, it's gonna be a long drive." Billy suddenly said, glancing over at you. "What's wrong?"
You shook your head, "no, no, nothing’s wrong."
"Mmm because that was believable."
You rolled your eyes and glanced over at him as he met your gaze with a questioning look, but you just shook your head and looked back out the window.
"You worried about dad?" Billy asked, but it sounded like he already knew the answer.
"Is he still..." You trailed off not finishing the sentence, but he knew what you were trying to say.
"Yeah." He nodded. "But he's gotten worse since we moved."
Great, that was just what you needed to hear.
"I won't let him hurt you, sis. You know that, right?"
"You can't protect me from everything and definitely not him. We both know that."
Billy sighed, his fingers tightening around the steering wheel because yeah, he did know that, and he hated it.
"One day when we've saved up enough money, we're leaving for good. Just you and me, we'll hit the road and never have to see that asshole again. He can never hurt us again." He said.
You smiled softly at that. The two of you would've only been 10 when you made that plan after a rather bad incident with your father.
"You and me, sis. When we're older and have enough money, we're hitting the road and never looking back. We'll never have to see him again, I promise." Young Billy had reassured you while he cleaned your split lip, despite his own broken nose that was still bleeding.
"I promise." Billy added, glancing away from the road for a second to look at you.
"And Max."
"What?"
"You, me and Max." You repeated, but he shook his head.
Max came from a loving family. She was a sweet little girl who you had grown attached to. She wasn’t afraid to stand up for herself either, and was a total badass on a skateboard, but you knew Billy didn't really like her.
"She's our sister, Billy."
"Don't." He warned, shaking his head. "She's not our sister. Not really."
"You say that, but you still protect her from Neil, don't you?" You asked, already knowing the answer. "You don't want her to be hurt. You care about her, but you don't want to call her your sister. Why?"
"You know why."
"I don't." You answered honestly causing him to sigh.
"I already have a sister and... and I couldn't even protect you. How am I meant to protect her, if I can't even protect you?"
Billy refused to look at you as he spoke, his voice raw with emotion. His fingers were clenched tightly around the wheel, tight enough that his knuckles were turning white and your heart broke.
"Billy... it's not your job to protect me." You replied, but he shook his head. "Dad being an asshole isn't your fault and what happened a year ago, it... it definitely wasn't your fault either."
"Yeah, well, it kinda feels like it's my fault."
"It wasn't. And I sure as hell don't blame you." You responded, turning in your seat to face him properly. "Don't try and argue with me. I'm stubborn and you and I both know I could argue for the rest of this car ride if I wanted to."
Billy chuckled softly at that, but nodded in agreement. "Trust me, I know you could."
"Good. Well, now that is settled, we're stopping at the first McDonald's because I need to eat something other than shitty jail food."
"So you want shitty junk food instead?"
"Yep."
He snorted softly, "works for me."
-
The 24-hour drive to Hawkins ended up taking over 48 hours. Neither of you really wanted to go home.
You were keen to see Hawkins and see if it was as bad as Billy made it out to be. But, at the same time you dreaded stepping foot in the new house and facing your father after a year of not seeing him.
Billy stalled as often as he could. Stopping for gas, snacks and spending the night in a motel despite the fact that the two of you could've tag-teamed and driven straight there. Billy actually stayed under the speed limit the entire drive- probably for the first time in his life- but you still arrived home quicker than you hoped.
You balled your hand into a fist against your ripped jeans, trying to stop your knee from shaking as Billy pulled up in front of the house. Your heartbeat had skyrocketed the second you passed the 'Welcome to Hawkins' sign and it wasn't slowing down.
"He might not even be home. He could be at work." Billy commented, noticing your sudden nerves as he parked the car.
Your fathers car wasn't in the driveway, so it was possible he wasn't home, although you were never that lucky.
"One way to find out."
Taking a deep breath, you unclicked your seatbelt and climbed out the car, Billy following behind you seemingly just as nervous.
The house was actually better than you originally thought it would be. It was located on the outskirts of town, surrounded by trees and grass instead of being right next door to the neighbours with the walls practically touching.
It was kinda nice if you were being honest and it even had a stone foot path and steps leading up to the front door.
"Thought you said the house was shit." You said, glancing back at your brother as you reached the front door. "It's beautiful."
"Maybe, but it's not California." He muttered as you stepped through the door.
Billy followed you inside and started to give you a tour of the place. But, the tour quickly stopped when you walked into the lounge room to find your father asleep on the couch with a half empty bottle of beer in his hands, the tv playing loudly in the background on some sports channel.
You stared at him for a moment taking note of the other beer bottles scattered around him. Nothing had changed.
"He should be asleep for a while." You whispered, eyeing him cautiously.
Billy nodded, "definitely. Let's just avoid this room."
Yep, he didn't need to say that twice.
Quietly, the two of you backed out the lounge room, but barely got a few feet before your father’s voice boomed across the house.
"You aren't even going to come say hello to your father, girl!?"
You flinched at his raised voice out of habit and froze in the middle of the hallway.
Damnit. So close.
Billy caught your gaze. Neither of you wanted to go back in there to say hello, but knew the consequences of ignoring your father was never good.
Taking a deep breath, you turned around and walked back into the room to find your father now sitting up and watching the tv.
"Hey, dad." You greeted, standing in the doorway awkwardly.
"You going to apologise for not saying hello before?" He asked, not taking his eyes off the tv in front of him.
"Sorry, sir. I thought you were asleep. Didn't want to disturb you."
"Mmm." He grunted, glancing over at you briefly. "So, you're back, huh? We're trying to start fresh here in Hawkins, you hear me? Don't you dare go whoring yourself out at parties and then nearly kill the poor bastards you sleep with, okay? We are not having any repeats of last year."
You saw Billy turn tense out the corner of your eye at Neil's words.
"I-uh, that's not what happened." You stuttered, shoving your hands in your pockets.
"You talking back to me, girl?" He snapped, abruptly standing up from his chair. "You trying to correct me?"
"No, sir." You quickly replied, not liking the hostile tone starting to rise in his voice.
He put his beer bottle down on the coffee table and marched the remaining distance towards you until he was standing right in front of you, his face inches from yours.
Every muscle in your body was screaming at you to back away, but you held your ground and stood up straighter to try and match his height.
"You're a fucking disgrace to this family. You tainted the family name, made us the talk of the town. You're lucky I'm letting you back in."
"I was protecting myself. It was self-defence and-"
Suddenly, your father struck you across the face whipping your head to the side. You didn't get a chance to even move before he grabbed your chin and forced you to look at him.
"You think you're tough after being in jail? You're not. You're nothing, Y/N, understand? You're nothing, but a little slut who-"
"Dad, that's enough." Billy warned from beside you.
That caught your father’s attention real quick. Within a blink of an eye, he grabbed Billy by the collar of his shirt and pinned him up against the wall.
His back slammed into it hard, Billy's face twisting in a grimace on impact.
"Don't try and test me, boy."
You stood there frozen to the spot, hating the way your body trembled at just the mere mention of the incident that happened last year. If Billy hadn't shown up when he did... it would've been so much worse.
"Dad, let him go." You ordered, surprising yourself with how strong you made your voice sound. "I said, let him go."
Without thinking, you grabbed your father’s arm and tried to pull him away from Billy, which turned out to be a bad idea. Neil's elbow swung back and collided with your jaw.
The force of the hit sent you staggering back a few steps, but you couldn't keep your footing and tumbled backwards onto the floor. Your forehead slammed against the corner of the desk on the way down.
Pain instantly bloomed from the impact, something wet trickling down the side of your face within seconds.
You were vaguely aware that it was probably blood, but you were too focused on your father, who still had Billy up against the wall. His eyes were wide and glazed with unshed tears as he stared at Neil, breathing heavily just waiting for the punches to start.
"I am not dealing with this shit. You two better have your attitudes in check by the time Susan and I come home tonight or there will be hell to pay."
With that, your father stormed out the room, leaving you sitting on the floor and Billy still against the wall. Neither of you dared to move for a minute until you knew for certain that he was gone.
You eyed the doorway where he disappeared cautiously, but it was Billy that moved first, pushing himself off the wall and walking over to you.
"Shit, you're bleeding. You okay?"
You nodded, refusing to look at him knowing there were tears in your eyes which was stupid because you were used to this. Neil had been an abusive asshole your whole life, but hearing him talk about the incident had bought up memories you had spent so long trying to bury.
"Welcome home daughter. I'm sorry I never called or visited you for 12 months, but I'm glad you're home." You mumbled sarcastically as Billy held his hand out towards you.
Grabbing his hand, he helped you to your feet, but you kept your head lowered, not wanting him to see the tears in your eyes. It wasn't like Billy had ever seen you cry before, you had both seen each other cry too many times to count, but you still hated it.
"I told you he got worse." Billy sighed.
You nodded, but didn't exactly trust your voice at the moment to reply as memories of that incident last year washed over you.
"What he said... Y/N, you-you know none of that is true, right?" Billy added, noticing your emotion. "Dad is a fucking asshole. But, what happened, what they did, that wasn't your fault."
"I went to that stupid party even though you warned me not to. I drank and hung out with those guys you warned me about and look what happened."
"Hey, that's not your fault. That didn't give those guys the right to... to... shit." Billy stuttered, his voice breaking at the end as he ran his fingers through his hair.
You never told Billy the full details of what happened, but after he had ran into the room and seen what he saw, it didn't take a genius to figure it out.
The look in Billy's eyes when he had realised what happened to you... you'd never forget that look of pure rage and sadness washing over him when he saw you. It was a look you never wanted to see in his eyes again and you hated that you were the reason for it.
"It doesn't look like it needs stitches, but you should probably ice that." He suddenly said, motioning towards the cut on the corner of your forehead and cheek that was really starting to throb, and you knew it was going to bruise if it hadn't already. "C'mon, there's a bag of frozen peas I've been using for months."
You nodded, following your brother into the kitchen and grabbing a bundle of paper towels and wiping the blood from the side of your face.
Billy opened the freezer and pulled out said bag of peas before turning back to you. He stared at the cut on your forehead that was still bleeding slowly despite just wiping it clean and he frowned.
"You shouldn't have tried to stop him."
"You would've done the same." You replied, taking the bag and pressing it against your cheek.
"That's not the point." He sighed, giving you an annoyed look.
You just rolled your eyes before you heard the familiar sound of Max's skateboard rolling along the footpath outside. Quickly, you wiped the remaining blood from the cut and threw the paper towel in the bin before throwing the bag of peas back to Billy who hastily shoved it into the freezer.
Your father might be an abusive piece of shit, but he loved Susan and because of that, he was never violent around Max.
He was still an asshole around her, but never violent and you and Billy didn't want her to know either. She was just a kid. She shouldn't have to worry about some abusive step-father living in her house.
With a few seconds the spare, the front door to the house suddenly opened. You turned around to find Max walking inside with her board under her arm.
"And there's my favourite sibling!" You called out causing Billy to roll his eyes, mumbling something about going to lift weights in his room as he walked off. Max froze in the doorway, staring at you with wide eyes and you grinned, "yeah, I'm out."
"Holy shit." She gasped sprinting the remaining distance between the two of you and wrapping you up in a tight hug.
You chuckled softly, but hugged her back, surprised with how big she had gotten in just one year and how long her hair now was.
"I didn't know you were getting out. Is that why Billy disappeared a few days ago? To pick you up?" She asked, pulling away from you and you nodded before her eyes shifted to your forehead. "Ouch, what happened?"
"Oh, it's nothing. Don't worry about it."
Max frowned a little and you knew she was not convinced in the slightest, so you quickly changed the topic before she could ask any more questions.
"I got a shit load of boxes and clothes to unpack, wanna give me a hand?"
"What's in it for me?"
You raised your eyebrows at her, "any clothes I don't want, are yours."
"Deal."
With that, the two of you got to quick work sorting out your bedroom. All your belongings had been packed away in boxes and untouched since California. It didn’t take long before most the boxes were empty, and your room looked more like your own. Although, it took a little longer than it probably should have to get the stupid fitted sheet on your mattress, but you and Max had fun doing it.
Neil and Susan had left for the day, leaving Billy in charge. The second they were out the door, he changed the channel on the television to the music channel and cranked the volume to maximum before moving his weights out his small bedroom and into the main room where there was more space.
Neither of you seemed to mind though, surprisingly liking the same music as your brother. So you just jammed out together while sorting through your belongings.
"I remember this." Max suddenly said, pulling out your old leather jacket from one of the boxes.
"Oh, I missed you." You said, taking the jacket and instantly pulling it on over your tank top. "Sorry, kid, you're not getting this one."
Max opened her mouth to argue before the doorbell started to ring.
You ignored it, figuring Billy would get it since he was out in the main room. The two of you continuing to sort through the boxes, but the doorbell kept ringing.
"Max, are you getting that or what?" Billy shouted from across the house.
She sighed from beside you, "okay!"
"I got it. Keep going through the clothes." You said, motioning to the box she was currently going through, sending you a grateful look before you walked out the room.
You glared at Billy as you walked past the lounge room where he was lifting his weights, but he just rolled his eyes at you before you opened the front door to find a young boy standing outside.
The kid seemed just as confused by your presence as you did his. He frowned, staring at you in confusion.
"Max Mayfield does live here, right?" He asked, thinking he might have gotten the wrong house.
You nodded, folding your arms across your chest, "she does. Who the hell are you?"
"Lucas Sinclair. Who the hell are you?"
"I'm her sister." You answered causing his eyes to widen in sudden realisation.
Okay, well Max had obviously told him about you.
"Max!" You shouted over your shoulder and a moment later your sister walked around the corner. The second she saw Lucas, she quickly grabbed your arm and pulled you outside before frantically closing the door behind you. "What are you doing?"
"Billy can't know he's here." She whispered and suddenly it all made sense.
Billy didn't want Max hanging out with boys. He had been the same with you when you started to notice the boys in your class and now he was doing the same with Max.
"What are you doing here?"
Lucas stared at Max for a minute before glancing over at you than back at Max again. He was clearly contemplating something, although you had no idea what, but Max seemed to realise.
"My sister's cool. Whatever you have to say, you can say it in front of her."
That didn't seem to ease Lucas in the slightest as he eyed you cautiously before looking back at Max, "I have proof."
Max frowned, "what?"
"Proof that what I told you was real. But we have to hurry."
"What kind of proof?" Max asked, but Lucas shook his head.
"We don't have time, I'll tell you on the way. Dustin and Steve are probably already at the junkyard."
Okay, you were totally confused now.
"I'll go, but only if Y/N can come too." Max suddenly said, pointing at you with her thumb.
"What? No!" Lucas exclaimed. "What I told you was top secret. Nobody else is allowed to know."
"Okay, well now I have to know." You said, speaking up for the first time. "Plus, my little sister isn't going to some junkyard alone with three boys I've never met."
"Well technically, it's two boys and a... well, I wouldn't exactly call Steve a man, but he's about your age, so-"
"Still not happening." You said, leaning back against the wall of the house causing Lucas to sigh.
"Okay, fine. You can come too. I'll fill you both in on the way, but we need to go now."