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Driving back to the Byers's place was way easier than Max initially thought and she was honestly extremely glad about that, especially after the day she just had. Climbing into a weird tunnel and almost getting eaten by monsters was stressful after all.
The only thing she wanted to do now was to go home and sleep but she had to get her stupid brother who was probably still lying on the floor of Joyce's living room. Just thinking about that annoyed her but he at least wouldn't bother her anymore, not after coming face-to-face with Steve's bat that's for sure.
Max was driving quietly and carefully while the guys talked all over each other, irritating Max slightly but she understood why they were this excited, she was too, even if she tried to keep it cool in front of everyone.
The girl was also worried about her brother, they might have been at odds the last few weeks but Billy was still her brother and she had injected him with some weird needle she found in Will's home. Granted Billy deserved it but her point still stood.
When their destination finally came into view Max let out a relieved sigh and sped up a bit, she just wanted this day to end as soon as possible.
Only a minute later Max parked the car, slumped down in her seat, and pocketed the car keys while the others already started piling out of the Camaro. Max was the last one that exit the vehicle and promptly rolled her eyes when she heard the others moaning about Billy still lying on the hardwood floor.
The first thing she heard clearly when she made her way into the house was Dustin saying, "We could just throw cold water on him to wake him up.", to which the others murmured their agreement. Before Max could even say anything in response Mike ran out of the room.
Max then sat next to Billy on the ground and started shaking his shoulder a bit, hoping to wake him up without making him even angrier than he already would be, but the teen didn't even twitch. Sighing the girl stood back up and took a few steps to the side so she wouldn't get wet as well. Shortly thereafter Mike came back and threw the water on Billy's face but again the boy didn't react.
The people around her groaned and Dustin said, "Why doesn't he wake up? That's so annoying, can't you just drag him out?", before Steve said, "I don't mind him being knocked out until Hop comes back.", the lisp in his voice made the others frown and glare at the unconscious boy before Lucas said, "Yeah I agree with Steve on that."
Max didn't say anything at that she just continued to look at Billy still unconscious and on the ground before kneeling next to him again. She felt guilty because of her brothers' actions and even more so for still worrying about him.
Next to the guilt, she felt annoyance coursing through her, not just at Billy but also at Neil for making Billy come here in the first place. She was sure Billy didn't come here on his own, he had a date today and she knew he would never change his plans for her if it wasn't for Neil.
Around her, she could hear Steve and Dustin talking quietly to each other while Lukas tried to reassure Mike that El and Will were alright. All the while Max was sitting next to Billy, occasionally shaking his shoulder to see if he was waking up already. He wasn't.
After a few long minutes, Max groaned softly and stood up before joining Lucas and Mike who were standing in the doorway, waiting for Hopper or Joyce to pull up while talking amongst themselves. When Max arrived Lucas smiled softly at her while Mike frowned a little at being interrupted.
"I'm sorry for him you know. He can be an asshole sometimes.", Her apology was quieter and more timid than she had expected but the boys had heard her. They nodded in response to her apology before picking up their conversation once again.
Max then turned around and walked over to the kitchen where Steve was holding an ice pack to his face while Dustin talked excitedly about the Demodog that was still in the fridge.
Steve looked at Max when the girl approached and he smiled reassuringly at her when he saw the guilty look on her face. Shortly after that Dustin stopped talking and turned towards Max as well. Max then said, "I'm sorry about him.", while pointing behind her at Billy.
"It's fine I kinda get it, I mean not the thing with Lukas but with me, you know.", Steve sounded understanding and comforting which Max greatly appreciated even if she wouldn't tell him that.
Dustin looked at her with a somewhat unreadable expression before he said, "Your brother is a dick, you know that right?", Max answered, "I know. Believe me, I know.". Dustin seemed appeased enough by that and launched into another rant about how the Demodog in the fridge is going to be an amazing scientific discovery to which Steve only nodded now and then, clearly not that interested in the conversation.
With that Max turned back around and went to sit on the couch, waiting for the others to return and for Billy to finally wake up. While waiting Max passively listened to the conversations going on around her but she couldn't get herself to join in, she didn't feel like they would want her to nor did she have the energy to talk.
After around ten minutes, give or take, she could finally hear a pair of cars pulling up outside to which she sighed in relief. In an instant, everyone was running outside to see if the others were alright, everyone except Max that is. She walked behind them somewhat slowly and didn't try to talk to anyone, she only wanted to see if Will and El were okay.
Max looked around with concern clouding her face until her eyes landed on Will. The boy was sleeping in the car seemingly unharmed which relieved Max greatly. The last of her worries subsided when she saw the sleeping figure of Eleven in Hopper's car.
Knowing everyone was safe and sound she turned around, planning to go back inside. While walking she ignored what was said around her as it was just a retelling of what happened after the others left.
She stopped in her tracks however when she heard Dustin say, "He just showed up here and started beating up Steve, the psycho!", Max wanted to reply, to bite back but Steve replied before she could, "It's fine, I'm fine."
The others looked at him, disbelief clouding their features before Hopper spoke up, "Do you want to press charges?". Max's eyes widened at the question but her worries were quelled quickly when Steve shook his head and said, "No. No I- I'm fine. I just want to forget this happened and move on.". Hopper looked at him with disapproval but the Chief didn't press the issue and Max was grateful for that.
"If you're sure, but if you change your mind you know where to find me." Was what Hopper said after a prolonged period of silence making Max fear for Billy once again. What if Steve changed his mind? She hoped he wouldn't but she would understand if he did, Billy deserved consequences for what he did.
"Let's go inside, see if he wakes up yeah?", Hopper said when no one moved prompting the boys to make their way back inside followed closely by Max and the others. The moment they stepped foot into the house everyone broke off into their own little groups while Max remained standing close to her brother, watching the people around her.
Jonathan was carrying Will into his room, closely followed by Joyce while Nancy started tending to Steve's busted-up face. The kids were talking to each other, relieved that their friends were safe and Max smiled softly at their happiness. Now that everyone was back she could finally relax.
Max wanted to join her friends but she didn't when she saw Hopper standing next to her brother, looking at him with a scowl on his face before he tapped Billy's shoulder with his foot. The older man's frown deepened when Billy didn't react and promptly did it again, harder this time.
Max quickly went up to him and said, "I injected him with the needle that was lying around here, I think you used one on Will?", Max was slightly worried she would get in trouble for using it but Hopper didn't say anything, he didn't even look at her, he just knelt down and shook Billy's shoulders harder then Max had done earlier.
"Come on, wake up Hargrove.", Hopper said somewhat quietly while still shaking her brother's shoulder. Max then knelt next to him and watched Hopper getting increasingly more forceful. She wanted to tell him to stop or to be more careful but considering how Billy ended up like that she didn't think Hopper would grant her that request.
When Billy still didn't react at all Max started to grow worried especially when she noticed Hopper's expression shift from slight anger to concern. She wanted to speak up, to ask what was wrong with Billy but before she could Hopper moved his hands from the teen's shoulder to his neck. At first, Max didn't know why but then it dawned on her. He was looking for a pulse.
Anxious she looked back up at Hopper's face. She could see the Chief's face grow pale before he spoke into his walkie, "We need an ambulance at-", at that point, Max stopped listening and just stared at the motionless face of Billy. The boy's face was paler than it was before, paler than it should be. When she let her eyes wander she noticed how still Billy's chest was, it seemingly wasn't moving at all.
She continued to stare at the red button-down her brother was wearing, hoping to see the fabric move but everything was unnaturally still. Max could feel her eyes burn at the thought of Billy being dead but she blinked the tears away and took a deep breath, willing herself not to cry. He couldn't be dead, she would have noticed if he was during the time it took for Hopper and the others to return right?
"What's going on Hop?", Max heard someone ask from behind her but she couldn't really place the voice nor did she care enough to turn around. The chief didn't answer he just started doing chest compressions on Billy who was still lying on the ground, unmoving and apparently not breathing.
Max couldn't do anything except watch while Hopper tried to get her brother breathing again. Unable to help she grabbed Billy's hand, to reassure her or him she wasn't sure, but she recoiled when she felt how cold his hand was, how cold his whole body probably was.
"Billy you need to wake up.", Max whispered when her brother still didn't give any sign of being awake. Around her people started to frantically talk over each other, confused and maybe even scared, while Hopper continued his movements, still silent and focused.
Max didn't hear what the others were talking about, she didn't know what they were doing either, she couldn't concentrate on it. The only things she could concentrate on were the things directly concerning her brother.
She noticed how Hopper was panting and sweating while still administering chest compressions. Max even heard one of Billy's ribs crack under Hopper's hands but Billy still didn't react.
Max wanted to hold Billy's hand again but she couldn't get herself to move. She was scared his hand would be as cold as it was just a minute ago.
Suddenly an arm was around her, probably to comfort her but Max didn't bother looking to who it belonged to. Her eyes were glued to her brother's unmoving face. Max desperately wanted him to open his eyes, to blink or twitch, to do anything that would indicate him being still alive.
It felt like ages for the paramedics to finally show up but when they did Max felt a new wave of hope wash over her. Shortly after they arrived Hopper stopped his movements prompting Max to say, "Don't stop! Please don't-", she was stopped by Joyce whispering in her ear, "He needs to stop so the professionals can help him, sweetheart. It's gonna be alright now."
Max looked at Joyce then and saw the conviction in her eyes. The girl knew Will's Mom believed Billy would be fine, that the paramedics would be able to help him but the bad feeling in her stomach wouldn't go away, it didn't even simmer down.
Joyce was then telling Max to move away from Billy, to give them a little more space but Max still couldn't move. She felt frozen in place as she watched one of the paramedics try and find a pulse only to shout something to his partner. Max couldn't figure out what he said, the words sounded jumbled and far away.
The bad feeling Max had only worsened when the paramedics didn't immediately start doing more chest compressions. They only checked his body, possibly trying to find a pulse or some other sign of life. Judging by their faces they didn't have much success.
"You need to do something! Please!", Max sobbed when the paramedics still didn't do anything but they didn't answer her, they just looked at each other with sadness in their eyes before the older one shook his head.
"He's dead. There's nothing we can do for him, I'm sorry."
Max couldn't believe it, she didn't want to believe it. Billy couldn't be dead, she didn't want him to be. Max felt sick hearing those dreadful words and only seconds later she felt herself throw up. Joyce immediately moved her a few inches away from the vomit while trying to comfort the girl the best she could.
Max was still staring at Billy when the paramedics left to get a stretcher, they still needed to get him to a hospital no matter if they could help him or not. The whole time the words "He's dead" echoed in her mind, completely drowning out any noise made around her.
Dread settled deep into Max's stomach when they came back, she didn't want them to take Billy away from her but she couldn't do anything when her brother was loaded onto the stretcher, still unmoving. Cold. Dead.
She couldn't do anything except stare when the paramedics placed the sheet over Billy's face and she couldn't do anything when they left the house with him.
The terror of what happened felt all-consuming when the ambulance drove off only minutes after it first arrived, leaving her behind.
She was still sitting on the floor, staring at the empty spot her brother previously occupied, surrounded by people who tried to console her, to comfort her even tho they couldn't. No one would be able to. The only person who could make her feel better at this exact moment was lying on a stretcher on his way to the morgue.
Max would never forgive herself, she couldn't forgive herself for what she had done. Max had killed her brother over a misunderstanding. No matter how bad it got it was still a misunderstanding and Billy was still her brother.
Tears were running down her face freely at that point and her nose was starting to get stuffy making it hard to breathe but she didn't care. She didn't even care that everyone was looking at her with pity in their eyes.
"Max? Honey, it's going to be alright." These were the first words Max heard clearly without the words, "He's dead.", drowning them out. Almost in a trance, Max turned to the voice, coming face to face with Joyce Byers for the second time in under an hour.
The woman looked deeply distraught not just because of her own loss but also because of Max's. Max tried to answer her but she couldn't, she didn't know what to say nor did she want to break down even further in front of all these people who hated her brother and might even be happy about what she did.
Joyce continued to whisper comforting words while simultaneously holding Max's shaking hands. With each word Max could feel herself break, she could feel how new tears made their way down her face and how her body started to shake even more than before.
"I killed him.", Max interrupted after a while, her words quiet and shaky. "Honey-", Joyce started but Max didn't let her finish. "I killed my-", it was hard to finish her sentence, the words were stuck in her throat but she needed to say them.
"I killed Billy. I killed my brother.", She continued after a few seconds of silence before she broke out in gut-wrenching sobs. She felt Joyce hugging her and how her friends tried to comfort her, patting her back and trying to tell her it was an accident but she didn't listen, she just repeated herself over and over again until her throat felt scratchy and her lungs ached.
Max didn't know how long she was sitting there, rocking back and forth while crying her heart out until she started calming down. Not because she felt better but because it was getting hard for her to breathe.
Only seconds after she was able to somewhat collect herself Max's mother arrived at the house, startling everyone with her sudden appearance.
It was obvious her mother was concerned about her, her movements looked a little frantic and her voice shook when she said, "Oh Maxie I'm so happy you're okay."
Her mother then quickly replaced Joyce's position in front of her, taking Max's hands in her own before saying, "Let's get you home alright?", Her voice was soft and comforting but Max didn't feel better.
The girl didn't want to leave the embrace of her friends but she knew she had to leave, she knew she had to go home with her mother who was trying to pull her along.
After a while, Max was finally able to stand up, even if her legs felt like jelly and her body shook like a leaf. Her mother smiled at her before carefully pulling her towards her car.
Max felt bad shortly, for not saying goodbye but she couldn't bring herself to look back at the house her brother lost his life in so she just silently got into the car and waited for her mother to start driving.
Max could hear her mother talking the whole ride, saying how relieved she was that Max was fine, not once saying anything about Billy, or Neil for that matter. Max didn't respond to anything, she just stared at her shoes, spacing out once again.
The girl hadn't even realized that they arrived at home, too focused on her shoelaces that were still covered in gunk and dirt. She only noticed that they arrived at their house when her mother opened the car door, startling her greatly.
Max took a deep shaky breath before exiting the car slowly, not wanting to enter the house sooner than she had to. Sadly she didn't have much of a choice in that matter because her mother swiftly took her hand again. She then locked the car and led Max into the house which already felt way too quiet.
Max's eyes darted around in search of Neil but her stepdad wasn't there nor were his keys. A part of Max felt relieved at the absence of her stepdad, the man wasn't a great person and an even worse father after all, but a part of her wanted him here, wanted him to yell at her for killing his son.
Her mother carefully led her into the bathroom before telling her to shower and change. After that, her mother left leaving Max alone. The young girl started slowly getting rid of her dirty clothes trying hard not to think about what happened.
When she was finally clean and dressed Max turned towards the door but stopped when she caught her reflection in the mirror. She looked rough. Her eyes were red and swollen from crying, making her look slightly sick and her whole face was blotchy.
She looked at her reflection for a bit longer, poking at her flushed face before she cast her eyes down, looking at the hair care products her brother always used. Max felt new tears run down her face when she thought about how Billy would never use them again, he would never even step foot into the bathroom again.
Crying anew Max left the bathroom and walked towards the living room where she knew her mother would be. Her mother was indeed sitting on their couch waiting for her to finish up in the bathroom. When she saw Max she stood up and embraced her daughter, holding her tight while running her fingers through Max's hair in a comforting gesture.
Max clung to her mother and cried into her chest while apologizing over and over again. "It's not your fault Maxie, it's not your fault.", was what her mother told her in response but Max knew that wasn't true, that it was her fault. Max also knew that nothing would ever be the same, that she would never be the same. She would never forget what she did nor would she ever stop feeling guilty for it.
Max could feel herself growing more and more tired the longer she cried, slumping into her mother's arms until both of them were kneeling on the floor. "Shh Maxie just close your eyes and sleep alright? You're gonna be okay.", Her mother told her while holding her close.
The girl didn't want to fall asleep at first, not on the living room floor at least, but she couldn't muster the energy to stand up let alone to walk into her room so she closed her eyes and tried to calm down enough to fall asleep.
The last thing she thought about before she finally drifted off, were Billy's eyes closing after she had threatened him with Steve's bat, about how confused he looked when the sedative started working, and about how she would never get to see his eyes again.