Loss - Lucas Sinclair

The Spy (Part 3)

After a long hour or so, the bus was finally ready and their trap was set. Max, Steve, Dustin and Lucas made their way into the bus to wait for Dart to show up.

Lucas sat in one of the back seats, looking out the window until he came to a realization.

Last time I was here, I was here with Nikki. He felt his heart slow down and his shoulders drop like there was a ton of bricks weighing them down. We thought we were safe, but we weren't.

"I'm gonna go up on the roof to keep a look out," he announced as he climbed up the ladder with his binoculars in hand, just wanting to get away from the memories of Nikki's last day with the party.

I was so mean to her. And somehow, someway, she still wanted to be my friend and protect me. Even if it meant giving up her life.

"Got some room up here?" Max asked as she climbed up the ladder and sat next to Lucas.

"Yeah, totally," Lucas sighed, still in his head.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Lucas gave her a fake smile.

He looked through the binoculars to look for Dart but he was too busy thinking to see anything.

How are we going to get rid of another Demogorgon if we don't have Nikki or El?

"It's kinda awesome," Max broke the silence again.

"Huh?" He turned to her, afraid he missed something.

"The fog, I mean," Max explained. "Looks like the ocean."

"You miss it?" Lucas asked, trying to get Nikki off his mind.

"What?"

"The ocean. The waves? California?" Max didn't respond, she kept looking at the fog. "Hawkins seems pretty lame, I bet."

"No, it's not that. It's just my dad's still there."

"Why?"

"It's this legal term called divorce," Max shrugged. "See, when two married people don't love each other anymore-"

"Yeah."

"My mom and my stepdad, they wanted a fresh start away from him. As if he was the problem, which is total bull. And things are just worse now. My stepbrother's always been a dick, but now he's just angry, all the time and well, he can't take it out on my mom, so..."

"So he takes it out on you?"

"I don't even know why I'm telling you this. It's just, I know that I can be a jerk like him sometimes, and I do not want to be like him. Ever. I guess I'm angry, too, and I'm sorry."

"It's okay," Lucas said.

Max shook her head at him. "How are you like that?"

"Like what?"

"I could be a total jerk to you and you just accept my apology that quickly?"

"Yeah, well," Lucas thought about Nikki and how he had the same reaction when she accepted his apology, "let's just say I learned that from a friend."

"But that's not it," Max said. "Your friends treat me way differently than you do. For example, I was angry about you guys leaving me out and you were the only one that tried to fix it. Why? You could have treated me like they do but you didn't, why?"

"Because I treated someone that way before," Lucas said, honestly, "and I live to regret it everyday."

"Who?"