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Forty Five

Following the fourth of July, a fog had seemed to settle over the town of Hawkins, putting life at a standstill for all who lived there. There wasn't a single person who had gone unaffected by what the Mind Flayer had done. Everyone had lost someone they knew, and the lies that the Government provided only made it harder to move on.

At the Byers' residence it was no different, except everyone there knew the truth about what happened that night. Almost a week had gone by, since Allison had awoken to a completely different life. Hopper was gone and having promised him that she would take care of Allison and Eleven, Joyce had welcome them into her home, giving them the spare bedroom.

The small house was filled with people at all times, as the others refused to leave, wanting to stay close to eachother . Max stayed over with Allison and Eleven in their room, Mike, Lucas, and Dustin slept on the floor of Will's bedroom, and Nancy and Jonathan had his room to themselves. Murray slept on the couch, while Steve and Robin slept on the living room floor.

Due to her age, Erica was the only one in the group that wasn't allowed to stay the night, yet she still spent every day with them. Joyce made sure to keep in contact with everybody's parents, insisting that the kids needed to be with their friends to help them cope with everything that had happened.

Even though Allison could feel herself growing stronger with each passing day, she still needed alot of rest. One afternoon when she was taking a nap, she was startled awake by an unexpected knock at the door. She sat up and listened closely as someone went to answer it.

"Billy? What the hell are you doing here?", Max's voice could be heard from the kitchen.

"The hospital told me it was time to go home, but apparently I'm not welcome there anymore.", Billy's voice was low as he spoke and Allison stood up, creeping into the hallway to hear him better. "I heard Allison was here and I didn't know where else to go."

"Allison's resting. Which she's been doing alot of lately, after almost killing herself to save you.", Steve spit out harshly, prompting Allison to peak around the corner, just in time to watch Billy lower his gaze.

"Steve!", Nancy blurted out, scolding him.

"Yeah, what the hell, Dingus?", Robin yelled, hitting him hard in the back of the head.

"Ouch! I'm not trying to be the bad guy here, I'm just pointing out the facts. Are we even sure that Allison wants to see him?", Steve asked defensively, holding his hands up in surrender.

"You know she does.", Eleven interjected quietly, staring at Billy from the back of the group. As he looked up at her, she shuddered, reminded of everything that he had done when he was hosting the Mind Flayer.

"Why don't you come in and wait for Allison to wake up? It shouldn't be long.", Jonathan invited Billy into his house, heavily persuaded by the expression on Nancy's face.

Billy nodded silently and stepped inside, limping as he tried to keep his weight off the cast on his broken ankle. Nancy offered him a place to sit, which he declined, leaning up against the nearest wall. Everyone settled back to where they had been before Billy arrived, refusing to take their eyes off of him.

"You and Allison, huh?", Dustin asked, clearing his throat in an attempt to make small talk. "I've gotta say, I did not see that one coming. I don't think any of us did."

"It's complicated.", Billy responded, trying to avoid the topic of his relationship with Allison.

"Only because you make it that way. ", Max scoffed, earning a glare from Billy. "It's pretty obvious how you feel about eachother, so what's the problem?"