DONTMAKEMEFALLINLOVE || Billy Hargrove, Stranger Things

Season 4 Bonus Chapter V.

There was no moon tonight to light up Lover's Lake. The water was pitch black and the area surrounding was dead silent. As Diana sat close to the edge of the boat, the view of her brother, Max, and Lucas was shortening. Dustin was upset because Steve and Eddie had stopped him from getting on the boat. After Eddie jumped in and held out his hand to help Nancy and Diana get in the boat, Eddie claimed the boat only held three people. Except Dustin was too distracted to notice Robin was already in.

"It's better this way," Nancy explained to Dustin, "you guys stay here with Max and keep an eye out for trouble."

"You keep an eye out!" Dustin sneered back at her, "it's my goddamn theory!"

Diana stood from the boat. She stared down her brother, irritated that he was acting like a snob. "Hey," she shouted at him, "do we need to switch places for you to stop acting like a child?"

Dustin unwillingly accepted defeat, rolled his eyes and stomped away.

"Compass," Steve requested, to which Dustin had chucked at him. Steve caught the device in his hands and quickly jumped inside the boat. While he jumped in he gave the boat a push from the edge of the lake and finally pulled his leg inside.

"You said three! That's five!" Dustin angrily shouted from land.

"Sorry," Steve shouted back.

"Bedtime at nine, kiddos," Robin playfully shouted the further the teens drifted into the lake, "miss you already!"

Robin and Eddie rowed with oars on each side of the boat. Nancy held the compass in her palm as she directed them which way to steer. Steve shined his flashlight into the water; Diana grimaced. It'd be impossible to see what's beneath the surface, Steve was literally looking at the light reflected off the surface. "Steve stop that."

Before he could question what Diana meant, Nancy blurted, "Woah, woah, slow down."

Eddie and Robin obliged and stopped paddling the oars. They all observed the compass in Nancy's grasp go haywire, pointing in every which way. Suddenly, if it was even possible, the lake was quieter. Diana tore her gaze from the compass and searched farther out the lake. Everything remained the same, but she couldn't snake off the unusual feeling.

The walkie-talkie's static noise started up again. "Guys," Dustin called through the device, "what's going on?"

Robin grabbed the walkie-talkie and pressed the button at the side. "Dustin, your compass has gone from wonky to wonkier."

Steve began to take off his shoes followed by his socks. He set his footwear aside as Nancy asked, "What are you doing?"

"Somebody's gotta go down and check this out," Steve explained, "unless one of you four can top a Hawkins High swim co-captain and a certified lifeguard for three years, then it's gotta be me."

Swim co-captain? What? Diana's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. She would have remembered if Steve was on the swim team. She brushed it off, deciding to question him later, "Oh don't be stupid," Diana scoffed, "alone? Can't we just use something as bait and see if something happens first?"

"Ah, ah, ah," Steve waved Diana off, "no complaints, alright?"

"I'm not complaining," Eddie chimed in while a strained expression grew on his face as he looked at the water, "I do not wanna go down there."

Steve stood from the bench of the boat and began to take off his yellow long sleeve shirt. While he pulled the clothing over his head, Diana averted her attention to Nancy. Like she assumed, Nancy stared long and hard for a few seconds before shying away. If it wasn't so dark Diana would've probably noticed the redness on Nancy's cheeks. Diana also dragged her eyes to Eddie and found him staring at Steve, but at least he had wrapped a plastic bag around the flashlight during Steve's strip show. Eddie handed Steve the flashlight. "Good luck."