𝐖𝐄 𝐀𝐑𝐄 𝐏𝐈𝐑𝐀𝐓𝐄𝐒! [𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐢𝐧 𝐛𝐮𝐜𝐤𝐥𝐞𝐲]

𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐢𝐯𝐞

𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐀 𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐉𝐄𝐂𝐓

After Margo and Steve double and triple checked that Max was alright, Margo went home. She knew everyone else was staying at the Wheeler's, but she couldn't be away from her dad, not when life as she knew it might be ending. She sat in her living room with Conor, watching a re-run of Days of Our Lives and trying to focus on the plot instead of the incessant memories haunting her brain. She couldn't get the thought of Max, limp and levitating, out of her head. 

"Where've you been lately?" asked Conor, turning the TV volume down. 

Margo shrugged. "Just around. You know, with all the murders happening and everything, everyone's pretty freaked out." 

"Tell me about it," said Conor. "Some guy came into the shop today wanting me to 'make his car go faster' so he can run that Eddie guy down." 

She almost laughed, but the dread she was feeling overtook any humor. "Eddie's innocent, Conor." 

"You sound very sure of yourself," he said, looking to his daughter in mild concern. "Margs, is there something you're not telling me?" 

She wouldn't look at him. "No." 

"Margo..." Conor sighed, sitting up in his seat. "You know I can tell when you're lying to me." 

Margo had never been a good liar. "Look, it wasn't Eddie, okay? That's all you need to know. There's something... bigger... behind this." 

In seconds, Conor was on his feet. "Margo, no," he said, crossing the room to stand in front of her. "No, you're not getting sucked into this shit anymore. None of this world-saving shit, it's not your job-" 

"Conor-" 

"You almost died, kid!" he shouted, and Margo flinched. Conor's expression softened, but he didn't sit down. "Just a few months ago, you almost died right there, on my bed. You don't understand how that feels-" 

"I know how it feels to almost die!" she shot back. 

He shook his head, running his hands over his hair. "Margo, Margo- you don't know how it feels for a parent to almost lose his child right in front of his eyes- and now you're throwing yourself into something dangerous again?" 

"This is different, Conor," she said, holding her ground. "I have to help with this, you don't get it-" 

There was a knock on the door. They both froze. "I'll get it," Conor said at last, seething. Margo watched him go back to open the front door and she wished she could sink into the couch cushions forever and never come out. 

"Hey, kid!" Conor called over his shoulder. "It's a girl!" 

Margo scrunched up her face in confusion and hurried to the door. Standing on the doorstep was Gracie Detrich. For a second, Margo thought she was experiencing whiplash. Gracie looked nervously back and forth between Margo and Conor. "Hey," she said lightly. "I just... I was wondering..." 

"Let's take a walk," Margo said quickly, ducking around Conor to join Gracie on the doorstep. "I'll be back later," she muttered to her dad, then led the way out  onto the street. She couldn't look at Gracie. She hadn't even spoken to her since that day years ago when the two were planning on meeting in Hawkins Forest- the night Will disappeared. It felt like so long ago now. "What's up?" she asked tentatively. 

Gracie shrugged. "I just wanted to... check on you. I mean, I haven't even seen you since the fire at Starcourt, I just wanted- I wanted... I don't know."