slut [ eddie munson ]

018

After her close-call with Vecna, Talia had offered Max a ride back to Nancy's—where the other teens would meet them. The girl was still obviously shaken, and Talia had figured it would be best for her to escape the prying questions of Dustin and Lucas, at least for the short amount of time it took to reach the Wheeler residence.

The car ride was silent, until Max slowly pulled an envelope from her jacket and placed it on the dashboard between her and Talia. The older teens eyes flickered to it as she drove.

"What's that?" Talia asked softly, already having an idea about its contents.

"It's for you, just incase," Max voice came out like a whisper. Without looking, Talia reached over and shoved the letter back towards Max.

"You can tell me what it says after, alright? Because you, Maxine Mayfield, are not about to die because of this stupid fucking wizard."

"But—"

"No," she cut Max off, "I refuse it. You are not dying, Max."

Huffing, Max snatched the letter from the dashboard and opened the glovebox, placing it inside before closing it again. She turned to Talia, defeated, and said, "I know that my odds aren't looking great right now, Talia. So, please, if something happens to me, read it."

Talia glanced at Max, eyes softening, "I promise. If something happens, I'll read it. But, I also promise that I'm going to do everything I can to save you...I already lost Billy and Chrissy to this thing, I refuse to lose you too. I know we never spoke much when Billy was still...here—not as much as I wanted to, at least—but you honestly are the little sister I never got."

She missed the tears pooling in Max's eyes as she turned her attention back to the road, flipping on her blinker as she prepared to turn into the neighborhood. "I used to beg Billy to let me hangout with you," Max admitted, "He almost always said no, of course, but I was always so happy when he did say yes. He...he wasn't anything like what I expected a big brother to be, but you were everything I ever could have wanted from an older sister," Max let out a sad laugh, "I used to have this dream that you guys would get married after high school and you'd move away...and take me with you, and we'd be like...a real family."

Talia threw her car into park after rolling to a stop in front of the Wheelers house, turning to look at Max with a sad smile on her lips.

"I would have loved that," Talia said, reaching over and grabbing Max's hand, "we would have. Billy...was an asshole, but he really was sorry for how he treated you. He wanted to leave so bad, but he didn't want to leave you there alone. That's why he got that shitty summer job," Talia laughed, "he wanted to save up, get a place of our own once I graduated, with room for you, too."

"He...he did?" Max asked in disbelief. She had noticed a shift in Billy's behavior towards her once he and Talia started dating, but she always had assumed it was mostly due to that day at the Byers'.

"Yeah," Talia muttered, squeezing Max's hand comfortingly before letting go, "we should head inside."

The others had already entered the house, Nancy waiting at the door for the remaining two. Max nodded her head, both moving to unbuckle themselves. Talia was just about to throw her door open when Max's abrupt words stopped her.

"He would want you to be happy," Max rushed out before she could stop herself, "Billy would want you to be happy...and Eddie makes you happy, Lia. He'd want you to be with him, fully be with him—not just whatever thing you guys have going on. You love him, Talia. We all can see it."