cuz you and i - [Max Mayfield]

Host

That night, Belly biked to her house, when the two asked her about what she said earlier, she never really gave an explanation, she after getting off the bike, kissed Max, as it was raining , nobody was actually able to see them kiss

"What was that for?" Max asked as they pulled away

"I just missed your lips" Belly smiled, feeling weak "Go on" she said as the two biked away

She walked towards her house, but her head started spinning, she felt nauseous, goosebumps arose, as she felt weak and fell on her knees

"Isabell!" was the last thing she heard before she closed her eyes

----

The next morning, Belly woke up, feeling cold, she found herself in her own room with dry clothes as the door opened and entered Melissa with a bowl

"What happened to me?" she asked in a low voice

"Oh, you were coming home, and you fell" Belly just stared at her as she put the bowl on the bedside table "And I was by the window, so I went out, picked you up, brought you here and changed your clothes"

"Oh" Belly nodded as she tried to stand up but fell, before touching the ground, Melissa caught her

"Seriously" Melissa grunted, putting Belly back on her bed "When was the last time you ate a proper meal?"

"I don't remember" Belly said after thinking for a moment

"Here, I made some soup" Melissa said handing Belly the bowl as she took it

"Thanks" Belly mumbled

Both of them sat in a moment of comfortable silence until, Belly finished the soup, when suddenly they heard the doorbell ring, Belly looked at Melissa, she nodded, going downstairs, after a moment, Max entered the room

"Max?" Belly asked with furrowed eyebrows

---

"I didn't think it was anything at first" Now here they were at the Wheeler's basement, while Will explained "I mean, I think, I didn't wanna believe it, the first day I felt it was at Day of the dead"

"Power went out that night too" Mike said as Belly remembered what she felt during that time

"And then I felt it again, on the field near the Nelson farm, Then again yesterday, outside Castle Byers" Belly gulped making Max reach out for her hand

"What does it feel like" Max asked the guy, but as he opened his mouth, Belly said

"Like" she paused everybody looked at her "A rollercoaster ride" she looked at Will as he nodded "Like everything, every organ inside of you, is just, sinking" everybody gave her a confused look

"How do you..." Lucas started

"Will, do you remember the day, back near school, when we were finding dart, you went into a trance like state and I-" she said

"You saved me, from the mindflayer" Will cut her off

"I don't know, but maybe, that day, the mindflayer, it left a part of itself, inside of me" she paused to look at everyone "This sounds so stupid-"

"No" Mike said "It makes sense"

"I closed the gate" El said

"Yeah, but" Belly paused looking at Will "What if it never left?"

Will got up and grabbed a paper as well as a black crayon, he set the two things up on the table and everybody circled around him

"This is him" he said drawing the mindflayer "But that day on the field, he attached a part to me and to Belly" he wiped his hands on it, his hands now a bit black, Belly did the same, but only a little bit of black on her hand "Mom got it out of me, nobody got it out of Belly" He paused she flipped the paper

"What if the part that was in him and in me, never left and is still here, on Hawkins" she wiped her hands on the blank paper

"I don't understand, the demo-dogs died when El closed the gate, of the brain dies the body does" Max pronounced

"We can't take any chances, we need to assume the worst, the mind flayer's back" Mike declared

"Yeah and if he is, he'd want himself to be attached to someone new" Belly said

"A new host" Lucas said making her nod

"How can you tell if someone's a host?" El asked them

---

"I don't know he seems pretty normal to me" Mike said, now they were hiding behind a car, spying on Billy

"Really? How many times did you see him with full clothes on" Belly said chewing on a gum

"I mean it's a little weird" Max said taking off the binoculars

"More than a little, he was in a tub with ice, the mindflayer likes it cold" Mike reminded "Plus everything else-"

"But he's lounging at the pool" Max cut him off "Which is like, the least mindflayer thing ever"

"Not necessarily" Will said "The mindflayer likes to hide" Belly zoned out, she stared straight at Billy

She was a bit scared of the whole situation, what if the mindflayer was inside of her, how will she get that out of her, what if she hurt someone all sorts of thoughts coming to her mind at that very moment

"Boys only" She pulled back from her thoughts when she heard Mike walking away with the other guys

The three waited there for a while before Mike called them, El and Max went first, Belly stayed there for a few moments, before walking towards them as Mike explained his plan of luring Billy in the sauna