In which, Robin Buckley's younger sister tries to help save Hawkins from Vecna while nursing a broken heart over her dead boyfriend and being a part of an unexpected love triangle.
.⋆｡⋆˚｡⋆｡˚｡⋆. ☽ .⋆｡⋆˚｡⋆｡˚｡⋆.
Contains dark themes (drug use, death, g...
( songs for the chapter ) about you // the 1975 sparks // coldplay
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Aftershock noun. af· ter· shock ˈaf-tər-ˌshäk. : an aftereffect of a distressing or traumatic event.
They're all incredibly quiet now.
Max remaining in Lucas' arms, holding Ruby's hand in hers as Dustin's attention has now turned to her from Ruby, sitting crisscrossed in front of the two teens with a concerned expression on his face and a palm on Max's knee.
Time seemed to slow down. Not really able to tell how long it has been since they got out of that...place.
After quite a while, still in Steve's lap, with his hands on her thighs, Ruby took a deep, slightly shaky breath through her nose, removing her forehead from his to press a cheek to his collarbone. He placed his chin on the top of her head and moved his hands to the small of her back, shifting her even closer. Her eyelids were heavy, but she couldn't ignore the sight in front of her and forced herself to leave her eyes open.
The sun was gone by now, disappearing beyond the horizon as Ruby and Max were trying to steady their breathing, giving a sense of the time of day, or approaching night for that matter. The blue color of the sky throughout the day merging into the pinkish red that the setting sun has left behind and meeting in the middle to form the most beautiful shade of purple.
She lifted her eyes to it. Couldn't help herself. She loves the sky. It gives her a sense of calm that she didn't know she could have right now.
The lilac of the earth covering duvet is something Ruby's sure dozens of poems are written about. How special a specific time of day like this can be. How relaxing it can be. Pink and orange skies making it seem like they're all you need to feel complete. Content. Happy. There's something childish about it, honestly. In the belief that a sunset can be so powerful. So romantic.
It's the biggest cliche in history probably, how sunsets are the image of romance. But it's, oh, so true.
How at one end of the horizon, a yellow blazing ball of heat is leaving to offer it's warmth to the other half of the planet, while at the other end, a similar ball, a pure white one, is offering it's brightness to guide souls through the darkness of night. And at this hour, they're both in the sky, in perfect harmony, almost giving each other their blessings to continue in their orbital journeys of light.
In a perfect world, this moment would be flawless. Peaceful. Euphoric. Curled up in Steve's strong arms, with almost all of her favorite people surrounding her. Max, Lucas, Dustin. If only she wasn't just about to die. If only she didn't just almost watch Max die. If only they weren't sitting above where the love of her life is buried. If only all their lives weren't still at risk.
But right now, as though she's trapped in a fever dream, she feels dazed. Content. Comfortable. It's probably the rush of adrenaline leaving her system, the shock, but she decides to push the past few hours to the back of her mind, still there, but not as present or painful. She lets herself sag in Steve's embrace, unable, unwilling to say a word. Because the sky is so pretty, and it's going to get even prettier every minute that's passing. When she closes her eyes, moving her head to rest on Steve's chest, right where she can hear the soothing melody that is his heartbeat, she can almost see the sky changing from behind her eyelids. Glowing stars appearing slowly in the black Indiana night, no light pollution to prevent the gorgeous, glow of blazing dots of white light. The full, big, moon. Shining bright, smiling to her, promising hushed promises of happiness and comfort. She imagines it's Billy, talking to her in the beautiful form of the moon, promising her a life without pain, with no worries, his once blue eyes adopting a milky depth, gleaming down at her, caressing her face with his luminous rays.
