𝙎𝙃𝙀'𝙎 𝘼𝙉 𝘼𝙉𝙂𝙀𝙇, 𝙈𝙔 𝙊𝙉𝙇𝙔 𝘼𝙉𝙂𝙀𝙇.
Diana Blake was who everyone in Hawkins wanted to be or be with. Her family name held power in the town and she wore her popularity like a crown. Until she discovered that her crown was made with...
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO DIRTY POLAROIDS AND SECRET-TELLING
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MAX LOVED DIANA BLAKE AND EVERYTHING THAT CAME WITH HER.
Sometimes, when she couldn't sleep, she would close her eyes and imagine herself in a nice house with Billy, Diana, and her mother. Sometimes Diana's older siblings would be there too since they had always treated her as one of their own. It was a house filled with warmth and it was free of angry men like her stepfather.
When Diana was around, Max had someone who listened to her and actually cared about what she said. It didn't matter what the topic was because no matter what, she knew that the older girl would never judge her. The past seven months had been so peaceful, and even though Diana said she couldn't do it, Max had seen the change in her stepbrother. Billy softened (despite his stubborn attempts to hide it) and the bitter whispers that lived in the walls of their house subsided. The pair didn't have the brother-sister relationship she wanted, but they certainly had the potential for it and that was all because of Diana.
The last thing Max wanted her brother to do was mess up his relationship. She saw the way Diana's face fell when she asked about Billy's whereabouts and it was something she had seen too many times before. Growing up, girls would always come by their house asking for Billy and she'd be forced to lie and say he wasn't with another girl when he was. She never thought he'd do the same to Diana, but at the end of the day, Billy was a stupid boy and boys had a tendency of screwing good things up. She just hoped Billy wasn't stupid enough to think he was the only one who would lose Diana if he did.
After El went into the void to spy on Billy and came out with a panicked look on her face, a dreadful ache settled in Max's chest. It only grew when she saw the tears lining El's eyes, and even more when she asked to go to her house to investigate the next morning.
Stepping into Billy's deserted bedroom, Max grimaced. The room was a mess. Dirty clothes were strewn about, the bed wasn't made, and the ashtray on his dresser was tipped over.
"Why do I get the feeling we're going to find all kinds of wrong in here?" She asked, walking over to his bedside table. When she opened the drawer, her mouth fell open at the stolen items. "These are my comics!"
Taking them back, she held the comic books close to her chest. A loose polaroid came tumbling out from between the pages and she hesitated to pick it up. She didn't want to accidentally stumble upon something traumatizing. Going against her better judgement, she reached down and turned the photo over. A soft look came over her features when she realized what it was.
It was a picture of Billy and Diana from their spring break road trip to Niagara Falls. They were standing on the observation deck above the falls but she could still see the water in the background. Billy was standing behind Diana with his arms snaked over her shoulders and locked in front of her chest. She was smiling brightly while he could only manage a smirk. Their height difference was strikingly obvious. They looked good together.
