PSYCHO 《 stranger things 》

-2.4 bye bye bye-rs

chapter twenty-four!

{trigger-warning: descriptions of panic attack and depression. please reach out to me if you need anything at all. I love you all so much.}

CASSIE HATED SAYING GOODBYE. She decided that the moment that her and Max biked into the Byers's driveway. It was now September, around two months since everything had happened that summer. Cassie couldn't tell if she was getting worse or better, everything was a blurry line to her now. She had assumed that she would be okay after the gate was closed, but every once in a while the strange man from the Upside Down would come to her in her dreams. Other nights, she would have unimaginable nightmares. Ones that would continue to haunt her through her days.

Max almost immediately joined Lucas, while Cassie made her way into El's room. El was packing her few remaining things, and Cassie felt out of place as she looked around at the empty room. She knocked on the open door, leaning on the door frame with a smile on her face. El turned to her, a grin appearing on her previously crestfallen face. The brunette instantly made her way over to the blonde, pulling her into a tight hug. Cassie hugged back with equal force, burying her face in her friends neck.

"I brought you some things," said Cassie with a small smile, removing her backpack from her shoulders. She unzipped the top, pulling out a couple of cassettes. She passed them to the girl, "ABBA, Bowie, Marley, Nicks, Mac, Rolling Stones, and the Beatles. Figured it was time to get you into some good music."

El let out a tearful laugh and took the cassettes happily, placing them in the box she was currently packing up. Cassie then grabbed a small box that contained a stack of polaroid's, Cassie's favorite nail polish that El always admired, and numerous comic books with female superheroes. El sat it down, pulling Cassie into yet another hug. "I'm going to miss you."

"I know," muttered Cassie, causing the two to giggle, "But I'll miss you too. You're my best friend, El, never forget that."

El shook her head, tears streaming steadily down her face. Never in a million years could El forget the impact that Cassie had on her. She pulled away from her hug, her hand coming up to hold Cassie's face. "Cassie, I'm not going to date Mike again."

Cassie's eyes widened, her mouth falling open in disbelief. A warm feeling that she couldn't place swelled in her stomach. "You're not getting back together?"

"No," said El, certainly. "We talked. Better as friends."

"But I thought you guys were like, in love, or some shit," said Cassie, her eyebrows furrowed in deep confusion. Just earlier that summer, El was running off with Mike and ditching her friends. Now they're done for good? Cassie didn't know what to think.

"Or... some shit," repeated El, slowly. Cassie let out a laugh. El looked into Cassie's eyes, admiring the shining blue that she found so beautiful. "When I... kissed you... it was because I like you. The girlfriend type of like you."

Cassie didn't have the strength to pick her jaw up off the ground. She stood there with her mouth open for a solid thirty seconds before she could even begin to respond. Her mind was frazzled by this confession. "El... you... do you mean that? Like, you're not fuckin' around right now, are you?"

"Cassie, I am serious," admitted El, her voice soft and sweet. Cassie closed her eyes, running her hand through her hair. El had thought that Cassie was beautiful since she met her. She didn't know why she was with Mike so long, maybe it was because she thought that was what she was supposed to. She didn't know girls could like girls, despite always feeling a stronger bond with Cassie than she ever did with Mike. She found herself wanting to always be around the blonde. She found comfort in Cassie. El didn't know how to describe the way she felt until Cassie told her it was okay to like girls, and when she kissed her nothing had ever felt so right to the brunette. "I think I... have always liked you."