HEART FLAYER | b. hargrove

CHAPTER 037.

July 26, 1985

Arwen woke up dazed and confused, sitting up to look around the room. She must've fallen asleep at Billy's house after they'd talked for awhile last night. She looked around hazily to figure out where he went and saw him sleeping on the floor beside the bed. It made her smile sadly. He'd obviously wanted to give her space while she slept. She moved to sit at the edge of the bed and reached down to touch his shoulder.

"Billy... Billy, wake up." she said in a gentle tone. 

Billy jolted awake and sat up, breathing heavily as he looked around with wide eyes. Arwen immediately moved to sit on the floor in front of him, taking his face in her hands. 

"Hey hey hey, you're okay. Billy," she soothed him. "You're safe. It's just me."

His eyes landed on her and he seemed to relax a little. He nodded and apologized quietly before rubbing his hands over his face. 

"Sorry. Sleeping has been rough the last few weeks."

"Trust me, I know." Arwen assured. "I think last night was easier, though, having someone else in the room."

"Yeah, sorry I felt like it might freak you out if you woke up and I was in bed with you..."

Arwen took his hand and smiled a little. "I appreciate it."

He smiled weakly at her and nodded. Arwen stood up and he mimicked the action.

"I should go back home. I have a lot to do to fix up the cabin so that El can live there with me until October..." she said as she furrowed her brow.

"What's going on in October?" Billy questioned.

Arwen sighed and crossed her arms. "The Byers are moving to California... and El is going with them."

"Cali?" He blinked in confusion. "And you're not going with her? Why?"

"Because I can't. I can't leave it all behind... the cabin, my friends. Not yet, at least."

Billy exhaled slowly through his nose and nodded. "I can't blame you. And it might be a little selfish to say, but even though I love Cali, I'm glad you're not leaving."

He smiled a little and Arwen smiled right back at him. "Okay, I gotta go. Feel free to call me if you need anything, okay?"

Billy looked like he wanted to hug her, but settled for just squeezing her hand instead. Arwen couldn't decide if the space he was giving her was a good thing for them or bad. But she left, waving goodbye to Max in the living room as she went. 

Arwen got back home and started to clean up wreckage around the cabin. It was hard for just one person and she honestly had no idea how she was going to fix up this entire place by herself. She threw out all of the expired food - which was almost all of it. She picked up stray pieces of wood and trash and returned all of the furniture to its original places. It took her a few hours to get the place somewhat livable, but she still didn't know what to do about the holes in the walls or the busted out windows.

She sat down on the couch and stared off towards what used to be Hopper's makeshift bedroom and started to cry. She missed her dad so much. He would've known how to fix all of this. 

Someone knocked on the door so she got up and wiped her tears away. When she opened it, she saw Billy, Eddie, Steve, Robin, Gareth, and Jeff all standing on her porch.

"What the fuck are you all doing here?" she asked in surprise.

"We heard your house got broken into and messed up pretty bad, so Hargrove roped us into helping you clean up." Eddie explained.

Arwen looked over at Billy and he winked at her. She was pretty impressed that he came up with a lie to cover up the real reason why the cabin was such a wreck. 

"You guys, I really appreciate it but I can deal with this myself." she said stubbornly.

"Shut up and let us help. You just got out of a coma and don't know the first thing about fixing a house." Steve spoke up, sounding like a disgruntled mother.

"Oh and you do, rich boy?" Arwen teased with a raised brow.

"A coma?!" Eddie questioned with his eyes wide. "That's where you've been?!"

"A story for another time, Eddie." She waved off, knowing she definitely needed more time to come up with a fake tale about how she ended up in a coma for two weeks. 

"Yeah, enough questions. Get to work." Billy ordered gruffly and they all entered the house.

"Who the hell breaks into a house and leaves a hole in the ceiling?!" Jeff asked as he stared upwards in awe.

"What did I say?" Billy barked. "Enough questions. We have shit to do."

Arwen couldn't help but flinch a little at his harsh tone, the memories of his shouting when he was trapped in the sauna creeping into her mind. But Robin seemed to notice and came up to wrap an arm around her, leading her to sit on the couch together.

"You came to do physical labor?" Arwen asked her, eyebrow raised skeptically and a bit of a smile on her face as she tried to lift the mood. 

"Oh hell no," Robin laughed and revealed the twelve pack of beer in her hands. "I came to keep you company while the men do all the work."

Arwen laughed as well, taking a beer and opening it.

"How are you doing?" Robin asked her softly.

"Well..." Arwen sighed. "My dad is dead, my sister is moving across the country, and I'm terrified of my kinda-sorta-boyfriend. So not great, honestly."

"It'll take time," Robin assured her. "But you're a tough bitch. It'll be okay."

Arwen appreciated the comfort and company of her best friend right now. She also was very grateful for the rest of them for coming to help fix up her house. For right now, her heart felt full.

She spent the whole day just talking and drinking with Robin while the boys worked. She'd tried multiple times to get up and help them in some way, but every time Billy would catch her and scold her - in the gentlest way possible for him - to go sit down and let them do it. 

It'd started to get dark when it was all finally finished. It was a rough result, but it was livable and safe. Arwen went through the line of boys, giving them each hugs and thanking them. Everyone got into their cars and it left Billy and Arwen alone on the porch now. He was dirty and sweaty, but she still thought he looked gorgeous as always.

"Thank you so much... for doing this. It means a lot to me. I didn't want to have to move out of this cabin." she told him quietly.

"Don't thank me." Billy said simply, shifting on his feet a bit awkwardly as he cleared his throat. "It's not a big deal."

"It's a big deal to me." Arwen rolled her eyes with a little smile. "You helped me even though I can barely... you know... be around you right now..." she felt bad saying it, but they both knew it was true.

"Do you remember what I said to you before I tried to give myself to that... thing?" Billy suddenly asked, staring at her intensely.

Arwen's brows furrowed and she chewed on the inside of her cheek, trying to recall that awful night that she just wanted to forget. It took a moment for her to push through the fog in her mind that lingered from her coma, but she remembered. 

Billy had stood there, between her sister and the Mind Flayer, looking at her with pain and regret in his eyes as he said "I love you."

She felt a lump in her throat as she finally realized.

"Yes." she answered in a small whisper. "I remember."

"Well, there you go." Billy said with a sigh as he looked down at the ground, shoving his hands in his pockets. "That's why I did it."

He turned and walked towards his car, glancing back at her once as he said, "Good night, Ari."

Arwen stood there, watching him drive off and thinking about that memory. He loved her. It filled her with so many mixed feelings. She was so incredibly happy to know she was loved by Billy. But she also felt saddened and anxious. What if all of that was ruined now? That neither one of them would get a real shot at this relationship, despite being in love, all because of the trauma that was driving a rift between them?

No matter what, she wasn't going to let that happen. Arwen refused to lose him. She loved him.