HEART FLAYER | b. hargrove

CHAPTER 039.

2 MONTHS LATER
October 15, 1985

Things slowly but surely got a little bit more normal; a little easier. But Arwen still struggled to ever be left alone. If El wasn't at the cabin with her, she'd invite Billy over or go stay at his house. Or even do so with Robin every once in awhile. It'd been pretty nice that Robin now knew about all of the insane secrets.

For the most part, Arwen wasn't scared of Billy after spending more time with him. There had been a handful of times where he moved a hand too quickly or raised his voice and it'd startled her, but she'd always been able to recover from it quickly.

They had funerals for the people who'd died in the Starcourt "mall fire". Two of which consisted of Hopper and Neil. Those days had been the roughest on everyone. Even Billy who'd never admitted to feeling any sadness over his dad's death had shed some tears during the funeral.

But today was the day that Arwen dreaded for the last few months: El was leaving to go to California with the Byers.

Everyone was at the cabin to help move El's stuff into the moving truck, with the Byers' things already packed away and ready to go. Arwen was silent and straight-faced the whole time, just trying to keep her feelings in check and try to support her sister's decision. No matter how much it hurt.

It came time to say goodbye. Arwen and El stepped away from everyone else and the elder sister wrapped her arms around the girl, her frame trembling slightly and tears stinging her eyes.

"We've never been this far apart in our whole lives," Arwen told her in a shaky voice as she held her tightly. "I'll miss you so much, Waffle Monster. But I'm always here for you. I'm just a phone call away if you ever change your mind or if you just wanna talk."

"I know, Arwen." El said with a sad smile, tears forming in her own eyes as they pulled away. Arwen's hands stayed on her shoulders. "Will you be okay here?"

"I'll be fine. Don't you worry about me," Arwen tried to force a smile that was more comforting. "I've got Robin, Steve, Eddie, and Billy here. Along with everyone else. They'll keep me out of trouble... or try to."

El let out a little choked up laugh and they embraced again for another long moment.

"Your powers...?" Arwen asked her in a whisper as they held onto each other.

"Still gone." El replied. "Have you used yours at all since... that night?"

"No." Arwen answered with a sigh and she pulled back from the hug again, a frown on her face as she brushed hair away from El's face. She hadn't used her powers even once since that night at Starcourt. Maybe it was subconscious empathy for her sister's inability to use her own. Or maybe it was the image of that huge creature in her mind every time she thought about using them. Either way, she just hadn't wanted to. "I'll use them if I need to, though."

"Do you know how you were able to make fire without your lighter that night?"

Arwen paused. It did confuse her sometimes as to how she was able to make flames to attack the Mind Flayer without her lighter to help. Maybe it was just a one time thing because her mind knew that she needed every ounce of power in that moment. Perhaps her power changed completely. Who knew?

"No idea."

El gave her a sympathetic smile and nodded. "I love you, sister."

"I love you too. So much." Arwen said as she kissed El's head.

El then went to go give her goodbyes to everyone else. Arwen let out a breath as she just watched, wrapping her arms around herself and trying to keep herself together. Billy came up beside her and put an arm around her shoulders as he pulled her close.

"She's a tough kid," Billy said in a soft, reassuring tone. "Just like her big sister. She'll be okay."

"Yeah... you're right. I know." Arwen said sadly, her head rested on his shoulder now.

He kissed the top of her head and gave her a small squeeze. She was thankful to have him there, keeping her strong so that she didn't crumble in front of her sister. El would be safe and happy with the Byers. Arwen didn't want her to second guess her decision if she saw her big sister acting like a baby.

After El had said goodbye to everyone and she piled into the moving van with Joyce - Will and Jonathan following behind in the car - she felt her heart break a little. She watched the van as it disappeared around the corner. Immediately, Billy pulled her into his arms and just held her while she buried her face in his chest and finally cried.

It felt like all she'd done since July was cry and cry. She hated it. She wanted all of the pain to be over already. But once she knew that El was content in California, then maybe she could begin to feel better.

After everyone had gone, Billy and Arwen headed inside as she began to dry her tears.

"You want some tea, Firecracker?" Billy asked her as she sat on the couch. She gave him a pitiful little smile and nodded, so he chuckled and went off to make her some.

What did make her feel happy was how right it felt with Billy around the cabin whenever he stayed. It felt so domestic and adult. But it was good. It was one of the few times that Arwen felt any semblance of normalcy in her life.

As she thought about this and Billy sat down beside her on the couch and handed her the tea, she got an idea. It was probably insane and she had no idea how he would take it, but a rejection from him couldn't be as bad as anything else that'd happened lately.

"Billy?"

"Yeah?" He sat up a bit on the couch to look at her, concern in his eyes as they flicked down to the tea in her hands. "Did I make it wrong? I can -"

"No, no." Arwen cut him off with a laugh and set the tea down on the coffee table. She then put her hand on his cheek and shook her head. "The tea is good, pretty boy. Just like always."

"Oh. Good." Billy smiled a bit and relaxed into her touch, but his brows furrowed a little. "What is it then?"

"I have sort of a... crazy question."

"Ask away."

"Well, with El gone now and the cabin to myself, I was just wondering..." Arwen took a deep breath and decided to just ask and get it over with. "If you'd want to move in?"

Billy blinked at her for a moment in surprise. He leaned his elbows onto his knees as he thought about the question. She felt her anxiety spike at the anticipation.

"Are you sure about this?" He then asked gently as he looked at her again. His expression was a mixture of things: sympathy, concern, love... "You've only just started to really be comfortable around me again. I don't wanna fuck that up by being around too much."

Arwen leaned over to kiss him, her lips firmly pressed against his for a long moment. She pulled away by only a few inches and smiled at him.

"I'm sure. Ironically, I feel the safest when you're around. I want you here with me."

Billy's blue eyes seemed to light up at the kiss and her words and a big grin broke out across his face. He placed a hand on the back of her neck to pull her lips to his again.

"You wanna help me pack?" He asked after pulling away again.

Arwen chuckled and nodded before pointing a teasingly stern finger at him. "Yes. But the Playboy magazines aren't coming with you."

(Sorry for the slow update, had to travel for Thanksgiving but I go home tomorrow so I'll be back on top of things!)