𝐦𝐢𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐫𝐛𝐚𝐥𝐥 | stranger things

thirteen

cw: brief mentions of abuse

Wren was over at Robin's house for their bimonthly Friday night sleepover. Usually, she greatly looked forward to them. Today, however, she found her mind wandering elsewhere.

She hadn't said a word since arriving at her tall friend's house. Her brows were furrowed deep in thought as she looked back on what she had witnessed earlier in the school parking lot. She couldn't help but feel like there was something that she should've done. But at the same time, part of her told her she would've made things worse if she tried to intervene.

"Okay, so, I can't cook, but I found two packages of chicken flavored ramen in the back of the pantry. They're a couple years old, but they smelled okay, so I went ahead and made them 'cause it sounded simple enough. I might have burned the water though."

Wren looked up at Robin, frowning. "How do you burn water?"

"I over boiled it," Robin said as she sat down next to the petite girl on the couch, carefully handing one of the bowls of ramen to her along with a napkin. "I only left the room for, like, five minutes, and when I came back it was boiling like crazy."

Wren chuckled softly. "That's just how boiling water works, Rob."

"Oh . . . Well, anyway, bon appetit." Robin used a pair of wooden chopsticks that she found in the silverware drawer to pick up a few noodles. She blew on them before slurping them into her mouth. Wren merely poked at hers. Robin frowned softly. "Hey, what's wrong? Do you not like ramen? Cause I can totally make you something else."

"No, no, it's not that." Wren sighed. She set her bowl on the coffee table in front of them and shifted so that she could face Robin better. "Um . . . so, you know Billy Hargrove?"

Robin's brows furrowed as she chewed her noodles. "That dickhead senior? He didn't hurt you, right? 'Cause I can't be held responsible for what will happen if he did."

Wren shook her head. "No, he didn't hurt me. It turns out that Max, you know, the girl you forced me to go trick-or-treating with, is his little sister— Or step-sister. I saw her in his car after school today. It . . . It looked like he was threatening her. She was terrified."

Robin paused in her chewing for a moment as Wren spoke. Her grip on the chopsticks tightened. "Threatening her how exactly?"

"He grabbed her wrist. Like this—" she reached out and held Robin's wrist, "only tighter."

Robin's eyes widened as Wren grabbed her wrist to demonstrate the action. She stared blankly at where Wren's small hand rested around her wrist, a flicker of anger and concern passing through her expression.

Wren let go of Robin. She twirled the ramen noodles around her chopsticks, attempting to eat it like she would spaghetti, before giving up.

Robin noticed Wren's struggle and chuckled softly. "You know, it's cute how you're trying to eat it like spaghetti," she teased, gently nudging her with her shoulder.

The brief light-hearted moment quickly faded as she remembered the discussion at hand. Her expression turned serious again. "Wren, this is a pretty serious thing. It's not normal for an older sibling to grab their younger sibling like that and scare them. It almost sounds like he's. . . abusing her."

Wren nodded as she slowly chewed her noodles. She used her napkin to wipe away a bit of broth that dribbled down her chin. She swallowed before whispering, "That's what worries me so much. And it's not like I can just walk up to him and tell him to stop being a jerk to Max, 'cause what if he hurts me? O-Or worse, he takes it out on her? I-I don't— I can't— I-I wouldn't be-be able to l-live with— with myself if I . . . if I . . . i-if I made things w-worse for her."