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Ever since Beth had called Billy, things were okay.
She'd forgiven him, seeing as they weren't even dating at the time and he'd been extremely intoxicated that night.
Since the phone call, Billy had finally grown the courage to ask the one person he really loved out and make her his own.
•
"Beth?" Billy asked softly as the two sat on the hood of Billy's Camaro, sharing a cigarette, and watching the sun sink in a sea of pinks and oranges over an empty field.
The area was secluded, the only reason anyone ever went was to have bonfire parties or to, inevitably, do drugs or drug deals.
"Yeah?" She asked, looking at the boy beside her and letting the smoke trail out of her mouth.
He looked down at her, letting his shoulders relax at the calming waves her eyes sent his body. "I-uh-don't really know how to ask this." he gestured with his hands, his eyebrows furrowed in a sense of nervousness.
Beth giggled, leaning her head on his shoulder and taking a drag of the cigarette. "Uh-oh, Mr. Confident Cocky Pants can't spit something out, can he?" Beth joked, feeling his elbow jab gently into her side.
She laughed, handing the cigarette to him and patting his knee. "I'm just kidding. Come on, ask me, I'm intrigued now."
Billy sighed, his nerves crawling through his body and causing his hands to slightly shake. In stress, he took a long drag of the cigarette, the taste of her cherry chapstick still lingering on the butt of the stick.
"Okay, here goes," Billy said, the smoke swirling out of his mouth as he spoke. He shifted his body to face her, Beth doing the same. She could sense a certain seriousness to the situation so her previous relaxed mood was changing to tense and nervous.
"Elizabeth Henderson," Billy started, the girl's eyes slightly widening as his tone became gentle and vulnerable. He took a quick drag of the cigarette, holding it in his mouth to relax his stress. "Will you do me the honor of being mine?"
Beth's heart fluttered, her stomach dropping in shock at the same time. Her shoulders relaxed, her smile growing as Billy leaned in for a kiss. She began to do the same, letting their lips meet.
He blew the smoke from the cigarette into her mouth as they kissed, the passion radiating off of them like light from the dropping sun.
As she pulled away, she blew the smoke out of her mouth and grinned from ear to ear. Beth snagged the cigarette from his fingers and took the last drag, tossing the bud into the grass. "Billy Hargrove," she started with a smirk. "I will be yours."
•
Although things around Beth were significantly improving, Nancy becoming her best friend again, her and Billy being together officially now and her car being back in business, Dustin and his friends were acting flaky around her.
Every time Beth would try to go into Dustin's room, he would spaz out and claim he needed privacy. Which, of course, Beth knew was a lie because he'd always let Beth into his room and most of the time he would blatantly ask her to come and chill with him.
So, she'd finally had enough. She was going to figure out what Dustin was acting so strange for.
•
"Dustin!" Beth called out one day, storming into his room and holding her hand in the air, ready to stop his complaining for her barging in. But he was silent.
He was tip-toeing towards something behind his reading chair, red streaks of a crimson liquid pooling on the carpet. "Oh my god." Beth squeaked, realizing it was blood. It lead to behind the chair, the liquid still wet.
"What the hell?" Dustin asked, spinning around, surprised. "Beth, what are you doing?"
She shook her head, pointing to the blood. "What is that from?"
He shrugged, motioning for her to be quiet as they both slowly stepped closer to the chair.
As they peeked over the side, they saw a giant, slimy lizard looking thing eating the insides of their precious cat; Mews.
Beth gasped, the thing turning around and opening it's face, screeching at them as if to say "Back off, this is mine."
Dustin yelped, dragging Beth out of the room.
"Holy shit." He cursed, Beth's eyes panning from side to side, shock burned into her face.
"Dustin!" she cried. "That thing ate our cat! It ate Mews! What even is that thing? Did you know it was in your room? How did it get here? What is going on?" Beth screamed, Dustin looking at her with wide eyes.
"I-I can explain." he stuttered, Beth's urgent nods encouraging him to continue.
"That's Dart. I found him on Halloween and at first, he could fit in my palm, but he molted and got huge, as I just figured out. He's a species I've never seen before, and neither have any of the books or research sources I've gotten my hands on. Will thinks he might be from the Upside Down. The Upside Down is-" he began to explain what the Upside Down was, but Beth held her hand and stopped his nervous babbling.
"I know everything about Will and Hawkins Lab and the Upside Down. Does Will think he could be from the lab or the Upside Down?" Beth sighed, the sadness of the sudden loss of her beloved cat subsiding for a moment.
"Yeah. Will had a recent episode and he's sure that Dart is from the Upside Down or at least has some sort of ties and, or, links to it." Dustin explained, using his hands as emphasis.
"Dustin, why wouldn't you tell me? I'm your big sister, we tell each other everything. We always have." Beth asked, her tone low and soft as she fiddled with the green knit bracelet on her wrist.
Dustin attached himself to Beth, hugging tightly. "I'm sorry. I just didn't want you to worry or be like the others who want me to get rid of him somehow."
Beth ruffled Dustin's hair, pulling him to arm length. "Let's figure out a way to capture this thing."
•
i've been absent for a few days on the writing part but i'm back now! the good stuff is coming! :)
