𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐌𝐈𝐒𝐄𝐒 | b. hargrove ²

𝟵| 𝙁𝙇𝘼𝙔𝙀𝘿

"I found him," El said. She had one of Ted's ties around her eyes. Everyone was at the Wheeler's now, looking for any adults who could help in this situation.

Lili was sitting next to El as the television beside them was tuned to a static station. She sat anxiously, waiting for more information.

"Where is he?" Max asked.

"Woods," El said plainly.

"Woods?" Lucas asked.

"That could be anywhere," Lili shook her head.

"He's with Will's mom," El said.

"My- My mom?" Will leaned forward.

"What are they doing?" Max scrunched her nose.

"Ill... annoy," El said. "They're going to Ill-annoy."

"El, you know the states," Lili groaned. She hated when El acted like she didn't know things. "What state does that sound like?"

"Mike! Breakfast!" Karen called for the boy.

"Not now, Mom!" Mike shouted back. He turned back to El. "Illinois? Illinois, like the state? The state of Illinois?"

El took her blindfold off and shrugged. "I--Illinois."

"Come on," I grabbed El's hand. "Let's get your blood cleaned off."

The pair went into the bathroom with Max trailing along behind them. Lili turned the water on and wetted a towel. She brought it up to El's nose and dabbed the blood away. As she was doing so, the bruise around El's neck was showing and Max caught sight of it. Lili didn't want to look at it since she still couldn't believe that Billy would try to kill anyone.

"Does it still hurt?" Max asked. The bruise was shaped like a smile on El's neck. She touched lightly before turning to Max.

"Only when I talk," El said.

"Well it's good thing you aren't Mike, then," Max grinned. "Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And you'd be in constant pain." They both chuckled whilst looking into the mirror.

"Are you guys friends now?" Lili asked. She remembered that last year, EL wanted nothing to do with Max, but now they're laughing about exes together.

"There's more to life than stupid boys," El said to her sister. She shrugged and nodded.

"That's true." Lili smiled and hugged both of them. "I'm so happy you guys are friends now."

"Yeah, finally," Max scoffed playfully.

"I said I was sorry!" El laughed. Max grinned.

"I know! I'm just joking," Max giggled. Lili smiled but it slowly faded when her eyes caught El's bruise. Her eyes turned sad as she stared at it. But then something caught her eye. The pattern of it seemed all too familiar.

"Wait," Lili mumbled and tilted El's head back gently. "Look."

Max peered at El's throat and at the bruise. "What is it?"

"The bruise, it's familiar," Lili said. "I've seen it before."

"What do you mean?" El asked. The bruise moved as she spoke.

"Billy wasn't trying to choke you," Lili said. El have her a look and Max scoffed.

"Were you in the sauna? El lost oxygen," Max said.

"I know," Lili rolled her eyes. "But have you ever been choked by Billy?"

"No?" Mad raised her brow.