Royal Pain || Stranger Things

twenty-five || thirsty mums

With the classic ambiance of high school and raging parties, it wasn't necessarily odd for Tatum Rivers to wake up and not quite remember what happened the night before. Gaps in time, hazy glimpses of stumbling around. Usually there was at least something left behind to hint to the general path of the night, but this time was different.

The summer sun blared through the thin curtains of Tatum's room, a mixture of brightness and concern stirring her from her sleep.

Still wearing what she had been in the day before, Tatum's eyes peeled open in near protest. Rubbing them with the back of her hand as she yawned, her brows furrowed slightly as she noticed an unconscious Billy next to her.

It wasn't the fact that he was in her bed that was unusual – that had actually become incredibly common whether or not anyone noticed – but instead that he too was fully dressed except shoes that were haphazardly thrown by the closet.

Tatum's brows furrowed deep as she sat up, leaning over to reach for her alarm clock that was flashing 12:00 violently. "What?" she mumbled, flipping her wrist over to reveal the actual time. "Oh, shit." She turned over her shoulder and picked up her pillow before smacking it down on top of Billy's head. "Get up!" she called, running into the bathroom to wiggle into her lifeguard suit.

Billy groaned, only using the weapon to cushion his head instead as he nuzzled back into his sleep.

"Get up! We're late!"

"The alarm hasn't even gone off," he mumbled.

"The alarm's not working!" she called, popping out of the bathroom in her suit on the hunt for clothes to throw over. "I think the power went out last night or something because I never unplugged the clock." She grabbed a small blue tank and a pair of denim shorts, sliding them on over her suit as she prodded at Billy to get out a bed. "Move it! We can't both be late."

Billy slowly sat up, rubbing his eyes as he did his best to scan the room. "Did I not bring in my bag last night?" he asked before a bigger question came to mind. "Since when do we sleep with our clothes on?"

Although it typically would have made her laugh, she only shook her head as she combed her fingers through her hair and tied up the top half with a red scrunchie. "I don't know but we've got to go.

What was the last thing she remembered from the night before?

Without having the time to answer her own question, she looked to Billy who still looked completely out of place. "You have a bag at the pool, right? With an extra suit?"

Billy stretched his arms over his head, going up on his toes before grabbing his boots. "Yeah, it should still be in my locker."

"Perfect. Put your shoes on in the car," she told him, heading out of her bedroom with keys in hand. Grabbing her Birkenstock sandals on her way out of the house, it wasn't long before she was starting the Jeep. As she clipped the seatbelt over her chest, her eyes slowly raised up to the roof above her.

Billy's brows furrowed as he climbed into the passenger's seat and began to wiggle on his shoes. "Why do you have the top on?"

"I was wondering the same thing," she quietly said, forcing herself to look away and instead back out of her spot.

It would have saved her a lot of grief if she had noticed that she wasn't the only one late to work on her street and that a red BMW was idling in the driveway.

"What do we do when we get there?" he asked, lacing up his boots.

"What do you mean?" Tatum raised the radio volume from nearly zero, finding it odd that she would ever have it below a five.