melancholia. [ ALTERNATE SPIN-OFF ] [ BILLY HARGROVE ]

vii. CHAPTER FIVE

~*~
Friday

     Mary was sat in the police station with Steve next to her, leg bouncing up and down as she was more nervous than she thought she'd be. She had come up with her story for the police, which was that she was kidnapped. She didn't mention the Russians, though. She told them that she was nursed back to health by the kidnapper, and used for dangerous things. 

     Now, she didn't specify much, which the officers didn't seem to mind, but she gave enough that they could legally call her alive again. She'd visited her mother the previous day, and Nancy that morning. She would visit Eleven, Jonathan, Will, and Joyce, but Dustin informed her that they'd moved away three months after her and Hopper died. 

     Mary wasn't going to tell them about Hopper just yet. She didn't know where he was, and needed some time to regroup while she was recovering. In the meantime, the new Chief of Police finally walked out of his office, explaining that everything was all set. 

     Billy was currently at the airport getting picked up by Susan to come back to Hawkins. He had luggage for a week with him, along with a few things he wanted to drop off at home to never look at again. It wasn't Mary's things, he would never get rid of those. But just small things that reminded him of her. 

     Susan pulled up to the airport, rolling down the passenger window to find Billy. Eventually, he walked to the car, throwing his things in the trunk. He got in the passenger seat, the window going up again as he leaned back. 

     "It's good to see you," Susan said softly. Billy hummed in response, head turning to look out the window. "I like the hair. It's nice." Susan could only think about how Mary would love it. She could always hear her trying to convince Billy to cut it, and him just laughing at her in response. He finally did it. 

     "Thanks," Billy replied. Susan frowned slightly as she knew he was still broken from everything. She didn't know the full truth, but she knew enough. All she knew was that Mary died in his arms, and that was all she needed to know. Susan drove away from the airport, the drive to Hawkins starting. It was quiet for a while until Billy sat up to talk. "So, what's going on with Max?" 

     "Uh, the doctors don't know," Susan lied to him. "They just said it doesn't look like its getting better, so we should say our goodbyes." Billy took a deep breath, shutting his eyes at the news. Susan really hated doing this to Billy, she knew how much he's been going through. But it was all going to be okay. Maybe it would all be okay. 

~*~

     Mary was sat in Steve's room, leg bouncing up and down nervously as she was waiting for the call from Susan that they were home. She'd already paced, levitated a few things in her hands, and read through a few magazines. She had nothing else to do but wait. Steve was at work, Dustin was at school, and she couldn't confront her mom at all. She didn't know how to tell her. 

     So, she decided on taking a walk out to Hopper's cabin. She knew the Byers weren't living in Hawkins anymore, courtesy of Steve telling her that, but she needed some sort of familiarity with her surroundings. 

     Billy, on the other hand, got home and saw his car sitting in the driveway. He could remember the nostalgia of being in that car, and it was worse than the nostalgia of Mary's car. Because so much more had happened with that Camaro than with the Impala. He'd drive her everywhere inside of that car. 

     "Susan, could I take the car out for a drive? Just for a little while," Billy asked, eyes going to look at Susan. She looked at him, then nodded slightly.