MARLEY // Max Mayfield

Good scream

Marley stumbled back into the basement, wiping at her eyes as Max held her hand at the small of her back urging her along as lightly as she could. The conversation halted and everyone turned to her each of them looking more horrified than the next. The Harrington just ignored them, stuffed her hands in her pockets and fell into the couch beside Eleven.

"D-did you cry?" Mike breathed, looking absolutely mortified.

"I--"

"You never cry..." Lucas added and Marley sighed rolling her eyes.

"Apparently I do," Marley shrugged, welcoming Max in a warm embrace as the girl sat in her lap, glaring at Mike, deadly like. If looks could kill he'd be dead ten times over.

"But you don't...an-and I made you...Steve's going to kill me," Mike stuttered, his mouth open wide as he looked from Marley to the floor and then back at her.

"Yeah, if Max doesn't kill you first," Marley sighed, sniffling and leaning her head on the cushion behind her. "Don't worry about it. I'm fine."

"It's alright if you're not Marley--" Nancy tried but Marley cut her off.

"I said I'm fine..." There was a long uncomfortable silence, almost suffocatingly long and in those moments Marley found her entire being growing incredibly itchy. To save herself from the quiet air she leant forward, wrapping her arms around Max's waist and placing her chin at her shoulder, "So...what were you lot talking about while I was choking on pollen?"

"Yeah Nance, what were you saying?" Will said and Marley inwardly sighed, thanking the boy and his ability to pick up on tense situations and her discrete social cues.

"Right yeah uh..." Nancy fumbled for her words, "Like I was saying, it was the same thing that happened to Will last year, the exact same..." She pointed at a few sheets of paper on the coffee table in front of them, "And look at this, look at the body temperatures."

They all leant forward and scanned the paper, Will eventually taking it up in his hands and studying it carefully, "He likes it cold..." He muttered and then turned to Marley, handing it to her.

"So...what I'm hearing is, this..." she looked at the name for the incident report, "...Driscoll lady went all rigid and stuff like Will did last year? When the Mind Flayer was in him?"

"More like when we were getting the Mind Flayer out," Nancy supplied and Marley nodded, wiping at her nose again as she sniffled. Nobody said anything if they noticed, even when she deliberately muffled her hiccups they made a note not to comment. She didn't want it brought up and that was fine, she was in good enough hands with Max as close to her as she physically could be. That was enough for the Harrington.

"Ok so this crazy old woman who was eating fertilizer--"

"She was eating fertilizer?" Marley questioned, glancing down at the report again "Isn't that stuff basically shit--?"

"Her name's Mrs Dricoll, Mike," Nancy interrupted.

"Right, yeah, Mrs Driscoll, what time was this attack?" He continued

"Last night."

"Yeah, right, but what time last night?" Mike questioned again.

"Around nine?" Nancy guessed, apparently not sure. Marley sighed and grabbed the medkit that was behind the couch, pulling out a pill bottle and dry swallowing a few painkillers. She noticed Eleven eyeing her warily in her peripheral and laughed despite herself, shooting the girl a reassuring smile in an effort to comfort her.

"You waited all night to call?" Jonathan questioned.

"I was waiting for the doctors to run some tests..." Nancy said. Marley cocked a brow and studied the two eldest in the room with great interest, something happened between them and it was painfully obvious, so much so that she almost laughed at how rigid Jonathan was standing.