บท 16: 16. Ginger Curls and the Big Bad Brother
A/N: Hiyaa! This is for 'Hope' who wanted some Steve and Max interaction, and for 'Teegan' who wanted him saving her from a certain moody and abusive older blond. I hope you guys like this! Let me know what you think of this ;) Also, I have a little headcanon of mine: the whole Party calls Max 'carrot'; it started as a joke, but now the nickname has stuck. I don't know if you guys have realized that in other chapters lol.
PROMPT: Steve saves Max from Billy's wrath.
WARNINGS: Verbal (and a little bit of physical) abuse.
Shouts were flying in the air outside her bedroom, and Max could only turn the volume of her Walkman higher up to drown them.
Neil and Billy had been fighting for over an hour; her stepdad had found Billy smoking in the bathroom and had thrown a fit, screaming at the blond and calling him all names, as if he didn't know his son had been smoking since he was 14. Her mom was nowhere to be seen, probably locked inside her bedroom and trying to block the noise, just like Max was trying to do.
A huge crash was heard outside and Max jumped, lowering her headphones down to her neck and standing up nervously, her heart hammering inside her chest.
"Fuck you!" Neil screamed at Billy, and Max heard the bedroom door across from hers open. She grimaced, her mind going no, no, no as she heard her mom walk out into the hallway.
"Neil." Susan's quiet voice interrupted.
"Shut up!" Neil screamed at her mother, and she heard him walk heavily, his footsteps thumping against the floor, as her mother began talking to him in hushed tones that couldn't reach her ears.
Her mom's hushed "you're hurting me" was what made Max fling her Walkman on the bed and throw the door open to walk into the mess that was her home life.
"Mom." Her voice cut the tense conversation like ice.
Susan's eyes swung to her daughter's. "It's okay, Maxie." Her arm was clutched in Neil's grasp.
Her stepfather stared at her as he breathed deeply, his stomach moving up and down in harsh pants.
"Let's go for a drive." He told Susan without taking his eyes from Max.
He walked towards his bedroom to get the car keys, putting a heavy hand on Max's head as he passed her.
"Mom." Max repeated as she walked closer to her mother. Her eyes found the hunched figure that was her stepbrother, with his hands on the wall and his back to her. His shoulders heaved with the force of his breathing and his fingers were smearing blood on the wall.
"It's okay, honey. We'll be back later. He just has to calm down, okay?" Susan told her as she caressed Max's cheek, smiling down at her with no trace of happiness in it.
"Don't leave me here." With him was left unsaid, but Max knew her mother had understood what she meant, her blue eyes glued to the blond's tense back.
"It's okay, Maxie. It's going to be okay." Her mother just told her again; Neil came back and stalked past them, boots stepping over the broken glass on the floor and leaned on the wall next to his son.
"When I'm back," he began ordering Billy, quietly and threateningly. "I want this cleaned up." He stayed there, glaring into his son's eyes for a few seconds, before sniffling and motioning to Susan with a jerk of his head to the door. "And move. You're getting blood on my wall."
She knew she should probably move into her room and lock the door, but Max's feet were planted on the floor, staring at Billy's back in terrified numbness as her mother and stepfather left.
Her breathing grew labored in anxiety and it was the only thing that was heard for a few minutes, before Billy's harsh laughter broke the silence.
He threw his head back and laughed some more, scaring Max and making him look like a maniac. He straightened up, dragging his hand against the wall and leaving a trail of smeared blood on it. He stood back and contemplated his work before he thumped the same spot with a fist as he roared a frustrated scream out.
Max sprang into action and quickly began backpedaling to the hallway again, but unfortunately Billy had been awakened from his numb silence.
"Where do you think you're going?" His cold voice told her.
He slowly turned around and Max's eyes went wide as saucers as she took in her stepbrother's face.
His nose was bleeding, rusty red caking under his nostrils as it began drying; his right eyebrow was cut and swollen, making his eye puffy and bright red. His temple was covered in bruises, all looking fresh and hurtful. She could see a few bleeding cuts on his neck, and the shattered vase at his feet told her that Neil had thrown it at him.
"Hey, Max," Billy laughed without any humor, extending his arms wide and outstretching his hands. "I'm still a pretty boy, right?"
"Billy..." she trailed off, not knowing what to say to him and cursing herself mentally for even trying to talk. Although he had been staying out of her way, her body trembled with fear at the wild look in his eyes.
His eyes darkened and he began walking towards her slowly, every footstep making her back tense even more.
"Do you like seeing me like this, Max? Do you enjoy it? Does it make you feel good? Powerful? In control? Do you think you won?" He began raising his voice with every question.
"Billy, I—"
"Do you think I deserve it? Hell, you're probably over the moon, right? All of this is your fault."
"Billy, please—"
"All of this. If your stupid fucking father—"
"Billy, don't start!"
"—in this shitty town! Fucking Indiana?! How the fuck am I getting out of here now, Max?!—"
"Billy, you're hurting me—"
"—Are you happy?! You're fucking ruining my life and you're sitting there, in your room, probably laughing—"
"Stop!—"
"You little shit! I fucking hate you—"
"STOP!" She finally screamed, pushing at his chest wildly and pulling her wrist out of his vicious fist.
He charged then, grabbing both of her upper arms and shaking her violently, her neck jerking up and down with his movements, and then he slammed her hard against the wall.
"You fucking piece of shit!" His eyes were furious and his teeth gritted with anger.
"This is not my fault, Billy, please! I'm sorry he does this to—"
"Shut up!" He screamed in her face, pressing his nose against hers. "Shut up. You think you know what's going on between me and my father? You have no idea. You don't even have a dad. He left you. He doesn't want you."
"Stop." Her voice hardened with a newfound stability, as she glared at him.
"— He didn't even fight for you. Is that what a real dad looks for you, Max? Is he who you think of when mine's beating the shit out of me? Or do you think of your friends? Those little losers who think they're better than me?"
"Don't fucking start, Billy." She threatened him through gritted teeth. All thoughts of pity leaving her mind as his ugly words turned to her friends.
He laughed, moving out of her space and standing back a little to grin evenly at her.
"You still with those fuckers? Still hanging out with that kid? That good for nothing little nigg—"
"Don't you fucking dare!" She screamed loudly, her throat scratching raw with ferocity. "Don't you fucking dare insult him."
"Don't talk to me like that!" He yelled, coming closer again to push her with his chest, glaring down at her with hatred in his eyes. "You think you're safe? I hate to break it to you, sis, but I'm not afraid of you and I never have been! Maybe you need a remainder of what I'm capable of."
Her heart hammered painfully in her ribcage, and she mentally prepared herself for a smack or something physical, but instead she watched as he began waking to the door.
"There's a little toy of yours that I haven't destroyed in a while." He threw over his shoulder. Her eyes widened as she remembered her skateboard which was sitting on the grass outside.
"No, Billy!" She pleaded as she ran towards him, but he only smirked evilly and slammed the door closed behind him.
She stopped short in the middle of the living room, tears of frustration falling from her eyes as she heard him start slamming her beloved skateboard against the sidewalk; she took a moment to mourn, before realizing she was losing time from the opportunity window that her skateboard had just given her.
She ran to her room, locking the door behind her and quickly grabbing the phone, pressing the numbers while she sobbed.
She couldn't call Lucas now; Billy was still outside and she knew that if he neared her house right now, her stepbrother would want to take his frustrations out on him. She still didn't get along enough with Mike to call him in the middle of the night. Will was too far away, as was Eleven. Dustin was probably asleep by now, and even then, he was alone with his mom; she couldn't ask him to come and help her. That only left—
"Steve?" She asked quietly, tapping her foot against the carpet and concentrating to hear if the front door opened again.
"Max? Is that you?" Steve asked in a clear voice, and she was thankful that he wasn't asleep yet.
"Yeah. Listen, I- it's-are you busy?" She sniffled.
"Well... it's 11 PM on a Friday."
"Oh." She bit her lip anxiously; not knowing if that meant he was going out or what.
"Hey, is everything okay? Are you okay? Did something happen?" He questioned worriedly.
"... Kind of."
"Where is he?" He asked her seriously, and she could hear him walking around his room, and the telltale tinkling of his car keys.
"Outside. He's... not okay. Can you come get me? Please? My skateboard—" She cut herself with a wince as the front door slammed, and she held her breath as his footsteps reached her ears.
"Maaax?" Billy called her from outside her door, his voice doing that singsong tone he used to mess with her. The doorknob rattled as he shook the door, trying to open it. "Open the door, Max."
She gulped, breathing hard as Steve continued talking on the phone.
"Neil won't take long and there's still blood on the wall, Billy." She told her stepbrother with a surprisingly even tone, just a little bit of shaking at the end of her sentence.
The doorknob stopped shaking and his harsh breath was the only sound for a few seconds.
"Fuck you." Billy told her, before walking away to presumably clean the house up.
She sighed in relief, knowing his reluctance to another beating was bigger than his need to torment her. She put the phone back on her ear to listen to Steve's frantic voice.
"Max? Hold on, okay? I'm coming! Just hold on!"
"Hurry." She pleaded and then hung up.
She quickly grabbed her backpack and shoved a change of clothes inside, along with a few things she might need. It wasn't the first time Steve picked her up and let her stay the night at his place.
The good thing about having a friend who was a high school graduate, had a car, had parents who were never home, and cared deeply and enormously for your wellbeing, was, well, everything previously mentioned.
She grabbed a jacket and put it on, swinging her backpack over her shoulder. She opened her window and jumped outside, wincing as the cold night air hit her face. She walked quietly around her house to stand in the shadow of it, waiting for the familiar BMW to appear.
She wondered idly if her mother would worry if she found out she wasn't home, but decided she would think she was asleep when she found her locked door.
She smiled as Steve's car rolled a little bit past her house, stopping nearly at her neighbor's driveway, running quickly to jump inside the passenger's seat.
"Hey." She breathed out as she closed the door.
"Hey, carrot, you okay?" Steve asked her without looking her way, too busy looking into the side mirror for any signs of her angry stepbrother.
"I'm fine. Just drive, please." She clicked her seatbelt and leaned back to rest her head and close her eyes with a tired sigh.
"You sure? You look like the same little shit, but I could always go back and kick his ass for you." Steve smiled at her as they began driving.
She laughed, shaking her head as he continued promising her how he could win this time around. She marveled at the thought of how she didn't mind at all when Steve was the one to call her little shit.
He talked the whole way to his house. He told her about his parents trip, the cruise they were on and how they didn't take him; he told her about the dog he was thinking on getting; he told her about Dustin and how Claudia had been babying Steve every time he was at the Henderson home; he told her about babysitting El for the Chief; he told her about everything and anything. Steve always managed to distract her from her current situation, always running his mouth on whatever came to mind. She liked that about him: how he almost unconsciously tried to protect her from her own thoughts.
Steve really was the brother she never wished for, but the one she yearned and wanted now.
A few hours later, when she had showered and he had managed to make them a night snack without burning the kitchen, they were both lying in his large bed. Steve was in the middle of telling her this story about three bears and a little redheaded girl, which was awfully familiar to Goldie Locks, and which he had refused to admit (she knew it was Goldie Locks), when she interrupted him.
"Steve?" Her soft voice said.
"Yeah?" He paused his description of Ginger Curls.
"Thank you."
"... You know I'm here for you for everything you need. Anything you need, Max," his voice sounded sincere, and he reached out a soothing hand to run it softly through her red locks, unconsciously comforting the younger girl enormously. "I'll be there, carrot."
"I know," Silent tears slipped involuntarily from her eyes, falling into the soft pillows. "Thank you."
She fell asleep with Steve's soothing stories and his hand massaging her tired head as she drifted off with a smile.
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