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"There you go," Briar said, handing Max a cloth with ice inside it, the closest she could get to an ice pack. Max's wrist was turning purpley-blue, and the girl had been silent ever since getting home that day.

"Thanks, Briar," murmured Max, looking down, her eyes becoming teary.

Briar sighed, sitting down next to the girl on her bed, saying. "So, uh... what were you and Lucas talking about?"

Max swallowed the lump in her throat. "Uh... I was giving them the boot. Cause they still aren't telling me what's going on."

Briar shrugged slightly, saying. "Good on you."

"I know, I just... Lucas looked really hurt when I told him I was dropping them, and I also learned that there was another girl in their group named El, so I used that against him as well," sighed Max.

"Who's El?" Briar frowned.

"I don't know, she was apparently in their party a while ago and then moved away. Either way, I don't know shit about her cause none of them will tell me the truth."

Briar frowned slightly. Something was definitely going on in Hawkins. Something sketchy. I mean, she knew a boy had gone missing in the woods for a week last year, but she also knew that this wasn't a result of that. There was something bigger going on here, and she was going to find out what it was.

"Has, er... has Billy done this to you before?"

Max switched tracks as she gestured hesitantly to her wrist, looking up at Briar with big, wide, scared eyes. The girl's heart broke for her, because fucking hell, Max had had to grow up so fast since joining the Hargrove family. She was the only one under this roof that didn't have that last name yet she was in the middle of all this shit.

"Uh... yeah, a couple times. I, uh... I think it's because everything that, um... that Neil does to him," Briar decided to leave out the part where she'd been hit by Neil, because Max didn't need to know about that. "He's just a piece of shit, Max."

Max nodded, biting her lip.

"And he had no right to say that about Lucas," Briar added. "He's just become an asshole, and you're getting the shit from it."

We're is what she meant, but she wasn't making this about her, because Max was the one Billy had just hurt. Max just nodded, looking at her intently.

"And also... well, Neil would blow his shit if he found out about Lucas," Briar bit her lip. "But he wouldn't take it out on you."

She had said that suggestively, and Max just nodded.

"He'd take it out on you and Billy," she said, her voice small and scared, very unlike her. "And I-I don't wanna be responsible for you getting hurt, Briar."

Briar instantly shook her head. "No, Max, listen to me, okay?" She said meaningfully. "This whole family's shit, okay? It would not be your fault if I did get hurt, I promise."

I've already been hurt. And it was my own stupid fault.

"Anyways, Billy's already been onto me, so don't worry, okay?" Briar slung an arm around the girl, squeezing slightly and changing the subject. "Are you, uh... are you gonna try to make it up with the boys?"

Max bit her lip. "I don't think so," she shook her head. "They're good people, but they're acting like we're in second grade, keeping secrets from me. I'm not gonna try and fix things unless they tell me what they're keeping from me."

"Fair," Briar shrugged.

They fell into a comfortable silence. Max relaxed onto her bed and began to read a comic whilst Briar headed over to her small desk to complete some homework.