five

937 36 29
                                    



King of my Heart

Chapter Five: Folie À Deux

"I turned around, there was nothing there. Yeah, I guess the end is here."

-I Know The End, Phoebe Bridgers

"Caleb, honey, are you sure you don't want to dress up for school? I know you worked really hard on your costume

Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.




"Caleb, honey, are you sure you don't want to dress up for school? I know you worked really hard on your costume."

"I'm sure mom, it's giving me an overwhelming sense of embarrassment right now so I'm taking that as a sign from the universe to just save my costume for trick or treating. Plus this is the only day I can wear my favorite sweater without it being weird!"

Did Caleb have an odd emotional attachment to his oversized 'Happy Halloween' sweater, maybe? But is Piper really going to force him to wear something else? Of course not, that's her freaking baby and if he wants to wear his sweater, then god dammit he's gonna wear that sweater.

"Alright baby, but don't forget to grab your lunch before you guys leave. And take Max the breakfast I made for her!"

Piper placed a kiss on Caleb's forehead before she went across the hall to check on Aaren. But once she saw that he was engaged in what seemed like a serious conversation with Johnny she opted to tell him goodbye as he walked out.

"There has to be a reason for his behavior, right? I mean Max is terrified of him, Caleb and I can both feel it." Aaren vented to his father. There was something about Billy that was just so off-putting to Aaren, even Caleb couldn't make sense of the boy's emotions. Even the house that the Mayfield-Hargrove family lived in radiated malice, it was intimidating. It was also one of the main reasons why the Wang family tried to Max out of the house as often as they could.

"There's a reason for everything, Hua. Now based on everything you've shared with me, it doesn't seem like Billy is the type to talk about his feelings. It also seems like no one has taught him how to work through his emotions either." Johnny started taking a deep breath in, taking the time to work through his anger. It was almost obvious to him that Billy was probably living with an abusive parent, all of the signs were there.

"So until we know more, I think you should be an example for him. Show Billy what it's like to have someone listen to you and care about you unconditionally. Be his friend, don't give up on him." Aaren nodded at Johnny's words. Not fully satisfied with the conversation, as much as he wanted an immediate fix he knew that there wasn't one. There was nothing that he could do that would help both Max and Billy immediately.

Johnny laughed lightly at Aaren's dissatisfied look, he reached his fist out for a fist bump and smiled when Aaren completed the action. "Fortune favors the persistent, Hua."

King Of My Heart ➵ Stranger ThingsWhere stories live. Discover now