After her close-call with Vecna, Talia had offered Max a ride back to Nancy's—where the other teens would meet them. The girl was still obviously shaken, and Talia had figured it would be best for her to escape the prying questions of Dustin and Lucas, at least for the short amount of time it took to reach the Wheeler residence.

The car ride was silent, until Max slowly pulled an envelope from her jacket and placed it on the dashboard between her and Talia. The older teens eyes flickered to it as she drove.

"What's that?" Talia asked softly, already having an idea about its contents.

"It's for you, just incase," Max voice came out like a whisper. Without looking, Talia reached over and shoved the letter back towards Max.

"You can tell me what it says after, alright? Because you, Maxine Mayfield, are not about to die because of this stupid fucking wizard."

"But—"

"No," she cut Max off, "I refuse it. You are not dying, Max."

Huffing, Max snatched the letter from the dashboard and opened the glovebox, placing it inside before closing it again. She turned to Talia, defeated, and said, "I know that my odds aren't looking great right now, Talia. So, please, if something happens to me, read it."

Talia glanced at Max, eyes softening, "I promise. If something happens, I'll read it. But, I also promise that I'm going to do everything I can to save you...I already lost Billy and Chrissy to this thing, I refuse to lose you too. I know we never spoke much when Billy was still...here—not as much as I wanted to, at least—but you honestly are the little sister I never got."

She missed the tears pooling in Max's eyes as she turned her attention back to the road, flipping on her blinker as she prepared to turn into the neighborhood. "I used to beg Billy to let me hangout with you," Max admitted, "He almost always said no, of course, but I was always so happy when he did say yes. He...he wasn't anything like what I expected a big brother to be, but you were everything I ever could have wanted from an older sister," Max let out a sad laugh, "I used to have this dream that you guys would get married after high school and you'd move away...and take me with you, and we'd be like...a real family."

Talia threw her car into park after rolling to a stop in front of the Wheelers house, turning to look at Max with a sad smile on her lips.

"I would have loved that," Talia said, reaching over and grabbing Max's hand, "we would have. Billy...was an asshole, but he really was sorry for how he treated you. He wanted to leave so bad, but he didn't want to leave you there alone. That's why he got that shitty summer job," Talia laughed, "he wanted to save up, get a place of our own once I graduated, with room for you, too."

"He...he did?" Max asked in disbelief. She had noticed a shift in Billy's behavior towards her once he and Talia started dating, but she always had assumed it was mostly due to that day at the Byers'.

"Yeah," Talia muttered, squeezing Max's hand comfortingly before letting go, "we should head inside."

The others had already entered the house, Nancy waiting at the door for the remaining two. Max nodded her head, both moving to unbuckle themselves. Talia was just about to throw her door open when Max's abrupt words stopped her.

"He would want you to be happy," Max rushed out before she could stop herself, "Billy would want you to be happy...and Eddie makes you happy, Lia. He'd want you to be with him, fully be with him—not just whatever thing you guys have going on. You love him, Talia. We all can see it."

"I...I can't, not right now. I love Billy still, it wouldn't be fair to him."

"Anyone who would expect for you to not love Billy anymore isn't worth your time, Talia. You guys didn't get into a fight and break up, he died. You're allowed to still love him, but you're also allowed to love other people too."

Talia slumped back in her seat, a tired expression on her face as she stared out her windshield, silently contemplating Max's words.

"I...we should go in," Talia muttered, opening her door and slipping out before Max could say anything else.

——————

After debriefing with the group about the events of the day, Talia had found herself upstairs with Nancy in her bedroom. The cousins were gathering every spare blanket and pillow they could find, hoping to make the groups sleeping arrangements a bit more comfortable.

"You know, if you want to go see him, I'll cover for you," Nancy said innocently as she came back into the room, a few of Mike's blankets in her hands, "My parents are asleep already, anyways."

Talia paused slightly, hands faltering as she folded a blanket. "I don't know...my mom will freak if she finds out I wasn't here."

"My mom loves you," Nancy said, brushing off her cousin's worry, "even if you got back after they woke up, she wouldn't tell."

She finished folding the blanket, adding it to the small pile next to her, then turned to face her cousin. "Are...are you sure? After everything that happened today..."

"Go. We're all fine, and Max has all of us watching her, plus we know his weakness now—he can't get to her when she has her song playing."

"I don't know," Talia said, feeling conflicted about leaving Max right now, but knowing that Eddie was all alone—Max wasn't, "I want to stay for Max, but..."

"But, Eddie's by himself and she isn't?" Nancy finished for her, knowing Talia was beating herself up over wanting to go to him, "Max was the one who told me to tell you to go—don't let her know I told you, though. I know if you were home instead of here with us that you wouldn't have even second guessed going to him."

"That's not true," Talia protested, biting her bottom lip to hide her smile. Nancy was right.

"Don't even try lying to me right now, Lia," Nancy laughed, placing her pile of blankets down with Talia's, "Don't act like I can't see those hickeys either, they weren't all there the other day."

Talia felt her face turn pink, laughter bubbling out, "Are they really that noticeable?" She rushed over to Nancy's mirror, taking in the marks Eddie had left on her skin.

"Kinda," Nancy moved to stand behind her, amusement clear on her face. Sighing, Talia turned to face her cousin.

"I ate breakfast like this, Nance," Talia admitted, trying not to laugh.

"And met with Jason and his goons," Nancy said, not bothering to hide her laughter. Talia groaned.

"I never should of went, he's like full blown crazy."

"They tried to tell you," her cousin replied, moving back to their pile on the bed. She picked it up, "Go see him, I'll let the others know where you went—and next time, we're so talking about how that whole situation came to be!"

"Fine," Talia caved, pausing slightly by the door as something on Nancy's shelf caught her eye. She walked over and picked it up, turning to her cousin, "You mind if I borrow this?"

——————

It was just getting dark when Talia arrived at Reefer Rick's. The girl had clutched her borrowed item to her chest and quietly made her way to the boathouse, knocking slightly before entering.

Eddie, who had been rolling a joint at the small table, barely flinched at her arrival, only greeting the girl with a small grin as he continued his task. He had seen her approach through the window.

"Hey," Talia muttered, sliding into the seat across from him and placing the item in her hand down on the table.

"What's that?" He asked, licking the edge of the rolling paper and closing the joint.

She pushed it forward slightly, a timid smile on her face, "I remembered you said that you never finished reading them, Nancy had copies in her room. Figured it would help pass time?"

Finally placing the joint down and turning his full attention to the girl sat in front of him, he cast his gaze down at what she had placed on the small table. It was a book, The Return of the King.

"You remembered that?" Eddie asked quietly, grabbing the third Lord of the Rings book.

"Yeah...it seemed important to you," Talia admitted, eyes intently focused on him. She felt a need of reassurance.

"Thank you," Eddie muttered, smiling to himself as he carefully placed the book down next to him. He grabbed the joint, lifting it higher into her field of view.

She grinned, "Light her up, freak."

He grinned back at her, rummaging through his stash-box and retrieving a hot pink lighter. "Ladies first," he said, passing them both to Talia.

She wasted no time, bringing the joint to her lips and flicking the lighter on.

"Anything new?" Eddie asked, taking the joint when she passed it to him. Talia shrugged slightly. The selfish part of her didn't want to tell him all that had gone on—the part of her that wanted desperately to protect him.

Grabbing the joint and taking a long hit, she exhaled slowly before speaking, "We think...know that Max is the next victim. Nancy and Robin found a way to save her though, at least for now."

"Oh," Eddie muttered. The joint silently passed between them. An ever so slight dazed look took over his eyes, "Did...did she you know?" Talia could tell he was being overwhelmed with flashes of Chrissy's death.

Talia slowly nodded her head, eyes falling to the table in front of her. "She was lucky. We figured it out almost too late—I thought we lost her," Talia admitted.

The two teens remained silent as they finished off the joint, Eddie wordlessly rolling another. They smoked that one in silence, too.

Eddie slowly stood, grabbing the book Talia had brought and gesturing to the boat, "Wanna read it?"

Talia grinned lazily, "You can read it, and I'll listen?"

"Alright."

Eddie pulled his jackets off, throwing them over the side of the boat before climbing in. Talia let him settle in his spot before following after him. She laid back in the space between his legs, her back to his chest. Eddie's arms enveloped her, his hands holding the heavy book a few inches above her stomach.

She was quiet as he read, the slow rise and fall of her chest soothing her. Talia could feel herself fighting sleep, too enthralled by the sound of Eddie's voice to want to rest.

Noticing the girls breathing slow, Eddie dropped the book to the side and curled his arms around Talia. She sighed softly and adjusted herself in his grip.

"Goodnight, T," Eddie muttered, feeling sleep overtake him too, "I love you."

It was quiet for a long time—long enough that Eddie was sure Talia had fallen asleep.

"I love you, too."