CHAPTER ONE-HUNDRED
GRAVEYARDS

To say the car ride to the graveyard was awkward would be an understatement.

With several arguments lingering, and four teenagers squished into the back seat of Steve's car, it was fair to say it was tense between the group.

The eldest boy of the group, Steve, had been completely against driving the five teenagers to the cemetery so Max could do whatever it was she felt she had to, insisting that it was a bad idea and that Max was safest in the Wheeler household.

Whether Max disagreed or no, Aaron wasn't sure. What he did know, was that when Max was set on something, it was best not to argue with the redhead.

Steve soon learned this too. Eventually caving and reluctantly driving the five teenagers to where Max had insisted she was needed after a fiery argument broke out between the two that Steve quickly realised he would lose.

The redhead had been extremely worked up over the entire situation, and it had taken Kimmy a good five minutes to calm the girl down enough to actually get into the car.

After actually doing so and squishing into Steve's car alongside Lucas, Max did not speak one word the entire drive to the graveyard.

In fact, no one besides Dustin and Steve spoke at all. No one in the backseat had uttered a single word for the past forty minutes.

Max was sat with her head leaning against the window, looking out of it with a distant look on her face. And Lucas had been sneaking glances at the redhead the entire drive, despite doing his best to hide it.

Kimmy, who had walked around the car to get into the opposite door that Max had - assuming the redhead wouldn't want to be bothered and would rather the small amount of privacy that the not so roomy backseat of the car could offer - was low down in her seat next to the blond.

Kimmy hadn't looked out the window as her best friend had, rather she'd opted her gaze onto the roof of the car with her head resting against the back of her seat.

Aaron noticed that she had her hands clasped together and she bit the inside of her cheeks anxiously, clearly deep in thought.

Every so often, the brunette would squeeze her dark blue eyes closed. Aaron knew why, or, rather he assumed he knew why.

She'd squeeze her eyes closed whenever a shooting pain would rush through her head. It was a subtle movement, like she was trying to minimise it as much as possible, but Aaron had noticed.

In fact it was a little difficult for him not to, he'd basically spent the entire journey shamelessly watching her, studying her every move as if it were the most fascinating thing in the world.

Well, he'd rotated between watching the brunette and anxiously checking his digital watch which sat comfortably on his wrist.

Stupidly, the blond hoped that there was a chance that Kimmy was maybe being the slightest bit dramatic about her headache, although he knew this to be false deep down.

He supposed he just wanted to be able to brush off the entire situation and act like her theories were completely irrational.

Aaron didn't actually know if Kimmy had told Max about it all, he assumed she hadn't. He could tell she was worried about looking like she was trying to take the worry or concern off of Max.

Aaron thought this was an outrageous take on the situation, but it was clear Kimmy had over thought it all so much that there was no talking any sense into her.

The blond knew better than anyone that while stressed and having already over thought a situation so much that your mind was made up, it really only made it worse by trying to force some sense onto a person. It only made their emotions heighten.

At least that's how it worked with him.

There was absolutely no talking to the boy when he was in a moment of stress and panic, no one could get through to him.

He also had to remind himself that the situation was a little different.

Aaron was used to freaking out over little things that didn't really matter. Sure, they mattered to him, but having the need to keep everything neat and tidy all the time wasn't exactly the same as Kimmy's current dilemma.

Aaron was sure that since the two weren't actually sure if Kimmy was following in Max's footsteps, that the heavy linger was almost worse. If they knew for a fact what would happen to her, then they could perhaps prevent it?

But then again, it was more or less a fact that it would happen to Max, and no one could exactly protect her. Aaron didn't know why he thought it would be different with Kimmy.

He cared about the brunette - a lot evidently. In fact, he probably cared about her and her wellbeing more than anyone else on the planet, himself included.

Because of this, Aaron's mind would go into full blown meltdown whenever the girl was faced with any sort of stress or worry.

Unfortunately for Aaron, the current situation at hand meant he had been spiralling for longer than he was used to on one specific topic.

Actually, Aaron had been watching the girl make the same far off expression at the roof of the car with his own glum look, that he hadn't even noticed when the car came to a stop.

And even when Kimmy dropped her eyes and Max left hastily with Lucas scrambling out of the car behind her, the blond never once allowed his heavy gaze on the brunette to falter.

It was weird, he'd get a twisted feeling when he'd look at her. He always had.

And although he was aware of the almost sickly feeling, the blond would just brush it off. He was aware of it, yes. But it wasn't new.

Anytime he'd look at her a second too long, or he'd catch himself thinking about her when she wasn't near, he'd get a feeling he wasn't quite sure how to explain. One beyond flustered.

He couldn't know, but he guessed that it only got stronger after the two began dating. From what he had noticed anyway.

Maybe it was because he'd grown more and more attracted to her since their first meet and the feeling had gradually grew.

Maybe it was because after so long he finally knew that she actually liked him back.

Or maybe it was just something he couldn't explain or fully comprehend himself.

Whatever it was, it was out of his area of expertise. This wasn't some math test he could study for, or some stain spilt food he could clean profusely until he was calm. She wasn't even some topic he could overthink and over analyse until he came to some sort of conclusion.

Not technically anyway. Yes, he overthought everything about the girl. The issue was that he could never come to a proper answer as to what or why he was feeling in regard to the brunette.

Everything about Kimmy puzzled him to a certain extent. However the main thing he found himself utterly perplexed about how she thought about herself.

Her confidence was evidently low, and Aaron had no idea why. She wasn't ugly, not at all. And she wasn't boring. She was smart, and she was interesting. Despite what she might think.

A sudden harsh thought crashed through his head, causing his face to drop ever so slightly.

Aaron wondered if maybe he didn't show her his feelings for her enough. Maybe her confidence would be a little higher if he showed her a little more how he truly felt towards her.

Just before Aaron could really spiral on the topic, Kimmy spoke up and broke him from his trance.

"What are you doing?" Kimmy asked in a quiet voice, tilting her head as she looked to him in confusion.

The blond was trying to catch up with what she was saying, but his effects of his daydream had left him struggling.

"What?" He spluttered out rather pathetically.

Kimmy raised her brows at him, the slightest of grins pulling at her lips as she repeated her words obnoxiously slowly. "What are you doing?"

Aaron blinked while looking to her blankly, unable to shake his mind of the problem he'd created in his own head. Unable to shake the idea that he didn't show her how much he cared about her.

"Can you at least move over?" Kimmy asked, giving him a pointed look when he did nothing but send her an awkward glance at her question.

The blond blinked slowly, furrowing his brows as he shook his head slightly in confusion. "What?" He repeated once more, only sounding slightly more collected than before.

"Can you move over? They've both left." Kimmy spoke calmly, pointing to the opposite side of the backseat where Lucas and Max had once sat.

Aaron hummed in response, nodding as he moved over to the opposite side of the car that Kimmy sat at. Instantly glad at the fact he wasn't squished between two people anymore.

"Are you okay?" The brunette asked without missing a beat, not even allowing the blond a second with his thoughts.

"I'm fine." The blond answered in a quiet voice, aware of Dustin and Steve who were arguing loudly in the front seats.

Kimmy looked like she wanted to question it, but then thought better of herself. Instead she sent him an almost saddened look and dropped the subject before she'd even really brought it up.

Aaron looked to her for a moment longer before glancing out the window of the parked car. The blond could feel his dark brows rise before a second thought upon realising they parked in a trailer park, not the graveyard.

Clearly he had been paying even less attention than he'd thought.

Before he could even question it all, the sight of a rather frazzled looking Lucas walking rather briskly back to the car came into his view.

Without another word Aaron moved back into the middle of the backseat of the car.

The slam of the car door heard behind the boy getting into the car cut Steve and Dustin's argument to an abrupt halt.

A few long moments passed and no one said a word.

In fact, no one spoke until a rather shaken looking Max rushed into the car once more, and even then, nothing but silence followed.

The car engine started, and Aaron reverted back to watching his brunette sat to the right. Allowing his mind to wander once more.

...

"Do you think she's okay?" Kimmy asked worriedly to no one in particular, biting her nails anxiously.

The brunette was stood against Steve's car, leaning her back against the door while one of her feet was up and pressed against the car - much to Steve's horror.

Kimmy was incredibly worried about Max, and was unable to hide it.

But then again Kimmy was always worried about Max. She'd stressed out over the girl for months after Billy died, Kimmy had checked on the redhead whenever given the opportunity - whenever Max had been talking to her over the past few months.

Whenever Max would be in need of a little concern or support, Kimmy seemed to send an ocean of worry her friend's way.

Clearly, this was no exception.

Aaron was now also out of the car, as were Lucas and Dustin. The five teenagers had been waiting for the redhead for near an hour by that point, and they were all growing tired of waiting.

Aaron understood that she was saying goodbye to Billy, but Max had insisted that no one was to come with her and Aaron along with his friends were worried that something had happened to her.

Aaron was leaning against Steve's car, his arms crossed and leaning against the roof of the car as he looked down at his sneakers, twisting his foot in the rubble on the road.

No one answered Kimmy's question, and Aaron presumed it was because no one had an answer to give her. Not a satisfactory one anyway.

Despite trying to remain calm in hope to keep both Lucas and Kimmy calm, Aaron was beginning to panic.

Max really shouldn't have been left alone for more than five minutes, never mind almost an hour. And the fact that Max had told the group she would be back in five minutes at most was stressing Aaron out.

Clearly he wasn't the only one.

Kimmy was stood biting her nails with a beyond stressed look on her face, Lucas was pacing back and forth, Dustin was biting the inside of his cheek nervously and Steve was checking his watch every thirty seconds.

"Alright, that's long enough." Steve snapped with a tired sigh, getting out his car abruptly and slamming the car door behind him.

Without a second thought, Aaron went to rush after his brother as he was also concerned about the redhead.

"No, Steve- just give her time!" Lucas yelled at the older boy, his tone sounding desperate.

"No, I've had it. I've given her time." The older boy snapped, his steps coming to a halt as he grew evidently frustrated.

Aaron could not hide the surprise on his face at the older boys tone. The blond hadn't heard the boy talk that way in months, and even then he couldn't ever recall his brother seeming so agitated at anyone besides himself.

"I'm calling it, this is bullshit." Steve continued, turning around and walking into the graveyard in hopes to find the redhead. "She wants to call a lawyer, then she can."

Aaron rushed after Steve, he too wanting to see if the girl was okay or not, concerned with how long she'd been away.

Not even a second had passed, and she could hear Kimmy rushing after him. The brunette hadn't even looked over at Aaron and he could tell she was worried out of her mind.

In fact, Kimmy ended up reaching the missing girl before either of the Harrington brothers.

"Max?" Kimmy asked in as calm of a voice as she could muster, climbing the small hill to reach her friend who remained sat in front of a grave unmoving.

The girl didn't answer, and it was clear Kimmy was quickly growing worried to a point she could hardly function.

"Max?" Kimmy tried again, her voice shaking the slightest bit as she allowed her worries and panic to consume her.

Aaron watched Kimmy crouch down in front of her friend, a look of horror quickly washing over her features as she froze.

Even from the distance, Aaron could tell something was wrong.

"What's the matter?" Aaron asked Kimmy from the bottom of the hill, doing his best to keep his panic at bay as to not worry the brunette anymore than she clearly already was.

Kimmy didn't reply, and Aaron wasn't sure if she hadn't heard him, or if she was just in such shock that she couldn't find it in herself to answer.

Whatever it was, it had Steve rushing over to where the two girls sat.

"Max?" Steve stressed, crouching next to Kimmy to shake the redheads shoulder. "Max!"

Something about the tone of Steve's voice had Aaron rushing over, a sudden drop in his chest warning him that he now had the right to be full blown concerned.

The second the blond reached his brother and his girlfriend, Aaron's eyes grew twice in size, his chest dropping in concern.

Max was sat looking like a corpse, literally, Aaron didn't know how else to describe it. Her eyes looked iced over, a grey color almost. Actually, the closer he looked, the more sure he became that she wasn't breathing at all. Or if she was, it was very shallowly.

Only then did Aaron realise that there was a very strong possibility that Max would die that very day, and that maybe he was witnessing it.

Aaron felt a shiver run down him, instantly hating the way his breathing picked up at the state his friend was in.

She really did look dead.

"Shit."  Aaron sighed, placing a hand to his mouth at the sight.

"Get Lucas!" Kimmy yelled out in panic, and it took Aaron a moment to click on that she was actually talking to him. "Aaron, go get Lucas!"

The blond scrambled to his feet, rushing down to where his other two friends sat rather impatiently while doing his best not to trip over his own feet.

"L- Lucas. Lucas!" Aaron yelled out as he approached the two boys, breathing heavily while rushing over and grabbing ahold of Lucas and frantically dragging him behind himself.

"What- Aaron, what are you doing?" Lucas exclaimed sounding more confused than angry.

Lucas' voice was a blur in Aaron's ears, the only thing the blond could focus on was getting his best friend to Max.

"Aaron-" the sound of Kimmy and Steve's yells cut off the Sinclair boy. A look of worry carving into both Dustin and Lucas' features that matched the expression of Aaron.

"Max, can you hear me?" Kimmy stressed, her voice shaking as if she were on the verge of tears. "Max!"

At the sight of the redhead Lucas pushed past both Aaron and Dustin, rushing over to the trio on the dirty grass.

"Dustin, call Nancy and Robin!" Steve yelled out in panic, scrambling to the younger boy and clutching ahold of him. "Call Nancy and Robin! Go!"

Dustin was rushing away before Steve could even finish talking, tripping over his feet and falling over several times as he hurriedly made his way back to Steve's car to get his walkie.

Aaron didn't know what to do, he didn't know what to say. He went into shock almost and his mind went blank.

Hesitantly, he crouched down next to Kimmy, unable to move his gaze away from his half dead looking friend.

Aaron was known for freaking out when put in a stressful situation, but whenever it was something serious, his brain shut off on him. No matter how severe the situation.

It was the same when Kimmy had her accident. His mind went into full-blown meltdown that night, and it had taken at least two days for him to circle back to a state where he was at least somewhat back to being himself.

In fact, Aaron still thought about that night a lot. And by a lot that meant almost every night after the incident.

Kimmy had been so battered, bloody and bruised that Aaron thought she was dead. The blond didn't think he'd ever forget the feeling of dread and heartbreak that consumed him that day, even if he'd do whatever he could to push reminders of that night out of his head.

It seemed that was what was happening now that Max looked dead. Perhaps not as extreme of a feeling, and a feeling of heartbreak switching out for panic, but the feeling of horror washed through him all the same as he watched his redheaded friend.

The faint yells of Dustin slowly dragged Aaron from his taunting thoughts, the boy slowly coming to his senses.

"Guys!" Dustin screamed, rushing over frantically, ignoring the yells of Lucas, Kimmy and Steve. "Guys!"

Dustin dropped down next to Aaron, throwing Max's cassette tapes onto the grass along side her walkman.

Aaron furrowed his brows, looking to his friend with a puzzled and almost annoyed glance. Wondering what the hell the boy was doing when they clearly needed to get help for their friend.

"What's this?" Steve snapped with an expression that just about mirrored how Aaron felt perfectly.

"What's her favourite song?" Dustin asked without missing as much of a beat, focusing his attention primarily onto Lucas and Kimmy.

"What?" Kimmy breathed out, understandably looking a little agitated and overwhelmed with the situation at hand.

Dustin shook his head, a wild look on his face due to frustration that no one was answering his question. "What's her favourite song?"

"Why?" Lucas questioned in a rough tone.

"Robin said if she listens- it's too much to explain right now." Dustin spluttered out, waving his hands frantically. "What's her favourite song?"

There was a pause, only a brief one. Maybe five seconds total.

After those five seconds, panic seemed to strike the five teenagers again. Each of them rummaging through the small pile at a rapid pace.

"Which one?" Aaron spluttered out in a quiet and fragile voice. Shaking his head after no one answered, the blond asked the question again, this time allowing his panic to seep through the cracks. "Which one is her favourite? Come on, someone must know-"

"I've got it!" Kimmy yelled, throwing it over to Dustin with shaking hands. "It's here, I've got it."

The boy with curly hair nodded several times while looking over the tape Kimmy had thrown him.

Dustin's brain appeared to be failing him just as Aaron's was. Like he couldn't form any thoughts, or bring himself to move or actually do anything.

"Give that to me." Lucas snapped out of panic, reaching over and grabbing the tape from Dustin and placing it into Max's Walkman with shaky hands.

In a matter of what had felt like seconds, Lucas had the headphones over the girls ears, the muffled music blaring through with how loud it had been set to.

Aaron recognised the song, but he couldn't think from where. Aaron would have liked to think that he would have known if his mind hadn't shut down on him.

Now, all the group had to do was wait. Wait and see if Robin's theory was correct. Wait and see if Max woke up before it was too late.

The issue was, nothing was happening.

Max was still sat in front of the group at her brother's grave with her eyes rolled to the back of her head, looking dead - or half way there anyway.

"Come on, Max." Kimmy muttered quietly, more to herself than anyone else.

Minutes had passed, and still nothing was happening. And Aaron was beginning to lose patience with it all.

"It's not working." The blond mumbled, his voice practically failing him before he attempted to clear his throat and talk in a louder, rougher tone. "Why isn't she waking up? Dustin why isn't it working?"

"I don't know!" The curly haired boy snapped, his eyes wide with concern. "I don't-"

Dustin was cut off when the redhead shifted, drawing the attention of both Dustin and the blond boy he was talking to.

Aaron jumped to his feet at the sight, stumbling back numerous paces all while losing grips on whatever motions of calmness he had left in him.

Before he completely lost his cool, the blond reached down and grabbed the brunette who had yet to move off of the grass, pulling her to stand next to him as they watched Max in horror.

Max was floating. Literally floating in the air as she slowly rose higher and higher - just like Eddie  said Chrissy had.

Aaron didn't have time to fully register that fact in that particular moment, all he could do was rather quickly freak out as he along side all his friends watched helplessly.

"Max- what the shit?" Aaron spluttered out in a stressed yell of panic. "Fuck-"

"Max!" Lucas yelled out desperately, cupping his hands together in attempt to be louder, as if she could actually hear any of them. "Max!"

By that point, all five of the teenagers were yelling for the redhead. Too blind by panic to fathom the fact that she was trapped too deep in whatever trance she was stuck in to hear them.

Aaron could feel the way Kimmy trembled next to him at the sight and how her voice gradually became more and more fractured and broken with each yell.

There were silent tears running down her cheeks, but the blond hadn't glanced her way so he hadn't fully noticed, Kimmy hadn't noticed either.

It felt like Max had been hovering above the group for hours, when in fact it had most likely been a couple minutes at most.

But when each of the teenagers were waiting for the impending suspense of doom to hit them, it never came. And the suspense of it all was tormenting the five watching Max to a new extreme.

Just when Aaron feared for the worst, the girl suddenly dropped to the ground. So abruptly that Aaron flinched in surprise.

Lucas seemed to be the person to get his act together the quickest out of the group, rushing forward and pulling the girl into his hold.

Max was breathing heavily, to the point she was practically panting for breath. Her eyes were squeezed shut, yet she clutched onto Lucas as if her life depended on it. Burying her head in his shoulder as she began sobbing.

Aaron could never recall seeing Max so vulnerable before. The redhead liked to keep a tough exterior, that was why she'd pushed all her friends away over the past year, she didn't like to be caught in a moment of weakness.

Even the summer prior when her brother had died, she'd done her best to keep her composure as much as she possibly could when around her friends.

Even when El and Will had moved away, she hadn't shown how she'd truly felt over the matters.

While the redhead was clearly torn up over these matters, she'd always try to down play her feelings whenever they'd tie into sadness or tears.

Aaron didn't know why she did this, but he supposed it was something he would never understand.

And that was okay.

The blond couldn't expect Max to spill all her feelings or reasons for past events with him, and that was fine. Aaron understood that perfectly.

He just found himself concerned in fear something had happened to her in childhood to make her react the way she did. Like her instinct was always to shut off and show hide any signs of weakness with others.

Perhaps Aaron was looking too much into it all, Max may just be cold. Insecure maybe. It would make sense, he knew she was a lot closer with Kimmy than she was with him and that she was a lot more vulnerable with the brunette.

Maybe that was all it was.

However Aaron could never be too careful anymore. After what had happened to Kimmy, he was almost overly concerned about those around him.

Either way, he know knew two things. One: he did not like the sight of Max looking so fractured while breaking down and sobbing in front of her friends.

And two: whatever Max had endured over the course of the last few minutes, it was not something he looked forward to exposing again.

...

Guys I'm so sorry I haven't updated in two months!!!!! I'm so sorry! I didn't even notice, to put a very long story short, life is literally kicking my ass right now so I don't have a lot of free time to write, and when I do it's never for long.

THAT DOES NOT MEAN IM NOT WRITING WHEN I GET THE CHANCE!!! I'm trying really hard to get chapters out quick again but it's been really difficult this past while to do so. That being said i am still writing basically everyday, i just don't have the time to write lots at once anymore.

I'm still very much invested in Kimmy and Aaron's story and I'm so sorry about anyone who's interested having to wait for chapters :(

But just so you're all aware that I am writing as much as I can and I am still trying my best to get as regular of chapters out as possible!!

Also it won't be like this for too much longer, just until things have calmed down a bit and things are a little more manageable in my life lol.

Thank you so much to everyone who reads, votes and comments, I appreciate it so much and can't believe how much this story has grown.

Hopefully the next chapter won't be too long until it's written and posted!!!

TYSM for all the support!!

AJ :)