CHAPTER EIGHTY-SEVEN
SOLUTIONS

Aaron was a nervous wreck at school later that day. Since he had stepped foot in the building that morning, he had not stopped worrying about what would happen when he would return home.

Although, unlike usual it was not himself he was fearful for. It was for the brunette sat next to him.

Sure, even when he had been fearful of the trouble his parents would give him in years prior, it was never that he was scared he'd be hit to the point of passing out or anything.

Yeah, the boy had been hit by his parents a few times in his life, but Aaron could only assume that was normal. All his friends had been hit before with good reason, if you did something bad enough you got a single slap maybe.

It was just how it was. You do something bad, and you face the punishment.

And by hit he meant a slap to the face at worst, clearly this wasn't the best feeling in the world, but Aaron was rarely hit. His parents didn't hit unless they were really angry at him, and even then it was nothing more than a slap - like he said.

Aaron naturally assumed it was the same with everyone. It wasn't until he saw what had happened to Kimmy that he'd realised how wrong he'd been.

Obviously he knew that some kids did get abused, but it was almost like it would never happen in Hawkins. That the thought of someone he knew getting abused was just absurd to think about. 

But that was just it, because it was so normal and expected of parents to give their kids a slap or two when they felt it was deserved, no one would take what had happened to the girl seriously. Aaron knew they wouldn't.

The two adults wouldn't face punishment for what they'd done to her, because no one who could actually do something about it cared enough.

Aaron understood why Kimmy didn't want people to know what had happened to her. She was embarrassed, and Aaron would have been lying if he said he wouldn't have felt the same if it happened to him.

If Kimmy ever went back to her house the cycle would continue, only she'd most likely end up dead due to the abuse. Last time she'd been pushed to the point of trying to kill herself just to try get out of her house and away from her parents.

Aaron would be stupid to let that happen to her again.

But what if his parents really wouldn't let Kimmy stay anymore? The blond didn't know what he would do.

There was no way he'd let her go back to her own house, but what if the likely possibility did become reality and she wouldn't be able to stay? The thought had been bothering him all day.

He knew that his parents would be back yelling at him the second he walked in the door, but he didn't really care all that much. Well, it wasn't that he didn't care, it was just that he had a bigger issue to care about.

Usually if his parents had spoken to him the way they did that morning he would have been distraught, but the second they told him he couldn't have Kimmy over anymore all he could feel was panicked for the girl.

"Listen, I don't mean to be rude, but I think it's best you maybe... I don't know... do something after school instead of coming home with me." Aaron told Kimmy anxiously the second he was given the chance at lunch, the boy messing around with the watch on his wrist as he struggled to focus on what to say. "Just for an hour maybe. Because I'll have to talk to my parents about this morning and it will probably be awkward and stuff, so-"

"Yeah, that's fine." Kimmy told him as nonchalantly as she could while shrugging her shoulders.

Kimmy smiled at him halfheartedly before turning away from him and adverting her attention onto her lunch in front of her.

Aaron however, could not look away from the girl next to him. Anxiously biting the inside of his cheek as he watched her try hide her nerves over the fact his parents weren't pleased with neither the two of them.

He knew she'd heard the conversation he'd had earlier. And the brunette had been anything but calm since, despite how much she tried to hide it, Aaron could clearly tell she was worried about what she was going to do if she couldn't stay anymore.

"It'll be fine." The blond blurted in a confident voice, although his tone didn't match the wary look on his face. "They can't make you go back home, Kimmy."

The girl raised her brows and looked to him with a taken aback expression before speaking up in an almost knowing tone. "It's their house, Aaron. They can do what they want. Its not like I have any right to stay with you-"

"I'm going to have to talk to them after school anyway." Aaron cut her off abruptly, trying to convince her that everything would turn out alright. "I know them, you won't have to go home."

Aaron did know his parents, and he also knew that if they had anything to do with it, they would not let Aaron have the girl over any longer.

But Kimmy didn't have to know that, he didn't want to add any more stress to her.

At least if she wasn't there when he spoke to the two then she wouldn't feel uncomfortable, or hear how the two adults actually didn't want her in the house any longer.

Kimmy went to say something else, however she stopped herself when a third person sat down at the lunch table the young couple were already sat at.

Aaron furrowed his brows in confusion at the sight of  Kimmy's best friend sat across from her, the boy unable to hide his surprise.

The blond boy didn't see much of Max at all. And all he really heard about her was from Kimmy, and even then Kimmy didn't see a whole lot of her either.

Clearly, the brunette was doing a better job at hiding her surprise at Max's abrupt presence than Aaron was.

"What's your problem?" Max scoffed at him as she ate her lunch, looking to the boy with a scrunched up look of disapproval.

"Uh- nothing." The blond scoffed back at her in an offended tone. "You're the one that sat with us-"

"I'm not sat with you, I'm sitting with Kimmy." Max corrected, dropping her burger against her lunch tray and clasped her hands together. "I'm sitting with my friend."

"Yeah, and you're also sitting with me - your other friend." Aaron reminded the redhead with an eye roll.

Max simply raised her brows and hummed as if to say they weren't really that close. Aaron narrowed his eyes at her and sarcastically smiled, knowing well that she spoke to him much more than she spoke to the others. Even if it was just because Max was such good friends with Kimmy.

"Hey, Kimmy," Max suddenly adverted her attention to the brunette who was quietly eating her sandwich that Aaron had made her in peace. "Wanna trade?"

Aaron furrowed his brows in confusion as he watched Max offer Kimmy her burger in exchange for her sandwich.

The brunette seemed taken aback for a moment before shrugging and switching for the burger. Leaving Aaron completely appalled as he watched the interaction.

Abruptly the boy practically smacked the burger out of Kimmy's hand, his mouth open in horror as he looked at her. "Do not eat this, Kimmy. Do you know how much infections you could catch? I don't want you getting sick from the repulsing food served here-"

"Oh, my god, Aaron." Max scoffed at him, her mouth full from bites of Kimmy's sandwich. "Calm down, she won't get any infections from a burger-"

"I can literally see that it's uncooked, number one." The blond instantly began listing all the problems with the said burger. "Number two, you've literally taken two bites out of it. God only knows what diseases you could be carrying. Number three, the hygiene standards in this place are so horrific that it blows my mind that the school hasn't been shut down or something due to infection control-"

"Jesus, talk about dramatic." The redhead rolled her eyes as she laughed, taking another bite of Kimmy's sandwich.

"Max, leave it." Kimmy shook her head at her, trying to stop the conversation before the teasing upset one of the two of them.

"I'm not being dramatic. For your information it's a legitimate concern that I have." Aaron told Max with a tilted head, disregarding what Kimmy had said. "So excuse me, if I don't want to die at fifteen from eating the school food-"

"Do you want to hang out after school today, Max?" Kimmy asked the girl with a tight smile, clearly trying to move the conversation along.

The redhead seemed to hesitate, furrowing her brows for a moment before answering in a reluctant voice. "Uh... I guess- sure."

Kimmy smiled in response, clearly relieved that she'd have someone to hangout with while Aaron spoke awkwardly to his parents.

...

Aaron was practically begging his parents to let the brunette stay over that night.

And they were having none of it.

The boy was extremely stressed. No way was he going to let the girl stay anywhere but his house, if his parents would allow her to stay then it would be easier. Although even if they didn't allow it, he would just have to find a way to keep her safe and away from her house.  

The two adults were only in town for one more day, so it wasn't that big of a deal, but he still had to figure out what he was going to do for that one night.

His parents were at the dinner table, trying to eat their meal without the bother of their youngest child who was stood near the doorway of the room.

"Please- please, just for tonight." The blond tried desperately to get his parents permission and approval for the girl to stay. "It's- I already told her she could stay over-"

"Then you tell her that offer is now revoked, Aaron." His father muttered without as much as looking at him. "You're fifteen, you have no business having girls spend the night."

"I've already told you that I don't have girls spend the night. I have a girl spend the night, and now, you won't let me." Aaron spoke with an almost pitiful way about himself.

The blond did his best to get his point across by pretending it was no big deal, knowing Kimmy wouldn't want him telling the two why she was really staying over.

Aaron doubted his parents would take it seriously anyway.

"You're damn right we won't let you." The man snapped, shaking his head while still not looking to the boy.

"Why not?" Aaron asked, the boy now beginning to panic. "You let Steve have girls over when he was fourteen! Girls - plural! Why could he do that and I can't even-"

"Your brother never caused a brawl in front of the whole school before." His mother told him with an eye roll. Aaron was far from impressed at the dramatics of his apparent 'brawl'.

He was even more unimpressed at the fact it was being used as an excuse on why he couldn't have Kimmy stay over, and that they were completely disregarding the double standards between the two brothers.

"It was hardly a brawl-"

The sound of the front door opening and closing roughly could be heard, and Aaron felt his shoulders drop as he turned to face his older brother as the boy walked into the kitchen and past the blond.

"Steve," Aaron let out a breath of relieve as he pointed to the two adults eating. "Tell them Kimmy can stay-"

"Aaron, it is not up to your brother, it is up to your mother and I, and we have decided that she is not allowed to stay over, and that is final." His father practically slamming his fork onto the table as he turned to face the blond stood at the door.

Aaron pursed his lips and reluctantly backed down at the look his father sent him, anxiously scratching his neck as he did so, now unsure what to do.

"You know, Kimmy's not bad." Steve surprised Aaron by speaking up, talking as he ate a bag of chips. "She's not a bother or anything to have over-"

"Well, as happy as I am that she's not caused any fuss being here before, she will not be staying over again." Aaron tilted his head back in defeat at his mother's shrill tone. "Aaron's well aware he'd be punished if your father and I were to ever find out she stays over ever again without our permission."

"Well, when can I have her over?" Aaron sighed and looked to his parents with a tired expression.

Aaron watched as the two adults shared a frustrated glance, his father snorting in response as his mother shook her head. "When you're eighteen, and no longer a child-"

The boy scoffed as his parents snickered amongst themselves.

With that said, the blond sighed and left the room, heading to the bedroom Kimmy had been staying in as he desperately thought on what to do.

...

After some hours, Aaron knew what he would be doing in regard to the girl. Kimmy would be staying over, whether his parents would liked it or not.

He would just have to sneak her over.

The blond was under the impression that Kimmy was still out with Max seeing as she still wasn't back, he'd just have to try and find her.

So, with much caution, the boy snuck out of the house once it was dark, going out to try find her in the small town before she wandered back to the house and the two ended up missing each other.

It wasn't long before he found the two girls, the pair sat on a park bench talking when Aaron walked up to them.

"Hi." Kimmy waved at him as he approached her, smiling and turning away from her conversation with the redhead.

Aaron waved back at her awkwardly, not really sure what he was supposed to do.

"Stalking us are you?" Max quipped with a raised brow upon noticing the boy, folding her arms over her chest as she looked him up and down disapprovingly.

"Very funny." The blond scoffed, stuffing his hands in his jacket pockets. "I'm here to get Kimmy-"

"To get her?" The redhead rolled her eyes. "Talk about controlling. I get you're dating now, but she can walk home herself, Aaron, you don't have to do everything for her-"

"No, she's staying over at my house tonight, I'm going to bed soon and my parents are already sleeping so I thought I'd come get her before I ended up falling asleep and she ended up locked out." Aaron calmly explained with a shrug of his shoulders. "And I don't do everything for her-"

"You literally make her lunch everyday." Max remarked smugly in an obvious tone as if she'd just proved a point Aaron didn't know she was making. "That's weird."

"It's not weird." Aaron excused with a scrunched up expression of offence. "Sorry I don't want her to catch a disease or some crap from eating that horseshit you call food."

The redhead scoffed and looked to Kimmy as if to say she couldn't believe him. "You don't offer to make anyone else lunch-"

"Well, maybe I don't care if you catch a disease." Aaron simply told her, despite the fact he did not mean it what so ever.

It seemed that over time the two were forced to see eachother due to Kimmy, the blond and the redhead seemed to have grown into an almost friendship that consisted mostly of sarcastic remarks thrown at the other.

They weren't the best of friends by any means, but they weren't as distant as they had once been before. Aaron definitely thought it was due to how close she was with Kimmy, and how Aaron just happened to be with the brunette when Kimmy would wonder off to talk to the girl.

"Jesus, you're a fucking psycho." Max told him with a shake of her head, looking to Kimmy with a wide eyed expression. "Imagine having a boyfriend who speaks to your best friend this way."

"He's not a psycho." Kimmy snickered as she shook her head. "And I think it's nice he makes my lunch."

A smirk pulled on the redheads lips, and in an instant she had a look of mischief on her face. "Well, I guess if you feel that way we can't be friends anymore."

Kimmy and Max were serious for a moment before breaking out into giggles.

It was like that for another few lingering moments. Where the two girls were sat with each other laughing while Aaron waited for the brunette so he could tell her what had happened with his parents.

Eventually the two girls parted ways, and Kimmy walked home with Aaron while he told her all about what had happened when he'd returned home after school.

In the end, the blond ended up sneaking her in the house through her bedroom window. This wasn't as difficult as he'd once suspected it would be, especially since her bedroom was the only one on the bottom floor of the house.

Aaron ended up staying with her in her room that night, not for any particular reason, just because he wanted to.

Just as usual, it wasn't as if he stayed in her room so they could do anything, he just liked knowing she was alright.

"Just so you know," the sincerity of Kimmy's tone took Aaron by surprise, especially since he thought she was already asleep. "I do like that you make my lunch."

Since he had been on the brink of sleep himself, it took him a little longer than usual to actually respond. The boy shifting around to face her, only to find she was clearly hanging on to consciousness herself.

"I know." The blond whispered in response, not wanting to be too loud in case he startled her seeing how tired she appeared to be.

With that said she closed her eyes for the final time at night and soon drifted off, leaving Aaron trying and failing to fight back the smile and the look of evident relief at her words, he was beginning to worry that maybe there had been some truth laced within Max's teasing earlier and Kimmy had maybe told her she thought he was weird or something along those lines.

The next morning to avoid suspicion from his parents, Kimmy simply left out the bedroom window and knocked on the front door to act as if she'd just walked around from her house so the two could go to school together.

All her stuff was still in her room, so it wasn't like she had nothing to wear that morning. It was all still there.

And because no one in his house took a particular interest in Aaron, his parents were none the wiser that the girl had spent the night.

...

Next chapter is the start of season 4 🫦🫦🫦

I'm going to be real I do not know what way I want to go about this season so it could end one of multiple ways, I'm not sure yet lmao.

Either way it will probably be a depressing season lol💘 #depressedbitch

ANYWAY I hope everyone had a great day and enjoyed the chapter!!!

tysm for all the support!!! <3

- AJ :)