Chapter Forty-Two: I'm Only Me When I'm With You

"Steve, I'm going to the sleepover! See you in the morning!" Annie called as she hurried down the stairs, her backpack full of sleepover essentials slung over one arm.

Steve came out of his room and waved at Annie. "See you. Just call when I need to pick you and Max up."

"Oh," she started. "If it's okay he was gonna bring Max and I to the Byers right after to help them pack up since you and Robin are stopping by Family Video."

Steve nodded. "Works out well, actually. Tell him thanks for me."

Annie nodded and hurried out the front door, not worrying about locking it since Steve would probably come out to watch them drive off. She hurried into the backseat of Billy's new car and slid right next to Max.

"Hey," Annie greeted, closing the door and buckling up as Billy started driving off.

Max leaned over and gave Annie a small peck on the cheek. "Hey. You ready for the most epic sleepover of all time?" she asked.

"You bet your ass I am! Mike won't know what hit him when I start screaming the lyrics to the songs in Footloose which we are watching no matter what anyone else says!" Annie said, punctuating her sentence with a laugh.

The other girl joined in happily. Billy looked in his mirror and let one of the corners of his mouth turn up at the two girls having fun. These past few months, Max has been the happiest he'd ever seen. It's been kinda nice.

He was back for the weekend from a community college in Indianapolis. He had an apartment down there and worked at a garage when he wasn't in class. This weekend, knowing the Byers were moving to California, he decided to come up and help out however he could.

They pulled up outside the Wheeler's house and Billy parked. "All right, I'll be around to pick you guys up at ten and... who else am I picking up?"

"Will," Annie answered, grabbing her bag and unbuckling.

"Right, Will. Have fun." It was still kind of weird to see Billy being an outwardly nice person, but neither Annie or Max minded much. The change was refreshing and made the step-siblings grow so close they sometimes didn't add the 'step.'

The girls hurried out of his car and ran to the front door. Billy waited until Mrs. Wheeler opened the door before he drove off, remembering 'ten am tomorrow.'

"They're all in the basement and pizza will be here in thirty. Have fun!" she said as they made their way to the basement door.

"Thanks Mrs. Wheeler!" the girls said at the same time before disappearing down the stairs.

When they got there, the Party was complete. "Hey, there you guys are!" Dustin cheered when they got down. "Bags in the corner, right now it's movie time!"

Everyone got snuggled into their movie-watching spots. Dustin lounged on the back of the couch, claiming it was "the best seat in the house." Then, El, Lucas, and Mike decided to sit on the couch. It left Annie and Max on the floor between El and Lucas's legs, but they didn't mind too much, getting to snuggle together under a blanket. Will was on the ground, too, on the other side of Lucas's legs.

"Okay, what's on first?" Annie asked as she brought the blanket up to her chin.

"I managed to convince Nancy to rent 'The Terminator' for us!" Mike cheered. Annie smiled, not minding the movie. It was just action packed, not really 'scary.' It was a pretty good movie- Steve took her one day while it was still in theaters to piss off their parents. Again, she didn't mind.

Thirty minutes into the movie, just like Mrs. Wheeler had promised, the pizzas arrived and Mike went up to grab all the stuff (plates and napkins- they weren't animals).

When Terminator was over, Annie shot up before anyone could say anything. "We're watching Footloose and you can't argue!" she shouted, putting the tape in. There were a couple groans of protest, but none too meaningful.

They'd absolutely never tell her, but everyone enjoyed watching that movie with her. Even if she sang along to every song. Which she did, and Max even joined in on a couple. She'd seen the movie almost as many times as Annie had now, most being with her girlfriend. Holding Out For A Hero ended up being the one sung the loudest.

Everyone was feeling tired by the end of Footloose, it already being pretty late in the night. "What's up next?" Will yawned out, slowly drifting off.

"Wait wait, I wanna change into something else- my pajamas. I'm gonna fall asleep at any second," Annie said, peeling the blanket off of her. The cold air met her and she let out a noise before crawling over to her backpack.

"Oh yeah, me too, Mike can I change in your room?" Lucas asked. Soon, everyone was changing into pajamas. Annie didn't miss the way Will was looking at her while everyone was off getting changed.

She met his eyes. "You okay there?" she asked, a friendly laugh coming out.

Will sighed and grabbed her wrist to pull her aside. Now Annie was worried. They moved over to a different corner of the basement, away from where the others would come back to. Annie didn't say anything, giving Will the control over the situation.

"I... I think I'm gay..." he whispered. An uncontrollable smile spread across Annie's face and she was barely able to refrain from squealing. "Okay, okay, at least you don't hate me."

"Well that would make me pretty hypocritical, now wouldn't it?" Annie asked. Will laughed and accepted the hug Annie pulled him into.

Will put his hands on Annie's shoulders and carefully pushed them apart. "There's more, and it's not as happy," he said, his smile faltering.

Annie looked confused. "What? This better not make me too sad."

There was another silence over them as a couple people came back into the main area of the basement, including Max. She looked over them in confusion. Annie held up a finger, telling her they'd be back in a second.

She turned her attention back to Will as he took in a deep breath. "I totally have a crush on Mike." Annie's eyes went wide and she let her mouth fall open a bit. "I know, it's so depressing because of El but I just had to tell someone and I figured you'd get it."

Annie nodded. "I do, and it sucks when that happens... but we can do this, okay? Plus, you're going to California. Maybe you'll meet a guy there? It's a lot different over there," Annie said.

Will smiled, grateful for Annie. "Yeah, thanks," he said, and they hugged one more time before rejoining the group in their little spots.

"We should totally put on The NeverEnding Story," Lucas said, causing Annie to snort and laugh.

The entire group- other than Dustin- agreed. The movie was put in and the Party sang along with the theme song. After that, they were out cold. Annie had started leaning on Max as some point which was probably a bad idea, because she was out pretty quick after that.

El had laid on her side at the beginning of the movie, head leaned on Lucas's leg and arm draped off the couch and on Annie's shoulder. Will was snuggled up in his blanket cuddling a teddy bear he never slept without. Lucas and Mike's heads were bobbing forward. Dustin was taking up pretty much all of the space on the top of the couch, having brought a pillow up with him during the transition.

At around 8:30 the next morning, Nancy came down to wake all the kids up (but snapped a polaroid first, knowing she couldn't let that moment go away). Groggily but surely, they made their way up to grab some breakfast and one by one got dressed and ready to help the Byers move everything out of the house.

"Come on, Billy's going to be here to pick you three up soon so you guys better be packed and good to go," Nancy said as the kids sat around.

Ten minutes later, Max, Annie, and Will were following Nancy as she drove the others to the Byers household. When they arrived each kid was immediately given a task. Billy would've taken one, but said he had to get back and pack his suitcase before heading back to school.

Annie and Max ended up packing up the living room together.

Dustin, in the dining room, was almost done with the couple. "Turn around, look at what you see!" The girls sang in unison, refusing to let Dustin forget that moment. Ever since the others told them about it, Annie kicked herself for not being there.

They continued to sing and have a good time, but then Max stopped. "Did- did we get that verse right? Its 'unfold behind the clouds'?" she asked. Annie didn't even try to stifle her laugh.

"Yeah, but you're butchering it, so could you please stop?"

Annie gasped and raised a hand to her chest. "Dustin, how could you! I want to be a star, a star!" she said dramatically, in those accents people in old black-and-white movies had.

"You should join in Dusty-Bun!" Max announced.

Annie nodded her head. "Oh absolutely, Dusty-Bun, join us! Show us how it's done!"

"You guys are so funny you should be on Carson." Yeah, he wasn't enjoying them very much.

"Can't we just hear your rendition?" Max asked.

"No."

"Pleaseeeee! Just one verse, Dustin, it's all we ask!" Annie added, leaning forward with her hands clasped together.

He shook his head and continued packing his box. "No! No way. It's reserved for Suzie's ears and Suzie's ears alone," he said.

The girls looked at each, immediately thinking the same thing. "Well then if you're not going to show us how it's done..." Annie said. They launched back into the song, starting from the very beginning.

The Party fell asleep too quickly last night to be able to get all of their teasing in, so it was all being let out in the morning. Annie wondered if Dustin would ever talk to them again.

Max reach over and grabbed Annie's hand as they dramatically sang, laughing through as Dustin stuck his middle finger up and waved it around at them. They kept on. "Shut up you guys!"

Their laughter became too much and the song ended with Annie falling on her back as she hugged her middle and laughed. "All right, all right, we should probably finish up before the day is over," Max said, helping pull Annie back to sitting up.

It was a nice kind of quiet for a second as they finished taping up a box. Then, their job was done. Annie leaned back and pulled her legs up to her chest, wrapping her arms around them. "It's gonna be weird, them not living here anymore. The new owners won't even know about everything that took place in this house," she said.

Max moved over to sit next to her and copied the way she sat, leaning against her. "Yeah, it will, but we'll always be able to talk to them. Pus, I think they were talking about coming back here for Christmas and New Years. That'll be fun."

Annie nodded. "Yeah, but that's not the same..."

Max shook her head. "No, it's not." They sat together in the silence before Joyce came out from the hall.

"Hey, you girls all done?" she asked. They nodded and stood up, starting to bring their boxes outside to the truck.

By this point, most everything was packed and getting put in either the truck or Nancy's car to be donated. Steve was probably on his way, he might even make it in time to tell the Byers and El goodbye.

Goodbye. Such a definite word. Annie didn't like using it.

Once all the boxes were packed away in the U-Haul, it was time to say that word. Tears started flowing the second the first hugs started. Annie gripped Joyce tight, saying she'd miss her a lot, because there weren't many adults who listened to them or knew what had happened.

She went to give Johnathan a side hug next. They didn't know each other as well, but she still liked him a lot. He was nice, and she was going to miss him, too.

Will was a sobbing mess by the time Annie got to him. She laughed a bit but felt her own tears getting worse when he gripped her tight. "Remember, you can always call me, okay? In fact, I expect it! And if I ever manage to get my own phone, I'll give you the number."

His sobs weren't allowing him to say any words, but the way he squeezed her tighter was enough for Annie.

El was bad, too. The girls had grown so close and now, El was about to enter new territory without any of her girl friends. They held each other tight, Annie letting her eyes shut as she enjoyed the hug.

"I'm gonna write to you, okay? I know we probably can't talk on the phone... but I promise to write to you. You've got my address, so you have to write first, okay?" Annie said, her voice breaking. "And don't leave anything out. I will keep all the secrets you want to tell me and I can even give you some of mine just... promise me."

El nodded as best as she could in the hug. "I promise," she whispered. "I will tell you everything."

The girls pulled away and saw each other's watery smiles.

Joyce's car got hooked up to the back of the U-Haul and she got into the driver's seat. El got in the passenger seat since Will would go with Johnathan in his car.

The group stood in front of the house and watched them drive away with tears blurring their vision some. Annie and Max had arms wrapped around each other, knowing they'd be missing the girl who made them a trio.

Annie silently hoped Will would be okay over there.

Nancy waited until Steve came up the road before getting the boys loaded in her car. The two teenagers nodded at each other, but said nothing else. He unlocked the doors and the girls climbed to the back and held hands as they drove off.

"I'm really gonna miss them," Annie whispered, not wanting to cry again after having already finished. Today was sad, but she didn't want to cry that much. It wouldn't do her any good in the long run.

Max nodded with a sniff. Then, "We should rent a movie and watch it before I have to go home."

Annie nodded. "Yeah, sounds good. We can rent that new one, The Goonies? I think it's out on VHS."

"Sounds good, we can stop by my new place of employment if you'd like?" Steve said, looking in the mirror to watch as Annie's face changed from sadness to one of excitement.

"You got the job?" she asked, excited.

"I got the job!"

The girls cheered, excited to be able to annoy Steve and Robin in a different place of work. Annie still wanted to talk to Robin, ask her about the whole 'liking girls' thing. She knew the teen would be pissed at Steve at first, for spilling such a secret, but then Annie wanted to see her face when she hit her with the 'I have a girlfriend' line.

She couldn't wait to see what life had in store for them.

A/n: I'll post the last "in between" chapter tomorrow, and then it's time for season four!