[ ASSAULT TRIGGER !!! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED !!! AKA DONT COMMENT MEAN THINGS ABOUT IT. THX ]

[ noah centineo as zach]

[ lmfaooo i just realized that lana and noah are both in to all the boys ive loved before. oops. noah just has that douchebag face to me ]

"Ama!"

"Wha-?" Ama asked from her spot on the counter with noddles shoved into her mouth.

"You're supposed to be at work!" Sue said. "You're the head chef!"

"I am?" Ama asked in her thick Chinese accent.

"Yes!" Sue said with her eyes wide. She turned to Lili who in turn shrugged.

"I didn't have it on my calendar, so, I'm not going," Ama said, returning to her noodles.

"But, Ama, you can get fired," Sue explained.

"Fired? My daughter-in-law runs that restaurant. I can do what I want," Ama shouted.

"You're grandma's kinda a savage," Lili whispered jokingly into Sue's ear.

"I know," she grumbled. Ama stood and walked over to the sink to wash the plastic container she was eating from.

"Back; up," Ama hit Lili's back. "Bad posture isn't good."

"Sorry, ma'am," Lili mumbled.

"Ama, the restaurant can go under if you're not there," Sue said.

"I'm not that important," Ama said as she sat back at the counter again with a mango.

"Just... you better explain this to Mama when she finds out," Sue pointed at Ama.

"Sure," Ama nodded.

"Okay, Ama, we're going..." Sue said and started to walk slowly to the door as if she was waiting for Ama to follow. Lili walked as well, not really wanting to be in the middle of the interaction.

"Why didn't the door close?" Ama asked from the kitchen.

"Ama! Please come! You need to be there," Sue sighed.

"You were waiting for me? I told you, I'm not going!" Ama shouted.

"What other things do you have to do today?" Sue asked.

"My schedule is full! I have to go to Annie and Bogden to pick up apples, then I have to call Alicia IE and ask about Epo," Ama explained.

"Wow! Sounds like a whole ass day is planned," Sue grumbled.

"Eh?" Ama asked loudly. "What did you say?"

"Nothing! Bye Ama!" Sue shouted as she closed the front door. Lili could still hear Ama yelling at Sue in Mandarin from inside. Sue kept a grip on the handle as Ama shouted.

"Okay, on three..." Sue whispered to Lili.

"What?" Lili asked, bouncing on the balls of her feet.

"We're gonna make a break for it," Sue said quickly.

"Okay, one... two... three!" Sue ran from the door and Lili soon caught on that she wasn't joking. The pair ran down to where Lili parked her car.

"Hurry!" Sue shouted at Lili. She fumbled with her keys as she opened her door. She hadn't felt this much anxiety since the last Mind Flayer attack.

Lili unlocked the car and she and Sue scrambled in. They were driving off to Starcourt Mall.

"Sweet Saint Christopher," Lili mumbled. She looked back to see if Ama was chasing them. Nope. She wasn't that crazy.

"God," Sue turned to look too. "That was close."

"Yeah," Lili laughed. "Haven't you learned not to curse in front of your grandma?"

"Yeah, but, I can't help it," Sue said.

"You better get a grip on it soon, Sue."

"I know, I know. She's not that bad you know, you just always seem to catch her when she's in a mood. You know, her husband is still back in Taiwan."

"No, I didn't know that," Lili said.

"Well, she gets into these moods sometimes and I think it's 'cause of that," Sue explained. "You missed it the other day..."

"What? When she said she wanted to beat me with a stick?" Lili laughed.

"No," Sue chuckled. "She was roasting me right in front of Steve Harrington!"

"So? Steve's a douche and probably doesn't remember a thing," Lili shook her head as she checked her rearview mirror.

"Still, I told her many times not to roast me period, but she never listens," Sue said.

"Like you said, she gets into moods. Don't bring her around Steve when she's in a mood," Lili said.

"It's not that easy, it's unpredictable," Sue crosses her arms. "One minute she's showering me with snacks and candy and the next she's talking about my third birthday in front of Steve Harrington."

"What happened at your third birthday?"

"I got food poisoning and threw up in front of everybody," Sue said. Lili made a face.

"I mean, I love my Ama a lot, but she's just too much," Sue laughed.

"I would say 'I feel you', but I don't have a grandma so..." Lili trialed as she pulled into the Starcourt Mall parking lot.

"Oh, yeah. You don't have grandparents," Sue nodded.

"Yeah, or anyone really. I have one sister and my father. No one else," Lili said. "If anything happened to Hopper, then I wouldn't even get custody of my sister. She would have to go to Joyce Byers since Hopper made her my sister's legal guardian."

"Who's your sister?" Sue asked. In that moment, Lili spotted red hair skating across the parking lot.

"Hold that thought, I see a little shit," Lili chuckled as she got out of her car. She ran over to Max, calling her name.

Max turned to see her favorite person in the world running up to her. She opened her arms and engulfed Lili in a tight hug.

"Lili! I haven't seen you in so long," Max smiled.

"I know, how have you been?" Lili pulled back to look at the girl. "What are you wearing?"

"I'm not all skateboard grunge, y'know," Max rolled her eyes.

"I know, it's just so weird seeing you in bright colors," Lili said as she took in Max's outfit.

Max's eyes fixated on something dangling around Lili's neck. She would've recognized that necklace anywhere. Hell, she stole it one time to piss Billy off and it did the trick.

"What are you looking at?" Lili asked, looking down to see if there was a stain on her shirt or something.

"Where did you get that?" Max asked.

"The necklace? Billy gave it to me," Lili blushed.

"Are you sure?" Max asked her. Never in her years of knowing Billy had he ever willingly given anyone that necklace.

"Yes?" Lili said, not quite understanding what Max was getting at.

"It's okay if you took it, just put it back before Billy finds out," Max said. She didn't think Lili was the type to steal stuff from other people, but you never know.

"Seriously, Max, Billy gave it to me," Lili repeated. "Why would you think I stole it?"

"Billy never lets anyone touch that necklace. When I took it to piss him off, he got so mad that he punched out my window and broke my skateboard." Lili's expression turned to shock and she unconsciously reached down to grab the ring that was strung on the chain.

"Geez," Lili breathed. "I didn't know that. I swear, though, Billy have it to me. You can ask him."

"I trust you," Max nodded. "It's just that he never gave it to anyone. Even to touch."

"Wow," Lili whispered. She took the ring and gently slid it on and off her left hand ring finger.

"Should I start calling you my sister-in-law?" Max snickered.

"What?" Lili asked. She wasn't paying attention.

"Never mind," Max shook her head as she held her skateboard loosely in her hand. "I should probably get going, Neil will flip if he knows that I went out alone."

"Alright," Lili nodded. She was scared for Max to go home. In truth, she wished that Max would just live with her, El and Hopper because it was safer. "Be safe."

"I will," Max nodded as she placed her skateboard down and started to ride off.

"Who was that?" Sue asked Lili as they both watched the redhead skate away.

"A friend," Lili shrugged.

Inside, the pair found their way to the Imperial Panda booth in the food court.

"Szu-Wei!" A woman in her forties yelled. Lili looked at Sue with worry.

"What, Mama?" Sue asked as the two girls approached the booth.

"Where is your grandmother? I need five batches of Mapo Tofu and three batches of orange chicken!" The woman had a clipboard in hand as she waved her hands about. Her arms were adorned with jade and gold bracelets.

"Ama didn't want to come," Sue said meekly.

"What do you mean she didn't want to come?" Sue's mother demanded.

"She said that she didn't want to come!" Sue shrugged.

"You!" The woman pointed to Lili. Lili jumped when she was called out but swallowed and nodded.

"Can you cook?" Sue's mother asked.

"N-No," Lili shook her head. Sue's mother tsked and shook her head.

"Why can't you find some friends with skill, Szu-Wei?"

"Mama!" Sue exclaimed. Lili felt the heat rise to her cheeks as she stood weakly aside, letting the two bicker.

Sue's mother, which Lili learned that her name was Mein-Hwa from an employee, yelled at Sue in Mandarin and Sue responded in English.

"Because! No... no!" Was all Sue would say. Finally, Mein-Hwa threw her arms up in the air and mumbled a few words.

"She better be here by the time I come back!" Mein-Hwa yelled as she left through the back door.

"Who should be here?" Lili asked dumbly.

"My grandma," Sue sighed.

"Where is your mom going?" Lili asked.

"Down to check on deliveries. She's there more than she's at home. I swear, there must me poker down there or something," Sue shook her head. Lili just nodded. Sue opened the little door to the booth and rummaged through the cabinets to emerge with two fortune cookies.

She looked at them. "Screw it." She grabbed a whole bag from under the cabinet.

"If she's down at deliveries, she can grab another bag," Sue grumbled.

"Oh! Lili," the newbie called for the blonde as she walked onto the pool deck. Lili turned around to find him running after her. It was night time and the pool was closing.

"Yeah?"

"I have to talk to you about something," he said, grabbing Lili's arm harshly and dragging her back to the pool house.

"Ow," Lili mumbled. She noticed the newbie's black eye and scabbed temple.

"What happened to you?" Lili asked the boy.

"Nothing," the boy shook his head. He continued to yank Lili along. "Name's Zach, by the way."

"Zach, you can let go," Lili groaned when they entered the staff room. He did and closed the door of the empty room.

"What's going on?" Lili asked as Zach rummaged through the boxes stacked in the corner. He didn't say anything as he pulled out some red swimwear. Lili quickly realized that it was a red bikini.

"This is your new uniform," Zach said as he handed her the skimpy piece.

"What is Billy gonna wear? A speedo?" Lili laughed as she looked at the top piece. "This can't be appropriate for the community pool."

"If you don't want to wear it, then consider yourself let go," Zach said. Lili looked at him.

"Are you serious? I don't wanna wear this, Zach," Lili grumbled.

"Come on, it's after hours and it's dark. No one is gonna see us taking pictures," Zach groaned.

"Woah, woah, woah," Lili recoiled. "Pictures?"

"Yeah, for the board," Zach shrugged.

"I'm not letting you take pictures of me in this lingerie," Lili scrunched her nose and held the bikini away from her.

"You will if you want this job," Zach seethed as he took the bikini and pushed it to Lili's chest.

"No!" Lili shouted. "I can find another job."

"I'm best friends with the manager. I'm the number two here. One call to Cory and you're done," Zach stepped closer to Lili. "You won't be able to find another job."

"I'm not wearing it," Lili seethed. In a fit of rage, Zach grabbed Lili to force himself on top of her. She pushed his chest off of her and struggled against the table which she was sprawled out on. With a groan, she threw her head back and sent a pulse to Zach who flew back and hit the closed door.

She tried to run for the door, but Zach grabbed her waist and his hand traveled a little too low for her liking. She turned and jutted her knee to meet his already injured face. His body jerked back for a second, but that's all she needed as she opened the door and ran out.

"Help!" She screamed. "Billy!"

Zach followed behind her in long strides. "You're done."

"No, please, this is all I have!" It's true. Lili needed the money and job to pay for college. She wasn't about to ask Hopper who could barely afford to keep the fridge full.

"Then beg," Zach said. By this time, Lili's bare feet were right at the edge of the pool, the water below her was illuminated by the pool lights.

"No," Lili shook her head. Zach's hand reached out to grab her. Where? Lili wouldn't know. In fear and panic, she shot her hand out and sent a pulse, which knocked her off her feet. She fell back and into the water with a scream.

She tried to come up for air, but a hand pushed her head back down. Her lungs were straining and she knew that she needed to get air soon. Her head felt dizzy and she couldn't focus. Every pulse she tried to send was a fail. It was too weak.

Just when she thought that she was going to pass out underwater, the pressure on her head was released and she grabbed the pool side and with her last sliver of strength, she broke the water's surface with a gasp.

Lili heard grunting and what sounded like a fist hitting skin. Her head was dizzy and it was hard to focus on what was going on right before her eyes. She felt a strong hand grab her and it yanked her out of the pool.

Lili's eyes settled on Billy's blue ones. She started to sob uncontrollably as she fell from exhaustion and into his arms. Her eyes traveled around the area. Zach's unconscious body laid a few feet away from the couple.

"B-Billy," Lili gasped out.

"Its okay," Billy quickly said. "He's not gonna hurt you anymore. I got him. I got you."

"I don't know what to do," Lili cried. "I can't lose my job."

"We'll figure it out," Billy whispered. He kissed Lili's head and rubbed her wet back. "We'll figure it out."

[UNEDITED]

well im prolly not gonna use this but idk im having a writers block so if y'all could tell me if you want a specific scene to play out or if you just want me to cut right to the third season that would be amazing :)

also, sorry for the delay, i had a shitload of work to do lol