"𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐋𝐄𝐘."

Harley groaned, burying himself deeper in his pillow.

"Harley."

Something soft landed on his face and Harley groaned, opening his eyes. He dragged himself up into a sitting position, yanking the pillow off his face.

"What," he croaked, and it wasn't even a question- he was just purely confused.

And pissed.

Why in the gobsmacking fuck was he on the floor? Why did his back ache, and why was his eye hurting like that, Jesus Christ-

And he'd slept in his jeans.

He glared at nothing in particular, trying to blink the grogginess from his eyes. "Who-"

"Get up." It was Max, chucking another pillow at him unceremoniously. Her hair was brushed, and she was pulling a yellow tank top over her sports bra. "We're meeting my friends at the mall."

Max. Who looked significantly older than when he'd last seen her, with shorter hair and-

How the fuck was Max here-?

...Oh.

Yesterday came crashing painfully over him, and his shoulders literally sagged with the weight of it.

This wasn't his house. This wasn't his room, or his bed, and his Dad wasn't going to be out in the living room, because he wasn't in California anymore.

No, he was in Hawkins, with his estranged mother and sister, and a sorry excuse for a step-family.

Harley stared at Max, whose raised eyebrows were in danger of disappearing into her hairline. "Huh?"

"You heard me," Max said pointedly. "Get ready. Mall. Five minutes."

Harley looked around the room, bewildered. His swollen eye was impossibly to see out of, so he just had to trust the other.

"Why," he said, annoyed and exhausted, "Would I wanna go to the mall?"

"Because I'm going."

"You say that as if it makes it somehow convincing."

Max shot him a look. This isn't going to work on me. "Come on. "

Harley glared at her. For a long moment, it was a battle of wills- blue eyes staring into brown, neither wanting to give in, and they both knew they were going to get nowhere like this.

"Stop being stubborn," Max said, looking away, and Harley smirked. "Trust me, you don't wanna be stuck in the house all day. It's a Saturday. And the mall just opened, like, last week."

Harley gently touched his bruised eye, wincing. "I don't wanna talk to your... weird nerd friends."

"How do you know they're nerds?" Max raised an eyebrow.

"Are they?"

Max just rolled her eyes. "You're gonna have to meet them eventually. Just get it over with now. They're actually... really cool. I mean, except for Mike. He's kind of a whiney asshole."

Harley stood, running his hand through his hair. "Noted."

"You'll like Dustin, I think," Max said, sitting on the edge of her bed as Harley dug into his duffle bag. "I don't think it's possible not to like him. He's definitely a dork, but he's sweet. Will is just... quiet. But he's pretty funny sometimes, actually."

"So girls still don't like you?" Harley raised an eyebrow as he pulled off his old shirt.

Max folded her arms defensively. "Shut up. El- I mean, El's in our group. We hang out... sort of. She's Mike's girlfriend."

"Mike the asshole? Is his girlfriend not also an asshole?"

Max ran a hand through her hair. "She's not an asshole- she's just..." Max sighed. "It's complicated."

"Why is it complicated?" Harley pressed, just to be annoying now. "What, did you guys have some kind of catfight? You have a crush on Mike, and he got with her instead?"

"What?" Max wrinkled her nose in disgust. "No, gross. I'm dating Lucas."

Harley's head snapped up so fast his neck hurt. "Dating?"

Max smirked. "What? You were just giving me shit about it, now it's surprising?"

"A- a boy?" Harley scrambled for words.

"Pretty sure he is, yeah."

"What the hell kind of boy would wanna date you?" Harley said in disbelief.

Max shrugged, a slight smile on her face. "One that you're probably gonna get along with really well, actually- never mind, I'm having second thoughts. I don't need you two teaming up on me."

"Well, now I have to meet him," Harley grinned. "I love causing you torment-"

"Yeah, I'm aware," Max shoved him as he tried to stand up.

"Lucas," Harley snickered as he shoved her back, grabbing his letterman jacket even though it was 90 degrees outside. "He even sounds like a nerd."

Max flipped him the bird.

The mall felt like a small taste of California.

Neon lights, people bustling in and out, new and old cars alike. Aside from the lack of seagulls and abundance of flannel, Harley felt right at home.

"They should be meeting us by the food court," Max said as they trudged through the parking lot.

A car swerved in front of them, narrowly missing them, and sped off. Max and Harley flipped off the girl in the front seat in unison. "Cunt."

Max shot him a look. "Don't call girls cunts."

"Whatever," Harley muttered, but after the look on Max's face, he silently vowed he wouldn't use that insult again. "Did you bring cash?"

Max reached into her shorts and pulled out a couple of fives. "Mom gave me some before we left."

Harley pumped his fist, grinning, and kicked Max in the shin just for fun as she held open the door for him.

"Asshole!" Max squared, grabbing him by the collar of his shirt when he tried to run away. Harley gagged, the neckline digging into his skin, but Max let go of him after pinching him- hard. "Fuck you. You wanna get your ass kicked by a girl in the middle of a mall?"

Harley flexed his muscles obnoxiously.

"I will leave you behind," Max warned as she stomped past him towards the food court.

Harley allowed himself one last cackle before following her.

He couldn't even tell which group of kids she was walking towards- they all looked the same, white kids with bad haircuts and bad sunburns- until a kid with a fierce head of curls and a lisp yelled across the mall.

"Max!" He waved his arm wildly, absolutely no shame at drawing attention to himself.

"Scream across the mall, will you?" Max called back, but Harley could hear a small bit of a smile in her words.

A tall Black kid with a camouflage bandana stood from the group's table- and the way he grinned when he saw Max was disgustingly head-over-heels.

"Hey, Madmax," he said, throwing an arm around her shoulders. He was about to give her a clearly teasing kiss on the cheek when he saw Harley, and suddenly froze.

Harley stared at him, from about five feet away, until he removed his arm from Max's shoulders.

Max noticed. Of course she did. She tiptoed and whispered something in the kid's ear and he nodded.

"Hey, man," the kid said, with a smile. He walked towards him, entire body screaming with fake confidence. "I'm Lucas. You must be Harley."

The rest of the group was completely silent, staring at them. Harley had counted four of them, total.

The overwhelming feeling of being ganged up against was something Harley was oh-so-familiar with, and he suddenly found himself on the defensive.

"And you're the kid dating my sister," he said in a low voice.

Lucas's smile faltered. "Uh- yeah."

There was an awkward moment of silence. The Lisp kid's mouth had dropped into a perfect "o", and a pasty, tall, gangly-limbed kid with dark hair made a face like he'd just smelled something awful.

"'Sister?'" The Gangly kid echoed. Mike, judging by the look on his face.

"You guys have the same face," Lisp kid said- Dustin. "What the hell-"

"Wait." Behind Mike, leaning against the table, was a small boy with ruddy cheeks and a bowl cut. "Max, You have a brother?"

His eyes were big. Curious. His red lips were parted slightly, and he was glancing at Harley like he didn't know what to do with himself.

Harley looked away, his mouth dry.

"Yeah," Max said, glancing at him. He didn't let his face betray any emotion. "Guys, this is... this is Harley."

The awkward silence that followed the introduction made Harley want to take a bullet to the head.

Max was staring at him. Harley was too conflicted on how to feel.

She hadn't even told her friends she had a brother.

Harley... kind of got it. It's easier to pretend nothings wrong if you just don't acknowledge it. If Max's experience of being ripped away from her twin was anything like his, it was nothing short of excruciating.

But... it wasn't like Harley could escape the truth, in California. They'd had the same friends, gone to the same places.

Here, in Hawkins, Max had an entire life- with brand new people, including a boyfriend, and places to go- that had nothing to do with Harley.

"Hey, man," Dustin held a hand up, clearly trying to break the awkward silence. "Uh... I'm Dustin. This is Mike, I'm assuming you already know who Lucas is, and Will."

The boy with the bowl cut- Will- gave a weak wave. His cheeks were especially flushed.

The damn air conditioning must have sucked in this mall, Harley decided, because his own face felt hot all of the sudden.

"Have you seen Pale Rider?" Dustin asked. God, that kid was talkative.

No, he hadn't. Between him and his Dad, they didn't exactly have money floating around at home- but that was kind of pathetic to say.

"We wanna see it today," Dustin went on, without waiting for a response. "But we've been waiting, 'cause Will's kind of a scaredy-cat-"

"No I'm not!" Will protested, but he was smiling a little bit.

Harley glanced at Max, who held the crumped cash in her hands.

She glanced at him knowingly, and shook her head. Don't worry about it.

"Harley loves gory shit," Max said to the group. Dustin nodded at him appreciatively. "We should watch it tonight, when it gets dark."

Mike huffed, rolling his eyes.

God, this kid was annoying.

Max threw her head back in exasperation. Lucas's hand was around her waist, casual and comfortable. "What, Mike?"

"You know I'm hanging out with El tonight," Mike said indignantly.

"Okay, well," Max tossed her hands up. "We can't always do everything around your girlfriend's schedule. And besides, I don't hear any of your genius ideas."

"She has curfew, Max, God-"

"Don't talk to her like that," Harley said, his voice low.

Mike went silent, staring at him with that disgusted, shocked face. As though he couldn't believe Harley had spoken.

As if he didn't realize what Harley could do to him.

Harley' black eye pulsed. His bruised knuckles stung as he clenched his fist. He saw Mike's eyes flicker towards it.

"Harley," Max said quietly.

"Harley."

Max was standing in the doorway, wide-eyed.

Harley look up from the red-stained sink, wiping the remainder of the blood off his lips.

Max was staring at him in horror. "What-"

"I'm okay," he said angrily, his voice cracking.

His words were barely understandable over his swollen lips.

His hands were shaking. His knuckles were bloody and one of his fingers was definitely broken- and the one next to it probably was too.

"You're not okay, Harley, Jesus!" Max's voice shook.

Harley stared at her, willing his eyes to stop fucking tearing up. He was eleven years old. He was too big to cry.

"Why were you fighting?" She'd moved forward now, hands hovering around him. 

Harley had never seen her look this scared before.

"Don't worry about it," he mumbled. He spat more blood into the sink, trying to avoid his displaced finger. "No, Max, please don't cry..."

Max huffed and swiped a hand over her eyes. "'M not crying! Harls, why were you fighting?"

He didn't wanna tell her. She didn't need to know about those assholes in Mrs. Gibley's class who were making fun of her, it wasn't her fault.

Besides, Harley took care of it. He'd punched those boys in their stupid faces.

But Max was looking at him, and she was so, so scared.

That's not what he'd wanted.

But he'd protected her. He'd made sure they'd never make fun of her again.

And that was more important.

"Harley."

"Harley."

Max was staring at him. She wasn't scared, all these years later.

Her eyes were warning him, instead. Almost begging. Don't start a fight.

"Okay," Dustin said loudly. Harley almost flinched at the noise. "We postponed the last movie for you, Mike, sometimes we just have to make sacrifices."

Mike just glared at him. His eyes kept flickering towards Harley, looking thoroughly miffed.

Lucas was holding Max tighter, lookin uncertain and awkward.

Dustin was looking exasperatedly between his friends. Max had been right; it was impossible to dislike that kid.

But it was the shy kid with the bowl cut- Will- whose reaction had Harley confused.

He was just... looking at him.

Not scared. Not angry at him, for freaking out his friend like that. Not annoyed that he was here, taking up space in his friend group, when Max hadn't even told him Harley existed.

Instead, his big hazel eyes looked curious beneath long, thin lashes- as though Harley were a puzzle he hadn't solved yet.

And his cheeks were still flushed.

Harley's were too.

Disgusting.

This... thing, it has to stop. Your mother didn't raise a faggot, you hear me?

How could you do this to us?

"Let's take a vote," Dustin said, from far away. Harley forced himself to look away from Will. "All in favor of watching the movie tonight?"

Max, Lucas, and Dustin raised their hands. Mike sputtered, offended.

After a moment, Harley raised his as well, just to spite him.

Will raised his as well- almost as if he'd been waiting for Harley to make his decision.

Dustin nodded decisively. "Majority rules. Sorry, Mike. You're gonna have to hang out with El before, or just miss the movie."

"Why can't she just come?" Harley muttered.

There was an awkward silence.

The group was looking amongst each other. Lucas widened his eyes at Max, who quickly shook her head.

"She's homeschooled," Dustin blurted.

Harley furrowed his brows. "So?..."

"Have you guys eaten yet?" Max interrupted. She held up her wad of cash. "I'm starving. And Harley hasn't eaten since yesterday."

Harley glared at her. She ignored him.

"We didn't eat yet," Dustin said. "What do you guys want?"

"Anything but corn dogs," Max shuddered as the group stood up from the table.

"I want a corn dog," Harley said. Partially just to annoy her, but also because he really was fucking starving.

"I do too," Will said hesitantly. He glanced at Mike, who was too busy groaning to pay attention.

Harley watched as Will's face fell, just slightly, when Mike started walking towards the opposite direction with Dustin.

Harley really didn't like Mike Wheeler, he decided. Mike Wheeler was a dick.

"You can come get one with me," Harley found himself saying.

Will looked up at him, those reddish lips slightly parted in surprise. "Oh. I..."

Harley felt like an idiot.

"Or don't," he said quickly, squaring his shoulders defensively. "I don't care."

He wasn't a chump. He didn't need some stupid kid with a bad bowl cut to come get a corn dog with him. He was perfectly fine on his own. He didn't care-

"Okay," Will said, snapping him out of his thoughts. He glanced at Harley's clenched fists, but there was still no fear in his demeanor. Shyness, yeah, but not fear.

Harley was struck with the feeling that this kid could see right through him.

"Sure," he shrugged.

His fucking face was on fire.

Will stood. He was easily four inches shorter than Harley, when standing. 

Harley felt especially large next to him

He didn't know how he felt about that.

No.

Man up, Harley. Don't be a fag.

He's shy, Harley thought to himself. He probably won't talk much, and then I won't have to worry about it-

"So," Will said as they started walking. "You're from California?"

Fuck.

A/N

Hello lovelies!

Disclaimer that I am a queer author, using her own experiences to write a queer story. I don't need shit in my inbox from people who live on the internet.

ANYWAYS

Writing from a teenage boy's perspective is definitely new, but it's so fun to do. Harley has a lot of emotions (even if he doesn't wanna admit it), and they're complex and intense and I feel like that's so important for a character.

We're going to learn a lot more about Harley's past, and it's gonna be rough. He's a very damaged, angsty, grumpy boy.

Will and him are going to balance each other out very well. I'm really loving writing their dynamic. Will is good at reading people, and Harley is terrible at saying his needs or how he feels.

Go drink some water and do your homework!