"You're disgusting" Max muttered, as she watched her stepbrother shovel cereal into his mouth, his lips smacking together.

"Don't be such a Princess, Maxine" Billy rolled his eyes, using his spoon to flick some of the soggy cereal her way.

"Ew, Billy!" Max complained, wiping at her arm with a groan.

"You know you've only turned into such a priss since you started dating Sinclair" Billy told her.

"He has a name, Billy" Max retorted, crossing her arms.

"I know…it's Sinclair" Billy stated, with a self-satisfied smile.

"Mom! Billy's being annoying!" Max yelled, whipping her head around to where Susan Hargrove was cleaning the dishes.

Max grimaced when she heard her mother quietly whimpering, and realised she was crying into the washing up bowl. She looked back to Billy with a sigh, as the older boy simply shrugged dismissively. A crying woman was not something that Billy knew how to react to.

"You okay, mom?" Max questioned, as Susan wiped at her face.

"Yes, sweetie. I'm just…you and Lucas remind me of Neil and I" Susan mumbled, as Billy practically choked on his mouthful.

"I think you need your head examined, Susan" Billy scoffed.

"…Have you heard from him?" Max asked, a moment later.

"No…but I'm sure I will! He'll just be trying to figure things out right now. Finding a new place, sorting things out with work-" Susan started, but was quickly cut off by Billy.

"Dealing with two assault charges against minors, one who happens to be your daughter…" Billy trailed off, as Susan halted washing the plate she was holding in her hands.

"Neil was provoked" Susan insisted, as Billy pushed his chair back from the table, as it screeched across the floor.

"Billy, don't" Max mumbled, seeing the way Billy's jaw had tensed.

"He tried to strangle her…your own fucking daughter, and you just stood there and watched!" Billy yelled, noticing the way Susan flinched as he raised his voice.

"I didn't mean it like-" Susan began, but Billy stopped her.

"Oh, I know what you meant, Susan…I'll be in the car, Max" Billy announced, as he turned on his heel.

"You haven't finished your breakfast" Max pointed out, as Billy stormed over to the front door.

"Lost my appetite" Billy muttered, as he marched outside and slammed the door closed so hard, Max thought the hinges might break.

"…Would you have kicked him out? If Neil didn't decide to leave, would you have kicked him out after what he did?" Max couldn't help but ask, as Susan kept her back to her.

"I love him, Maxine. You're too young to understand that" Susan sighed, turning around to find Max had already left the kitchen, clearly not being impressed with her mother's answer.

Max made her way towards Krystal's room, knowing if the older girl didn't hurry up, Billy would leave without her. She tapped quietly on her sister's door, frowning when she heard nothing from inside. Pushing the door open, she peeked inside to find Krystal wasn't there, and it seemed like her bed hadn't been slept in. Max's frown deepened when she heard a sound from the bathroom and remembered how she had seen Krystal entering over thirty minutes ago.

"Krystal? We're gonna' be late" Max exclaimed, banging on the door, pressing her ear to the door as she heard the shower on.

"Krystal, c'mon!" Max insisted, hitting the door harder this time, but got no reply.

"Ugh, you better be decent…" Max trailed off, as she shoved the bathroom door open, finding that it was unlocked.

A cold gust of wind greeted Max as she entered the bathroom and found the window was wide open. Her eyes widened when she saw Krystal standing underneath the shower head, still in her pyjama's, with her back turned to her. Krystal was completely soaked from head to toe and eerily didn't seem to be moving an inch under the water.

"Krystal?" Max exclaimed, taking a nervous step forward when her sister still hadn't moved.

She reached out slowly and felt the water from the showerhead was ice cold and could see the way Krystal's skin had turned red against the freezing water. Placing her hand on Krystal's shoulder, she seemed to suddenly pull her out of whatever trance she had been in. Krystal whipped around lightning fast and grabbed Max's hand roughly, her fingernails biting into Max's skin. Krystal blinked a few times as she seemed to realise who it was in front of her and dropped her hand quickly.

"What are you doing?" Max questioned, her voice a little above a whisper.

"N-nothing" Krystal shrugged, stepping out of the streaming water, hugging her arms close to her chest.

"How long have you been standing like that? You're freezing" Max told her, as Krystal stumbled out of the bathtub.

"I'm fine. Really. Did you say Billy is waiting?" Krystal queried, as Max nodded slowly.

"I'll just grab some clothes. Meet you out there in five" Krystal informed her, as she walked out of the bathroom, leaving puddles of water in her wake.

"Are you sure your okay?" Max called after her, as Krystal walked into her bedroom.

"I'm always okay" Krystal said, giving her a smile that didn't quite meet her eyes, as she shut her bedroom door, leaving Max frowning in the corridor.

"Ah, this never gets old" Krystal giggled, watching Steve walking over to their booth in his sailor's uniform, a couple of hours after the bathroom incident.

"Hey, some people think I look good in this" Steve scoffed, coming over with the large sundae she and Max were planning on sharing.

"Who, your mother?" Krystal teased, as Steve rolled his eyes and ushered for her to move up the booth.

"Are you going to spend the whole summer coming in here and making fun of me?" Steve sighed, coming to sit beside her.

"That's the plan" Krystal grinned, as she and Max picked up their spoons.

"Well, you better be careful. Or I'll ban you…for life!" Steve warned, as she and Max shared an amused look.

"As the longest employee at Scoops, I'm the one who would actually have that authority" Robin announced, coming over to lean beside their booth.

"Two days, Robin! Two days longer you've worked here" Steve grumbled.

"And what a difference it makes. She's somehow able to pull off the uniform while you…not so much" Krystal went on, patting Steve sympathetically on the shoulder.

"You know, I think I preferred it when you were in love with me" Steve muttered, pushing himself up from his seat.

"I'm afraid that ship has long since sailed, Stevie!" Krystal called after him.

"So, uh…is it true?" Robin questioned, in a hushed voice.

"You're gonna have to be a little more specific, Robin" Krystal stated.

"You and Billy, you're…you know…" Robin trailed off, having heard conversations between Steve and Krystal about the boy in the past.

"Oh, you mean fucking?" Krystal replied, as Max made an indignant sound.

"So not what I wanted to hear right now" Max blushed, making vomiting sounds.

"Good, because I don't want to hear that you and Lucas are even French kissing until your middle-aged" Krystal insisted, as Max's blush deepened even further, almost matching her red hair.

Krystal looked down to take her first bite from the sundae that Steve had brought over, digging her spoon into the ice cream to find it was rock hard. With a shake of her head, she managed to scrape a small part of the ice cream off, mixing it with the chocolate sauce and placing it against her tongue.

"Oh my god, what the fuck?!" Krystal screeched, a moment later, as all heads in Scoops Ahoy turned to her.

"Oh c'mon! It's not that bad…is it?" Steve called over to them, from the till.

"Why does this taste like barbecue sauce?" Krystal grimaced, as Robin turned to give Steve an unimpressed look.

"Did you get the barbecue sauce mixed up with chocolate, again?" Robin sighed.

"Well, why do we have them stacked next to each other in the first place?!" Steve retorted, as the customers, he was about to serve turned away and all but ran out of the shop.

"I'll get you something else. On the house. What do you fancy?" Robin asked Krystal, who mulled it over for a moment.

"Surprise me" Krystal smirked, missing the way Robin blushed as she turned around.

"…What happened this morning, Krystal? You were acting weird?" Max whispered, as soon as Robin was out of hearing distance.

"I was just tired, Max. I wasn't thinking about what I was doing. No biggie" Krystal shrugged.

"Your bed didn't look like it had been slept in and I know you weren't in Billy's room-" Max began but was quickly cut off by Krystal.

"How'd you know that?" Krystal frowned, as Max grimaced.

"Thin walls, Krystal. We have really thin walls" Max replied, as Krystal gave her a sheepish look.

"Ah…" Krystal trailed off, awkwardly.

"Here you go, bubble-gum flavour. I thought you might like to experiment…I mean…you know, cause' it's new and…here you go…" Robin stuttered, bringing over a surprisingly blue ice-cream cone.

Just as Krystal was reaching out to take the ice cream, another hand beat her to it. A large, tanned hand connected to a boy with a shit-eating grin. Krystal quirked an eyebrow at Billy as he licked at the ice cream before settling down in the booth next to her.

"It's pretty good, want a taste?" Billy suggested, leaning in close, clearly wanting her to taste it from his lips.

Krystal giggled at his ridiculous behaviour but knew that they couldn't kiss in public. They may not have had the threat of Neil's violence over their heads, but they were still stepsiblings, at least for the moment. That meant no kissing in public.

"Maybe later" Krystal grinned, grabbing the ice cream from his hand, as Max turned a green colour.

"…Who's your friend?" Billy questioned, turning to Robin.

"Robin. She works with Steve, makes his life a living hell. I think you two would get along" Krystal informed him, as Billy placed his arm around her shoulder.

"Robin, huh? Well, why don't you be a good little bird and fly away now" Billy exclaimed, as Robin looked down at her feet before doing as she was told.

"Hey! Don't be a dick" Krystal complained, shoving him off her.

"She was flirting with you, Krys. Badly. But still flirting" Billy insisted, making Krystal scoff.

"Oh, so you were jealous, were you?" Krystal suggested, with a small grin.

"I don't really see there anything to be jealous of" Billy shrugged.

"Don't you two have jobs to get to?" Max muttered, tired of their conversation.

"That we do. Will you be alright here?" Krystal asked as she pushed Billy out of the booth.

"Lucas is meeting me here soon" Max replied.

"Don't do anything I wouldn't do, Maxine" Billy told her.

"So, she can basically do anything and everything then?" Krystal teased, as Billy leaned forward to whisper something in Krystal's ear, as she shoved him away playfully.

"See you guys later! Oh, and Robin?" Krystal called over to Steve and Robin who were chatting by the tills.

"Yeah?" Robin questioned.

In response, Krystal slapped Billy round the back of the head, who let out a surprised yelp. He gave Krystal an irritated look, as he moved to rub his now sore head.

"That was for you" Krystal grinned, before grabbing Billy's hand and leading him out of the store.

Max frowned as she saw the small smile that spread across Robin's lips and wondered whether Billy was right. She hoped for Robin's sake he had been wrong. She was quickly distracted from her thoughts as she saw Steve walking over to her, a chocolate ice cream in his hand.

"I promise this one's chocolate. Absolutely no barbecue sauce" Steve told her, as Max giggled.

"…Oh, did Krystal come here yesterday?" Max questioned, figuring that maybe she had gone to see Steve as they were now more or less back to being best friends.

"No. I've only seen her once or twice since school ended" Steve shrugged, as a frown grew on Max's face.

"What? But…she's been coming here most days after her job at the pool?" Max told him, as Steve shook his head.

"Nope. She hasn't been here" Steve insisted, as worry began to claw at Max's gut.

"Then where has she been?" Max mumbled, to herself.

Krystal leaned back on her deckchair, feeling the hot sun against her skin, as she began to feel sleepy. She had finished all her lessons for the day and was well and truly tired. Who knew that teaching little kids how to swim could be so exhausting? If they weren't crying, they were asking her weird questions that she had no idea how to answer. But still, she needed the money and a summer job was still a job. A feminine laugh brought her out of her thoughts, as her eyes shot open, looking over the pool to see Mrs Wheeler and…Billy. The boy in question was sitting on the edge of her deckchair, as Karen looked ready to swoon. Krystal felt jealousy bubble up inside of her and knew instantly that Billy was trying to get back at her for what he had seen in Scoops. Every middle-aged woman at the pool would drool over Billy, but Mrs Wheeler was by far the worst. She went out of her way to find any excuse to flirt with the boy who was the same age as her daughter. Pushing herself off the deckchair, Krystal stormed towards the pair, an angry expression on her face.

"I dig the new suit, Mrs Wheeler" Billy smirked, leaning a little closer to Karen.

"Yeah, you could almost pass for thirty-five in that" Krystal announced, as Billy whipped his head around, with a smirk.

"I saw you on the chairs earlier, Krystal. Trying to work on your, uh…tan?" Mrs Wheeler retorted, giving Krystal's pale complexion an unimpressed look.

"Well, I'm a firm believer in stopping premature ageing. But I guess you wouldn't know anything about that, would you?" Krystal exclaimed, crossing her arms.

"I'd rather be mature. I'm sure Billy would agree with me" Mrs Wheeler suggested, turning to the younger boy.

"I think-" Billy began, but Krystal quickly cut him off.

"Don't you have a husband sulking around here somewhere? Or have you forgotten about him just like your children?" Krystal scoffed, as she leaned down to grab Billy's hand and pull him up.

Billy's mouth hung open as he allowed Krystal to drag him away from the older woman, and towards her deckchair. Krystal was mumbling angrily under her breath as she flopped down onto her chair, crossing her arms once again.

"You know…I think jealousy is a good look on you" Billy smirked, as he crouched down beside the deckchair.

"Do you want to keep being a dick or rub sunscreen on my back?" Krystal questioned, leaning over to grab the bottle, bringing her face close to Billy's as she did so.

"Roll over" Billy grinned, as a mischievous glint grew in Krystal's eyes.

"I bet you say that to all the girls" Krystal teased; their lips so close they were almost touching.

She pulled away a moment later and did as he asked, looking over her shoulder to see Mrs Wheeler glaring bitterly at them. At least she had managed to piss her off, Krystal thought to herself. Any thoughts of Karen quickly disappeared once she felt Billy's hands rubbing down her back, as he let his hands dip underneath her red one-piece, making her shiver. It was an hour until closing time at the pool and luckily there weren't many people left around to see Billy acting not so brotherly towards her. Hell, their relationship was probably the worst kept secret in Hawkins, but no one had the guts yet to confront her or Billy about it.

"Your mom brought Neil up today at breakfast" Billy mumbled, causing Krystal to frown.

"She misses him, doesn't she?" Krystal sighed, as she rolled over to face him.

"God knows why" Billy scoffed, as Krystal moved to let him sit on the deckchair that she was lying on.

"You know it would be okay if you missed him too…even just a little bit," Krystal told him, watching Billy shake his head.

"I don't. Not after what he did…" Billy trailed off, raising his hand to push some of her hair behind her shoulder, his fingers trailing against the faint outline of where Neil had strangled her.

"One more year and then we can get away from Neil for good" Krystal insisted.

"And your mom, Hawkins…start somewhere new" Billy nodded.

"Where I can kiss your stupid face and no one will care" Krystal grinned, as Billy shared the expression.

"I'm closing up tonight which means we'll have the showers all to ourselves…" Billy trailed off, raising an eyebrow.

"You really know how to treat a girl, don't you, Hargrove?" Krystal rolled her eyes fondly.

Billy opened his mouth to reply but seemed to be distracted by something over Krystal's shoulder. She was confused when she saw a genuine smile spread over Billy's lips, as he waved at someone. Krystal sat up and turned around to see Will standing a few metres away, with wide eyes. Billy and Will had become fast friends over summer, much to everyone's surprise. The two boys couldn't have been much more opposite, but Billy had a strange protectiveness over Will, which Krystal couldn't help but find adorable.

"You okay, Byers?" Billy frowned, when he saw how Will seemed frozen to the spot.

Krystal's forehead wrinkled, as Will rigidly placed his hand to the back of his neck and visibly shivered. His eyes were locked onto Krystal's own blue eyes as if he was too scared to look away. Billy was on his feet quickly, knowing that Will would still sometimes have 'freak outs' after what had happened to him with the Mindflayer.

"What's wrong, buddy?" Billy insisted, placing his hand on the younger boy's shoulder.

"I…it's nothing. I just…got a chill…" Will stuttered, nervously, his eyes still on Krystal.

"You're not going down with something are you?" Krystal asked, pushing herself up from the deckchair.

She came to a sudden halt when she saw how Will took a step back, looking like he was all but ready to bolt. What was he so afraid of? She had never seen him look so terrified.

"C-can you drive me home?" Will questioned, finally tearing his eyes away from Krystal, to look up at Billy.

"…Sure. Krys, can you lock up here?" Billy questioned, turning back to her.

"Will do. Pick me up in an hour?" Krystal asked, as Billy nodded.

"Leave some hot water for me" Billy winked at her, as Krystal shook her head fondly.

Krystal threw some cold water over her face, letting the feeling wash over her for a moment. Her skin had felt like it was burning for the last ten minutes, and nothing she seemed to do was able to ease it. She had managed to lock up the pool, taking deep satisfaction in throwing Mrs Wheeler out. Now all that was left to do was wait for Billy in the locker room, who was running late. Will had probably forced him to play a round of D&D, Krystal thought in amusement. Leaning against the basin, she ran a hand through her hair, feeling a strange dizziness wash over her. Before she knew what was happening, she felt bile rising in the back of her throat, beginning to cough up what she expected was the remnants of her lunch. Krystal jumped back when she saw the bright red blood she had coughed up into the sink, her eyes widening. She was quick to wash the evidence down the sink, as she looked up into the mirror and saw the blood that was still coating her lips. A creaking noise behind her had Krystal whipping her head around to see someone she had expected to see that night.

"You shouldn't be here" Krystal exclaimed, seeing Benny's boney face in the shadows.

After the incident with Neil, she had only lasted a few days before she had gone to the diner to see her 'father'. Over the coming weeks, she had gone back numerous times, but the hole in her heart from when Benny had been killed grew every time. Having her dad back was everything she wanted…but Krystal was slowly coming back to reality. After blacking out that morning, she knew that it was somehow connected to the walking corpse. The more time she spent with him, the worse her worrying symptoms seemed to get. It wasn't Benny in front of her. She was realising that now. She could already smell rotting flesh from where she was standing and was grateful that the locker room was dark. Benny's appearance had been decomposing more and more every time she saw him, as the skin on the left side of his face had all but completely worn away, leaving only bones behind.

"You didn't come to see me today, Krystal" Benny stated, as her jaw tensed.

"I was busy" Krystal muttered, averting her eyes to the ground.

"What's wrong, honey?" Benny questioned, taking a few steps forward.

"This! All of this! I'm not stupid, okay?! I know…I know this isn't real. Whatever you are…you're not my dad" Krystal explained.

"Of course I'm your dad. Who else would I be?" Benny insisted.

"I don't know. But I know you're connected to all this shit going on with me. Blacking out, spitting out blood…getting so angry all I see is red! What have you done to me?!" Krystal cried, storming forward, her hands balled into fists.

"I've made you better, Krystal" Benny told her, holding his ground.

"Better? This isn't better-" Krystal started, but Benny was quick to cut her off.

"You were a weak girl! You were nothing! So broken by your life that all you could was hide away from the world. Now, look at you. You stopped Neil. You're getting closer…" Benny trailed off, a more gravelly tone to his voice now.

"Closer to what?" Krystal frowned.

"Your potential. You could be powerful, Krystal. I can make it so that no one could ever hurt you again" Benny went on, as Krystal's eyes snapped up to his.

"…Is there any part of my dad really in there?" Krystal questioned, a moment later.

The silence that followed was enough of an answer for her. Weeks she had spent visited the walking corpse in front of her, so desperate to believe that she had been really talking to her deceased father. What monster had she really been visiting?

"Stay the hell away from me" Krystal spat out, shoving past the creature.

"You can't run from this, Krystal" The sinister voice announced, now sounding nothing like her father.

Krystal gave no response as she ran out of the locker room, feeling like she was close to hyperventilating. She could feel a burning pain spreading over her stomach, starting from where the demo-dog had bit her all those months ago. Was it already too late to save herself?

Author's Notes: I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Uh-oh, looks like Krystal could be in trouble. Will she be able to pluck up the guts to tell someone what's been happening with her? Please leave a review:)

NotRob: I loved finally being able to write that scene, but I think you could be right. Krystal is headed down a dark path. Thanks for the review:)

teenwolfismylife101: Haha, glad I'm able to get that reaction from you!

LoveFiction2020: I had you in the first half, haha. Lots more angst to come I'm afraid.

Medi2020: Aw, thank you! It's good that Krystal was finally able to deal with Neil, but we'll have to see whether she can control herself. Things are definitely going to be a bit different to the show in this story.

KirikaAndo: Thanks for letting me know! Glad you're enjoying this story so far:)

Guest: Aw, thank you:) I hope you liked this chapter too! I didn't want to make their first time too detailed just because I know that I have some readers who are pretty young and has pretty strict rules as this story is only a T rating. I am uploading this story to AO3 though, so I might do a more detailed scene on there!