"And just because you know the truth, it doesn't mean you're in our party. You do know that, right?"

"Yeah, I know. I mean, why would you want a stupid zoomer in your party anyway? I'm just saying, El? She sounds like she was really awesome."

"Yeah, she was. Until that thing took her, just like it took Bob."

Walking into the kitchen, Frankie couldn't help but narrow her eyes at the scene that just unfolded. Max was sitting on the floor facing forward and Mike had just got up to storm off. Raising an eyebrow and cocking her head to the side threateningly as the boy walked towards her to leave the room, Frankie folded her arms over her chest and stared him down until he left. Seeing him stiffen up, the older girl smirked before walking towards the sink area where Max was sitting. Plopping down besides her, she grabbed a piece of cardboard so she could begin to help.

"What a dick, right?" Frankie ended the silence abruptly and began stretching out the roll of tape. Seeing Max's wide eyes, she continued. "Is that inappropriate to say about an eighth grader? I mean, I'm just being honest." Both girls shared a wide eyed look before bursting out in laughter. As the laughter died down, Frankie got on her knees and helped Max wrap the cardboard around the chair.

Frankie had learned a long time ago thanks to Chester that laughter was the best medicine out there. Hearing Max laugh after that really insecure talk with Mike, made Frankie smile. She didn't understand how a thirteen year old could be so rude and thoughtless. She thought Dustin was a mess around Max, talk about disaster when Mike was around. The older girl couldn't help but hope that Lucas was at least cordial to the red head.

"Just because he's friends with your friends doesn't mean that you should take his shit." Frankie said, after a few minutes with a nonchalance that made Max do a double take.

The younger girl studied the brunette, whose hands and eyes were fixated on cardboard. She didn't know how to explain what she was feeling. She wasn't sure she wanted to even talk about what she was feeling, but she knew she could trust Frankie. "I-I don't want to be angry." Looking down at her hands, she took a deep breath and continued. "There's already so much anger in my life, that I'm just afraid to be angry?" She ended her sentence like a question, gripping onto her own hands for dear life. "I don't want to be that person, Frankie. I don't want to be the person who uses force and loud words to get what they want. To scare people into listening to them. If Mike doesn't like me, I don't want to make him."

Listening to Max's thoughtful words, Frankie was stunned. She never expected such a powerful answer to come out of such a small person. Turning her head to look at the younger girl, Frankie felt her heart break at the tears threatening to fall out of Max's eyes. Crawling over to the redhead, Frankie wrapped her arms around her and brought her close to her chest.

"There's a difference between being angry because you want to and being angry because you have to. Sometimes, we have to be the person we don't want to be so that we can be the person we do. We do not let people walk all over us because it's the easier thing to do, we stick up for ourselves because its hard and because we're worth it." Placing her cheek against the top of Max's head, Frankie hoped that Max understood what she meant. She wanted nothing but happiness and content for the younger girl.

Lifting her head up from Frankie's chest, Max sniffed a bit wiping her eyes with the back of her hand. The thirteen year old girl had thought it was kind of weird that Dustin had once called Frankie his older sister, but now she knew what he meant, because that's what Frankie Walsh was. She was the big sister that you always wanted, the kind that when bad things were happening was a total mess but always knew what to say in the end even if she did start off rough. She was the kind of person you could look up too and rely on, but always know that you had to protect her as well because she wasn't perfect. She was the type of person that would be there for you no matter what, even if a pack of Demo-dogs were coming your way. Frankie was Max's big sister, and for the first time in forever, Max loved someone in her family.

"I'm so glad I met you Maxine Mayfield." The older girl whispered, smiling gently at the girl who now sat in front of her.

"I'm so glad I met you too Franny Walsh." The younger girl whispered back, cracking a shaky but happy smile. Frankie placed a piece of loose hair behind the girl's freckled ear and hugged her once more reveling in their little heart to heart.

"Now let's get back to not dying, shall we?" The two girls laughed before they continued disguising things they needed to bring into the shed. Smiling at one another, they both knew that this bond, whatever it was, was something special and they were glad to have it.

AUTHORS NOTE

this is just a very short and sweet chapter that I wanted to include because I love Frankie and Max's relationship and I hope you guys got major feels from this chapter because I had them when I wrote it lol thank you to everyone who reads this story, I cannot believe it is coming to an end soon its kind of crazy also I was rewatching the final episode a couple days ago and I got so nervous thinking about writing the Billy/Steve fight scene but expect some beautiful quotes and a sense of pride when you read whenever I post it lol well thank you guys and please comment about what you think will happen for the Billy/Steve/Frankie fight scene I'd love to see what you guys come up with anyways stay sexy and don't get murdered!!!