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Liv was talking to Leo when she noticed Danny walk into class looking exhausted. It was evident that he hadn't gotten any sleep last night. She felt bad for him. She knew that the Byers Brothers always had a special bond. Something she would never have with her older brother Steve.

Liv sat up a little straighter as she got an idea. All morning Steve has been talking about how he was going to throw a small party with his friends and Nancy. She knew they would be inside most of the night so the rest of the house would be free since her parents were away for a few days.

Liv stood up and walked over to Danny who sat at his desk, his blue eyes slowly closing from sleepiness. Liv smiled at the sight of Danny falling asleep. She admit, he was kind of cute.

She tapped his shoulder to get his attention. The boy jumped slightly and looked up at her in alarm, but he calmed down once he realized it was only the young Harrington.

"Oh! Hey, Olivia," Danny said as he forced a small smile on his face. Liv laughed as she pulled a chair over to his desk and sat down.

"Call me, Liv. I'm only called Olivia by adults," Liv smiled brightly at Danny making the young boy smile back.

"Liv it is then," Danny said, turning his body to face her. Liv leaned closer towards him.

"Steve is having a party in our backyard today with a few of his friends and I was wondering if-" Danny cut off Liv.

"You want me to go to a party? With Steve's friends?" Danny's face was sour at the thought of having to hang out with Steve, but Liv just laughed and shook her head.

"Jesus no! I was wondering if you want to come over and hang out with Leo and I. We were planning on hanging out anyway plus the house will be empty, so no need to worry about Steve and his dumb friends. They'll be outside most of the night," Danny looked back at his desk in thought. Before he could respond Liv continued.

"I just thought with...everything going on, you might want to have a distraction. You know, get your mind off things," Liv sent Danny a soft smile. The Byers boy looked at her and by the smile on her face he almost melted. He wondered why she was being so kind to him, but he knew she was right. He needed a distraction.

"Uh, yeah. That would be fun. I'll tell my mom I'm going to Will's friends house, but I'll be there," Danny said. Liv smiled and stood up.

"Great! I'll see you at 8:30?"

"8:30"

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It had taken Danny an hour to convince his mom to let him go to Mike's house. Of course, she didn't know that he was actually going to Liv Harrington's house. He felt bad for lying to his mother, but he knew that if he had to spend another minute with his mom acting like a zombie because of the depression, he would lose it.

Danny left his bike leaning against the Harrington's garage. He let out a deep breath as heard loud music and laughing coming from the backyard. He walked up to the large front door and rang the doorbell. He stood there for a second before footsteps and laughing were heard coming down stairs.

Danny froze for a second, just realizing that he was going to be spending time with Liv Harrington. He got butterflies in his stomach at thought of hanging out with her, but he pushed the unusual feeling away.

Danny's attention turned back to the door as Liv opened it, a smile on her face.

"You came! I was kinda worried your mom wouldn't let you, but I'm glad your here. Here, come inside," she held the door open wider for the boy and he stepped inside the large house. Danny's eyes widened at how nice the house was.

"Wow. You're house is really nice and-" Liv cut him off with a laugh, "Big? Yeah I know, but it gets pretty lonely here," Liv drowned as she copied the boys actions and looked up at the ceiling.

Danny looked down confused, "What do you mean?"

"Well, I don't know if you've realized, but my parents are usually never home and when they are..." Liv hesitated but continued acting like she hadn't just been scared, but her hesitation and fear wasn't missed by the young boy.

"Yeah, usually they're not here and Steve's an ass so, it gets pretty quiet here at Casa Harrington," Liv faked a small smile. Danny frowned but quickly put up a fake smile.

"You can always come over to my house," Danny smiled, "I mean sure it's not really big and fancy, but you can still come over," he laughed.

"Please don't think of me as some snobby rich kid. I already get that enough at school," Liv pleaded and Danny nodded.

"Now let's go upstairs. Leo's in my room and we'll just stay there since Steve and his douchebag friends are outside," Liv grabbed his hand causing Danny to smile. She led him upstairs and opened the door to her room.

Inside, Leo sat on her bed reading a magazine. He looked up and smiled, "Hey Byers"

Daniel smiled back, glad that Leo was ok with him being there, "Hey Davis".

"Ok, so what do you guys want to do? We can play games, watch a movie, or OH! We could listen to the new Cyndi Lauper album! I just bought it," Danny hadn't heard much of what the young girl had said since he had been admiring her room.

The walls were a soft pink and posters covered her walls. She had four posters in her room. One of them was of Madonna, a singer that was new that year, but became an instant hit. The next two were of the movies Grease and The Outsiders, so he could only assume those were her favorite movies. The final poster was of Rob Lowe who was in The Outsiders.

Her bed was neatly made and had a stuffed dog on her bed. The book, Heidi, sat on her bed and a few tapes were scattered on her bed. She had a few photos hanged up on her wall. They were mostly of Liv and her friends, but there was one that caught the boys attention. There was a picture of a young Liv and a young Steve. They were both smiling brightly and hugging each other. Danny smiled at the photo wondering why that was the only photo of her family that she had.

"Danny? Danny?!" The Byers boy looked at Liv who was now standing in front of him, a look of concern on her face.

"Are you okay?" Danny nodded, "Yeah I'm fine, just...tired".

"Oh. We don't have to hang out if your tired-" Danny cut the girl off quickly, "No!"

Leo looked at Danny confused, causing Danny to blush out of embarrassment.

"Sorry, I do want to hang out with you guys," Liv smiled and put a hand on Danny's shoulder.

"Don't worry about it. Here, you can sit down on my bed if you want," Liv pointed to her bed and Danny sat down.

"How are you feeling man?" Leo asked sitting up straighter. Danny looked at the boy and shrugged.

"I'm as good as I can be when my brother is missing," Leo frowned at the boys response.

"I'm sorry. I can't imagine what you guys are going through," Danny smiled softly, "thanks".

The three teens sat their for a little longer talking and laughing. Danny slowly forgot about his worries for just a little as he laughed like he hadn't in a while. And for a moment, Danny was actually happy.

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"Elton John is the best! What are you talking about?"

The three preteens had been talking for 30 minutes straight about music and now were talking about their number one favorite artist.

"Elton John is amazing don't get me wrong, but...Madonna is the best" Liv raised her arms in defense.

"She just released music this year! For all we know she could be a one hit wonder," Leo said trying to make a point.

Liv gasped dramatically, "take that back!"

"No! Not until you admit that Elton John is the best!" Liv tackled Leo and Danny laughed at the two.

"I will never admit to something that is wrong and you, my friend, are wrong," Liv laughed as Leo tried to get out of her grasp.

"Let go of me! Danny help!" Leo exclaimed while Liv laughed, "you're such a baby!"

"This is really funny, so sorry Leo, you're gonna have to keep suffering," Danny laughed and Leo looked at him offended.

"Don't take her side!" Leo finally shoved Liv off him and he fixed his hair. Liv shoved Leo and sat down next to Danny on her bed. Liv looked at him, "Who's your favorite artist?", and whiteout even a moment of hesitation Danny responded.

"Fleetwood Mack! Best band ever. Hands down! You all are losers if you don't agree," Danny smiled. He had always loved the band. They had gotten him through so much. Music was his escaped, it always had been. When times got hard he knew that he could always put his Walkman on and get lost in another world. He felt himself having to get lost in that world more often now that Will was gone.

"Finally someone with good taste in music!" Leo threw his arms in the air. Liv's cheeks slowly grew red.

"I-I've actually never listened to them," Danny and Leo both looked at Liv in shock.

"What?!" The two boys said at the same time.

"No way! You've had have to heard them before," Danny looked at Liv in disbelief as she shook her head.

"Dreams?"

Another no.

"Gypsy?"

Once again, another no.

"Oh come on! The Chain!"

Liv shook her head one last time and Danny stood up from the bed and looked down at her. Confusion written all over his face.

"How can somebody not know Fleetwood Mack?! That's like someone not knowing Queen or David Bowie!" Danny ended up going on a full blown rant about rock music once he found out that Liv listened mostly to pop.

"You're coming to my house one day and we're just going to listen to all the greats," Danny sat back down and Liv laughed.

"Want to spend more time with me, huh, Byers?" Liv raised an eyebrow and Danny rolled his eyes.

"You just need help learning about good music, the classics" Leo looked between the two suspicious. Before he could tease them the noise of Steve and his friends barging into the house made them all jump. Liv groaned and got off her bed.

"Did you guys bring your swim trunks like I told you to?" Liv opened her door and peaked outside. She rolled her eyes when she saw the four teens standing downstairs, soaking wet from the pool. She walked back into her room.

"I brought mine, but why do we need them?" Danny looked at the girl confused. It was November why would they be going for a swim?

"Well, unless you want to be hearing things that will surely send you to therapy, I suggest we go outside," Liv gave Danny a look and he immediately understood. He took out his trunks with wide eyes, "Where's your nearest, yet farthest from their rooms bathroom?"

Liv laughed at Danny's sudden urgency to get out of the house. She pointed to a door in the corner of her room.

"You can change in my bathroom," Danny couldn't help but roll his eyes. Of course she has her own bathroom.

"Yeah I do, Byers. Now do you want to use it or not?" Liv smirked at him. Danny looked at her with wide eyes.

"I said that out loud...didn't I?"

"Yup. Loud and clear. Now go get changed or I'll lock you in here," Danny ran to the bathroom and shut the door.

"Please don't do that! Anything but that! I'm sorry!"

Liv shook her head laughing as she started to get changed. Once she finished she left her room and got three towels. She quickly rushed to her room and when she entered Danny stood in the middle of her room. He jumped and looked at the door scared. He relaxed once he saw it was just Liv.

"Catch," she threw the towel at the boy which he caught swiftly, "thanks".

"Leo's already outside, so we should hurry...LAST ONE IS A ROTTEN EGG!" Liv quickly bolted out of her room. Danny stood there not knowing what to do for a minute before he came to his senses.

"Hey!"

He quickly ran after the girl, almost falling down the stairs in the process. The two kids laughed as they entered her backyard. Danny was able to catch up to her and grabbed her shoulders getting her to stop.

Danny looked around, "Wow. Nice pool".

"You guys are so loud," Leo laughed but Liv just shrugged, "We have to block out the other noises of nature".

Danny bursted out laughing at Liv. Her face looked extremely disgusted at what the four teens were doing upstairs.

"Let's go swimming!" Liv threw the towels on one of the beach chairs. Danny smiled and got closer to the pool, but Leo's voice stopped him from jumping in.

"I'm not going in," Leo stated. Liv walked over to the boy who was looking down at the water.

"Why?"

"I don't feel like getting wet," he shrugged. Liv raised an eyebrow at him.

"Then why did you put on your trunks?" Leo just shrugged in response. Liv rolled her eyes and when she looked at Danny she saw that he was already looking at her. She smirked and signaled at Leo. Danny tilted his head with an amused smirk. Liv winked before she pretend to lose her balance.

"Oops!"

The Harrington girl "tripped" and pushed Leo into the pool. He screamed as he fell in with a loud splash.

"MY HAIR"

Liv and Danny bent over laughing. Leo coughed as he came up for air. He growled at Liv, but almost immediately he had to bite back a smile.

"Y-you are such a b-bitch," Leo shivered.

Danny and Liv high fived each other. They both laughed even harder when they saw that Leo's hair covered his face.

"You sound like my freaking brother! All you care about is your hair" Liv took a deep breath as she tried to calm her laughing.

"It's not funny! It takes hard work to look this good," Leo huffed as he swam towards the edge of the pool. 

"Sure, if that's what you call it," Liv rolled her eyes at her best friend. She turned around to pick up her hair and Leo was quick to get Danny's attention. He pointed to Liv who was busy and signaled for him to push her in as well.

Danny smirked and nodded. He slowly walked closer to the girl, careful to make sure she didn't notice. He smirked at Leo and shoved Liv into the pool. The girl let out a scream as she fell in. The two boys laughed at girl.

Liv came up and glared playfully at the Byers boy, "Wow Byers! I thought we had something going on. I thought a new friendship was forming between the two of us and then you stab me in the back," Liv fell back dramatically. Danny laughed, "Sorry, Harrington! Just trying to have fun!"

Danny ran and jumped into the pool. Leo and Liv gasped as they were splashed with more water. They Byers boy looked at the two with a cheeky smile.

"You two think it's funny to bully me?" Liv asked. The two boys looked at each other and shrugged.

"Uh, yeah"

Liv splashed them laughing, "You guys are so mean".

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The three had been playing and laughing even more than they had been inside the house. In the middle of all the fun, Nancy's friend, Barb, had come outside. The teen girl sat on a diving board and talked a little with the three kids.

15 minutes later, Leo got out of the pool and grabbed a towel.

"I've gotta go. I'll see you guys tomorrow. And I hope they find Will soon," Leo sent a small smile to the boy. Leo even waved at Barb, "Bye". Barb smiles sweetly and waved back.

Danny frowned as the sadness of his missing brother came back. Liv noticed this and splashed him lightly with water.

"Hey I have something that will make you feel better," Liv laughed. Danny looked at her, "What could possibly make me feel better?"

"I don't know I was just saying that to say it," Liv smiled awkwardly and Danny rolled his eyes playfully.

"I doubt you would understand what it's like to have a hard life," Danny said. He didn't mean to snap, but he had a lot of anger that was building up inside of him.

Liv laughed bitterly, "Oh, trust me, I do know".

"How? You're a Harrington. You're family is pretty much perfect," Danny swam towards her. Liv rolled her eyes.

"That's what you and everyone else in Hawkins thinks. The Harrington Family is the perfect nuclear family. That's what you guys think, right?" She looked expectantly at him.

"I mean, yeah," Danny shrugged. He never thought that maybe it was all a facade that the Harrington family was actually happy and perfect.

"Well, do I have a shocking surprise for you. My family couldn't be farther from "perfect"," Liv frowned.

"My parents are assholes to put it plainly. My dad's always working, but when he's home it's the worst. He drinks because he's miserable with his job and his life. And who gets to deal with the consequences of his anger the most? Spoiler alert it's me. He always takes his anger out at me. And guess what? My mom sits in the corner watching him yell at me or hit me. And she doesn't do anything. You want to know why? Because she's always high out of her mind. She's usually gone too. Buying drugs and cheating. And then Steve. We used to be close. Really close because we were all we had. And then he became an asshole and turned on me too. So yeah, the Harrington family isn't so "perfect" after all".

Danny looked at the girl shocked. He had no idea that- scratch that. He would never have thought that Olivia Harrington, the most popular girl at Hawkins Middle School, went through all that shit.

"Liv, I-I'm so sorry-" Liv shook her head.

"Don't be sorry. There's nothing you can do. I guess we both have shitty lives, huh?"

Danny laughs quietly, "yeah I guess we do". The boy stared at Liv not knowing what to do.

So he just gave her a hug.

A real, genuine hug. He felt bad for the girl and he felt bad for himself. He felt bad for Will and for his mom. For Jonathan. He felt bad for all those who suffered.

Liv froze before she hugged back. They both smiled, but neither one noticed. It was in that moment that time had stopped for the two kids. Everything seemed peaceful when they were in each other's embrace.

In an effort to lighten the mood, Danny dunked the two of them under water. Liv held onto the boy tightly as the two of them opened their eyes under water.

Suddenly, the lights flickered in the pool. Liv looked around and shoved Danny off of her. She went up for air and looked around at the now dark house. Danny followed her and looked around. Not even a minute later, the lights flickered back on. Liv immediately looked to see if Barb was okay, but she wasn't there.

"Where's Barb?" Liv asked swimming towards the diving board that the girl had been sitting at just a few seconds ago. Danny just shrugged, equally as confused as Liv.

"I don't maybe she left when the lights went out and we just didn't see her?" Liv kept staring at the diving board as if Barb would just magically appear.

"Yeah...maybe" Liv said. The two kids decided that it was time to get out of the pool. They dried off and went back to Liv's room. Liv offered for him to stay over since Steve's "company" had left, and he accepted.

Danny called his mother telling her that he would be staying at the "Wheeler's House". It took a little bit of convincing, but Joyce reluctantly agreed.

That night while Danny was fast asleep on the floor next to Liv's bed, the young Harrington couldn't stop thinking about what happened to Barb. Maybe she really had gone home like Danny said.

Boy, was she wrong.

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authors note ✎
Another chapter!
Better late than never ig
I hope you guys liked it <3

And yes this is the beautiful human playing Danny
The loml 🥰

~ Amelie ✰