The fire, the warmth spreading through, helps, but Max isn't going to vocalize that, not when Billy makes a threat, and she sees red for a second. Maybe her spitfire reaction speaks more to her situation than she would like, but she still keeps herself under control enough to be assertive when she steps forward and tries to stand taller and get in his face. It's part her situation, and part the fact she tried to open up to him and talk to him like she would her friends instead of the person that made her feel she had to live with her shields up on permanent, and that's how Billy repays her? With threats.

"You won't," she says full of anger. "You lay a hand on me and I will walk right out of here." She's been through too much - is going home to face too much - to allow that, even if Billy is just threatening. If he had explained the situation to her, instead, she might have handled that better.

Max's shoulders slump to everything else.

"You're lucky that's all that happened, then." She still doesn't like it. That he froze up, that he was hurt. That the monsters showed up here. The monsters. Part of her goes numb and she barely hears what Billy says next. There's no way Vecna can find them here, can he?

She shakes her head to refocus, then just stares at Billy for a second when his question registers with her.

"Doesn't matter. He's gone," Max tells him, and her eyes don't quite meet his when she does. It's not a lie, just a complete omission. She doesn't want to have this conversation, and - "Don't waste your time haunting that asshole. There's probably better things you could do." Or they can make the most of the time they have now? Assuming they don't both blow it up into ashes.