Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

When they'd finally won this time—Will had let them know he couldn't feel Vecna anymore. He'd sworn it—with El and her once-dormant powers, Robin, Steve, and Nancy with fiery Molotov Cocktails in the Upside Down, Eddie Munson, the newest member of their party, emerging victorious despite his very insistent claim that all he could do was run—he hadn't—not this time—and he was alive, Dustin dragging Eddie back to the trailer because he needed a doctor, damnit, even though he'd injured his own leg in the process, and Max, risking her own life, volunteering as bait so they'd win, Lucas watching her arm snap before El had destroyed Vecna with one swift hand-motion. Max had been so sure she would die then, in Vecna's mindscape, her lifeless body stagnant inside of Victor Creel's house. Kate Bush the Vecna-Slayer was what she'd taken to calling her now. If she hadn't had her Walkman, Max was very confident she'd be dead. 'Vecna'd' which was what they'd been calling it—suffering the same fate as poor Chrissy Cunningham. Max saw the light leave Eddie's eyes anytime she was brought up. She hadn't realized how unprepared she was until she was laying in Lucas' arms, rampantly breathing despite the protests from her left arm, gasping and pleading to whatever higher power there was that she'd be okay—that she'd make it.

She had. Max had survived, the antiseptic smell of the hospital room still strong despite her 2 week long stay. Eddie was in the room next door, though they'd decided to leave the connecting door open because neither of them had anything better to do. The party, including the Byers' and Hopper—who'd miraculously risen from the death, something about the KGB as Murray had put it—since they'd returned from the West Coast with stories of their own, had decided to plan a small D&D campaign since Eddie was still in the hospital. He'd been overjoyed, of course, and had been helping Max with her character sheet since the others left for lunch. They couldn't spend all their time in the Hawkins Trauma Recovery facility, anyhow. 

As Max doodled on her character description, she got to thinking about El—how brave she'd been in Max's own fucked up Snowball memory, facing Vecna without a care in the world. Max admired El's bravery a lot. In all honesty, it was why she'd wanted to survive—to keep going. When Max had originally been put into a medically-induced coma due to the trauma she'd received in her head, El had visited her. It was weird. She'd been in Hopper's old cabin suddenly, sitting in El's room, Madonna's Material Girl  playing softly on the stereo beside El's bed. Then she'd seen her—El—her hair had been buzzed much like it had been in her Snowball memory, except this time, she was wearing a worn flannel and baggy jeans. Max thought she looked good— pretty —and it was the truth. El smiled when she noticed Max sitting on her bed and she pulled her into a warm hug. Max wanted to make El smile like that all the time, she realized. 

"How are you?" El asked softly, grabbing one of Max's hands. The smile never left her face, in fact it grew when Max replied. 

"Never better." Max made to nudge El with her casted arm but ended up tipping over onto the pile of stuffed animals El had. Giggles abrupted in the room and Max found herself smiling despite the embarrassment. 

Max knew what this was. She wasn't naive. She'd felt the same way with Lucas once upon a time. Their breakup had been mutual—she'd always love him, and he'd love her, but she found they were better friends than lovers. She was happy where things were between them. Truthfully, Max had missed the lingering stares, too-long touches, and logistics of having a crush on someone. 

"I need you to .. stay out of things. I want to make sure you are safe. " El whispered, still holding onto Max's hand. She was worried El could feel her heart pulsating in her palm. 

"El, even if you were here, I would've volunteered myself as bait, okay? I'm glad you were there, I am, but I'd already survived him before. I knew the risks when I agreed to talk to Lucas at the arcade." At El's widened, doe eyes, Max realized she had no idea what she was talking about. "Long story—I promise I'm safe now. Vecna's gone—dead. Eddie said he was Michael Myers'd—another long story—just. You don't have anything to worry about, okay? I swear." El didn't seem convinced but she nodded anyway and that was that. The room faded like spilt watercolors and suddenly, Max was back in her own head. No El. Right. 

"Max." Eddie's voice carried through the room, effectively snapping her out of her post-Vecna daydream. "You almost done? Hopper called. They're on their way back." 

"Uh, yeah. Just finishing the last touches on my character design. I look totally badass, right?" 

"Totally." Eddie peers over her shoulder. "Our very own Death Domain Cleric. Get it? Since you rose from the dead? No? Okay." She can't help but smile. Eddie had undoubtedly been great company during her time at the hospital and she'd gotten to see a side of him that most didn't. He was soft where it counted yet loud and boisterous about the things he was passionate about—D&D being one of them. 

"Does that make you a Bard then? Since you totally distracted those bats from the Creel house?  Dustin never shuts up about that. You're kind of the Master of Puppets. Literally." And Eddie had the audacity to look bashful about it, like he couldn't believe Max was complimenting him. She laughed for him at her dumb joke.

"How about I show you and El when we get out of here." He teases, wiggling his eyebrows as Max's face reddens. She had been so sure she'd been subtle. 

"Fine. Whatever." 

The door busts open at once, causing both their heads to whip toward the ruckus—Dustin and Lucas were the first to enter, arguing about something probably-dumb-and-pointless, next came Will and El, both quiet and smiling fondly at whatever was happening in front of him, and Mike was last, looking like he'd rather be anywhere but. 

"Alright, travelers," Eddie clasps his hands together, demanding the room's attention. "Shall we begin?"

"You wander into a damp cave, the sounds of trickling water from overhead continue forming numerous puddles on the stoned floors. As you scan within, albeit without anything but your lanterns, you hear a sound. Stepping closer, it becomes apparent you aren't alone. Sure, every cave makes noises. That's what's expected, right?" A chorus of yes's filled the room. "Except .. not this time. As you look closer, the sounds grow louder and louder. That's when you smell it. It's as if the walls are rotting, the smell of mangled flesh fills your senses and you squirm to cover your noses. Then you notice the pair of eyes in the darkest corner of the cave." Eddie slams a figurine onto the table, Max and Lucas jumping from the sudden noise. They smile at each other knowingly, though instead of turning back to the board in front of her, Max peers over at El curiously, watching her doe brown eyes stare at Eddie apprehensively. She smiles when she notices Max's gaze and Max doesn't tear away like she usually does. Instead, her face reddens—a lot. Enough for Dustin to say something. 

"Guys— pay attention. We haven't had a serious campaign in weeks. Besides, El barely knows how to play." Eddie ruffles Dustin's head, appreciative of the gesture. He nods at Max knowingly and returns to the game, his booming narrator's voice causing El's eyes to grow impossibly wider. 

" It is a Troglodyte!" The room dissolves into chaos. Dustin mumbles a string of curses, Lucas and Mike start bickering over how to defeat their next battle, and Will seems deep in thought, always having been the brain of the party. It was something Max would always admire. El looks confused again, a question on the tip of her tongue but Eddie beats her to it, pointing to the borrowed die she neatly organized to the left of her character sheet.

"How about you roll for initiative." He tells the room. "Your D20," He whispers to El. She nods. Max grabs her own set of dies she'd gotten for her birthday last year from Mike—something about finally joining the party 'for real' now. Whatever that meant. 

As Max shuffled the die in her hands, she snuck another glance at El who, for some reason, had a nose bleed. It was then that Max saw the borrowed die shuffling in the air behind El's head. Will seemed to think this was the funniest thing in the world, Lucas stifling a laugh of his own. As Eddie caught on, she saw the tired yet fond look in his eyes.

"Maybe we should wrap it up and continue tomorrow?" Max asked the room. Of course, she was met with displeased groans and protests from everyone but Will and El. 

"Red's right. I'm not as fit as I used to be." He feigned a yawn, pointing at his bandaged sides and started closing up his manuals, snatching both of El's die out of the air. Eddie had gotten used to her powers relatively quickly. 

El wiped her nose subtly with her sleeve, turning to Max with a grin. Max's heart was in her throat. When El looked at her like that—like she was in on some big, grand secret the others weren't privy to—like she was the only one in the room. Max knew it was silly to get hung up on small things like that but damnit, she couldn't help it. El was this big ball of light that, for some reason, seemed to beam in on Max and Max alone. Not that she minded in the slightest. She loved talking to El about anything. In fact, sometimes she wondered what would happen if she told her she was bisexual. During a fleeting moment of courage and a helpful tip from Steve, she'd come out to Robin Buckley in the break room of Family Video. The first thing Robin did was envelop her in a hug, promising her she was normal and that liking girls was indeed okay. But that was the thing. Max liked both. She hadn't been sure there would be a word for something like that. Sure, she'd heard about Bowie—everyone had—but this was different. She wasn't some famous popstar living in LA. She was Max Mayfield, resident of Hawkins, Indiana. 

Robin had told her about bisexuality and suddenly everything felt okay. Like she could breathe again. Max hadn't been the weird social outcast like she'd thought she'd been. She could have a crush on El and acknowledge that, yes, Tom Cruise was attractive. But so was Kate Bush. 

"Hey Red, doing alright?" It was Eddie. El was still sitting next to her, toying with the blue bracelet on her wrist. Max nodded and got up to use the restroom, her face reddening when El noticed, offering a warm smile as she closed the door. She'd need to get this in check. And fast.

As she stared at her reflection, Max's expression darkened as she traced the deep purple bruises on the side of her neck. Her eyebags were just as bad, the hospital bed not being the most comfortable thing in the world but she knew that wasn't the reason why she wasn't getting any sleep. The nightmares that woke her with a scream or the sounds Eddie made when he thought he was the only one awake, muffled cries about poor Chrissy Cunningham and the horrific things he'd witnessed during Spring Break, only being some of it. There was irony to that somewhere, she thought bitterly. Something about how Spring Break was supposed to be a nice, enjoyable not-vacation from school where they'd bike down to the gas station and stock up on snacks, watch a stupid slasher movie, or go bother Eddie about who knows what. But that wasn't what happened, was it.

Splashing her face with water, Max left the restroom and reclaimed her spot on Eddie's bed next to El. It was just the two of them, Eddie off doing whatever it was he did—probably talking to Steve about something. He did that a lot lately—talking to Steve. Max, unable to help herself, smiled when El's eyes widened. 

"What's up?" Max asks, almost uncertainly but she knows better. It's only El after all, which, okay, is probably why she's sweating buckets right now.

"I am not sure." El replies, unsure of herself. She looks confused about something. Max can share the sentiment. 

And Max leaves it at that. One of the great things about El's company is that they can sit in silence together. She finds it's never awkward. 

"I need to tell you-" El begins, though she's promptly cut off by Eddie stumbling back into the room. Max sighs and helps El up with her uncast arm, leading her to the door. Hopper was probably waiting for her. 

"I will see you tomorrow, okay?" El says, something unknown glistening in her eyes. Max thinks she looks really pretty like this.

"Tomorrow." And it's a promise.

Max decides El deserves to know the truth after a tricky conversation with Eddie and Robin. See, Max trusted Robin with her secret because she was also queer. Robin exclusively liked girls, though, which wasn't an issue for Max since she needed advice for that particular side of things anyway. She figured she'd tell Eddie since, well, she wasn't blind, okay? She saw the lingering stares and intentional touches he gave Steve—and good news for Eddie; Steve seemed just as into it. Meanwhile, Max wasn't sure how El was feeling. She'd noticed the rift between her and Mike, and Will had let it slip that the two had broken up over the break. Where they had found the time for that, Max had no clue. Besides, just because El wasn't seeing anyone didn't mean she'd somehow developed a crush on Max in the few days they'd had together since she'd woken up from her coma. Things like that didn't happen. 

"Okay, Munson. I'm gonna tell you something really personal and I need you to promise that you won't, like, hate me or whatever. Because I don't think I can handle that right now." Robin looked at her proudly from the chair she was sitting in, a subtle thumbs up from where her arm was dangling.

"It can't be that bad, right? What, did you step on one of my D&D figurines?" He jokes, oblivious to Max's anxiety. 

"Eddie," Robin chides softly. She must've noticed Max's pinched expression. 

"I'm sorry," And he sounds like he means it. Genuinely. "What did you want to tell me?" 

"I'm .. God why is it so hard to say. I .. I'm bisexual and I'm like, really crushing on El which is totally inconvenient for me because I'm pretty sure she's straight." What a mouth full. "Sorry," She mutters, more toward herself. 

Eddie smiles at her, beaming and she can't help but return the favor the favor. 

"I'm really proud of you, Mayfield. It takes a lot of courage to admit that out loud. You know Kirk Hammett? Metallica?" Max shakes her head. She knows of the group, though. "We're gonna have to change that, red. Anyways, he's Metallica's lead guitarist and he's so hot. Like, we're talking Hawkins-in-July levels of hot, Mayfield." Robin's cackling from her spot in the room and Max can't help but join in. She hasn't felt this comfortable in weeks.

"We're here to talk about El." Robin reminds them, eyes crinkled from smiling. 

Right. El.

"I know she and Mike broke up over the break but. I don't know .. I just feel conflicted. If I tell her I like her and, you know, she doesn't reciprocate, what if she gets upset with me? Or what if things are awkward and she doesn't talk to me anymore." 

Robin and Eddie simultaneously gasp, eyeing each other. 

"You didn't tell us she and Wheeler weren't together anymore. That changes everything!" Eddie seems happy about this but Max is still uncertain. 

"How?" She wonders out loud. 

"Because I'm not an idiot, red. I see the way she looks at you." Robin nods excitedly and Max's face reddens. "Like .. you're the only one in the room. Super romantic shit, sure, but the question of the hour is how you're going to respond to this." He pauses, deep in thought. "I think you should tell her." 

"No! No way. Nope. Never." Because, god, would that be embarrassing. Even worse if Eddie was a total idiot and couldn't differentiate between romantic and platonic gestures. "I don't think I could handle her telling me to stop hanging out with her. That would be overkill. She's my best friend, Eddie." Max anxiously played with the hospital bedding, avoiding Eddie's eyes. Robin speaks up from her spot in the room.

"Well, maybe you could at least tell her you're bisexual. See how she reacts to that, though I can already tell you she won't care. She stares at you like you've hung the stars, Max." And Max feels like she probably does the same. 

"Fine. Fine! I'll tell her later when she drops by with my comics. If shit goes south, I'm blaming you two by the way." She says with no real malice in her voice. Deep down, she knew El wouldn't care but she couldn't help the small part of her brain that said what if.

After Robin had left—something about a date with Nancy, she'd said—Max headed back to her room for a quick nap before El arrived, though because she couldn't stop thinking, she ended up lying awake the entire time. Max had trouble shutting her brain off after everything with Vecna. She was barely getting any sleep these days because of the nightmares and constant reminders of the night she almost died. Many of the dreams were the same; she was with Lucas inside of Victor Creel's house, talking about how she'd really felt about Billy—something she hadn't ever voiced before—and when Max opened her eyes, she was in the upside down, except it wasn't like Vecna's mindscape. It was really the upside down. She wasn't sure what urged her to check Eddie's trailer in her dream but she always found herself wandering there, probably looking for the portal that was on his ceiling. When she got there, though, it was closed. Every portal was. 

It felt like she'd been abandoned by her friends, left to rot in the coldest, darkest place she'd ever been. It terrified her. Eventually, she'd wake up in a pool of sweat, gasping as she clutched the sheets of her bed, trying to adjust to her surroundings. Hawkins. Hospital. Eddie. 

After a while, Max had started sleeping on the couch, moving most of her spare blankets into Eddie's room. It was always nice to wake up with someone nearby. She knew he'd been having nightmares as well. And that he probably wasn't getting as much sleep as he let on. How anybody could sleep after the things they'd seen was beyond her. She wasn't sure how any of them smiled. 

When El came to visit her, things were better. Max loved all of her friends and she was grateful they came as often as they did, but when El came alone, Max enjoyed herself a lot more. Reminiscent of the previous summer, Max reveled in the rare opportunity to spend time with El without the added gaggle that were her other friends. Today, Eddie had been given speaker privileges, and she could hear the fast and rhythmic sounds of what she assumed was Metallica. Billy had listened to them a lot. Her mother had kept the cassettes after Starcourt and she'd been thinking about giving them to Eddie anyways. 

"Hey Red, c'mere." Eddie requests from the other room. Their doors were open today like most. Max slipped out of her bed and padded across the floor until she was standing at the foot of Eddie's bed. He was going through boxes of what appeared to be mixtapes. 

"What's up?" Max asks, tucking a loose strand of fiery hair behind her ear. 

"I wanted to give you something." Suddenly, he stops digging through his boxes, holding the mixtape he'd come across close to his chest with a smile, something akin to nostalgia on his face. 

"A mixtape?" She wonders aloud.

"Not just any mixtape, Mayfield. These were the very first songs I ever compiled together after I started getting into Thrash. I bestow this gift upon you with great joy. May you treat her well." He nudges the cassette toward her and she hesitantly plucks it off of the bed, inspecting the messy scrawl on the front. No Poser Shit was what it read and the angry skulls on each side made Max smile. 

"What if I wanted to listen to it with you though? I don't know the first thing about metal. My brother — Billy — he used to listen to Metallica, I think. I don't know. Does it really matter? Fuck him." She mutters the last part toward herself. 

"Whatever you wanna do, Red. We can listen to these for real when we finally get the hell out of this prison." Eddie hit the head of his bed for good measure and started stowing the boxes and boxes of cassettes underneath his bed. 

Before Max could properly assist though, someone softly knocked on the door, sounding uncertain. 

It was El. 

She scurried into the room before the door shut behind her, both hands hidden in the sleeves of her oversized jacket, the hood overtop her head just to be safe—nobody had questioned El's sudden return and Max wondered if Dr. Owens had anything to do with it. Hopper stood behind her, a protective hand resting on her shoulder as she offered both Max and Eddie a small wave. He nodded at the three of them before slipping back out the way he came in and Max nudged El toward her room, hoping she'd be able to get .. this .. out of the way.

El, with a small smile resting on her face, sat on the foot of Max's bed, knowing Max would need the extra support yet she couldn't sit down, opting to anxiously pace around her room. 

"I kept my promise." El said after an airy silence, obviously picking up on the discomfort from Max's end. 

"And I'm really grateful for that," Max starts, voice trailing off. She was never good at this sort of thing. The big speeches were usually left to people like Dustin and Nancy. Not someone so scarred. Someone like Max. 

"There was something I needed to tell you and I'm really scared to see how you'll react—if this'll .. ruin everything. I just got you back after we've been apart for so long. I don't know what I'd do if we stopped talking—maybe forever." And that was the truth. Max wasn't sure how El would take the news. She was almost positive, after a lot of coaxing from both Robin and Eddie, that El wasn't homophobic but the anxious what if niggling in the back of her mind made her restless. Cautious. Worried. 

"Nothing," El's wide, doe eyes bore into Max's. "Could ever make me hate you, Max. I swear. " And okay—she sounded very sincere, but this was still big. And Max was still scared. Shamelessly, Max remembered how easy things had been she was living in California—when miss-matched socks and sand in her bedsheets were the worst of her problems. When her parents were still together. No stepdad. No Billy. 

"Do you know who Freddie Mercury is?" Max asked El, who, of course, shook her head no. Max sighed. This was going to be harder than she thought. "Well—Freddie Mercury likes girls. Like, how you and Mike were when you two were .." She flounders, throwing her hands up. "Dating. He'd so date a girl. But." And El, following her every word, widens her eyes in anticipation. "Freddie would also date a guy." El nods like Max's palms weren't dripping with sweat. 

"I am the same. Except I have already been with a boy before. I'd like to try with a girl, though." El says, smiling at Max, who's gawking. 

"You're serious?" Max says, a little too hopeful. Gleeful. 

"Yes? Is that not okay?" El asks, confused. Max rushes to save herself. 

"No- No! I mean- Yes! Yes it's okay to like girls- both! I do too. That's- That's what I was trying to tell you. I didn't expect you to be so chill about it or, y'know, say what I've dreamed about." Max's face reddens immediately at the admission that yes, she indeed dreams about El on the regular. When she sleeps, of course. Which is rare these days but permitted. 

"I'm sorry if I made that .. weird. Or something." And El doesn't look upset in the least. In fact, she's smiling up at Max from her spot on the bed, hands tangled in the off-white sheets. The way the sun, hidden behind the stormy clouds, shone through the window just so, resting on El's face was so .. pretty. El was beautiful, and Max thought she deserved to know as much. 

"Nothing is weird. I am thankful you trusted me enough to say that. You are very brave, Max. You always have been." Maybe it was the earnest way she held herself, the way El was so honest all the time, but Max suddenly felt small—not anxious anymore, just .. she couldn't place this feeling. It was different, though. That she knew.

Max thought about how her palms grew sweaty when El spoke about something she was passionate about, how her heart fluttered in her chest, threatening to break free—the way her stomach flipped when El so much as smiled in her direction, when she laughed at one of Max's dumb jokes. The way she selflessly visited Max nearly everyday despite being in hiding, spending her spring break at Max's bedside—even when she'd been in her coma. 

She couldn't believe how dumb she'd been. Max was only 15. Obviously she wasn't the most experienced when it came to romance or dating but .. she'd never felt this way about anybody before. She was in love with El—everything about her made her days even better, even the long ones where she could barely move her arm because of the pain. When she thought of El, she was motivated to keep going—to push past the pain and spend time with her friends, listen to music, draw, something she'd picked up on in the hospital thanks to Will and Erica (each giving Max old coloring supplies they'd insisted they weren't using anymore—it took 3o minutes of coaxing for Max to accept the gift). 

"El, I like you." Max blurted, slamming her un-casted hand over her mouth when she'd realized what she'd done. Okay. She was doing this now. 

"I like you too, Max!" El said, smiling warmly. 

"No- No I mean I really, really like you." 

"I really, really like you, too!" Maybe El was confused? Max sighed, exasperated.

"Maybe we should stop repeating each other?" It was meant to be a joke but because of how anxious she was, it came out snippier than intended. El's face fell and Max's heart dropped. She never wanted to cause that again. El deserved to smile, to laugh, to be happy. 

Max shuffled over and sat beside El on the hospital bed, grabbing both of her hands. Game time. 

"The moment we met in the Byers' old house, I knew we were going to be friends—best friends. Don't ask me how. I just saw your slicked back hair and cool makeup and thought to myself, 'Wow! I need to be friends with her! She's a total badass.'" Max paused, searching El's eyes for something. Anything. They were filled with anticipation, so she continued. "Obviously we didn't actually start talking until last summer but I'm so, so glad we did. I looked forward to seeing you everyday, even after Starcourt with the threat of you moving away. I wanted to spend all my time with you." El nodded, following Max's every word. She sucked in a breath. Here goes nothing. "I couldn't explain why I wanted you and Mike to break up so badly that summer. When you came over and asked me to help, I'd been over the moon. I'd encouraged you to break up with him. I think I know why now, though. I like you, El. Not- Not in a friendship way—in a 'Freddie Mercury also likes boys' way except- except we're both- we're both girls." Max desperately scanned El's face, searching for something—anything. "Is- is that okay?" Her voice was barely above a whisper. 

El wasn't saying anything. Why wasn't she fucking saying anything? Max wanted to cry—her ears were ringing. She'd ruined everything. She couldn't take it back now. It was over. With the threat of tears, she made to pull her hands back but El didn't let go. 

"Like you said, maybe we should stop repeating each other. I like you too, Max." El admitted, like it was the easiest thing in the world. A mixture of emotions flooded Max's senses. Relief, of course, because El felt the same way, but she was also scared. What did this mean for them? What would they do now? 

"I've never- I've never been with a girl before." Max admitted apprehensively, the fear seeping into her voice. 

"Me neither." El gripped Max's hands tighter, grounding her. 

They sat in silence for a while, soaking in each other's presence, letting what had just been said linger in the air. There was so much to think about. 

"We can do it together." Max finally said, looking into El's eyes for the first time since her confession. They were widened like always, and Max could tell El was nervous, but it was going to be okay. They would figure this out together. 

"Together." And El kept her promises. 

It had been a week. Max and Eddie were finally back home, the all-white walls and familiar halls of Hawkins Trauma Recovery Center not at all missed. Once they'd gotten back to the trailer park (Eddie's uncle, Wayne Munson, had offered her a ride. Her mother was conveniently at work like usual and she would've been stranded otherwise. Plus, it wasn't like they weren't neighbors), Eddie reminded her she'd need to be out the door no later than 7 which they both knew was a lie. Eddie was always late to school—he was practically known for showing up to class 30 minutes late, dazed and confused about his whereabouts. In turn, she tuned Eddie's Walkie Talkie to the special channel Dustin and Lucas had set up after the second time they'd gone through Upside Down-related shit—being Max's first. He'd said nothing, yet the look on his face gave him away. Eddie was always surprised when somebody was nice to him. It made Max sad to see. He was arguably the nicest one out of all of them. 

"Thanks, red." He made to ruffle her hair but Max's reflexes, which, according to Lucas, were Hawkins High Basketball Team-ready, saved her. 

"Don't thank me for being a decent person, Munson. You're one of us now." She flipped him off in good nature and moved to help him move some of his boxes into the new trailer, curtesy of the Government. The one she was carrying was marked "Eddie's Shit. Fragile!!!!" With about thirty explanation points in, funnily enough, Steve's handwriting. Huh. When had that happened. 

"Harrington told me the same thing, actually." Eddie's face reddened and he pointedly avoided Max's general gaze. She was a bit of a hard ass, okay? She wiggled her eyebrows in response and nudged his shoulder playfully. 

"Ooh," She drew out, exaggerated. "You and Harrington! That's new. Was he here last night because I can so tell he wrote this, dude." Eddie sputtered at Max's analysis and stalked into the trailer, Max following with a gleeful smile on her face. 

"Can it, Mayfield. Or should I ask about you and El?" An obvious jab but Max was proud of her fledgling relationship, thank you very much. El had taken to calling Max her girlfriend around the party and nobody was surprised. Will and Lucas quietly congratulated them while Dustin and Mike bickered on and on about something completely pointless and irrelevant as they usually did (later on though, Mike privately comm'd her and congratulated her and El, and Dustin hugged her at school the next day, immediately boasting about how he'd 'called it' at lunch much to Mike's complaints. She loved them, she did) and she was happy for the first time in a while.

She hadn't felt this good since the summer she'd spent with El. Obviously she was still dealing with the aftermath of Vecna, Ms. Kelley insisting she visited twice a week now, and they were almost sophomores which meant more homework and finals, but she had Nancy and Robin and Eddie for studying. Lucas was still on the basketball team despite everything, telling Max about how he'd been asked to play an official position during one of their weekly catch up calls in the channel they'd once used while they were dating (Erica dubbed it Lucas and Max—3000% platonic much to their dismay) and she was just so, so happy. 

Vecna reminded her not to take life for granted—to keep your friends close. Anything can happen to those you love and Max had almost been victim of that. She'd been depressed—she still was (things like that, the trauma she'd faced throughout the years, didn't just go away. Even if she was starting to feel better—perk up, the nightmares that overtook her every night, leaving her gasping for air and drenched in sweat despite her mother forgetting to pay the heating bill) and she could acknowledge the progress she was making while admitting that, yes, she was still sad—a lot of the time. Max was grateful she had the support group she did. When she wanted to stop, to give up, she called El (or Lucas if El wasn't available due to the home schooling program Joyce was trying) and they could talk for hours and hours and hours without growing bored. Much like their sleepovers, they enjoyed each other's company and silence wasn't an awkward thing—in fact, it was welcomed. Max liked to read and El, who'd picked up crocheting in California, would do her own thing, often making Max whatever she'd learned next. 

"Hey red, you okay?" Eddie asked from the drivers seat. He'd started driving her to school, insisting they were going the same way anyway. And yeah—zoning out was a new thing she'd been doing since she'd gotten out of the hospital. 

"I'm good." A short, yet honest answer. 

Wordlessly, Eddie slipped the familiar cassette into his van's cassette player and turned the volume up, eyeing Max knowingly. She recognized the first one, the familiar chords pouring through the speakers. 

"This is called Seek & Destroy—it's by Metallica on their first album Kill 'Em All. Absolutely amazing." Max nods her head along to the drum beat. She'd once despised music like this because it reminded her of her brother. Now? It reminded her of Eddie. It was different—good different. 

"I like this one." She whispers, very invested in the guitar solo-thing that was going on. Suddenly, her walkie crackled to life, El's groggy morning voice a little muffled—probably from her pillows. Max swooped into her backpack and grabbed it, turning down Eddie's music as well. 

"'Morning, Max. Have you left for school yet?" There was background noise, two voice's she recognized belonging to Joyce and Hopper. They must be cooking breakfast. 

"Yup! In the Death-Mobile as we speak." That startles a laugh out of both El and Eddie before he realizes she's insulting his van and he reaches over to grab her walkie talkie, dangerously may Max add. She swats at him, pointing at the road in front of them. 

"Pay attention, loser. Death by 'Eddie Munson being a dumb ass' would be the worst way to go out." She snickers.

"Putting that on my tombstone, by the way." He turns the music up slightly, rolling down the window. It was early April now, meaning it was in-between spring and summer. The weather couldn't decide what it wanted to do. Max shuddered. 

"I hope you have a good day. Are we still on for tonight?" El asks shyly. Max swears she heard someone—probably Will—whoop in the background but it gets cut off. She laughs to herself. 

"Wouldn't miss it, I promise, though I have a proposition." 

"I am listening?" El says. 

"Why don't we move our destination to Edward's tonight so we can get free food and a heater. Then maybe your mom can come pick us up on the way home from work?" Max asks, hoping she hasn't intruded. Look, it was a good plan. Originally, they'd decided to hang out at Max's but her mother had been called in for an emergency shift and the bills still hadn't been paid. She didn't want El to freeze, plus Eddie was more than happy to host, even if he was frowning out at the road. 

"Put that frown upside down. You love us, truly." She flicks his shoulder and laughs. 

"It's just- well alright. But Steve's gonna be there. You twerps can't say anything. Promise me, red." And he looks serious so she nods. 

"Gotcha. Anyway El, what did you think? Is Joyce okay with it? I wouldn't want to like- intrude." She hopes she doesn't sound as nervous as she feels. 

"You're not intruding on anything, sweetie." Joyce's voice rings through the talkie and Max smiles. Everyone loves Joyce. "I'll be off tonight at 10 so if you're wanting to get to the cabin earlier, Hop might be able to grab you guys before his shift." 

"No, 10 works. Thanks, Joyce." And she meant it. 

"I will see you tonight, Max. Have a good day." El whispered before switching off her walkie. Max was, as usual, starstruck after any interaction with El—her girlfriend—holy shit. She could say that now. El was her girlfriend. 

"She totally used her Max-voice." Eddie teased. They were approaching the school, though everything was a bit backed up. Nothing unusual. 

"There's no Max-voice, idiot." Max was sure her face was impossibly red—El had that affect on her. In a way, she always had. Max wasn't sure why her face had been so red the very first night she and El met (well, more of an we-looked-at-each-other moment than an actual interaction, but her face had still been red nonetheless). 

"There so is. Obviously you can't hear it since it's her voice when she's talking to you. " Eddie moved to turn up the speakers, wailing guitar filling the stagnant air in the van. Max liked the sound of this. 

"Who's this by? It's really good." She kicked her feet up on the dash, ignoring Eddie's complaints. 

"Across the River by Anthrax. Classic thrash." Max nods along to the drum beat until they're parked in Eddie's usual spot behind the school. It was safer this way—the basketball team bothered them less when they entered through the back doors as opposed to the front. Today there was an assembly to commemorate the 'earthquake' victims. 

"You going to the assembly?" She asked, waiting for him to grab his gear out of the backseat. Band practice was being held at Hawkins High now because Gareth's parents still believed Eddie was behind the mysterious murders. 

"I'd like to graduate this year, Mayfield. I'm not so sure these people want me around another 6 months." Eddie grins, closing the door with his foot. They walk into school together, Dustin and Lucas already waiting for them at the door. She waves for the both of them, Eddie's arms full of equipment. Dustin, to his credit, looks absolutely flabbergasted. 

"Steve said he was coming to help you carry these in! He was here just a few seconds ago." Max looks over at Lucas and they both hide their grins. 

"Maybe Steve went out back to find Eddie?" Lucas supplies, waving at Mike and Will as they approach the group. Max sticks her tongue out at Mike and laughs. He returns the favor by flipping her off, though he's hiding his own smile. It's kind of their thing. 

They all gasp when the back door slams open and Steve bustles inside, hair messy and out of place. 

"Jesus Christ, Harrington. Don't do that!" Dustin shouts, clutching his chest. Eddie looks shy all of a sudden which, okay, is definitely a strange look. He's usually the opposite—boisterous and obnoxious and anti-conformity. Not shy. 

Mike seems to notice as well because he rolls his eyes and tugs at Will's sleeve, ushering him to their shared first period. They always work better in a unit, Max thinks.

"I have a few more things I need to grab out of the van. Henderson here says you'd be willing to help?" Eddie asks, still holding the amps. Something in Steve's head seems to click on, it honestly looks like a light bulb went off, and he rushes over to assist Eddie. They interact like two beginners on ice skates for the first time. 

Robin and Nancy approach their weird little gaggle next, closer than they need to be. Robin's holding both of their bags. 

"I saw my little brother stomping up the stairs and thought I'd come see what was up—I think a few of my questions have been answered." Nancy whispers to Max as they watch Steve and Eddie argue like an old married couple, their faces furiously red. 

"Doing great, dingus!" Robin applauds sarcastically, laughing harder when Steve flips her off. 

"We're headed to the theater room to drop these bad boys off." Eddie states, heading off with Steve trailing him like a lost puppy, much like Mike and Will. 

"We should probably head off too, kiddos. We have to get this report in by the end of the day and she," Nancy nudges Robin. "Needs zero distractions." Robin nods earnestly and intertwines her hand with Nancy's, walking out the door. Since they were seniors, they were permitted to leave campus in order to get information on what they were incorporating in this week's paper. Nancy had successfully convinced Robin to join the Journalism club since they'd made such a good team during Spring Break.

The first bell rang, letting each student know they had 10 minutes to get to class or they'd be marked as tardy. Max sighed. Hey, at least it was Friday. 

"I should get to class. Mrs. Baker always has a stick up her ass." Dustin salutes them and runs up the stairs two at a time, ignoring the shout from the student he nearly collided with. 

Lucas smiles and they both head to chemistry—the only period they share together. They'd decided to be lab partners at the beginning of the year, too. 

"Are you hanging out with El tonight?" He asks as they make their way through the busy halls of Hawkins High. Max nods, smiling. 

"Yeah. We're hitching a ride from Eddie later but he doesn't know that. Do you think I should let him know at lunch?" Max laughs at Lucas' shocked expression. 

"Plans? Without letting Eddie know? Sure, that'll go over well. You saw how he flipped his lid over the championship game." He smiles fondly at the memory. Lucas wasn't the type to hold a grudge—he and Eddie were friends, after all. 

"You're right except I didn't see it because I was with Ms. Kelley, as one usually is during their lunch period." They make it to the Science hall, easily making it to their class since it was mostly desolate. 

"Okay but to be fair, according to Dustin and Mike, he was really upset. I just don't want him to get worked up over you guys." Max squeezes his shoulder in reassurance that, yes, she's okay. 

"Eddie's .. not what you all made him out to be, y'know. He's actually really great. It'll be fine, trust me Sinclair." The room goes silent when their teacher, Mr. Douglas, walks in with his lab coat on. 

"Good morning, class. Today, since it's Friday, we're going to do a bit of an experiment. But first, open your textbooks to page 281." 

Everyone groans.

Lunch was a bit different now. Eddie still sat at the head of the table, demanding the room's attention, but there were a few tag-alongs now—Max, Robin, and Nancy were a part of their little group now. Max sat where she usually did in between Robin and Lucas, and got her lunch box out. Wayne had started packing lunches for both Eddie and Max since he'd discovered her mother wasn't usually home in the morning to make her anything. Max was grateful, truly, she'd never had someone look after her like this before (unless you counted Joyce Byers, but it was in her nature to practically adopt anybody who stepped foot into her home). She noticed both Mike and Dustin in the very back of the lunch line, arguing about something again. She smiled fondly. 

It was just her, Eddie, and his friend Gareth. Max didn't know Gareth very well aside from the occasional hello and that one time Eddie'd picked him up from what Max assumed was his job on their way home from the Wheeler's. 

"Hey Munson?" Max asks, leaning onto the table so he could hear her better. Cafeteria's were always unnecessarily loud. 

"And to what do I owe the pleasure, Mayfield?" He sloppily bows, his curtain of hair falling into his face. Max stifles a laugh. 

"I was wondering if you could take me home from school today?" She tries first—El's pickup would be the next question depending on how he answered her. 

"I don't see why not, though I have to stay behind for about 20 minutes to set up Corroded Coffin's band equipment for tomorrow's practice." Eddie takes a bite of his sandwich, holding the metallic lunchbox close to his chest. 

"That's fine but .. There's one more thing?" It's phrased as a question instead of what she'd meant it to sound like. 

"And that is?" He looks up from his spot when Robin plops down next to Max, waving with an apple in her mouth.

"Can you pick up El, too? She doesn't have a ride since both Joyce and Hopper are at work. I'd ask Nancy but Will's going to Mike's tonight so she wouldn't even be going in that direction." He seems to consider it, waving back at Robin, before nodding. Max smirks at Lucas when he makes his way over to the table. He smiles at her, albeit a bit confused, but pieces it together and pinches her shoulder playfully. Max bumps into Robin when she tries to duck out of the way. 

"Sorry, sorry." Max apologizes, a hand over her mouth to conceal her laughter as Dustin and Mike sit down across from her in unison. 

"What's so funny?" Mike asks, taking a bite of what appears to be .. pizza? The food never looks good here. 

"Nothing, nothing." She rushes to say, beating Lucas. They dissolve into laughter. Robin gets up suddenly, helping Nancy with her bags and tray of food. When they make eye contact, Max raises her eyebrows at the both of them. Nancy rolls her eyes while Robin's face reddens. They're cute. 

"Hey everyone." Will says, plopping down right by Eddie near the head of the table. Mike immediately perks up. Lucas and Max exchange a look, making sure they'd seen the same thing. 

A chorus of 'hey Will's' fill the small table, Dustin clapping him on the back. As soon as they'd moved back to Hawkins from California, Will had been enrolled in school. Since El was still in hiding, Joyce stayed home during the day to tutor her, picking up night shifts at Melvald's while she put herself through school—the Detective Byers idea hadn't just been a dream.

"Hey, Eddie?" Will asks, causing the chatter to stop. Everyone loved listening to what Will had to say. 

"What's up, Byers?" He asks, crossing his arms. 

"When do you think the next campaign will take place? Like, obviously we have to keep going from where we stopped last week, but I'm curious when that'll be." Eddie leans back in his seat, deep in thought.

"Does Sunday work for everyone here?" Eddie glances at Nancy since she'd offered her basement for them. She gives everyone a thumbs up with her free hand, holding one of Robin's under the table. 

Since basketball season was over, both Erica and Lucas were free (Erica always attended even though Lucas rarely ever played) so he nodded. Max had physical therapy every Monday, Wednesday and Saturday so she'd be able to make it as well. She knew Mike was free since the campaign would be in his basement, after all, and Dustin and Will were always down for a D&D session. El would likely be with Max anyhow so they'd both hitch a ride from Hopper like they usually did. The table collectively nods. 

"That settles it, then. I expect everyone to be there no later than 11. It's going to be a long one." 

And everyone cheered.