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The lake was a half mile from the hospital, where they'd all ended up after everything. They were a bit bandaged and bruised, but otherwise fine. Nothing compared to Mike, El, or Steve. All things considered, theyhad gotten pretty lucky with their injuries. Not so much with their losses.
The sun was rising again, over the water. It was still faint, as it was only five in the morning, but it was casting golden light over the water nonetheless. Lucas sat in silence on the sand, waiting for Max to make the first move. She was very raw emotionally, after everything, and he didn't think she'd spoken since she had stopped crying in the parking lot. He also wasn't sure if they were still broken up or not, just that she had waited for him in the hopsital lobby and asked if they could go someplace. She had been with El, comforting her (as, contrary to Max, El had been sobbing uncontrollably all night) until Mike came out of getting his stitches. Max waited for Lucas to finish his checkup, just the nurses making sure he didn't sustain any major injuries during the "explosion" (that was their story: that they hung around in the empty mall after seeing Back to the Future when a loose wire in the escalator caused an explosion), and asked if he would go with her before she had to go home and face her parents. He eagerly obliged, of course, but was still too awkward to comfort her in a way that would be deemed helpful.
"This reminds me of California," she said, quietly and hoarsely. He snapped his neck over to look at her. Her eyes were red and puffy, and one of her braids was coming loose. The nurses cleaned up her face, but she had a large, swelling bruise on her cheek, covering her freckles.
"Our street backed onto a beach," Max continued, before Lucas could figure out something to say that wasn't stupid or patronizing. "It was on a hill, and at the top there was a cluster of trees where my old friends and I would hang out." She swallowed and paused, her eyes never leaving the water. "On the other side of the hill, past the trees and down, there was a small beach. Sometimes I would sneak out of the house, before Neil got up to go to work, and I would just sit on the beach and wait until the sun hit the water. It was more orange," she mused, "because the sun wouldn't get to the water until later, but it still looked a lot like this. Warmer, though."
Lucas couldn't imagine a warmer day than this; it was sticky and humid to him, but she probably didn't even bat an eye.
"I wish I could've seen it," Lucas whispered to her. It wasn't just a statement to fill the silence, or to make her feel better. He wanted every part of her, the good and the bad, and had a secret dream of going out to California with her, the next time she visited. He had never told anyone that before, though, and probably never would.
"I wish I could take you there," she said, and her voice broke. "My dad would love you. He would talk your ear off about basketball." They laughed in spite of themselves. "When I told him I was moving, the first thing he said was, 'They sure love basketball in Indiana.'"
"Seriously?" Lucas asked, a grin growing on his face.
"Yeah," she laughed again. "It's his favourite thing in the world. He loves the Warriors."
"Ew."
"Take it up with him," she said. "He'll call you nuts for being a Pacers fan."
"Well, he's not wrong," Lucas replied, grinning. They sat in silence for a moment longer, before he spoke again. "I wish there was a way that you could've grown up in California and yet still been here all your life."
For the first time, she took her eyes off the water. "Why?"
"Because..." he wanted to tell her that he was in love with her, because that would've been the closest thing to the truth. But he knew she couldn't hear that right now, and she'd probably just say that he was only saying that because Mike did. He wasn't, though; he had known he loved her for almost two months. He loved her fiery hair and spirit, the way she always cracked jokes and laughed in spite of her circumstances. He loved every piece of her, but he didn't know if she was ready to hear that yet. He didn't know if she ever would be.
"Because, I wish we could exist in a space where nothing was wrong. Where neither of us had to deal with inter-dimensional monsters and government labs that kidnapped little kids. I wish we could just exist and be happy, and I haven't really been able to do that since Will went missing. I don't think any of us have."
"Nothing was ever right for me," she argued. "There was always something: running low on money, the divorce, Neil," she didn't mention Billy.
"I've never been okay. Being with me is basically a contract to deal with a horrible family life. Especially for you."
"I don't care," he said softly. He desperately wanted to reach for her hand. "Max, I... I don't care about any of that stuff. I care about you, and if caring about you comes with that, then so be it."
She was crying freely again, and her hair was lit up with the rising sun. "You should care. You should hate me for caring about Billy."
"I don't," Lucas repeated. "I don't care at all. Emotions can be complicated. I'm not offended at all."
Max choked out a sob. "A-are you sure?"
"Positive."
They stared at each other in a comfortable, vulnerable silence for a moment longer, before she spoke.
"This is gonna sound so weird but... can, can you hug me?"
Silently, Lucas slid over to where she was on the sand, wrapping his arms around her gently. She cried into his chest as the sun rose over Hawkins, dawning the first day that everything was over. This was always the worst part for Lucas, that first day they had to pretend everything was okay. But it would get better, just like it always did. They would be okay again.