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Mike and Max walked as fast as they could, El sandwiched between them, her arms draped over their shoulders. They were the only thing holding her up. She continued to grunt and moan in pain from the injury on her leg that continued to slowly ooze blood, even with Max’s quick but tight bandaging.
“Through here!” Mike said, directing them through the long hallways under the Starcourt Mall. They’d been through the back hallways many times when Steve snuck them into the movie theaters but he’d never been this far down. The lights flashed, giving the hallways a spooky vibe and he liked spooky, but this wasn’t the time. Flayed Billy was stalking after them, like how Michael Myers would chase after his victims, and like Micheal Myers, Billy walked, he didn’t run like they were. Well, kind of.
This was the first time since all of this happened that he and Max worked together. They had a common goal and that was getting Eleven to safety. Sure, he blamed her a little for suggesting that El spy on people with her powers, but if she hadn’t… they might have found out about the Flayed a little too late. Well, it still might be a little too late.
“Elevator!” Mike shouted pointing to the double metal doors. They shuffled over and Mike pressed the button several times. This never made the elevator move faster but it made him feel better. In the distance, they could hear the metal door slam against the concrete walls as Billy found them. Mike pressed harder.
“Come on you piece of shit,” he muttered. Max left the group, so Mike was left to take all of El’s weight, which was fine. He’d take her pain away if he could. The lights continued to flash and Mike could hear El’s soft whimpers.
“Mike-” she muttered, leaning against him. He wrapped his other arm around her waist and pulled her tighter.
“Don’t worry, I’ve got you,” he said. “Come on!” Suddenly the whirring sound of a descending elevator grew closer. It’s coming! He thought, but his heart continued to pound. He hoped it got here quicker than Billy.
“Billy-”
Mike spun around hearing Max’s voice call for her brother. He quickly positioned himself in front of El, just in case Billy ignored Max and came straight for them. He couldn’t fight but he’d damn sure try.
“Billy you don’t have to do this,” the echoing sound of Billy’s heavy bootsteps was deafening.
“Max-” Mike called, the sound was too close but so was the elevator. He wouldn’t leave her but he was going to protect Eleven at all costs.
“Billy, you don’t have to do this. Billy, your name is Billy. Billy Hargrove,” Max’s voice was pleading and Mike felt El’s hands tighten on his arm as the steps got louder, quicker and closer but Max wasn’t moving.
“You live on 4819 Cherry Lane, Billy please-” Her voice became watery as she began to plead. Mike had never seen her like this before. Max was cool and always collected. He’d seen her scared but never terrified. “Please I’m Max, I’m your sis-”
Billy was upon her and before she could even get “sister” out, he brought his hand up and down so fast that all Mike saw was Max yelp in pain and be knocked to the ground. That spurred Mike into action. With a war cry, kind of, and without thinking, he rushed forward. He wasn’t really sure what he was going to do but maybe he could knock him over? Mike could be surprisingly strong when he tried. He may be skinny and all limbs but there was strength there. But he was no match for a Flayed Billy. He wasn’t even a match for regular Billy.
Billy gnarled his fingers in the shoulders of Mike’s shirt and threw him head first into the pipes on the wall. Mike was out.
Billy turned to Eleven and without missing a beat, he pushed away her outstretched arm, grabbed her face and slammed her back into the metal elevator doors behind her. She cried out but was stunned by the action. Billy threw her into the wall behind him and effectively knocked her out as well. Breathing heavily, Flayed Billy, scooped Eleven up and threw her over his shoulder. Before he disappeared down the hallway, he gave the two unconscious teens a cursory glance. They were unimportant for now, but after the superpowered girl was handled, he would take care of these others.
Max stirred first, she moaned and had to lay there for a few minutes. Her cheek stung and she was sure she might be bleeding a little. She sat up, her hand going to her cheek, she winced at the hot pain but it was forgotten when she spotted Mike only a few feet away.
“Mike,” she whimpered, pushing herself to crawl over to him. Max shook him a few times as she called his name over and over until he stirred, whimpering. “Hey, come on,” she said, grabbing his forearm and helping him stand. She sucked in breath through her teeth, seeing his injury. His skin had been cut on his face near his nose, like he was thrown into something. Her eyes fell on the pipes on the wall, and she knew. Billy must have thrown him into those.
“You okay?” Mike’s bleary eyes were sweeping the room, he barely heard her.
“Where’s El?”
“I don’t know, I just woke up too.”
“He must have taken her back up to the mall,” Mike muttered. He touched the side of his face gingerly wincing but quickly dropped his arm. “Come on.”
“Maybe we can try the elevator now?” Max suggested. “At least we won’t have to go back around and through The Gap?”
Mike nodded and followed Max, as she walked to the elevator. She pushed the button and nothing happened. Maybe since he’d already called the elevator and they missed it, thanks to Billy, they now had to go back through waiting all over again.
“We don’t have time for this!” He snapped, throwing his arms up. “We just have to go back around. Come on!”
They took off back down the hallway, Mike pulled open the door and allowed Max to go through before it slammed shut behind them. Before they even made it outside, Mike began to pitch to one side, he threw his hand out to catch himself on the wall and he let out a pained groan. Max, surprised at this moment of weakness, stopped and grabbed his arm to steady him.
“Whoa, Mike, are you-”
“I’m fine,” he said, pushing himself upright. He didn’t have time for this.
“Cut the bullshit Mike,” Max snapped, her blue eyes narrowed as he took a moment to lean back against the wall.
“ I-I’m fine, my head just hurts a little,” he rolled his head in her direction, his dark eyes falling over the red bruise on her face. Billy hadn’t managed to break skin but the bruise would be gnarly. “Are-are you okay? He got you pretty good.”
He nodded his head in the direction of the injury on her face and she shrugged.
“It’s probably not as bad as yours. You’re actually bleeding,” she reached for the hem of his shirt and he pushed her hands away, frantic.
“What the hell are you doing?” He demanded, pulling his shirt down. Max rolled her eyes and laughed wryly.
“Relax, I was just trying to rip your shirt a little to wipe up the blood, but if you want to walk around with a bloody face-”
“I like this shirt,” he said indignantly. “And it’s just blood, I’ll be fine.”
“Could you for once stop lying Mike?” Max groaned, her arms by her side and her head turned to the ceiling. Mike blinked in surprise at her words.
“I’m not lying-”
“Yes you are! You’re not fine! You would have collapsed if the wall wasn’t there. Or you would have collapsed if I wasn’t here! You don’t have to act like you’re fine when you’re not, you don’t have to show off for me.”
“I’m not showing off for you!” He snapped back. Why does she always do this? Why does she always pick a fight with him when he’s not even looking for one. She was so annoying! But it wasn’t like he was trying to lie. “How I feel is not important right now, we’ve got to get to El. Who knows what your demented brother is doing to her!”
Max winced at the mention of Billy and her anger deflated as the reality of the situation hit her again. Mike sighed, and lowered his head. He did it again. Him and big mouth. It’s not like he tries to hurt people’s feelings, sometimes his mouth says things before his brain could make him stop. He was impulsive and it didn’t always work in his favor.
“I’m sorry,” he muttered. “I know he’s possessed, it’s not his fault.”
“No, you’re right,” she whispered. Max knew that Billy was the worst and no matter how many times she tries to see the good in him, or how many times she’s hopeful that one day he’ll look at her like an actual little sister and be kind, he wasn’t… good. She knew that Neil was also a piece of shit but he was kinder to her than Billy was.
Mike watched the different emotions play out on her face and he sighed. He had to change the subject somehow. So, he did the only thing he could think of. “Hopper made me lie to Eleven.”
Max blinked, raising her head confused.
“What are you talking about?”
“Hopper, he-he came into the room the other night to talk to us and, I, well I was joking around and it made him mad. He said that my Nana was sick,” he folded his arms across his chest and closed his eyes, willing for the throbbing in his head to go away. “So, I thought he was going to drive me home because something was wrong but he was actually just mad that El and I were spending so much time together.”
Max frowned. She thought back over the year and summer. Eleven had only been back in Mike’s and the others' lives for a few months and to her understanding from what Lucas told her, Mike thought she was dead all that time. It made sense that they wanted to be with each other. She thought it was sweet actually.
“On the ride back home, he lectured me about being an asshole,” he glanced at Max and laughed sheepishly at her bewildered expression. “Not that he called me an asshole but he was probably thinking it.”
“No he’s the asshole,” Max said suddenly. Mike raised his eyebrows, surprised that she seemed to be on his side. “So the Nana lie-”
“Was Hopper’s idea,” Mike ran a hand through his hair, his bangs falling back into place against his forehead. “I never would’ve lied to her, I wouldn’t have been away from her if he didn’t threaten me. I didn’t know that Hopper told her my Nana was fine.”
“So Lucas-”
“Was honestly helping me fix the problem, I messed up and I really wanted to fix it but it was really hard.”
Max folded her arms across her chest as she watched him. Mike had an honest face, maybe it was a stupid face sometimes, but an honest one. He may be a pain in the ass sometimes, but he cared about El, that much she knew. She just thought he was being an asshole.
“Well, I’m not sorry for showing El how to have fun without you but I…” she trailed off. She didn’t really want to apologize but she was wrong. She didn’t know. She rolled her eyes and said quickly. “ImsorryIdidntknowthefullstoryandtoldEltobreakupwithyou.”
Mike gave her a close lipped smile. He was mad at first because he felt that Max hated him and purposely turned Eleven against him, so she could hate him too. It was like everyone wanted to hate Mike this summer and he didn’t even know what he did. But then all the stuff with the Upside Down happened and El breaking up with him became a sub-concern, but still a very real concern.
If anything, he was more upset that no one seemed to understand that El was overexerting herself at their requests. He couldn’t get that image of her sitting on the floor with a pile of bloody tissues next to her. He couldn’t stop picturing that moment of her looking back at him, the ceiling lights flickering, the room was thick with fear from him and his friends but also power from Eleven. He couldn’t get the image of her turning to face him, saying GoodBye and then disappearing.
Mike knew she was powerful and he believed in her, he believed that she could do anything and would do anything to help her friends. But he didn’t want her to die doing it. His… confession replayed over and over in his head too, he still wasn’t sure if El heard him and it made his heart pound in his chest just thinking about it. He tried to tell her in the store but like an idiot, he couldn’t get it out. He wanted her to be safe enough to go to school, so he could take her to prom, so they could all graduate together.
Mike knew she would never “be normal” because she was powerful but he would try to make her time in Hawkins worthwhile.
“I like that you guys became friends,” he started. The pounding was still there but it wasn’t as prominent, they had to go. It didn’t seem like they’d been there a long time but the Upside Down and the Mind Flayer move fast, they could get back and everything could be shit and it’d be his fault.
“Really?” Max said, her eyebrows furrowed and top lip curled. He shrugged and pushed himself to stand straight.
“Yeah, I like her new clothes and hair,” he really liked her new clothes. Hopper brought her practical stuff and while she was pretty in anything she wore, they were bland and colorless. Mike himself liked wearing blue and he’d been wearing a lot of yellow this summer… It was El’s favorite color. So, to see El in these bright colored clothes, he really liked it. It suited her.
“Come on,” he said. “We have to go. We’ve been down here too long.”
“Are you okay to walk? You’re not going to pass out on me are you?”
“No,” he said with a light chuckle.
Mike and Max rushed back to Starcourt, Mike pushed past the throbbing in his head and Max’s bruise felt like it was creeping across her face but they had to get back. They had to stop Billy, help the others and save Eleven. They could hear whizzing and crackling as they grew closer.
“What the hell is that?” Mike asked, yanking open the door for them to pass through.
“Fireworks!” Max shouted, remembering Lucas’s plan. At the time, she thought it was stupid because they literally had a superpowered human but maybe she was wrong. The sounds stopped and a piercing, guttural roar echoed around them but Mike and Max didn’t stop.
They dashed around tables and skidded to a stop seeing the huge fleshy body of the Mind Flayer standing over El’s collapsed body and Billy, who stared at it. El was trying to scramble backwards but Mike was sure that injury was screaming in pain slowing her movements. And just when the giant maw of the monster opened to reveal its tentacle-like tongue, Mike made a move to run to El.
But he was cemented to his spot when Billy blocked the attack, arms straining against the strength of a paranormal creature. He yelled at the exertion and El continued trying to push herself out of the way. Max was frozen next to him, Mike glanced at her and her eyes were focused on Billy who continued to fight. Then it all happened so fast, more tentacles protruded from the fleshy body and began to attack Billy from all sides. He cried out and groaned in pain but he continued to block El from the monster. Mike couldn’t believe that Billy… Billy who was a terror to everyone was protecting Eleven.
They watched as Billy’s arms dropped as he was attacked over and over, the tentacles attaching to this body. They could see the dark spots of blood pooling through his clothes. Max couldn’t move, so many things rushed through her mind but she couldn’t move, she wanted to do something but at the same time, what could she do? What should she do? Billy screamed in the face of the monster as it lifted him towards its head. One more tentacle rushed out and stabbed into his chest and Max heard herself scream before she realized it.
“BILLY!” The monster unceremoniously dropped Billy’s body on the ground and he collapsed. Max’s heart stuttered in her chest as she watched him fall, his limbs splayed out around him. Mike’s breath caught in his throat at Max’s scream, he understood that scream but… there wasn’t a chance for him to return the way Eleven did. The Mind Flayer ignored Billy and turned to El who was staring at Billy’s body in shock, her eyes wide and tears in her eyes.
The creature screeched, it jerked and stumbled and shuddered like it was in pain. They must have done it! Ms. Byers and Hopper must have closed the gate! It stumbled over its long legs and fell to the ground still. And suddenly the invisible chains that kept him rooted to the spot were gone and he took off.
“El!” He grabbed her shoulders as he came and knelt in front of her. She wrapped one hand in his hair and the other held onto his face as she pulled him into a tight hug. He could feel her body shuddering against him as she sobbed into his neck. He lowered next to her, so she could have better leverage to lean into him. Mike wrapped his arms around her waist and just held her.
Max’s footsteps were soft and cautious as she approached Billy’s body. As she grew closer, she saw his chest heaving as he choked on blood. He was still alive!
“Billy?”
Relief flooded through her along with another emotion she ignored. He was still alive! She lowered next to him as he gasped for breath. She’d never seen him like this and it was… it was unnerving. She grabbed his shoulder and shook him.
“Billy, Billy get up please, please, get up. Billy.”
“I’m sorry,” he muttered and Max gasped, tears forming in her eyes. They stared at each other and Max could see the light dim in his blue eyes as he exhaled one last painful breath and she felt herself whine, a sound she’d never made before. Not for him.
“Billy, wake up please. Billy. Wake up.”
She shook him harder, he couldn’t die, not like this. He couldn’t die without her telling him that he was a shitty big brother but she kind of liked him anyway. He couldn’t just leave her here with her mom and Neil. Why was he doing this? Why must he always be such an asshole!
“Billy! Please, wake up, Billy, Billy, please…” she sobbed, the realization hitting her that he was not going to wake up. He wasn’t going to get up and push her away, telling her that he was fine and she should stop being such a little whiny bitch. She hated him! She hated him so much but she couldn’t stop crying.
Mike continued to hold El, his arms encasing her but he shook with the need to also comfort Max but he didn’t know how. They were friends but they weren’t best friends. Their relationship was antagonistic and they’d never been just the two of them to have the kind of relationship he had with Lucas or that Max had with El. He couldn’t just hug her the way he’d hug El.
Almost like she could sense his conflict, El squeezed the back of his neck gently and they untangled from each other and El scooted over to Max, her arms outstretched.
“Max,” she whispered gently and Max turned and fell into El’s arms and sobbed. Mike watched, still in his perched position from when he held El and he just watched. “It’s okay, it’s okay, it’s okay,” El repeated into Max’s hair. She rubbed Max’s arms as she sobbed. El glanced back at Mike with pain in her eyes as Max cried into her. Mike, unsure what to do, moved closer and wrapped his arms around both of them, El’s back to his chest and they stayed like that as Max continued to sob.
Three months later, everyone was helping the Byers and El pack up the Byers house and load up the Uhaul. They’d just come back from Hopper’s cabin and it was weird being there, in the aftermath of the Mind Flayer attack. It’d been an emotional day for everyone and at some point, Mike looked around and saw that Max was missing. Lucas and Dustin were helping Will organize his art supplies into boxes. El was with Joyce and Nancy and Jonathan were probably off together one last time for a while.
Mike went through the house until he found Max sitting on the back porch, her back was hunched as she leaned on her raised knees. Without a word, he sat next to her. She looked at him, her eyebrows knitted together in confusion.
“What are you doing?” She asked, her voice sharp.
“Sitting,” Mike said nonchalantly. Max opened her mouth to retort, but she blinked and shook her head before turning back to look at the trees. The first time she’d been here was when they tried to get to Will through the Mind Flayer possession. What a night.
“I didn’t tell El about Hopper,” she started. Mike looked at her, it was his turn to be confused. “In case that’s what you wanted to ask me about.” She added.
“No, no it wasn’t,” he said. “I didn't even think about that.”
“Then why-”
“Max, I was just worried about you, that’s all.”
Max frowned. She considered Mike a friend even though it took a while to break through that steely wall he had up when they met. That he most likely still has up. But it’s not like he broke through hers either… she couldn’t think of a time when he tried. She could admit that she might have been coming on a little hard but she really didn’t get why he was being such a jerk about letting her into their party. She remembered getting him to relax a little and smile when she was showing off on her skateboard, but they haven’t become best friends or anything.
“You? Worried about me?”
She scoffed at the sheer nonsense of it all.
“Yeah, what we saw at the mall- what you saw at the mall… that’s a lot for anyone.”
“What would you know?” She snapped. Mike sat quietly for a moment and to be honest, he couldn’t know much because El was here, she was alive but back then, he thought she died. She disintegrated before his eyes… at least that’s what he thought.
“I just want you to know that we’re here for you, that’s all.”
He knew when he wasn’t wanted. Even though he may not always say the right thing in the moment because sometimes words are hard, he knew how to read a room, he knew how to read people and Max may be closed off, especially right now, he could tell that she didn’t want anything from him. With a sigh, he pushed himself to stand to go back inside.
“Why didn’t you tell El about Hopper before now?”
Mike paused and looked at her over his shoulder. There were plenty of times where he could have, maybe should have, told her but they never had the chance and he was more concerned with her being safe and the Mind Flayer.
“I just-I just never had the chance. Plus, there’s no point in telling her now.”
His relationship with Hopper was complicated. He’d seen him around, sometimes doing his job as Chief but Mike was a good kid and had no reason to interact with him ever. Not until Will went missing and he’s been in their lives ever since. He was there for Ms. Byers, Jonathan and Will when they were going to the lab for tests on Will. While Mike hated him for hiding her and not telling him, he was glad that El had someone to care for her for an entire year. But this summer, the man had been yelly and flustered and Mike couldn’t help but to find it a little funny.
But that talk in the car, it actually kind of made him nervous to see Hopper again.
He doesn’t like me. Mike told himself. But now, now that Hopper was… dead… there wasn’t a reason to tell El anything about that night.
“Yeah, I guess you’re right,” Max said, twisting her fingers together. Mike watched her movement and debated if he should leave or stay.
“I blame you though, for El dumping me,” he decided to say. Max whirled around, her blue eyes searing, her eyebrows narrowed, her pigtails whipping around.
“Excuse me?”
“Yeah! You had no idea what was going on and you’re just feeding her stuff AND you told her to spy on us.” Max threw her head back and loudly said UGH! “Are you serious right now?”
No.
“Yeah, I am. Maybe if you’d just asked me instead of making it seem like I’m the worst, all of this could have been avoided!”
Max laughed and stood to her feet and got into his face best she could. “Maybe if you hadn’t lied and been so controlling in the first place!”
“Controlling??”
Max put her hands on her hips and Mike laughed wryly. He could get over the “telling El to dump his ass” thing but controlling? There was no way in hell he was controlling!
“Yeah! Telling El what she can and can’t do with her powers is controlling.”
“That’s not even what I was doing. None of you guys cared about how hard she was trying to find the Flayed because you only cared about finding them. There was a shitton of bloody tissues next to her!”
“But she wanted to help, so we let her help!”
“That’s not the problem. I watched her die once, I won’t let that happen again!”
He started arguing with her to hopefully lift her spirits a little but he should have known she was going to hit him with a low blow. He should have fucking known. He walked right into that one. He rolled his eyes at the expression on her face.
“Stop looking at me like that,” he hissed.
“I keep forgetting that happened,” she said quietly. “You’ve loved El for a long time huh?”
“I-” Mike blushed at the use of “love” and shrugged. Of course that slipping out earlier hasn’t left his mind either, not to mention, El told him she loved him back. He was never forgetting that. “It hasn’t been that long,” he murmured.
“Maybe not, but you do… love her, I mean.”
“Well… yeah,” he said, scratching the back of his head. “I-I’ve never felt this way before and I don’t want it to go away.”
Max watched his face, he was a little red and his eyes were staring off into the distance. She knew she cared about Lucas and that he cared about her but neither of them has said “love”. She’d only been here a year but she knew that she felt strongly about Lucas but their relationship was different from Mike and El’s. She’d never tell Mike this, but she admired how strongly he felt about Eleven. He may be dense when it came to other stuff but she didn’t doubt he cared about his friends, especially El.
“What’s going on out here?”
They both jumped and turned to see Lucas and El standing in the doorway. El was still holding that teddy bear he’d gotten from the top of her closet. They looked back and forth between the two and Max sighed, rolling her eyes.
“Mike was just being an ass again,” she said leaning against the wooden railing. Mike guffawed at the comment.
“Me? This is what I get for trying to be nice to you. I’m going inside.”
He and Max met eyes for a moment and she gave him a close lipped smile, her eyes darting away to the ground a moment later. There was some kind of understanding between them but he doubted they would ever see eye to eye, at least not on every single thing.
“Can I show you something?” El asked softly, reaching for Mike’s hand, he noticed a folded up piece of paper clutched in the hand that held onto the bear. He nodded, lacing his fingers with hers and he followed her inside.
Lucas walked over to Max, an eyebrow raised suspiciously. Max rolled her eyes and folded her arms.
“What?”
“I didn’t say anything,” he said with a laugh.
“Then why are you laughing?”
“I just think you and Mike would get along more if you two realized how similar you are,” Lucas reached for her hand and rubbed the top of her hand with his thumb. Max’s brow furrowed as she considered his words. That’s ridiculous. Her and Mike are nothing alike.
“We’re nothing alike,” she said matter-of-factly. Lucas shrugged.
“To me you are, he’s my best friend, I know him pretty well. You’re my girlfriend and I know you pretty well.”
She smirked and tilted her head.
“Who said we were back together?”
Lucas blinked and sputtered out, “We-we aren’t? We sang The Neverending Story together!”
Max studied him for a moment and decided she tortured him enough. She broke into a grin and shook her head, resting her other hand on top of his that held onto her.
“Of course we are.”
Mike and El stood by the moving truck and Mike read through the letter that El gave him when they were alone. She watched him as he read it and Mike decided that he would never tell her what happened that night when Hopper told him his Nana was in trouble. Hopper wanted to talk to them and he said that he cared about both of them. It was hard to believe that that night since he was scared shitless.
“Are you okay?” He asked once he finished, looking up at her. Her eyes were watery and he figured she might have been crying the first time she read this letter. While he mentioned both of them in the beginning, the letter became personal between a father and daughter. El wiped her eyes and shrugged.
“No… and yes.”
He chuckled sadly. “That makes sense.”
“I wish he was here,” she whispered. She leaned her head on his shoulder and he could feel her teardrops wet the fabric of his shirt but he just stood there and let her. They were leaving and he was sure it was hard for her. Hard for her to find a home in Hawkins just to have to leave again. He hated that for himself and for her.
“I know,” he said. He wished he could talk to Hopper, seriously, without the jokes, without the threats but he’d never get that chance now. He felt for El and even though she lost her dad, she’s gaining a new family in the Byers and hopefully… she’ll feel comfortable with them and him.
Mike stood with Dustin, Lucas and Max as the Byers and El drove away. He knew they were leaving all day but seeing them drive off was a different story. He glanced at Nancy, who wiped her eyes, she gave him a close lipped smile and went to sit in her car. Dustin mounted his bike, Lucas and Max following suit. Mike sighed and grabbed his bike and waited till the U-Haul was out of eyesight before mounting.
“It’s going to be okay.”
He was surprised to see Max still there next to him, her shoulders hunched as she leaned on the handlebars of her bike.
“Yeah…” he said quietly. “I’m just going to miss them… miss her.”
“Yeah, me too. She was the first real girl-friend I had,” Max said gently. She didn’t have many girl friends, she was too much of a tomboy for some of the girls in California. She liked to skateboard while other girls like to roller skate and they didn’t see it as the same kind of activity. Max was sure El didn’t like her, she didn’t know why exactly, but she was content to be in the party alongside her, even if they weren’t really friends. That all changed, thank goodness, but now she’s gone and she’s stuck with the boys.
“Same… and my first girlfriend-” he trailed off. Honestly, he never even thought of life without her, not since she came back and here they were separated again… but when she called with their new number and address, the distance could be made easier.
“What the hell are you guys doing?” Dustin called from ahead of them, he and Lucas were looking at them over their shoulders, Lucas was smirking and Max rolled her eyes knowing what he was thinking. She punched Mike’s arm and motioned for him to follow her.
“Come on, I’ll buy an ice cream.”
“Okay.”
They kicked off the ground and rode to catch up with their friends.