Chapter Text
It started after Billy died, immediately after Billy died. She would freak out every night when it was time to close her eyes for no reason. She felt dumb, she felt ridiculous, and she felt like a child. For years she proved that a child was something she wasn’t, but two weeks after Billy’s death it became evident that she was just that: a child. She shook as she picked up her phone and dialed a number she had learned by heart.
“Hullo?” The word was slurred some from sleep, she hadn’t even considered the time. It was two thirty in the morning.
“Steve?” She hated how her voice cracked anymore when she spoke.
“Yeah I’m here. Whas wrong?”
“Sorry I woke you up.”
“No problem.”
“Can you… can you come get me?”
“Course. Give me a few.” She heard him hang up and she shakily got some clothes for the morning, stuffing them in her bag. She grabbed her one blanket and slung it around her shoulders despite the summer heat and walked out of her room to the kitchen and wrote a note. Her mom wouldn’t worry now. She waited by the steps outside, wondering what it would be like if Billy were still here. He wasn’t comforting, he wasn’t loving, he’d make some rude remark about Steve. It wasn’t worth imagining.
“Hey red.” He walked up slowly, smiling at her. She looked up alarmed.
“I didn’t hear you.” She said.
“I know, didn’t want to just yell at you.” Steve held out his hand for her to grab. She took it, he grabbed her bag off of her shoulder.
“I can’t sleep.” She whispered.
“It’s okay. I understand. Come on, let’s go. Seat belt.” He said to her, throwing her bag behind him. She stared forward unsure what to think.
“I keep seeing him.”
“That… that can’t be fun.”
“My own mom doesn’t get it.” She felt the tears starting again. She hates crying so much.
“Hey, hey. It’s okay Max.” He held out his hand for her to take again, she took it willingly.
“I didn’t even like him. Why am I so fucking sad?”
“Sometimes it just happens. But between me and you, you have a lot of reasons to be sad.”
“It’s ridiculous. You know I never went to my mom after a nightmare? I know that because she told me when I went into her room last week.” Steve had a fixed frown.
“She didn’t let you sleep with her?”
“No said it was fucking ridiculous, which it was.”
“Hey, none of that shit. She just doesn’t understand.” Max laughed in response.
“I get she doesn’t but like holy hell just let your kid sleep with you.” She blushes saying it fully aloud.
“Well you can sleep in my bed tonight, good compromise?”
“Good compromise. Thank you.” She smiled at him some, happy she woke him up in the dead of the night. They continued the short drive as she looked out the window. She just couldn’t help but question everything that had ever happened to her.
“Hey we’re here.” He squeezed her hand gently and she looked to meet him in the eyes. She nodded in acknowledgement before getting out of the car, leaving Steve to grab everything.
“Is it unlocked?” She called back, pulling her blanket closer to her head.
“Yeah kiddo.” Steve was following as she opened the door and walked in, kicking her shoes off. She went right to his room, she wanted sleep and she wanted sleep now. Steve somehow would make it better, he always seemed too.
“You don’t care?” She asked, rubbing her eyes. She could see the fond look on his face.
“Not at all, come on sleep time.” Steve pulled back his messed up covers where he had been sleeping before the phone call. She notices his nightlight on in the corner, a silent understanding she’s glad she’s not in the dark just as much as he is. She feels him pull the covers around both of them and laying down. This should be enough, so why isn’t it?
“Steve?” He sighs as soon as the name leaves her mouth, she regrets opening her mouth.
“Yeah?”
“Never mind.”
“No, come on, out with it.” She pauses, putting her fingers to her mouth for a brief moment before deciding to act instead of speak. She turns to curl up on the boy even though it’s hot out. His arms loop closer, around her.
“Just don’t leave me.”
“I never will.” They were asleep in seconds.
In the morning Steve groaned, what the hell was all that noise?
“Steve! Steve we can’t find Max! She isn’t home and she isn’t answering!” Dustin was screaming in his house. In the hallway to be exact, outside his door. He groaned, he could feel Max groan as well.
“I’m alive!” She called, still half asleep. The door flung open to the kids in the hallway, ready to cry almost at the thought of another one of them being missing.
“Sleepover.” El said with a smile, coming over to them first. Max sat up rubbing her eyes.
“Yeah.” She responded. El crawled across his bed to his other side.
“Max and me have sleepovers.” She said to him, he laughed, sitting up taking notice to all the kids again. Dustin smiled this mischievous grin.
“No. No Henderson this is not an invite.” He said as Dustin ran to his bed as well, Lucas following before Will joined. Mike looked a bit taken aback at the door when Nancy finally joined in the doorway.
“Glad we found her.” She said smiling, coming to sit on his desk chair.
“Why does Max get to sleepover?”
“You slept over last week.”
“Because my mom was out of town!”
“Still sleeping over.”
“I just couldn’t sleep last night.” Max’s cheeks were the color of her hair.
“Why didn’t you walkie?” Mike asked, coming to sit on the desk. Steve was trying to move his legs around the pile of teens that had descended on his bed.
“I just called Steve.”
“You should have walkied.” Mike said.
“Hey, hey, don’t be so hard on her. She called me, probably so the walkie didn’t wake anyone else up.” Steve muttered.
“We’re going out to get lunch.” Will said with a smile at them.
“It’s lunch time already? Damn.” Steve muttered.
“Yeah, do you want to join us?” Nancy offered. He smiled back at her.
“Nah, you crazy kids go ahead.”
“You sound like you’re forty.” Lucas snorted as Max finally looked awake leaning on him.
“Listen Sinclair, I’m tired.”
“He just wants to watch his soap operas alone.” Dustin said with a smile.
“Hey! Little shit! I told you that in confidence.”
“It’s Saturday, they aren’t on.” Nancy said to him.
“Why do you know that?” Mike asked her.
“I need some way to de stress.”
“You punks ever think maybe I just want to eat lunch alone? Huh?” He messed up Dustin’s hair and he smiled at them.
“Friends don’t lie.” El said to him.
“I’m not lying. I do want to spend some time alone.” He said with sincerity. Nancy gave him a look.
“Everyone under the age of sixteen out of here, I want to talk to Steve.” Her eyes narrowed at him.
“Gross.” Mike muttered as he got up and people started piling off his bed.
“She’s with Johnathan I doubt it’s gross.”
“Maybe they’re planning a threesome.”
“Don’t say that about my sister.”
“I’m just saying! They could be!” Nancy shut the door as they heard “what’s a threesome?” Leave El’s mouth.
“You okay?” She asked.
“Yes.”
“Your face is still fucked up.”
“Eh, it’s all fine.”
“Is Max okay?”
“Yeah she couldn’t sleep so she called here at like two am or some shit.”
“You could have called me.”
“It’s fine Nance. She slept fine once we laid down.”
“Well, good then.”
“It was a one off I think.”