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Dustin’s peaceful sleep was interrupted by a sound. A muffled bang. He didn’t know exactly what it was at first, but whatever it had been was loud enough to wake him.
He slowly looked around, still coming to his senses. When his eyes landed on his bedroom window, he let out a short scream, more of a gasp, before realizing what, or who was there.
Max Mayfield, one of his closest friends, was knocking on his window from outside.
He narrowed his eyes at her in confusion, rubbed them and stumbled out of bed, walking over to the window. He opened it and mumbled, “Max, what the hell..”
“Sorry.” She whispered. After a moment, she asked, “Can I come in?”
For a moment, Dustin simply stared at the redhead in a mix of exhaustion and confusion, but then shrugged and moved to the side so she could climb in.
“Thanks..”
“So..why are you at my house at like 1 AM, again?”
“Oh, um…” Max couldn’t find the words at first. She stared down, fiddling with her thumbs. “I, uh…I had a..nightmare..”
She spoke in a low whisper, like she was embarrassed and didn’t want to admit it. Dustin expected that from her, though, especially lately she had been pretty quiet and withdrawn. They hadn’t talked much in a while, and he didn’t want to screw up the one time she came to him to talk, so he made sure to listen.
His face immediately softened when Max gave her reasoning. “Oh..”
“I know it’s stupid to come to you for something like that, I just..thought….you know what,” Max suddenly seemed to change her mind, putting her hands up and turning back towards the window. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have woken you up for this, it’s stupid-”
“Max,” Dustin quietly yelled, grabbing Max’s wrist. She turned her head back to the boy, looking puzzled, almost concerned. He changed his tone to a more calm, understanding one. A tone pretty normal coming from Dustin. “If something’s bothering you, it’s not stupid.” He let go of her before walking over to his bed and sitting on the side nearest to where they were standing. He gently patted the space next to him, “You wanna talk about it?”
Max just stood there for a moment, a bit surprised. Why would Dustin be willing to hear me ramble about some stupid dream at 1 AM? Still, she hesitantly accepted. She didn’t know why he was being so nice, she didn’t think she deserved that, but she figured she might as well take advantage of the offer. She sat next to Dustin, and he listened as she explained her nightmare.
“I’ve been having nightmares similar to this one for a few nights now..but..this one was different..” Max started. “Like with all of them, it was basically a replay of what happened that night..with Billy…but he didn’t stop there. The Mind Flayer. He went after..all of you…Lucas, El..Mike, Will, Steve…you..” She glanced over at Dustin, who was giving her a pitiful expression. She averted her eyes back towards the floor.
The more she talked and thought about the nightmare, the more shaky she and her breathing became. It was nothing drastically noticeable, but Dustin could tell she was disturbed and in seconds he had one of his hands on hers, and the other rubbing her back. It seemed to help because soon she was no longer shaking, and breathing became more steady. Dustin pulled her into a side hug, letting her rest her head on his shoulder as he continued to comfort. One hand holding hers, the other rubbing her arm.
They stayed that way for a while. They exchanged small smiles, but that was it. And that was okay. They didn’t need to say any words. Max felt better just being in Dustin’s presence. He had always been that kind of person. All he had to do was smile at you and your day would automatically be at least a little bit better. What he was giving her was more than just a smile, and she was finally able to relax and let the troubling thoughts swarming her head fade away.
After a while, Max reluctantly broke the silence. “I should, uh, probably go..”
“Oh, yea. Yea.” Dustin replied quietly. They got out of the hug and got up from the bed, walking over to the window where Max had climbed in from. She was about to climb back out when Dustin remembered what time it was and stopped her. “Wait, wait, wait..it’s really not a good idea for you to walk home this late. I obviously couldn’t stop you from coming here, but..maybe you should stay here tonight.”
Max didn’t approve. “No, no, it’s fine. I’ll be fine. I don’t wanna be a bother-”
“Max, you’re staying. It’s fine, we have extra pillows and blankets in the hallway closet. Give me a sec..” Before Max could protest, Dustin had already quietly opened his bedroom door and gone to get sleeping supplies.
Once Max was settled on the floor with a bunch of pillows and blankets, Dustin climbed back into bed. He rolled over so he could see his friend. “You gonna be okay? We can stay up for a bit if you wanna-”
“No, I’ll be fine…thanks though..for everything. For this. For dealing with me for so long.”
Dustin chuckled and replied, “Of course. Do you think your mom will care?”
“Oh, no, she won’t even notice I’m gone.” Max replied, trying not to sound hurt by the truth. Dustin didn’t try to hide his annoyance, though. He made a mental note to talk to her about that later.
He turned his bedside lamp off and got into a sleeping position, as did Max. After a moment of silence, Max heard something surprising from Dustin. Surprising to her, at least.
“Love you, Max…”
She didn’t know how to respond, but just those words made her happier than she’d been in a while. She couldn’t help the smile growing on her face. She could tell what he had said was genuine, she heard it in his voice. He really loved her. As a friend, of course. She closed her eyes and held her blanket a little tighter.
“Love you too, Dustin…”
For the first time in a few days, Max didn’t have another nightmare that night. She slept peacefully knowing she was loved.