Work Text:
When Max woke up she was surrounded by people… unfortunately. Unlike the assumptions of most people, living as a vegetable while you know your closest friends and family are in danger is not very restful, so despite having been asleep for years at this point she was grouchy and tired.
“Goodness me! Can you guys ever shut up!?” She raised her voice, cutting through the chatter sounding above her.
“Max!” Lucas cried happily. Max tried to open her eyes to look at him but quickly found she couldn’t… her eyes were already open.
“Well shit.” She said jadedly. “I’m blind.”
“Hmm, we expected that might be the case after the significant trauma you went through with Vecna.” An unfamiliar voice monotoned from the corner of the room, slowly approaching her bedside. “Just let me see quickly how your eyes respond, I’m just gonna flash a light in your eyes to see if they dilate.”
Max sat still as they performed the test, seeing no difference in the black screen that clouded her vision.
“Well, your eyes appear to be completely unresponsive, bare with me as I go get Dr Owens to check this out. It may take a while.” Max heard the unknown, presumably doctor exit the room.
“So, besides Lucas, who’s here?”
“Oh, well, everyone really.” Dustin said from somewhere in the room, a chorus of ‘hello’s sounding after,
“Okay, and how long have I been out?” Max scrunched her face in anticipation for the answer. The idea that she could’ve been out for months while the extended party dreamed up strategies to fight the ass that almost killed her left her feeling worried and slightly guilty. She hoped it had only been a week.
“A while, to say the least.” A voice reminiscent of the old chief of police chimed out.
It seemed like it had been a while, indeed.
— — — — —
As Max adjusted to the new way of life carved out for her by Vecna, who was killed in some convoluted way no one could seem to explain to her properly yet, she also adjusted to the new life her friends had been leading in the almost 2 years of her absence. Lucas seemed as happy to be with her as always and Max appreciated the constant rock he shouldered for her to lean on. He told her about the planning and scheming they did to defeat Vecna, and the constant worry they all felt at putting each other and themselves at risk, but most importantly he told her about the joy they all felt after it was over, anxiously waiting for her to wake up, sharing stories and talking about everything and nothing.
And, despite now being blind, Max had observed many things in the months after waking up. Perhaps because the greatest insight is one completely unclouded by sight. She found a new clarity after losing her vision, she adapted to hear the specific tones and subtext infused in people’s voices, and from it she learned many things. Granted, most of these things were small or stuff people mentioned to her five seconds after she discovered them but that didn’t discredit her two most important discoveries:
Mike and El had broken up.
She heard it in the way they spoke to each other, the calm but familiar tone of best friends, nowhere near the teasing and fighting they did as early teens. Now, how nobody had mentioned this to her? She had no clue considering how much of a blabbermouth Dustin was. Her leading theory was that it happened right after the Byers came back to Hawkins, so far back in time that it had become just another unremarkable fact. And:
Mike was head over heels in love with Will Byers. And had been for a while at Max’s guess.
Now, this wasn’t really hard to spot, especially with Mike acting like a lost puppy whenever Will wasn’t around. This was coincidentally one of those times.
The party was hanging out in Mike's basement, excluding Will and El who left for dinner with their family. Dustin was sitting on the couch rambling about the new radio system he invented (“No but I don’t think you get how cool it is! It’s groundbreaking technology! You can even edit your voice!”) while Lucas was sitting at Max’s knees, letting her play with his usually styled hair as she sat in her wheelchair. Mike was upstairs getting water or something but also definitely thinking about Will.
Max saw how Will became a part of Mike’s daily routine, or rather, how he’d always been a part of Mike’s daily routine. Wake up, think of Will, have breakfast, think of Will, brush your teeth, think of Will, hang out with all your friends, think of Will, continuously change the topic to talk about Will, think some more about Will, get distracted in class because you’re thinking about Will, Will, Will, Will, Will, Will, Will, over and over again.
At this point it was kinda pathetic.
As if called by someone else thinking of Will, that was the moment Mike descended the stairs and according to what Dustin said as he walked down, he looked gloomier than ever.
“Dude, are you alright?” Dustin asked, veering away from his rambling.
“Ugh, yeah I’m fine.” Mike replied. “I just wish Will and El were still here, it’s more fun when the whole party is all together.”
And there Mike goes, like a puppy again, so clearly hung up on his childhood crush turned love of his life. If only he could be a normal person and just confess already, Max thought.
“Oh my God, Mike, you really have to get over El!” Dustin said impatiently, apparently completely oblivious to Mike’s actual feelings. “You guys broke up, like, two years ago at this point. You weren’t even happy while you guys were together! I know it’s hard but trust me, if you just get over her the party will be much happier and your sorry ass won’t be left pining once El leaves!”
A silence fell over the room at Dustin’s blunt directions. All Max could think about is how dumb Dustin had to be to not see the obvious. Max couldn’t even see! But she sure as hell felt the longing glances Mike and Will cast to each other across the room and she sure as hell heard the softening of their voices when they spoke to one another, they were so sweet it was honestly sickening. Anybody who thought Mike still liked El was a bona fide idiot, and just when she thought it couldn’t get any more idiotic…
“I mean, I’m sorry Mike but I think Dustin’s right.” Lucas started softly. “We’ve been trying to support you as you work through the break up in your own time but… it has been two years. El is well and truly over you and I think it would be best moving forward if you can get over her too. That way we could all just be friends and, yeah, like Dustin said group hangouts would be happier…”
Mike sat with, what Max hoped, was a shocked expression that completely conveyed how utterly wrong and oblivious Lucas and Dustin were in their statements.
“You guys are idiots.” Max chimed in defeatedly, prepared to be the voice of reason in this misguided conversation. “Mike, literally just confess your feelings already. Trust me, as someone who has possibly the most unbiased viewpoint in this whole debacle, there is no way in the universe or even outside it that Will doesn’t like you back. He’s loved you for as long as you’ve loved him too, before this whole Vecna thing I saw it in his eyes when he looked at you and after it immediately found its way into his voice when he spoke to you. For the love of all things unholy, please just kiss the boy so I don’t have to hear you wandering for him like a lost dog!”
The stunned silence returned immediately after Max finished talking, like an impatient petulant child begging to be paid attention to.
“Alright, Max.” Mike said.