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It was very early morning, cold and dewy. Hawkins Public Park glowed under a few street lamps. A girl with fiery red hair sat on the hill, overlooking the large pond, lighting a cigarette.
A tall boy races in on his bike, stomping over to the hill— not noticing the girl already sitting there.
She doesn't notice him until he makes it a few feet from her as he interrupts
“Max? What're you doing here?” He startled, surprise turning to annoyance.
She straightened her shoulders
“I should ask you the same thing, Wheeler.”
He scoffed, going to defend himself.
“None of your business, Mayfield.” He said, looking away and crossing his arms.
She was about to sass back when the little light that they had, shone directly onto Mike's face. He had red, bloodshot eyes, with dried tears clinging to his cheeks.
She never really saw him like this..
She sighed, looking back to the water, finally lighting her cigarette but was interrupted by an annoying voice.
“You smoke?”
She shoots him an irritated look, cigarette dangling
“Yeah so?” She countered with muffled words
He sputters trying to recover “Nothing! Just..suprised is all..”
An awkward silence goes on between them
He fidgets. hands clenching and unclenching nervously.
She stares for a moment before asking ”Wanna sit?”
He freezes, the question throwing him off guard, but her voice seeming so genuine.
He rushes to sit beside her(maybe a little too quickly, as Max lets out a soft chuckle)
She then finally lit her cigarette, taking a drag and blowing it out through her nose.
It stung. She loved the feeling. Ever since…Billy, she's picked up smoking. She found a pack of camels while cleaning out his room and never looked back.
Mike eyed her as she inhaled again. She looked over and their gazes met. Mike quickly looking away, a faint pink dusting his ears.
She held out her hand, silently offering the cigarette.
He looked down at it then up at her again
He reluctantly took the cigarette, inhaling the bitter smoke.
He sputtered and coughed so bad she thought he could have actually coughed up a lung!
She couldn't help but laugh at him
“You good?” She says through chuckles
“Not-..fun-.funny.” He mumbled through coughs
She snatched the cigarette from his hand
A pause
“So…how's El?’
He froze. Coughing coming to a halt.
“I..I dunno.”
What?
“We haven't really talked since….we went on break. Not really, anyway.”
“What? Why?? I mean last I saw you guys couldn't stop eating each other's faces off!” She said teasing incredulously
He just hummed in response, not sparing a glance, looking like he's all up in his own world.
She offered him the cig again to get him out of his head
It seemingly worked as he drew another nicotine filled breathe
“What…” She bit her lip, trying to come up with the words “What happened?”
He sighed and passed it back
“We just…it's not really working,” a said after a pause “the distance.”
His face said more than his words— eyebrows furrowing, and chewing on the inside of his cheek.
“Didnt you guys talk all the time and stuff, though?”
“We did— we do! It’s just— we don't like , talk to each other. You know?”
…
“It just feels like we're talking because we have to. Not because we want to.”
She furrows her brow and sighs, What was she supposed to say to that? She is not a relationship expert.
“I mean…i understand.”
He skeptically raises an eyebrow
“I-I mean to a point.”
She takes a deep breath
“Me and Lucas...after a while it just felt like talking to him became…a chore. Talking to anyone became one, really.”
Something like recognition and sympathy flickers across Mike’s face — gone in an instant, before Max can name it.
She looks away— taking a slow drag. Passing it back to Mike without a word.
Their fingers brush, gazes meeting as Mike inhales, not breaking eye contact before speaking.
“Yeah…talking to anyone's been hard lately.” Mike mumbled as he looks away
“Guess that makes two of us.” Max says, snatching the cigarette from Mike's fingers. Hands lingering for just a moment.
If either noticed, they didn't say anything.
For a moment, theres just comfortable silence as they pass the cigarette back and forth.
Mike breaks it
“You know…it's actually..nice talking to you.”
She glances at him as he takes another puff
“Wow, thanks for the complement.” She says sarcastically
He smirks faintly, exhaling smoke into the cold air
“No really. It's…nice.”
She can feel her cheeks warm at the compliment, though she hides it with a small smirk.
She just looks at him for a moment as he passes the cigarette back, noticing the faint blush coloring his pale cheeks.
She passes it back once more, fingers brushing again — but neither pull back this time, for what feels like forever.
He finally takes it as she sets her hand down on the grass, relaxing.
Cigarette in his right, he places his left hand nearby, close enough for Max to feel the faint heat radiating off of him.
Their pinkies brush, he flinches away a little at first...before settling his hand next to hers, fingers touching once more.
She freezes for a moment, heart starting to beat faster, before curling her pinky around his softly.
He snaps his head toward her, red creeping up neck and flushing his cheeks.
She keeps her gaze fixed on the water as if nothing happened.
He swallows, regaining some composure, lifting the cigarette to his lips again — though his hand shakes faintly as he inhales.
They sit like that for a while, taking in the silver shine of the pond, and the intimacy of their touch.
Mike passes the cigarette again, murmuring, “Winner takes the spoils,” a dopey smirk tugging at his lips.
She grabs it, taking the last drag. She exhales slowly, watching the smoke curl into the sky before stubbing the cigarette out on the ground.
A comfortable silence settles between them
“I'm glad…I ran into you.” He says, barely above a whisper.
Their eyes meet, contact lingering.
He glances down for a moment, then back up to her eyes, a silent question in his gaze before he begins to lean in.
Max doesn't move away.
The space between them shrinking, Mike hesitates for a moment— long enough for her to feel his breath on her lips—- before he brushes his to hers.
A cold shiver runs down her spine, the kiss is so light, so careful.
They both know they should pull away but….neither of them do.
His hand shifts, holding hers fully.
He pulls away slowly, reluctantly— the kiss already fading into memory.
They look into each other’s eyes, silence stretching— both realizing this was what they’d been missing all along.
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