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[accelys]

why is literally nothing working for me on this app AND website 💀

[accelys]

please love me [again] || reintroducing myself

words: 2,248

notes: i'm back :) kinda, yeah, i was going to make this longer, but felt like that would be too fast paced, so here have the first part. hope my skills didn't deteriorate (tell me how it is in the comments)... also, don't have a title for this part yet

edit: why did this like not show up on the tag- also to the person who asked abt the girl u can't have, i haven't continued it bc ive constantly debated rewriting the former parts

Apollo’s chariot was positioned high above Hawkins that morning, the Greek god pulling the Sun with him as it burned bright. The star cast its light upon anything it could, going as far as illuminating a good portion of the store. The golden beams graced the pale floor tiles and the dirty shelves that carried the beautiful words of Bon Jovi, Madonna, and so many others. The store’s air was peaceful, to say the least, only becoming better as you changed the song that blasted through the speaker to your favorite one.

Yet, there was this tension that seemed to hang from your shoulders that stopped you from enjoying it. It was tranquility that surrounded you, wasn’t it? It was abnormal. It became abnormal because of them. You didn’t miss the near-death experiences, but you couldn’t deny that you didn’t love the excitement they could bring. Perhaps that’s why you let Steve Harrington horribly persuade you an hour ago?

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“Camelot Music. What is it?” You nonchalantly questioned the person on the other side of the phone, the object cold in your hand. Something about you was buzzing as you answered the call; it was like your body knew what was about to come.

“[Y/N]? [Y/N]! Hey! It’s Steve… Steve Harrington!” The static-like voice yelled in excitement. You could already tell there were nerves in the adult’s voice; it was the way his voice reached an octave way too high for him, the way he seemed to panic when saying his and your names, and the way you just knew Steve when he was freaking out.

“You’re the only ‘Steve’ I actually know, Harrington,” You chuckled as you felt the Sun’s warmth come in contact with your hand, the feeling dancing up your arm and leaving a bundle of nerves that you wouldn’t notice until later.

“See, I told you,” You heard in a hushed and criticizing tone that made your eyebrow arc in suspicion. “Right. Right… Anyways, I was wondering if you wanted to go on a cammm… Cake trip?”

“Is it a cake trip or something else?”

“A cake trip.” He swiftly responded with some shuffling against the phone, something that you assumed was him nodding in undeserved confidence and pride.

“And when are we going on this supposed cake trip?” You egged the older boy on, a hint of amusement dripping into your voice. Something about this conversation was sweet, as dull as it may seem. It seemed to hold the weirdness that you grew to love since the day you discovered El’s powers.

“In… An hour? Move, dipshit,” The Harrington chimed in a confused manner, the only weird part being the last, whispered sentence. “In thirty minutes! Yeah, thirty minutes.”

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It wasn’t long until you found yourself, despite your drooping eyelids, glaring at the fading yellow stripes on the road in front of the store. The lyrics sung by Michael Jackson quickly became a blur in your mind while the voices of the instruments lulled you to a near meditative state. It had been almost forty minutes past the agreed time, and all was spent cursing Steve and basking in the Sun’s glow as you sat on the curb. You already created a whole mental list of what made Steve late, which was a painfully common occurrence, and at the top was his inability to read an analog clock. The older boy constantly insisted to others that he could, even pointing out the watch that always laid on his wrist; yet, at some point last month, you found him staring at the device with confusion painted all over him.

Ultimately, it came to the point where you submitted to your mind’s urges to leave, stopping the Walkman attached to your hip and letting the headphones drop down to hang on your shoulders as you stood. The position you stayed in made your bones ache, the silence of the street making it evident as it allowed you to hear the cracks coming from your knees snapping into place. An exhausted yawn escaped you at that moment, seemingly the cue to the universe to finally send the cursed rich man and his car down the street. The usually prized, tidied car was swaying as it continued down its path, cluttered with numerous bags that one could see even from afar. 

A smile longed to break out onto your face as the BMW pulled over with Robin in the driver’s seat, a frightened Steve appearing into view. They offered awkward smiles and waves that you sent back with amusement and a raised eyebrow. The pair were indeed a sight to see, always bringing more than enough chaos along with them; still, you found enjoyment in whatever they did, finding thrill at the prospect of some sort of adventure.

“Surprise?” Robin’s raspy voice cheered out through Steve’s opened window, a mix of panic and excitement leaking into her voice. 

“Hi, Robin,” You greeted in a soft voice, “Want to tell me what’s happening?” The words that could put a crack in the dam, small yet enough to make the girl spill everything. It didn’t matter how irrelevant her words may get, lies would be uncovered once she got comfortable enough to rant around a person. 

The two glanced at each other, their eyes moving wildly to communicate with no words like telepathics in a war in each other’s minds. By the looks of it, Robin would win as she always did. In the end, an excited squeal came from the driver, her eyes darting back to meet yours. Though, when she did, the realization of what she was about to say hit her and forced her into a mental corner. That’s when the words spilled. Ones about camping trips, hikes, old friend groups, and how sometimes it’s good to spark old friendships.

With each word uttered by the older girl, your smile dropped the tiniest bit downwards into an eventual frown. You wanted to run, a sense of the repeating heartbreak consuming every part of you as you thought back to each of them; your heart squeezing when you let her cloud your mind, the face you constantly refused to meet was painted in a clear picture in front of your eyes. Did you really want to rekindle that?

Robin’s words slowed to a stop as Steve patted her waving hands, his eyes looking at you with concern and something you couldn’t pinpoint. Perhaps it was because you were too worried about what would happen, or maybe it was just his fault; you couldn’t find it in yourself to decide. “I think they get it, Robin. Just get in, please, or the others will be more of a headache. You really need this.” Steve pleaded out to you. The way his words seemed to imply that the others wanted you to be there terrified you. More than doing bad on assignments, more than being yelled at, more than being face to face with death.

There was a long period of silence that hung over the three of you before you wordlessly agreed, careful motions taken by you and the others as you clambered into the tight space the backseat offered. It was as if you were some fragile middle schooler once again, something you absolutely hated because, fuck, life was total shit then. 

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The middle seat in the Wheeler’s family car was becoming more and more uncomfortable to the redheaded girl, her eyes darting at Steve’s red BMW in front of them. Her hands felt out of place resting on her thighs, even more so when she moved them to her shoulders, arms, or anywhere else. Not only that, but why did her throat feel like it was closing up? Why did her clothes feel horribly picked? She should’ve worn something else, maybe something she knew you’d like. Except, you made it so clear to the girl that you didn’t want her anymore, changing her status in your book to just some peer. It hurt becoming a nobody after months of actually being treated as someone special.

She was so quick to agree with Will once he suggested bringing you with them, every part of her longing to have the chance of being recognized by you again. Yet, Max Mayfield was shaken as she watched you climb out of the backseat. Her body had a mind of its own at that moment, her own too preoccupied with how you looked. Ethereal was undoubtedly a word, though it felt too much of an understatement. 

The sight became better somehow as soon as she exited the Wheeler’s car, her tongue darting out to wet her lips. Step by step, she was coming closer to where you stood and avoided everyone… Only to miss you by over a mile as you gave her presence no recognition, grabbing a bag to lug to the campsite. Your very existence near her was enough, though. 

In less than ten seconds, the teenage girl heard a harmonious yell for your name coming from Dustin, who was your closest friend in the group, and El, who lagged behind the boy and was someone you always had a soft spot for. The simple call was enough to halt you from taking another step into the woods, the boy barreling his way over to you with open arms and no fear. No matter how stiff you were in his arms, he still got the chance to hug you. At that moment, she wanted to be someone else for the first time, maybe be yours.

“[Y/N],” The curly-haired boy uttered softly as a greeting. “I know we tricked you into this, but I’m glad you’re here. All of us. Really.” That was when Max found herself wanting to get lost in the forest, internally screaming as she remembered the moment Will’s suggestion tumbled out of the boy’s lips. No one else was certain except El, who was never made aware of the drama, all unsure of the idea of you being here.

The redhead tightened her hold around the bag handle as Dustin was soon replaced by El, the powerful girl smiling brightly at you. You returned that smile with the same amount of brightness in a way that made her heart skip a beat and thump a bit harder against the restraints of Aphrodite’s hold. Your friendship with El was unchanged, yet to be tarnished by drama like yours and hers. The difference? She swore that her friendship with you was more than that. Wasn’t it?

She remembered the glint in your eyes when you looked at her, recalling how you looked at her that was usually only saved for books. Yet, why were things like this now? It was the question that constantly left her awake at night, overpowering the other thoughts that could’ve filled her mind. You were always the subject of her focus… In spite of that, she didn’t have the answer to her question because it only resided with you, the one that was only a few steps from the forest line.

--- linebreak ---

Not even three roundtrips in, the majority of the group was tired. Yet, her heart persuaded herself to continue going, an effort to impress you and get the chance to at least greet you. Only one of them had a chance of happening, and, fuck, she was going to take it. Though, every time her mouth opened when you were coming her way, it quickly closed back up as she was simply captured by the way the light seemed to hit your face just right. Max Mayfield was weakened by you…

--- linebreak ---

“You don’t have to do that, y’know?” Max found herself saying the fifth time she saw you coming her way. A red tint already covering her face as she met your eyes, scanning your face for anything; all she saw was amusement and a raised eyebrow that silently asked her why. “The bags. Yeah. I mean, you didn’t pack anything, right? So, it’d be weird if we had you carry so much… You can just give it to me?” With a mind of their own, her hands shot in front of her to grab them from you; yet, you made no effort to hand it to the girl. Hell, you even moved them out of her reach.

The delighted glint in your eyes brightened as her hands fell back to her sides, Max becoming even more aware of the increasing redness of her face that could rival her hair. “It’s fine, honestly,” You reassured in a monotone voice that could make her knees buckle if she allowed it. 

“Right… Yeah,” She murmured as a goodbye, rushing past you to head back to the car. A groan of annoyance directed at herself left her lips, berating herself in her mind for acting so stupid.

As she arrived at the car, she found none other than Mike Wheeler sipping on a juice box as he sat in an open spot of the trunk, an effort to hide from the strengthening heat rays. Her quickened pace seemed to grab the boy’s attention, head snapping her direction to observe her.

“Why do you look like that?” He questioned, unaware of the weight his words held to the redheaded girl.

“Shut up, frog face,” Max snapped, quickly grabbing a bag for each hand and rushing to head back to the campsite.

Fucking hell, did [Y/N] notice too?

“Wait, who told you about that?!”

[accelys]

i swear im going to get a story out soon. it just takes me a while 😭

so, sometimes i think of give y’all a happy ending… but i usually don’t? the short thing i planned doesn’t have a happy one, but i’m thinking of writing a diff one that has flirty max. so maybe tell me what you want it to be like?

[accelys]

a failed love story

words: 1,622

note: i swear i didn't forget abt my other story- also, i feel like my writing started out good then slowly became bad throughout the story. enjoy tho :)

The moon loomed over Hawkins, illuminating the gravel of the road that was littered with fallen leaves and potholes that were rarely fixed because of the mayor’s refusal to care for all the citizens. The soft hums originating from the eldest Wheeler, accompanied by the singing of Billy Ocean, filled your ears and endlessly annoyed the one in the backseat.

“I don’t get what you like about this song,” Mike complained, leaning forward to switch the song in exchange for a new song that he overheard Eddie Munson talking about with Garreth. His hand was quickly slapped away by his sister, her eyes never drifting away from the road that would lead to your… ex. The word bounced around your head, loosening your grip on the flower that you’ve been twirling between your thumb and index finger. 

You never got used to describing the redhead like that; an ex. Months had already passed since the break-up, yet your heart never got the memo and continued to yearn for the girl you adored. You spent late nights pacing around the phone in your living room trying to decide on whether to dial the number you engraved into your brain or not; hours biking to the trailer that was so far from your home, only to be stuck in front of the door with a raised fist that would never fall against the wood; minutes spent in the high school parking lot gazing at her like you were a twelve-year-old once again; and seconds in the school hallways trying to get even a mere glance of her striking blue eyes as she escaped the classroom. You just needed some confirmation that the two of you were done for good, that she lost all those feelings the two of you accumulated together in your adventures and calming nights. Something to stop your tears from constantly falling and lull you to a restless sleep for many nights.

Despite memorizing every tiny detail of the girl’s body and mannerisms, you failed to conjure a storyline that would’ve allowed you to prepare; your imagination prevented you from thinking of the words that would fall out of your old lover’s lips. What were you going to do if it really was over? You’ve become so used to the feeling of longing and nothingness that she may as well be your sun and moon. It was silly to hold onto the memory of being with Maxine Mayfield, but it was fair considering she kept all of your love trapped in some box only she knew about.

A firm click of the car doors unlocking echoed into your ears, the glazed and distant look escaping your eyes as the Mayfield’s trailer entered your view. Your breath caught in your throat, anxiety kept you strapped to the journalist’s passenger seat. You could feel Nancy Wheeler’s encouraging yet pitiful eyes boring into the side of your face, contrasting the growing irritation radiating off your long-time friend. You should go, though your heart urged you to stay and scream at Nancy to return you home. But she already did, didn’t she?

You found yourself no longer in control, an outsider to your own body as it, shakingly, stepped out of the vehicle. You could hear the sound of rubber grazing against gravel as the Wheeler’s family car drove away, the sound of the forest at peace that was only interrupted by the barking of a dog, and the sound of your shoes crushing against the stones that led you to her home. It would’ve been so easy to call if it wasn’t for the fact that you needed to see her again. You wanted to spill your heart out to her face-to-face, to see the emotions cross her pale, freckled face. Be that as it may, you found yourself a few feet short of her house door; frozen in the darkness when she, in all her glory, stepped out wearing a shirt more than a few sizes too big and her hair, that often reminded you of a bonfire on a cold night, messily tied up. Simply put, she was the most beautiful thing to grace this universe.

Your eyes met her piercing blue ones, making your heart beat faster against your chest, and your hands fall awkwardly at your side. You tried to find something to say, any words to cut through the silence between the two of you. Yet, everything felt like a little too much; your shirt was too messy and tight, the flower was too romantic, the words you prepared were too bland or strong, and you were too out of place. It wasn’t because it was a trailer park but because of her. You adored Maxine Mayfield to the point that you were self-conscious and awe-struck, so, under her gaze, you couldn’t help but feel embarrassed. You watched as her eyes trailed across your face and down your body, a conflicted look coming across her face.

“[Y/N]...” The girl uttered breathlessly, the muscles on her face relaxing. The way she said your name still had the same effect on you as it did when you were dating. A red tint painted your cheeks, making you grateful for the darkness, and a slight, unnoticed shiver ran up your spine. 

“I, uh… I miss you,” You confessed, twirling the flower between your fingers. Your mind and body warned you to look away, unprepared for the guarded expression that morphed on the redheaded beauty’s face. It was clear that you, carelessly, rehearsed the wrong lines on the script. This wasn’t a love story; this was the sad ending in a tragic play. One where the lovers fell out of love and into their respective places. The only flaw: you didn’t know where you were supposed to go afterward.

“We broke up. I broke up with you. A long time ago,” Maxine spat out, her eyes flickering to the side to avoid yours. An exasperated sigh escaped her, the grip on the plate tightening as she looked at your unmoving figure. “Please, just go.”

“Maxine- “

“I told you, it’s just ‘Max.’” She reprimanded, forcing you into a wave of shock. You should’ve expected the reaction. Things between you changed. The privilege of using her full name was one you only held because of your relationship… Which the two of you were no longer in. The realization was slowly coming down on you, making the open space feel like a cage that separates you from her. The air in your lungs couldn’t possibly suffice.

Inhale. Exhale.

“Max. I need this, okay?” You pleaded, your eyes following her figure in the moonlight as she walked towards the whimpering dog. Her head hung low, removing the chance to meet your eyes again. You longed to be in front of her, have her attention. 

“Do you really, [Y/N]?” She questioned, her pale and delicate fingers playing with the plastic wrap that covered the food. Everything was going wrong so quickly. Her angelic presence was enough to make you do a double-take. You despised that fact.

“I’m not really sure. But I know I’ve spent countless days and nights trying to get even a drop of courage to do this. I just wanted some sort of…”

“Confirmation,” She finished. Your actions were predictable to the redhead. Knowing you was as easy as breathing to her; the reason why she knew you needed this confrontation in real life, instead of some letter or call. The girl rose from her spot, cautiously walking towards your form. To you, she was ethereal. She was some goddess that you had the pleasure of meeting and loving. One that made you freeze up and recall what exactly you lost.

“Yes.”

“I… I’m not sure. I do love you, okay?”

“Then, why?” You questioned, your words reeking of desperation. It didn’t make sense to you. How could you go from knowing almost every single thing about a person to this? The point where you failed was lost to you. 

“Can we not?”

“No, Max. You’ve pushed everyone away. You don’t talk to anyone anymore, even El,” You explained, your hand twitching upwards to hold hers. The motion was so familiar to you, embarrassing you to no end when it happened. Instead, you brought it up to grasp your forehead and rub your temples. The flower in your other hand was long forgotten as you stared at her. “I just need to know if I did something wrong. Not even that, at this point, I need to know if you’re doing okay, Max.”

The girl in front of you was in a war with herself; one side threatened to spill everything that’s been going on while the other defended. You were in your reach, standing right there. Max Mayfield had been sure of where she stood all her life, even when her parents divorced. So, why was she always stuck when it came to you? 

The moment was beginning to remind her of a romantic film, one where the couple was fighting to stay with each other. The only thing the two of you needed was the rain to match the tension and anguish that clouded around you and her. In all the films and plays like this moment, the only thing that stopped the couple was their own conflictions. She understood that, yet the teen made no effort to do so. “You did nothing wrong, I swear,” She reassured. Max was aware that she should say more, but she couldn’t stand looking at you any longer, knowing that she wasn’t ready, nor was you. Her eyes met yours for one last time as she brushed past your side, rushing into her home.

[accelys]

ochisia

words: 2,617 (not counting the definition)

note: uh this was for a request i couldn’t find (probs deleted it), but yea. i think it basically asked for protective Mike, while reader and max became friends. honestly, this is kinda a mess/shit show, but enjoy :) it’s so weird that i wrote this instead of my essay… also, yes, i got this title from a tiktok

ochisia: the fear that the role you once occupied, could be refilled without a second thought; questioning if there is someone who could better support them, bring them joy, or show them love that you’re unable to.

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Mike understood he couldn’t keep using it as an excuse, yet he still did because, all of his life, he felt useless, replaceable, and unloved. Love was such a foreign concept to him; his household had no signs of it. He was the middle child, leaving barely any room for attention from his parents. Nancy was perfect, and Holly was young and adorable to every adult, while Mike was just him.

When he was “Mike the Paladin” or “Mike the Friend of Will, [Y/N], Dustin, and Lucas,” he felt like somebody. He felt brave, happy, and all those good emotions. But that didn’t mean the awful thoughts forever left his mind… Perhaps that’s why he kept searching for El, a mission to keep himself meaningful, or continued arguing to keep Max from joining the party. He, especially, kept arguing with you to keep Max out because all he knew was that replaceable feeling when you hung out with the redhead.

Your friendship with him was something he protected, and you were something he protected. It had been slightly different from the others because you were the first to help him understand the strange concept; he found a peculiar form of platonic love for you. 

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“I don’t get why you want to hang out with her,” You heard Mike complain from beside you. Even without looking at him, you knew what he looked like at the moment: squinted eyes, scowl, and crossed arms. His words were hardly taken into account by the majority of the group, only eliciting annoyed groans and eye rolls. Like Lucas and Dustin, you had this weird infatuation for the redhead you just saw in class. In your opinion, it wasn’t as bad as the other two, but she still had you mesmerized.

Your small group had been “hidden” behind the fence for the past few seconds, watching Max ride up and down the sloped plane. But you speculated that Dustin, Lucas, and Will were there longer. Which earned them criticism once you arrived with your complaining companion, yet both of you joined them in their stalker-ish activity.

“She’s cool, and she beat Dustin’s high score on Dig Dug,” You defended. You haven’t even talked to her, but the girl just seemed… incredible. Your eyes trailed her figure as she skated down the hill, a weird feeling bubbling inside your stomach as you watched. You couldn’t decide if it was because of the awkwardness of watching a girl from afar or the food you had recently eaten.

“There’s no way that’s MADMAX,” Mike muttered loud enough for the group to hear.

“Yeah, girls don’t play video games,” Will quickly agreed with his friend. Your eyes snapped to the boy with a bowl cut, eyeing him strangely; part of you enjoying the way his back evidently straightened when he felt your eyes on him, the other feeling the teensiest bit of bad.

“That’s like… sexist or something,” You argued. Your words only made Will’s jaw drop as he looked back at you, eyebrows raised as you watched him stammer over his words in an attempt to defend himself.

“Well, even if they did, you can’t get 750,000 points on Dig Dug,” Mike cut in, saving his other friend. You let another annoyed groan leave your lips as you intentionally let your head fall against the wire fence, turning to look at the boy. “That’s impossible.”

“Are you saying that because you’re the one that didn’t do it?” You questioned, an eyebrow raised.

“No!” 

“I’m upset too, but her name’s ‘Max.’” Lucas added to your argument.

“So what?” Mike scoffed, an eye roll accompanying his question. 

“So… How many ‘Max’s do you know?”

“I don’t know.”

“Zero! That’s how many.”

“Yeah! She shows up at school the day after someone with her same name breaks our top score. I mean, you kidding me?” Dustin added, agreeing with Lucas.

“Exactly. So, she’s gotta be MADMAX, she gotta be,” Lucas confidently stated, looking back at Dustin and Mike.

You sent Mike a somewhat arrogant smile, turning back to look at Max and letting the following words from your friends become background noise. As you stared, subconsciously biting your lip due to nervousness, you mentally argued with yourself. You attempted to decide on whether or not to ditch your friends during their useless squabble to talk to the pretty redheaded girl on the hill. Your tongue poked out to wet your drying lips, slowly inching away to stand apart from the group.

“I’m going to go talk to her,” You announced. As soon as you did, you began to feel out of place underneath their stares. Something told you to stop and act as if nothing happened, but, at the same time, you didn’t want to. You watched them take in your words, their faces morphing into familiar expressions: anger from Mike, shock from Will, agitation from Lucas, and annoyance from Dustin.

“What? Why?!” Mike spoke out, crossing his arms in front of him. He looked like he was on the verge of a tantrum. 

“Because… We look like a bunch of creeps just standing here,” You explained, gesturing at the group. “And we’re probably weirding her out. So do you want to come or not?”

“You probably just want to make the first move,” Lucas grumbled. You brought your hand up to your face, muffling the string of curses that left your mouth. Who said anything about making a move?

“I literally just offered you guys to come with me,” You reminded the boy, giving him a pointed look. “So, are you guys coming with me or not? I just want to talk to her.” Your eyes drifted across the party’s faces, analyzing their expressions as best as you could. You didn’t understand their annoyance. Weren’t they just staring at her from afar? What was so wrong with talking to her?

“No. We’re staying here.” Mike said for the group, making your eyes widen. You looked over at Lucas and Dustin, inaudibly asking them if they agreed. They gave no recognition to the signal, avoiding your eyes.

“Alright…” You murmured, walking away from the group. You continued your stride, despite feeling the anger radiating off the Wheeler. Did you feel bad? Yes, but… In all honesty, you did nothing wrong. Right? You just wanted to talk to her. She was new! And Lucas’s comment was stupid; you didn’t even know what your attraction to Max was. 

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Mike scoffed in annoyance as he watched you awkwardly approach the girl, your fingers playing with one another to restrain yourself from using your hands to gesture wildly. He didn’t understand why you found her so cool. He could probably do the same skating tricks as her with some practice. Maybe even better.

“Can’t believe they did that,” Dustin mumbled under his breath, the group moving closer to where you stood on the staircase. Hidden from the eyes of Maxine Mayfield, but not the other students. The group’s eyes bore into the sides of you and the redhead, trying to figure out how the interaction was going. Deep down, Mike hoped that Max was actually some asshole that you ended up not liking or that you embarrassed yourself enough that the girl wouldn’t want to talk to you. 

Typically, those thoughts would cause the Wheeler boy to feel bad, but the ones that told him you’d replace him outweighed the feeling. The beliefs grew as he watched a smile appear on your face, tugging the corners of his mouth downwards. What was so special about her?

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“You didn’t have to do that,” Max commented as she helped you move on her skateboard. The warmth that rose to your face from earlier remained there as she kept holding onto your arms, your own hands grasping onto her shoulders. You couldn’t exactly say it was the heat, given the season, so the only reason was the redhead. 

The two of you had been locked out of the AV room by Mike after a brief shouting match between you and him, the others refusing to cut in. Why did it start? Mike didn’t want to let Max in. You didn’t understand his frustration towards the girl because, from what you’ve seen, she had been nothing but kind to the boy. Yet, the arguments between Mike and you continued and centered around her.

“It’s fine. He was being…” You began, stopping to adjust to the feeling of riding on the piece of wood. Your eyes flickered back up to meet the girl’s blue ones that almost made you freeze up and fall, causing her grip to tighten and a chuckle to escape her lips. You didn’t understand how such a simple thing made your heart skip a beat and tugged the corners of your mouth up. 

It was a strange feeling that you held for the girl, but you were aware of what it was: a crush. You thought your interest in her was just because she was new, but as you spent more time with Max, it blossomed into this weird fondness. The two of you slowed to a stop, giving you the chance to finish your statement with a shy smile, “A total dick to you, y’know? Plus, you did nothing wrong.”

“You may just be the coolest person in Hawkins, [Y/L/N],” Max replied with a smile that erupted butterflies in your stomach. From your spot above her, you could clearly see yourself in her eyes and count every single freckle that blessed her face. Your eyes flickered down to her lips, which changed into a grin, making you fear she spotted where you were looking. But, when you looked back at her eyes, you could spot this weird glint that signaled she had an idea. It was strange that you already picked up on a few of her habits, despite talking to her for only a few days. “I have an idea.”

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Mike stomped around the empty school hallways, his vision blurred by the tears filling his eyes. Stupid Max. Stupid [Y/N]. He didn’t need you. He was totally capable of doing things himself, doing great as he poked his head around the corner to scan for Dart. The fluorescent lights brightened the pathway as he continued, turning to go into the gym. 

The sound and sight of the door to the boys’ locker room paused him in his spot. Mike took a deep breath in, wiping the wet streaks on his cheeks with the fuzz of his sweater. He could do this. The statement became his mantra as he quietly and slowly stepped into the much smaller room. It wasn’t as bright, the light from the outdoors being one of the only sources that helped him grow accustomed to the dullness.

The young middle school boy glanced to his side, shifting the walkie-talkie to his left hand and grabbing the mop with the other. The weak wooden stick became his weapon as he inched closer to where he could hear the sound of shuffling. When he arrived near the source, pushing himself against the lockers, His grip around the mop tightened. The Wheeler mentally prepared himself for what he was about to see. The young boy let out a battle cry, jumping out of his spot and towards the sound.

“What the hell are you doing?” Max exclaimed, looking at him strangely. For fucks’ sake…

“Of course it’s you. Always you,” Mike mumbled. He knew his classmate heard him, but he couldn’t find any part of him that cared. “What do you mean what am I doing? What are you doing?!”

“I’m looking for Dart,” Max defended, taking a small step back from the boy.

“This is the boys’ room,” Mike argued, a rasp coming into his voice that scared him. He didn’t need her knowing he was about to cry again. Why couldn’t it be someone else? The boy’s jaw tightened as he continued to stare at the redhead with a questioning look.

“Yeah, so?”

“So, you should go home.” He advised, pushing the broom out of his hands and stomping away. The black-haired teen was aware of his childish behavior, but Mike felt like Max was slowly replacing him as your friend. While also capturing the attention of two others, it wasn’t fair. Why did she have to come to Indiana, out of all the states? Hell, why not even shitty Canada?

“Why do you hate me so much?” He heard the annoying redhead’s voice filling his ears from behind. His grip on the walkie-talkie tightened. He wanted to scream at the girl, yell at her about how she was talking you away from him. Tell her how she was the one breaking his friendship with you.

“I don’t hate you. How can I hate you? I don’t even know you.” Clearly, he didn’t yell; the boy refrained from spilling his emotions. She was already infiltrating his group, being informed about the current updates; she didn’t need to be aware of all these frustrations.

“Yeah, but you don’t want me in your party.”

“Correct.”

“Why not? [Y/N] and the others clearly do!”

“You’re annoying! And, if they like that, you guys can form your own little group. But, for now, we don’t need another party member,” Mike angrily told her as he turned around, watching the sadness he inflicted form on her face. Unaware of the fact that you entered the room, hearing his upsetting words. “I’m our paladin, Will’s our cleric, Dustin’s our bard, Lucas is our ranger, [Y/N]’s our rogue, and El’s our mage.” Why couldn’t she understand her role in his life? He made it clear as day. 

“What the hell, Mike?” You asked, stomping towards the duo. Your eyes flicker towards Max to observe her face, making him want to roll his eyes. “You don’t have to say that shit. Say ‘sorry.’”

“No! Here you go again!” He yelled, gesturing between you and Max. He was upset, his vision blurring again. He refused to let the tears fall, taking his chance to look up and then back at you. “You’re always taking her side! She’s invading our party. You’re practically replacing me with her because of your stupid crush!”

“I…” You began, your eyes flickering to the shocked expression on the redhead’s face. The Wheeler watched you take a deep breath, your face becoming serious as you stared right into his eyes. “No one’s fucking replacing you, Mike. You’re acting like some child.”

“Yes, you are! Everyone is!” He exclaimed, finally letting the tears fall down his face. A hiccup escaped his lips, “Max hasn’t done shit to deserve all this attention, but you still give her all of it!”

“I… I didn’t mean to,” Max cut in. He watched her play with her finger like she was the victim. You were quick to come to her side, assuring her she had zero blame for the situation. It should’ve been impossible to make him more upset, yet you still made it happen. His head hangs low, relying on only hearing as he watches the droplets from his eyes hit the gym floor. What the fuck was happening?

He heard a sigh escape from your lips, Max’s steps echoing and heading towards the hallways. “No one’s trying to replace you, Wheeler. Just give her a chance, please.” You pleaded, wrapping your arms around his neck and pulling him into a tight hug. “You’re, like, too important to replace. Plus, she doesn’t understand shit about DnD.”

“Really?” He muttered into your shoulder, his arms remaining at his side because he feared that if he moved them, you’d quickly vanish. 

“Yeah…” 

[accelys]

your lips on my red cheeks || i hate you, my love (the alternative ending)

words: 4,094 Previous Part

note: VOLUME 2 SPOILERS AHEAD. kind of... similar to the other ending, i changed it. so, this one’s the happy one since some asked for (no one dies, you get your cliché rom-com ending). enjoy :) also, do yk how weird writing a kiss is? i had to spend a decent moment just thinking of how things worked and constantly changing the previous words to make sure things made sense

tags: @milkiane @gojosrug @ifeeluncomfortableallthetime @simp4natasha @badwolf00593 @splatashadeadmanoff @astroponyo @alonezz @part-timetraveller @73vyn @sadiesgf69 @eunkooked @tsukishimawhore @frankoceanphobic @nyrovia @realeddiemunson

By any means, you weren’t a saint. Not in your parents’ eyes, not in your friends’ eyes, and, especially, not the town’s eyes. The only exception you could think of at the moment was El, who seemed to think of you fondly for some unknown reason. You understood why the others might think of you badly, but they have to give you a pat on the back because there were loads of times when you wanted to curse people, and you didn’t. For instance, you could’ve cussed out your parents for missing your award show, but you didn’t because you knew they wouldn’t think twice about punishing you. Another time was when you accidentally bumped into Billy, you could’ve said some nasty things, but you refrained from doing so because the fucker was twice your size. So, of course, you knew when to shut up; this scenario was one of them.

Your eyes darted between Jason’s blue eyes, which forced a shiver up your spine that urged you to move and stay in your spot at the same time, and the barrel of the gun in his hands. You understood what could happen: Jason could shoot and miss because of his shaky hands, he could shoot and actually hit you because of his trembling hands, or he could just not attack you. You were hoping for the last option, but you were willing to settle for the second. What was the likelihood that he’d hit a fatal spot? Very, but you couldn’t bring yourself to accept that.

As you stood there, the world seemed to slow down, and your vision finally became clearer to allow the others into your sight. Max sat there, her body rigid and unresponsive to anything around her. Gosh, why couldn’t any school year be normal? You wish you could say that you regretted befriending the others, but you didn’t. You just pretended to, annoying them with no end. This moment allowed you to remember those times during the summer between the school years when you criticized them for putting you in danger. It would’ve brought a smile to your face, but now, it only morphed your lips into a frown.

The buzzing of the blue-lit lanterns reached your ears in the silence that the attic offered, annoying you but also giving you a sense of clarity. The scene before you wasn’t what you expected to happen during your spring break. Especially when, not long before, Lucas was doing everything he could to kiss up to Jason. Your dearest friend had his arms wrapped around the older boy’s torso, carrying enough force to bring the both of them falling towards the hardwood floor of the attic. The gun tumbled out of the blonde’s hand and was heading downwards like its former owner. 

When you watched Jason hit the floor, his face morphing to reflect the physical pain he felt, the world seemed to shift back into its normal pace. A loud bang reached your ears as you instinctively ducked in your spot, almost falling over towards the left. As you got back up, you didn’t feel any pain. But that may have been due to the distraction that fucking Andy brought when he arrived. Gosh, you hated the older boy. Both of them. Fucking stupid leather jacket wearers.

The curly-headed athlete had wrapped his arms around your waist from the back, pushing the two of you onto the floor. A string of curses left your mouth as you, messily, attempted to get up. Your attempts were futile because of Andy’s stature; you felt his hand grip your shoulder and force you onto your back. 

You were met with a prideful look painting his face and... Was this dickhead wearing a hat still? It wasn’t important at that moment, but still. His expression made you open your mouth to shout, only to be silenced by a fist colliding with your nose. A cry of agony tumbled out of your lips instead, the pain making a ringing sound in your ears and messing up your thoughts. All you could clearly hear in your head was Max’s name, “idiot,” and a familiar feminine voice screaming your name. No fucking way... What the fuck?

Your moment of distraction only brought you more pain as Andy’s fist collided with your cheek this time. A groan left your lips as you instinctively brought up your hand to where you got hit. Gosh, why was Andy still here? You brushed away the thought and the pain exploding all over your body as you did the only thing you could think of that second: grab onto the athlete’s collar and headbutt him; and, fuck, did it hurt. Nonetheless, it allowed you the chance to roll out from underneath him and scramble onto your feet. 

You were internally screaming in pain, but all you could do was stumble over yourself. A pain shot up your left leg as soon as you leaned on it for stability, forcing you to look down and observe it. In the dark room that was only illuminated by blue light, you could spot a stain forming on the front of your pants leg. The lighting didn’t matter because you knew it was blood considering the fact that you grew aware of the blood dripping out of your wound and down your leg. 

“Oh, my fucking... LUCAS, I GOT SHOT!” You screamed, your head spinning around to look at your friend, who gave you no reply. He dismissed you and repeatedly punched Jason, not yielding for even a second. It was as if it was his ultimate goal in life. Even with a single glance, you could spot the furious look in his eyes and the bruise beginning to form on his cheek. Where was Steve when you needed him? Hell, where was Nancy with her guns?

With gritted teeth to refrain yourself from crying out in pain once more, you turned back to your own athlete: Andy the Asshole. The older boy seemed to finally get a grip on himself, tolerating the pain that he may have felt. You watched him bring himself onto his feet, not understanding why you didn’t do shit. You wished you kicked him in the face when he began, but you couldn’t bring yourself to ignore the pain erupting throughout your body. So, you did what you thought was best: hobble around the fucking attic like a pirate while the older boy chased you.

“Can you not?!” You yelled, maneuvering around the boxes that surrounded Max. The jock seemed to enjoy your pain, not breaking into a run and tackling you again. He seemed to enjoy watching you limp around the room, simply walking with a menacing look. “You look like a bitch doing this.”

“And you look pathetic,” Andy replied. You spotted him rolling his eyes, causing you to quicken your pace. Fuck him. Well, was it best to insult someone who had the upper hand? No, but you had to. It was all you could think of, and it was the truth. You just felt numb... and hungry. You felt the blood staining your pants and lips due to the earlier punch. Gosh, when was the last time you ate?

There wasn’t much space to walk around and throw boxes down onto the floor in the small room. It was like you were some pathetic horror movie character. Could you excuse yourself? You wished, but you had to admit. Andy was fucking right. You felt pathetic as you limped around and swerved your head, searching for anything to use.

During your search, all you could hear was Andy’s quickening pace and the sound of fists colliding with a body from Lucas and Jason’s fight. When your eyes wandered to them, you could tell the former was tired and began to give up. Lucas’s punches held less force and became messy; they were slow enough to give Jason back the advantage. You watched as the blonde jock punched Lucas in the face, your friend yelling out in pain as he fell onto his back. Your pace quickened towards them, your eyes still surveying the scene before you. This time, you’d be the one doing the tackling. Despite the pain telling you to stop and give up, you ran, or at least did some form of it, towards the older boy. You brought the two of you onto the floor. Apparently, everyone in the room was going to fall in the attic of the Creel House at least once... 

Following the sound of bodies hitting the surface, you heard wails of pain coming from underneath you and behind you that you craved to laugh at, but couldn’t, considering your own pain. Jason’s elbow jabbed into your abdomen, forcing you off of him and into a scramble onto your feet. You felt him push you back onto your stomach, similar to what Andy did earlier. Fucking asshole. The only difference was the blonde was laying beside you and in his puddle of pain that lulled him into a state of unconsciousness.

With a grateful sigh, you pushed yourself onto your knees and looked behind you. A mess of limbs was entangled with each other, with your friend at the bottom. You wished to laugh at the thought, but, given the situation, you had to help. Fuck, why couldn’t you be some theater kid and this whole shit show be some play? 

--- linebreak ---

Max was in a mixture of shock, relief, and... Vecna parts. It was understandable considering the last few minutes, which felt like hours. She recalled standing in the attic with Lucas behind her, screaming at a lantern like a lunatic. The redhead’s words tumbled out of her mouth like a rant to taunt Henry. Then, like a change of mood, she was transported onto the hill where she registered her feelings for you. A cheesy smile had formed on her face when she remembered it. 

The girl had been kneeling in front of you while you sat on that bench and complained about skateboarding, teasing you about acting like a toddler. You had fallen off her board, scraped your knees, and pretended like it was some fatal wound.

“Kiss it better,” You playfully said as she put a bandaid on the wound, an almost quiet snicker leaving you. She didn’t understand why at that moment, but it made her face turn red more than before, her spine straighten, and her words paused and came out with a stutter. It soon became clear to her how whipped she was for you, practically willing to do anything to get your attention. It almost made her forget the mission... 

Soon enough, she had been watching El and Henry battle each other. It was a mess that included sharpened sticks, swings, parts of the Earth, and even water fountains thrown at each other. Throughout the time Max spent constantly ducking to avoid being hit by a stray item, your name ran through her mind, and she swore she could hear your voice urging her to continue, despite being the one not doing anything. 

Nevertheless, it urged her to keep trying to stay alive and dismiss the shock that would’ve kept her in her place. What should’ve been an open area was limited, and she knew that, so Max did what she could in it; relief pumping in her veins when she realized she didn’t have to move as much, Eleven ultimately getting the upper hand in the battle. It eventually turned into a mix of disgust and excitement when, well, Henry exploded, and parts of him splattered onto her clothes. Of course, she was glad, but for fucks' sake... The redhead’s legs pushed herself towards El, embracing her in her arms and cooing soft and congratulatory words into the tired girl’s ear. Max couldn’t help but let the pride seep into them, hugging her friend tighter. It had been so long since the last time she was near the girl with extraordinary powers...

As she closed her eyes, it was like some fantasy movie; the air around her changed, and your voice filled her ears. Her eyes shot open, observing the sight before her. The harsh blue light invaded it, not accustomed to the vastly different brightness of the environment. The feeling of the Creel House changed, offering consolation instead of the eeriness it formerly held. That’s how she knew it wasn’t some trick done by Henry again, her head swerving to where she heard voices.

“Stop doing that!” You screeched, inching away from Erica’s prodding finger and closer to the other Sinclair. It was a weird sight to see, but it brought her comfort. All she wanted to do now was kiss you like a cliché person in a rom-com. 

“Erica!” Lucas berated, slapping his sister’s hands away from your leg. 

“I just wanted to see!” Erica scoffed, hitting him back. It was definitely a sight to see, enough for a laugh to escape the redhead’s lips as she got up from the floor. The sound gathered all three of your attention, making Lucas shoot up from his spot and your eyes widen. As Lucas bolted towards her and wrapped her in an embrace, you had his sister’s undivided attention.

“You’re okay...” She heard him whisper into her ear, Lucas’s arms tightening around her waist. 

Max grinned, “Had any doubt, Sinclair?”

- - - linebreak - - -

“Ew...” You heard Erica mutter as she took a brief glance at Max and Lucas, returning to inspect your face. Your eyes wandered the attic ceiling, briefly making contact with Erica’s. “You’ll be fine.”

“I’m in pain,” You rebutted, dramatically bringing your hand to your forehead. You laid on the hard floor as you had been for the past few minutes, and an ache began forming on your back. The Sinclairs had surrounded you, neither doing much to aid the pain. One had no clue what to do and panicked, while the other carelessly ripped off a piece of cloth from Andy’s unconscious body to wrap it around the wound.

“Physical or emotional?” Erica interrogated with a raised eyebrow, poking the cheek where a bruise began forming from Andy’s punch. You grimaced at the touch, trying to avoid her finger with zero success. Leave it to a middle schooler to put you in your place...

“Oh, fuck off. Isn’t it your bedtime?” You retorted. The younger girl only stuck her tongue out at you, and you reacted accordingly: raising your hand to flip her off.

“Don’t have to be so cranky ’cause we passed yours...” She replied, rolling her eyes. You ignored the comment, opting to prop yourself up on your elbows to look at the approaching duo. Your eyes caught Max’s as she looked at you with amusement, kneeling beside you. You felt her eyes drifting across your body, possibly to look at your injuries. But the reason didn’t matter because her eyes practically made you melt, reminding you of the difference between her and Jason’s eyes. Her look gave you warmth, while Jason’s made you feel cold in a hot room. She distracted you from everything else, evident from your later surprise when you didn’t spot the Sinclairs anywhere in the room.

“Hi,” You murmured, sitting up in your spot, your right hand supporting you. It brought you a bit of pain that you hoped didn’t reflect on your face. It probably did, but it’s possible that Max didn’t show herself noticing. You brought your left hand to gently cup her face, similar to what she did before, and caressed her cheek with your thumb. You felt her lean into your touch, a smile gracing her face as she whispered back a greeting. 

“Had the easiest job and still got injured...” She teased, bringing her hand up to hold the one on her face. You watched as the redhead brought the hand down, planting a delicate kiss on your palm. The simple act made you internally swoon, subconsciously making your lips part, and a warmth spread all over your face. Was it from the pain? Possibly, but you decided it’d be because of the girl in front of you. She was like a drug, and you were an addict that craved more of it. You would love any version of this girl you could get and yearn for any drop of attention she could give. Yet, Maxine didn’t give you that. She gave you more. 

Her lips captured your bottom lip, gently tugging on it. Fuck, this girl had you wrapped around her finger, and you’d practically obey anything she would say. You felt her hand drift down your arm, gently gliding down your side to grip onto your hips, the other hand of Maxine moving to your hip as well. The touch wasn’t harsh, but it had enough pressure to make your lips stutter against hers, cursing yourself out loud when you felt your right arm buckle. 

It only amused the redhead more, letting out a laugh you felt on your lips. As it died down, her eyes met yours and held a look that made you feel like you were her everything. A warmth, that you were sure was because of her, exploded in your stomach, growing when she initiated another kiss. You could tell there was something different in this one. It was messy and desperate as if she yearned for more of you. She seemingly pushed her lips further against yours in a way you didn’t understand, but who were you to stop her? 

The universe and Nancy seemed to be the ones to do so, a gasp coming from the journalist that forced the two of you apart. The older Wheeler stood in the doorway with wide eyes, dirt stains covering her all over, and what seemed to be a first aid kit in her hands. The older girl’s mouth opened and closed with no words leaving it, making you and Max look at one another and laugh. 

--- linebreak ---

You didn’t understand the amount of stuff that could happen during a school break. It was strange; it was as if the stories in action-packed films about high schoolers were true. In a few days, you were brought into a hunt for your brother-like figure and ended up with a certain redhead as your girlfriend. The girl that you’d been pining for a few years was finally going to take you out on a date tomorrow, and it brought a smile to your face. Despite your false attempts to keep it off your face, your smile only grew as you surveyed the redhead at the foot of the bed. 

You had been leaning against the wall of El’s old room, with the one and only sitting beside you. Only moments before, she was embracing you and glaring, which held no malice, as you teased her about her new haircut. It was like you were back to a few years ago, finding a baldheaded girl in the middle of the woods as rain poured down on her and the group. Instead, all of you were now traumatized high schoolers, with another teen to look over you, and had more words in the vocabulary list. You recalled leaving Eddie awkwardly situated between Will and Mike, the latter stammering over his words as he tried to explain who Eddie was.

“I can’t believe you’re making me do this...” Max muttered, narrowing her eyes at the two of you. Upon hearing that Max wrote a letter for you, Eleven urged her to read it aloud and used those eyes she knew no one could resist. The ginger had read most of it by now, but you could tell that the last part would be the most embarrassing one for her. She was trying to stall, her eyes scanning the sheet, when she stopped.

“I think it is sweet you wrote something for [Y/N],” El declared with a hint of sadness in her tone, mindlessly playing with her fingers like Max did when she was nervous. You supposed El took on some of your girlfriend’s habits, so you patted the baldheaded girl on the arm and offered her a smile. You could tell she needed a distraction, turning towards the other girl.

“I agree with the bald girl. I think it’s very sweet,” You stated, teasing the two of them while a red tint painted your face. 

“Fine. I better get one back after this,” She huffed. “I’m so desperately in love with you that, if I were to live, I’d spend every second building one of those cheesy homes with you. You could pick out where and decorate it while I’d judge you every second. I hate goodbyes, and you know that (you know almost everything about me, I really wish I had time to tell you the rest), but it seems that this may be one, so... I love you, always. Love the redhead you stalked since day one, Maxine Mayfield.” Max’s eyes flickered back to you, a nervous look evident on her face as you sat up. Her grip on the flimsy paper faltering, soon grabbed by El to look at further.

Beside you, you heard El’s squeals that she tried to silence as she watched you lean towards Max. You murmured a “love you too” back to your girlfriend, not caring if it was too early because you had already fallen for her so long ago. You captured her lips with yours, giving her a sweet but short kiss that made a gleeful expression grace your and her face. How could you not be when she wrote that letter for you? But you knew you shouldn’t have been so happy because it didn’t stay for long, a humbling question coming from El, “Is [Y/N] a good kisser?”

Your jaw dropped while the corner of Max’s lips tugged upwards. With zero hesitation, her eyes maintaining contact with yours, your girlfriend replied, “No.”

“I so am. I’ve literally known you longer,” You defended quickly, whipping your head towards El. “The real question is if Max is a good kisser.”

“I’m the best.”

“Who says that?”

“You!” She retorted, gently pushing you backward.

“I have literally never said that,” You defended, narrowing your eyes at the girl. 

“Well, you don’t have to. Your...” The girl began to dispute, her words slowing down as the sound of a car approaching leaked into the room. It came to a stop and dropped the formerly happy mood into a grave one. For fucks’ sake, what could it be now? Max’s face turned serious, her hand reaching to grip yours tightly. Her eyes scanned your bruised face, drifting to where El now stood. The letter was long forgotten as she slowly approached the door, her hand stretched in front of her.

You watched as the door creaked open, revealing a familiar bowl cut: Will. It seemed that the boy could tell there was a sense of weariness in the room, urging him to calm everyone in it down. “It’s okay! Mom’s here...” He trailed off, smiling at the three of you. You watched as his gaze lingered on El, a look of sadness and excitement in his eyes, “And Hopper.”

That was all your bald friend needed to push past him, Will trailing behind, making you roll over on the bed in hopes of seeing the little family reunion. A thud was heard in the room, vibrating out to the main room and catching Eddie’s attention through the wide-open door. You listened to your girlfriend laugh at you, snapping your head towards her to jokingly glare, feeling Eddie’s eyes boring into the side of your face.

“I hate you,” You stated in a serious tone, your eyes flickering back to Eddie. In that simple and quick look, you could see the concern disappear from his face once he realized your movements were intentional... Fuck, you were glad everything was alright. A certain weight had been lifted off your shoulders when you were reunited with the metalhead.

“No, you don’t, my love,” Max replied, crouching beside your sitting form and capturing your lips with hers. Gosh, you loved spring break... Everything was okay, and you finally got a girlfriend. Not only did you get one, but it was also freaking Maxine Mayfield. You melted against her lips, enjoying the warmth it gave you. All you knew was that you’d do anything to build that home with her, one where you could hang out with all your friends and simply be with the redhead.

[accelys]

your lips on my red cheeks || i hate you, my love

words: 3,342 Previous Part

note: VOLUME 2 SPOILERS AHEAD. kinda? i changed the story a lot, i think? Btw, only @gojosrug picked the option where no one died... oops. so, uh enjoy or cry. two people die in this, but i lessened the blow of the second because i felt bad (sorta). also, sorry for making y’all wait so long for a shit ending. comment what ya thought of it tho! :)

tags: @milkiane @gojosrug @ifeeluncomfortableallthetime @simp4natasha @badwolf00593 @splatashadeadmanoff @astroponyo @alonezz @part-timetraveller @73vyn @sadiesgf69 @eunkooked @tsukishimawhore @frankoceanphobic @nyrovia @realeddiemunson

You could describe a lot of things you’ve experienced with the word “chaos.” For instance, the times when Dustin and Lucas yelled at each other during a DnD game because they thought the other made a stupid choice. An even better example, but what could be described as an understatement, would be the whole thing that happened in Starcourt Mall. Personally, you’d describe the scene in front of you as... the opposite. Because, at that moment, everything seemed to make sense as the world around you slowed down. Your vision was clearer, and a sense of absolute clarity rushed through you.

As Lucas intentionally ran into Jason, his arms wrapping around the older boy’s torso, you couldn’t help but meet the latter’s eyes. Those blue eyes of his weren’t like Max’s. Just moments before, his eyes made you feel cold in the hot room, a shiver crawling up your spine that froze you in your spot, whereas Max’s eyes would make your face flush red and allow butterflies to erupt in your stomach. You knew Jason never expected to be in this position because, right before Lucas tackled him, you could see the fear, sadness, and desperation in his eyes. It felt like you understood his situation because if Max were to die and her potential murder was out there, you’d do almost anything to find that person. But, all you could do at that moment was hate him as you observed the cliche jock’s face morph into pain and his eyes squeezed closed.

Suddenly, the world shifted back to its normal pace and, against your wishes, you didn’t hear the thud of Lucas and Jason’s bodies falling, the clatter of the gun against the wooden floor, nor the sound of the attic door banging against the wall after being slammed open. No. All you could hear was the echo of a bullet leaving its barrel finally reaching your ears. 

It briefly crossed your mind that you would end up injured if you went into the attic. Yet, you still climbed those stairs and didn’t believe it was actually happening. Everything that did happen wasn’t what you expected. You didn’t think that a bullet piercing your abdomen would feel like a pebble being thrown, nor did you believe that you’d end up toppling forward because freaking Andy the Asshole would tackle you once more. However, you did expect the whole situation to calm down because you also expected Lucas to reach the blonde before he did anything, but the universe didn’t grant you that wish like some genie that was obedient to the one who freed it. The universe was like a traitor to you, though that would mean it was loyal at some point, so it was more of your archnemesis. It wasn’t like you blamed dearest Lucas because you didn’t. Instead, you blamed your parents for fucking leaving you, out of all places, in Indiana; you blamed the fucking cashier of War Zone that allowed Jason to purchase the gun; you, especially, blamed yourself for allowing you to get to this point in life. Like, what the hell? Fuck this.

As you fell, the world around you slowly turned into a black void, and, in a way, you welcomed it by closing your eyes shut and cringing as you waited for some sort of impact. It came, but it wasn’t what you thought it would be like. The shallow water enveloped you but didn’t drench you like you thought it would. It simply welcomed you back as if you belonged there. The thing is, you never really dwelled on the afterlife after becoming used to the risks of being part of the group. But, this wasn’t what you expected. It certainly wasn’t some solitary room you were just dropped into, and it certainly didn’t include that familiar voice that yelled your name in confusion. It was one that you shouldn’t be hearing because wasn’t this girl in fucking California? Did this bitch die? Now?

“[Y/N]? [Y/N]!” The person screamed with panic clear in their voice, their hands grasping onto your shoulders and shaking. You felt a groan of pain escape your mouth, forcing yourself to roll over in the water and to be met by the one and only Eleven. Why the hell was she bald?

“Where’s your... hair? Why... are you... here?” You questioned tiredly, your eyebrows furrowing in confusion as you brought up your hand to feel the top of her head, while the other was moved to support you as you sat up. The pain was finally getting to you; it was like your side was on fire, and spreading up your body made you want to dig yourself a grave and just lay in it.

“You’re going to be okay,” She stated confidently, her hand coming up to pat the one on her head. You attempted to keep your eyes on the girl, but it became a pain to keep your eyes open as your vision blurred. “I prepared. I can beat One.” You heard Eleven say, making realization slam into you like a freight train. Did she do that weird spying trick again? Fuck, fuck, fuck. Below you, you felt the arm that held you up become weaker and unable to support you.

“It’s Max. Help Max, El,” You urged, trying to bring your hands up to her shoulders. But, your efforts failed you as you were returned to reality. Now, you only felt the wood floor and saw the blurry and worn-out boxes accompanied by the dark attic walls. Another whine of pain left your mouth as you allowed your eyes to close, the voice of Andy being the last thing you heard when you blacked out.

--- linebreak ---

A pain began to erupt in Lucas’s head, but the boy pushed through it while his eyes stayed on Jason’s face. Never once did his eyes wander, even when he heard what he would assume as your body and another’s fall onto the hard floor. Despite his erratic breathing and the numbing feeling coming from his knuckles, he served punch after punch, making Jason stumble like a drunk. Although, it wasn’t much use when he stopped for what could be a single second, allowing the blonde a moment to fight back. 

As he fell backward from the force of Jason’s hit, he couldn’t help but spot the body that Andy loomed over. The curly-headed athlete was in a state of shock that Lucas couldn’t spend another moment observing because, fuck, Jason just had to hit him again, and that boy had a force in his punches that made him roll over into an unresponsive redhead. Oh, Max...

With a murmur of pain, Lucas tried to rise from the floor, only to be kicked back down by who he knew was Jason. Despite the foot no longer being there, it was like he could still feel the heel there to continue digging in his back. This shouldn’t be happening, but maybe you were putting up a better fight than him. His hunch was wrong because soon he heard a scream erupting from Andy, “What the fuck, Jason?! Did you actually shoot them?”

What? No, no, no... His head shot up and whipped towards your body that had blood pooling from under it. Not you, fuck. Lucas heard the heavy steps of Andy running away and Jason’s panicked breathing from beside him, but all he could look at was you. A rush of strength coursed through him, propelling him forward into a crawl towards your body. He felt his jaw tighten and tears filling his eyes as he shakingly picked you up, your head laying on his lap.

“No, no, no... [Y/N], come on. Wake up,” He sobbed, shaking your head and gently slapping your face. Lucas looked over at Jason, who was in a panicked state, stumbling over his feet as he rushed out the room. He wanted to cuss him out for doing this, even leaving the murder weapon on the floor near Max. But he didn’t have the energy for him, not when you were like this. “Fuck, fuck... What do I do, [Y/N]? Shit, where’s Dustin when you actually need him?”

Your friend panicked over your body, his hands going towards the bloody wound on your stomach. Out loud, he murmured pleas for someone to save you as he pressed down to try something, anything. It’s all he knew how to do from the movies he’s watched. Gosh, he should’ve been better prepared...

“Please, [Y/N]. Wake up,” He gritted out, sobs shaking his body. “ERICA! HELP! Please...”

What was he going to tell Eddie? Max? Everyone else? He should’ve been faster, and he should’ve done better, and, here you were, a consequence of his actions. With thousands of thoughts going through his mind, not one gave him the knowledge of what to do while your blood covered his hands and your shirt. “ERICA!” He yelled, his body urging him to slam his fist onto the wood in anger. He wanted to let out his frustrations, but he stopped himself and focused on pressing down on the bullet wound. He knew that there was a possibility of no hope, but he needed to try. 

“C’mon, c’mon...” Lucas begged, his head swerving towards the staircase once he heard Erica’s light and quick steps. He listened to a shocked gasp come from his little sister as she looked down at you. “Call someone!” 

As the fifteen-year-old watched his younger sister nod, it was clear that the scene below her was shocking. He couldn’t blame her, but right now, he needed her to be fast. As she moved backward, the stutter in her step caused the boy to scream, “Go!” He was cursing internally as he looked down at your body, scanning you for any signs of life. The only sign of it was your shuddering breath underneath his fingers that made him hopeful. He didn’t know how many seconds or minutes passed, nor did he care because he’d make every effort to raise your chances of survival.

That’s precisely when he heard something he didn’t want to hear yet; it’s true that he was glad the redhead was safe, but the boy didn’t want her to see this. A desperate gasp for air came from Max, making him turn his head towards the redhead. Tears rushed down his face as he cursed out loud. Fuck.

--- linebreak ---

Max was having a hard time comprehending all these changes in her life, and all she wanted was to be back in your arms, kissing you. Fuck, it didn’t matter if it was cliche because it would be with you. The happiest moment in her life was with you, on that hill, and teaching you how to skateboard because she begged and begged you to allow her the privilege. Not only did it lead to you getting injured, but it led her to realize how much she liked you. So, she went back to that hill when she went into a trance, letting herself smile as she sat down on the bench. Even when she got transported and restrained against a weird spike made by Henry, all she could think about was how you’d be if she died. Not once did she expect that it was going to be you dying.

When Eleven finally defeated Henry, she was suddenly back in the attic. Something in her was desperate for a different type of air, leading her to take a massive breath of Creel House air that was likely crawling with bugs. The girl turned her head towards where she last saw Lucas, a smile dawning on her face as she was finally excited in a long time. But, that was soon gone once she found the boy not standing there; instead, he was kneeling beside someone, sobbing his heart out while desperately pushing down on their stomach. Max’s smile quickly dropped as she rushed onto her feet and found out the person was you. A gasp escaped her mouth, bringing her shaky hands to her opened mouth. What happened when she was gone?

“I... I... I tried, I swear. I didn’t mean for this to happen,” Lucas sobbed out when she arrived in front of him. The redhead could tell her friend was slowly growing weaker, pushing his hands off you to replace them with hers, your blood now staining your hands. Fuck, fuck, fuck... Quiet pleas for you to get up were muttered from her mouth. Zero response came from her crush, making her want to crawl into a corner. She bit down on her bottom lip, trying to distract herself with the pain to prevent herself from crying. 

As the girl sat beside your bleeding, unconscious body, all she could think about was all the things she did wrong to you. Not once did you do anything wrong to her, so why did this happen to you? Her eyes drifted from your wound to Lucas, who was staring at his shaking hands in shock. The boy was still crying, and she so desperately wanted to yell at him. Curse him. Anything. Yet, only cries left her because she knew it wasn’t his fault, she just wanted someone to blame, and he was right there.

“C’mon... Don’t be an asshole, [Y/N/N]. Wake up...” She pleaded into your shirt. At this point, she had given up on pushing down on your wound. All she wanted was you to talk to her and make her feel better. “For me...”

Her hands traveled to cup your cheeks with her bloody hands, the blue light from the lantern illuminating your face. She watched, through blurry eyes, as your cheek became stained from her thumb caressing it. What wouldn’t she do to travel back in time to stop this from happening? Fuck Hawkins. She hated it if you weren’t going to be here. What was the point of going through that stupid plan if it meant you were dead? It was a relief to the redhead when she found out you didn’t have to play bait anymore... but it didn’t prevent you from such a fate. 

The redhead didn’t know how long she spent cursing everyone she could think of until the paramedics arrived to take your body to the hospital, the sirens causing a headache to form. She had to plead with the adults to let her accompany them, not wanting you to be alone with strangers. How was she going to explain this to Eddie? The DnD nerd that you thought of as a brother. How was she supposed to cope with another loss? Fuck you for leaving her. Fuck you for dying so close to the happy ending the two of you deserved. Fuck you for letting her fall for you when this was your fate. She didn’t want to hate you, but she had to because, if she didn’t, she’d spend her whole life crying in her bed.

--- linebreak ---

Only half an hour ago, the nurses speedily rushed your body into a room, your body in a critical state. They had refused to tell her where they took you and forced her into a seat in the waiting room. As she waited, the only thing on her mind was your name. It didn’t fade away when the Sinclair family arrived in the hospital, the family sitting beside her with reassuring words leaving their mouths. She was sure it was nice, but she only blurred it out as background noise. Then, thirteen minutes later, you were announced dead by the very nurse pushing her away from you. Max wanted to punch him, yell at him, anything to make him feel the pain she felt. However, all she did was slump onto the floor and cry out in frustration. She saw Lucas retreat into the bathroom while she felt Erica drag her hand up and down her back to comfort her. It was no use. Oh, how she desperately wanted it to be yours and some other dead rando on the table. The pressure on her heart increased tenfold as she felt herself get tired. The minutes didn’t turn into hours. They turned into seconds without you. The world seemed to, somehow, keep turning without your presence on it, only the body that you left behind. The person she grew to love every moment with was dead.

It should be impossible that she had any more tears left, but once she looked up at the friend group you and her shared, all she could do was see them with blurry eyes. The redhead cried into Steve’s chest, repeatedly slamming her fist into it. Yet, the older boy only wrapped his arms around her and murmured soothing words into her ear. She felt eyes that looked at her with pity, judgment, and sadness. Fuck them. She wanted you alive. That’s all she wanted. She wanted any form of you she could get, anything to bring her comfort. Hell, she would even take a version of you that didn’t know of her existence. Even one that despised every fiber of her being. But, she didn’t have any godly powers that would allow her to do so. She wasn’t El, just like Mike said all those years ago; she wasn’t the Mage.

--- linebreak ---

The next day she somehow willed herself to go to your home, crawling through the window you always left unlocked for her. It gave her a sense of comfort knowing you still did that, even when she avoided you for months. Max hated herself for that, even more than she did before. Perhaps if she didn’t, none of this would’ve happened. Nothing evil would’ve happened to you.

As the redhead looked around your room, she bit her lip again to distract her from the pain she felt in her heart. The only moderately good bad news that she’s heard so far was that Eddie Munson was dead; she didn’t have to explain to the older boy about how you died on some hospital bed because some blonde jock shot you. The same one that’s been chasing him down and the same person that magically disappeared that night. 

Her index finger drifted across the VHS tapes you always had in your room, memories of movie nights coming to her. Maxine remembered how you used to be afraid of all the movies she picked, while she pretended to hate all the films you chose. Every single time, she stayed and laid her head on your shoulder or tricked you into looking at the jumpscare. But Maxine wasn’t here to think about the past. The girl was here to sit on your unmade bed and read out the letter she wrote you if she died. Steve had found it in his car and given it back to her with a pitiful smile that she despised. Nothing would ever bring you back to her, and she hated the universe for that.

“I’m so desperately in love with you that, if I were to live, I’d spend every second building one of those cheesy homes with you. You could pick out where and decorate it while I’d judge you every second. I hate goodbyes, and you know that (you know almost everything about me, I really wish I had time to tell you the rest), but it seems that this may be one, so... I love you, always. From the redhead you stalked since day one, Maxine Mayfield,” She read to the posters, books, pencils, and all the useless items you owned. “I hate you so much, my love.” 

Max allowed herself to cry into your bed sheets once she finished, not wanting to spend a second longer looking at the letter she wrote for you. Who was she supposed to pretend to be annoyed by? Who was she supposed to do all those romantic things with? She hated you for doing this to her, but the redhead would keep loving you until she died.

[accelys]

i’m so sorry for taking so long- my laptop is having problems and stuff, so i have to write it all on my phone. i’ll try to get the final part out tmw!

edit: pick a number from 1 to 7, it corresponds w an ending so you���ll be choosing ur suffering or non-sufferring :)

[accelys]

your lips on my red cheeks || my goodbye

words: 4,263 Previous Part || Ending No.1 Ending No.2

note: VOLUME 2 SPOILERS AHEAD. sorry for the, uh, wait. hope the length makes up for it? although, i was planning for this to be the last chapter. guess not considering i left y’all on a cliffhanger. also, this took so long bro. i kept rewriting the end part because it felt too weird and fast paced, tell me if it still is so i can change it! fun fact: i have notifs on for tumblr, right? and sometimes i use it to calculate how long y’all take to read the chapters. i’m guessing 2 to 4 mins to be honest. welp, anyways, enjoy and the italics and indented stuff is y’know...

tags: @milkiane @gojosrug @ifeeluncomfortableallthetime @simp4natasha @badwolf00593 @splatashadeadmanoff @astroponyo @alonezz @part-timetraveller @73vyn @sadiesgf69 @eunkooked @tsukishimawhore @frankoceanphobic

Dear [Y/N], Hi. This is the letter I wanted to write first because your you’re always on my mind.

Your eyes stayed on the window as Steve drove the RV past the many houses and trees on the way to the Creel house. You didn’t want to confront the mission at hand yet, but you should. Something in you just forced you in your spot. It was like your feet turned into solid cement. Stuck. What was there to not worry about? The group decided to split into three groups: the older three were going to kill Vecna during his trance, Dustin and Eddie were going to distract the monsters in the Upside Down, while the rest of you were going to accompany Max. Nothing ever went well when people split up. Someone always dies; you were just hoping this group was an outlier. The past proved otherwise, but maybe the fourth time’s the charm?

You were soon brought out of the pool of your own thoughts by the one and only Maxine Mayfield. She “gently” hit your shoulder and motioned for you to come with her. You would be lying if you said you didn’t take a moment to admire the redhead. Despite the rough few days, the girl still managed to look ethereal. You’ve read so many books about mythology, ones about romance and others about tragedy. Even so, you’d take upon Atlas’s burden if it meant she was okay because, if an artist were to see this girl, they’d paint her out to be Aphrodite. She was simply... magnificent. From her personality and flaws to the way she looked. 

You allowed the girl to take your hand and pull you towards the door of the vehicle, a lantern in your other hand. But, despite the redhead guiding you, something made you pause at the steps. Eddie. His eyes were already on you when you turned your head. You could only define three emotions on his face: pride, concern, and fear. They were all reasonable emotions; he and Dustin were going on one of the dangerous missions. You pitied them and wished you could join them. Why didn’t you? The boy was always there for you. You should be there for him. Still, you were put into the group with Max, Lucas, and Erica with nothing but a lantern, a notepad, a marker, and a dull knife you found in the vehicle. 

I’m scared. You always seemed to make that feeling go away or made it okay for me to feel that way. But I have a feeling you can’t do it now. I can practically feel the concern radiating off you when I write this, even if you’re sleeping. 

You felt the delicate yet rough hand retract from yours as if she sensed you wanted to talk to the older boy. She usually was right about how you felt in certain situations. This wasn’t any different; you wished it was, though. So, you turned on the step to face the metalhead. You knew what to say. It was just hard. It was like saying goodbye forever. Too early to say that.

“Eddie,” You began.

“[Y/L/N],” He responded with a grin, but the emotion that was supposed to be hidden was clear to you. The whole situation was starting to get to the guy.

“Just this once, be serious,” You advised, your voice slightly wavering. “This time, it’s okay to run. Don’t be a hero.”

“Look at me. I’m not a hero,” The boy joked, causing you to internally groan. “I’m going to let Henderson, over there, be that.”

“I’m being serious, Eddie. If you’re stuck, just run.”

“I’ve been running my whole- “

“This is different. You can die.”

“[Y/N].” You heard Max call out, causing you to slightly turn your head. You were wasting time you didn’t have much of, especially on a boy who wouldn’t listen because he wanted to change. However, this wasn’t a time to change because if he wanted to become a hero now, that would cost his life. You remember being like that, joining the group because you wanted to feel a rush and be someone that did something. It almost cost you your life numerous times. You already dragged Max into this, which led to this whole situation; you didn’t need Eddie on your list of lives you ruined.

“Just... I care about you, and I don’t need someone I care about to die. He doesn’t need someone he idolizes to die,” You urged, scanning the older boy’s face to spot sadness creeping on his face. He turned his head towards Dustin, then at you. The two of you just stayed there in silence that you couldn’t take any longer. The barrier that blocked you from leaving disappeared and allowed you to escape any more panic from resurfacing, but it was no use because, when you stepped out, your attention was brought to the girl that was the subject of most of your thoughts and admiration.

Criticize me if you want, but you don’t look good when you sleep. I’m not sorry. But, I am sorry because I’ve seen you staring at me in the halls while you talked to our friends. You never seem to look peaceful, even now. Something tells me it’s because of me. I’ve been ignoring you for so long, and that’s probably my top 5 regrets (don’t complain about not being part of the first). I regret so many things these days, but not a single one has been because of your actions.

She stood there with concern written on her face and headphones covering her ears as she played with the wire that connected it to the walkman. It wasn’t the coldhearted Max that you met, the MADMAX that always beat your high scores; it was Maxine. In the years you’ve known the girl, you learned the difference between Max and Maxine. You loved both because, obviously, they were still the same person. That’s because both were outgoing, both loved to skateboard and dogs, and both would argue for what they believed in. Max just happened to have a harsher tone because she didn’t trust someone, while Maxine allowed herself to feel every single emotion in the world and show it with little to no care. This was Maxine.

The redhead seemed to observe your every move, almost like you were the one who was bait. The only time her eyes drifted away from your body was when the RV drove off to Eddie’s trailer. You didn’t know if it made you scared or at peace because you were just standing there like some weirdo, and she knew that. The girl slipped her hand into yours, caressing the back of your hand with her thumb, as she guided you to the open door where Lucas and Erica had already entered. It was simple yet... It was something that made you weak in the knees. Something that you thought could only happen in romance stories because such touches wouldn’t cause people to feel that way, right? Still, this girl seemed to disprove all of your beliefs.

Maxine slowly became Max as you entered, her face becoming guarded as she looked back at you. Although, there was this look in her eyes that you couldn’t pinpoint. Her hand, which was holding yours, trailed up your arm and went to cup your cheek. The dreadful feeling that the old and slightly worn-down house brought was pushed down by the butterflies that seemed to fill your stomach. The thumb that stroked the back of your hand was now moving back and forth on your cheek as Max leaned in, your lips capturing hers in a kiss. Romantic, huh? You didn’t think you’d be the type to kiss during an Upside Down scenario, especially when you were in some creepy house; you usually left that to Mike and El. Strange... But it was nice, even if you could hear the song that you’ve listened to possibly a thousand times. Her lips were soft against yours like always, but something about this kiss felt sadder, like she was saying goodbye. The hand you were using to hold the lantern slowly began to loosen around the handle as the kiss continued, Max’s hand traveling to the back of your head to push you closer to her.

Then, just like that... The kiss was over. The lips that caught yours retracted only a smidge as her forehead rested on yours, her breathing was slightly labored, and you could feel it on your face. It didn’t feel like you were in some murder house. It felt like some kiss that happened on a grassy hill on a sunny day. It made you wish that none of this ever happened, that there was no such thing as the Upside Down. You’ve always felt that way, but never as strongly as now because this girl was right in front of you and was about to be bait for some creep that targeted traumatized teens. But, you didn’t have powers like Eleven, smarts like Dustin, guns like Nancy, or any of them. Maybe that’s why it felt like a final parting when Max stepped away from you with a grin on her face and traveled somewhere in the house with the blue light illuminating the path.

When I lie awake at night, sometimes, all I can think about is you. It’s not like when I think of Billy. You were always there for me, unlike him. I never told you this, but during the summer, I purposely injured myself to get your attention. I got it. You stayed by my side the whole time, doing absolutely anything for me. With or without an injury, you always were there. 

It wasn’t long before Erica “found” Vecna and alerted the rest of you. You almost screamed when you felt her tap your arm. Could you blame yourself? The house gave you the creeps, made you feel like you were watched, and had something crawling up the back of your neck. You could’ve sworn you saw the little girl laugh silently as she walked away to get the others while you went to find wherever the lantern was set down. Who the fuck decided to leave you alone? You could hardly tell your left from your right sometimes. Once you found it, you heard the three others approaching as well, the voice of Kate Bush reaching your ears. It was nice the first few times, but, hell, it was giving you a headache. However, if it protected the redhead, you’d gladly suffer through the song a million more times.

Your eyes trailed Max’s silhouette in the blue-lit room, the light only going brighter as she approached Erica’s lantern. Everything was too quiet, a clear sign that things would go haywire soon. Like the calm before the storm, right? The redhead moved over to sit down, her lantern going next to her while a hand went up to grasp at her face. She was clearly stressed. It was apparent when she looked over at you and mouthed the question that you wished you could say yes to: “Stay?”

Fuck, this girl was the death of you. The urge to stay became even stronger, yet you didn’t allow yourself because, beside you, the younger girl tugged on your shirt and showed you her notepad. Phase one was starting... With one last look at Max, who now had Lucas in front of her, you gave her a thumbs up and a horrible attempt at a reassuring smile. Now that you think about it, it slightly reminded you of the first time you met the redhead. It was when Lucas and Dustin kept hitting you to pay attention to them because they wanted you to give the girl a note since you were the closest. So you did, and all the girl gave you was an annoyed look, a stressed smile, and a thumbs up. Now, here you were, planning to do anything to save her and leaving the Creel House with a middle schooler. 

As you exited the building, you allowed yourself to let out a loud breath that you didn’t know you were holding in. The house felt way too small despite its big appearance on the outside. The scenery seemed too matchy? Dark clouds loomed over the area, and the blue light seeped through the windows and onto the grass. Then you spotted it: a man walking his dog. Should you be afraid? Maybe, but it didn’t hurt to be cautious at this time. So, weirdly enough, you stopped Erica in her run and pulled her behind a bush.

“What the hell?” She whisper-yelled, looking at you with a judging look. 

“Shut up,” You warned in a whisper, moving slowly to point over at the man. It only caused her to look at you harsher and you to roll your eyes. Who knew you’d be telling an eleven-year-old to shut up? It was slightly weird. You and Erica watched the man pause in his spot, observing the area like he could sense the presence of four kids doing something. Of course, your efforts didn’t go through because you spotted him go through some sense of realization. He saw the blue light, just like you did. Would probably go talk to Jason like the rest of the town would. Bunch of assholes...

It was weird to crouch behind a bush without Max in your sight. Even after she avoided everyone, you never grew used to her not being there. Now that you thought back, anyone could see that because, at moments, you would turn to your side at your desk and call the person “Max.” It was never her, and it was fucking embarrassing because the actual Max once heard you and looked over with a raised eyebrow. Nonetheless, you couldn’t dwell on the past and pushed on, running across the street with the younger girl. As soon as you arrived at the weird playground, if that’s what it was, you helped her up and shrugged off the bag you were carrying. It didn’t make sense why you were carrying one now that you thought of it. It only contained the dull knife, which you now held, and a walkie-talkie that you gave to Erica. It wasn’t the first time you held a knife as a weapon, but it never felt right. That was good, right? Meant that you still had your humanity. 

It’s weird, right? I used to be annoyed by you (you were a bit awkward), but I grew to actually like it. I know this is a death letter, but when I think of you, all I can do is smile. Ever since I joined the group, you always stood out. You weren’t like Lucas and Dustin, who were annoying in their attempts to get my attention, nor Mike, who hated me. You were there in an odd but nice way, do you understand?

You watched as Erica repeatedly turned her flashlight on and off, getting zero response from the pair in the house. Is it weird you were jealous at this time? Yes, definitely. But you couldn’t help it. Fuck, was Lucas asking her out now? He wouldn’t after the whole talk, right? You allowed yourself to let out an annoyed groan at the thought, gaining Erica’s attention.

“Don’t tell me you’re thinking about Max right now?” She questioned, her eyebrows raised as she gave you a look that you returned. “Don’t look at me like that. I’m just stating the facts. You like her.”

“I don’t need a middle schooler telling me that,” You stammered with a surprised expression. “Especially when your brother likes her too.”

“Oh, please. My brother can go like someone else.”

“Sorry, what? Are you rooting for me?”

“Yes!” She exclaimed, but her attention returned to the duo that finally responded. Erica quickly grasped at the walkie-talkie, speaking to those in the Upside Down. You really wished that everything was going okay for them and for Max and Lucas. One bright side to this plan was that the youngest would be safe unless the man reported you guys. The universe seemed to never go your way, did it? The past few years showed that. Even the past few days did. Something always happened with this group’s plans. So, if someone was watching over you guys, you hoped they’d at least grant you this one thing. Too much loss and trauma happens in this town nowadays. None of your efforts went well. Your eyes drifted to the attic window, remaining there from then on, only moving to look over at the younger girl to make sure she was okay. Gosh, why on Earth did this group involve someone so young? Was the end goal to traumatize the whole town?

Time seemed to move slowly as you leaned against the weird structure. Everyone else was too busy, and here you were with a knife in your hand. But you wished it remained that way because when it quickened, Erica’s panicked voice reached your ears. A warning was uttered, one about a speeding car coming towards the house. Fuck, you were in charge of this girl. Were you...? You really weren’t reliable in these situations, but you couldn’t let her get hurt. So, you tightened your grip on the knife while assisting the younger girl down with the other hand. 

“Go, hide.” You ordered, pushing her towards the trees when the car pulled up. 

“What?!” She argued, looking at you with an incredulous look.

“Go, Erica!” 

“Fine!” She conceded with her arms raised in surrender, soon running off with one last look at you. Fucking hell, what were you going to do alone? You turned your head towards the car, watching Jason and Andy exit the vehicle with simultaneous car door slams. Assholes...

“[Y/L/N]!” You heard Jason yell, accompanied by him pointing at you. What did he think he was doing? Did he think he was scared of some finger? Fucking hell, you hate life right now. “We won’t hurt you if you help us stop this!” The response only caused your eyebrows to shoot up in disbelief because, from the corner of your eye, you could spot the curly-headed athlete approaching you like he was some type of spy. All that ran through your head at the moment were curses and insults towards the two older teenagers.

“We won’t hurt you-” You mimicked, rolling your eyes. “Fuck you and dipshit over there!” They clearly didn’t like that response, considering the fact that Jason stomped over to Andy, like some toddler that didn’t get the toy he wanted, and whispered into the latter’s ear. From there, you watched Jason run towards the house. That wasn’t supposed to happen. Fuck. Now you were stuck with dumbass #2, and all that you could think of was why they always wore their varsity jackets. You observed as the boy steadily approached you, causing you to raise the dull knife in some form of a threat. You had nothing else you could do, and it wasn’t like he knew it was worn down. You never liked this part; the risk of hurting someone. It seemed a bit better when it was faceless creatures... 

The warning didn’t go as far as you thought because you watched the boy continue his pace towards you, his hands clenched into fists. “All you freaks like trying to murder people?” He challenged with no signs of backing down. Of fucking course he wouldn’t. It was weird. Did all of Jason’s teammates have this form of undying loyalty for him?

“All you jocks so self-righteous?” You replied, “Gosh, hop off Jason’s dick for once. He’s using your dumb ass. We don’t have to do this whole... fighting thing or whatever.”

I hope you do. You usually have your way of finding out things, even if you were last sometimes. Something in you always loved being the last one to give up. You never gave up on Will, on El, or me. It’s what’s making me spend what may be the last few hours of my life with you... Under a freaking table in Mike Wheeler’s basement.

You’d have to admit, these jocks of Jason were... resilient? You watched Andy run towards you, causing you to freeze and only brace for impact. The guy was significantly taller and stronger than you, you couldn’t do much, and you didn’t exactly want to stab the guy. Maybe slash, but not stab? In what seemed to be an instant, you fell onto the ground with the boy on top of you, gripping onto the collar of your shirt. When did that happen? You writhed beneath him, trying to escape his grasp. Your only option was to, well, take the beating or threaten him once more, and you weren’t exactly favoring the former... Who knew you’d be the type to raise a knife to the throat of a jock AND tell a middle schooler to shut up on the same day?

“Get off me, and nothing will happen,” You stammered. Your grip on the knife was beginning to feel too tight, and the world seemed to be closing in on you. But, you remained still, just like the older boy did. He didn’t let go; he was frozen, and his eyes drifted between the object and you.

“Hey! Get off of them, knucklehead!” Of course, the younger girl didn’t listen for long. Yet, you were glad this was the time Erica didn’t because there she was, rocks stuffed into her pockets with one in her hand that soon was launched to what you hoped was actually for Andy because it fucking hit you. You couldn’t be mad at the girl for long because the next finally hit the athlete in the forehead, allowing you the perfect opportunity to escape his grasp and hit him in the chest with the blunt side of the kitchen tool. It only caused him minor pain as he clutched onto his head and cried out in pain. For someone you expected to be tougher, it was strange. Things were never going to be normal for you, huh?

You took the guy’s moment of anguish as the chance to get Erica to safety, or at least some version of it. You quickly grabbed her hand and pulled her towards the only moderately familiar place you knew: the Creel House. The home of Vecna and where Max was playing bait with Lucas protecting her. Shit, you forgot about Jason. The lackluster house became a worse place to be as you pushed the younger girl up to the second floor. From your spot, you could hear the yells of the blonde athlete and Lucas’s soft pleas. It wouldn’t work for long, and you knew that. The older boy was clearly not in the right state of mind after figuring out about Chrissy. To an extent, it was understandable. But the boy was going too far right now, which would risk Max being dead too. Looking down at the girl next to you, you couldn’t help but feel pride in what she did and concern for her safety.

“I’m going to need you to actually listen now, Erica,” You urged. Panic was slowly becoming your form of energy as you heard the rushed steps of Andy. “Hide. Please.”

You observed the hesitance in the girl’s face, which you weren’t familiar with. You were used to the Erica that insulted you when she thought you were being stupid and the Erica that pointed out all of your lies. This Erica looked afraid, but she understood. She was aware of the desperation in your voice and gave you a nod, running off to who knows where. As you ran towards the voices of Lucas and Jason, all you could hope was that both Sinclairs were okay and that things were going better for the crew in the Upside Down.

You didn’t know what you were going to expect when you arrived in the attic, but it wasn’t this. Jason freaking Carver with a shaky hold on a gun pointed at none other than Lucas Sinclair. You knew he was in a horrible state, though you didn’t think he’d go this far. His appearance was already a reflection of it, the sunken eyes and disheveled hair. Yet, all you could clearly see was that fucking green and white jacket he wore. His gaze soon fell on you, your loud and quick steps alerting him of your presence. If you were being honest, it was scary. Especially when he whipped the gun towards you. At least it wasn’t pointed towards Lucas? That was a bright side, right?

“Stay there, [Y/L/N]! Don’t move and drop the knife!” He screamed, bringing his other hand to the gun handle. You didn’t understand why, but it made you drop the knife. The sound of clattering that should be prominent and clear was distant. His voice was frightening, and, clearly, the gun was too. “You and that freak caused all of this! Chrissy! Patrick!”

“Fuck tha- !” You attempted to yell, stopping as you observed him step closer. You’d be lying if you said you weren’t scared. Your reply didn’t exactly help the situation, did it? At that moment, all you could see was him. It was as if the rest of the attic was gone, along with Max and Lucas. Was this the end?

[accelys]

your lips on my red cheeks || write me a different love story

words: 2,342 Previous Part || Next Part

note: VOLUME 2 SPOILERS. i decided to give you some nice moments before, uh, disaster strikes. so enjoy it while you have it :). btw, i hope y’all notice the reference i put in the second part (hint: broadway musical). and, do i actually hate romeo and juliet? no, that would be an overstatement. i just have my quarrels with it. also, i’m glad you guys are liking this so much!

tags: @milkiane @gojosrug @ifeeluncomfortableallthetime @simp4natasha @badwolf00593 @splatashadeadmanoff @astroponyo @alonezz @part-timetraveller

How in the hell did you get here? This is what you got for wandering at night and being empathetic. It wasn’t that you regretted your choice; it was the fact that it brought a lot of pain and trauma. Not only that, this was very time-consuming. Spending five minutes making a choice on whether or not to tell everyone about the possibility that Max is at risk again? Not what you expected for your spring break. The same questions were constantly uttered from Eddie, the same naggings coming from Dustin, and the same constant whispered screams of “I don’t know!” spilling out of your mouth. It was... something, to say the least. 

“C’mon,” You heard, accompanied by a familiar hand grabbing onto your shoulder. “You two are literally not helping the situation right now.” Of course, it was her. When was it not? The universe seemed to push you two together, only to pull you away in times of true desperation. It was okay for the most part. Small moments with the redhead were nice. You remembered spending hours in the arcade because she wanted to beat her high score, sneaking through the mall to end up inside the movie theater, and all of that. But this, this was far from spending time with the girl that was the main character of all of your good dreams. If there wasn’t some big bad evil dude crumbling people, this would be special; in an RV for a long period of time with this girl.

“You okay? What were they bothering you about?” Max questioned when the two of you plopped onto the seats, facing each other with your legs criss crossed. You opened your mouth to reply, but nothing came out. How are you supposed to break it to her? Just randomly inform her as if it was some everyday shit? That would be stupid, but considering how talking to her these days rarely happened, didn’t your reaction match that? “Tell me.” She ordered you, a suspicious look slowly transforming her features. The lips that were formerly shaped into a smile turned into a frown, while her eyes that used to hold what the books would describe as “sparkles” were dwindling by the second.

“I don’t know how,” You admitted, leaning back into the seat. You were given no reply, and it started to make you feel awkward. After what felt like a whole hour, which was actually only like fifteen seconds, you broke into a ramble, “You see, I want to, right? I just don’t know how. It’s not because of the usual thing, you know? The whole enchanted by you thing. Not because that feeling is gone, because you’re still really fucking gorgeous. It’s because- “ 

Only to be cut off by the girl grabbing hold of your wrists to stop your hands from moving and placing them into your lap. “This is cute and all, but just tell me,” The girl instructed. It was definitely hard to tell her like this; she was so close again. You wished you had the time to count each freckle that adorned her face and kiss all over her face, starting from the scarlet cheeks to those soft lips of hers that kissed your cheek earlier. You hated this.

“Dustin and I... We think that Vecna is leading us to a trap or, at least, something like that,” You confessed. “But we’re not sure! I didn’t want to tell you because we also think that means...” You trailed off, wishing a hole appeared below you and engulfed you, so you didn’t have to face this girl.

“Because you guys think he still wants me,” She finished. “Is that right?” You slowly nodded, unsure of how she’d take the news. Max was, well, always a surprise. Despite hours spent observing her, not in a stalkerish way, she still left you frozen in your spot whenever she did or said something. At the moment, you thought she’d either be angry at you or “subtly” become sad; both options made sense. 

“If I’m being honest...” The redhead paused, taking a moment to take in a shaky breath of air, “I had the same feeling. It’s like, I’m still marked somehow. Cursed.” With the last word, the panic you stuffed down earlier shot through those useless thoughts and filled your brain. All you could think of was Max. Max, Max, Max, Max...

“Listen,” She continued as if she could hear your thoughts caving in on you. “I’ll be fine. I’ve been through this before. Things become easier with practice, right? He’s in my mind. I’m in control. I’ll just go to a memory that makes me feel...” It was obvious what she meant. It was a classic move, right? Vecna uses the bad thoughts, she’ll use the good ones. Now that you were thinking about it, what the hell was your plan when you were bait? You didn’t even know what you were going to experience because you didn’t want to press Max about it. Even without such information, you would gladly fight some Upside Down monster if it meant that Max didn’t have to go through it again. But, it seems as if your hands were tied and you were beaten down, leaving Max to face Vecna.

“What’s the memory?” You mumbled out, not sure what to say. Sure, you did want to continue talking about the plan. Added on to the fact that the others haven’t been informed yet... Yet, you were stuck in this seat, facing this wonderful girl who may die soon. You didn’t want to get the chance to read the letter she wrote at night, nor did you want to witness her floating in the air once more; you wanted her to be okay. If you could travel back in time, you don’t know if you’d choose to standby as Lucas brought her into this hell of a life because of a stupid crush you held on to for years. Unintentionally, this group caused Maxine Mayfield’s life to break into shambles. 

“Just the moment where I’m the happiest,” She informed while smiling at you. Would it be weird to ask if you were there? It would be embarrassing if you did and you weren’t. Besides, Lucas was her closest friend before the events at the mall. So, you settled for a broader question...

“Who’s in it?” Maybe your intentions were too obvious because she gave you an amused look mixed with skepticism. 

“Are you trying to figure out if you’re in it?” She questioned with a smug attitude, leaning forward as if you were trading secrets. 

“No...”

“Really?” She asked sarcastically, letting out a soft laugh. As it died down, her gaze slowly dropped to her fidgeting hands. “But, um... You may have been there. Maybe.” You watched as her eyes became fixated on you once more, a look overcoming her face. One that she always had when she was struggling to make a choice. 

“What are you thinking about now?” You wondered aloud, heat rising to your face as you noticed those blue eyes of hers flicker down to your lips and then back to bore into your eyes. Your question was only responded to by her leaning towards you in a rush, her soft lips making contact with yours. You wish you could say you responded in an instant, but isn’t, maybe like, ten seconds close enough? Your eyes closed after the shock, something else taking control of your body. Honestly, that was a good thing because you didn’t know if you’d be able to escape the shock that soared through your body when your lips captured her bottom lip. 

It was as if you forgot all those daydreams of kissing the redhead. Your imagination left you unprepared to actually have the real thing. The girl’s arms were wrapped around your neck as she gently pushed your head closer to her. You easily obliged to the girl’s will, feeling like putty in her embrace that didn’t last as long as you wished. Max’s lips, which were definitely softer than you imagined, left yours and left you with a feeling of giddiness. You’ve felt those lips on your body before, but on your lips? Never. This, this longing she left you with, surpassed the rest and was expressed by the dopey smile on your face.

“Just wanted to make sure I had another memory in mind,” Max whispered, making you internally swoon. How could you not? Because here she was, telling you how kissing you would be one of her happiest moments. “We’re like that Shakespeare story, you know? Romeo and Juliet, I think.” The redhead muttered as she leaned back into her regular spot. Her hands moved down her body to fix her clothes while her eyes surveyed the RV and eventually met yours. Was it odd to say that her eyes seemed... blue-er? Not only that, there was an affectionate smile gracing her face, accompanied by a red tint.

“Cute, but they died. Both of them,” You informed her with a wavering voice. Were you that pathetic after a simple kiss like that? Gosh, she was the death of you. “Also, hate to break it to you: I hate that play.”

Your response elicited an annoyed groan and a glare with zero malice. “I was trying to be sweet,” She said, crossing her arms. “Plus, it’s like a freaking classic. How could you not like it?”

“I’m not debating about Shakespeare with you, Max.”

“Because I’d win, right?”

“Get off your high horse, Mayfield.”

“After leaving you breathless? Never,” She teased with a smile, holding out her hand for you to grab onto. 

--- linebreak ---

It wasn’t long before the moment between you and Max was broken; information of Vecna’s trap spreading through the RV caused panic. You took notice of the newfound nervousness in Lucas, Erica’s eyes scrutinizing the two of you as if she knew what was going on between you and Max, Nancy’s wide eyes when she heard, Robin’s jaw-dropping, and Steve’s accidental turn that forced a string of curses to leave his mouth. You wished you could laugh at that, but your eyes remained on her. It was like every feeling of dread you felt in your life was emphasized and multiplied by a bajillion. 

When the vehicle pulled up to the side of War Zone, the muffled sounds of people chatting and moving about reached your ears. Considering the past few days have only been with the group, which meant constant screams and panic, it was a change of pace. You haven’t decided if it was good or bad yet. Either way, you wouldn’t find out because no one would allow you to go inside since they thought Jason blabbed about you being with Eddie at the lake. So, when your eyes trailed Max as she entered the store, you spotted her looking back at you and mouthing some words you couldn’t read. 

“You like her,” A voice said beside you. Lucas. Just now, you realized the boy’s presence. This wasn’t a good day for him, huh? His crush was going to be the bait, and, now, he figured out his friend liked her too. You think one of the other reasons you never told Lucas was that, if you did, he’d silently resign his infatuation with the girl and leave you to pursue her. That was something you never wanted. He was a dear friend of yours, someone that you cherished. You turned your head to look at him, scanning for anything to show that he wasn’t mad or disappointed in you. You’ve really been fucking up everyone’s life... “It’s weird that I just realized that.”

“I... I’m sorry I didn’t tell you,” You said. “I knew that if you knew, you’d... I don’t know. I just knew you liked her too, and you two seemed like you’d be perfect together. So, I just...”

He nodded in understanding, letting out a sigh as he brought his hand to his face. “How did we get here, [Y/N]? Into this whole mess...” He questioned, “You know, I wouldn’t have been upset if you told me. You’re the only one that’s been to every single game of mine, even though I’ve been on the bench most of the time. I would’ve let you- ”

“That’s the problem, Lucas.” You interrupted, “I didn’t want you to ‘let me have her’ because, hell, you deserve her more than me. I didn’t tell you because I genuinely thought you and Max would be good for each other.” You could hear the desperation in your voice. You don’t know why it was there. Maybe you did, and your brain was hiding that reason from you. 

You watched as he scanned your face, and you hoped he could tell you were being sincere. You really didn’t want something like this to damage your friendship with him. Fortunately, all the signs pointed to no because you watched as the corners of his mouth were tugged up to form a smile while his arms moved to wrap you in a hug. You don’t know what you expected from Lucas, but it wasn’t this. Not only that, it’s been so long since the group felt like the original group again. The memories of teasing the boys as they played D&D while in Mike’s basement were coming at you. You didn’t realize you missed it so much.

“Are things going to be fine?” You asked.

“Of course,” Lucas responded, patting you on the shoulder as he got up. It reminded you of some closing scene of a movie. The ones where the story began to close up and people were forgiven after some big secret was told. Though, you felt far from the end, especially when your eyes met Eddie’s, who would need to prove his innocence after this shit was all over. You sincerely wished you didn’t have to miss this moment in the future because that would mean tragedy struck and things drastically changed.

[accelys]

Is "The girl I can't have" and "Your lips on my Red Cheeks" are both Max Mayfield x Fem! Reader?

uhh for “the girl you can’t have” it is; for the other, i think i tried my best at making it a gn!reader

[accelys]

can you continue "your lips on my red cheeks" ?

your lips on my red cheeks || masked schemes

words: 2,372 Previous Part || Next Part

note: VOLUME 2 SPOILERS AHEAD. also, am i sorry? a little bit, i suppose. this was always my plan... but who doesn't love angst? kind of an eh and short chapter, but uh welp. hope u enjoy still :)  

tags: @milkiane @gojosrug @ifeeluncomfortableallthetime @simp4natasha @badwolf00593 @splatashadeadmanoff @astroponyo @alonezz @part-timetraveller

You know, when you were a child, you swore you’d actually do something with your life and not just limit yourself to this town. So, would this count, or does it not? Who knew you’d have this type of crisis during your freshman year... In Hawkins, Indiana. With little resistance, which you didn’t know if you should be insulted or grateful for, the plan was to make you bait while the others went into the Upside Down and killed Vecna during his trance. Were you okay with being bait? You suppose... It had its ups and downs. Is there a possibility that you’d die? Yes, definitely. But did this choice mean you could possibly save Hawkins? Yes. So the morality was there.

“Just say the word, and we’ll ditch this whole plan,” Eddie whispered. He got up from his seat on the couch when the whole reveal happened, opting to stand beside you. “Even get into some random car and drive somewhere else.” 

You turned your head to give him a suspicious look. You understood he was looking out for you, but these were your friends, and, you suppose, this was the town you’ve grown to care about. “We’re going through with the plan, Eddie. No more running.”

He took a moment to look at you before nodding in acceptance, “No more running...”

“Where are we supposed to even get weapons to fight... Henry/One/Vecna?” Robin asked, looking around for anyone who had ideas. Which you and Eddie definitely had because the both of you turned your heads to each other simultaneously with matching grins.

Quickly running to his room and coming back out with a piece of paper, he flattened it out on the table. This caused everyone to surround him, except you and Max. “Check this out. The War Zone. I’ve been there once. It’s huge. They got everything you need for, uh... well, killing things, basically.” 

You took this moment to talk to the redhead, side-stepping closer to her, successfully gaining her attention as she turned her head towards you. “You’re very beautiful, you know?” You complimented with a cheeky smile.

“Are you... Are you really taking this moment to flirt with me, [Y/L/N]?” She questioned. You watched as she went through a mix of emotions, but you most definitely noted how she was currently fighting off a smile. Finally, you nodded in response. “I don’t think Vecna will get a chance to kill you.”

“And why is that?”

“’Cause I’ll be the one to do it first.” The girl replied nonchalantly, letting out a chuckle at your expression. “...You’re lucky you’re cute, or else I would’ve hit you already.”

“Very superficial of you. Wait...” You paused, recalling how she hit you a while ago. Deciding to fake being shocked and hurt, you asked, “Does that mean you thought I was ugly a while ago?” You watched as she paused, her back straightening and her eyes clearly looking you up and down.

“Yes,” Max replied. Her head quickly snapped back to the group when Eddie called for her.

“Hey, Red, uh, you got a ski mask or a bandanna, something like that?” He questioned, bringing everyone’s eyes to the girl. She contemplated it a bit, eventually nodding.

“Uh... You guys wait here.” The redhead replied not long before grabbing your wrist and dragging you with her. It caught you by surprise, almost causing you to trip over your feet. Nonetheless, you followed the girl with zero resistance. Heck, if it really was your last day, you’d happily spend the time with her.

Max led you to the side of her home. You suspected it was because she wanted to avoid seeing her mom after the incident. As soon as you both entered through the window, you observed the girl’s room. She never allowed you to come inside the home, considering she avoided everyone, so it was nice. You think? If it made sense, you felt like it had the aura of her. It somehow comforted you.

“Are you done just standing there like a perv, or are you going to help?” She asked, drawing your attention to her. She was leaning against her wooden cabinet, arms crossed, as she observed you with a raised eyebrow. 

“I... I wasn’t being a perv.” You said with a squeaky voice, snapping into action to avoid her seeing your red face. “What are we even searching for?”

“Do you remember the Michael Myers costume I wore the year I came here? The one I used to scare you guys?”

“I did not get scared.” You defended, taking a moment to look back at her from your observation to see her looking back at you expectantly. It was like she knew exactly what you’d do next; she was reading you like an open book.

“You definitely did.” 

“Did not.” You scoffed, looking away. “Why did you even bring me here?”

“Why not?” Max defended, her words said too quick and slightly higher. Not only that, when you turned around, you swore you could see a red tint on her neck.

You hummed in response, moving around objects under her bed to find the mask. “Now that I think about it, I think you have a crush on me.”

“Wait, what?” The girl said, whipping around to face you. Her eyebrows were raised, her mouth was left agape, and the mask you’ve been searching for was just dropped from her hands. “Just now?”

“What?”

“You’re that dense.” She stated, not questioned. What- ? The girl speed-walked towards you, scanning your face for a lie. “Tell me you’re joking.”

“...Don’t you like Lucas?” You asked sheepishly. 

“We’re going to deal with this later because of this whole situation. Because this is literally, so...” She stated with a pause, searching for a word as she went back to pick up the mask. “So bad?”

“What does that mean?” You inquired but were given no response as Max was already climbing out the window. Not wanting to be left behind, you quickly followed like some lost puppy.

“Please tell me this is a whole joke.” The girl pleaded, glancing at you. 

“It’s not.”

“I do not like Lucas.” She assured as she turned the corner to step inside the home where everyone was inside. When she did, she went back to a neutral expression, pretending nothing happened.

“Lucas what?” You heard, snapping your attention to the voice that spoke. It was Lucas. You sincerely hoped the question meant that he, and no one else, did not hear the rest of the sentence. 

“Nothing.” Max quickly responded, “It was nothing.”

He looked between the two of you with a confused expression written all over his face that made you feel bad. When you saw Eddie’s impressed face next to him, you glared; the older boy only responded with a thumbs up.

“Where’s the mask?” Eddie asked, his palm stretched out to receive it, which he did. His eyebrows shot up, letting out a sigh as he took hold of it. “Really? You couldn’t have better taste, [Y/N]?”

“Hey!” You shouted, “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You know what I mean.” He said with a smirk, putting on the mask and motioning for the group to follow behind him.

So, here you were, in a weird line behind Michael Myres Eddie. You wanted to laugh, but, apparently, you were supposed to be stealthy. In all honesty, you had doubts about this group attempting to be sneaky. Given past incidents... Also, there were like nine of you. 

Nevertheless, you followed the older boy as he signaled everyone to go past various houses towards... an RV. Apparently, you were going to commit grand theft auto today. Is it wrong that you’ve always wanted to do that?

One by one, each group member climbed through the window without challenge... until Max. You swore you only let out a minor laugh, but it was enough to earn the girl’s attention. As she finally got inside, she poked her head out the window to flip you off. Despite that, she gave you her hand for assistance.

“Fuck you.” She whispered when you plopped onto the soft cushion. She hit you in the arm with the back of her hand, using a much more gentle force than usual.

“I thought you wouldn’t hit me because I’m cute.”

“Opinions change.”

--- linebreak ---

Your eyes wandered the RV, searching for something to distract you from this gut feeling that something was off; things shouldn’t be off right now. If the plan went okay, everyone would go home okay. Everyone would go back to their slightly weird lives, and you could finally get the chance to talk about your feelings for the redhead sitting near you. The girl finally seemed content with herself. It was a classic scene in a movie where the main character solved everything. Her eyes were closed, music was blasting in her ears, and she was simply laying back in the seat. It also helped that she was absolutely gorgeous. They usually are, right?

“You’re staring...” She muttered, sliding off the headset and turning off the walkman. Yet, her eyes remained closed.

“Just thinking.” You replied, it sounded almost like a whisper, but you knew she heard it.

“About how pretty I am?” Max teased with a smirk, her eyes meeting yours and then turning her head. You don’t know why, but it made her unbelievably hotter.

“Possibly.” You admitted, sparing a glance at Lucas, who seemed to be looking over at Max. Fucking hell. Were you a bad friend? No... 

Right? 

She wasn’t his to call dibs on. But, he and Dustin were the ones who admitted to liking Max first. You never said it out loud. People just knew it. However, people just didn’t include Lucas. He just paid attention to the redhead when she was around, always trying to get her attention through his weird nerd talks, attempts at seeming cooler, and all of that. You didn’t blame him; heck, you were probably the same. The only difference was that he always seemed like he had a better chance, so you backed away as best as you could.

“Your stress is going to stress me out. I can practically feel it radiating off of you from here.” Max mumbled as she shifted around in her seat to face you. “Want me to tell you something?”

“Is it an insult?” You asked, giving the girl a suspicious look. 

“If you keep looking at me like that, it will be.” She advised, “But, no, it’s about-” The redhead trailed off, her eyes drifting to the new presence near her. It was Lucas.

From the looks of it, the boy seemed stressed. His hands were folded together, he was biting his lip, and his eyes kept looking at each of you. Did he somehow figure out your feelings for the girl? Shit. This would not be the best way to tell the boy. He was sweet. Just because he liked the same girl as you did not mean that you wanted to make him feel bad.

“Uh... Hey. Can I talk to you?” He stammered out to Max, then looked towards you. “Alone?”

You looked between your two friends, slowly getting up from your spot. Max’s eyes were wide, and held some panic in them as if she figured out what Lucas wanted to talk to her about. Yet, the gut feeling was there again. Something was wrong? With slight hesitation, you walked over to where Eddie and Dustin sat. They were in the middle of a conversation, going silent when you sat down next to Dustin. Eddie looked at you in surprise, then over your shoulder. He groaned in annoyance, face planting into his open hands. This caused Dustin to make the most obvious look towards the back of the RV, spotting Max and Lucas together.

“Make your move already.” Eddie instructed, “She’s totally into you, dude.”

“He’s not wrong,” Dustin commented.

“It’s hard.” You complained, dragging out the last word as you slumped into the seat.

“Y’know what you need to do?” Eddie asked rhetorically, “When this shit finally goes down, you need to ask that girl out, or else I’ll force you to join Hellfire Club.”

“That club doesn’t exactly seem to have the best reputation right now, dearest Eddie,” You glared. “Plus, what does playing that game do for me?”

“What do you mean?!” Dustin exclaimed, “It has helped us so much these past few years.”

“I don’t recall your experience helping us, Dusty Bun,” You teased with a false-sweet smile.

“You just have a horrible memory.” He defended, rolling his eyes.

“What exactly has this group... uh, fought?” Eddie questioned.

“Demogorgons,” Dustin replied. While you continued for him, “And the Mind Flayer.”

You and Dustin watched as Eddie’s eyebrows shot up, causing the both of you to laugh. However, it soon stopped when you felt that feeling again. Looking back at Max and Lucas, who were still talking, you had this sense of dread. Not just because there was a possibility that Lucas was currently asking your crush out on a date. Your mouth shaped into a frown as you looked back at the two D&D nerds. “Does this whole plan feel wrong to you guys?” You whispered to them. It seemed as if you weren’t the only one because the boy beside you just tensed up.

“I had that feeling too...” Dustin admitted sheepishly, looking around to make sure no one was eavesdropping. It was probably for the best for no one to know what you guys were talking about because this group did not need any more panic than they already had. The boy continued, “Does it feel like we’re doing exactly what Vecna wants us to? I mean, does that creep really seem like the type to not get revenge?”

“I’m not following. What do you guys mean?” Eddie mentioned, looking quizzically between you and Dustin.

“We mean that fucking Vecna is misleading us.” You said, letting out a sigh. You looked back at Max, “It means that my whole thing with the clock was a fucking fake.”

“Shit,” The two boys muttered behind you.

[accelys]

Could u please tag me on part 6? I'm too attached to your story, it's so freaking AMAZING!! Also I kinda stalking ur account just in case u update the story.

your lips on my red cheeks || eyes on me, but mine are on you

words: 3,121 Previous Part || Next Part

note: so, uh, here’s the next chapter earlier than usual. warning: towards the end parts of volume 2 are included. hope u like it- also, this is not my best title and why is the gif that big (get ur mind out of the gutter) oh, btw! i put the titles for the rest

tags: @milkiane @gojosrug @ifeeluncomfortableallthetime @simp4natasha @badwolf00593 @splatashadeadmanoff

It was not okay.

The four of you were now situated in the Wheelers’ house, sitting on an incredibly small couch with parents and officers surrounding you. However, you don’t know if it was good, but your parents weren’t there. Probably busy doing whatever. It was a benefit sometimes; it allowed you to leave home and do whatever you wanted without them pestering you.

“You’re the one Jason Carver saw with Eddie Munson during the murder of Patrick McKinney, right?” An officer questioned, but you could tell he already knew the answer. Why else would he ask?

“Fuck off, Phil. Jason has a stick up his ass, from what I know. He’s probably going delusional.” You commented, leaning back further into the couch with your arms crossed. It earned stern glares from many, as well as gasps from others. You don’t know why you made the comment. Your tolerance for the people in this town was quickly lowering, especially if they were some cop that thought Eddie killed people and idolized Jason.

“Now, that is an officer.” Mike’s dad, Ted, began. He looked at you harshly and pointed towards Phil, “You should have more respect for people like him.”

“I should. But I simply don’t, Ted.” You said bluntly, earning you a smack on both arms from Dustin and Max. With a look towards the girl, you saw her glare and her mouth moving to form the words “shut up.” When you focused back on the father, he was red in the face and glaring at you from his chair that he seemed to never get out of. You remembered all your past experiences with him; he always had something to say but never did anything.

“Now, everyone, calm down,” Chief Powell said, taking a moment to look at each of you on the couch. “What exactly were you all doing at the lake?”

If there was one thing you were helpful for in the group, it was lying and talking to adults. You could see the other three looking at each other out of your peripheral, causing suspicion to rise in the chief. Ultimately, in the middle of their silent conversation, you said, “We were going for a walk. Planning to swim.”

“A walk? At 9 P.M.?” Officer Phil questioned, raising his eyebrows at you.

“To the lake.” Dustin squeaked out, making you whip your head at him to glare. Perhaps the pressure was getting to him because he looked down and continued, “Take a little swim. Little night swim.”

“Dusty,” Mrs. Henderson tenderly said. If you were being honest, you understood why she felt so worried. From what you remembered, she had no one else. “Someone was just murdered there.”

“Yeah! We... We didn’t realize that ’til we got there.” He replied, his voice wavering.

“That’s why we didn’t swim.” Lucas quickly agreed, his words having a slight but noticeable stutter.

“And, Nancy? Was she with you at this night swim?” Mrs. Wheeler asked, her hands moving in an attempt to calm herself down. 

“Yeah,” Dustin responded, simultaneously with your and Max’s opposite reply. It earned him another glare from you.

“No, she wasn’t there.” You interrupted with a lie and a fake smile, “He just thinks about her a lot, you know? Silly crush.”

“Yeah! He’s always rambling about her to me.” Lucas blurted, making you sigh in relief. You observed the reactions of everyone in the room. It ranged from shot-up eyebrows to suspicious looks. Your eyes landed on Erica, who seemed like she was about to say something. You wished that when you glared at her, she would back down, but she did not. That girl knew what she was sure of. Your attention was soon returned to Lucas, who continued, “That’s when you guys came!”

“Right! And, they dared me to say what I said.” Max finished, the rest of you quickly agreeing. This lie was awful and clearly not working, but it was enough to stall whatever consequence that may come.

“You’re lucky you didn’t get shot.” Ted butted in, targeting Max with his words.

“You’re lucky your family still lives with you at this point,” You defended, glaring at the man. Gosh, you hated him. “No one was talking to you, Wheeler. Like, literally, no one...”

“Now, you-” Mr. Wheeler said, getting up from his seat. He was forced to sit back down by Karen and interrupted by Chief Powell.

“Mr. Wheeler!” He boomed, looking at the man harshly. His eyes then drifted back to you, “[Y/L/N], right?” You nodded in response, eyeing him suspiciously. 

“Now, where are your parents? I, surprisingly, don’t see them in this room.”

“I don’t know,” You replied, shrugging. “Even if I did, I don’t see how that’s relevant.” Your response only earned you scoffs from the officer beside the chief and Ted.

“Well, I think they’d want to know why their child was hanging around a suspected murderer.”

“No, they don’t care about me.” You said with a false-sweet smile drawn on your face. “And I never hung around Eddie Munson. I only know of him because people talk.”

“Really?” Chief Powell questioned, leaning forward.

“Her hanging out with that psycho, freak killer? God, no.” Dustin cut in, making you want to roll your eyes at how bad he was at lying. “[Y/N] would never hang out with somebody like him.”

“Oh, that’s a bunch of bull.” Erica cut in, stepping closer to the group. Her words earned her glares from the four of you and yells of her name from her parents. “I mean, you realize they’re lying. The whole couch is on fire.”

“Erica.” Mr. Sinclair said in a serious tone, looking down at his daughter.

“It’s just the facts!” She defended.

“Are you... lying to these policemen, Dusty?” Ms. Henderson questioned, her head tilting to the side.

“No!” Dustin yelled, his voice higher than usual.

“Lying to the cops is a crime, son.” Mr. Sinclair said to Lucas that immediately caused him to squeak out a denial.

“The fire is consuming us.” Erica voiced. You had to laugh at that, unable to hold it in. From beside you, Dustin and Lucas eyed you. In contrast, Max slapped her hand onto your mouth to muffle the noise. It hardly worked, but it was enough to make you stop in a few moments.

“Threaten them with a little jail time. Maybe that’ll loosen their lips.” Mr. Wheeler said, earning an annoyed groan from Dustin.

“Fuck off, Ted.” You insulted, flipping him off.

“You want to send our kids to jail?” Mrs. Sinclair criticized him, eyeing the man harshly. 

“We need to take this seriously.”

“He didn’t mean it like that.” Mrs. Wheeler defended. Soon enough, every adult was talking in the room except Chief Powell. 

You looked at Max, an amused smile gracing your face as you watched her get annoyed at all the noise. The feeling of your eyes on her made her look at you and spot the expression, smiling back. On your other side, Dustin was still and did not know what to say. While Lucas was attempting to defend himself to his parents. The chaos eventually was enough for the chief, leading him to shoot up from his seat and yell for everyone to shut up.

“We’re going to try a more civilized approach.” He started, looking at everyone one by one. “One at a time. You first.”

You looked back to spot him pointing at you. Before you had the chance to say anything, the redhead was quick to defend, “Wait, what? Why them? They’re not even in that Hellfire Club.”

But the chief didn’t respond, only leaving the room with the expectations of you following him and multiple pairs of eyes watching you closely.

“Do I need to cuff you?” Officer Phil Callahan threatened Max.

“Woah, woah, woah.” You said, getting up with your hands up to signal surrender. “I’m going, jeez.”

Phil quickly followed behind you as you weaved past the people that formerly surrounded you, unable to allow you to look back at the concerned faces of your friends. The room offered a slightly better change of scenery you hated because of the quiet and lack of a certain redhead. Your eyes drifted towards Chief Powell sitting at the table and an empty seat across from him.

“So,” The man said, eyeing you carefully. “Tell us what you know about Eddie Munson.”

“Like I said, I only know him from the words of others.” You lied, an eyebrow raised in suspicion.

“Then tell us what they say.” He ordered, leaning forward with his hands folded in front of him. You suppose it was an attempt to intimidate you, you don’t know. All you knew about cops was from VHS tapes and Hopper.

--- linebreak ---

When you stepped out of the room, you looked around for the others. Your face portrayed your confusion when you saw no one. The whole house was silent and empty when it should be crawling with annoyed adults and careless Hawkins officers. Chief Powell and Officer Callahan, who were just behind you, were gone. Despite your history of uncaring parents, you were never good at being alone. The eerie silence was beginning to creep you out.

Your body seemingly moved itself towards the staircase, a sense of rush shooting through you. Goosebumps spread across your arms as you gripped onto the wood railing. It felt like over a thousand eyes were watching you as you sped up the stairs. They were waiting for a mistake to happen. Who was “they?” The question bounced around your brain, unable to comprehend the current situation. You weren’t sure why. Possibly the panic was catching up to you and made you forget everything that led up to that point.

As you reached the top of the stairs, you had to suppress the urge to look back, fearing what you’d see. However, you didn’t realize what would smack you in the face when you looked at the end of the hallway. Well, it didn’t smack smack you. You supposed the booming sound of the grandfather clock did? The chimes made you feel like a child again. You were being berated by your parents for a simple mistake at school again. A whisper of your name came from behind you, matched with a presence that quickly disappeared with the wind when you turned around. Then, the name you’ve been searching for appeared in bright and bolded letters: Vecna.

Just like that, you were back in the Wheelers’ house. The sounds of chatter from downstairs and hushed whispers from the slightly opened door a few feet away filled your ears. It brought you a sense of calmness and grounded you to reality. The feeling of anxiety was pushed down to the pits of your mind and filled with useless thoughts that had no chance against it.

“Fuck.” You muttered to yourself as you realized what was happening. You made your way towards the opened door, pushing it open to spot the four other kids: Max, Dustin, Lucas, and Erica. “What the hell are you four doing?”

You were only responded with sounds of shushing and Max pulling you to her side as she closed the door behind you. She whispered to you and pointed towards the Lite Brite, “Those idiots actually went through the gate.”

Your eyes widened, the lights illuminating the room as Dustin yelled out to nothing. Should you mention what happened? You weren’t sure when the older kids were apparently stuck in the Upside Down. That seemed more important. Possible immediate death comes before ensured demise that would come later, right?

“What happened with the cops? You look... Not the best.” Max whispered with a concerned tone, taking a moment to scan your face. Her eyes went back and focused on the letters appearing on the children’s toy, whispering to herself as she tried to figure out what the older kids were saying before the word was finished.

“Nothing. I’ll tell you later.” You whispered back, internally screaming at yourself for your horrible decisions. You wanted to tell her everything before anything terrible happened. Tell her about how you loved her hair, how you constantly daydreamed about making her laugh, how you imagined being the one she turned to and not Lucas, and everything else. You wanted her to know all those little and big secrets of yours.

--- linebreak ---

Your eyes were trained on the outside of Eddie’s trailer, glancing every once and a while at the group that seemed to be struggling on how to approach the gate on the ceiling. The next time you looked over, Max was looking at you. You quickly whipped your head back to stare at the window. The girl seemed to always sense when you stared even a second too long. She looked at the others first, seemingly to make sure they were okay, then walked towards you.

“Hi.” She whispered into your ear. You felt the weight of her head on your shoulder, causing you to turn your head. The redhead was right there, so close yet so far. If you leaned towards her even a little bit, your lips would be touching her freckled cheek.

“Hi.” You whispered back, your eyes wandering away from her blue ones to look at the group. Would it be a betrayal if you kissed the girl Lucas wanted after telling him she’d go out on a date with him?

“I don’t think anything is going to magically appear outside this trailer.” She said with an amused expression, turning her head towards you.

“Uh...” You attempted to find an excuse, “You never know?”

She let out a small laugh, pushing herself further up on her toes to press her lips against your cheek. It left you warm all over, eyes wide, and your mouth slightly agape in shock. “Come on.” Max beckoned, slipping her hand into yours and tugging you towards your friends. You couldn’t help but feel extremely happy in these awful circumstances.

When you looked towards the gate, you saw Eddie, Robin, Steve, and Nancy looking down at you. Maybe up at you? You couldn’t tell. It was like how Eddie described being high. But less... vibrancy? Excitement was shown on all of your faces, glad to see each other after rough times, and, by the looks of it, they definitely had a hard time. Also, why the hell was Steve shirtless still?

Nonetheless, you and the rest in the normal world dragged Eddie’s disgusting bed and tied sheets together to make rope. One by one, the older kids climbed up their side of the rope and fell down onto the bed. Until the universe and Vecna decided to be a pain in your asses. You watched as Steve yelled for Nancy to snap out of it, only for her to be unresponsive. All of you broke into panic and looked at each other. You, the only one besides Eddie that hanged inside the trailer before, ran for his room to get his mixtapes. It didn’t make sense to you. Would Vecna attack two people on the same day? It was off.

--- linebreak (breaching into volume two territory) ---

“He showed me things that haven’t happened yet,” Nancy hoarsely said, her eyes trained on a spot on the floor, refusing to look anywhere else. “The most awful things. I saw a dark cloud spreading over Hawkins. Downton on fire. Dead soldiers. And this... giant creature with... a gaping mouth. And this creature wasn’t alone.”

She continued from there, describing the horrors of Vecna’s plan. It was beginning to push the anxiety out, the feeling of being watched returning to raise the hairs on your body as you leaned against the wall. You glanced at Max, seeing her trying to decipher what exactly was happening in front of her. What were you guys supposed to do without Eleven? Without her, you guys were, to put it gently, disadvantaged. You had the brains, but the brawns? Shit, Steve never even won a fight, and you were sure there was a high chance that Nancy’s guns wouldn’t pierce Vecna. 

That’s when you heard the words coming from someone in the group, snapping you away from your worries: “We don’t know when he’s going to attack next. Don’t even know who he’s going to attack.”

You raised your hand like some obedient child in a classroom, drawing everyone’s attention to you. “Ok, so um...” You began, folding your hands together. “This may be horrible timing. But, uh, I may or may not have...”

“Spit it out, [Y/N].” Eddie encouraged, his eyes expectant and hopeful. That was something you were about to ruin.

“Me saw grandfather clock? Sorry.” You blurted out, cringing as you said it. This was probably the worst way to tell them. All eyes on you? Fucking hell. Added on to the fact that the universe seemed to finally agree with your thoughts of them erupting into criticism and staring at you in shock.

“Why didn’t you say this earlier?” Max berated, fully turning to face you. She had this tone that she rarely used on you; matter of fact, she never used this tone with you. It was harsh and made you feel like a dumbass, which you were. “When did this even happen?”

“Max. Calm down,” Steve calmly told her. He turned his head towards you, “Why didn’t you say this before?”

“Well, it didn’t seem like a priority at the time. With you guys stuck in the Upside Down, you know?” You said slowly, attempting to word things correctly to not irk the redhead even more.

“Not a priority?” Max repeated, effectively cutting anyone who was about to speak. “That vision means you’re going to fucking die soon, [Y/N]. Don’t you understand that?”

“I do-” You began, but that was enough to annoy Maxine Mayfield.

“You don’t!” She yelled, making your face turn red in embarrassment. You wished you had the courage to look at anyone else for assistance, but you didn’t want to upset her further. Also, you were pretty sure everyone else was too scared to cut her off now. You watched as her eyes scanned your face, her breathing slowing down as she threaded her fingers through her hair. “Just... We need a plan.”

Everyone seemed to snap out of their shock, slowly moving and beginning to formulate ideas out loud. The only ones that seemed to not move were Max and Eddie, who was staring at you with worry evident on his face. While Max, she stood with her arms crossed and a stressed expression. You wished to step near her and remove the crinkle that appeared between her furrowed eyebrows.

[accelys]

ok so- for the uh "your lips on my red cheeks"

do u want to be cursed by vecna or no? it's not my only idea, but it's one of them. i'm actually writing the chapter rn and i'm like 1,300 words in? so quickly tell me ur thoughts! thanks :)

edit: ok, so i think i will? i mean i had the set up for it in the earlier chapters, so it wouldn’t be that shocking yk. i hope y’all caught on that btw- if it gets cringey, im scraping it tho

[accelys]

part 5?? plz 🤗 its so good btw u got me checking ya page like every 5 minutes 😭

your lips on my red cheeks || my north

words: 2,538 Previous Part || Next Part

note: i am so sorry for the delay. i got busy this week, so i made it longer than usual. i think? also, i should honestly start adding the title to these things because they do have titles. i just refuse to put them for some reason. anyways, tell me what you think in the comments! and let me know if you want the titles for all of the chapters. oh, almost forgot, i do have the ending planned. no one (that ppl care about) should die? i think. but i do have heartbreaking lines planned :) oh! and if u think i should add those gifs/pics of max instead of this spring thing i have going on? also can y’all pass some fics cause i read all of them on the max mayfield x reader tag 💀

tags: @milkiane @gojosrug @ifeeluncomfortableallthetime @simp4natasha @badwolf00593

“Paddle faster!” Eddie yelled, his movements becoming hard to keep track of and awful, if that was the right word. Even if it wasn’t, it should be; the water he was pushing with his oar was splashing into your face.

“You paddle faster! Stop that!” You yelled back, berating him for his skills. The two of you were in the middle of Lovers Lake with the two jocks swimming behind the two of you. With a glance back, you spotted the blonde one closer than before, causing a scream to come out of your mouth. “Faster! Faster!”

Eddie looked in your direction to glare at you, only to spot the athlete. He halted his actions, pushing you towards the front, and began attempting to start the boat engine.

“It’s not fucking going to work!” You yelled, beginning to hold the oar like a bat when you saw Jason only a few feet away.

“How do you know that?!”

“I fucking tried, dingus. Don’t you think that’s the first thing I would’ve fuc- Oh shit, get away.” You screamed, interrupted by the athlete just near your boat. You made a horrible attempt at swinging the oar down at him, missing and only splashing the water. This brought Eddie’s attention away from the engine and towards the two of you.

“Hey! Stay back, man. Stay back!” He grabbed his oar, swinging it wildly. It almost hit you, but you didn’t care at that moment because, for some reason, Jason stopped. He looked towards the other and attempted to encourage him to continue swimming; the boy, Patrick, was just looking towards nothing.

After a few more seconds of encouragement, Patrick was shot up into the air. It surprised you enough to scream out a “Holy shit!” and tip over the small boat. Unfortunately, this didn’t mean you missed out on the paranormal shit. You watched as the boy’s bones were broken and bent in impossible ways when you resurfaced. The three of you were frozen in shock, unsure what to do. You knew the blonde would begin blaming Eddie again, but now you would also be part of the blame. It was clearly Vecna, but how were you supposed to explain it to someone like him? 

You knew what would happen; you just didn’t think you’d actually see it in person. If it wasn’t for Eddie, you’d probably still be in the water. He took control from there and began paddling towards shore, leaving Jason with the body of his dead teammate. There was a sense of understanding from you now. Who wouldn’t become insane after seeing that? You weren’t sure if it was the worst death you’ve seen because, weirdly enough, multiple people have died in front of you before. The difference between the death you just witnessed and the others is that you didn’t see anyone or anything do it. It was creepy.

--- linebreak ---

It took a while before you and Eddie found a secure location, added to the fact that you had to steal a walkie-talkie because the other got damaged. Eddie already contacted the others about the location change and what happened. Your mind kept going back to the incident and the ones from recent years. Have you really been this unaware of the traumatic events you’ve been through? Perhaps the adrenaline kept you occupied. You weren’t sure.

“You okay there, [Y/L/N]?” Eddie asked, looking at you with concerned eyes.

You mindlessly nodded, your eyes scanning the area. “Just reevaluating the past few years.”

The older boy hummed, “You really dealt with all this shit, huh?”

“We had El, though. Girl with powers. And, for the most part, you could see what you were fighting.” 

“Wouldn’t that be creepier?”

You raised an eyebrow at him, signaling that you were judging him.

“What? I’m just saying... Monsters coming at you? That’s creepy as hell.” Eddie defended, moving his hands as he talked. 

“Isn’t it creepier if you don’t see what’s attacking your friend?” You rebutted, only to be interrupted by the booming voice of Steve Harrington.

“Oh, boom! Bada bing, bada boom. There she is,” He bragged, gesturing towards where you and Eddie sat. “Skull Rock.”

“Doesn’t make sense,” Dustin muttered, repeatedly observing the object in his hands. 

“Yeah, yeah. Even with it staring you in the face, you can’t admit it.” Steve continued, bringing a small grin to your face. Then he brought his attention to you, waving, “Hi, [Y/N]. Eddie.”

“Hey. What happened?” You questioned Dustin, motioning for him to walk over to you. Was the purpose to help? Yes. Were there other reasons that included a redhead that was staring? Also yes. You could tell she wanted to say something, but you couldn’t tell what. You don’t know why you were avoiding her. That’s actually a lie; it was because Lucas was standing right there. In addition, if you were right, they just had a little romantic moment between themselves. You refused to try to confirm that.

Taking the object from Dustin’s hands, which you discovered was a compass, you watched as the needle spun around erratically.

“There’s nothing to observe. Henderson, over here, just doesn’t want to admit he was wrong.” Steve said smugly, “Probably just some faulty equipment.”

“This worked correctly when we left the Wheelers’,” Dustin argued, glaring at Steve. 

“Can you dweebs lower your voices? The mature ones are talking over here.” Robin said to the three of you. It invoked three simultaneous replies from you all:

“Then why are you there?” Dustin jokingly insulted.

With a scoff and a roll of his eyes, Steve muttered, “I’m mature.”

While you said, “Don’t associate me with them.”

You watched as Robin turned back towards Eddie while he and Nancy looked at the three of you with an amused but questioning stare. You allowed yourself to glance at Max and Lucas for a moment. The duo was talking amongst themselves, and Lucas was making her laugh, or at least amused by the looks of it. Fuck, you were definitely jealous of him. 

“Back to the compass,” Dustin said, kneeling down beside you to take a look. It wasn’t anything new, just the needle kept moving.

“There’s a strong electromagnetic field around here.” You pondered aloud, turning yourself to see if you were right. Did you understand what you were doing? Of course not. But did you know the logic behind it? Yes.

“What does that mean?” Steve questioned Dustin, who then looked at you for help.

“Well, it means we’re fucked,” You began. “You see-”

“Skip over the scientific part.” Steve interrupted, causing you to glare at him.

“There’s most likely a gate near here.” You simply said.

“But we’re nowhere near the lab.” He tried, threading his fingers through his hands. You remembered what happened just a while ago. No one wanted to go through that again. It was just a lot of pain and sorrow. If there was another one, added to the fact that Eleven wasn’t here, what the hell were you guys going to do? It’d just result in some people dying.

“But what if, somehow, there’s another gate we don’t know about?” Dustin suggested, taking the compass from your hands to move around. Not wanting to stay there and do nothing, you joined the curly-headed boy. 

“Don’t do that. Oh gosh,” Steve tried, only to be ignored by the both of you. His reaction only gathered everyone else’s attention, leaving him on the spot to say something. “I... Dustin. [Y/N].”

“Busy,” Dustin replied, undisturbed from his investigation. That left everyone’s attention on you. If you were being honest, you hated it. As you turned around to the rest of the group, you locked eyes with Robin.

“What happened? What did you two mad scientists do?” She questioned, her eyebrows raised. 

“Well... We didn’t do anything.” You started, unsure of what to say. But you did; you just didn’t like being on the spot for stuff like this. “We think that there’s another gate to the Upside Down.” The reactions ranged from tired groans to questioning looks.

“Are you sure?” Nancy asked.

You nudged Dustin in the side, whispering to him, “Are we sure?”

“Of course, we’re sure.” Dustin replied loud enough for everyone to hear, “I’m never wrong.”

“Spanish class.” You said, raising an eyebrow at him and laughing when he attempted to push you.

--- linebreak ---

As everyone followed Dustin, your eyes attempted to adjust to the darkness of the woods. Often bumping into Eddie and Max by accident and, sometimes, on purpose. Max only rolled her eyes, pushing you with a little smile on her face. You know why you kept doing it: you wanted the girl’s attention. You wanted those blue eyes of hers on you, not anyone else. No matter what, things in your life always led to her. You don’t know why.

“I’m starting to think you’re doing this on purpose.” The girl whispered to you the next time you bumped into her. “Making me think I need to hold your hand.” She teased, winking when she saw your face. Despite the lack of light, anyone could tell you felt giddy and that a red tint was coloring your cheeks. 

“I do not need anyone to hold my hand.” You countered, only to be met with raised eyebrows. Your eyes drifted to the rest of the group, making sure no one was eavesdropping on the conversation. They did not need to become more aware of your embarrassment around Max. But, who could blame you? There was something about the redhead that was attractive, and you weren’t only talking about her appearance.

“Oh, but we both know I’m not just anyone to you.” She said with what you’d usually call a glance, but her eyes lingered a few seconds too long to call it that. There was also something masked in her voice that you couldn’t pinpoint, but it made you feel like all those characters in the books you read about or in the movies you’ve watched. Usually, it’d say your body would feel warm, butterflies would flutter in your stomach, and all that, but you don’t know if that’s how you’d describe it. She just made you feel infinite?

“Uh... I don’t know what you mean.” You lied. Your hands began to feel empty as if you had forgotten something. You were too aware of the sense of longing for her hands. Honestly, you wished you had pockets in this outfit right now.

“If you say so,” Max said with a mischievous tone. “I’m just saying, friends don’t lie, [Y/N].”

“Really? We’re stealing people’s lines now?”

“Me? Steal lame lines? Never.” She said as she turned around, beginning to walk backward. “You know, when this is all done, we should, uh, hang out again. Like the old times.”

You hummed in response, making sure to watch what was behind the girl to ensure that she didn’t hit or trip over anything. “What brought this on?”

“Almost dying,” She joked. “But, seriously: I realized how much I’ve been pushing everyone away. Pushing you away, you know? I just want to make sure you know I still care.”

“I wouldn’t call it pushing me away, per se. More so, not answering the door or my calls.” You said in an amused tone, making sure to give her a smile. “Either way, I know you do. I mean, how could you not? I’m freaking amazing.”

“‘Amazing,’ now? Didn’t know it was opposite day.” 

“Oh, shut up.”

“I’d like to see you try.”Max challenged with her mouth transformed into a grin, and her eyebrow raised. You don’t know if you interpreted her words wrong or not, but you just didn’t know what to say. Your mouth opened, and not a single word escaped. 

However, Eddie saved you from further embarrassment with his words of caution targeted at Dustin, “Watch your step, big guy.”

--- linebreak ---

“Uh, Dustin, your compass has gone from wonky to wonky with a capital ‘aah!’” Robin said through the radio, causing you and Dustin to look at each other.

“They found it.” You informed the others, keeping your eyes on the others. You watched as Steve began taking off his shirt from afar, which caused your eyebrows to raise in surprise.

“Ugh. When’d Steve get so hairy?” Lucas said, cringing away from his binoculars for a moment.

“Right?” Dustin said, glad someone finally understood him. “I keep telling him he needs to tame that jungle, but he claims the ladies dig it.”

“Let me see.” You heard Max say, making you quickly whip your head towards her. Her hand was waiting to take the binoculars, but Lucas, like you and Dustin, was in shock.

“I’m sorry, what-” You said, looking at her weirdly. You weren’t going to lie; you could not wrap your head around the idea of Maxine Mayfield ogling Steve Harrington. Dustin tapped your arm, making a gesture to express that she was going crazy.

“I saw that.” Max nonchalantly said, her eyes still watching the four on the boat.

“No, you didn’t,” Dustin said in a panicked manner, quickly switching spots with you when Max gave Lucas the binoculars back and glared at the boy hiding behind you.

She was about to take a step towards him, only to be startled by a new voice behind the group.

“Down by the water!” The voice called out, flashlights beginning to shine near you guys.

You all looked at each other in panic before ducking down near a fallen tree. You could hear the others cursing while you felt a sense of dread rising in you. Jason definitely saw you with Eddie. What were they going to do when they caught you? What were they going to do if they saw Eddie? Fuck. You wished you could say the officers went away, but they didn’t. You heard their footsteps approaching and felt the others’ eyes on you. Why the fuck were they looking at you? You did not have a plan. Ultimately, Max took action.

“Hey, officers! Over here! I found the killer! This way!” She called out, all of you breaking out into a run in a random direction. Aware of your clumsiness and panic, Max took hold of your hand, guiding you through the trees and bushes.

It quickly turned into you guiding her, being the faster one out of the two of you. Despite the four of your efforts, you were still caught. Beams of light shone on all your faces, annoying the hell out of you, which was enough for you to curse at them.

“Okay, we get it. We’re caught. Can you stop pointing that shitty flashlight at us?”

“[Y/N!”You heard all three of them yell. But, the hand in your right one remained in its place, so you had to smile.

“Come here!” The officer yelled, making a harsh beckoning gesture. Lucas was the first to concede, followed by Dustin, then Max who made sure to give your hand a squeeze of reassurance as she pulled you forward. Your eyes drifted towards the lake, surprised when you saw no one in the boat.

“It’ll be fine.” Max whispered beside you, “I promised.”

[accelys]

Can you continue ; your lips on my red cheeks ; it’s so good!

Love your writing :)

your lips on my red cheeks || my panic is your panic

words: 2,131 Previous Part || Next Part

note: okay, this feels like it has no pacing(or wtv the word is?), so tell me if i should edit it! also, i have names for these chapters, idk why i don’t put them? and, yes, i did procrastinate the other story for this one... oh, also, if i didn't tag u, i'm sorry. still v much don't know how to. :)

tags: @milkiane @gojosrug @ifeeluncomfortableallthetime @simp4natasha

Reality quickly caught up to you because you didn’t expect this to happen so soon. You almost tripped when you got closer to Max. She was like a blank slate, devoid of any emotion she usually had. In all honesty, you didn’t believe it was actually happening when you arrived in front of her. You gently cupped her face into your hands, observing every part of it. The blue eyes you were used to, the ones you could drown in, were now white and staring into nothing. 

Panic slammed into you, along with Steve Harrington, who can’t control his speed. An apology escaped his lips as soon as he did, but neither of you truly cared if Max Mayfield was about to die. The older boy was shaking her shoulders, repeatedly yelling her name. Similar to what happened in Ms. Kelly’s office, nothing happened.

“Fuck, what do we do?” You asked aloud, your body stilled in its place. Max was always the one that could react fast, not you. She clearly could not trust you. Your eyes drifted to the two other boys that seemed to be gathering items from the car, “Dustin! Lucas! Hurry!”

No matter how quick you were to react earlier when Max went into this state didn’t matter because she had already begun to float up. You didn’t know what to do except grab onto her shoulders and pull down. Nothing like playing tug of war with an Upside Down creature using your crush, right? Finally, after what felt like hours, the boys arrived beside you and Steve and dropped a bunch of mixtapes onto the ground.

“We need music! Where’s her walkman?!” Dustin screamed at you and Steve, your grip beginning to loosen when you remembered you had it. Patting yourself with one hand while the other remained around Max, hoping to keep her down. Which obviously didn’t work; the girl was a few feet above the ground, with you clinging onto her shoulders. At last, you found the walkman, presenting it to the group that screamed at you to put it on her. With swift movements, you pressed play on the walkman and placed the headphones onto her ears before you lost your grip on the floating redhead and landed on an unprepared Dustin.

With wide eyes, you looked down at him, asking him the silent question, “Are you okay?” His simple response was a thumbs up and a groan as you rolled off the boy, both of you bringing your attention to Max. The two others were screaming and gripping their heads in worry, and all you could do was stay on the ground in shock, thinking about the promise the both of you made. She made it, but those things can go both ways sometimes. Nonetheless, the battle was between Max and Vecna now.

In the end, Max won and fell into Lucas’s arms. He gently cradled her, the both of them holding onto each other tightly, neither ready to let go in fear of losing the other. Sighs were released, relishing in the fact that she survived for now. Dustin seemed to be the only excited one, gripping onto your arm in excitement and shaking it.

“We did it!” He whisper-yelled to you, a 100-watt grin on his face. You couldn’t help but return a smaller smile and nod, fist-bumping him.

--- linebreak ---

The ride back to the Wheeler’s house was silent and filled with tension, carrying into the basement. No one knew what to do after the incident, or at least you didn’t. You escaped into the bathroom after watching everyone else. Dustin made his way downstairs and mumbled to himself; Steve conversed with Robin and Nancy about Victor Creel, while Lucas had a one-sided talk with Max. You didn’t know what you were doing in the bathroom, possibly just taking a breath. You observed yourself in the mirror, something you didn’t often do. It was usually just you watching others.

When you scanned yourself, you only saw a tired version of yourself. The area around your eyes seemed to be darkening, your mouth was shaped into a slight frown, lips chapped, dried blood from your nose that you wiped off earlier, and a barely visible bruise was forming on your jaw. You turned on the water, splashing your face with it. You don’t know why, possibly because you thought it would do something like remove all the flaws from you. The only thing it did was remove the blood and wet your face, leaving you to stare at yourself and think of what had just happened. The peace didn’t last long, the feeling of being watched making you rush to get out and join the others. 

When you arrived in the basement, there was no spot left on a chair, so you opted for the table you and Max talked under previously. You heard Nancy give directions to everyone about keeping watch and Max’s arguments, but, at that moment, the older girl won. It resulted in Max making her way over to you, climbing under the table, wanting to make it harder for everyone to watch. She didn’t want to feel like some child that couldn’t take care of herself; she’s been doing fine for the past few years. However, that didn’t stop her from tugging on your pants leg, signaling that she wanted your company. Who were you to not oblige?

You got up from the chair, lying beside her under the table. It was simply just silence amongst the two of you, but you think the girl couldn’t handle any more talk from others after almost dying and being told to blast music.

“Hi.” She whispered, her gaze remaining on the table above. “Sorry about that. You didn’t have to come under here. Just like your company.” Her words were slurred and quiet, but you could tell she was fighting to remain awake.

You hummed, giving yourself a moment to think of what to say. “You getting sweet on me, Mayfield?” You reflected on what you had said to Lucas earlier, your own words echoing in your head; she wouldn’t like you. She just meant what she said in a friendly way.

“Possibly.” She muttered, “Almost died. Thought I’d be nice to your sorry ass.”

“There goes the moment.” You joked, invoking a soft chuckle from her. “Want to talk about it?”

“You get scared of horror films. Should you really be the one I talk to about this?”

You morphed your face into fake shock, looking at her. “And here I was, thinking you had a change of heart.”

“For you? Never.” Her eyes drifted to look at yours, a tired grin appearing on her face. “But... If you were to tell me about those thoughts you have about me that Eddie mentioned, I might be more willing.”

You rolled your eyes, “Never.”

“Oh, come on. Give a dying girl her last wish.”

“You aren’t dying anymore, dummy. Plus, I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“No, I think you do. You’re not very subtle, [Y/N].”

“I am.”

“I’m pretty sure everyone in this room knows about your little crush on me.”

You groaned, burying your face into your hands, “Why does everyone keep saying that?”

“Probably because it’s true.”

“We’re no longer friends.” You joked with a serious tone, glaring at her. It only caused her to look at you with a bored expression.

“Is it because you want to be more than that? Really cliche line. Didn’t think you had it in you.”

“Nope. Get out. This is my space.”You ordered, sitting up and making a lousy attempt to pull her out by the arms.

“Stop flirting over there! The others are trying to sleep.” Dustin yelled from across the room, erupting laughs from you and Max.

“Not flirting!” You yelled back, flipping him off. 

“They definitely are!” Max said from next to you, earning a glare from you and a pillow being thrown from Steve. Unbothered, the girl leaned close to your ear, “Definitely need to work on your flirting skills.”

You groaned, collapsing onto the floor with a red tint on your cheeks, “I’m not flirting with you, Maxine Mayfield.” You probably shouldn’t have said that because she hit you in the stomach for using her full name. 

“Just Max, no one calls me Maxine. I let it slide last time.” She warned you.

There was the Max you knew. The tension that was formerly in the air was gone and replaced by jokes from you and Max. In contrast, the others slept, forgetting about watching over her and, for a moment, Vecna. You sincerely hoped things would start to go up soon. 

--- linebreak ---

Spoiler: it did not. 

You were currently with Eddie after asking the others if you could stay to watch over him while they went to the Creel house. Despite the resistance to the idea, they obliged and dropped you off. So, there you were, wandering Rick’s house with him and a bat in hand.

“I don’t see the point in having a bat.” Eddie muffled out, still munching on the chips he found.

“Well, if anyone finds us, we’ll at least have something.”

“No one is going to find us. Chill.” He said, pulling out a chair for you and fancily motioning towards it. While he went to the chair opposite you, sitting down with a grin. “So, did you get the girl?”

You raised your eyebrow at him, “Really? That’s your question.”

“Hey!” He began to defend, throwing his hands up in the air that caused some chips to fall out, “My bad if I wanted to find out. You’ve been gushing about her for months.”

“She likes Lucas, not me.”

“Probably because he plays D&D, and you don’t.”

You looked at him with a hard stare before stating, “Are you still stuck on me not joining the Hellfire Club?”

“Yes.” He responded without hesitation. “But... But... Hear me out, you’re, like, much cooler than Sinclair.”

“But, he’s like this cool athlete. While I’m just...” You said, gesturing to yourself.

“Oh, come onnnnn,” Eddie said, gesturing with his hand like he was figuring out what to say. “I’m sure this May girl doesn’t care about that.”

“Max.”

“Same thing.” He said, waving you off. “Still, I’m sure you’ll find whoever you want, and they’ll be perfect for you.”

You hummed, nodding your head and taking in what the older boy said. “That actually wasn’t a bad pep talk.”

Eddie rolled his eyes, “Let’s go! Harrington can suck on that.”

“Are you still stuck on the fact that Dustin idolizes him? Because he, weirdly, may I add, idolizes both of you.” You informed, only to be flipped off by the older boy. 

It was nice hanging out with Eddie. It was like you weren’t dealing with the Upside Down again, but just being a normal teenager. During your freshman year, you only knew Eddie because of Mike, Dustin, and Lucas. But, the two of you, eventually, got close when he dropped you off at your home and bonded over horrible dads. Having someone look after you was nice, so you’d gladly return the favor.

Within a few minutes, you both heard a car and looked at each other questioningly. The group wasn’t going to be here anytime soon, and Rick was away on some vacation, apparently. That meant someone probably found out Eddie was here. Taking action, you grabbed Eddie’s arm and pulled him out of the backdoor. From there, he took control. Honestly, were you really fit to stay with Eddie? 

Both of you heard footsteps approaching and looked at each other in panic, wildly pushing each other in different directions, ending up in front of none other than Jason. This elicited a scream you weren’t proud of, and you swung the bat at his leg out of instinct. You felt pride when you watched him fall, only to see another athlete nearing.

“Run,” Eddie yelled, pulling you towards the boathouse. 

“I am running!”You screamed, speeding past him.

“Run faster!”

“Why are you yelling?!”

“I don’t know!”

For some reason, you and Eddie made things more stressful just by being with each other, evident by the fact when you watched him struggle to open the door. When it was opened, you pushed him inside and dumped random things in front of the entrance. Were you aware it wouldn’t work? Yes, but then again: panic.

“Where are the oars?!” You heard the boy yell, causing you to turn around. You saw him inside a boat, waving his arms like a madman. You paused, remembering you saw oars when you were here last time. After a few seconds of stress, you spotted them and brought the items to him.

[accelys]

this is literally my thought process for "the girl you can't have" rn- it's very off-putting(?) and questionable bc i did not outline any of the story. i never outline. someone do tell me if it is in character or not tho, please