#max mayfield my beloved

[nicxxx5]

i knew lucas and max’s relationship was my favorite and honestly the best after that scene in season 3 where lucas pointed out max’s pimple totally unhinged and she just dunked his head back under the sink after asking what was wrong with him and still loves him after that

[quinnick]

elmax for the ship bingo ????

ELMAX MY BELOVED

[a-map-of-gays]

'Find something that feels like you' is unironically the best fashion advice I've ever heard thank you Max Mayfield

[trickarrows-bishop]

”my child is fine” your child is obsessed with fictional teens in Hawkins Indiana set in the 1980s, who’s lives are ruined every eight months due to monsters.

[judasofsuburbia]

something something kindergarten teacher! steve who is so tired of going on bad dates. kindergarten teacher! robin who doesn't want him to give up.

“Really? The date went that bad?” Robin asks again. 

“Yes,” Steve drones. “I swear she looked like she’d rather be at the dentist than on a date with me.”

Robin makes a sad face at him. Steve continues to sort the paint jugs and throw out any that have been mixed with other colors. Robin finishes putting toys back into cubbies and sanitizing the fake food. 

“Okay so,” Robin starts. 

Steve immediately holds up a hand. “Don’t say ‘maybe she’s not the one but someone is’. I’m sick of this, Rob. I feel like I’m just better off alone.”

“Not true,” Robin argues. “You’re a catch. You’re attractive and good with kids. You make me laugh so hard my ribs shake. You’re a great listener and you make amazing cocktails. Great helmet of hair. Who wouldn’t want to date that?” 

Steve’s heard it all before. He loves Robin, he does, but it doesn’t seem to matter what she thinks of him because no one in this town wants to make it to date two with him.

He used to be so good at this. Always had a girl on his arm at football games in high school. Always had a date to prom. Always had some girl to make out with at parties. Even when he realized later on in his twenties that he liked boys too, he still couldn’t find one that took his attraction seriously.

Steve Harrington? Like both? Unheard of, apparently. 

Still, Steve didn’t want to start the first day of school on a bad note. “Thanks, Rob. I might need to lick my wounds for a second but I’ll get back on the horse I promise.”

“Good because our marriage pact could be closing soon,” Robin mumbles with a sly smile. 

Steve’s head whips around. “Are you‒”

“I have a ring picked out,” Robin practically squeals. 

Steve does his best to gently set down the paint jugs and rip off his latex gloves before darting across the room to pick Robin up in a twirling hug. He kisses her head repeatedly until she’s groaning, giggling, and shoving him off. 

“Rob, that’s amazing,” Steve breathes. He squeezes her tightly again. 

“You better keep your mouth shut,” Robin warns with a pointed finger. “It’s so hard to surprise Nancy Wheeler but I think I’m finally going to be able to.” 

Steve’s grinning from ear to ear as he mimes zipping his mouth closed. “Secret’s safe with me.”

The alarm on Steve’s phone breaks them out of their little love fest and suddenly the halls are filled with parents, children, and teachers gabbing to high heaven. Robin gives him a salute before crossing over onto her side of the classroom. Technically, there is a foldable partition between the two rooms but it will be a cold day in Hell if Robin and Steve ever actually separate their classrooms. 

Steve goes to stand by his door and greet his new gaggle of students. He high-fives each of them as they walk through the door and points to their assigned cubby and seat.

Fifteen minutes later, he’s looking around the room and sees that two seats are still empty. Dustin and Max Munson. He didn’t see them at parent-teacher night last week but he knows from their file that they’re fraternal twins from a single, widowed dad. He tries to keep an eye out for them but he knows the other kids are getting restless. 

Then he hears, “Oh, Mr. Munson, you’re actually in Steve’s‒sorry, Mr. Harrington’s class. He’s just right across the way.” 

Steve glances across the room and does a double-take. Across the room is the alleged Mr. Munson, this tall, lanky man with curly brown hair that hits his shoulders with a blank bandana tying down the top of his head, big brown eyes, a leather jacket with pins, a white tank top, and coverall sleeves tied at his waist. He’s positively breathtaking. 

Holding either hand are Max and Dustin. A little redhead with a baseball cap, overalls, and a striped shirt. A little brunette curly head with green khaki shorts and a shirt with a dragon on it. Mr. Munson smiles apologetically at Robin and walks across the room to Steve’s. Dustin bolts to his assigned seat and starts talking animatedly to Will Byers who looks a little scared out of his mind but is quickly rescued by Mike Wheeler who is just as excited. Max stays glued to Mr. Munson’s side as he walks up to Steve.

If Steve’s not mistaken, Mr. Munson looks him up and down before speaking. 

“Sorry we’re late,” Mr. Munson says and of course, his voice is pretty too. “This one is a little nervous about being away from her dad.”

Steve draws his eyes away from the strong neck and pale collarbones that poke out from underneath his jacket to the scared girl. He bends down to her level and gives her a soft smile. 

“Are you Max? I’m Mr. Harrington,” Steve says.

Max blinks, inching more and more behind Mr. Munson’s pant leg. 

“School’s kinda scary, huh?” Steve asks. 

Max nods.

“I know I get a little nervous on the first day and I’m the teacher,” Steve admits in a small, dramatic voice. He sees the tiniest sliver of a smile on Max’s face. “I’ve sat you next to Lucas Sinclair,” Steve points to the smiling kid on the other side of the room. Lucas gives a small wave. “He’s a very nice boy and I think he even likes the Bulls,” Steve gestures to Max’s hat. “So, I think you guys will have loads to talk about. We’re gonna have a really fun day, okay? And then you’ll get to tell your dad all about it.”

Max glances timidly around the room again and slowly lets go of her dad’s pant leg. Dustin rushes over and shows Max where her cubby is which detaches her completely. Max sits next to Lucas who does get very excited over her hat. Steve and Mr. Munson watch her relax little by little. 

“Holy sh‒shirt," Mr. Munson coughs and smiles sheepishly. "Wow, uh, you really know how to talk to them. Literally made her a friend within five seconds."

Steve stands and tries to regain composure now that the irresistible dad’s attention is on him. 

“Thanks,” Steve says quietly. “The first day is always a little tricky.”

Mr. Munson holds out his hand and says, “Eddie.”

Steve takes it, feeling a little dizzy over how firm his grip is and the callouses on his hands. “S-Steve. Harrington.”

“I’m sorry we couldn’t make it last week. Last-minute towing emergency for Chief Hopper,” Eddie says, finally dropping Steve’s hand. 

Steve playfully rolls his eyes. “I’ve been telling him for years that he needs to dump that old hunk of junk already. I’m guessing you work for Munson Mechanics?”

Eddie smiles boldly and glances down at his attire. “Yeah, that’s where I get this sick uniform. Very exclusive.”

“I’m jealous,” Steve laughs nervously, trying desperately to keep his eyes on Eddie’s face. But even then, his eyes are so pretty and his smile is so radiant. There’s faint stubble on his upper lip and jaw. Steve wants to run his fingers over it amongst other things.

“Well, I won’t keep you much longer,” Eddie smiles, clapping Steve on his back. “Maybe I’ll get you a free oil change for your trouble.”

“Oh, it’s no trouble‒”

Eddie leans forward a little and squeezes Steve’s shoulder. He whispers, “Or maybe I just want to see you when there are not twenty five-year-olds staring at me.”

From this proximity, Steve can smell his cologne and lingering car oil. He can feel his brain cells dying every second he inhales the intoxicating aroma. Steve breathes shallowly, too aware of the growing blush on his cheeks, and says, “S-sure. I’d like that.”

Eddie smirks and has the audacity to wink before going to each of his kids, ruffling their hair, and kissing them goodbye with a big wet smack on their cheeks. He passes by Steve again and murmurs, “I won’t say goodbye to you like that. Not yet, at least. Good luck with my little gremlins” before walking out the door. 

Steve hears the clunk of his boots echoing down the hall and each step makes his heart beat louder against his ribs.

He dares to look at Robin across the room who is staring at him with a smug grin on her face. She mimics getting on a horse and does a little lasso with her hand. 

Steve adjusts his glasses, clears his throat, and says in his best teacher voice, “Alright friends, who’s ready to start kindergarten?” 

EDIT 2/8: READ THE FULL FIC HERE 🤠

[doriandrifting]

And when Max wakes up and finally gets to talk to Lucas, and she aims for sarcastic when she asks, “So you’ve been watching me sleep?” but it’s too watery to be anything but affectionate. And Lucas says all choked up, “Yeah—Yeah, I’ve been waiting for you to wake up. Felt like a total stalker.” Then what?

[henry-fox-biggest-stan]

El’s “if you touch her again, I will kill you again” was more romantic than the whole mileven relationship, but y’all aren’t ready for this conversation

[rockabye-billy]

Stranger Things meet 10 Things I Hate About You 

[swanqueenelmaxshadowhunters]

It's kinda sad that the moment El moved out of Hawkins (and away from Max) she went back to wearing clothes that weren't her; like the flannels and all.

Somehow this shows that she only felt comfortable and safe to be herself with Max. Like, they were the happiest here.

I mean, the El we saw in season 3, when she was discovering what she really liked, she wouldn't have worn this.

I mean, Joyce, Will and Jonathan are great and take good care of her, they are her family now, but still, they don't understand her like Max.

Well, maybe Will and Jonathan do, in parts, but since Loonie left them, they didn't have to hide who they are because Joyce loves and accepts them just the way they are and she might not be perfect, but she loves them with everything she is.

El never had that. She never had a loving, somehow stable home. Yeah, Hopper was great and he took care of her, he protected her and he definitely loves her, but that doesn't erase all the pain, the trauma, all the abuse she experienced in that lab. And the only person who gets that, is Max because her life was as fucked up as El.

Max never had a stable life, her dad didn't really care about her, Susan thinks that they need a man to take care of them and puts Max safety in jeopardy because of it by bringing Neil and Billy into their lives, and then losing everything after Billy's death. Neil simply kicked them out of the house with nothing to support themselves. Probably not even their clothes because it was bought with his money.

So, Max starts wearing shirts too big for her (not that it doesn't look good on her, but it's not really her style, compared to season 2 and specially season 3), her hair is shorter, always in a loose ponytail.

and her smile is gone, just like the sparkle in her eyes. and I know this is directly related to her depression and it hurts to see her going through this. Alone.

She lost everything; her best friend, the home, her mom is working two jobs just so they can have the minimum, and not to mention her mom is also drinking so she's on her own. And on top of that she needs to deal with the guilt she feels for Billy's death and at the same time for feeling he deserved what happened.

And we know that in this show, even clothes there's a lot of meanings. It's not really any theory or anything, it's just kind of a character analysis. Sort of. Anyway.

[camchrome]

Not my dad thinking they were going to kiss in these scenes lmao.

"It's just me or El has more chemistry with the redhead than with her boyfriend? Or maybe it's because of the actors... And why did she ask if Mike is a good kisser? and then looked at her like, that?" (He was so confused lol).

"Oh wait, are they going to kiss finally?"

I love how even he could feel the tension between them.

(We both were disappointed because there was no kiss in any scene 😔).

[fluffyfangirl]

You need to know that Max will hit anybody with that cane if they’re mean to Mike. And then she’d still insult him.

[fairyrona]

here i am the bringer of elumax being happy!!

[allonzy]

why does nobody ever talk about these pages from will byers secret files 🥺🥺🥺

[mon-mothmas-collar]

what happens when Lucas in S5 goes “I’m the only one who still cares about Max!” DIRECTLY COMPARING IT TO SEASON 1 MIKE WHEELER?!?!?!

[strangerthingsquotes]

Max: Did you tell anyone we’re dating?

Lucas: Yes, Max, I have no self-control and told the Party that we’re dating.

Max: Okay, no need for sarcasm.

Lucas: No, seriously, I have no control and I told everyone we’re dating.

[daenerys-targaryen]

@pscentral​ event 03: team colors ↳ max mayfield + this is me trying ♫