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munsonsreputation · 1 year ago

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Soon You'll Get Better

Chapter Two: Best of a Bad Deal

↢ chapter one | series masterlist | chapter three ↣

summary: max begins her sophomore year of high school heading into it with optimism and the hope for things to turn back to normal. as she navigates through this new stage she can't help but feel undeserving of this happiness that seems so foreign after the guilt of billy's death. after she has a heated run in with a bully, steve sweeps in to take care of the situation, but it's clear that max has plenty of unsolved and pent up emotions about billy's death that must be put to rest.

word count: [20.5k] kinda proof-read

: ̗̀➛ pairings: big-brother!steve x max & big-sister!reader x max

: ̗̀➛ romantic pairing: steve harrington x fem-college-student!reader

: ̗̀➛ warnings: talks about mental and emotional health, billy's death, self deprecation, difficulty grieving over death, swearing, bullies, max collapsing (she's ok!), tons of tears (get ur tissues ready), steve being supportive, max and steve are a bunch of fluff balls.

With fall setting in and summer dwindling away in the rearview, everyone had seemed to enter a new stage in life. Starting a new school year, getting a little older, job promotions, finding themselves—everything.

For Max, she had started a few new moments in her own life. Recently turned sixteen a few weeks ago in early July and was about to be a sophomore in high school. She was also making an effort to try to get better, to take care of herself a little more and embrace the help that people were willing to give to her—especially Steve and his girlfriend.

“Say cheese!” You bubbled too enthusiastically at seven in the morning.

Max yawned, rubbing her eyes as you stifled your amusement behind the enormous camera and standing by until she flashed you a smile before taking the picture.

“Okay, c’mon, let’s get you to school before you’re late.” Steve snickered, pressing himself off his car as he ushered the young girl towards him.

She yawned once more, wandering into his arm that he slung over her shoulder, “What time did you go to bed last night?” He rose his brows, scanning her drained features as she shrugged.

“Around twelve, I couldn’t stop tossing and turning—just a little anxious.” She told him, getting into the backseat as he held the door open for her.

You looked behind at her, already settled in the passenger with the developing polaroid in your lap, “S’ok sweetheart, everyone gets a little nervous when they start something new.” You consoled her with your soothing voice as she smiled gingerly and buckled in.

“Do you have any classes with El?” Steve inquired, fingers shifting the car into drive as the ride continued under the early morning sky.

“Ummm, I think so,”

She reached over, unzipping her backpack and finding the folded piece of paper that was at the bottom of the bag. Beginning to read off her schedule before she came across the one class she and her best friend shared.

“English with Mrs. O’Donnell.” Max spoke, folding back up her schedule and placing it into her bag.

“Wasn’t that Eddie’s English teacher?” You rose your brow, glancing towards Steve who chuckled and nodded.

His eyes met Max’s in the rearview where she laughed, knowing the story already, “Yeah, three years in a row.”

“Give him a break! I’m just glad he finally passed and graduated.” You said, undoubtedly proud of your friend for not failing for the fourth time.

“Well, I hope her class isn’t too hard.” Max said from the backseat, watching the window as they slowed by cars also heading in the same direction towards school.

Steve tutted, peeking back towards her, “It shouldn’t be and if you need any help, you can ask El or us too.”

Steve wasn’t necessarily the best student per se, but ever since the kids started going to him for help with projects and studying, he made the effort to use whatever he remembered from all his years of school to help them succeed.

She grinned sincerely and nodded, “Thanks,”

Max wasn’t bad at school. If anything, she was a straight-A student. Passed all her classes with flying colors. But it wasn’t the contents of the class that was difficult it was the people in the class.

Last school year was an absolute nightmare. She was known as the girl with a dead brother who sacrificed his life to save her and her friends. Everyone couldn’t stop talking about it—everyone whispered in the hallways and behind her in class and even if they thought she couldn’t hear them she knew already.

You would think that people would be more sympathetic to her situation. She wasn’t asking for pity from the student body, but just the respect to not talk about such a sensitive topic that they didn’t know the full story about. But instead, all she got were those murmurs of rumors and sick jokes about her dead brother.

Max was just hoping that this school year would be different. That finally she could move on from last year and have a fresh start that she deserved. She knew that getting better was going to take time, but it also wasn’t just up to her. But up to being treated right by others—to not allow herself to be walked all over and dragged around. She knew that Billy wouldn’t want her to take that lightly.

She took a deep breath as Steve turned into the school parking lot, getting in the line of all the other cars who were dropping off students before it finally came her turn. Unbuckling her belt, she leaned in towards the middle console, giving you and Steve a head tap.

“See you guys after school?” She sought, sliding her arms through her backpack loops.

You and Steve beamed back and her, nodding your heads, “I’ll be in class but I’ll meet you guys back at the apartment okay?”

“Sounds good and don’t forget to pick me up at 2:30, Steve!” She called out, opening the car door and stepping out.

He whistled, flashing her another smile with a thumbs up, “Have a good day bug,” He shouted out.

You and Steve waved goodbye, watching Max do the same before she pulled her headphones over her ears as she walked through the crowded parking lot.

Music seemed to be her calmness these days. It helped her focus on other things rather than just the thoughts running through her head.

She was able to focus on the beat, lyrics, trying to picture the scene in her head—like a movie, but just for her ears and imagination. She was just hoping that the soundtrack of Kate Bush would keep her at bay until the end of the day.

Thankfully, for the most part, the angelic voice of Kate Bush was great. It kept her busy just like she hoped, and even El asked to give it a listen during lunch. The only thing that Kate Bush couldn’t black out was the voice of her named being called in the middle of the class after Mrs. O’Donnell had picked up the phone and covered the speakers as motioned Max up to her desk.

“Miss. Lawrence wants to see you in her office and she’s in A13 down in the administration office.” She spoke.

Max nodded, waiting for further instruction while the rest of the students watched on. Mrs. O’Donnell hung up the phone, reaching over her desk and ripping off the bright orange slip where she scribbled down a quick hall pass in case Max would be mistaken for ditching class.

After signing her name, she passed it to her, a small smile on her face, “She says you might be in her office until the rest of the class, so it’s best you take your things with you in case the bell rings. I’ll see you tomorrow, Maxine.”

Max returned the smile, half surprised that Mrs. O’Donnell wasn’t such an old hag that Eddie said she was, “Thank you…see you tomorrow.”

She walked back over to her desk, stuffing her books and binder into her backpack before turning to El who sat behind her and quietly murmuring, “I’ll meet you in the parking lot when the bell rings.”

Her best friend smiled, nodding her head as she reached for her hand, giving it a warm squeeze. “Okay! Good luck!”

Max was aware of Miss. Lawrence who was the sophomore counselor. Last school year, her counselor, Mrs. Bear, told her about Miss. Lawrence, saying that if she wasn’t in for the day that she could visit the sophomore counselor for whatever she needed.

Max only visited once, just to get out of class after a particularly hard day.

“Max! Nice to see you! How was your summer?”

She gradually closed the door behind her, walking over to the chairs and taking a seat.

“Summer was fine. What about you?” She asked, resting her backpack on the free chair, looking over at the woman who had a cheery smile on her face.

“Great! I took my daughters to Indianapolis for a few weeks. Very fun, but not much to do once you’ve explored it all.”

She and Max shared a short laugh before she told her a little more about the trip and the interesting landmarks they were able to see. Then she reached for a file of papers, pulling a few of them out and sliding it towards the young girl. The papers being the emergency contact forms that were filled out last year.

Her mother’s name and contact information being the only one written down, and under it a scribbled out box where Billy’s name and homeroom number was once written.

“I called you in here to see if you wanted to add anyone to your emergency contact list. If you only want to keep your mother’s information on file, that’d be fine, but I just wanted to reach out and see if you’d like to add anyone.”

If Billy were still alive, he’d already be graduated and she would have added the home phone number, but that wasn’t the case anymore.

She thought about maybe adding Joyce, considering the fact that she was like a mother figure to her, but Max knew who she really wanted the school to contact if something were to ever happen.

Somebody who would drop everything to be there for her.

“Umm, would it be ok if I add Steve and his partner?” She leaned forward, plucking out a pen from the jar while she waited for Miss. Lawrence’s response.

A smile and curt, “mhm” prompted her to begin filling out your and Steve’s names along the dotted line along with your phone numbers. She practically had your numbers memorized, being able to press the buttons on the home phone without even looking because she called you two very often.

Sometimes to just check in see how things were going at home with college and Ollie. But also wondering if you two were free so that she could come over. She loved that you guys always picked up her phone calls, and on the rare occasions that you didn’t, she would leave voice messages, saying to call her back ASAP because she needed to get out of the trailer.

Her sudden fast moving pen abruptly came to halt when the ballpoint hovered over “relationship.”

You and Steve weren’t related to her by blood obviously, but at times she really did feel like you two were a part of her family. She really had no other family besides her mom, so she’d take you two willingly into her chosen one.

“Brother” she wrote into the relationship slot next to Steve’s name and “Sister-In-Law” she wrote next to yours.

Sliding the paper back to her counselor and capping her pen, she sat and waited, watching as Miss. Lawrence examined the paper before placing it back into the folder.

She looked up at her, crossing her hands over her desk and smiling, “Steve Harrington? He used to go here didn’t he?”

Max nodded with a tight smile on her face, “Yeah, we’re sorta close…or not sorta, really close. He’s like a brother figure to me and his partner is there for me lots, too.”

The young girl shrugged, hoping there would be no issue of putting you and him on her contact list. If she couldn’t then basically it’d just be her mother’s work number and home number, and since she was barely home, she’d just have to hope her mom wasn’t too busy at work to pickup the phone if it was an emergency.

“Well, that’s really nice of them and I also want you to know that I, myself are here for you no matter what alright?” She patted the tops of Max’s hands, reaching under her desk with the other to grab a card, sliding over the desk to her.

Max grabbed it, examining the contents. On the first line a phone number to her school office, and the other a personal telephone number in case of emergencies.

“In case you ever need to talk, just feel free to call, and if at any time during class you feel like you need to talk to someone you’re always welcome to my office, alright?”

“Thank you,” Max replied serenely, moving back over to her backpack and placing the card in the front pocket for easy access if she ever needed it.

Miss Lawrence looked at her watch, just a few minutes before the bell would ring and the first day of school would come to an end, “You’re welcome to leave now, but just don’t walk out of the front gates before security goes all bezerk.”

She laughed, giving the girl a warm smile, observing her sling the backpack over her shoulder before waving a goodbye and exiting her office.

There was a sense of relief walking out of there without bringing up Billy’s name because she really had thought this was going to be those miserable counselor meetings where she had to sit there watching the poor woman pour her heart out and not know what to say in response.

Talking about Billy and even bringing up his name was a bit triggering now. The only person who was allowed to bring it up was her and if someone else did, she thinks she would immediately see red because all she wanted to do now was to move on.

If that was even possible.

It still hurt to know that he wasn’t here, yet she accepted the fact that she couldn’t bring him back. But really, was this grief worth dying over? For a few months, she thought it was, but at the end of the day she knew Billy was better off dead than surviving that attack.

For crying out loud, he was impaled by a fucking Mindflayer.

There was no plausible or possible way for him to survive.

But even though a piece of her died when he left, she also knew that she could survive this grief.

It would just take time and a lot of realizing that she had to make the best of a bad deal.

As soon as the last bell of the day rung vehemently, she pushed through the big glass double doors and strode against the rough gravel, stopping beside the bike racks that were right next to the parking lot.

She pulled her headphones over her ears, not wanting to hear the commotion of everyone filing out of their classes, and instead watched the doors, waiting until she was able to see her best friend. It was only a couple minutes, and almost halfway through a song that she spotted El on the other side of the glass, but she wasn’t walking alone.

There was Will, her brother.

El waved eagerly towards her, as if they didn’t see each other just a little while ago, but that’s something that Max always admired. That no matter how much time went by, El was always so thrilled to see her.

She waved back, placing her headphones around neck and pausing the tape as they got closer.

“Hey Max!” Will approached, opening his arms in a hug.

She smiled casually, opening hers, and hugging him, “Hey Will.”

Things weren’t necessarily uncomfortable between Will and Max, but they definitely grew a little distant after what had happened at Star Court. In hindsight, it also was a little funny because before the Upside Down crap came back haunting Hawkins—Max, El, and Will were like the little trio that summer.

They had begged you and Steve to drive them around town or supervise them at the pool, per their parents’ request. The three of them connected to the hip and having fun doing their own thing while the others did whatever they constituted as fun.

That was until after Star Court and the breakup that happened between Max and Lucas.

She always understood that Will was inevitably closer to Lucas than he was to her. They had grown up together their whole lives, and Max only entered the picture recently. And even if Will didn’t pick sides, because he didn’t—she knew that everything would be ok and if she had El that was all that mattered.

But still, it was nice to hug her friend again after this entire summer of being missing in action. When they pulled away, they moved a little closer into the parking lot, waiting on the curb as they watched the carpool line move.

“So what happened?” El nudged her delicately, gripping her binder to her chest while on the lookout of the cars entering the pickup section.

“Miss. Lawrence asked me about my emergency contact form and let me add two people.” She told them and they nodded.

“Do you think I could sit with you guys at lunch tomorrow?” Will asked kindly, looking between his little sister and Max.

Today, he had sat with Mike and Dustin at the usual DnD table and while he loved the comfort of his two best friends, he also missed Max and wanted to hang more.

Plus, the DnD table just wasn’t the same without Eddie and the rest of the seniors who had graduated. Hellfire didn’t have a good reputation either, so not many freshmen or newcomers signed up.

Will knew that it was only a matter of time before Hellfire would no longer be a club at Hawkins and instead just better off being played in the confines of the Wheeler basement or Eddie’s trailer.

“Sure,” Max nodded her head, glancing over at him, “Did the guys do something?” she rose her brows and he shook his head wrapping fingers over his backpack straps and holding.

“No, well…kinda? They’re just being friendly to some of the freshman, but I’m not really good with new people, so it’s a little awkward, and plus, Lucas sits with the jocks now, so yeah.”

Will sounded a little disappointed, not at the fact that his childhood best friends were evolving, but more so at the fact that he felt like he was being left behind.

Maybe that’s why the three always gravitated towards each other in a way.

El was, of course overlooked.

Max was misunderstood.

And Will was underappreciated.

“You can sit with us every day if you want!” El offered graciously, giving Will a wide smile and reaching over to squeeze his wrist assuringly.

Max did the same, expect in her own loving way. Poking him the in the side and grinning like a maniac because even if Will hated getting poked in his prime tickle spot, this was like a form of love in some weird way.

“Max! Wait up!”

The three of them whipped their heads back and found a jogging Lucas waving his hands up in the air as he made his way towards them.

“Should I tell him to go away?” Will requested under his breath, just a few seconds away from Lucas coming closer.

She bit her lip and shook her head. Telling him to go away was the last thing she wanted and quite frankly all she did this past summer was push him away. It was time that she faced the music and owe him an explanation.

Lucas was always so good and kind to her. Constantly asking if she was ok, even when he knew she wasn’t. Trying his best to get her to open up about her feelings. Leaving a pile of picked flowers on her doorstep even when she wouldn’t answer the door.

All of the things he did because he loved her and she pushed him away like nothing.

It was horrible what she did, but she knew it was for her own sake.

“H-hey!” Lucas coughed out stiffly, rubbing the back of his neck as he stared on at her, watching a little smile appear on her freckled face.

“Hi jock.” She pestered light heartedly, scrunching her nose at the patch on his letterman jacket that now was going to become a new staple in his closet.

She and Lucas always used to make fun of the jocks that they’d seen all over town back when they were in middle school. Acting like Hawkins’ Royalty just because they got to go to states only to come home without a trophy. It felt a little funny that even after those years of those conversations; he was in front of her wearing one of those jackets.

“But I’m a nice jock.” He clicked his tongue and pointed his finger at her, making her laugh.

Will discreetly reached for El’s wrist, gently tugging the two of them a few feet back to give Max and Lucas some much needed privacy.

For the first time that they conversed after the breakup, they didn’t seem so tense or weirded out by each other. And to them, seeing their friends look somewhat happy in each other’s presence felt like a good step.

Max rolled her eyes sarcastically, moving her feet across the gravel. “I don’t know if being a nice jock is even possible.”

Lucas simply amused her, making a ‘X’ over his heart and mouthing the words, “I promise.” She knew he would always be a nice person. But a jock? She never thought that would happen.

“So…umm, how have you been?” He stammered the question out, anxiously rubbing his hands together, hoping to hear some good news.

Max swallowed, and smiled, a real genuine smile, “Better,” she began, “A lot better, kinda…Steve and his girlfriend have been really there for me, so it’s nice.”

Lucas beamed at the response, finally glad and thoroughly convinced that Max was indeed doing better, maybe not 100% the same Max from before, but she was getting there little by little.

“How about you?”

Max gestured over at him, obviously wanting to hear about when he decided to change up the look and go for total jocky balls and laundry basket mode, as Eddie would call it.

She watched him dig into his jean pockets, pulling out a key and smiling wide.

“I got my license a few ago! And my dad let me get a new stereo system for crushing basketball tryouts—it’s cool! It comes with a tape player and everything, so maybe one day we can drive around and blast that Kate Bush tape.”

He pointed at her Walkman clipped to her jeans. The Kate Bush tape that he knew she loved, confined within the two pieces of plastic and could be seen through the little clear window in the front.

Her fingers trailed over the Walkman, resting there, as she looked up at Lucas with sorry eyes and a frown.

“I-I’m sorry for pushing you away for so long. I swear it’s not what I wanted to do…but it was what was best for me.” She admitted, pursing her lips and watching Lucas shake his head.

“No, I should be the sorry one because I kept pushing you to talk even though I knew you were still hurting deep down. A-and why you said that it wasn’t because of me, and you blamed yourself for me being stupid and pushy—”

Max swallowed, shaking her head, “uh, uh” cutting Lucas off, leading him to raise his brows and stop.

“I meant it when I said it was nothing to do with you, Lucas.” She said quietly enough to hear despite the chatter from the rest of the students passing by.

Max’s eyes looked from side to side, making sure no one was able to hear what she was about to say. And when she knew the coast was clear, she stepped forward, somewhat closing the space between them and hugging herself to find some comfort.

“What happened last summer fucked me up. Really bad,” she buzzed, feeling Lucas so close to her, “I’m still trying to heal from it and the last thing I want to do is rope you in with everything. So I mean it when I say it’s not you, it’s me.”

Her eyes darted up to his, seeing them filled with acceptance and a slight bit of hopelessness. She could read Lucas like the back of her hand, and she knew that it was still painful for him.

After all, they were quite literally each other’s first love.

“I believe you.” He whispered back, his hand reaching for hers and clutching it tenderly.

She gave him a tight-lipped smile, stepping back and opening up the space between them. The space that she knew would one day once be filled again, but right now she had to put herself first, even if it was selfish.

Even if a boy, straight out of her dreams, who did nothing but make her laugh and never tried to change her was waiting on the other side.

Your words and Steve’s echoing in her mind and reminding her that she was the priority. That this space between her and Lucas would never fully close unless she put herself first and got better.

Not because Lucas deserved it.

But because she did.

“Bug!”

The crunch of the tires on gravel, followed by Steve’s voice, made her look back. His face looking at her from the passenger window where he waved. Max and El were already starting to make their way into the backseat of his car, and she had to go.

She turned back around to Lucas, seeing him give Steve a wave and smile before redirecting his attention back to his favorite red-head.

“I’ll try to call sometime…and I look forward to that ride one day.” She told him, reaching out to pat his shoulder as she gave him a soft smile and turned on her heel.

But before she could go, he grabbed onto her palm, placing a piece of paper folder up between them before he squeeze and finally let her go.

She looked puzzled at first, wondering what it could have been, but just seeing the words Lucas mouthed reassured her, “Read it and let me know.”

She swallowed, nodding her head understandingly and clutching her fist around the paper. Walking towards Steve’s car, she could already imagine the questions that he was about to ask by the slight crinkle of his forehead and curled lip.

“Save it,” Max groaned jokingly, holding her hand up to his face as she slumped into her seat and buckled her belt.

Steve shook his head, looking back at the other two kids in the backseat, pretending to look as clueless as possible. His eyes shifted back to Max, clicking his tongue, “Start talking missus.”

She turned her head away, peering out towards the passenger window, where her fingers carefully opened up the note. In messy blue ink, he wrote, “first game on Friday…hope to see you there!” signed off with his initials and two stick figures: him and her.

With a smile on her face, she tucked the paper into her pocket, turning towards Steve who was already staring right back at her with a grin, “I’m going to a game on Friday.”

When they got back to the apartment, Steve couldn’t help but eavesdrop while he got some food going in the microwave overhearing the conversation the other three were having in the living room only a few feet away.

“You guys are like totally obsessed with my non-existent dating life!” Max accused jokingly, spread out on the floor with Ollie laying on her rib cage.

Will and El had already gotten started with their homework fanned out across the coffee table, multitasking as they chatted with Max.

“We’re not obsessed, just mildly concerned.” Will told her, eyes never leaving his calculus worksheet that he was flying through.

The red head sat up, cuddling the dog to her, as she looked over at Will, “What do you mean concerned?”

He finally looked away from his homework, shooting her a knowing glance. “Lucas is going to think this means that you two are getting back together.”

“He’s right,” El murmured, setting her pencil down and laying her head over her arms, still concentrating her eyes on her best friend, “It doesn’t help that won’t shut up about you.” El added, watching Max inhale and shrug.

Unlike Max, El still hung out with the guys mostly because of Mike and as of recently her best friend was the topic of discussion. Lucas asking the boys for some girl advice, which was ludicrous because usually it was them asking him for advice.

Will and El would share uncomfortable and silent glances, knowing that Max wasn’t going to budge on her stance with the relationship. Nothing was going to make her magically change her mind and decide to get back together with him. This wasn’t like their previous petty breakdowns where Max would keep Lucas on his toes, but eventually take him back with a snap of her fingers.

This was something more, and they both knew that.

“Well…we’re not going to—I’m just not ready for it, don’t know when I will be, but that doesn’t mean I have to stop caring about him.” She told her friends, looking away subconsciously.

But Max knew that El and Will were a smart pair of siblings. They both probably already knew everything she was going through, but didn’t want to ask or bring it up because they knew it would make her uneasy.

“Which is why no one is forcing you to go to that game for Lucas’ sake,” Will responded, pressing a comforting hand on her knee, “You should go because you want to, not because you feel like you have to.”

“Who’s forcing who to do what?”

Steve came into the living room balancing a plate of hot pockets on one hand and three bottles of water in the other.

Max looked up at him, putting Ollie down on the floor as Steve placed the food on the coffee table and sat back on the couch.

“Nothing! No one is forcing me to do anything. They’re just concerned about the game on Friday.” Max said, shaking her head and picking up a hot pocket and taking a bite.

Steve observed, seeing Will and El passing him troubled glances, not wanting to be caught by Max who would totally tell them they were freaking out for no reason at all, when in fact they had all the reasons in the world to.

“Do you actually wanna go to the game?” Steve urged, sitting up slightly and watching her chew before answering with a dismissive bobble of her head.

“Yeah, I guess…it’s not like I have anything to do, anyways.” She told him, prompting Steve to let out a sigh, running his hands up and down his legs, wondering what was the right response to give her.

“Max, if you want to go, you should go. It’ll be a nice change of scenery for you, but you don’t just have to go because you feel like you owe Lucas something, alright? You make your own choices for yourself. Don’t let him or any of us pressure you into doing or going to something you don’t want to do.”

She knew where they were all coming from, considering the amount of protectiveness they all had for her, especially Steve. He knew the struggles she was facing that El and Will didn’t, so his words were hinting at that something more without explicitly saying it or being too obvious.

Max wasn’t only on the road to getting better mentally and emotionally, but also facing the grief of Billy. The thoughts of going back to the basketball court where she would obviously have memories of her late brother was something she wasn’t quite sure she was ready to face alone.

It wasn’t like she was scared or terrified, but more so just apprehensive to see what the outcome would be. Would she only be able to see the ghost of Billy out on the court, or would she freeze and run away when she saw Lucas there?

She wasn’t quite sure if it was Lucas or Billy’s ghost she was fending off, but she knew she wanted to do this—just not alone.

“Do you think you and her could come to the game?” Max proposed, looking at Steve who grinned tightly and nodded.

“Of course,” Steve replied, reaching forward to ruffle her hair as she playfully rolled her eyes and smacked his hand away.

She looked at her two other friends, watching with smiles as they ate their afternoon snack, clearly pleased with Max’s more confident answer this time around. She knew they knew that things were difficult for her—more difficult than it was a year ago. It was that sort of silent pact and understanding that they had between the three of them.

They knew, but they just wouldn’t speak of it for her sake. But what they would do was advocate for her best interest and remind her that she was in control of everything that was left up to her.

“Guys wanna come too?” Max suggested, wiggling her brows at the two who grinned.

“But you have to swear we won’t have to do those stupid cheers that the crowd does to get pumped up!” Will pointed with a laugh as Max crossed her fingers over her heart.

“Promise!” she added with a giggle.

“If Lucas has trouble shooting, do you think I could use my powers to help?” El looked at Max with an innocent look of curiosity before the redhead turned to Steve.

“Can she?” Max smirked, and Steve looked at her with a grin.

“Y’know, it’d probably be really helpful, buutttt we should let the game play out without super powers, alright?”

He turned to El with a chortle, following as she moped somewhat, but went straight back to eating her hot pocket and doing her homework.

The front door knob wiggled, the lock turning while Ollie hopped excitedly, sprinting around in circles before you finally came through the doorway.

“I’m home!” You sparkled, toeing off your shoes and placing your stack of books on the little table at the entrance of your apartment.

Steve was up from his place on the couch in an instant, coming to greet you at the front door with a peck to the lips.

“Missed you,” Steve murmured, placing a kiss on your arm while he guided the strap of your backpack down and off your shoulders.

You smiled warmly, stepping up on your tiptoes to give him another kiss, “I missed you too.”

“Yeah, you know we’re here too!”

Steve sneered playfully, taking your bag to the bedroom while you stooped down to pick up Ollie in your arms before walking over to the teens at the table.

“Helloooo, Ellie…Willie….and Maxie.” You singsonged, pecking the tops of their heads as they grumbled at your corny nicknames before you rounded the coffee table and plopped down on the sofa.

“How was college?” El sought, scooting closer to your legs as she reached an arm up and petted Ollie behind the ears.

“Plenty of lecture notes to go through, but that’s boring! Tell me all about your first day! Any cute girls or guys? Mean teachers? New cliques?” Your eyes darting to the three who smiled and shrugged lightly.

“My classes are alright. Mostly full of kids from last school year, but my teachers are really nice! Mr. Krasinski said that if we all turn in our syllabus on time we get one pass to skip any pop quiz throughout the semester, we would just have to vote on it as a class.” Will explains

“When I was in high school all my teachers were lame, you guys are lucky!” You pestered.

You tilted your head towards the girls, squinting your eyes, “Soooo, is Mrs. O’Donnell really an old miserable hag?”

Max and El shook their heads, cackling loudly at your comment that you definitely got from Eddie Munson himself.

“She’s actually kinda nice! Maybe Eddie really just gave her a hard time.” Max spoke, dusting off her fingers and reaching for her water bottle to take a sip.

Just then Steve had exited your bedroom, heading towards the kitchen to grab yourself a snack which was usually string cheese and a bag of lays.

“Did you tell her about Lucas?” Steve called out while ripping open the new pack of string cheese he had bought for you a few days ago.

He snickered when he heard your dramatic gasp, startling Ollie who hopped out of your arms and ran over to him.

“Oh, here it goes now…” Max groaned, shaking her head with no malice as you dropped onto the floor beside her with a bemused grin on your face holding her by the shoulders.

“Tell. Me. Everything!” You shook her gingerly, catching Steve in the distance who was coming closer with your favorite snacks.

Perfect timing.

You let go of her shoulders, hands instantly grabbing the food Steve was offering to you, before you settled your back against his legs where he sat down on the couch and ran his fingers through your locks smoothly.

“Well, he came up to me after school and asked me how I was doing.” Max started getting relaxed next to you as you nodded and listened, peeling strings of the cheese as you ate.

“Then I apologized for pushing away this whole summer and he took it surprisingly well actually, then he invited me to his basketball game on Friday.”

You turned your head strongly, looking at her with widened eyes.

“He’s a jock now? Since when?”

Max snorted somewhat in an agreeing manner, “I guess he took up basketball over the summer and tried out. He’s on junior varsity and plays point guard.”

You took in that information, chewing slowly, trying to decipher which questions you wanted to ask because really you had so many, but you settled on the most important one for the moment.

“Do you want to go?”

A smile began to tug at Max’s lips, making you raise your brows as you watched her throw her arms out wide, “Yep! And you and Steve are coming with!”

You pretended to whimper, sending your head back on Steve’s knees where you stared at him upside down, “Why!? You know I can’t stand watching laundry baskets and balls!”

He tsked, bopping your nose, “I’m going to ban you and Eddie from hanging out. I was on the basketball team you know!”

You sighed, throwing your head right side up and looked at Max, trying to hold back a smile.

“You’re lucky, I love you.” with that you wrapped your arms around her, embracing her in a hug that silently told her that you were in fact looking forward to it and would go anywhere she asked if it made her feel comfortable.

To be honest, you were probably the most nervous for Max’s first day of school even if it didn’t look like it because you didn’t want her to see through your worry. Kids her age knew of the Billy incident, and you also knew that they were ruthless.

Your heart couldn’t handle knowing that today could’ve been a horrible one for her, where she felt ostracized by her classmates and you and Steve weren’t there to scoop her up and tell all those other bullies to fuck off.

And the funny part is, you and Steve shouldn’t even be this concerned in the first place, but you knew deep down that the both of you would always be this worried for her and her wellbeing.

Max had been through a lot, and you were grateful that she found a safe space with you and Steve because you knew she needed it more than anything. The both of you would do anything for her in a heartbeat because you both cared for her that much.

Honestly, you could’ve cried seeing how happy she looked sitting in your living room with her two friends while they did homework together. And for the first time in a long time, you could see that this wasn’t just one of those half exteriors that she would put on to convince her friends that she was ok.

This was Max finally starting to let her guard down and begin to heal.

The old Max would never really make a return—that Max was the one who died when she watched her brother go. But this also wasn’t the old Max who wanted to retreat from social interactions with people she actually enjoyed being around.

This was Max coming into her own again and you were glad that you got to see it happening in the flesh.

The happiness wasn’t something that was just passing for Maxine, for once it felt steady even in a time where she wasn’t quite sure how sure she was of its presence.

Having Will and El sitting with her at lunch gave her a sense of security, knowing that there were two people she could go to at any given time. It was an even bigger plus having El with her during the last period of the day because they could walk to class together and even talk during free time.

She gushed over the phone when she’d call to tell you about her day at school when she wasn’t spending time at your apartment. Even telling Steve about her obnoxious classmates during the car ride home or begging him to drive slower, so she’d just be a tad bit late before the first bell.

It seemed as though that sophomore year wasn’t as scary as she had thought it out to be. It was less lonely, even if it was only two of her friends keeping her company. There were fewer eyes staring at her and murmuring in the hallways from last school year, and it felt like everyone had moved on—which was great, because she wanted to as well.

Today was one of those days where Max didn’t get dropped off by Steve nor was going to be picked up by him. El and Will suggested that they head to a diner after school to grab an actual appetizing late lunch while they did homework. Joyce was in charge of the early morning drop off and Hopper would do the picking up and dropping Max back to the trailer.

Max liked the new routine: dropping in at your place on certain days of the week and also spending her time with her friends just being regular high schoolers trying to get through the next two years.

There was a sense of normalcy about it that she found freeing. A part of her knowing that she didn’t have to stay locked up in her trailer, wasting the days away, and instead it felt good to go out and have a distraction to help her get through whatever she was feeling.

But she also loved the fact that if at any moment things got too heavy for her or if she just needed a break, you and Steve’s door was always going to be open.

It was a rarity for your college classes to get cancelled, but when they were, it was almost like a cheat day. Spending your time at home, getting to lounge around and watch movies or better yet catch up on your naps that you’d been missing out on thanks to studying and work.

This time, though, you’d gotten to do just that before Steve had called out of work early to spend the rest of his afternoon with you, bringing home a new tape and some candy bars for an extra touch of love.

“I could totally do that.” Steve grumbled, tossing more popcorn into his mouth while the screen displayed Patrick Swayze lifting Jennifer Grey up into the air.

“Hmm sure,” you dragged out, rolling your eyes lovingly as you bit into your second chocolate bar of the afternoon.

A knock sounded on the front door, prompting Ollie to hop down, sniffing and running around in circles at the guest.

“Did you forget to pick Max up?” You paused the movie, looking over at Steve.

He glanced down at his watch, shaking his head, “She said she was getting a ride from Hop to head to the diner with El and Will. It can’t be her.”

“Thats weird,” you thought out loud, shaking it off and heading to the door, leaning down to pet Ollie as you unlocked it.

“Hello?” You started as you opened it, coming face to face with Lucas,

“Lucas! What are you doing here? Did you need a ride or something?”

He shook his head, a smile on his face as Ollie ran to his feet and began jumping excitedly, “Hey Ollie,”

“I got my license a few weeks ago, Dustin didn’t tell you?” He laughed, petting your puppy’s head as Steve came to your side.

“Did they make you parallel park?” Steve asked, smiling at the scene.

I nailed it pretty quickly…do you think I could come in for a bit?”

You nodded, opening the door wider as he stepped in with Ollie in his arms and took a seat on the couch.

“How can we be of service?” You plopped yourself on the opposite couch while Steve sat beside him.

He took a deep breath, looking between the both of you as his hands continued petting Ollie who now laid comfortable across his lap.

“It’s umm, about Max…”

You sat up and so did Steve, who straightened his posture and nodded his head like the protective older brother he was to her.

“What about her?”

“I invited her to my game tomorrow.” Lucas started, the two of you nodding, already knowing this information because she told you guys over dinner a few days ago, “She said she’d come and she actually seems a bit happier now, which has me thinking…”

Steve rose his brows arms crossed over his chest, “About what?”

“To win her back! I just need help trying to come up with a plan. I talked to Dustin and Mike about it, but all their ideas suck. And I even went to El and Will, but they said they can’t help me. So I was thinking you guys could help?”

His voice was hopeful, but the looks that you were giving him weren’t necessarily mirrored with the same smile he had. If anything, you and Steve were quiet, not quite sure on what to say or where to look, so instead you looked at each other, eyes fighting silently over who was going to tell him you two couldn’t help.

Truth be told, after the kids had left your apartment on Monday afternoon, Steve had spilled his guts about the conversation that the three had about Lucas and his invite to the game. He knew it wasn’t his place to throw himself into some teenage issues, but Max was like a little sister to him, and just as El and Will had said, there was a point to be mildly concerned.

Max stood her ground about not getting back together with Lucas. Yes, she wanted to go to the basketball game to show her support towards him, but that did not mean they were getting back together—none at all.

Those were boundaries that Max was setting, and you both knew that you couldn’t sit here and look at this kid and give him the false hope that somehow he could pull off a miracle to win her back.

Eventually the staring contest came to an end, and Steve won.

You sighed, getting up from your seat and sitting beside Lucas, “I’m sorry bud, but I don’t think we’ll be able to help with that,” you said wistfully, a soothing hand resting on his shoulders where they slumped.

“W-why?” He asked disappointedly as you grimaced, squeezing his shoulder trying to get him to relax.

“Because Max isn’t a girl who can be won back, Lucas,” You started, turning your body towards him as you explained, “Look, I know you care about her a lot and there no doubt in my mind that she cares about you the same way, but she just needs this time alone.”

You said it slowly, watching as the young boy’s face settled even sadder, if that was possible. His hands stopped petting Ollie and instead rested smoothly on his thighs. His mouth moving yet the words stuck in his throat as he tried to understand.

“I—I just don’t understand, we’ve been broken up for months. The longest we’ve ever been broken up—”

Steve cut in, patting him on the back. “Trust us, we know.”

Lucas shook his head turning his attnetion back to you, “Isn’t that enough time alone? I just don’t get it.”

You smiled tightly, lifting your shoulders and letting them fall as you grabbed his hands and squeezed, “Because maybe it’s not for you to understand, but it’s something you need to accept Lucas. She needs her space to take care of herself. Don’t you think she’s been through a lot in the last two years?”

Lucas swallowed thickly, nodding his head before hanging it low, “So you’ve gotta let her do this. She comes first no matter what. With that being said, you’ve gotta focus on yourself and the stuff that makes you happy.” You told him sternly, patting his hands before going to grab a glass of water that it looked like he needed.

The young boy was quiet, sulking with disappointment and sadness, knowing that this was completely out of his hands and like you had told him, he had to accept it. It was just painful to know the only girl he ever wanted just couldn’t be with him right now.

Steve knew how Lucas felt. He too was a sophomore chasing after a girl who couldn’t be with him, but under different circumstances because sophomore year Steve was an asshole, but Lucas—not a bad bone in that kid.

“Dude, c’mon, don’t let this get you down.” Steve shook him by the shoulders, attempting to get a smile, but all he got was a frown that didn’t look like it could be flipped upside down easily.

“I just miss her…a lot.” He blurted out, making Steve click his tongue and nod sympathetically.

He knew that Max and Lucas spent less and less time together. And while Max wasn’t fond of talking about boys and romance in front of him, he knew that she missed Lucas as well. How she’d bring him up in random conversations when something reminded her of him. Little things here and there let him know that Max missed Lucas. But many things also outweighed the fact that a relationship would not be good for her right now.

You and Steve were two of the only people to really know what was going on with her and what she was going through with everything inside and at home. So while Steve hated to play favorites and lie—he knew it wasn’t his place nor yours to tell Lucas what was really going on with Max.

That one day, they could have a conversation around it with themselves and work it out like adults.

“I know you do, but you were her friend before you were her boyfriend,” Steve explained, nudging him with his elbow, garnering the young boy’s attention, “Be there for her as a friend. Listen to her. Talk to her. But for the love of god, do not dare push her, because I’ll find out and you know that if I hear that you made her upset—”

Your eyes widened, quickly strolling back into the living room with an ice cold glass of water that you passed to Lucas who stared at Steve nervously before you came back in.

“He’ll have a civil conversation with you!” You finished for him, turning your head towards Steve’s, widening your eyes to tell him to cut it out.

Steve shrugged his shoulders, Lucas paying no mind to you two as he downed the drink, “Yeah, that’s where I was getting at…thanks babe.”

“No biggy, Stevie.” You smirked to yourself, picking up Ollie and cuddling him into your chest as Lucas and Steve watched on.

“Thanks guys, I really needed to hear that. I’m actually pretty glad I came to you two before I followed through with what Mike and Dustin said.” Lucas laughed to himself, shaking his head, making you and Steve curious.

“What was their plan?” Steve rose his brows, sitting back on the couch as you nodded your head wanting to know too.

“Serenade her with some Kate Bush…Dustin said Suzy took him back when he sang Never-Ending Story.” He shook his head laughing, covering his face as he remembered the looks that he and Mike shot the curly headed teen who seemed so serious about it.

You snorted, knowing that while Dustin was an intelligent kid, that dude was just not the go to for relationship advice.

“Well, thank god you didn’t because you would have ruined Kate Bush for her!” You bantered, patting him on the shoulder as he pouted up at you.

“Hey c’mon! I have pipes!”

Steve chuckled, swinging his arm over his shoulder, “You’ve got pipes, but not Kate Bush pipes.”

“You’re right.” Lucas pointed, a smile on both of their faces, before he stood up, dusting off his jeans.

“I gotta run back to school and pick up Erica from band practice,” He told you, pulling out his car keys from his pocket, “But my first game of the season is this Friday—Do you guys think you can make it?”

“Wouldn’t miss it for the world.” You assured, giving him a tight hug that he welcomed before turning towards Steve and shaking his hand.

“We’ll see you then…and make sure you work on your three-pointers, remember, to turn your feet and size up the basket before you release…”

You sighed, shooting Lucas an apologetic look that he waved off as he continued listening to Steve’s advice, taking it, knowing that it would probably come in handy for this week’s game. As Steve finished off what looked to be a demonstration of a three pointer that had you and Lucas on the verge of cracking up, you planted a hand on the center of his back, leading him towards the door.

“Okay, Steve, I think he gets it, and I don’t think Erica would be happy waiting around for her dear brother to pick her up.” You sing-songed, opening the door for Lucas so he could get a way out from hearing more of Steve’s coaching.

“Go before he keeps rambaling!” You screeched, pushing him out the door where he shouted out a “bye steve!” before jogging down the apartment steps and hopping into his car.

You waved bye to him as he drove off, before Steve’s arms wrapped around your body, him slotting himself behind you and nuzzling his face into your neck as you giggled and shut the door.

“Work on being less confrontational when it comes to Max,” you chided softly, poking his cheek as he pouted dropping his arms around you, yet keeping his chin on your shoulder.

“I was not.” He moped, making you snort, unimpressed by his demeanor.

“Babe, you totally were! When I left to get him water, I came back to you nearly seething and Lucas looking scared out of his mind!”

He grinned lazily, eyebrows raised as he stared at you from the weird angle, “Really?! So it worked, huh?”

You tiled your head, “What worked?”

“Intimidation. You know I was never a big fan of it, but Lucas had to know that I won’t tolerate him trying to force Max to get back together.” He finished, removing his head from your shoulder and going towards the kitchen.

You trailed behind him, a smile on your face as he got water, gulping it down as you leaned back on the counter and stared, “I’m sure Max would appreciate it, but I’m also sure Lucas would never do such a thing.”

He placed the cup down, leaning back on the counters opposite of you, “Oh I know…I just had to remind him.”

You closed your eyes, huffing out another laugh, “You’re impossible.”

Steve knew that he was probably protective of all the kids, but he just felt more protective of Max. He knew things weren’t easy for her, even before the death of Billy, but things just got progressively worse after he passed.

Max would no longer call him and bug him to take her to the movies, and a little piece of him missed the redhead and her quip remarks. If he had known sooner what she was going through, he would’ve stepped in and at least tried to prevent it from getting this bad.

And even though he could never go back into the past, he just hoped that now Max knew that you and he would be there for her in a heartbeat. That you two would do anything you possibly could to see her happy because it’s what she deserved after everything she had been through.

“And it’s in!” Max cheered on with her friends, watching as Hawkins continued to lead the game.

Steve never thought that he’d be back inside the very gymnasium where Billy essentially threw him on his ass, but alas here he was sitting on the bleachers cheering on Lucas while his girl and the teens conversed through most of the game.

Max wasn’t as tense as she thought that she would be, and while this definitely wasn’t her usual scene, she felt composed. She wasn’t sure if it was having her friends here with her or maybe it was just some internal nervousness that she made up in her head that she forgot about, but it was nice.

For this being the first game of the season, the gym wasn’t as crowded, so it didn’t feel too suffocating. She could see Erica and the rest of Lucas’ family sitting closer towards the court, his mother and father often bolting out of their seat when their son made a basket.

It made her smile despite her distaste towards jocks and the whole idea of the sport as a whole. Remembering what Lucas said about being a “nice jock,” she knew deep down that he really was a good guy. Maybe with his addition on the team, there could be some sort of revolution to the Hawkins’ rule book where all jocks didn’t actually have to be complete assholes and instead compassionate meat heads who threw balls into a basket for fun.

Eddie’s insult was totally rubbing off on her, too.

Steve noticed Max’s spurt of silence, catching her staring off onto the court without following the ball with her eyes. He nudged her slightly with his elbow to capture her attention, but not obvious enough for you and the others to catch.

Her eyes flickered to his, jutting her chin up, “Yeah?”

“You okay?” Steve asked, studying her features to see if she was hinting that she wanted to leave early or was getting tired.

She nodded with a smile. “I’m good, was just thinking of stuff.”

“Wanna enlighten me?” He quipped, as she shrugged and turned her eyes back to the court, watching as the opposing team had begun to catch up.

“Do you ever miss being in high school?” She asked.

He tapped his foot against the stands, thinking before answering, “Not really. High school wasn’t the best time for me and I had a bad reputation I was living up to. I’d only ever go back so I could make things right and maybe meet her a little sooner.”

She watched Steve look over at you, smiling wide at your absentmindedness too busy paying actual attention to the game while biting down nervously on your thumb. She could tell that Steve was madly in love with you, and she even wished that Steve had met you earlier too, because you changed him in a way.

You made Steve “the king” Harrington less jocky and more focused on him and his future. Plus, you made him soft in the heart which was a plus because the kids totally used it to their advantage.

“By making things right…do you mean with Billy?”

Maxine wasn’t stupid. She had already known about Steve and her brother going at each other’s throats even before Lucas and Dustin had invited her out to search for Dart, which is when she met him.

Back at home, she could hear Billy talking to himself while he lifted weights in his room. Something about him wanting to beat the shit out of Steve Harrington and take his place at Hawkins High.

And maybe Billy was a bit insecure when it came to Steve because she knew that Steve was who he wanted to be. For all she knew at the time, Steve was wealthy, lived in a big house, and had all the ladies frothing at the mouth for him.

Obsessive…totally, but she knew he couldn’t help it, especially with the upbringing that he had.

She thought that she was going to hate Steve, because while Billy and Max barely agreed on certain things—they both hated pretentious people, which is exactly how Billy had described Steve.

But she couldn’t hate him.

Not when he stepped in front of a real life monster to save her life in a very cramped school bus in the middle of nowhere. Plus, throwing himself outside of said school bus to attract the monsters and kill them by himself to put the kids out of harm’s way.

Maybe Steve Harrington was soft all along.

“Uhh, yeah, partly... yeah," Steve stuttered, not really know the right way to go about this conversation.

The last time Max had brought up Billy’s name was when she had that mini panic attack back at home after the doctor’s appointment. That had been nearly a month ago, and since then she hadn’t spoken about him and you and Steve were more than fine with that—neither of you bringing him up, either.

Billy was a touchy subject for a multitude of reasons.

The first was that he was killed in the line of fire protecting Max and her best friend from death, all while uttering an apology as he took his last breath and she could only watch.

The second is that while Billy did apologize, there were things that he did that were unforgivable in her eyes that would never leave her memory.

His death didn’t excuse any of the abuse that she or other faced.

They all knew this.

Billy was verbally abusive and at the time resorted to physical violence. He would have beaten Steve to death if it weren’t for Max stepping up and injecting him with a tranquilizer. It wasn’t a secret that he’d get physical with Max too—gripping her wrists too tight or straight up, slapping her across the face when she disobeyed him.

But Billy wasn’t always like this and even Max who didn’t know the past version of him, saw that this monster was created—by his father, of course.

She was conflicted a lot of the times, not knowing if it was really right for her to still feel that twinge of anger towards him for the stuff he had put her and her friends through. Or if it was something that she was supposed to magically let go now that he was dead.

She didn’t know if she would ever know how to go about that.

Max tore her eyes away from the court, looking over at him with a grimace to her face, “…I’m sorry for the way he treated you and whatnot.”

He didn’t know where this was coming from, obviously a place of guilt, but why now? And why would she ever think she would have to apologize for something she had no part in?

“Hey, it’s not your fault…you don’t have to worry about that stuff anymore.”

It was long gone for Steve, in all honesty. He had gone through way more traumatic stuff than getting his ass handed to him on the court by Hargrove and nearly dying by a few punches. But he could tell that for Max, it still bothered her. This was like a wound that was still opened, not yet fully healed, even when it wasn’t on her to begin with.

“I know, but still—”

“But nothing, alright? What he did isn’t a reflection of you…you gotta remember that.” His tone was soft yet firm, watching as she nodded and gulped thickly.

His hand came down to her shoulder, resting it there as he looked at her, “Give yourself more credit, Max, you’re nothing like him. What he did isn’t your fault and what happened to him isn’t either. Some things….you just gotta let it take its course.”

All along, that’s what Max was trying to find a semblance of control.

By spending summer locked away in her own thoughts and feelings, she was able to be in complete and utter control. Her brain was wired like a television that replayed and imagined anything she wanted on command.

She could go back to the past and ponder it. Switch channels and jump to the future where she thought up something happier for herself. Go back to the original channel she was on and realize that there was no such thing as a happier future right now.

Stay there, sitting in silence, hearing the static between her screams and breathing. Close her eyes and turn it off, knowing it’d be there for her to turn back on whenever she wanted.

It didn’t occur to her at all that maybe she wasn’t the only one affected by Billy’s death.

Eleven had literally been kidnapped and almost met with her death because of him.

Lucas had to face his horrible words of hatred and assault just because he wanted to be friends with her.

Steve had spent weeks getting verbally and physically tormented by him, and on top of that suffered a fractured nose after the nasty brawl.

Was it selfish for her to assume that she was the only one hurting and grieving even after what everybody else went through?

All along, was it supposed to be her coming out of all of this as the lucky one because she finally escaped her toxic brother?

Was his death supposed to be a silver lining?

But was it her responsibility to make it up to everyone he hurt?

Was everything that went down this summer all just self-absorbed of her?

Why couldn’t she just let it play out like Steve said?

Why now, when she was feeling just a bit better about herself and the future, did she have to feel like she didn’t deserve this?

Why?

“Oh my god! C’mon Lucas!”

Neither her nor Steve had been paying attention to the game.

Max too caught up in her head, thoughts billowing like a whirlpool, going round-and-round with the same emotions, not know if she’d get sucked into the darkness again, or keep swimming until she survived.

Steve was caught up in watching her, reading her features that screamed confusion in a million different ways. Almost like watching her haze out and suddenly lose her own presence sitting in front of him.

It wasn’t until the crowd roared and you shouted out that she had come through. Snapping her eyes open and shut, shaking her shoulders before nodding aimlessly at him and darting her eyes to the court.

Lucas had scurried towards the basket, jumping high as he tossed the ball up before the buzzer sounded.

Hawkins took it home.

“Woooo!”

There was a strain in her cheer that only she or Steve could catch, because only they knew the conversation they had seconds ago. With still so much left unsaid, he hoped what he said stuck with her. That maybe it was just her taking in his words and realizing that the past was past, not something he was still stuck on even after Billy’s death.

“That was awesome! He did really well….so well that I didn’t have to use my powers!” El cupped her hands around Max’s ear, concealing the last bit of her sentence that made Max break out in a smile.

There was an ease to her now. Steve could let it go, just until he knew that she was really fine and didn’t need any more reassurance—but even if she needed it, he’d always be there to fall back on.

“C’mon, let’s go congratulate him,” Steve told everyone, gesturing his hand out to lead them out of the narrow stands and down the stairs first before he followed closely behind.

His hand, holding yours as you walked in front of him and smiled, seeing Lucas’ family embrace him in a hug, even Erica who looked just as pleased at her brother’s buzzer beater.

Max stood timidly, waiting before his parents let go of their hug before Lucas had noticed her standing there.

“You came!” Lucas smiled broadly, opening his arms wondering if it was okay to hug her.

She smiled, nodding as she opens hers and wrapped her arms around his frame, “Didn’t want to miss it. First nice jock in Hawkins history to beat the buzzer is totally one of the history books.”

His chest bubbled against her cheek as he laughed before pulling away, “Thanks for coming, it means a lot.”

“You did great dude, Mike and Dustin are going to be so mad they missed out on this.”

El and Will immediately clung to either of his sides, giving him a hug as he thanked them for coming, knowing that sports wasn’t really their thing.

“Great hustle on that last shot, man. You did great!” Steve cheered, giving him a firm handshake before embracing him in a hug.

“We’re so proud of you, Lucas! I’m gonna need to get you a pin that says, “Hawkins MVP,” then you can add it to your lettermen!”

You were the cheeriest out of the bunch, which was surprising considering that you didn’t like sports very much, yet there you were totally immersed by the game and now most certainly going home to make that custom pin for Lucas despite his protests.

Steve was sure that if he had really gotten serious about his own basketball career and got signed into the big league, you’d be one of those hard core basketball wives.

You were totally into tossing balls into laundry baskets now.

“Invite me to the next game, alright?” Max said cooly, watching Lucas’ face light up as he nodded.

“Of course! And thanks for coming again guys, it’s nice to have my friends here!”

They shared a smile, giving him a wave as they exited the gym and let him have a moment to reel it all in with his family and teammates. And like Steve said, it was a nice change of scenery, not only for Max but for everybody who was so used to not going to school functions like this.

Now they actually had a reason to show up, Steve just wished that next time everyone would be in attendance because Lucas deserved to see everyone who cared about him in the stands—win or lose.

“You guys hungry? Wanna stop by McDonald’s before you head home?” You asked from the passenger seat as the kids hummed “no” in the backseat of Steve’s car.

Steve glanced up to the rearview mirror, getting a glimpse at their tired features. “You sure? There’s one coming up and I could go to the drive-thru?”

Will caught his eyes in the mirror, giving him a reassuring shake of his head before looking at his sister.

“Mom said she was cooking risotto and roasted potatoes tonight so we’re going to have the leftovers.” He told you both.

Steve flickered his eyes from the road, back up to the mirror to see Max staring mindlessly out the window.

“Bug? No McDonalds?”

She shook her head, answering without catching his glance, “No, I’m ok. My mom left a note on the fridge this morning and said she’d be home for dinner. She probably cooked something for the two of us.”

A warm smile tugged at your lips as you twiddled your fingers in your lap, Turing your head over your shoulder “That’s nice! She probably misses having dinner with you!”

Max didn’t tell you or Steve much about her mom. Often times it consisted of, “she’s busy,” “she’s working,” “she’s tired,” “she’s fine,” or “she said it was ok.”

And Max didn’t really like conversations about her mom to begin with. There was really nothing to discuss other than the fact that she was always working and almost never home. She had grown accustomed to it, accepting that work came first, yet you were still here to suggest she stay over at yours so that she wouldn’t eat dinner alone.

In a lot of ways, you filled the shoes of her mother, but more so in an older sister aspect. She could tell you things about her life without seriously getting in trouble because she never did bad things to begin with. It was just that she didn’t have that close knit relationship with her mom to even discuss little things in life.

It was just that simple.

“It’s fine…she told me she took off this weekend so we’re gonna spend some time together, hopefully decluttering because she’s been avoiding getting rid of a lot of stuff.”

You could all tell that Max wasn’t looking forward to it, but you hoped that her mind would change after spending the weekend to bond with her. Her mother wasn’t the best of all time, nor was she perfect—there were definitely aspects that you and Steve didn’t agree on when it came to the parenting she showed Max, but then again it was a tricky subject to go about because neither of you were Max’s legal guardians.

And on top of that, neither you nor Steve were in her mother’s shoes—facing the loss of a son and having her partner up and leave her. She was the one forced to pick up the pieces and try to do her very best to provide for Max and put a roof over her head.

And maybe she got too caught up in the work and money to realize that what Max needed the most was the support around her. Just to have someone to talk to and confide in so that she could understand that what she was feeling was okay, but needed to get the help to get better.

But it wasn’t too late for her mom to make it up to her, and there was a silent hoping that maybe finally, she and her mom could go back to their old mother-daughter relationship. The one where she could tell her anything and seek her advice when she really needed it.

Steve tapped his fingers against the steering wheel, turning on his blinkers as he made a turn into the trailer park, “Well, I’m sure the two of you guys have a lot of catching up to do…we’ll get back to our regular schedule on Monday alright?”

Max undid her belt, humming out contently. “Yeah, plus, it’ll give me time to really miss you guys, especially Steve’s snoring.”

She let out a laugh as you giggled, shifting in your seat to watch her hug her friends before leaning up to wrap her arms around your shoulders, “Call anytime you want, alright? I’ll make sure to give Ollie plenty of cuddles and kisses while you’re gone.”

She grumbled against you, totally forgetting the cute furball that she was always attached to the hip to when she was at your place, “And give him all the treats in the world! I’m going to smother him with cuddles on Monday!”

“Will do, sweetheart…have fun okay?” You pulled away, tucking a peice of her stray hair behind her ear as you smiled warmly, “I love you!”

“I love you too. See you Monday.”

You closed your eyes lovingly, feel her kiss your cheek before she got out of the car and Steve followed, walking her up to the front door where they would always talk for a bit before they said goodbye.

It was routine and part of you knew that they both needed it.

“Is Max okay?” El asked, watching Max nod her head as Steve spoke to her sincerely.

You shrugged your shoulders lightly, knowing it’d be best to not tell them even if you did know or not, “I think she’s okay,” You reached back, clutching the girls hand warmly, “Steve and Max…they have a special bond together, they’re very similar in a lot of ways.”

“Really?” Will asked, to which you nodded with a tight smile.

“Yeah, I think Steve sees a lot of himself in Max and he wants to protect her from going through things that he went through as well.”

It didn’t take a genius to know that while Steve didn’t play favorites with the kids—Max had always been number one for multiple reasons that the kids didn’t really seem to mind with, anyway.

Looking at Max was like looking at a younger female version of himself. The one who used to be happy without a care in the world, then suddenly pushed into the knowingness that life wasn’t at all what it was when the rose-colored lenses were off.

When Steve was her age, he didn’t have present parents to lean on when it came to his troubles and instead it led him to going down a horrible path. One that was filled with chasing after romantic relationships, hoping it would solve his issues instead of confronting the problems in front of him.

The course of his teenage years revolved around destructive relationships and low self-esteem, despite the rumors of the might king Steve would wasn’t shaken by anything.

He knew Max was smart though, but the slightest probable chance she had of actually following down his pathway wasn’t something he was going to risk and let her do. So yeah, maybe Steve Harrington did play favorites, but with good intentions.

He’d throw himself in front of Max no matter what was ahead if it meant shielding her from all the bad because he wished he had parents or even an older sibling who would do the same for him.

If Billy were still alive, Steve wouldn’t hesitate taking another near death experience at the hands of fists if it meant keeping Max untouched.

Max was always going to have someone to depend on as long as Steve was around.

“Try to enjoy the weekend, alright? And go into with a positive mindset, I know it isn’t easy with what you have going on with your mom…but just try, ok?”

She sighed defeatedly, hoping that Steve would tell her that she could pop in whenever she wanted if the weekend wasn’t going well. But Steve also had a point—going into it with built up resentment and anger wouldn’t do her or her mom any good. If there was any chance at their relationships being repaired, she had to try to go into this a little more optimistic than she was feeling.

Max shook her head to herself, giving Steve a tight hug before she murmured into his chest, “I know, I will…just don’t eat all the bagel bites while I’m gone. You know those are my favorites.”

He chuckled, resting his chin on the top of her head when he hugged her close and nodded, “I won’t. I’ll actually save them all for you so you can spill the beans on Monday over some very delicious bagel bites.”

“Can’t believe I’m saying this, but I’m actually looking forward to a Monday.” She laughed, pulling away from him.

“You’ll survive two days. Drop off on Monday morning?” He asked.

She shook her head, looking at her mom’s car, parked in the grass, “Mom is gonna drop me off, but can you pick me up?”

“I’ll be there.” He grinned, patting her arm, “Night bug, love you.”

“G’night Steve, love you too.”

They shared another quick smile; her waving to the car where you three were watching, and shot her a big smile and wave.

She took a deep breath, preparing herself as she turned open the front door, “I’m home, mom!”

Monday came by soon enough, and to Max’s surprise the weekend wasn’t half bad. She and her mom had spent the two days going over boxes and storage bins of things that they hadn’t been able to go through since they moved out of the house on Cherry Lane.

Most of the items were Billy’s. A collection of baseball cards, magazines, knick-knacks from childhood, and clothes. They both knew they had been throwing it all off to go through those things, mostly because their move to the trailer park was sudden.

After Billy’s dad learned of his son’s death, he didn’t hesitate calling off the engagement with her mom and packing only his things and leaving. The only thing they knew was that he was going to sell the house, and they needed somewhere to go quickly.

Forest Hills Trailer Park it was.

They made do with what they had and tried to make the best out of the situation. Trying to make the trailer a home as much as they could, even if it really would never be that way. All of Billy’s belongings had been shoved into one of the storage closets, and there was a silent agreement that neither of them would go through it until they were both ready.

So while a few tears and laughs were shared between mother and daughter, Sunday was the day where they finally said goodbye to most of his things. Max picked a few t-shirts, a binder of baseball cards, and even Billy's signature leather jacket to keep, and the rest of it would be going to the nearest Goodwill where it would find a new home.

Honestly, it was a little overwhelming, all of the boxes reeking of cigarettes and Billy’s smell even after these two years. She was happy that Monday rolled around because it meant getting out of the trailer and not suffocating in the lingering scent of her brother, feeling like he was there, but he wasn’t.

Meanwhile, Mondays were always slow ones at Family Video, especially with the kids back in school. The only customers they’d get were parents returning their kids’ late tapes and middle-aged people coming in to rent the same movies they’d always get.

“You promise you’re going to let me have next week Thursday off?!” Robin nagged from the counter, watching Steve stock the shelves with recently returned tapes.

He folded his hand over his chest, his face dropping annoyingly, “For the millionth time Robs, yes…you’re going to have next week Thursday off.”

This week, however, was a more exciting one for Steve Harrington because he was moving up at Family Video. From store associate to now manager, seeing as though Keith was finally leaving, and he was going to take his spot.

Initially Robin was supposed to get the position, but declined knowing that it was going to be too much work for her to be in charge of creating schedules and dealing with annoying customers who complained about not knowing how to work a VHS in this day and age.

She would much rather stock shelves and appoint all those customers to Steve while she got to giggle and listen in from the back of the store.

“Just making sure! You know how important Vicky is to me, and I don’t want to screw up our anniversary.”

Despite Robin’s insistent nagging over the past few weeks about her very important off day, Steve understood because he remembered his first anniversary with you. More so, the fact that Robin was completely head over heels for this girl and it made him happy seeing his best friend finally get a chance at romantic love after all these years of pining.

He knew it was only a matter of time before things got really serious with her and Vicky, which would probably lead to the point where Steve was in life. Getting ready to move in with you in your apartment and finally get to call it home.

You were the one who had actually asked him to move in, months ago, but he had declined, seeing as though he didn’t quite make enough to help you out with all of the bills and rent that came with living in the apartment. And even though you assured him that you could cover it yourself, he was stern in the fact that he wanted to make enough first so that both of you could give it your all not have to worry so much about money.

So it was safe to say that Steve was ecstatic to get the position of manager and up his salary just enough to cover half of the rent and the utility bills that now the both of you would half on.

“You’re gonna get Thursday off, but I’m gonna need you to close on Friday because Max needs a ride to the skate shop to change the barrings on her board.” He told her, folding up the cardboard box and throwing it off to the side.

She snorted, resting her hands on her knees as she watched Steve walk up to her. “How is she, by the way?”

Robin never explicitly asked Steve about Max’s wellbeing, because it was none of her business. She understood her place as simply someone who was concerned on the sidelines and only hoped that the young girl was doing okay. By the looks of it, Max trusted Steve out of all of the others, and she could understand why.

Because, like you, Robin knew that Steve and Max were very similar.

They’d bottle up their emotions, let it boil over until it was too late.

Resort to self deprecation and act out on emotion.

They were basically long lost twins.

“She’s doing a lot better. Now that school started its keeping her busy, plus she wants to take up skateboarding again, which will be a good hobby for her to have.” He grinned as she smiled back.

“That’s good. Just don’t try to hop on that board because the last time you did, you almost ruined that pretty face of yours.” She smirked, bopping his nose with her fingertip as she spun around and hopped off the counter and towards the computers to check on late returns.

“That was one time!” Steve argued, holding up his finger as she snickered and continued scrolling through the names of people she would have to call later on in the day.

He couldn’t help but shake his head, knowing he definitely wasn’t a great skateboarder, and his job was actually better off cheering Max on and encouraging her as she practiced dips and tricks on her board.

The phone to the store suddenly rang, catching the two’s attention. Robin who was closer to it, didn’t hesitate to pick it up before the second chime had a change to ring.

“Family Video.” She answer plainly, pushing her shoulder up to stabilize the phone against her cheek while she continued to scroll.

Steve rested his elbow on the counter, watching to see if it was another prank call or irritant customer on the other line.

“Can I speak to Steven Harrington? It’s about his sister, Maxine Mayfield…she’s in the principal’s office.”

Her eyes went wide, snapping her head towards Steve and covering the receiver as she whispered sharply, “It’s about Max.”

Second period came along in the school day, just lunch and two more periods to go before she’d finally get to kick back with her favorite pup Ollie and snack on some bagel bites—something she had been craving all weekend.

Mr. Watson’s chemistry class was actually for upperclassmen, but since last school year Max had showed excelling grades and understanding in biology, she was able to move up to a more rigorous science class this year.

The upperclassmen weren’t that intimidating. If anything, they were just taller and older—but other than that, they and Max were all equal. Mr. Watson was one of those take it easy teachers who basically lectured for the first fifteen minutes of class, then allowed the rest of the time for students to independently work on the assignments before class ended.

It was the most enjoyable class in terms of workload since the worksheets were fairly easy, and it was just was a lot of listening and making sure to read the textbook for the answer. That wasn’t hard at all for her because with Kate Bush blaring through her headphones, focusing was pretty simple.

Today, however, there was a shift. She could hear the whispers coming from the table behind her, a group of boys who were juniors and even one sporting a letterman jacket: a jock. But she didn’t pay it any mind, assuming they were just helping each other on today’s assignment.

“Psst…Maxine,”

Nevermind.

She ignored them, scribbling her pencil a little firmer, enough for the lead to chalk up against the paper as she wrote vigorously.

“Maxineeeee, I know you can hear us! That shit you’re listening to can’t sound as good as us.”

God they were disgusting.

“Just ignore them and keep working, they’ll stop once you show them you’re not giving in” is what Max was saying to herself in her mind.

“Maxine—”

“What the hell do you guys want?”

She couldn’t take it anymore. Yanking her headphones off and slamming the pencil on to the desk, catching the attention of everyone in the classroom. She stood out of her seat, facing the group of childish boys sitting behind her.

The groups boys, cackling to themselves like maniacs while Max glared sharply, moving her head side to side as a way to get them to tell her what they so badly needed to say.

The one with the lettermen leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms over his chest, “Feisty. You must get that from Billy, right? Or did he give it to you when he burned alive in that fire?”

Her whole world stopped.

She could hear her own heartbeat and blood rushing to her ears despite the boy’s undying laughter. It was sick and twisted. Those words that were spat out as a joke, which clearly wasn’t taken as one by her. At any moment, she felt like she could throw herself at him, punching away at his face and showing him how really tough she was.

But that wasn’t Max.

“Miss. Mayfield….Miss. Mayfield….Miss….”

Her breathing started to quicken as she could hear Mr. Watson calling out her name from the front of the class. Eyes clouding over with salt, the shouting of her name and the laughter got louder. Looking around the room, it seemed the faces of her classmates resembled ones that mocked her, laughing in her face and pointing at her like a mockery.

That was all she remembered.

Steve was glad that the high school was so close to Family Video, but even then it seemed like time wasn’t on his side. Red lights stalled him. Slow walkers were abnormally slower than usual. Cars wouldn’t yield to him.

Each passing second feeling like an eternity to get to her.

All he could remember when Robin had passed him the phone was being told, Max collapsed. She hit her head. And she’s in the principal’s office.Those three statements echoing in his head as he jerked his car into the nearest parking spot and sprinted towards the front office.

The office ladies probably thinking he was a madman, disregarding their pleas for him to sign in on the clip board, but all he could focus on was reaching the principals office.

Max’s back faced him. Her hair pulled up into a makeshift ponytail with one hand clutching an ice back to the back of her head and the other clenched with a tissue in it.

Steve hurried over, dropping to his knees beside her chair, his face covered with concern and worry while the questions urgently left his mouth.

“Max…are you okay? What hurts? Do we need to go to the hospital?” He was peering at her head, trying to see if there was any trace of blood or a cut.

Thankfully, there were no visible injuries.

When she turned to face to him, tear streaks stained her cheeks, and her eyes were swollen from the crying she had doing for god knows how long now. Her quivering jaw struggled to form cohered sentences admits her sobs.

The only thing he could make out was, “I—I can’t.”

She couldn’t bring herself to tell him what happened, at least not right now in the presence of the boy who caused this pain. Not to mention how humiliating it was for her to listen to his parents and himself down play the situation so much so that she started to feel bad about herself even when she shouldn’t.

Steve noticed through her cries, her eyes briefly shifting away from him, directing a glance towards the parents of the boys who was seated on the opposite side of the room. He sat smugly in a char while his parents stood protectively by his side, their faces wearing entitlement as they didn’t carry any remorse for the crying girl.

That’s when he knew something was up.

Shuffling back to his feet, yet maintaining a close proximity to max, he looked towards the principal. “What the hell is going on?”

Steve was all business. Hands on hips, stern look on face, firm voice calling out to the principal who stood from behind his desk and gestured his hands in the air towards Max then the other boy.

“It seems as though Max and Chad got into a scuffle during chemistry.” He explained, but that wasn’t enough for Steve.

“A scuffle?” Steve repeated, his voice strained with disbelief, prompting the principal to nod in confirmation.

Steve glared unconvincingly pointing a finger at Max while holding his gaze, “You’re telling me that a sixteen-year-old girl got into a scuffle with a boy, yet she’s the only one with injuries?”

The boy, Chad, had cut in, “Oh, I didn’t do that to her…she did that to herself.”

Just hearing that whiny, teenage boy voice ticked him off, not even trying to hide the irritated sigh that left his mouth as he turned towards him.

“Really? So she just decided to collapse for no reason and then blame you?”

The man in a suit, presumably the boy’s father, stepped forward in a demanding demeanor, “Watch how you speak to my son…who even are you?”

“Her brother.”

“My brother.”

Steve and Max both answered simultaneously, surprising even themselves by not even hesitating the relationship they had to one another. Though both of them didn’t act surprised, at least not on the outside, as Steve maintained his hard gaze and Max diverted her eyes to her lap.

“Brother? Didn’t he die—”

The front door to the office squeaked open, but still Steve caught the boy’s remark, prompting a whimper from Max whose shoulders heaved slightly as another set of strained sobs left her. It was evident to Steve that now he knew what this was all about.

“Max, I’ve got you a fresh ice pack and a bottle of water.”

Miss. Lawrence had stumbled in unwittingly at the wrong moment, right before Steve was about to go all in, but he knew this was the only opportunity to get Max out of the situation before she heard anything he was going to say.

“You are?” He asked calmly, turning his attention to the woman who approached Max.

She looked up through her glasses, cracking open a water bottle and passing it to Max. Extending her hand for a shake, she introduced herself with a weary smile, “Miss. Lawrence, Max’s counsellor.”

Steve nodded, jaw clenching as he shook her hand and jutted his chin to the door she just had come through,

“Could you do me a favor and get my sister out of here? I just need some time alone with the principal and Chad’s family.”

She stared at him for a moment, contemplating if it was the right decision considering that Steve was seething, on the verge of letting out all his anger towards the situation. Knowing that he was an upset and concerned guardian who was not going to back down, she nodded placing a gentle hand on Max’s shoulder, helping her up from the seat.

As Max got up, she reached for Steve’s wrist, wrapping her trembling fingers around it, and looking up at him through her tear-soaked lashes.

“T—They’re not going to do anything, Steve….it’s no use—“

Max had already looked defeated, like she accepted the fact that nothing was going to change the mind of the principal on where he stood regarding this situation. But Steve wasn’t going to let that happen—he was going to fight for her the way someone should have fought for him.

He shook his head, brushing some of her hair out of her face before speaking gently, “Go, Max. I’ve got this.”

She sniffled, closing her eyes tightly as she nodded, and followed her counselor out of the office and into the nearby waiting room, away from what was going to be an undoubtedly heated confrontation.

Once the door clicked closed, Steve didn’t hesitate on advancing towards the desk, speaking sharply with each step he took, “What are you going to do?”

The principal raise an eyebrow, pretending to be perplexed as if Steve was not addressing him in full. But unfazed, Steve repeated himself, emphasizing his seriousness with his palms slapping down onto the wood.

“What are you going to do to make sure my sister doesn’t have to deal with him again?”

Annoyingly, the boy’s mother crept closer, mockingly slamming her palm beside his, glaring at Steve as she spoke, “Sir, just cut to the chase and tell this man what you told us, that his sister started it. Plain and simple.”

Steve was silently thanking all the gods that you weren’t here beside him right now because if you were, this lady would have received an instant face-to-desk introduction. Unlike Steve, you were the one with a quick tongue ready to lash out on any and everybody when it came to protecting someone you loved—he knew if you were here, it would be no different.

Where Steve’s eyes had drifted, towards the desk where he imagined you’d slam that mother’s face, he couldn’t miss the bright yellow papers that were familiar to him back from his high school days. The form was mandatory for students to fill out when any student came to the principal office for incidents like these.

“Let me see the reports.” Steve demand, pointing at it in plain sight before the principal would try to hide them away or make excuse for not having them.

Picking them up, he passed them to Steve who read them intently. Chad’s report consisted of two whole sentences regarding the situation, shifting all the blame onto Max, blaming, “She got angry at a joke then fell and hit her head.”

Meanwhile, every line of Max’s form were filled, even in the margins, meticulously detailed the entire incident from start to finish, with remnants of her tear drops staining the paper. It included her attempts to ignore Chad and the group of boys who had been relentlessly antagonizing her.

The only thing that Max did was finally snap, asking what they wanted before having a cruel insult about Billy thrown at her, and that’s all she could remember before she woke up on the ground with her teacher and the students surrounding her.

It made him physically sick and it took every ounce of his composure not to grab the boy by his collar and start beating the shit out of him for what he and the rest of the boys did.

He swallowed thickly, lips pressed tight, sliding the papers over the desk, “You told them that Max started this?”

Silence filled the tiny office and it was enough to speak volumes to him that this person in authority was protecting a boy who was capable of something so harrowing.

Steve pointed to the forms again, his voice sharp as he spoke, “What I’m understanding is, you didn’t read Max’s report…or if you did, you didn’t believe her, and you didn’t even call in any witnesses to confirm that my sister is lying.”

He squinted pointedly, looking Chad then back to the principal, “Yet you read his sad excuse of two sentences and you believed that?”

Silence again, and all Steve wanted to do was to shout…to scream at someone to fucking explain how this could happen and how no one was batting an eye to how insanely unfair and unethical this entire situation was.

Finally after a few uncomfortable seconds, the boy’s father cleared his throat, attempting to break off the tension with a laugh, even going as far to pat Steve’s shoulder which he slapped away.

“My son was obvious joking, not the best joke, but let’s not make a big deal outta this—”

Steve snapped, thrusting an aggressive finger in the mans face, “Damn right I’m making this a big deal! My sister isn’t going to tolerate this crap from anyone, you hear me?”

“Mr. Harrington, your language, please.” The principal interjected.

Steve scoffed, rolling his eyes as he turned back to the now talkative excuse of a principal, “You didn’t give a shit when that boy made that comment to Max. Why should I care about mine? Actually…”

Steve couldn’t hold back any longer, locking eyes with both of the parents and glaring, “why don’t you worry about your sons language? It’s clear he doesn’t have any empathy, but I guess you both taught him that, right?”

No one dared to speak, no matter how insulted the parents were because it was the truth. If they did speak it would only put them deeper within the crossfire of Steve’s relentless insults that straddled the line between honesty and harsh realities.

“And you,” He pointed at the boy, stalking up close to him, seeing as though he was wearing a varsity jacket, “You’re on the basketball team right?”

Chad gulped, nodding hesitantly, “Y-yeah.”

Steve made dismissive noise, clicking his tongue, “So you know that being on the team means you can’t rack more than three referrals because then you’ll get kick, right?”

Steve still remembers the rules from his high school experience, and though it had been some time, these were the type of rules that never changed.

“Y-yeah.”

Kissing his teeth in frustration, he walked back over to the desk, jabbing his fingers on the wood.

“I know for a goddamn fact that my sister’s file is clean! Not one single referral in her life,” turning to the boys parents he creased his forehead, “you can check if you want.”

His mother looked away dismissively because deep down she probably knew that her son was a monster who would hurt girls like Max. The father scoffed, crossing his arms over his chest in defensive because he probably knew too, that Max wouldn’t lie about their sorry excuse of a son.

“I want you to open up his file and tell me how many referrals he has. And you and I both know that this number isn’t a shock so think twice about lying to me because I know the police chief wouldn’t mind investigating this and really making it a big deal.”

Steve was not fucking around one bit, not even bothering to look at the principal to make sure he wasn’t lying about the number. He kept his eyes on the parents, whose eyes peeks at the principal opening up the file drawer and instantly finding their son’s files. Chad who still sat in the chair, wasn’t looking so smug now, shifting around uncomfortably because he knew what was coming.

“Six,” the principal admitted, closing the folder and taking a deep breath knowing that Steve wasn’t going to let this off.

Steve nodded, tightly smiling as the parent’s face fell, probably trying to act surprised when it really should be a look of embarrassment and shame.

“So what this means is that Chad over here, is going to get kicked off the team, he and the rest of the boys going to get removed from all the classes that they have with my sister, and I want them suspended.”

This wasn’t a negotiable for him and was not going to leave this office until things would start to happen, “You better get writing because I’ll get the superintendent—the whole fucking department of education down here if I find out you let him and the rest of the boys off. You got that?”

The principal gulped, reaching already for a pen to start writing the suspension notes before Steve could double down on his promising threats.

Steve mostly nodded his head to himself, content with knowing that the boys would pay for what they did to Max and they definitely weren’t going to do it again if they wanted a repeat of today.

“Don’t mess with me.” Steve muttered, forcefully bumping into Chad’s father’s shoulder as he brushed past him towards the exit.

“…and don’t you dare talk, let alone look at her ever again. Clear?” His voice carrying threats, glancing at Chad who swallowed thickly.

“Crystal.”

Walking out of there, Steve couldn’t feel any sense of victory even if he had gotten the situation handled in a way that he saw fit. He just couldn’t feel good about himself when Max was crying in the arms of her counsler, furthering shattering any sense of triumph he would have felt.

“Hey, it’s okay…I’m right here, Max.” He whispered as he approached her.

Hearing his voting she untangled herself from the embrace, seeking solace in Steve by aligning to him and burying her tear stained face into his shoulder.

“Shhh, it’s okay. They’re dealt with. It’s handled ok?” He took on the softest tone he had yet, being as gentle and soothing as possible letting the anger he had felt dissipate knowing that he had to be here for Max.

He placed a comforting hand on the back of her head as she cried, his fingers lightly searching for a bump on her head from when she collapsed, but thankfully like in the office, he didn’t see nor feel any injury.

Miss. Lawrence rose from her seat, giving Max’s shoulder a warm touch and offering Steve a sympathetic look a she explained herself, “I was the one you spoke to over the phone. I couldn’t reach her mom or your wife, but I’m glad that you were able to come down.”

His wife?

You and him weren’t married and it seemed so weird that she had brought it up like that, but right now wasn’t the time to question how the school even got his number or yours to begin with. What he needed to do was get Max out of here for the rest of the day because keeping her here would only make things worse.

“Y-yeah, no problem…I’m gonna pull Max out for the rest of the day.” Steve replied, still holding Max tightly while he sobs slowly subsided to uneven sniffles.

The woman nodded, gesturing towards the front desk, “I can get that sorted out for you guys. It’ll be an excused absence, so she doesn’t need to worry about the missing assignments.”

Steve smiled tight lipped, squeezing Max by the shoulders and pulling her away from him slightly, “C’mon bug, let’s go.”

Max took a minute, covering her face with her hands as she tried to wipe away the tears as much as she could and get herself together. He guided her up to stand, picking up her backpack and slinging a gentle arm over her shoulder, keeping her close to him.

“Bye Max, feel better and don’t forget you can come see me whenever you come back.” Miss. Lawrence called out softly as Max nodded, trying to flash her the sincerest smile despite her sad features.

With class still in session, the halls were empty giving her a twinge of relief knowing that no one would see her walking out of school this distraught. She could spot Steve’s car a mile away, messily and crookedly parked in the stall that strictly was reserved for staff, but he obviously didn’t care for the signpost.

Steve unlocked the car, walking the two of them to the passenger side where he let her get in, even opening the glove compartment to give her some napkins to soak her tears.

He sat in the drivers seat, watching her intently as she dabbed the tissues beneath her eyes, capturing the still forming tears in her orbs. She was really still so shaken up from the situation and he couldn’t blame her because if he was in her shoes, he’d feel the exact same.

“You’re not gonna have to deal with them anymore okay? I promise.” Steve assured her, his voice genuine and sincere.

“I know.” She croaked, voice strained but still filled with trust knowing that Steve had meant every word he said.

Max couldn’t fathom how he managed to handle the situaiton without getting physical, but right now she didn’t want to ask. All she cared about was that the did it for her and that she wouldn’t need to worry much longer.

She looked over at him, seeing his face still tense and washed over with worry. She didn’t even notice the green vest that Steve was still wearing, realizing that he had come from work to be here for her.

“Y-you can drop me off home, if you have to go back to work.” She told him, buckling in and still trying to regain her composure after all the crying.

Steve shook his head, following her lead, “Robin said she could cover for me the rest of the day. I could drop you off if you want, or we can go get lunch, or maybe go to the skate shop now. Wherever you want.”

Her throat tightened, her eyes meeting his, “Can we go to Billy’s grave?”

“Sure.” Steve replied without a moments hesitation, evidently understanding that she wanted to go there for a reason.

The last time that Steve had been to the cemetery was for Billy’s funeral. It was an intimate occasion, only a select few people had been invited, meaning basically Max’s entire friend group and her mom. Billy’s dad couldn’t bring himself to come that day.

He was unsure if Max had come to visit Billy on her own time, but seeing as though it was quite a ways from the trailer park, and she hadn’t ever ask for a ride here before, he assumed that this was both of their first times being back here since last summer.

Of all the places, he just wondered why here and why now? But he knew he had to understand where she was coming from because despite all the options he had laid out on the table, she had dismissed them and made it her choice to be here.

Steve trailed behind, watching as Max approached the grave stone, her fingers tracing the etched letters of his name. She sat down before it, her gazed fixed upon the headstone unclear if she wanted to say everything outlaid or keep it buried.

“Are you okay?” Steve took a seat beside her, his brows furrowing trying to comprehend how she was feeling in the moment.

She shrugged with a mix of frustration and sadness, “It just would make sense that this w-would happen…every time I start to feel happy, everything just comes crashing down—a-and it all leads back to Billy.”

Sure Steve wasn’t the brightest when it came to emotions but he wanted to see the bigger picture and understand, “You mean what happened today?”

“Yeah!” She exclaimed weakly, looking up at the sky, “It’s like, ever since school started, I’ve actually been feeling a lot happier you know?” She looked at him, tears welling again.

“I finally started hanging out with my friends again. I made up with Lucas. My mom actually called out of work for the first time in forever. All of these good things start happening, b—but I can’t help feeling like I don’t deserve it.”

The world was a cruel place, and Hawkins was an exceptionally cruel town, one that was literally cursed in the most horrific way possible. Max lived in the constant state of what felt like haunting where every corner she turned to there was a fear of the past coming back, seeking to take her under.

In today’s case, it was the guilt of feeling like she wasn’t destined for any type of happiness after what she had been through and what Billy had put the others around her through. Maybe Billy dying was the curse haunting her because she felt responsible for every bad thing he had ever done and there was no way for her to shake that feeling off.

What if Chad had been bullied by Billy long ago and maybe this was him getting back after the torment?

She should’ve just sucked it up and not be so affected by his words.

Now she was gong to need to take all the shots that were supposed to be fired at Billy for the rest of her life. She was going to be the punching bag for all of the hurt that he caused. Maybe this was her destiny—to just take all the pain that Billy caused and fix it.

Her thoughts were screaming at her and it was like she could hear Billy in the distance shouting loudly. Fury and anguish sparked within her, her fists clenching tightly as they barreled into the grass beneath her with forceful strikes.

“I should hate you! I should hate you because you made me like this…you made me feel this way. L—like I owe everybody, but I don’t know how…”

Her fists impaled the stiff earth while the desperation and longing to hurt the remnants of her brother six feet under heightened. She wanted to hurt him like he had hurt her—to make him feel her pain for once.

“Hey, stop that…c’mon Max, don’t do that.” Steve pleaded, urgently reaching out to grab her hands, coaxing her to cease the self destructive assault that would only cause her further harm.

She sobbed bitterly, body trembling as she wrangled around, trying to get her fists out of her hold so she could keep going.

“Why—how can you guys even look at me knowing that I’m related to this monster? Shouldn’t you guys just let me be miserable? I deserve it after everything he put you guys through.”

There was a firmness to his hold on her, shaking her hands gently.

“You’re not thinking straight.” He said sternly, getting her to finally look up at him. “You don’t deserve any of this because of what Billy did. You’re not Billy.”

She shook her head with a trembling whisper, “N—no, I was a horrible sister to him. I could’ve changed him. I-I could’ve made him better, but instead…I just let him—”

“You were a child, Max, and you still are,” His voice was loud, but not in an angry tone, just one full of unwavering conviction letting her know this was true, “You aren’t responsible for who he turned out to be and what he did. You can’t beat yourself up over that. He’s gone. He won’t be able to hurt you anymore…or any of us.

Max struggled to accept it, still consumed by tears and sorrow.

“Listen to me, Max,” Steve urged, letting his hands loosen from her wrist, yet not letting go, “you were the best sister you could be for him. You did the best you could. When he was dying, what did you do?” He asked, watching her cry.

He knew she wouldn’t be able to say, but he knew the answer.

His finger tips finally let up on her, going to touch the gravestone, showing her that this was not her fault.

“You asked him to stay alive. You told him that you loved him. You did everything that you could. His death wasn’t your fault and it never will be.”

She needed to hear it to truly believe it.

Steve grasped her shoulders, making her look at him through the cloudiness behind her eyes.

“You might not feel like you were the best sister to him, and I can’t change your mind about that, but I can tell you right here, right now, that you’re the best little sister I’ll ever have. In my eyes, you're the best sister there is. I’m not Billy. B—but it means something, yeah?”

Max cried harder, tugging on Steve’s heartstrings, finally breaking his strong exterior as tears escaped his own eyes. He couldn’t help but hold her face, fingers trembling while he brushed the tears away and felt her sobs against his skin.

“Whatever Billy did in the past is his burden to bare, not yours. He made his bed and now he’s lying in it…but you, you don’t have to lie in his, you don’t have to protect him. You need to take care of yourself and realize that people really do care about you. I care. I will do whatever it takes until you realize that, Max, because I love you.”

That was it. Now she believed it.

She flung her arms around his neck, clinging to him tightly, sobbing into his neck, muffled yet still able to hear, “You’re the best brother I’ll ever have.”

Holding each other and crying in front of Billy’s grave wasn’t how either of them had expected to spend their Monday afternoon, but alas, making the best out of a bad deal was better than just sulking all day.

Steve would have held her there all day if it meant that she would finally grasp the truth—that she wasn’t obligated to carrying the weight of someone else’s mistakes on her shoulder. Max was too young and good for they should to should that kind of pain and responsibly. He wished he could shield her from this feeling and those alike, giving her the childhood that she deserved, but he knew that wasn’t reality.

In the real world, bad things happen to even the purest of people, and Max had been apart of that unfortunate bunch. Reality meant sitting here and talking her though it. Helping her realize that thee burdensome emotions were valid considering her situation but she wasn’t going to go through it alone.

It was time that Max had laid it all out to rest. To leave it here with Billy where it belonged.

Opening the front door to your apartment, you didn’t expect the scene before you at all.

Max laid sprawled out on the couch, her body slipped and drained. Ollie, her ever loyal companion, nestled beside her, with the both of them tucked under her favorite blanket that you owned. Steve was sitting in the arm chair with a cup of coffee in his mug when he flickered his gaze from the muted television to you in the doorway.

His voice was hushed as he approached you,“Hey,” through the dimmed living room, you could only see the concern etched across his face when he settled right in front of you.

You raised a brow, flickering a concerned gaze towards Max and keeping a quiet voice, “What happened?”

Steve sighed heavily, taking your hand and walking the two of you into the kitchen for more privacy not wanting to wake Max who really needed to sleep after a long day. Your mind was racing with questions and the worry in Steve’s eyes when he settled against the counters let you knew that something had gone wrong.

“She had a tough day at school. An incident with some bullies. The school called me and I went over there and got it all worked out.” Steve explained, his voice heavy and broken.

Shock coursed through your veins, instinctively reaching for his hands to clasp together tightly, “Bullies? What the hell did they do to her?”

Steve grip remained soft, rubbing his thumbs against your skin, “They said some not so kind things, but she wants to tell your herself and it’s important it comes from here because it’s a lot.”

You wanted to cry right then and there. From the look on Steve’s face alone you could tell he had been crying and it was only going to make your heart shatter even more when Max woke up and you saw her. Your heart ached at the thought of Max having to go through this after how far she had come already.

Steve could tell you were on the verge of tears, leaning his face forward to brush his lips against yours in a tender kiss, silently reassuring you that things were going to be okay.

“It’s gonna be okay, she’ll tell you.”

Time seemed to stretch as you waited for Max to wake up, every passing minute feeling like an eternity. You attempted to distract yourself with studying, but your mind was consumed by worry, entangled in a web of worst-case scenarios. You knew that patience was the only way forward, that Max's voice deserved to be heard, no matter how agonizing the wait.

But it wasn’t long after three in the afternoon that Max finally fluttered her eyes open, stretching her arms out wide as she began to wake up. Her eyes felt swollen but that was a given, yet she could see you sitting on the floor beside her, mustering a gentle smile.

“Hey, bug…” You greeted, brushing a strain of hair from her face, “feeling better?”

Max nodded, leaning closer into you touch knowing that it was only seconds before she would be crying in your arms. The heartache was palpable and the weight of the unspoken conversation lingered in the air, but you spoke out, giving her the reassurance.

“You can tell me whenever you’re ready to talk, okay?”

She took a deep breath finally sitting up and catching the encouraging nod that Steve gave to her. In this moment she knew she had to come clean because you weren’t going to judge her. Like Steve, you were going to be there and comfort her when she needed you the most.

She had to lay it to rest.

“I’m ready to talk.”

a/n: did i make you cry???? IM SORRY IF I DID! whew! well im back with chapter two of this series and im so sorry it has taken me this long, but i hope you enjoyed this part! i wanted to depict the guilt that max must face when it come to billy death, but also for his past actions and the steps shes taking to move on. let me know what you think!! also, aren't steve and max literally the softest chosen family siblings out there?? ugh, steve would be the best big brother to her--i hope she survives in s5!!

let me know what you think: reblogs, tags, comments, and likes are greatly appreciated!!!

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