𝙴𝚕𝚢𝚜𝚒𝚊𝚗 ~ 𝙴𝚕𝚖𝚊𝚡

《𝟹𝟷》

August 27, 1985
2:13 AM

Max was speechless, her eyes wide to the most of their ability. She gulped again before seeing El move closer and connect their lips.

What the fuck.

The redhead's body tensed, her mind trying to tell her that she's gonna wake up in her bed in a few seconds. It wouldn't be the first time. She didn't want to believe it. But this was just too surreal to be true. Then, her heart started to beat faster than ever before in her life and she realized that this is not a dream at all. This is the for once sweet reality that she let herself completely melt into. The redhead finally dared to move her lips against El's and kiss back which relieved the brunette. Max closed her eyes, taking in the softness and sweetness of the other's lips before feeling them pull away and for the first time she was really able to miss them near her's. Max opened her eyes again, gulping and feeling her face going completely hot. She couldn't think straight. Her mind went completely blank for a second. But she knew she had to say something since El seemed to be just as confused as she herself was. The brunette was now looking at her with a mixture of somehow expectant and confused face. But eventually, it was her who spoke first.

~ "...Is this bad?" El asked in a low voice. Max blinked, getting out of her daze.

~ "I- what?" Max didn't really understand her question. El looked down, fumbling with the grass blades in between her fingers.

~ "Is it really bad to kiss girls? To be gay?" El spoke with her eyes still down on the ground, seeming like she was thinking about something. That sobered Max up. Was El thinking that it was not okay?

~ "...Some people think it is because it goes against their religion or nature but...none of those things are true. As long as it's what you feel, you shouldn't lower your head just because of someone else's beliefs because what you feel is real and it's the only way you can be happy." Max felt like a fool...saying this and being the one who hides her feelings. Well, not anymore, but still. Did so for a pretty long time. Halfway through her first sentence, El looked up at her and was watching her with intense eyes since then.

~ "But what if- what if I don't know what I feel?" The brunette asked, confusing Max once more.

~ "Is that why...is that why you kissed me?" Max was feeling weird, talking about it so openly. But this was El. She needed to be open for her to be able to understand things. But the other shook her head lightly.

~ "No...it's just, I miss having someone to talk to. Someone who would actually...listen? And when I'm with you, for a while, I feel like I can forget everything else and just...let everything be okay again. Happy. So, I think that's why I did that. I'm sorry..." El explained. Max shook her head lightly before moving herself to sit closer to the brunette, who was obviously having a hard time.

~ "No...no, don't be sorry. It's okay. And honestly...I do like you. For a while now. Which is kind of obvious since...this felt...really good, you know...and now I'm- tell me if I'm making you feel uncomfortable, we can talk literally about anything else...I still remember a bunch of stories about astrology and if you want I can tell you som-" Max realized she should probably shut the hell up. Also, El reached out and held her hand again, so that was part of the reason her breath hitched too. Even through the dark, the redhead could see the other's smile as she looked at her.

~ "Is this okay?" El asked when she noticed the redhead's reaction while Max was silently questioning whether she was being serious or not.

~ "...It is...it's more than okay." She answered with a nod, her heart beating so fast she could literally hear it in her ears. She felt strangely confident when El did that, and lightly squeezed her hand, intertwining their fingers together. There was a moment of comfortable silence then, the two girls just staring up at the sky with a light smile that threatened to become bigger in Max's case. She was feeling the happy jitters and couldn't help but want to run around the place to release some of the built up energy.

~ "You can tell me." El suddenly said. Max turned at her, eyesbrows scrunched together while she tried to let go of the smile.

~ "Tell you what?"

~ "Your stories. I liked the one about Polaris. Maybe I'll like the others too." El said, really sounding like she was interested. Right now, Max wasn't even sure if she was able to remember the stories. Her brain was a blank mush that was trying to grasp what the hell just happened few seconds ago. She smiled and nodded anyway.

~ "Of course." Max said as she tried to remember as many details of the story she chose as possible.

The girls spent the next few hours talking and laughing about everything and nothing, both relishing in the feeling of being able to be there at the moment with each other.

~ "So, there was this one guy in California. His name was Nate and he was probably the only real friend I had. I mean, until I met the boys. And then- what the..." Max said in surprise, staring in the direction of the cerebro. El, who was still laying on the grass next to her with closed eyes now, opened them, and looked in the same direction.

~ "What's wrong?" She asked, her voice sounding more tired than before.

~ "We have to go back. The sun is rising." The redhead said with a light chuckle, sitting up. But El had obviously other plans. She refused to even sit up, staying on the spot.

~ "Nooooo..." She protested, closing her eyes again. Max smirked a little.

~ "Aw, I see somone's tired now. We have to go, E. I mean, that's if you don't want to get us both grounded for sneaking out of the house for the entire night." Max reasoned with her and El let out a little snort.

~ "Hopp would be so mad." She let out a little laugh which made Max smile too.

~ "Exactly. So? What's it gonna be? Staying and actually being grounded for 'till college or going back with no consequences?" Max said, waiting for the answer that El was taking a while to give her as if she was actually contemplating which one is better.

~ "What if we tried to do the first one without consequences?" The brunette finally asked, earning a chuckle from the redhead.

~ "Not an option Ellie." She shook her head, smiling as the other girl sat up with her eyes still closed before looking in the direction of the rising Sun with a pout.

~ "...Fine." She finally nodded and started getting up, followed by Max. It was around 6 AM now, so they had to walk quickly to be able to get home on time. Once they saw the cabin in front of them, El knew that she couldn't go back through the door. Hopper would surely wake up. So, her eyes landed on the window that led to her room.

~ "Hopp might be waking up soon. I think I have to go through here." She whispered and pointed at the window. Max nodded at her and watched as El climbed inside the cabin so easily as if she's done it before. Max was now standing under the window, wanting to say goodbye.

~ "Alright I should get going. Just wanted to tell you that I really enjoyed this. It was fun." She smiled up at the brunette who now turned at her agin and leaned her elbows on the window sill.

~ "Yeah. We should do it again sometime." El smiled before the moment turned into an slightly awkward silence. None of the girls knew what to say but it felt like it wasn't the end of the conversation either.

~ "...Well, uhm...see you at school then?" Max decided to break the silence, deciding it would be best to just go. El sensed the awkwardness of the moment too, but didn't let it show much. She just gave Max a light smile and a nod.

~ "If I don't fall asleep instead." She chuckled quietly, aware that Hopper could easily hear her if he focused on the sound. Max chuckled with her, her legs finally moving as she started walking away with a wave of her hand that was reciprocated by the brunette. El stayed leant against the window for a while after that, thinking about why it was suddenly so hard to say goodbye. Particularly about why she felt nervous to say so now.