𝙿𝚎𝚊𝚌𝚎 *𝙻𝚞𝚖𝚊𝚡

*Shooting hoops*

*Request : Another request done by vhscadie asking for a one-shot of Max meeting Lucas's dad and then bonding over basketball or something. I hope you like it I wasn't necessarily sure how to do this one but I hope it works!! I love getting requests so if any of you have more, let me know.

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Max sat quietly against the bleachers of Hawkins high school. Interested, she watched from the back, her headphones covering her ears as she watched her boyfriend's practice. Lately, she'd been here a lot as it made Lucas play better and also gave Max something to do other than sit alone at home. She multitasked, reading over her science notes: a class she hadn't necessarily been doing good in.

She watched Lucas when she could, seeing him pass the ball to Jason, his friend missing the net. Max sighed, shaking her head at him. Unlike the others on the team, Lucas constantly worked for his position. Sadly for him, none of it mattered because his coach was biased and chose to pick favourites. It pained his girlfriend to see him work so hard and get nowhere with it.

Max sent him a sad smile from her spot in the crowd, she knew how he must be feeling. He tried to smile back but ended up more or less grimacing. From behind her, an older man stood up groaning. He pointed to the coach, "Are you fucking kidding me?" Max shrugged at his words, at least someone was rooting for Lucas. "Dad it's fine-" "No son, I will not stand for this behaviour! This is ridiculous!"

That's when Max knew he looked familiar. The coach stammered on his words, not knowing what to say. "Put him in!" Mr.Sinclair yelled angrily, his son not getting the recognition he deserved. The coach nodded, slightly afraid of the man. "Yes sir." He nodded, listening to the irate man. Mr. Sinclair sighed, ready to leave this stupid practice till he spotted Max.

Noticing his son's girlfriend on the bleachers a few rows in front of him, he grabbed his jacket and made his way beside her. "Max," He smiled, his eyes on the seat where her bag was. Max quickly removed her headphones and closed her notebook, moving and nodding for him to take the seat. The man chuckled, "Odd to find you here on a school night," Her hands on her knees, Max smiled, "Just thought I'd watch him. I know he's been working really hard,"

Mr. Sinclair laughed, agreeing with her. "Yeah, I would know. He shoots all night long. It's horrible while trying to sleep," "I can only imagine," "Well, what can I say, I was the same when I was younger," Max raised her eyebrows intrigued. "Really? You played too?" He beamed, "I was quite the player back in my day," Max looked him up and down, "I can see it," She giggled, watching him pat himself on the back.

"He must get it from me," He joked cockily. There was a strange silence for a moment till Mr. Sinclair finally turned back to his son's girlfriend. "So, Lucas tells me that you skateboard," Mr. Sinclair continued, changing the subject. "Yeah well, it's nothing cool like basketball." The man laughed, "I think it is. I could never do it myself, I'd end up breaking something," "It's hard at first but once you've got it nailed down, it's pretty easy."

Mr. Sinclair shrugged, "Maybe I should try it sometime, with your help of course," "Yeah for sure, I've tried teaching Lucas but that didn't necessarily go to plan," She remembered the times she'd tried to teach her boyfriend. Sure, Lucas was a talented basketball player but skateboarding was not his forte. The two laughed together, Lucas growing nervous at the sight of his two worlds colliding.

Passing the ball to his teammate Patrick, Lucas gulped. If three years ago someone would've told him his father and girlfriend, Maxine Mayfield out of everyone would be having a full-blown conversation in the school gym, he wouldn't have believed them. The practice slowly came to an end, each of them grabbing all of their stuff and walking down to join Lucas.

"You must be really proud," Max chuckled, "I am," Mr. Sinclair crossed his arms, looking at his son as he gathered his things to leave. "Your parents must be too," He nudged her. Max steadied herself, grimacing at the sentence. "I'm not sure proud is the word they'd use," Mr. Sinclair frowned at her words, "Well, it was lovely speaking to you, you're welcome to come over any time," She smiled thankfully, going to walk away.

"Thank you, Mr. Sinclair, see you around," "Oh for god sake, call me Charles!" He yelled to her, waving as he walked away. Max smiled to herself, exiting the gym. She dropped her skateboard in the hallway, skating down toward the exit. She had finally found the right one for her, surrounded by people who both love and cared for her. She was finally starting to fit in and she couldn't believe it. It was all a dream come true for the red-headed girl.

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