i love you ➵ elmax

II

"Max! Max! I'm sorry! Please open the door!"

The knocking on the door gets louder every minute.

The redhead sighs and gets up to get the door. But before she gets the chance to reach the door her stepfather opens it and starts yelling at Lucas who is shocked and attempts to explain himself.

"I'm- I'm sorry, Mr. Hargrove. I wanted to talk to Max," the boy stutters.

Mr. Hargrove turns around to face Max. "Is that so, Maxine?"
His voice is almost a whisper before he raises it again.
"I command silence in this house. If one of your friends ever shows up again pounding on my door and yelling, it will have consequences. Do you want that?" Max doesn't answer. "Didn't think so," he says before walking over to the living room, leaving the two teenagers behind.

Max is shocked. After not having talked to her properly for what feels like the longest time her stepfather finally said more than three words in her direction, only to insult her and make her feel bad. She tries to shrug it off, turning her head to face Lucas.

"What did you want?"

"Max, I'm so sorry," he says. "I never meant to hurt you like that. I treated you like shit and I know that. I regret it. I'm so sorry. It's just that things have changed. And everything has been a little overwhelming lately."

"Nothing I can't handle. You should've let me be there for you. We should've been there for each other."

"I'm so sorry!"

Max sighs. "It's fine," she says, shaking her head. "I'm sorry, too. I was overreacting."
Lucas smiles in relief. Suddenly he seems to remember something. "I brought you ice cream!" he exclaims. He takes a step forward to give Max chocolate ice cream which is already melting, causing the chocolate to drip down the cone, landing on the floor.

"Idiot," Max sighs softly with a slight smile forming on her lips, taking the ice cream in her hand.

After walking for a little bit, Max and Lucas reach Mike's house. They ring the doorbell and wait for Mike to open the door. Instead they see Mrs. Wheeler's surprised face appear at the door. "Hi," she says. "Do you want to see Mike?"

Max and Lucas nod. "He's on the phone right now," she explains. "Come in. Dustin is already there."

Entering the basement, Max takes a look across the room. She hasn't been here for a long time. Dustin walks towards her with a shy expression on his face. "Hi, Max. I want to apologize," he says. Before he can continue Max interrupts him. "It's fine," she cuts him off. He looks surprised for a moment but then a relieved smile appears on his face.

"Guys, guys!" Mike's voice echoes through the house as he makes his way to the basement where the group is already waiting for him.
"What?" Lucas answers.
"El and Will are coming to visit this weekend! I can't believe my mom didn't tell me!" he screams causing everyone in the room to smile excitedly.
"Yaaaaay" Dustin yells. "I missed them so much," Lucas adds cheerfully. "It was about damn time," Max says making everyone laugh.
"They'll arrive on Friday night," Mike explains.
"Wait, but that's tomorrow," Dustin says.
"I know!" Mike says happily.
"Yaaaaay!" all four of them yell at once.

One more day until Max gets to see her best friends again. One more day until she sees El again. This thought makes her smile brighter than she has smiled in a long time. Of course she is excited to see Will. She has missed him so much. But it is different with El. She doesn't quite understand what it is but she knows that everything will be alright again when she gets to spend time with her and hug her and talk to her about everything that has happened.

Max wakes up ten minutes before her alarm goes off the next morning. Instead of getting up earlier she decides to lay in bed for a little bit longer. Today is the day she has been waiting for for what feels like an eternity. The last time she saw El was when she moved away and they said their last goodbyes. Hoping the encounter won't be too weird after not having seen each other for so long Max gets up to get ready.

The school day goes by faster than expected and suddenly Max finds herself walking out of the school building together with her friends, making their way to Mike's house. Their plan is to spend the day there, waiting for Will and Eleven and then have a big sleepover. Eleven and Will including Will's mom and his brother Jonathan will be staying at Mike's house for the weekend anyways.

Right after the four friends reach Mike's house they put their school things in the basement, put on their swimming clothes and go get their bikes. They ride to a lake nearby and spend the afternoon there. It's refreshing to spend time with her friends and Max notices that it is good for all of them to be together. Even though two of the friend group are missing it's still an awesome feeling to have a place where she belongs.

After coming home, showering and having dinner they all lay down on a mattress on the floor and watch TV.

Max is so eager to meet her friends whom she missed so dearly that she startles at every noise that could possibly be a car. Lucas notices her tension. "It's gonna be alright. Once you see them again it'll feel as if they never even left," he says. Dustin looks at her with a comforting smile on his face. "Chips?" he asks, holding a bowl in Max's direction. Despite just having eaten they already got snacks. Max smiles. "Sure!" 

Suddenly Mike sits up straight. "Did you guys hear that?" he whispers. The others stop their conversation to listen. It sounds like a car. Max's heart is beating fast. "I think it's them", Mike says. All of them get up quickly to go to the door. Lucas is the first to arrive so he opens the door and in front of him stand Will, El, Jonathan and Mrs. Byers. The others arrive at the door, too and start greeting their guests. Mike's mother reaches the door just in time to hug Joyce and Nancy arrives just a second later to greet her boyfriend Jonathan.
"Hiii," Will says, hugging Dustin, Lucas and Mike all at once. Max practically runs into El's arms. They share a long and warm hug. "I missed you so much," El says softly. "And I missed you even more," Max says, not letting go of El. "Things were so different without you," she says. "They were different for me, too. And I couldn't ask you for advice," Eleven answers. "But now I'm here," Max says, letting go of El to look at her face. "You can't imagine you much I missed you," she says, making Eleven smile. The brunette looks around when she hears someone call her name. "Mike!" she exclaims, running towards her boyfriend. "Hi, El. I missed you," he says. "I missed you, too, Mike," she answers.

Max turns away. She doesn't know why but suddenly her mood changes and there's a deep sadness which she just can't make up her mind about. She doesn't know why this is happening but she's angry. Not understanding her sudden change of emotions, she quickly walks over to Will to hug him. "Hi, I missed you," she says. "Max, I missed you so much," Will answers with a smile on his face.

After everyone said their hellos, they enter the house. All the kids go into the basement to continue watching TV. But no one is really paying attention. They're just so many things to talk about and so many stories to tell. Will and El tell the others all about their new home and their new school and of course their new friends. The whole time El rest her head in Max's lap, letting Max play with her hair.

The six friends talk all night long and when the first sunlight shines into the room they slowly fall asleep.
 
Max sits up straight. Someone screamed. There's no doubt. This wasn't a dream.