further apart // max mayfield x oc

1: ii (trick or treat, freak)

"you make my heart shake, bend and break but i can't turn away"

"oh dusty, you look adorable! show me those pearls! who you gonna call?" claudia henderson danced around dustin as he smiled and posed for the camera. it was thoroughly embarrassing in felicity's opinion.

"where's your costume?" dustin called as felicity walked into the kitchen. 'aren't we a bit old for halloween?' she thought, but pulled a pair of plastic vampire fangs out of her pocket. "saving it for later. i have these instead!"

felicity ate her cereal in silence, grabbed her denim jacket and headed outside. dustin met her five minutes later and the siblings cycled away, chatting about that evening's plans.

——

as soon as they cycled up to school, felicity could tell something was wrong. mike and lucas were arguing, as usual. this time it was about who should have been winston and who should have been venkman. their bickering was interrupted by dustin, who was watching the kids getting off the yellow buses- undoubtedly looking for max.

"guys... you need to see this..." he breathed, causing the whole party to walk over. no one else was wearing costumes! "shit" lucas swore, looking down at his jumpsuit. felicity popped the fangs out and discreetly put them into the pocket of her skirt.

out of the corner of her eye, she spotted max strolling towards the group. "you've got to be kidding" mike muttered, tugging on the straps of his backpack and glancing away.
"hey lis! nice costumes guys!" she giggled. lucas and dustin glared at the tall girl, mike sighed, will and felicity joined in the giggling.

"come on" max said, linking arms with her and dragging her towards the building, "we have to discuss later!" felicity's heart was pounding and she wasn't sure why. she shrugged off her confusion and headed inside.

——

a slip of paper landed on felicity's desk. she carefully opened it and read it.
"are mr clarke's classes always this boring?"
smirking, she picked up her pen.
"not even mr clarke can make cell division exciting. he's actually a good teacher though- you should join AV club"
"give me the details after class"
felicity gave her a smile and turned back to her textbook. max's cheeks went slightly pink, but the girl next to her was too engrossed to notice.

——

felicity checked her face in the mirror. she was dressed in a blue dress with a pink ribbon around her waist, white socks and shiny black shoes, her brown hair held back by a white clip.

of course, she wasn't meant to have seen the shining, but the previous year her and dustin had somehow managed to borrow it on vhs. they stayed up until their mom was sleeping and watched it; felicity had nightmares for a week but it had fast become one of her favourite movies.

by six, the party had assembled. four ghostbusters and one twin- felicity supposed they looked pretty odd. max was no where to be seen, despite felicity telling her exactly where and when to meet. she carried on trick or treating with the boys regardless.

——

"if i get another three musketeers i'm going to kill myself" lucas moaned. will nodded in agreement. "are you KIDDING?" felicity and dustin both burst out in horror.
"three musketeers is top three for me!" her brother protested. lucas faked vomiting.
"give me a break, it's basically just nougat!" mike argued, siding with lucas.
"i'd happily eat a bowl of nougat. straight up."
"gross, just gross"

the whole party let out a scream as someone in a micheal myers costume jumped out in front of them. "oh my god-" came a laugh from under the mask "-you should have seen the look on your faces!"

the mask was pulled off, revealing the familiar freckled face of max. "max!" felicity yelled, playfully pushing her shoulder and laughing almost as much as she was. mike looked unimpressed to say the least. "come on," will mumbled, trying to diffuse the obvious tension, "let's go to the next street, they alway give you full size stuff!"

——

mike and lucas made the head of the party, dustin and max were chatting- something about skateboarding, leaving will and felicity trailing behind. "about what happened the other night at the arcade, could you not tell anyone unless you have to?" will asked.
"of course"

felicity suddenly teared up, remembering the possibility that last year's events weren't quite in the past. "will?"
"yes?"
"if it happens again you need to tell your mom"

——

"the rich people live here, that's why you get the best candy bars. they're such suckers!" dustin explained to the girl walking next to him. max just giggled, tearing into a pack of skittles and offering one to him.
"shit, wait... you're not rich are you?" he asked, regretting opening his mouth.
"no, i live up old cherry road" she laughed.
"oh. cool. sorry for asking it was weird"
"no it's fine, the street's good for skating."

"totally tubular!" dustin replied, mouth full of skittles. again, he wished he hadn't spoke.

——

"lis.... lis?" will whispered, opening his eyes. "will! oh my god, i didn't know what to do, you went into this trance again... are you ok?" felicity crouched down next to will where he had slumped against a garden wall. "could you... call my mom?" he managed to get out before launching into a fit of violent coughs.

felicity grabbed his walkei-talkie and pressed the red SPEAK button. "joyce? ... yes, it's felicity ... you need to come and pick up will ... where you dropped him off ... ok"

"will?" mike called out, peering being the wall. "he's here!" felicity called.
"what happened?" mike asked, his voice wavering in concern. he crouched next to felicity. "i think he went back, mike"
"back? back where? what?"
"to the upside down. it happened yesterday as well, i don't think the d-demogorgon was the end of it" she explained, tears rolling down her face. will pulled her into a hug, his hands shaking and his breath catching in his throat.

——

after will was gone, mike and felicity decided to rejoin the group. well, felicity decided and mike complained about it. "she's ruining the best night of the year" mike whined, throwing his arms out for emphasis, "she's dragging dustin and lucas away, she's ruining the party!"

"mike, you'd be the same if it was el..." felicity reminded him. mike winced at her name.
"do you think i'm going crazy, lis? i miss her. i miss her so much. sometimes i wonder if she's ever coming back."
"she's coming back. i know it." felicity whispered, taking his hand and squeezing it gently. "yeah. just gotta wait" mike agreed.
"i think i'm starting to understand what you feel for el. it's kinda scaring me..."
"if we're going crazy, at least we'll go crazy together" mike said, squeezing her hand back.

"come on, let's go watch lucas and dustin try to impress her and look like massive idiots"

——

1168 words!

hope you enjoyed this,
i thought it would be interesting to add in what dustin is feeling too?

feel free to vote and comment!
~bee 💜