Chapter Text
It took Max a good five minutes to work up the nerve to knock.
When she did, Hopper opened the door holding a gun.
“Christ.” She breathed, seeing the gun in her face.
Hopper realized it was her and sheepishly set the gun down. “Sorry kiddo, can never be too careful. Um…what are you doing here?”
“I needed to talk to Eleven, if that’s okay? I…need her help, Secret Santa thing.” Max explained.
Hopper hummed a little, nodding. “El, someone’s here to see you!” He called.
El all but flew out of her room looking excited. “Mike!?” But her smile faded and she slowed her pace in an instant when she saw it was Max. “Oh. Hi.” She muttered with far less enthusiasm.
Max’s eye twitched as she tried not to take it too personally.
The two went to El’s room for some privacy and Max awkwardly shifted her weight from one foot to the other. “Okay so, I need some help with Secret Santa.”
El frowned, tilting her head. “…How…can I help?”
“I got Mike.” Max admitted rather depressingly.
El tensed at that, looking a bit on guard. “What are you getting him?”
“That’s the thing. I…have no clue.” Max explained, rubbing her arm. “I was hoping, you know, as his girlfriend, maybe you’d…have an idea?”
El processed her words, before making a face. “Nothing.”
Max did a double take. “Nothing?”
“Mike doesn’t need presents from you.”
Damn. Alright. Not the reply Max was hoping for or expecting. She bristled. “I can’t just not get him anything! Everyone’s getting each other gifts, I have to pick something.”
“A rock.” El deadpanned.
Max scowled, getting a bit fed up with El’s attitude towards her. “What is your problem? You know, all I’ve heard since finding out about everything is how great you are, how you’re the Party’s precious little mage, how you’re the center of the damn universe. But even when I tried to introduce myself, you just…brushed me off!” El avoided eye contact at that. “So what is it? What did I do? Or is it just because Mike hates me?”
El looked at her in disbelief at that. “Mike doesn’t hate you.”
“Ugh…” Max groaned, rolling her eyes. “Okay, putting a pin in that for a minute, why do you treat me like dirt? Is it because I’m a girl and you think I’ll like, replace you in the group or something?” She snapped crossing her arms. El frowned deeply, and Max realized she was on to something. “Because let me tell you, those guys? They love you, El. They would toss me in the trash without a second thought if that’s what they needed to do to save you. I’m not even in your little Party, I’m just Lucas’ girlfriend who happens to know about the Upside Down, okay? That’s it.”
El stared Max down for a moment with an unreadable expression, and Max decided she had enough.
“Screw this, maybe I really will just hand him a damn rock and be done with it, you and him are impossible.” Max choked out, getting a bit emotional from all her frustration. She turned and grabbed the knob to El’s door, trying to open it.
But it suddenly slammed back shut.
Max’s eyes widened. She tugged on the knob and realized she couldn’t open the door. She slowly turned back to look at El.
El was giving her a narrow-eyed look, blood sliding from her nostril. “Stay.” She commanded, leaving Max no choice but to stop trying to leave and look at her.
Despite going off on her just moments ago, Max had to admit…part of her was a little scared of El. The girl was like Wonder Woman come to life. A true, real life superhero who could crush her into pieces if she felt like it.
But she wouldn’t…right? She wouldn’t…kill Max, just for pissing her off…
Would she?
Max swallowed hard as she faced El properly, waiting for the girl to speak.
El huffed, and swiped under her nose to get rid of the blood before speaking. “…What…were you doing in the gym?”
That made Max’s mind go to a complete halt. She frowned. “…What?”
El’s eyes narrowed at her warningly. “With Mike. He smiled.”
Max was beyond confused, trying to figure out what El was going on about, but then it finally hit her.
“Wait, you mean when we were looking for Dart in the school?” Max asked to be sure. Then she gasped as the realization struck her. “YOU’RE WHAT ME FALL OFF MY SKATEBOARD! Oh my god, that makes so much more sense.”
El was still glaring at her, and it reminded Max that she was still waiting for an answer.
“Um…we were looking for Dart? He’d escaped into the school and Mike and I happened to end up searching the same place, then we started…talking? Arguing?” Max wasn’t really sure, now that she thought about it. “We were actually finally getting along for once.”
El scowled at that, and Max realized that was definitely the wrong thing to say.
It suddenly occurred to her that maybe, from an outsiders perspective, Max skating around Mike, teasing him about joining the Party, could look a tad flirtatious.
The idea made Max want to puke.
“EW. NO, NO, NO, NO, NO!” Max scrambled to correct El’s assumption. “Wow, okay, no, there wasn’t- Mike and I weren’t- ew.” Was all she could say.
El’s eyes narrowed. “Ew?”
“Yeah. Me and Mike? That’s- that’s gross.” Max had to chuckle a little in disbelief. “Look, I don’t know what you think you saw but…we’re not even friends, I mean, that was basically our first civil conversation, and it didn’t last long. I am NOT interested in Mike, and he’s definitely not interested in me.”
At that, El began to hesitate, like she wasn’t sure if she believed Max for not.
Max could’ve burst out laughing. The very idea of her and Mike being a couple was so ridiculous she could cry.
“Look, I promise, okay? It’s not like that.” Max insisted firmly.
She noticed something change in El’s expression at that, and she slowly nodded. “…Promise…okay.”
Max felt a bit of whiplash from how quickly El accepted that, but she was thankful. “Yeah so, um…are we okay then? Was that…why you didn’t like me? You thought I was trying to like, take your place as Mike’s girlfriend?”
“…Yes.” El confessed softly, looking a bit embarrassed, or guilty.
Max had to shake her head in amusement at that. “Trust me, Wheeler only has eyes for you, El. I think he’d die before he let anything happen to you.” As Max said that, she paused, looking El over for a moment as she thought about what she’d just said.
Then, she sat down on the edge of El’s bed. “Hey, actually, can I ask you something?”
El tilted her head and nodded.
“Have you and Mike ever…fought? Like, has Mike ever gotten mad at you?” Max questioned.
El frowned, and nodded again. “Yes.”
Max’s eyes widened. “Really?”
“Once. I…wanted to help, but I wasn’t clear. We were okay again when I could make him understand.” El explained softly.
Max bit her lip, looking down. “…Do you think he’s a kind person? I don’t mean with just how he treats you, obviously he’s nice to you, but like…in general.”
El had that unreadable expression on her face again that made Max nervous. She almost took it back, but then El spoke. “He showed me what kindness is.”
It was such a simple answer, and yet for some reason it struck Max deep in her chest like a blade. She had no context, no explanation, no reason to even listen to El since she’d have obvious favoritism.
And yet, something about those words made Max wonder, even if only for a moment, if she’d truly, genuinely been wrong about Mike.