(1) California to Hawkins (Max Mayfield/(Fem)You)

-Chapter 11: Dig Dug-

I go back to my house and flop onto my bed, groaning. "Proof? How do I get proof...." I ask myself, wracking my brain for anything. That's when I hear a knock on the door. "Come in" I say. The door opens and Robin steps inside. "Hey child." She says. "What do you want?" I ask. She raises her eyebrows and sits at the foot of my bed. "I take it that it didn't go to plan." She says. "She didn't believe me." I say. "Well....I'm not going to make myself go on a date with a weirdo just for it not to work out." She says. She tosses my radio onto my bed and I pick it up, confused. "Code red! Code red!" She mimics.

"Wait what?" I ask, grabbing my radio. After asking Dustin and Lucas on what the issue was, I spring into action. "Why did you tell me earlier?" I ask Robin, grabbing a backpack. "I wanted to. But don't forget to bring Max." She says. I stop, looking at her. What? "What?" I ask. She just smiles and shrugs. "Here's your proof."

_____________________

I bike down the street, watching as the house numbers grow until I reach the one I wanted, "4819." I spot. I quickly get off my bike and jog up the path. I hear loud music booming out of the house, probably from Billy, no doubt. I walk to the door and take a deep breath. "You can do this, Y/N." I say to myself before ringing the doorbell. No movement is heard from inside so I ring again. This time, hearing a loud voice from inside. "Max! Are you getting that or what?" Billy. "Okay!" Max. "I swear to god, Max!"

I hear footsteps before the door swings open, revealing Max in a green tracksuit-like outfit. She wore an annoyed expression on her face, which changes, multiple times. From annoyed to surprised to happy to scared and worried. "What are you doing here?" She asks me, looking back at Billy before closing the door behind her. I admire her face in the sunlight. Her red hair, looking fiery in the sunlight. "I- uh, I have proof." I say. "What?" She asks "Proof...that what I told you is real." I say. She looks me in the eye, clearly debating. "We need to hurry." I add. "What kind of proof?" She asks. "Ones....that you'd believe are makebelief." I say. We hear the grunts and sounds of weights stop, making us realise that Billy was probably suspicious. "Shit. Go around back, Y/N. So the side window on the left side. I'll meet you there." She says. I nod, grab my bike and quickly go to the side as Max goes back inside.

I wait at the side for a moment, tapping on my bike's handles before I hear the window open. I look over to see the redhead there, climbing out her window. "Come on!" I say. "Hurry" She does, hopping onto the back of my bike. "This better be good, Romeo." She says before I start pedalling.

The ride consisted of Max asking me questions about what happened. "So you found Eleven in the woods." She states. I hum in response. "And she was bald." She adds. "And you found out she had powers where she could...what?" She asks. "Move things with her mind." I mutter. "Right. Telekinesis." She states. "And we found baddies from Hawkins Labs and after all that. It ended with Eleven beating this...demogorgon...and disappearing?" She asks. I nod in response. "That's what happened." I say. I really did not want to relive Eleven's disappearance. It hurt me to do it. To remember what we went through and did.

"Were you close?" She asks. "What?" "You and Eleven." She clarifies. "Why do you ask?" I ask, confused. "I was just curious." She says. "I think...Mike was the closest to her out of all of us." I say. I feel her rest her chin on my shoulder from behind, wrapping her arms around my torso instead of on my shoulders. "Yeah?" She asks. "Yeah." I say. "But you still seem pretty hung up about it." She states. "You must've been pretty close if you're so upset." She says. I shrug. "I guess. We were close because we were the only two girls in the party. It was like....having someone you can properly relate to." I say. Max is silent. She was silent for a few beats. "Did you like her?" She asks quietly. Did she mean like, or like-like? "What?" I ask. "I...Nevermind." She says, sighing. "Has anyone in the party gotten together with someone?" She asks. "What is this, gossip time?" I ask, chuckling. She laughs along too, reaching a hand up to start playing with my hair. "Just answer the damn question."

I shake my head lightly. "No." I say before stopping myself. "Well, not actually together." I say. "What do you mean?" She asks. "Well, Dustin and Lucas haven't liked anyone." I start. She hums in response. "I'm fairly sure Mike likes Eleven." I say, laughing lightly. "That's why he's so damn sensitive about her." Max states, smiling. "And you?" she asks, not laughing anymore. I think for a moment, mulling my words. "Well...." I start. "Well?" She asks. "I...didn't like anyone before." I say. "Mhm. Before? What about now?" She asks. My heart skips a beat and I blush. Crap. Why does she want to know so badly? "I...Now?" I ask. She nods. Well, I feel her nod. "Now...I think I like someone." I say. Max shoots up, head off my shoulder and her arms tighten slightly around my waist. "You do? Who?" She asks. That's when we arrived at the area. I hear voices ahead and go to see Lucas, Dustin and...Steve Harrington?

"Hey, chumps!" I shout, smirking and getting off my bike. Max does so too, walking beside me. The boys spot us and wave. We run down to meet them as Steve immediately tells us what to do. As they start getting to work, Lucas and Dustin pull me aside. "You told her?" Lucas asks. I shrug. "Yeah, and?" I ask. "And? We agreed not to tell her!" Dustin says. "Yeah we did. But at the same time, you lied about not knowing where Dart was." I say. "That- that's different" He says. "Sure it is. Your lie could get many people killed. All I did was inform one of our FRIENDS that she might be in danger from hanging out with us." I say. Lucas sighs. "Okay okay. Have any of you heard from Mike?" He asks. Dustin and I shake our heads. "Will?" WE shake our heads again. "Hopper?" "No, no one is around!" Dustin says. "Why do you think I'm with Steve Harrington?" He asks. "Something's wrong." I say. "I agree." Lucas says. "Another reason we need all the help we can get." I say.

"Hey, Dickheads! And Y/N." Steve says. "How come the only one helping me out is this random girl?" He asks, pointing at Max. I get up, jogging to the girl as the boys go to help Steve.

We set up a fort within the school bus in the area, making sure the walls were secure. Once we were done, we all went inside and settled in for the night. Lucas was up top, scouting the area while I sat at the back of the bus which was kind of closed off from the rest of them. Max, Dustin and Steve sat in the middle area, waiting. I was looking out the back window where we made peepholes. I had a small knife which I kept in my shoe and fiddled with it. I could see at eye level while Lucas saw from above. Max questions Steve on seeing and fighting a demogorgon before while Dustin, clearly agitated, argues. "Just go home" I hear. "Geesh. Someone's cranky. Past your bedtime?" Max teases. I hear footsteps come closer to where I was, and soon, the redhead appears in my area. "Hey." She says. I don't respond, which causes her to sit down next to me. "It's kinda awesome." She says "The fog." She adds. "Looks like the ocean." She says, smiling. I turn my head to look at her "You miss it? California?" I ask, casually twirling my little knife. "Hawkins must seem pretty lame." I say. "No, no. It's not that. It's just....my dad's still in California." I nod, recalling a conversation we had earlier in the month. "Yeah. And I can see your bro- Billy, still takes his anger out on you." I note, looking at the redhead. She nods slightly, sighing. "And it's worse now. It's like he uses our parent's marriage as an excuse to control my life." She says.

"What does he want to control?" I ask. "A lot of things. He's not controlling where I go and stuff, mostly what I do that gets him in trouble. And considering 'we're now family' and he has to 'look out for me'" She does them in air quotes, quoting her step-brother "He's really judgemental of the people I know. Probably because he doesn't want me to meet anyone who might get him in trouble." She says. "Like...?" I ask. She looks me in the eye and tilts her head slightly. "You." She says.

"Me?" I ask. She nods. "Yeah. You're the only one who really knows what he's like. He has a reputation and, well, you could probably taint it." She says before looking down. "He also thinks you're...." She starts. "I'm...what?" I ask, nervous. I don't know why I'm nervous. Was it just her? Just being with her made me nervous anyway. "He says I should stay away from 'people like you'" She says. I furrow my eyebrows. "People like me? What does he think I am?" I ask, seriously confused. "He thinks you're....let's say, different." She says. I think for a moment, before chuckling. "You mean he thinks I'm gay." I say. Max's eyes shoot up to mine in shock. "Well, yeah. He said a ruder term though." She says, shrugging. "And...what do you think?" I ask. She just smiles at me and takes one of my hands. "I think...I don't care. It won't stop us from being....friends." She says. I notice a small grimace on her face as she says it. "Plus, there's that person you like that we have to get you." She jokes. I chuckle lightly. God, if only she knew.

I smile and shake my head. "Don't bother." I say. We just look at each other for a moment. "I like talking to you, MadMax." I say

"I like talking to you too, Romeo."

Word Count: 1746