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

-Chapter 13: Open Wounds-

We go back to the bus to collect our things. Lucas and Dustin were collecting our bikes and clearing some of the barrier. Steve was out on top, looking out for any more while the boys were outside. I walked inside, sitting down on one of the seats and just lying back on it. I sigh, rubbing my face only to feel a shot of pain. Hissing, I pull my hands away from my face only to have blood on them. "Ah, shit." I say.

I close my eyes, trying to ease the aching in my back. "You okay?" a voice asks from beside me. I open my eyes to see Max standing there. "Hey." I say. Max frowns once she sees my face fully. "Oh god. Your face." She says, worry lacing her voice. I wave my hand at her. "I'm fine." I say. She takes my face into her hands anyway and examines it. "We should clean it up." She says. She lightly runs her finger on the big scratch and I wince as she does. "Sorry." She says. "I'll see if I can find anything." She says. She walks away and I watch as she hurriedly searches around. "Max." I mutter. It wasn't loud as I don't think she heard it. "Max." I say again. She looks up from a box she was looking through. "Yeah?" She asks. "Have you ever done stupid things for someone?" I ask. She looks at me, confused. "Uh, maybe." She answers. "Sorry, Y/N. Can we talk about this later? I...I really want to find something." She says.

I sit in silence instead, letting my mind run wild. I really just risked my life for her. For them all. This was the risk...and now she knew it.

I snap out of my daze when Max appears in my view. She smiles lightly and sits down next to me. "So, I didn't find anything. Obviously, it's an old bus." She starts before pulling something out from behind her. "But, I had a cloth in my bag that I was supposed to keep for gym at school but never used. Or take out of my bag." She says. "And I also have a water bottle." She says. She pours some water onto the cloth and holds it up before looking at me for permission. I nod in response and she, once again, takes my face into her hands.

She holds my chin in one hand, using the other to lightly dab the cloth on my face wound. I wince slightly as she does, and she looks at me with worry in her eyes. "Sorry." She says. "It's fine." I say. She continued doing it, cleaning up the blood that was on my face and I just looked at her as she did. The way she dabbed it ever so lightly. Or how she holds my chin in her hands. It made me swoon, blush and fight a smile off my face.

After cleaning the wound, she looks at it properly. Examining it. "Well, it's pretty deep." She mutters. "I've cleaned my own wounds before, but we don't have the right things." She says. She runs her finger down the scratch, her featherlight touch sending shivers down my spine as I just stared at her face. She scrunches her eyebrows together as she does, it was like she was in pain. She sighs, shaking her head. "You're so stupid." She says. "Uh, excuse me?" I ask, jokingly. She just frowns, putting her hand down. "Why did you run out like that?" She asks. "Wait, no. Why did you even SUGGEST going outside?" She asks, looking me in the eye. I shrug, looking away. "It was a risk I had to take. Steve could have died." I mutter.

"You could have died!" Max shouts. We're silent for a moment and Max huffs a breath. "Stupid." She says, smacking my arm lightly. "Moron" She says, repeating her actions. "Dumbass." She says, repeating her actions again. "Idio-" I cut her off by grabbing her wrists, stopping her from hitting me again. Shocked by my actions, she stares at me wide-eyed. Not even trying to pull away. "But I didn't die. Did I?" I whisper.

She doesn't reply, her eyes only occasionally darting down at my lips before darting back up again. I was imagining that, right? I do the same anyway, trying to ignore the want to surge forward and kiss her. That restraint starts to fade away when I notice Max starting to lean forward. Is she doing that? No, she's mad at me. Why would she do that? What is happening?

We get closer and closer, only inches apart and I begin to close my eyes when-

"Hey guys, we're gonna go to-" A voice rings as we jump apart. My head whips to the ladder where Steve had just descended from. We just stare, wide-eyed at the boy as he looks between us. "Steve!" I say, plastering a smile on my face. "The...uh...boys and I decided that we'd head back to town. Following the train tracks. Being here isn't gonna help much." He says, shrugging. "Yeah. Yeah, that's a good idea." I say, starting to stand up. It's a little slow as my back still aches a little from getting slammed into the bus by a demogorgon. Max stands, helping me up as we turn to face Steve to walk out. "Were you two...." Steve starts, looking between us again. "Going to kiss?" He finishes. I blush, looking at Max who was looking at Steve. "Uh, no?" I suggest, looking back at the boy.

He raises his eyebrows, suspicious. "We didn't kiss." Max says. I internally smile. Didn't being the key word of her sentence. Max leads me out the bus, past Steve. "Well, if you did, I wouldn't care." Steve says as we pass him. "You'd be good together." He says. I smile at him before we exit the bus.

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We're now walking down train tracks that will lead us back to the main part of town. The boys were bickering behind us. Steve leading us in front and Max and I walking in the middle. She insists that she's walking close to me to make sure I don't fall or so that she can help if I need to. I accepted that reasoning, but every time her hand brushes against mine, a shiver is sent down my spine.

"You're positive that was Dart?" Lucas asks Dustin. "Yes. He had the same exact yellow pattern on his butt." Dustin confirms. "Why was he looking at Dart's butt?" Max mutters to me. I snicker at her comment, looking back at the boys. "He was tiny two days ago." Max says to them, now also looking back. "Well, he's moulted three times already." Dustin says. "Malted?" Steve questions from the front. "Moulted" Dustin clarifies. "Shed his skin to make room for growth like hornworms." He adds. "But...when's he gonna molt again?" I ask. Dustin sighs, shrugging. "Well, it's gotta be soon." He starts. "When he does, he's going to be fully grown, or close to it." He adds. "Yeah, and so will his friends."

"Yeah, and he's gonna eat a lot more than just cats." Steve mutters. I stop, turning around. "Wait, a cat?" I ask. "Dart ate a cat?" Lucas asks. "No, what? No." Dustin says, clearly with panic in his eyes. Steve turns around, furrowing his eyebrows. "What are you talking about? He ate Mews." He says. Max turns to Steve, confused. "Mews? Who's Mews?" She asks. "It's Dustin's cat." Steve says. "Steve!" Dustin shouts at him. Lucas pushes Dustin lightly, eyebrows furrowed. "So, you kept him." He says. I knew it! He was acting weird before. "I knew it!" I say. "What? No!" Dustin exclaims. "No?" I question, taking a step forward. Dustin takes a step back, scared.

"No! I....No, I...." He tries. I raise an eyebrow and tilt my head. "He missed me. He wanted to come home." Dustin gives in. "Bullshit." I say, glaring at him. "I didn't know he was a demogorgon, okay?" He tries. "Oh, so you admit it now." Lucas butts in. "Guys, who cares? We gotta go!" Max tries, tugging at my hand. "I care! You put the party in jeopardy!" I shout, pointing at the boy. "You broke the rule of law" I add. "So did you!" Dustin shouts back at me. "What?" Lucas asks. "You told a stranger the truth!" He shouts at me, pointing his flashlight at Max's face. Max scoffs, clearly offended. "A stranger?!" She questions. "You wanted to tell her anyway." Lucas says, trying to help. "But I didn't, Lucas. Okay?" He replies, looking back at me. "I didn't. But Y/N did." He says, pushing me slightly.

"We both broke the rule of law, okay? So we're even. We're even." I scoff. Was he serious right now? "We are NOT even. Don't even try that!" I shout back, freeing my hand from Max and pointing a finger at Dustin's chest. "Your little pet could have literally eaten us for dinner!" I shout. "That was not my fault!" Dustin shouts back. "He wasn't going to eat us." He adds.

"Sure. He was just coming by to say hello then?" I suggest, tilting my head. "Guys!" Steve shouts from somewhere behind me. We immediately stop, turning to look at him. Just as we do, a loud sound is heard from the direction he was facing and he starts walking. We all look at each other before Lucas starts walking. Followed by Dustin. I follow too, grabbing Max's hand and pulling her with me. "No, no, no. Why are we heading TOWARDS the sound?" She asks as I pull her.

We end up at the edge of a cliff and staring into darkness. "I don't see them," Dustin says. Lucas pulls out his binoculars, looking afar. After a moment, he seems to spot something, pulling his binoculars down. "It's the lab." He says, looking at us. I sigh, looking at the lab's direction. "They're heading home."

Word Count: 1676