Hello everyone, welcome to chapter 41! Thanks for all the reviews on the last one, I have to admit that I was curious as to what the response would be after so much down time from chapter 39. The support blew me away, and I'm so thankful to have all of you guys as readers. I hope this chapter is enjoyable for all of you!

Jbg: Hey, I'm thankful you're glad to have me back, haha! The state of the Party right now is something that I thought was bound to happen in the aftershock of the move, I had this arc in my mind for a while. Thank you for your support on the chapter lengths, it means a lot to know that you're dedicated to this fic that way :)

Jane Eleanor Wheeler: Things are a lot better now, thank you! I hope you like the chapter!

AK7999: Thanks!

grievesforyou: Thank you! He gets on all of our nerves, haha

HyperSushi: My apologies, haha. I know that you Mileven fans are anxiously waiting for some content, but things are to come in the future. Thanksgiving is coming, after all!

Stranger Records: I assure you, Troy has a doozy coming to him soon :)

Luna0603: Things are going good now, thank you! Glad you're liking the way things are going. It's important to me to show how all the characters are coping during this difficult time. Will and Spencer will see more action coming soon. You may be on the right track with the Halloween Party :) Guess we will have to see... Enjoy the chapter!

Shrike176: Dustin is definitely going through some stuff right now, yes... things with Troy are most likely going to get worse before they get better. Hope you like the chapter!

Will laid back on the couch and gazed at the ceiling, sighing as he stretched out his body and brought the ringing phone to his ear. "Hello?"

He heard a light chuckle on the other line. "I'm used to El picking up the phone," Mike laughed.

Will smiled at the thought of his adoptive sister waking up early on a weekend. "Are you kidding me? I thought you've figured it out by now that El doesn't want up early on weekends."

"I guess you're right," Mike agreed. "Was she up late last night?"

"Maybe," he guessed. "Getting a head start on her homework or something, I imagine."

"If she isn't awake soon, wake her up anyway, though. I will want to talk to her."

"If I ever want to get my head bit off, I will do that."

"Is it really that bad?"

"You'll see for yourself when you come over at Thanksgiving," Will joked. "But don't worry, Mom is out. She won't be pestering me to hang up any time soon, so we don't have to rush any conversation."

"Good to hear," Mike said with a grin. "So how are things with you, man?"

Will sighed again thoughtfully. "Going good I guess," he answered. "I've hung out with Spencer my last few lunch periods. He seems like a good guy, but I still find it hard to understand him, sometimes."

Mike furrowed his brow. "How do you mean?"

"I don't know, it's not anything, like, weird about him," Will explained. "It's just… like we're on two different wavelengths, kind of. Do you know what I mean?"

Mike thought of the last time he met someone who had a much different "wavelength" than he did, and that person was Max. "Yeah, I get you."

"Yeah, well, it's kinda like that," Will said. "But he's really nice. We usually talk about comic books or stuff like that. He's a nerd like us."

"Well, that's definitely a good thing," Mike replied with raised eyebrows. Kids like them were less common that one would think. "Does he play Dungeons and Dragons?"

Will squinted his eyes. "Weirdly enough, we haven't talked about it yet."

"You should. Maybe we can play D n' D with him," Mike suggested.

"Yeah, maybe," Will nodded his head, but still wondering how that would go. Whatever. There was a lot of time to think about it. "But enough about me. How are things back home?" He suddenly twinged at his choice of words. He had a bad habit of still calling Hawkins "home" even though it hadn't been for a couple of weeks at this point. He thought if he could avoid it, maybe it would help him settle into his new home easier. And yet, in his heart, it still felt like he was an absolute stranger in this new town. Without all of his friends, it still felt like nowhere could be his home.

Will was broken out of his thoughts when Mike clicked his tongue over the line. "Uh, well… you know, the usual, I guess. Everything is fine."

Will sat up straighter on the couch and crossed one of his legs over the other. "That response lacked a lot of confidence, even through the phone."

Mike shrugged. "I don't know, man, things are just… weird. All the time. It feels like things are just growing apart."

"What do you mean?" his friend replied, growing concerned about what was going on back at home with his friends.

"Just, random shit keeps happening. It came to a head a few days ago, though," Mike admitted, the incident in the cafeteria with Max and Dustin flashing through his mind.

"What happened?"

Mike recounted what had happened to Will, trying to spare as little details as possible. After days of hiding the truth from him, Mike decided that enough was enough. Will was as much of a member of the Party as the rest of them. Just because he lived in a different town didn't mean that he was supposed to be excluded from things, and the same went for El. "And it only came to a stop because I flipped my shit and yelled at them to shut up. The whole cafeteria probably heard it."

Mike listened to nothing but light breathing on the other side of the phone for a few brief seconds. He took it as Will processing the information. "Why didn't you tell me sooner, dude?"

Will rubbed the bridge of his nose, feeling frustrated and kind of guilty. "Yeah, I'm sorry, dude. I just didn't want you guys having to stress about any of this shit."

"Mike, I've been stressing for the past few days because I knew that you were hiding something but I just couldn't get it out of you. You should have just told me."

"Okay. Yeah, you're right. I'm sorry," Mike apologized, raking his hand through his untamed morning hair. "But anyway, that's about it."

Will lay back down on the couch, his expression pained. It sucked to know that his friends were practically falling apart, and there was nothing he could do about it. "Have you talked to any of the rest of them this week? Dustin or Lucas? Or Max?"

"Nah, not for this entire week. I just thought they were busy with school stuff. I mean, the only reason you call here is to talk to El, not to me," he teased.

"Shut up," Mike laughed. "I call you so I can talk to both of you. It just so happens that my parents allow me to make phone calls like this, and it also so happens that my parents aren't even awake yet to tell me to get off the phone."

"They're not awake yet? Why?"

"They went on some date night last night. Got home super late, they're probably just sleeping in."

Will chuckled. "Well, good to know. For both those things," he quickly added. "But moving back to the issue at hand," he continued, rubbing his chin. "Have you even talked with any of them since it happened?"

"No, I haven't," Mike answered. "No one has sat at our cafeteria table, and I don't even know where the rest of them go. I just chill in the science hall usually, or the library. I do my homework."

"The library seems like the type of place you'd expect to see Dustin," Will thought aloud.

"You'd think," Mike agreed. "But no."

Will exhaled heavily. "Look, I think you should talk to Lucas. He'll probably be able to give you the most unbiased opinion out of all of you. And then you and him go to Dustin, because I think it's pretty clear that he's in the wrong."

"Yeah, but I yelled at them," Mike reminded Will.

"Please, that's nothing," Will said dismissively. "Any normal person would have done the same thing. But talk to Lucas, see what he thinks, ask him what Max is feeling, and then just make a plan. You guys will work it out, I promise."

Mike nodded slowly, agreeing with his friend's opinion. It was the simple and right thing to do. This argument had dragged out long enough. Things had to be patched out, and if Mike had to be the one to do it, then that's what he would do. He suddenly remembered the huge fight him and Lucas had gotten into when Will was missing and they were trying to find him with El. So this is what Dustin must have felt like when me and Lucas were fighting.

"Do you want me to try to get El up?" Will asked, sensing their conversation was coming to a close.

Mike contemplated for a moment, "No, it's okay, let her sleep," he said, imaging his beautiful El sleeping soundly in her bed. He didn't want to wake her up. "I think I'm gonna give Lucas a call."

Max and Lucas were seated at the dining table in Lucas's house, both of them at hard at work on their homework assignments. Max had been grinding out several math worksheets that had built up over the week, and she was no determined to get everything done over the weekend, and as early as possible. Lucas, on the other hand, was occupying himself with a lab report that was due right after the weekend on Monday.

The pencil that Max was writing with was incredibly dull at this point, having been worn down to practically a nub. The only reason why she hadn't sharpened it yet was because-

"Done," she exhaled triumphantly, leaning back in her chair and folding her hands behind her head. "Thank God."

"I thought you said you had a lot to do?" Lucas asked, looking at his watch and seeing that they had only been working for an hour and a half.

"I did," she replied. "I guess I'm just getting better at graphing functions," she chuckled as she closed up her notebook and slid it neatly into her backpack. "How are you doing?"

Lucas sighed and gripped his pencil a little tighter in an effort to write quicker, now knowing that his girlfriend was done and he was not (especially considering the fact that he was counting on having some time to mess around with her later). "Ten minutes or so. Science report is almost done."

Max smirked and walked around the table to come behind him. She leaned down beside him and kissed his neck. "If it's only ten minutes, why don't you do it later?" she whispered in his ear. Lucas felt a chill run down his spine. Max could be so fucking sexy when she wanted to be.

"Well, what do you want to do now instead?" he replied, a smirk crawling across his own face as he leaned back over the headrest, now looking at Max completely upside down. She snorted at him.

"Nothing, if you don't get out of that chair and look at me properly," she laughed.

Lucas smiled. "As you wish," he said flirtatiously, getting out of the chair and closing the gap between them quickly. His lips found her neck in a flash, and suddenly he was kissing and biting and licking along the entire left side of it.

Max was caught off guard, but not unhappy about it. It wasn't often that he was so aggressive, but she liked it when he was. "What do you got planned here, Stalker?" she whispered, her breath hitching as Lucas pulled the collar of her shirt down to grant better access to the top of her breast.

"There's a couch right behind you," he said roughly in between passionate kisses. There was definitely going to be a hickey there later. "Maybe we can make our way there," he suggested, already pushing Max backward toward his destination.

Her calves connected with the front of the couch and she allowed Lucas to move her body onto the surface of it, lying across the whole length. He was soon on top of her, completely pinning her on the sofa. He grinded against her, and even through all the layers of clothing that they were wearing, Max felt the friction right in between her legs and she let out a breathy groan. She moved her hands underneath his shirt and raked her nails across his bare back, eliciting a firm grind that made her moan out loud.

They had not had sex yet, but they had grown very accustomed to foreplay. Oral sex was a regular thing, and both of them were very confident in themselves. There were times when Max wanted to take the next and final step; Lucas had always wanted to take that step (being a boy and all), but in general, she still felt it wise to wait until they were maybe fifteen.

Not long after they had fallen on the couch, Max was working to get Lucas's shirt off, yanking it up his torso. Once the fabric was rolled up under his armpits, he sat up straight and removed the article himself, leaning back down to return the favour to the beautiful redhead below him. Her shirt was gone quickly, and then she was awkwardly unhooking her bra. Lucas laughed when she bent her arms around behind her back, still lying down.

"Shut up," Max blushed.

"I didn't say anything," Lucas snickered, and then leaned back down to press his lips

onto hers. Their lips were moving together again, perfectly in sync with one another. His fingers wandered South and he started to undo the button on her jeans (which her ass had looked great in), and she did the same. The clothes were unceremoniously dropped on the floor, leaving the pair of teens on the couch in nothing but their undergarments.

There were few seconds spared as Lucas yanked Max's panties down vigorously, leaving her completely naked from the waist down in front of him. He parted her thighs gently and adjusted her body so that she was lying diagonally across the surface of the couch, her legs closer to the edge then the rest of her body. He then knelt down on the carpeted floor and buried his face in between her thighs, already lost in the feeling of being so intimate with her.

"Oh, God," Max whispered and dug her fingernails into his scalp. He brushed his tongue all the way over her slit, from bottom to top, and she let out a deep moan. They only grew louder as he picked up his intensity, becoming more vigorous with the motions of his tongue and lips.

"Lucas, keep going," she keened, moving her hips upward to meet his face. She nearly lost it when she felt two of his fingers enter her suddenly. "Ah!" she squealed in shock, but the surprise was not unwelcome. His digits pumped in and out of her mercilessly, and with each passing second she felt herself getting closer to the edge. Her breathing became shallow and she reached up and rolled one of her nipples between her fingers, which provided the final push for her.

"Lucas, I'm coming," she nearly shouted. Lucas did not slow the punishing rhythm he had set, and he felt his girlfriend clenching around his fingers and her thighs squeezing his head as she rode out the intense orgasm he had given her.

Once Max had calmed down and her breath had slowed down, Lucas crawled back up onto his hands and knees and pressed a kiss onto her lips. "It's nice that we can still do stuff like this," he stated softly, staring into her eyes.

Max propped herself onto her elbows to look at him better. "What do you mean? Why wouldn't we be able to?"

Lucas sighed, and then turned his gaze toward the window. "All this stuff that's been going on with the Party. I'm just… glad it hasn't affected us, you know?"

She nodded slowly, understanding what her man was saying. "Have you even talked to Mike or Dustin recently?"

No," Lucas shook his head softly. "Haven't really gotten the chance to, I guess. Or maybe I'm just too scared."

"Scared of what?"

He turned his eyes from out the window back to the girl lying on the couch beside him. "What they'd say if I did. Mike lost his shit, Dustin lost his shit… I mean, did you see him earlier? His face was a mess!" he exclaimed.

"Which is why I'm saying that we need to talk to them, Lucas. Let's talk to Mike, or something."

"Mike? Since when do you ever want to talk to Mike?" he asked, stupefied.

Max creased her brow. "Would you rather talk to Dustin about things?"

Lucas shrugged. "I don't really want to talk to anyone about anything, to be honest," he muttered, getting up and heading to the kitchen.

"Hey, wait," Max sat up quickly. "Where are you going? I haven't even done you yet," she protested.

"Getting some food. And don't worry, I'm not really in the mood," he answered. When Max looked at him as if he had two heads, he laughed. "What? Sometimes I'm not in the mood. Boys aren't always horny, you know."

She laughed. "I doubt that," she teased. "But stop dodging the question. Why don't you wanna go talk to Mike?"

"Look, he's the one who snapped at us, okay?" he answered. "I'm not the one who yelled at him. He should come to us when he wants to talk, not the other way around," he explained.

"It's been long enough. Mike has, like, zero self-confidence. He's probably waiting for his best friend to come first!"

Lucas rubbed his face in exasperation. Maybe his girlfriend was right. They had spent too much time running in circles. This was the goddam Party, enough was enough. It was far past the time for them to make amends and get back together. And hopefully in time for that Halloween party, because, if he was being honest, he really wanted to go, and so did Max.

"Okay, maybe we can give him a call then, see if we can see where he stands with things."

As if on cue, the Sinclair household phone rang loudly. Both of them jumped. "Jeez, that scared me," Max said, placing an arm on her chest.

"I got it," Lucas said, already walking toward the ringing device. Max watched him pick

up the phone, and then exchange a few words with the person on the other line before hanging up.

"Who was it?" she asked.

He looked at her, an incredulous look in his face. "Funny timing," he chuckled. "It was Mike. He wants to meet up."

Mike stepped into the Sinclar household and looked around. He was met with the familiar scent of the house; air freshener and cinnamon. He always thought the house was one of the nicest he had ever been in. Mrs. Sinclair did a good job of keeping it neat and tidy. "How've you been?" Lucas asked, yanking him out of his thoughts.

Mike rubbed his thighs with the palms of his hands, which were unusually sweaty at the present moment. "Um… been better," he answered honestly.

Lucas returned his response with a sympathetic and understanding half-hearted smile. "I get that," he answered. "Uh, Max is here, do you mind?"

His friend shook his head. "Nope," he replied. "I was actually kind of hoping that she would be, so I could talk to both of you guys."

Lucas nodded slowly, and then led his friend to the living room where Max was seated, waiting patiently. "Hi, Mike," she greeted once she saw them.

"Hey, Max," he returned, and then found himself a place on the armchair in front of him to sit. He breathed out slowly, and once Lucas sat beside Max he opened his mouth to speak. "So, uh… look, guys, I'm sorry about all the shit that's been going on. I wanted to talk to you earlier, but I just never really got around to it, I guess."

Lucas scratched the back of his head. "Yeah, us too. We didn't know if you even wanted to talk to us, actually."

"Which brings me to my reason for coming-"

"We were actually about to reach out to you, but you beat us to it," Max interjected. "And I was also the one who's been telling Lucas to talk to you for days."

"Okay, okay, okay," Lucas shushed his girlfriend, and then looked back to his friend so that he could finish his sentence.

"I'm sorry for snapping at you guys that day," Mike finally said. "It was uncalled for and way over the top, and… I'm sorry."

Lucas breathed out a sigh of relief. He was glad that it looked like this was going to be a simple solution to the ongoing awkwardness between them. After days of avoiding each other and dodging each other in the halls, it seemed that things were finally going to return to normal again. But he had to get some things off his chest, too, first.

"Don't take all the blame, Mike," Lucas said. "We were all out of line-"

"I'm sorry, I just want to clear the record with that statement," Max interrupted again. "I don't think I was out of line, Dustin was acting like a dickhead."

"Max, we were all out of line, all of us," Lucas repeated, enunciating his words. "We all have to take a little bit of responsibility. We were the ones who escalated the situation."

Max mumbled something under her breath and crossed her arms, but remained quiet. "I'm sorry, Mike," Lucas said sincerely. He then looked expectantly at Max, who rolled her eyes belligerently.

"I'm sorry, too," she said quietly.

Mike smiled. "Aren't we forgetting something, though?" he questioned, giving Lucas a knowing look. As if a switch clicked in his mind, he suddenly chuckled to himself.

"We gotta shake on it," he reminded everyone.

And they shook.

And that's it... a little bit on the shorter side, but as I said in the last chapter, I'll probably be sticking with this length from now on, just so you guys don't have to wait so long for updates. Take it easy :)