"Michael get dressed Maxine and Lucas are here and will be up in five minutes."
Karen left the home and Max and Lucas sat at the bottom of the stairs waiting for the ok from Mike. Lucas could sense something was off with Max.
"Everything good MadMax?"
Max sighed and just had to get it off her chest. "I really think I should have a one on one with Mike because we still hate each other."
Mike yelled out to his friends that he was ready and before Lucas could get up, Max stopped him and proceeded to go up the stairs. Max stood at the door thinking about what she'd say to get her and Mike on better terms. Max opened the door slowly to reveal that it would be only her helping Mike down to the basement today, but before they left, she sat next to him on his bed.
Max sighed and felt tears threating to creep into her eyes. "Why do you hate me wheeler? You've hated me ever since Dustin and Lucas wanted me to join."
Mike was shocked by her words but not by her bluntness and couldn't help but feel a pang of guilt and sadness hit him. "Max, I don't hate you, I just felt like you were trying to replace El. I missed her so much and you were so nice and willing to hang out with a bunch of nerds, I just couldn't handle having another girl around without the one that matter most to me."
Mike shifted so he could look her straight in the eyes. "Max you're loyal and a very good friend and I've grown to care and love you and our friendship."
Max had tears streaming and was beaming a smile so bright that nothing would wipe it off her face. "Don't get all mushy on me Wheeler, but I love you too. Now let's get you downstairs."
Max and Mike walked downstairs to see that Dustin had arrived and that Joyce was entering the house with Will. They were sure everybody noticed their grins, but they didn't care. They were officially on great terms, The Paladin and The Zoomer.
"Alright guys Hop and El should be here any minute, and don't forget to be good and tend to Mike and please do not destroy Karen's house.
With that Joyce walked out the house in hurry almost late for work, but she ended up falling on someone. "I know you said no to the date, but it seems like you have better things in mind and I'm down."
Joyce looked to see Hopper giving her a teasing smile before lifting herself off of him. "Hop stop being such a flirt."
Joyce was grinning while a little blush started to creep up on her cheeks but proceeded to walk away. El almost knocked the two of them down as she nearly ran to the front door of the Wheelers residence. "Hey kid, Mike is injured, and I need you to know to be gentle with him and you can't tackle him into a hug the second you see him."
Hopper said that last part while rolling his eyes and knocking on the door. Dustin opened the door and cracked a cheesy joke that received an eyeroll and fake laugh from Hopper. Lucas and Dustin were in the kitchen making breakfast. Hopper nodded and headed out the door. El decided to help with breakfast because it would give her more time to think about what she'd say to Mike. They had just finished making breakfast and to everyone's surprise Mike and Max were laughing and conversating like civil human beings. "Looks like you guys are finally starting to see eye to eye." Dustin couldn't help but snicker after his comment.
Mike and Max were completely oblivious to the others until Dustin made sarcastic comment. Mike looked up to see his two best friends and girlfriend standing at the stairs. Mike couldn't help but stare she looked extra beautiful today, with hair in its natural style with some of the clothes she had bought from the mall on.
"So, what's the plan for the day?" Dustin was obviously excited and filled with wonder for what fun adventure the party would get into today. Max on the other hand wanted a chill day. "How about we play rainy day games, so Mike doesn't have to move as much."
Mike nodded in agreement and the concerned face Max had on turned mischievous. "How about truth or dare?" El was really confused because she had never heard of the game, so she took the opportunity to ask. "What is truth or dare?" Everyone knew El would need to be explained a lot of things, so this question caught no one off guard.
The party looked at each other as if they were deciding who would be best to explain the game. Dustin eventually spoke up with a very naughty grin on his face. "Ok El so basically somebody will ask you truth or dare and if you pick truth you have to answer whatever question they have truthfully, but if its dare you have to do whatever they tell you to do. For example, if I dared you to give Mike a lap dance then you have to do that."
El thought the rules were simple, but she noticed Mike tense up and turn bright red and Will, Lucas, and Max looked very uncomfortable. El wanted to get to the bottom of this, she didn't want any more secrets. "What is lap dance?"
Dustin's shit eating grin only grew wider, and he proceed to talk. "It's when you dance on your partner but slowly and it's supposed to be sexy and exciting." It was now El's turn to blush, and she took a seat next to Mike patiently waiting for the game to start. Dustin quickly ran upstairs and came back with a coke bottle and 5 beers. "If you don't want to tell the truth or do a dare you have to drink. Everyone except Max tensed up and the game begun with Dustin, and he landed on Mike.
"Truth or Dare?"
Mike couldn't help but roll his eyes at the over excited grin on Dustin's face.
"I'm going to play it safe and go with truth for now."
Dustin let out an annoyed sigh. "Ok Mike, why did you hate Max when we first tried to befriend her?"
Mike gave out a sigh of relief because knowing Dustin the question could've been much worse. "I didn't hate her; I was just still in lo- I mean I still was very much stuck on El and us befriending another girl made me feel like you guys were trying to force me to move on."
Mike was a bit confused when he saw the disappointed look on El's face but thought nothing of it. It was Mike's turn to spin and the bottle landed on Max.
"Truth or Dare?"
Max took a deep breath not feeling like having to do anything crazy yet. "Truth."
Mike had a look of determination on his face like there was something he absolutely had to know. "Why did you encourage El to break up with me?" A tear rolled down Mikes face as he recalled the memory. El couldn't help but start to silently sob as she saw the hurt look on Mikes face knowing she'd caused it.
"I-I thought you were being a jerk like all boyfriends, I've never had such a serious and loving relationship like you and El, I thought you were avoiding her to be a jerk, but now I know you and El have true love and I've never seen or experienced anything like it."
Max was starting to cry, and Mike made a move to hug her with his one good arm. "I'm sorry Max, I just really had to know it was the biggest burden on my mind when I pulled the trigger."
"Maybe we should take a little bre-." Wills sentence was cut short by a door slamming loudly. Nobody had noticed how hurt Lucas looked when Max made her statement which is why it caught everybody by surprise. Max ran after Lucas while Will went upstairs signaling for Dustin to follow to give Mike and El privacy.
"Come on don't be such a peacemaker join the dark side and be an instigator, I have to see what happens." Will rolled his eyes at Dustin's comment and began to pull him in the direction of the stairs. Once the door shut Mike turned to El to begin the conversation that was long overdue but froze at what he saw instead. El was out cold hyperventilating with blood coming out of her ears and nose.
A/N: Okay guys I encountered some serious writers block, but I eventually moved passed it. This isn't my best chapter; I definitely hate the dialogue but I think I make up for it with this huge cliffhanger.