Steve's fingers beat on his steering wheel as he went away from work. It had been an early shift, so he was out at around 3, but he didn't make any plans for the rest of the day. So, he was in no rush to go anywhere. Turning up the music in his car, he let his hands direct the vehicle aimlessly, no vision as to where the destination was. He knew it was going to make him run low on gas quicker, but it was so much better than sitting in his huge house, alone.

That was the last thing he wanted to spend his afternoon doing, even if he was tired.

Driving by the school, he watched all of the children, well, teens, but kids would always be kids to him, walking on the sidewalk with a smile, knowing that they must have just gotten out of class. No matter how hard he looked he couldn't see a familiar face, but it still warmed his heart to see everyone living normal lives, despite the fears that plagued them. Of course, they didn't know about the true worries about the "earthquake", but with El closing the gates, slowly but surely, everything would be better eventually.

As he continued to drive, he noticed fewer and fewer people on the sidewalk, most of them undoubtedly going to their homes. A quick glance at a road sign told him that he was headed to the trailer park, so it made sense. Not many people lived there.

He was about to turn down the next street when Steve noticed a bit of commotion ahead of him. Two dudes, one girl, all of them crowding someone in a wheelchair, and they didn't seem too friendly. His breath hitched when he recognized a familiar backpack resting on the chair, and an even more familiar figure in it.

Max.

Steve slammed the brakes on his car, thrusting it into park, and throwing himself out of the vehicle with more willpower than he thought he had in him.

"Hey! Get away from her!"

Max looked away from the kids and found Steve, relief in her eyes. That's when Steve knew that these random teens were really bothering her. Max was usually so strong, unbreakable, even, but she clearly was happy that he was here and that she wasn't alone anymore.

"What do you want, loser?" The older girl, a brunette with her hair in a half ponytail, said, a scowl on her face. Steve stopped right beside them and tossed her an exasperated stare.

"Daisy, that's King Steve!" The boy with black hair replied, putting his hands up to his mouth in feigned awe. "Do you want me to bow to you, sir? Or do you want me to dispose of this cripple here?"

"I'm not a cripple, jerk!" Max yelled from her seat. "Back off!"

"Yeah," Steve echoed, crossing his arms. "Listen to her and back off."

The other boy scoffed. "So, the king copies and defends the cripple. What has the world become?"

"You listen here, kid, she doesn't need to be defended. Max can handle herself and is by far a better person than you and your little crew combined. When she says back off, I suggest you do." Steve replied, strength and authority in his words, and he stepped forward, casting an accusing finger at him.

"What's she going to do? Scream at us like a lost puppy?" The girl laughed at her statement, and the other two joined in.

"I'm good friends with Mr. Hess." Max said, her voice strong and her hands fisted together tightly. "All I have to do is tell him what you losers are doing and he'll put an end to you. He'll make sure you fail History no matter how hard you try."

"And," Steve added, "I'm pretty sure his son works with Chief Hopper. You know, the guy who survived a mall fire and went missing for nearly half a year?"

The kids around them listened to his every word, and as soon as the tallest was about to talk back, Steve continued.

"As soon as the Chief hears about this, you know that it's going to be a rough month for you."

Max jumped right back in. "He'll tell your parents." There was a small smile on her face, but it was anything but kind. "Then you'll be grounded. For weeks. All because you cornered who you thought was a cripple."

The boy with black hair shoved his friends in the shoulder. "Guys, we should go. Chief Hopper is no joke. My brother was caught by him last week for egging the principal's house."

The girl, Daisy, looked at him, then looked back to Max, then Steve. Steve chose not to say anything, but gave her the best death glare that he could.

"Please, let's go." The boy pleaded. "If my mom hears about this I'm dead."

"Fine! Let's leave and let this cripple go back to her stupid home alone. Hopefully she won't lose her way." The other boy said, and the trio began to walk away.

"I'll call Hopper!" Steve yelled after them, and they rushed away even faster.

Max shifted her body and watched them go with a halfhearted smile. Steve came closer to her and picked up a couple of books that must've fallen out of her lap and onto the ground. She turned back to him, taking the books from his hands.

"Thanks." She said shyly, and Steve shrugged.

"No worries. Like I said, I don't need to defend you. You did just fine by yourself."

"I guess…I guess I'm just glad that you showed up. They were really overwhelming, I couldn't get one word in. So, I'm glad you were here."

Steve smiled sadly. "I get it. I used to be a bully myself. I know how they work. It's all easy pickings until the victim has an ally."

Max nodded, understanding. "Well, I'm glad you're not that person anymore. I like the new Steve. Defender of the innocent."

He laughed. "Thanks, Mayfield. I like the new me, too."

She rested her arms on the wheels and began pushing the wheelchair forward, and Steve walked beside her.

"So, what were they doing?"

"Oh, you know. Blocking my path. Throwing my stuff. Calling me a cripple."

"Have they been doing this often?" Steve asked, and she shook her head no. He couldn't help but be relieved at that. Max had already gone through so much, being possessed by Vecna, being used as bait, nearly dying, being in a coma…and waking up to the fact that she couldn't walk normally for a long time. Her arms had been the fastest to heal, so she could use them, thankfully, but her legs were as good as useless, and would be for a while. Thus, the wheelchair.

It was still horrible that she had to deal with bullies, though. It couldn't be easy.

Couldn't this girl get a break?

"It just started today. Caught me off guard." Max responded, and Steve kicked a pebble with his shoe.

"Understandable."

She stopped her wheelchair and glanced at him, raising one of her eyebrows in question. "Shouldn't you go back to your car?"

"Oh." Steve looked back to his vehicle, where it was parked horribly by the side of the road. He thought about going back on his drive, but Max was just being picked on, and he couldn't leave her.

"I have nowhere else to go." He replied. "Do you want to go get food or something? I have no plans for today, and I feel like after what happened you might want some."

She nodded. "Food could be nice, a lot better than being at home."

Steve couldn't help but have compassion on her. Of course. Her mother still loved her drinks too much, and that wasn't any easier than a huge house without life.

"Yeah, I get it. Pizza sounds good?"

"Absolutely."

Steve felt a bit better that they were going to hang out. What else would Max do? Now that he was remembering correctly, she didn't have anyone else to hang out with, either. Lucas was out of town with basketball, El and Mike were on a date, and the others were busy with a club or something. Max deserved to have someone to hang out with, and if that was Steve today, he didn't mind. He enjoyed it.

"Alright, Mayfield. We'll go get something to eat and then maybe a bit of shopping. We may not have the mall anymore, but isn't there a new music store that opened?"

Max beamed. "Um, yeah, there is! I haven't been able to go there yet but I've been begging to for the longest time."

"Then, let's go!"

Max swerved her chair to the road and came down onto it from the sidewalk where the two levels of concrete made a ramp. Steve never left her side, and when they came to his car, he put her books and backpack in the backseat. Max wheeled around to the passenger side door and eyed it wearily, looking down at her legs. Steve noticed her glance and wished that he could make things better for her.

"Do you want me to lift you in?"

Max seemed hesitant at the offer, but she eventually nodded her head. "My arms are a bit sore. Sorry."

Steve wasn't surprised. Even though they were technically healed she had admitted to having pains after using her arms constantly, meaning that she still had trouble. At least this was something that Steve could help with.

"No worries, I've got to put these muscles to use sometime, right?"

She rolled her eyes.

After Steve had managed to put her gently in the seat and her wheelchair in the back, Steve made his way to the new music store. He knew that the pizza place was right nearby, so they could order the pizza and go shopping while they waited.

Max was silent on the way there, and Steve couldn't blame her. Getting bullied was probably always in her mind, especially when she went to school in a wheelchair, but today was the first day it actually happened. He felt a pang in his heart knowing that she was suffering because she chose to put her life on the line to save everyone in the town.

"I'm fine, Steve. I think we scared them enough that they would stop."

He took a deep breath, noticing that his fingers thrummed the steering wheel at a fast rate, likely because of his worried thoughts. He forced them to slow down, keeping his eyes on the road.

"Right. Yeah, of course. I just wish you didn't have to go through this."

She shrugged, her eyes back on the world outside.

"You don't deserve it, you know." He said softly, "You didn't deserve any of it. Billy, Vecna, and now this…I wish that you didn't have to face all of that. But…" He swallowed hard, feeling a knot in his throat develop as he felt Max's eyes on him. "But I know that you, out of everyone I know, could face it. I don't know how you do it, yet you're so….brave. So full of strength and endurance. Life sucks, it really does sometimes, and I know that I would've cracked under the pressure. Yet, despite everything, you kept on going, refusing to give up. No matter what. And I know that you're going to give those bullies a run for their money if they ever come back."

Max laughed, but it was strained with emotion, and Steve could see that there were tears in her eyes, too, that she quickly swept away.

"If it weren't for the party I wouldn't have gotten so far." She managed to reply, and he shook his head.

"I mean, don't get me wrong, they probably helped a lot, especially Lucas, but you can lead a horse to food and they refuse to eat it. Or, is it you force a horse to eat…"

She shook her head, smiling. "It's 'you can lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink.'"

Steve nodded eagerly. "Yes! Exactly! No matter what amount of support you get, if you stop trying or stop caring it doesn't matter. You are the only one that can force yourself to keep on going. You could've stopped letting us help you and you would've been long gone, no matter what the Party did. So, you were the one that made it through. You were the one who kept on going. You're so strong, Max, so, so strong."

"Can you pull over?"

Steve's eyes widened at the request, never expecting those words to come out of her mouth so suddenly, especially right now. Was she feeling sick? Did he say something wrong? Did she want to get out?

He pulled over as soon as he could, and as soon as he stopped the car he felt two smaller arms wrap around him, Max leaning over the console as far as she could to give him a hug. He hesitated at first, because what was going on?, and yet he wrapped his own arms around her and hugged her tightly, making sure not to let go until she wanted to.

"Thank you, Steve." She whispered, clutching him with as much strength as she could. "Thank you so much."

"Always, Max Mayfield." He replied softly, rubbing her back comfortingly. "Always."