Observation: Noticing something about the outside world that prompts a question or requires further examination.

Sometimes rainy days were better. El loved the sun and being outside, but rain meant their plans shifted to gathering in someone's living room, just talking or watching movies. All scattered around, pilling on each other to try and maximize couch space. Will and her sharing a blanket, legs brushing against each others. Max's head in her lap, her legs stretched out over Lucas's. Dustin leaning back against El's own legs, Mike next to him against Will's. They had been crammed on the loveseat, but at some point Nancy, Robin, and Steve had appeared and kicked them onto the floor. It was nice. All of them together like that.

It wasn't quiet. Watching movies with her family was usually quiet. They would just sit and watch the movie, enjoying the story. Watching movies with her friends was the opposite. They almost always seemed to pick movies they'd already seen. As a result everyone talked the whole time. Made jokes or debated theories or complained about plot points. Both were nice. The former let her absorb the movie better, the latter had a freedom to it. It made interacting with her friends the goal instead of the movie itself.

So El hadn't thought anything of it before saying "She's pretty."

Dustin glanced around at her, "Which one?"

"Blonde."

He looked back at the screen. "Eh, she's okay."

"Dude, are you serious?" Mike's head snapped to look at Dustin, face scrunched. "She's totally stunning."

"Wait, what does she look like?" Max tried to interject, attention never wavering from the ceiling, but it was to late. The others were all in debate mode. Lucas was the only other person who seemed to notice the question. El let him do the explaining. He was better at describing people, and she was to interested with the argument happening around them to do it properly anyway. It all seemed silly to her, the woman was pretty, she hadn't meant anything more in depth then that. But the guys seemed able to bicker about anything, no matter the intention.

Robin was the one who finally seemed to make a break through. "You guys are delusional, the best friend is way hotter."

"If you're not into girls then you don't get a vote," Mike insisted for the third time. El didn't understand why. They could still appreciate how pretty a girl was.

"Who says I'm not?"

It was said with Robin's usual ramble, but she stopped short once she the words were out, as if surprised by her own comment. Everyone seemed to freeze. El glanced down when Max stiffened. Nobody else seemed to notice, all far more focused on Robin.

To her surprise it was Will who broke the silence. "Are you?"

El had been to distracted by Max to notice, but a glance was all it took for her to notice the way Will was watching Robin. There was a glint in his eyes. Curiosity, but something else too. A softness. Something closer to… hope?

Robin shrugged, but also leaned closer to Steve. Her hands were fidgeting, but for once she didn't ramble. "Yeah."

Max sat up, shifting on the couch so she was facing the direction of the loveseat. "So, you're a lesbian?"

Frowning, El looked over at her. "Lesbian?"

It was becoming rare for comments to stump her. Usually she could at least figure them out from context clues. When she couldn't, Max was usually the one who filled her in. She had this way of explaining things that didn't make her feel like an idiot. Of just telling her what the word meant and moving on without dwelling on it. But this time Max didn't answer. She didn't even acknowledge the question. Her full focus was on Robin.

"Yeah, I am," Robin agreed. Straight to the point. That was odd. Even her hands were oddly restrained. They stayed in her lap, playing with her sleeves rather then flying around. Her eyes shifted around to all of them, before settling on El. "Basically it means I like girls the same way you like guys. Like I want to date them and stuff."

"That's allowed?"

"Of course it's allowed."

There was a harshness in Max's comment. Which wasn't exactly odd for Max, but it had been happening less recently. It was also rare that it was directed at El, even in teasing. This didn't feel like teasing. Max's hands were gripping the edge of the couch, heal starting to bounce. Something was wrong, but El had no idea what. It was just a question. Max had never reacted like this to her questions before.

"She's right," Steve agreed, but his attention wasn't on El or Max. He was watching Robin. "You can like anyone you want. Most people only like the opposite gender, but some people like the same gender, and others like either."

"Way to sound like an encyclopedia," Robin rolled her eyes, elbowing Steve, but it was softer then normal. "But he's right."

"Cool," El nodded, smiling at the idea.

Steve nodded in return, seeming to relax. Then he glanced around the room. "Anyone have a problem with it?"

There was a slight threat in the comment, making El frown. Everyone seemed to be glancing at each other, as if judging something. Mike was the one who finally spoke up. "I have a problem with her taste in women."

And just like that the debate was reinstated and everything was back to normal. Everything except that El's head was spinning, and Max shifted so she was leaning against Lucas.

"...and the way he ran up to the three point line, he couldn't have had more then half a second, but he didn't let that stop him," Lucas insisted, still riding the high from the game even forty-five minutes later. He couldn't help it, his whole body had been buzzing with adrenalin ever since the last buzzer. "God, did you see that shot?"

"Believe it or not I didn't," Max countered, but there was no malice. It had taken Lucas awhile to get used to those kinds of jokes, but eventually he'd come around.

"El, back me up." He turned his attention towards her.

"It was a good jump," El offered, shrugging, which was as much as Lucas had been expecting. Despite going to all of his games recently, El seemed to have even less idea of what was going on during them than Max. That never stopped her from coming though, sitting next to Max, more consistently then any of the others. He wasn't entirely sure how it had happened, but they'd ended falling into a sort of routine on game days. Hopper would pickup Max and drop the girls off at the game, then afterwards Lucas would meet up with them and drive them home, but never before diverting to hang out at his house first. Sometimes they went to get food or hang out with the others or his teammates for awhile, but inevitably they always ended up back in his bedroom, Max and him on the bed, El sometimes taking his desk chair and sometimes, like tonight, positioning herself on the bed as well. It was nice.

"Thank you," Lucas grinned. "I'm telling you, he's the real deal, scouts have been all over him, and you should see some of the stuff he's pulled off in practice."

"Okay, okay, I'm convinced he sounds totally awesome." Max rolled her eyes, but she couldn't quite hide the teasing smile. "I'm starting to think I should be jealous."

Now it was Lucas's turn to roll his eyes, "Yeah, he's 'totally awesome', but I'm into girls so you've got nothing to worry about."

As if that were even really a question when she was sitting there grinning at him like that.

"Steve said you could like both."

Lucas blinked, looking over at El, "What?"

"When he explained it Steve said some people like both boys and girls," El shrugged, but she was watching him with curiosity, as if she was the one asking a question instead of him. The slight tilt of her head, the same look she got when she was waiting for him to explain something or elaborate. Except right now he couldn't figure out what she wanted him to elaborate on.

"She's right," Max added after a second, sitting up so she could angle herself towards him. Her expression was normally easy for him to read, even with all the barriers she sometimes tried to put in the way, but there was something there Lucas couldn't quite place. He frowned a little, noting the way she was fidgeting with her sleeves, but before he could figure out what was wrong Max pressed on. "Bisexuality. But, I mean, I was just teasing because you've been talking about James a lot recently."

"Right, yeah, of course," Lucas nodded. He wanted to change the subject, to laugh it off, but something about it was sticking in his head. "But you've still got nothing to worry about."

"I know I don't," Max assured, so firmly that Lucas knew she believed that. Rather then looking relieved though, she was still frowning. "Are you okay?"

"Why wouldn't I be?"

"Because you don't really sound okay." Max reached over to take his hand, squeezing. "I was only kidding."

"I know, I know," he said quickly, squeezing her hand in return. "I guess it's just never really occurred to me before. I knew I wasn't gay, I didn't really know there was another option."

"Me either." El's hand rested on his knee, and when Lucas looked up she had an expression that was as easy for him to read as Max's normally was. There was an understanding when they're eyes met, one he wasn't sure he'd ever seen from someone other than Max. "There's time. Think about it."

Max nodded. "Yeah, it's not like you have to know right now. And if something as silly as a joke like that can get in your head this badly, maybe it's worth thinking about."

Lucas hesitated, looking back at Max. The idea was still nagging at the back of his head, a possibility that he'd never even considered. Thrilling and scary at the same time. But there was something more important, something he needed to make sure of before he started to explore it. "You'd be okay with it? If I did end up liking both?"

The odd expression Max had had disappeared immediately, her whole body seeming to relax as she gave him a gentle smile. Then she leaned over to kiss his cheek. "Of course I would be, dork. I told you, whatever happens you're stuck with me."

Lucas felt himself relax immediately, leaning forward to kiss her. "Love you."

"I love you too."

When he pulled back Lucas was grinning, watching Max for just a second more before finally looking back over at El, ready to apologize for being sappy and endure whatever teasing came from it. But instead of pulling a face or making gagging sounds like the guys would have been doing, she was simply watching the two of them, smiling softly.

"I've decided I like girls."

Max tensed, sitting up straight. The statement came out of nowhere, just filling a gap in the conversation, as if it were no different then her opinion on a book. Which wasn't odd for El, she had a habit of just saying whatever was on her mind, something that normally Max loved.

"The same way I used to like Mike."

"El, you can't just say that." It came out harsher then Max meant. The diner didn't seem busy, there was almost no noise around them, and they were tucked into a booth in the back, so most likely no one was around. But that also meant there wasn't any noise to cover up the comment if they weren't alone.

"I thought you said it was okay?" Despite the confusion, El lowered her voice to match Max's hushed urgency.

She had said that, and when she did she'd meant it, but that was different. "It is when we're in Mike's basement or at Lucas's house. Not out in public."

"Hey, it's okay," Lucas's voice was as reassuring as ever, a steady hand on her shoulder, making it clear he was comforting her not El. "No one else is around."

"Right," Max muttered, but she didn't relax. Normally all she needed was to feel Lucas or El there to reassure her, but right now her body refused. She trusted Lucas's observation, if he said they were alone they were alone, but for once it didn't seem like enough. Unfortunately there was nothing she could do to confirm it that wouldn't draw attention towards them.

"What's wrong?" The confusion pulled at her, but if anything just set Max more on edge. El genuinely didn't get it, something that made the outburst better but also scarier.

"Nothing," Lucas assured, voice as stead as it had been with her as he answered El. "Everything's fine. You just- however you feel is fine. You're allowed to like whoever you like and it's totally fine by us. But not everyone sees it that way."

"Which is why you can't just say something like that in public." To Max's relief her voice was a little calmer now, even if she still felt like she was on high alert. "It's to risky."

"Risky?"

"Yeah," Lucas shifted, angling himself in a way where Max assumed he was reaching his free hand over to El even as the one on her shoulder slid down to take hers as well. She should do that too. Reach out to El. But she couldn't seem to make her hand move from it's spot near her plate. "There are a lot of people who don't think it's okay, so being open about it in public can be dangerous."

"Why do they care though?"

"They just do," Max snapped, before closing her eyes and letting out a breath. It was fine. They were fine. She needed to relax. "Do you remember when I told you that Neil didn't know Lucas and I were dating? That we couldn't let him find out?"

Lucas's hand tightened in hers and El's voice was considerably softer. "You said it was stupid, but because he's black some people wouldn't approve of you guys dating. That that was why Billy didn't like him."

"Exactly, it's like that," Lucas agreed, but his grip didn't loosen. Maybe she shouldn't have brought it up, but it was the easiest way Max could think of to get to the point.

There was a small pause before El spoke again, her voice still soft, hesitant. "But you two still dated in public, just not around Max's family."

"We did. But that's because most people were okay with it. There are a lot more people that would be opposed to you dating a girl then were to the two of us. And they're a lot more likely to do something about it. We just want you to be careful," Lucas assured.

Max could perfectly picture the reassuring smile he was giving El, and just the thought made her relax a little more. His smile always had that effect, even just thinking about it.

"I'll be careful. But I know how to deal with bullies."

El's voice was so confident, that Max actually found herself smiling a little at the comment. "We know you do, we would just rather you didn't have to."

"I understand." A hand brushed against her free one, and after a second of hesitation Max let El take it, feeling the small squeeze. "I just wanted you to know."

Something about the "you" felt pointed, but maybe it was just in her head. Afterall, she didn't really know which of them El was looking at or if Lucas's hand had also received the squeeze. Either way, Max found herself pulling her hand back after just a moment, quickly grabbing her cup to take a sip.

It took a few minutes, but sooner rather then later they were back to their regular rhythm, as if the conversation had been as normal as any other. Except Lucas's voice stayed a little softer well into the next topic, and he didn't let go of Max's hand until they got back to his car.