Mike was positively giddy as he retrieved Max's duffle bag from the back seat of the station wagon, still lightheaded and more than a little turned on from the marathon makeout session that had just happened. God, he felt good. Even the weather had cleared up, the rain had tapered off and the sun was trying to peek through the lingering clouds, leaving the humid air thick with an exhilarating earthy scent.
"Okay," Mike said cheerily as he shouldered the bag, slammed the trunk closed and turned towards Max, "here's your b-"
The words died on his tongue as his eyes landed on his friend. His best friend. His best friend who'd just watched him stick his tongue down his ex-girlfriend's throat. Shit.
Mike went from feeling like he was on cloud nine to feeling like he'd collided with the ground with no parachute—the irate look on Lucas's face dowsing him with ice cold water.
He felt frozen in place as Lucas stood from where he was seated on the stairs and began marching toward them, letting the plastic-wrapped bouquet of flowers he'd been holding fall to the ground and land in a rain-filled pothole.
"Lucas…" Max spoke cautiously, putting herself between the two boys and raising her hands up like he was a wild animal she needed to calm down before he attacked. But he ignored her, easily dodging her grasp and storming directly up to Mike, shoving him hard against the side of the station wagon. Mike winced at the impact of the metal on his back, dropping the duffle bag as Lucas got right up in his face, forcing Mike to tilt his head down to look at him.
"This is what you've been doing at lunch for the past month?" Lucas seethed, stabbing a finger sharply into Mike's chest. "Stealing my girlfriend?"
"I'm not your girlfriend, Lucas!" Max exclaimed indignantly from behind him, scowling and crossing her arms. "I haven't been for a long time."
Lucas didn't acknowledge her, keeping his furious gaze locked onto Mike. "Did you take advantage of her?" Mike jerked his head back like he'd been slapped.
"Are you fucking kidding me Lucas?" he cried, finally regaining control of his limbs and shoving Lucas away from him, anger and hurt burning through him at his friend's accusation. "How could you even think that?"
"Because she'd never do that to me!" Lucas shouted, gesturing back at Max.
"Well, I fucking kissed him!" she shot back, finally getting Lucas's attention, his eyebrows raising in shock. He swivelled his head helplessly between the two of them for a few seconds before fixing his stormy gaze back on Mike.
"God, me and Dustin, we were so fucking worried about you," he scoffed, his dark eyes flashing with resentment. "We thought you were in with a bad crowd, or depressed after the supposed love of your life dumped you, but you've just been sneaking around and screwing my ex? How could you, man?"
Mike opened and closed his mouth, unable to find the words that would placate his increasingly incensed-looking friend. He knew he'd fucked up, there was no getting out of this one.
Lucas shook his head, his face twisting into an ugly sneer. "Nothing to say for yourself? This is just like you, Mike. You always have to have what's mine, don't you?" Mike blinked in confusion.
"What the hell are you talking about, dude?" he asked, raising his palms in confusion.
Lucas scoffed. "Fifth grade?" Mike furrowed his brow, having no idea what incident Lucas was referring to. "I said I wanted to be class treasurer and then suddenly you wanted it too? And of course you got it because Mike Wheeler always has to get what he fucking wants!" he shouted, gesturing wildly with his arms.
"Oh my god!" Mike cried, looking up at the clouds for guidance. "That was like five years ago, get over it already."
"Ugh, you're such a dick, Mike!" Lucas exclaimed. "You-"
"Lucas, just stop, okay?" Max pleaded, taking a cautious step towards him. Lucas snorted and stepped out of her reach, a hurt expression settling over his face.
"So what- what is this?" he asked, gesturing between Mike and Max. "Are you just hooking up?" Mike turned his head toward Max who was steadfastly avoiding his gaze, electing to stare at her shoes instead.
"No," she murmured after a few seconds, and Mike felt something like elation wash over him.
"Really, Max? I- I tried so hard for you and you just shut me out, but you let him in? Why? You two don't even like each other! What did I do wrong?" Lucas asked, his voice cracking at the end.
Max winced and cast her gaze around, unable to look him in the eye. "I don't know, Lucas! I… It's not you, it's-"
"Don't you dare finish that sentence, Max," he said darkly. She closed her mouth and nodded, wrapping her arms tighter around herself.
The three of them looked at the ground, seemingly at an impasse as the tense silence stretched on between them while a middle-aged couple strolled by with a small white dog that was tugging impatiently on its leash, warily eying the teens as they passed them. The toe of Max's shoe grazed the discarded floral bouquet, causing the cellophane to crinkle loudly.
"Why are you here, Lucas?" she asked quietly, looking up at him. Lucas shook his head, a blank expression on his face.
"It doesn't fucking matter now." He took a deep breath, exhaling loudly through his nose and glaring at them as if they disgusted him. "You're both dead to me," he spat, turning on his heel and storming off to his parent's minivan, slamming the door as he got in.
The tires shot out gravel behind them as he peeled off down the road, running over the abandoned flowers on the way out in almost comical symbolism.
After a minute Mike realized he'd been breathing heavily, his chest heaving as the adrenaline left his body and his heartbeat slowed back down. He licked his lips and looked warily up at Max, who stared down at the crushed flowers with a look of dismay on her face. Reaching down slowly, he picked up her duffle bag from where he'd dropped it at his feet, taking a few cautious steps toward her.
"Max…" he started, holding the bag out to her. She snapped her gaze over to him as if she'd forgotten he was there, looking at the bag for a moment before snatching it out of his hand. She released a shaky breath, rubbing her hand over her mouth as she backed away from him.
"I fucking knew this would happen," she breathed, her tear-filled eyes finally meeting his. "I knew it would ruin everything." Mike frowned and took a step toward her, freezing when she held a hand up as if to stop him and slowly shook her head. What did she mean that everything was ruined? Did she regret the kiss? He certainly didn't, and he had to let her know that.
He started towards her again. "Max I-"
"Maybe… maybe you should just go, Mike," she said quietly, slinging the bag over her shoulder and crossing her arms tightly over her chest, bunching the too-long sleeves of her massive hoodie over her hands as if closing herself off from him.
His stomach lurched at her words, the sharp slap of rejection stopping him in his tracks. He didn't want to go. He wanted to wrap his arms around her and kiss her again and figure out what this thing between them was because being with her felt better than any of the drugs he'd taken in the past few months.
Instead, he remained rooted in place, watching her bottom lip tremble as she turned away from him and practically ran up the steps of her trailer, slamming the door behind her so hard that it rattled the whole structure.
Mike drove home in a daze, his mind reeling from the absolute rollercoaster of events that had just transpired. Before he realized it he was pulling into the empty driveway of his house, not even remembering the journey there. Did I drive through a red light on the way here? Did I even use a turn signal at all?
Exhaling deeply, he leaned his head against the steering wheel for a few seconds before feeling blindly around in the pocket of his jacket and pulling out a loose cigarette. What he really wanted was a joint, but this would have to do. He rolled down the windows and pushed the button on the dashboard for the lighter, turning the engine off once it heated up and gently pressing the red hot coil to the end of his cigarette until it lit. Mike took a long drag and blew the smoke out the window, quickly feeling the calming effect of the nicotine slow down his racing thoughts, allowing him to take stock of the events of the day.
First of all, Max had freaking kissed him, and it'd kind of rocked his world if he was being honest. So that meant that she was at the very least attracted to him, but how deep did her feelings run? How deep did his feelings for her run, for that matter? Up until yesterday, he hadn't even consciously realized he wanted to be more than just friends. Jesus Christ, this is such a mindfuck, he thought as he raked a hand through his hair and took another drag of his cigarette.
They'd gotten close, maybe closer than he ever had been with a girl, at least emotionally. It was… different than with El.
With El, he'd been awestruck by her powers and her ferocity before he'd even really known her. But this thing with Max had evolved slowly, and he felt like they truly knew each other now, on an unfathomably deep level. He'd opened up about his heartbreak and she'd shared with him about her panic attacks and her guilt over Billy and her fucked up home life, things he was certain she'd never told anyone else.
He furrowed his brow as he tapped his ash onto the pavement of the driveway. What did it mean that it was a slow development rather than an immediate infatuation? Was he just confusing emotional intimacy for physical desire? Did she even want to date him, or was she just after something physical? Then he remembered what she'd said about Lucas, how she felt like she was too broken to love someone. Oh god… Lucas.
Mike felt a deep pang of guilt at the thought of his friend—if he could still call him that. If he was being really honest with himself, he could admit that Lucas had drifted apart a little from him and Dustin this past year. He was always busy with the basketball team, and he wasn't really that into Hellfire Club since the start of sophomore year, always going on about how he was sick of being labelled a nerd and being bullied and how he just wanted to have a normal high school experience. That didn't mean Mike was ready to throw their friendship away, but if asked to choose between Lucas and Max, well… it wouldn't really be that hard of a choice right now.
But then he didn't even know if he still had Max's friendship after the way she'd shut him out just now. He definitely didn't want to go back to being just friends—not when he knew that her mouth tasted like fruity gum and cigarettes and that her familiar vanilla scent came from her impossibly soft hair… A shiver ran down his spine at the memory of her hungry lips against his, her hands running over his scalp and tugging at his hair, the sound of her needy moans.
Now Mike knew for sure that it wasn't just some momentary hormone-induced insanity. He liked Max a lot. He thought about what it would be like to be her boyfriend. Probably pretty similar to what it was like now, except he could act on his ridiculously strong physical attraction to her. Probably pretty fucking great.
Taking a final drag of his cigarette, Mike opened the car door, stepped out and flicked the butt into the rain-filled gutter at the end of the driveway, watching it float away and disappear down the storm drain on the corner before dragging his feet toward his house. Please god let the house be empty, he thought to himself as he fumbled with his keys and stepped through the front door, pausing and listening for sounds of movement.
Fairly certain he was home free, he made his way to the kitchen, eager to raid the fridge and eat his feelings for an hour or two.
He was elbow deep in the freezer when he heard the tell-tale sound of Nancy's quick and freakishly light footsteps descending the stairs and coming down the hall, and he groaned internally as he grabbed a box of Drumstick ice creams.
"Oh, hello Mike," she said once she reached the kitchen, putting an unusual emphasis on his name. Mike straightened up slowly, turning to see her looking at him with a scrutinizing gaze.
"Hey, Nance," he sighed.
She narrowed her eyes in a way that made him feel inexplicably guilty. "How was the convention?"
"Um, good," he replied nonchalantly, opening the box and pulling out a plastic-wrapped ice cream cone before tearing open the wrapper. "It was fun."
"Oh really?" she asked, raising her eyebrows. Mike frowned. There was no way she knew, right? "Because when I got home an hour ago there was a message on the answering machine from the High Country Inn." He froze for a moment, swallowing hard as he tossed the plastic wrapper in the trashcan.
"They were calling to kindly inform Mr. Kerr that his wife left some of her hair curlers in the bathroom," she said accusingly, crossing her arms across her chest as she awaited his reply. Mike groaned, squeezing his eyes shut and pinching the bridge of his nose. He did not need this right now on top of everything.
"Do you have any idea how lucky you are that I was here to delete that?" Nancy continued when Mike didn't reply. "Mom and Dad would've kicked your ass into next week! What the hell were you thinking giving them our actual phone number?"
"I don't know, Nancy!" Mike cried, taking an angry bite of the chocolate and peanut coating on his ice cream. "I'm a fucking idiot, apparently."
She jerked her head back in surprise at his outburst before the disappointed frown reappeared on her face. "Please tell me you were with Max and not… paying for sex or something."
Mike scoffed, slightly insulted by her insinuation. "Of course I was with Max. We went to a concert. And nothing like that even happened… not last night anyway," he mumbled. Nancy pursed her lips in a way that was almost absurd and he rolled his eyes so hard he gave himself a headache.
"Oh, don't even give me that nun-in-a-whorehouse look, Nancy," he admonished her. "Like you weren't galavanting off on field trips across state lines with Jonathan when you were my age."
Nancy's jaw dropped in outrage. "That was for the purposes of exposing an evil government cover-up!" she exclaimed. "We were avenging Barb, not tripping balls and… headbanging in a mosh pit or whatever you do." Mike's shoulders slumped as he took another bite of his ice cream.
"Can we just not do this, please?" he asked, giving her his most apologetic look. "I'm too… sleep-deprived to fight right now." She glared at him for a few more seconds before her expression softened and she uncrossed her arms.
"Fine, I'll drop it," she said, leaning on the kitchen island on her elbows. "But you owe me one. And next time don't be such a bonehead."
Mike chuckled in spite of himself. "I'll try."
A smile tugged at the corner of Nancy's mouth as she looked him up and down. "So… you and Max, huh?" Mike shrugged and busied himself with eating his ice cream, face flushing at the prospect of discussing his love life with his sister.
"You know, you two actually make a lot of sense now that I think about it," she mused.
"You think so?" he asked, furrowing his brow. He didn't think anyone would have seen him and Max as a potential couple considering their history.
"Sure," Nancy smiled, tapping her fingers on the countertop. "You obviously have fun together, but she also challenges you. Plus she's headstrong and opinionated and she doesn't hesitate to put you in your place when you're being a little bitch," she teased.
Mike scoffed. "Wow, thanks Nance," he said sarcastically.
"You know it's true," she laughed as Mike silently flipped her off. "And… there's clearly chemistry," she added. "It's been glaringly obvious all those times she's been over here. You should go for it." He glanced up at her for a second before dropping his gaze back down to the counter, nibbling on the edge of his cone.
"I thought so but… now I don't know," he replied. "She kissed me."
Nancy raised her eyebrows. "Well, I'd say that's a pretty clear signal." Mike grunted and leaned back against the fridge. "Did you not want her to..?" she pressed when he didn't reply.
"No, I did," he sighed, tilting his head back and peering down his nose at his sister. "I really did."
Nancy furrowed her brow. "Well, then what's the problem?"
Mike closed his eyes, the painful stab of guilt from earlier returning in full force. "Lucas… he- he saw us." He opened his eyes in time to see Nancy wince sympathetically. "He lost his shit, Max told me to leave, end of story. Lucas totally hates me now and I have no clue what Max is thinking."
"Hmm," Nancy bit her lip and nodded thoughtfully. "Sounds familiar," she said, shooting him a wry smile. "You know Steve actually encouraged me to be with Jonathan once he saw how strongly we felt about each other?"
Mike raised an eyebrow skeptically. "Yeah, but Johnathan wasn't supposed to be Steve's best friend."
"Lucas will come around," she said gently. "He's hurt now, but deep down he wants you both to be happy. You've been in each other's lives for too long for it to just be over like that."
"I hope you're right," he sighed, stuffing the remaining tip of the cone in his mouth. He didn't know what he would do if he lost both of his best friends in the same day.
"And as for Max…" Nancy started, reaching for the box on the counter and taking the last ice cream for herself. "Jonathan and I spent so much time not being together because we were afraid of how strong our feelings for each other were." She looked Mike in the eye, a serious look on her face. "You want my advice? Don't waste time second-guessing yourself. Go get the girl."