CVIII

Max's shoulders relax. "Come here," she murmurs with all the delicacy she is capable of, gently pulling her friend towards her until she can wrap her in her arms. "El…"

Overwhelmed by the difficult admission she just made out loud, Eleven bursts into tears. "He… He could… He should have—"

"Yeah," Max agrees, stroking her back gently, aware of the wetness on her shoulder and Eleven's every tremor. "He should have defended you."

"It's… silly, I guess," she sobs. "If you stop to think about it…"

"Silly?" Max moves away from her and takes her by the shoulders to look into her eyes. "No, El, it's not silly, why would it be?"

"I… I'm different," she reminds her. "I can… do things… I could have—"

"The fact that you haven't used your powers to hurt another person only speaks well of you," Max replies. "That's separate from Mike's decision to do nothing when you needed him to."

Max knows she's right. And that, precisely because of that, Eleven is suffering.

The word that leaves her lips is the least expected, however: "Henry…"

"I had a nice time."

The comment doesn't surprise him: he assumes that an evening in which a man she considers handsome invites her to dinner and during which she can badmouth her favorite victim for hours is indeed a nice night for the kind of vermin that Angela is.

"Is that so? I'm glad to hear that."

And then, Henry smiles at her; he can clearly see Angela's pupils dilating as she looks at him.

"If you're not in a hurry," he finally says, "I'd like to show you something."

Her affected smile is not at all like Eleven's.

Max is definitely out of her depth. "You want me to call Henry? Because if it's that so, just tell me and I—"

"No." Eleven takes a deep breath and closes her eyes, obviously trying to calm herself. "I'll… be fine."

She's silent for a few moments to show her that she respects her decision.

During that time, however, she can't help but think about Henry.

It is…

"… always Henry."

Eleven opens her eyes and looks at her with a confused expression. That's better: Max can't deal with desperate; confused, on the other hand…

Oh, she can help with that.

"Oooh, where does it lead?"

The path Angela refers to loses itself among the trees; it is not some park, however…

… but the woods.

Henry smiles at her again. "Wouldn't you like to find out with me?"

Angela giggles and nods.

"Always… Henry? What do you mean?" Eleven asks her.

Max purses her lips; Eleven knows that it is a habitual gesture for her that indicates her great effort to choose the right words.

Finally, she looks at her and begins: "Two years ago… I think? Yes, it was when Mom and Neil got divorced…"

It takes Eleven a moment to remember.

And then…

"There's something I want to tell you," she murmurs. "But I'm afraid to do it… with a mind reader so close, if you know what I mean."

(…)

"I won't say anything else for now. And besides, I think it will soon be time to sleep. So… I'll tell you another day."