I DO NOT OWN STRANGER THINGS. SHOUTOUT TO EVERYONE WHO STILL GIVES A DAMN ABOUT THIS STORY.
Hawkins Middle School. Hawkins, Indiana. Later that day.
The day had gone from strange to stranger as Will confirmed that Dart was in fact from the Upside Down. To make matters even worse, he had gotten bigger and more mobile with the addition of 2 extra legs. The party had chased him through the halls of Hawkins Middle School and now Dart had somehow managed to give the kids the slip. Eventually, Mike tried to look in the gum for the missing demo poly wog, but ended up running into Mad Max in the boy's locker room. With no one else around, Mike could feel the tension in the air and he did not need to deal with that shit at the moment.
"What the hell are you doing?" He asked in annoyance. "What are you doing? Why are you in here?"
"Looking for Dart." Max pointed out as the obvious reason that it was.
"This is the boys' room." Mike pointed out in return.
"Yeah, so?" Max asked as Mike knew that he had to remove himself from the situation.
"So you should go home." He said in frustration as he raced out of the boy's locker room with an equally frustrated.
"Why do you hate me so much?" She asked as Mike turned around.
"I don't hate you, but things would be a lot easier if I did." He pointed out.
"You don't want me in your party." Max shot back.
"Correct." Mike replied coldly.
"Why not, just tell me why the fuck not?" Max asked angrily as she shoved Mike, making him lose self control. He grabbed Max and pinned her to the gym wall.
"Because I can't...stop thinking about you." Mike growled as he looked deep into Max's eyes.
"You want me Mike...ADMIT IT!" Max screamed in his face as he held her wrists tightly.
"Is that what you need me to say, FINE, I WANT YOU!" Mike shouted back as he pressed his forehead to Max's. "Every day when I see you in class, every night when I go to sleep. I think about you; talking to you, playing arcade games with you...kissing you. I'm forgetting about El more and more every day, and the most fucked up part is...I don't even mind."
"Mike, I really like you and I don't want to share you with a girl who moved away or...died, or whatever happened to her." Max said as she removed Mike's hands from her wrists and held them in her own. "I want to date you and I don't want to have to compete with El."
"I know Max, but..." he started to say before Max put a finger to his lips.
"No buts Wheeler, there's only room for 2 of us in this relationship." She insisted as she slowly removed her finger from Mike's lips. "I want you to like me, not me and El. If you and I are going to be boyfriend and girlfriend, then I want to be the only girls that you care about. If you want me, you need to let El go...can you do that for me?" Mike had to think long and hard before he gave Max his answer.
He wanted to claim Max as his girlfriend and he knew that if he didn't do it soon, she would probably find another boy who wouldn't wait at all to make her the center of his world. Mike would be kicking his own ass for a long time if he let an awesome girl like Max slip through his fingers. He felt as though he had a winning lotto ticket in his hand, but his feelings for El kept him from cashing it in.
El had been his first love ever. The first girl he had ever felt strongly about, the first girl he had ever kissed. Mike had held out hope for so long that maybe she was still alive out there in the Upside Down. But maybe that was just him not wanting to lose what he had. Mike realized that if El was truly alive, she would have reached out to him telepathically; even if she couldn't get back to him. She had not done so and the reason was clear: El was gone and everyone else had moved on. It was time for Mike to do the same. Max was his fresh start and by God, he was going to take it.
"Yes Max...I can do that." Mike insisted as he reached out and gently stroked her freckle marked cheek. "El's gone and she's not coming back. I'm ready to accept that because we have something real here and I don't want to give it up for a memory. I'm ready to put El in the past because you are my future Max Mayfield."
"Promise?" Max asked tenderly as she pressed Mike's hand to her cheek. She hated being vulnerable in front of anyone, but she couldn't help it with Mike. He knew how to make her feel safe; which was a skill that the rest of her family sorely lacked.
"Promise." Mike said without hesitation as he leaned in and kissed the girl passionately as she wrapped her arms around the boy and pulled her closer to him as their lips meshed.
"So...does this mean I'm your boyfriend now?" Mike asked as he broke the kiss; only for Max to roll her eyes.
"No, I just like kissing random guys for kicks." Max answered with sarcasm dripping off her tongue as she planted a kiss on Mike's cheek. "Of course you're my boyfriend." Mike smiled as the 2 continued kissing feverishly; the search for Dart long forgotten.
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