Broken Hearts ~ Stranger Things s4 fanfic (DISCONTINUED)

Lashing out

~Max~

I woke up the next morning, finding everyone was already in my room. Will and Mike were awkwardly talking while sitting on the floor in one of the corners in a room. El and Amira were chatting over a game of cards although Amira looked bored. Dustin and Lucas were sitting by themselves on opposite ends of the room. Dustins eyes seemed to be red like he had been crying the night before. Lucas on the other hand wasn't showing any emotion at all as he stared into space. Stan was reading a book on one of the chairs while Kurt looked through a magizine, seemingly happy to be in his company.

I got up from my bed, walking over to the girls. "Good morning, ladies." I said groggily. They greeted me as I sat down on the floor with them. "Anything new in school?" I asked, sighing. They were allowed to visit me as long as they went to the first few classes so I relied on them to tell me the school gossip and whatnot. "The newspaper is still being talked about, if that's what you're asking." Eleven said cautiously.  I nodded, knowing it would still be popular. "It' fine, I really don't care." I told them, smiling. Amira nodded before frowning slightly, getting lost in thought. I let her think while I grabbed some cards, joining in with El. "What're we playing?" I asked. "Some game Amira plays in British. It's called snap." She replied. I raised my eyebrows in a playful manner. "Seems fun, explain the rules to me." I told her.

She tried her best to explain the rules from memory before Amira came back to reality, correcting El. "Ah, thanks." El said to her. She shrugged her shoulder before getting up and making an excuse to leave. I watched her walk over to Stan, grab him by the ear and pull him out of the room. Someone's in trouble. 

I looked around the room to see what everyone was doing. I then spotted Lucas walking towards me. "Lucas! Hey!" I called out to him, smiling. "Can we talk?" I asked, standing up. I never got a chance to apologise to Lucas. Now's the time to do it, before I forget. He nodded once before following me outside the room. "What's up?" He asked. "Well I wanted to say how sorry I am." I told him, not really knowing how to begin. He raised a brow, seemingly confused. "For the uh- dating to be straight.. then lying about it and being in love with El.." I muttered. I looked down at my shoes expecting him not to forgive me when he let out a laugh. "It's fine, don't worry about it. Actually because of that, I sort of realised some stuff about myself." He said, chuckling. I looked up in surprise. 

Studying his face, I noticed he had bags under his eyes and his eyes were bloodshot. "Are you okay?" I asked, worried. "I'm fine. I just.. went through something yesterday." He said quickly. "Anyways I forgive you, so can we be friends again?" He let out quickly, trying to change the subject. "Oh yeah.. totally!" I exclaimed, smiling. He smiled at me before we both walked back into the room. "I'm gonna go play that cool card game with El." He whispered, leaving me. I shrugged, following him back to the cards. We both sat down and picked up the cards left on the ground. El explained the rules to Lucas who unlike me, quickly understood and we started playing.

~Amira~

I pulled Stan outside by the ear. "Ow ow ow!" He yelled. "Can you let go?" He said, shoving me off him. "What is your problem?" I asked, frowning. "My problem? You pulled me out here with no explanation!" He replied. "Just follow me." I told him, leading us around a corner so nobody would hear. Just in case I was wrong about my hunch. "So?" He asked, crossing his arms. "We're the only ones in the photography club, right?" I asked. "Well somebody's joining in a few weeks.. but right now, yeah." He replied. "What is this about?" He asked, raising a brow. I was right. I had to be.

Only us two are in the club. Only we have access to developing pictures. Which means that Stan published the newspaper about Max. "You bitch!" I shouted at him. "What? You're a bitch!" He replied, as per his usual response. "You published it!" I shouted at him. "Published what?" He asked, really confused. "Oh don't play innocent! You published about Max and outed her!" I shouted. "The newspaper? This is about the newspaper?" He asked, his eyes widening. I nodded, my frown deepening. "I didn't publish that!" He  protested. "Well then who did? I wouldn't have done that !" I shouted. "I wouldn't out someone either! I'm literally gay!" He complained. "You're the only person who could've done it!" I accused. "Why's that?" He asked. 

"Because you-.."I started not finishing. Why would he publish it? There's no reason to why he would do it. Unless he hated her. "You never did like her, did you?" I asked, calming down a bit. "What?" He shouted. "So you think I outed her on the newspaper.. Because I don't like her?" He shouted. "I don't know! Why did you publish it?" I asked. "I didn't!" He shouted back. "You did!" "Did not!" "Did!" "Not!" We shouted at each other, repeating over and over. "Can we stop bickering like children?" He shouted, stopping the cycle. "It's not my fault you are a child!" I shouted at him. "Why do you believe her over me, your best friend!" He shouted at me. 

"She doesn't know yet, I just found out! It's obvious!" I shouted back to him. His eyes widened as he stepped back. "So you believe a 'gut feeling' over me?" He asked me quietly. I shrugged, tears starting to form in my eyes. "We've been friends for 10 years, Amira. Why won't you believe me?" He asked.  I could hear how hurt he was from his voice. It made me feel so guilty but I couldn't admit I was wrong. I don't even know if I was wrong. "You only fucking think it's me because you're so in love with her." He stated. "That's not true! I-" I complained before he spoke over me. "I can't believe you right now." He looked down. "You've met this girl what? Two days?" He asked. "So what? I've gotten to see how great she is!" I protested. "No! Fuck you! You're so desperate for affection that you like a girl you've known less than a week!" He shouted at me. "It's not my fault I like her I just-!" I tried to protest but he shouted over me again. "You blame all your problems on your fucking abusive parents!" He shouted. 

"At least I have parents!" I snapped before instantly regretting it. I felt my heart drop. Shit. I covered my mouth with a hand, stepping back. "Stan, I'm sorry I just-" I tried to plead but he stopped me. "Fuck you! Fuck you and Max! Everyone can fuck themself!" He shouted. Tears streamed down his cheeks as he lingered there for a second before turning away and running off. 

I fell to my knees, sobbing into my hand. I might have just lost my closest friend over the dumbest thing. I hurt him. Seeing him hurt, hurts me. I hurt the person I cared about most in the world. He was always there for me, supporting me. Just being there as my best friend was enough for me. And now I could've just ruined our ten year friendship over nothing.