Cherry Wine| Max Mayfield

.nineteen| 𝐏𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐦𝐞

"Clove, stop pacing!" Dustin yelled at her violently.

"How can I not pace? Did you not just see that!" she yelled back after what just happened with her girlfriend. Their voices were twice as loud in the school hallways, bouncing off the metal lockers.

"Both of you, shut up!" Max shined her flashlight on them before turning back to the end of the hallway. "It was here. Right here."

"A grandfather clock?" Nancy questioned her.

"It was so real." Max's voice broke some, Clove frowned as she listened to her. "And then, when I got closer, suddenly I just...I woke up."

"We believe you." the blonde reassured her.

"It was like she was in a trance or something." Dustin looked around. "Exactly what Eddie said happened to Chrissy."

Clove went back to pacing.

"That's not even the bad part." Max turned around to look at them.

"Fred and Chrissy, they both came to Miss Kelley for help." Max spoke as they all looked down at the files. "They both were having headaches, bad headaches that wouldn't go away. And then...then the nightmares. Trouble sleeping. They'd wake up in a cold sweat. And then they started seeing things. Bad things. From their past. And these visions, they just...they kept on getting worse and worse, until eventually...everything ended."

Clove wrapped her arms around her waist from behind and leaned her head on her shoulder, hoping her warmth would provide at least an ounce of support and comfort.

"Vecna's curse." Robin nodded.

"Chrissy's headaches started a week ago." Max pointed out. "Fred's six days ago. I've been having them for five days."

Clove kept it together for Max's sake, but deep down she wanted to cry, wanted to scream, wanting to hurt something or someone. She was lost between angry and sadness. She knew what happened to Chrissy and Fred, she knew it perfectly. She hadn't even been very close with either of them and the way they died still hurt. This was her girlfriend. The same girl that stuck with her through out her year of insecurities when she questioned if Max even wanted to be with her. The same girl that didn't give up on her despite deserving it at times, because she understood that deep down she was doing it for Max to leave her, because she thought she deserved better. Clove would never get someone like Max, no one would ever do that. She'd never love anyone the way she did her.

"I don't know how long I have. All I know is that, for Fred and Chrissy, they both died less than 24 hours after their first vision." Max's voice broke as she tossed her hand around slightly. "And I just saw that goddam clock, so.. looks like i'm gonna die tomorrow."

Clove shoved her head into Max's neck more as she shut her eyes. The sound of one of the doors opening got all of their attention. Clove leaned off Max some, wrapping an arm around her shoulders as they followed Steve toward the hallway. He gripped a lamp, yanking it back as a figure ran around the corner.