talk too much | max mayfield

40. oh my god

OH MY GOD

✧･ﾟ: * Nora and Max walk awkwardly beside each other at the back of the group as they listen to Steve and Dustin bicker annoyingly at the front. Nancy and Robin are in their own world behind them, and Lucas is just behind those two.

"I don't always talk about her," Nora feels the need to say as she thinks about the Annie Cunningham incident. "And Lucas and I didn't really make out."

"Hm," Max hums back, moving to turn up the volume on her Walkman, but the headphones are still around her neck so the music just leaks out.

"Are you mad at me?" Nora is not letting the redhead off the hook that easily.

"No. Why would I be mad that you've made out with two people multiple times less than three months since we stopped seeing each other?" Max asks rhetorically, turning her head to the girl beside her.

"Lucas and I only made out once-" Nora looks back.

"I thought you two didn't really make out?"

"That's- that's what I meant."

"Hm," Max simply turns her head away again and Nora mentally kicks herself.

"Okay, well, you didn't exactly make it easy for me to get over you otherwise," Nora also looks away, thinking any further attempt at a conversation would be futile.

"What?" Max proves her suspicions wrong.

"I mean- you said you needed some space. . . so, I gave you space, but it was like- like every other day you come back and we would have a conversation or hang out like nothing even changed, and then, after, like, an hour or two of being together, you would completely shut off, and- well- you wouldn't let me in, and then we'd go back to normal again and it was this stupid, annoying cycle, and I didn't make out with them - or- whatever I did with Lucas - because I was into them, it was because I was too into you and I didn't know what to do about it, and I know it was weird and stupid and annoying of me, but I think you breaking up with me effected me more than you think it did, and, like, I'm so sorry.

"I'm sorry that I just gave up on you, and that I stopped trying because I thought you weren't trying hard enough, but obviously you were doing your best and I'm just such an idiot right now-"

Nora freezes as a pair of lips press against her own for no more than two seconds.

She thinks she must be imagining things, but as she looks over at Max's face looking straight ahead yet turning vaguely red, Nora can't help but feel a smile grow on her face.

"Hey, Harrington?" Max doesn't take her eyes away from the back of Lucas' head as if it's the most interesting thing in the world, yet still addresses Nora.

"Yeah, Mayfield?"

"You talk too much."

And Nora grins all the way to Skull Rock.

—

✧･ﾟ: * "Oh, I have never been so happy to see your little face, mini Harrington," Nora hears Eddie's voice behind her as the group walks into the clearing.

She turns around just in time to be engulfed in a hug, not quite as suffocating as the one she shared with Annie not too long ago.

"Here, here," she pulled away a bit about to reach into the abnormally large pockets of Lucas' jacket before just shrugging the whole thing off completely to allow Eddie to search through the crevices for the snacks she'd brought for him.

He takes what he can grab as everyone gathers around him to allow him to explain everything that's happened on his end, and Nora has to physically refrain from swooning as Max gives her her own denim jacket.

"When I got to the shore, I tried calling you guys," Eddie explains after going through the whole situation of how Patrick died. "But, uh. . . my walkie was busted, man. Drenched. So, uh, I did the thing I do now, apparently. I ran," he chuckles humorlessly.

"Do you know what time this was?" Nancy asks. "The attack?"

"Yeah, no. I. . . I know exactly what time it was," Eddie fumbles with his wristwatch. "My walkie wasn't the only thing that got soaked.

Nancy catches the device as he tosses it and nods. "9:27."

"Same time our flashlights went kablooey," Robin nods along.

"Which means what, exactly?" Steve asks for clarification.

"That the surge of energy was Vecna attacking Patrick," Nancy replies.

"Well, we're one step closer," Robin tries the optimism thing. "We know how Vecna attacks."

"And where he attacks from," Lucas states.

"So, now we just need to sneak into his lair in the Upside Down and drive a stake through his heart," Max shrugs.

"If he even has a heart," Robin says.

"A stake?" Steve looks confused. "Is he like a vamp-? Is he a vampire?"

"It was an analogy," Nora clarifies for her older brother, hoping he catches the condescending tone.

He does and rolls his eyes at her.

"A bullet should work on him, right?" Eddie gives his own input.

"I say we chop his head off," Lucas shrugs.

"Yeah, I'd say all of the above, but we can't do that until we find a way into the upside down," Nancy states.

"We need El to get her powers back," Max says exasperatedly.

"Yeah everything was, like, way easier. We had this girl," Steve turns to Eddie now. "She had superpowers."

"Superpowers," Eddie says in recognition. "Yeah, you mentioned her. Hey, uh," he looks over to Dustin behind the group. "Henderson's not cursed is he?"

"Cursed?" Steve repeats. "Nah, he's fine. Mental? Absolutely."

"BOOM!" Dustin shouts suddenly, the sound echoing through the trees. He then points an accusatory finger at Steve. "Bada. . . bada. . . boom."

a/n:
do we like the jacket symbolism or am i doing too much also 👩‍❤️‍💋‍👩 👩‍❤️‍💋‍👩 👩‍❤️‍💋‍👩