Don't Let Me Go

Chapter 16

The car ride to Enzo's was nice. I mean were they stuck in traffic for literally ever? Yes. But Murray and Joyce talked up in the front of the car and Max and Lucas had their own conversation in the back. "I have never been to Enzo's before." Lucas said excitedly. "I have never been to the actual restaurant, but my stepdad would get it sometimes when him and my mom stayed out a little later than expected." Max said.

Lucas looked at Max as she relived the memory. She would always go out to the kitchen and grab her food and then a breadstick or two and go back to her room and eat it there because there was no way in hell she was gonna eat with Neil, Billy, and her mom. And Neil let her. Seemed like he didn't want to eat with her either. And Max was fine with that.

"What did you get?" Lucas asked. Max thought back. It was either chicken alfredo or lasagna. "Either chicken alfredo or the lasagna. Oh, and their breadsticks are to die for!" Max said. "Oh, I agree with that girl. So does- never mind." Joyce said. Her and Hopper agreed to not talk about their date to other people just so they could keep in on the down low. Lucas and Max just looked at each other.

"What were you going to say, Joyce?" Murray teased. Murray obviously knew about their date at Enzo's because Joyce told him about it. Joyce glared at Murray and looked out her window. Lucas and Max were now even more confused. But, considering the look Joyce gave Murray, they decided it was probably best to continue being confused.

After a very long car ride, they finally arrived at Enzo's. Joyce didn't say anything else for the rest of the car ride and so everyone else remained silent. She finally spoke up when they walked into the restaurant. "Hi, we have a reservation under 'Byers' but with two separate tables." she said. Max and Lucas looked at each other. Two separate tables? As if Murray could read the two teens' mind, he answered their unspoken question. 

"We got you two lovebirds a separate table. It's like your own little date but we are paying. No alcohol though." Murray said. And before either of them had time to respond, they were being swept off into another direction, towards a smaller room. 

When they walked into the room and were amazed. The room was very dimly lit and had candles everywhere. There were only a few other couples in there, much older than the two sixteen-year-olds. They got a weird look here and a sweet smile there. They were sat down and given "wine" and breadsticks with olive oil to dip them into. 

"Try the breadsticks." Max told Lucas. Lucas dipped one into the olive oil and took a bite and oh god Max was not kidding. Those things were amazing. Lucas let out a soft groan of satisfaction. "Max those are amazing." he said. "Told you so." she replied as she smiled at him. "You look so pretty, babe." Lucas said. Max tried not to blush. Like really hard. It didn't work. 

"Thank you." she said shyly. Lucas loved getting to see this softer, more vulnerable side of Max. He was the only one who got to see it because only Lucas could bring it out in her. They just smiled at each other until Max finally spoke up. "So, what are you going to get?" she asked. "Well, I was thinking, we could get both of your favorites, the chicken alfredo and lasagna, and share." Lucas said. 

Max actually liked that idea. She didn't know what she would order because it had been so long since she had last had Enzo's and she hadn't had either in almost a year and a half. "I like that idea." Max said with a smile.

So, when the waiter came to take their order, they already knew and were ready to go. No fancy names that were difficult to say. Just three words. "Chicken Alfredo" and "lasagna." Max and Lucas loved this. They were by themselves, able to have any conversation they wanted.

"Are you feeling better?" Lucas asked. He was starting a difficult conversation. But it was necessary. "Yeah, I feel a lot better. I don't know what was wrong with me the other night, but I feel so much better." she said, unaware of what Lucas was about to bring up. "That's good. But um, there is something we need to talk about. Something we can't act like isn't going on." he said.

Max's stomach dropped. What could he be talking about? Was he breaking up with her? "Are you breaking up with me?" Max blurted out before she could stop herself. "What? Hell no! Never!" Lucas said. "It's um..." Lucas said, trying to find the right words.

"It's about what's happening in Hawkins." he said. Max's stomach dropped about seven floors when he said that. She didn't want to think about it. Why is he bringing it up here? They are in public for Pete's sake! "Lucas we shouldn't be talking about this here." Max said in a hushed voice.

Oh, shit Lucas hadn't thought about that. "I was just gonna say that this is what it would be like if we got married and stuff. We could go on dates all the time, leave our kids with Steve so he can babysit. Of course, we would give him specific instructions to not take them into alternate dimensions or fight monsters from those alternate dimensions. We can live like this for the rest of our lives. But first, we are gonna have to go back to Hawkins to defeat Vecna. But we don't have to talk about that right now. We can talk about how many kids we want and our futures." Lucas said.

Max was smiling so wide. She always wanted to talk about her future with Lucas, but she never wanted to bring it up because that is just not a Max thing to do. So, that's what they did. That whole night they talked about what they would want their wedding to be, what they would want to name their kids, how many kids they wanted, and stuff like that. And of course, they ate their amazing food. It was the best night Max and Lucas had had so far in Illinois. And they planned to remember it for the rest of their lives.