Here With Me

The night breeze was chilling to Max's exposed skin, and the sound of a thousand crickets was nearly deafening in this silence. Warmth from Lucas's hand was the only thing keeping Max from wandering off. It's only been a few weeks since she was cleared by her outpatient doctors, and she still hasn't been able to cope with her sudden blindness. Her life was a tragedy, but she didn't think it could be this tragic. She intertwined her fingers with Lucas's and held tighter on his hand, then she stopped walking, causing Lucas to stop as well.

"You okay?" He asked softly.

"Fine, just..." She felt herself bite lightly on her lower lip. "How bad is it out there?"

Lucas looked out over the hill they were standing on and let out a sigh. "Well, Hawkins is definitely not the same as it was. When the thing with Vecna was over, I guess he got all he needed to rip open our town."

Max felt her body begin to tremble, not because of the breeze, but because of the immense guilt. Someone else had to die in her place. So was it all useless? She didn't need to have her limbs broken or her sight taken away? She soon felt something small and wet slowly trail down her cheeks. Tears.

"Hey, hey, it's okay," Lucas said gently and his warm hand came up to wipe away the tears. "Don't blame yourself. We had no idea this would happen. We had a good plan, it just...didn't work out, that's all, okay? This wasn't for nothing."

"It kind of is if we were trying to save our damn town," Max argued, her voice tight. "I-I should've died if what I did didn't do anything!"

Silence again. She huffed and turned her head to her left side, and she slipped her hand out of Lucas's. "You know I'm right."

"No, don't say stuff like that, Max," He murmured. "Please don't, I was so scared. I thought you were gonna die. Imagine if you did— Imagine how I'd feel. Don't you know how much that would destroy me??"

Max sniffed quietly and crossed her arms. He had a point. It would be selfish of her to wish that she had died. She'd had left all the people in her life behind like how Billy did. She didn't want to be like him. She turned her head toward the direction of Lucas, a frown still on her face.

"You're right, I'm...I'm sorry," She said softly. "I guess I'm still not thinking straight. Everything is just so..."

"Shit?"

"Yeah," She felt herself smile, but it wasn't a happy one. Her face felt so weighted. She eventually uncrossed her arms and reached out to feel Lucas. He guided her closer to him and then she wrapped her arms around his torso. He was warm. Max felt herself relax as she rested her head on his shoulder. His hand soon came up to rub her upper back and she allowed herself to smile again.

"Your heart's beating fast..."

Lucas scoffed playfully. "No it's not," He replied. "Just cause your hearing is enhanced now doesn't mean you can hear everything."

"I don't hear it, I feel it, smartass," She chuckled.

He let out a defeated sigh and nodded. "Okay, you got me, it's beating fast, but only because I've got the most beautiful girl in the entire world right in front of me."

She felt her cheeks flush and she shook her head. She still remembers what she looks like, and beautiful is not how she'd describe herself. Somehow though, after all this time, Lucas still thought that of her. It's...sweet. She nestled her face towards his chest now.

"You're a good person," She whispered to him.

"You're an even better one," He returned. "If we can just make it through this, I'll make sure that you never have to go through anything like that again. I swear."

"Promises, promises," Max chuckled weakly.

"Are you feeling alright now?" He asked, shifting his arms so he was holding her shoulders instead of her back.

"I'm fine," She quickly replied. "I just..."

"Yeah?"

"I just wish that..."

Lucas frowned now, not knowing what she was about to go on about. "Do you wanna talk about it?"

"Not really," She shook her head.

"You don't have to if you don't want to," He said, a pained expression on his face.

"No," Max replied. "I do, I just don't know where to start, I guess." She let out a steadying breath before continuing. "I guess...I wanted to say that I'm sorry. For everything. Avoiding you, being a ghost, not talking..."

Lucas shook his head. "We're past that. You don't have to apologize. I'm sorry too, you know. I never reached out after...well, you know. And when I did reach out, it was already too late. So, I'm sorry."

They shared a brief silence as they took in each other's apologies. It was long overdue, but that didn't matter now. Not to Max at least. She's already forgiven him since they reconnected, but she just needed Lucas to know she's sorry too.

Her pulse began to quicken a little when she felt Lucas tuck some loose strands of hair behind her ear. He then cupped her face in both of his hands and he leaned in to kiss her softly. It's been awhile since either of them had kissed. This was also long overdue. She closed her eyes though it made no difference, and kissed him back. It only lasted for a few long seconds and then they parted with Lucas resting his head against hers.

"Look, Max, I have no idea how this Upside Down shit is going to end, but..." He trailed off, his bath hitching nervously. "But I just wanted to tell you that I—I love you."

Max's stomach started to do flips. She should've expected such a confession after all that's happened but it was still a surprise. She felt herself become hung up on her words and she couldn't speak out anything. The shock of it all soon died down, and she let her hands roam up to Lucas's face to hold.

"...I love you too," She then bit her lip which started to tremble a little. "I wish I could see you."

Lucas wore a pained smile as he gazed at her. "Me too, but that doesn't change how I feel about you. Blind or not, you're still Max, and I love you," He said and shortly after, he kissed her forehead. "Why don't we head back now?"