the girl in the woods ... // elmax

chp 2

Max led the girl through the forest until she arrived at an old cabin which she didn't even know was there. Max had just hoped that she wasn't leading the girl into darkness. Surprisingly, when the red-headed girl pushed the door open, it was unlocked.

Max flicked the flashlight a couple of times. It wasn't like there was any cobwebs or anything, just a lot of dust and unpacked boxes. It was like someone used to live here. She frowned as she tried to flick on the lights. They obviously didn't work, so lamps or something would be better.

Stepping forward, she pointed towards the kitchen and motioned for the girl to follow her. Max twisted the knob, and surprisingly, the water in the sink still worked. She set the flashlight on the counter and cupped a bit into her palms. It didn't look dirty, as far as she could tell.

"Here," Max said, offering to grab the girl's wrist. When she reluctantly obliged, Max showed her the handle. "You just turn it left for hot water."

As the girl started testing the sink, Max began to think. Where had the girl even come from? And what was she doing out in the woods? Especially alone?

"C-cold," Max heard, and that snapped her attention back.

"The water's cold?" She asked the girl. She nodded slowly, her body shaking slightly as she drew one of her hands away from the faucet. Max stepped forward to it and examined the sink before realizing the knob was turned in the wrong direction. "Oh. No, uh, you see--" the red-headed girl set her hand on the other girl's. "This is right." 

She gently turned the knob the opposite direction. "This is left. Left is warm."

"Oh," the girl said slowly. She shivered slightly as Max began to realize that her lips looked slightly blue. Max pressed hers together as she thought to herself. She couldn't exactly go home, but she couldn't just dip out of the school year as well unless she had a good reason. Max brushed a wet strand of hair out of her face. She'd have to think about that later.

"Better?" Max asked the girl. She nodded and Max slowly removed her hand from the knob to turn it off. "You can look for a bed, and I'll see if there's anything you can eat, or something." The girl nodded again, this time less reluctant, and set off into the cabin's rooms. 

Max turned the faucet on again and cupped a bit of warm water into her palms and rubbed them against her arms, eventually hugging herself after turning the sink off. It wasn't like Max was hungry, but the girl needed something to eat. She tugged the fridge door open and checked the freezer as well. There was a box of Eggos that looked fairly new, so that hopefully meant someone checked up on this place once a while.

Max grabbed a glass and filled it up with tap water and grabbed a towel from the bathroom and started searching for the girl. She eventually found her sitting on the side of a bed, hugging her knees to her chest. Max handed the towel to her and placed the glass on the nightstand.

"Can I--?" Max started, but she didn't need to. The girl tugged on her wrist gently, and the red-headed girl felt her face warming. "You sure?" She asked again, and the girl nodded. Max carefully stared at her for a while, and she felt the same heat rising to her cheeks again. She hadn't noticed how much the girl's eyes resembled doe eyes.

The red-headed girl's gaze slowly flickered to the girl's wrist again. 011. 

"What does that mean?" Max asked cautiously, and the girl pointed to herself. "Eleven?" Max questioned, and she nodded. "That's... you?" 

When she nodded again, Max fought back the urge to ask why anyone would name their child after a number, and especially why that number was tattooed on their skin. "My name is Max," she told Eleven instead. "I'll see you in the morning... okay?"

Eleven nodded. "Night.. El," the red-headed girl decided as she pulled the covers over her, facing the girl she had just met in the woods on the same bed that she was. 

"Night, Max," Eleven murmured, and Max felt another blush rising to her face when hearing the girl say her name. It wasn't like there was anything special about it, just... her name. Being spoken by her  voice. She said it softly, as if words could be gentle, or something. 

Max shook her head as she stared at the girl lying in front of her as she slept. This was stupid. She was probably overthinking too much.

Maybe sleeping away from home wasn't that bad... especially if it was with Eleven, whoever she was.

~

Max woke up to the feeling of sunshine rising from the windows. She groggily sat up and rubbed her eyelids, eventually putting her hand on the opposite side of the bed, expecting to feel the arm of the other girl's.

"El?" Max asked, still half asleep. She froze and cleared her vision. Eleven wasn't on the bed. 

"El!" Max shouted, getting up and stumbling across the cabin. "El-" She paused, seeing the girl from last night standing in front of the sink, probably startled. "Oh. Sorry," Max mumbled, slightly embarrassed and worried, lowering her voice to try and be softer. "Did I scare you?"

Eleven shook her head, but she still looked afraid. Max looked over and saw that the box of Eggos was already opened, and one had already been taken out. Max thought about telling El that she was supposed to cook them, but she remembered that they probably didn't have a toaster.

"After breakfast, do you wanna go to the Arcade with me?" Max offered, studying the girl carefully for her reaction. "We can see if anyone might know you, and if they don't, we can just... have fun."

Eleven paused, halfway through taking another Eggo out of the box. "A-arcade... fun?"

"Yeah!" Max exclaimed. She wondered if Eleven was like one of those girls who weren't able to go outside, or socialize, or whatever. That would make finding her family harder. "What do you do for fun?"

The girl paused and fiddled with the waffle in her hands. "Rainbow room," she murmured. 

Max furrowed her eyebrows and shrugged to herself. That had to be a playroom or something. "Uh, I have a rainbow blanket in my room," Max started, smiling at Eleven. Used to, she mentally corrected herself. "I can show you it if you want." 

If I'm ever able to go back home.

Eleven smiled back softly, nibbling off a small piece of the waffle. Max immediately felt herself smiling uncontrollably harder. "Smiling looks good on you," she admitted, and immediately froze out of embarrassment. She could feel her face reddening as she forced her eyes down to the table and started fiddling with her hair.

"Do you think you can go... outside?" Max asked, eventually hooking her finger on a strand and playing with it slightly. Her eyes flickered upwards as she saw another smile tugging on Eleven's lips, but it soon faded.

"No," Eleven whispered, finishing half of the Eggo. "Bad men."

"Bad men are... looking for you?" Max guessed, letting go of her hair and staring at El from across the table. 

Eleven reached a hand out and leaned over the table, pressing a gun-shaped hand to Max's forehead and eventually pressing it to her own temple. 

"Oh," Max mumbled, feeling her body go cold. She stared at the spot on the table where Eleven rested her hand, and she eventually reached out slowly and grabbed it. "Come on," Max said, smiling. "We can have fun here. Okay?"