(3) Till Death Do Us Part (Max Mayfield/ (Fem) You)

-Chapter 18: Phases-

We all walk around the Creel house with our blue lanterns. I'm upstairs in a room when I hear someone walking in. I see Max enter, looking at me and writing on her notebook.

Erica found him.

I nod, following her down to where Lucas and Erica are standing already, looking at the brightened light of her lantern. We watch the pulsing lantern before Max walks forward and her own lantern begins glowing brighter too. I look at Erica as she writes on her notepad.

Phase one?

I nod at her, watching as she heads out to her place before I look at Lucas. I take Max's hand, pulling her to the window where we sit, waiting for Erica to signal for phase one to start. I'm sitting opposite Max on the couches while Lucas stands by the window, looking outside at his sister. He may not admit it, but he cares about her. They're family after all.

I watch as Max's head bobs slightly to the music as I hear the faint sound of 'Running up that hill' playing. I see her look at me for a while, just staring at me before I feel myself flush. Luckily, it's too dark for her to see it. I raise an eyebrow, waving my hand in her face before she snaps back into reality and she smiles sheepishly before she glances down at her notepad and picks it up. She uncaps the pen and scribbles something down on the paper before holding it up for me to read.

Hi

I grin, taking my own notepad and scribbling on it.

Hi :)

She smiles at it, looking back down to write on her own notepad again as I watch. I admire how the blue light paints a blue hue over the whole room and her face. The opposite to her fiery red hair.

I'm glad you're here.

My heart flutters at that before I write to respond.

Me too. I'll always be here.

She smiles, looking down bashfully before I decide to write on my notepad again. After all this, I've never stopped caring about her. I hope after this, she'll be willing to try again. Now, she knows we're in this together.

Catch a movie on friday?

She quirks an eyebrow before smiling to herself. She scribbles on her notepad as I wait for a response, holding my breath.

Is this a date?

I shrug as a response before she writes again.

It's a date.

She writes with a small drawing of us on cinema seats, sharing popcorn. I grin, nodding at her as we stare at each other's eyes. I scoot to her couch, sitting next to her instead of opposite now as I grin at her. I take her hand, making her draw on the drawing. This time, I connect the hands of our two figures on the paper, making them hold hands. She smiles at me, taking my hand in real life before tugging my closer and looking into my eyes.

I grin, tilting my head slightly before I catch her eyes darting down to my lips for a mere second before back up to my eyes. We stay like that for a minute before she takes a deep breath, as if deciding something, and leaning forward to peck my lips lightly in a lingering kiss. It's been a while since I felt her lips on mine and my head starts clouding in happiness at the familiar feeling. I cup her jaw with one hand, feeling hers rest behind my head before we pull away. She grins at me, covering her face to hide her smile as I grin back at her.

That's when a flashing light is seen and I look at Lucas who is looking out the window. Erica's shining her flashlight into the house. It's the signal. Phase one. Lucas lifts his own flashlight and flashes it back out, telling Erica that we're ready and that Max will move into phase two....distracting Vecna.