Stranger Things What Ifs

Chapter Nineteen

What if....Max clinged onto Lucas after escaping Vecna entirely? (Fluff and Angst)

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And if I only could

Make a deal with god

And I'd get him to swap our places

Be running up that road

Be running up that hill

Be running up the building

The same song that Max has been blasting in her ears almost constantly. She knows she doesn't have to anymore, everything is finally over after all of these years. Vecna is dead, she is out of her coma, she healed, bones and eyes and she is safe, in a hotel about to leave the evil town that she still calls it so even though it isn't the case anymore.

Despite it being over she still feels a need to play the song loud in her ears, her not even able to sleep even though it is two in the morning. Max just paces around her room, her hugging herself from the cold and also the antsy bothering feeling she has and her scratching her skin from the material of the shirt Eleven gave to her.

She knows she doesn't have to be alone, each one of them assured her of that but Max assured them back that she would be fine, because she doesn't want to be a burden, she knows she would keep the others up at night if she slept with them because Max is wide awake, and she doesn't see herself actually getting a peaceful sleep for a very long time.

The threat might be gone, but the trauma is only just beginning.

Max knows that, and the more she paces around her room the more she hugs herself tighter and fights back the tears, the more she hugs herself the more she realizes that she just wants to be warm, the cool air of the AC fanning around the room not helping her situation. She knows she can turn it off but she refuses, wanting the cool air to keep herself awake.

Max looks towards the door when she hears a soft knock on it, not knowing why her heart begins to race more faster and faster. Max puts her hand on her tape player while she slowly goes over to the door, each step that she takes she takes quietly and carefully, her taking a little breath.

"Don't be afraid..."

"Maxxxxxx."

"Open the door."

Max stops in front of the door, her shaky hand hovering over the door handle. She swallows, her going to slowly ball her hand up in a fist while she looks at the door handle, feeling her body begin to shake lightly.

Max jumps back when another knock is heard at the door, her quickly scrambling to put her headphones on her ears, her quickly going over to the corner of the room and curling herself up in it, her breathing growing more heavy and her hugging herself tighter.

"Please no....please no..." Max breaths more heavily.

"Max?"

Max freezes, she doesn't know how she is able to hear the soft mellow velvet voice of her name when her music is so loud. She slowly puts her headphones around her neck, the song still playing loudly. Max goes to slowly get up on her feet, her going to turn her music down a little bit.

Lucas hovers his knuckles in front of the door, him looking down a little and putting one of his hands on the door. Telling himself that she may be sleep, he stands there for a second more before he takes a step back, him beginning to walk away.

Lucas turns to look at the door when it opens, seeing Max answer the door. Lucas turns his whole body to face her, seeing how she hugs herself a little. "Hey."