NEW YEARS DAY|elmax

sick day

"where's mike?" dustin asked, his fingers looping one of his curls; he eyedthe cookies max and el were making.

"he's sick." el responded, rolling the cookie dough into a ball.

"aren't you supposed to like...check up on him, take care of him?"

"and risk getting myself sick?"

max smiled to herself, but when she looked up from her hands to dustin, he gave her a questionable look which wiped the smile off completely in a matter of seconds.

"um, im sorry he's sick." max managed to choke out. "you think he's going to be good by the twenty-seventh?"

"shit! secret santa!" dustin swore.

---

sick day

8 days until new year's eve

dustin's house smelled like chocolate chip and gingerbread cookies; lucas, who had come late to their hangout was the one who nearly ate them all - he kept on praising the three on their baking skills...although it was really just max and el.

"let's watch that one new show." dustin suggested before taking another bite of his cookie.

"i promised my dad i would watch it with him." lucas awkwardly scratched the back of his neck.

"we will only watch a little, plus it's uh..." dustin checked his watch. "almost ten, meaning el has to be home soon."

"curfew?" max asked, she wasn't in the mood to eat any of the cookies, not like there were much for her to eat anyways.

"the perks of having the sheriff as my dad." el sighed.

the group filed into dustin's living room, it was decked out with Christmas decorations, considering that the holiday was a mere 2 days away. his mom had a small obsession with collecting snowmen figurines that were displayed throughout the bookshelves.

"i call sitting with lucas!" dustin shouted, nearly running to one of the couches.

leaving the two-person couch for el and max. . .

"you two can cuddle there." dustin jokingly said, falling backdeep into the couch cushions as he fumbled with the remote.

max raised her eyebrows, giving a look at lucas who simply just shrugged when he took his spot.

"you want the left side or the right?" el asked.

el thought she was the stupidest person in the entire world; most embarrassing person, she made herself visibly cringe, looking at max to see if she also did the same thing. . . but her facial expression didn't really change-

"right is fine."

the two girls had the biggest space between them, a whole person worth between them. max bit the side of her mouth, hoping that something would go her way; she wondered why she decided to sit all the way at the edge rather than closer.

it would be weird to scooch more towards the center.

"it's on hbo, you idiot." lucas and dustin began to argue; they spent over ten minutes trying to find the stupid show on the tv.