stranger things (elmax) oneshots

speak now

INSPIRED BY SPEAK NOW BY TAYLOR SWIFT

(in celebration of SPEAK NOW TAYLOR'S VERSION 7TH JULY !!!!!!!!!!!!!)

Max Mayfield was about to get married. Yes, you read that right. She was marrying the 'love of her life' Lucas Sinclair, but these last few months she started to regret her decision to marry him. Visions of her love affair with Eleven/Jane Hopper in the summer of '88 had been clouding her mind for weeks. 

Eleven had recently left her boyfriend, Mike Wheeler, for the exact same reason. She was flooded with guilt and regret, and wanted Max back. She wanted Max to be hers. 

El had been uninvited to the wedding after breaking up with Mike, given he was one of Lucas' groomsmen and it would have been 'too awkward.'

"You look so beautiful, Maxine." The redhead's mother smiled, getting teary-eyed as Max entered the room in her wedding dress. Max gave a small smile and a quiet "thank you." in response. She was nervous, she wanted to leave, but she felt so bad. Lucas loved her, and she loved him... didn't she? Why wasn't that enough? Why, after all these years had passed since that summer, did she want El? 

"It's time we head down." Nancy Wheeler, Mike's older sister smiled. She had stepped in as Max's head bridesmaid. Max wanted it to be El, but Lucas insisted on someone else. Max didn't mind it being Nancy, she loved her like a big sister, she just wished she could have what Nancy and her girlfriend Robin had, but with El.

She nodded in response to Nancy and began walking from the hotel room to the bottom floor of the venue, where the ceremony was taking place. 

As she walked in with Nancy behind her, Steve Harrington met her at the beginning of the aisle. She had asked Steve to give her away, as her father had not been in contact with her in years, her step-father left after the death of her step-brother, Billy, in '85, and Steve had been the closest thing to a father or brother that she had ever had. 

He kissed her gently on the cheek and whispered "You look beautiful, Max." before wiping a tear away from his cheek. Max chuckled. "Are you really crying, dork?" Steve just smiled in response, walking her down the aisle.

Eleven hid behind a curtain, watching the scene unfold. She wasn't exactly sure what she was doing, especially since she was NOT the kind of girl who should be rudely barging in on a white veil occasion, but she knew Max wasn't the kind of girl who should be marrying the wrong person.

Max met Lucas at the altar with a small, fake smile plastered across her lips. Lucas, on the other hand, was beaming. Mike Wheeler, Will Byers, and Dustin Henderson stood behind him, with Nancy Wheeler, Robin Buckley, and Erica Sinclair standing behind her. She felt so guilty. Her mom sat in the front row, next to Lucas' parents. Joyce Byers and Jim Hopper sat behind them. They decided to keep Hopper's invite after uninviting El due to his relationship with Joyce. Steve took a seat on the front row next to Jonathan Byers, and a pillow dedicated to their deceased friend, Eddie Munson. Murray Bauman sat at the back, completely opposed to the wedding as he was fully aware of Max's feelings for El, but there to support nonetheless. The Wheelers also sat in the back with Dustin's mother, and the rest of the hall was filled with distant family.

"Dearly beloved, we are gathered here to celebrate the joining of Maxine Mayfield and Lucas Sinclair in holy matrimony." The preacher began as Lucas took Max's hands in his own. 

"Before we begin, does anybody have any reason why these two should not be married? Speak now, or forever hold your peace."

Max looked out into the crowd, praying someone would say something. 

Just as the preacher was about to begin again, Eleven emerged from behind the curtain, a shaking hand raised. 

Everybody gasped, all eyes on her.

Everyone in the room (bar Murray) gave her a horrified look.

"El???" Hopper gasped as Joyce grabbed his arm to sit him back down.

"El what are you-" Steve asked, before being hit in the arm by his platonic soulmate Robin.

Eleven looked around the room, almost crying, regretting her decision as she felt so hated by EVERYBODY. But when her eyes met Max's, that all washed away. Max had a smile on her face, one that she was trying to fight, but failing miserably.

"Don't say yes." the brunette pleaded with the bride. "Run away now."

Lucas looked mortified as Max met his eyes.

"I'll meet you when you're out of the church... at the backdoor...?" El asked. 

Max mouthed "I'm sorry." to Lucas, as her almost-husband shook his head in disbelief.

"Don't wait... or say a single vow." The brunette girl continued to plead as the crowd still stared at her in horror.

"El. Get out." Mike said, stepping in.

"You need to hear me out." She defended.

"This is why you left me, huh? So you could crash my-OUR friend's wedding???"

El, still shaking, made her way down the aisle. Her eyes met Steve, who seemed incredibly shocked, but not angry. Steve could never be angry at any of them. Well, maybed Dustin. But not El. Never El. Instead, he offered a sympathetic smile, as did Robin, and Nancy, and Jonathan. She knew their older friends would understand.

Her step-brother Will looked at her with an encouraging smile, too. He had known about the affair. Of course he had. El told him everything, and he told her everything. Actually, one of the main reasons she had left Mike was because she knew Will was in love with him. He had been in love with him since before she even came into their lives.

She met Dustin's eyes next. He didn't seem angry, either. Just protective over his friend. He had one question, "Why?" 

"They said 'speak now'..." El shrugged, earning a chuckle from Max as she took her hand.

"Give me a minute to get out of my dress, I'll meet you at the back door." the redhead smiled.

El ran out of the venue after that, as Max awkwardly walked up to her room to get changed, before meeting El.

The two kissed immediately, like their life depended on it. At that moment it honestly felt like it did.

"God I'm so glad you were around to stop that." Max said breathlessly.

"I love you."