We're not kids anymore - Lumax Oneshots

He's Gonna Burn This House To The Ground

Max's Hotel Room
Hawkins, Indiana

"And here are your bags ma'am." One of Carl's security guards stated, dropping her luggage on the bed. "Again, Carl is very apologetic about not being here." She nodded slightly and waved him away, watching as he left. She sighed lightly as she looked around the room, the first time in 4 years she had been alone. Truly alone. No Carl, no cameras, no security. Alone. She fell back on the bed, she smiled lightly as she put her hands over her face.

Shaking her head, she got up again and started unpacking. Once she was done she put on a short emerald green dress and matching heels. She put her hair in a ponytail, leaving two curly pieces out and put gold jewellery on. Carl had originally encouraged her to dress "more feminine" but was finally starting to let Max wear things she was slightly more comfortable in. She grabbed her hotel room key, putting it in her bag, before leaving to meet the driver Carl had assigned to her.

"Hey, Robert." She said, waving to her driver before they both got in the limo.
"Where we off to?" Robert smiled, he had always been kind to her in the several years she had been married to Carl. She smiled at him,
"Maple Street, I'll point out the house." He nodded and began to drive as she pulled a cold water out of the compartment next to her seat. She leaned back against the seat as she looked out the window.

The Wheeler Residence
Hawkins, Indiana

"Thanks, Robert." Max smiled as he opened the door for her, grabbing her hand to help her out.
"Just call me when you want picked up," he replied, pointing to her bag where her phone was. Carl had bought her a brand new Nokia phone for her before she left for Hawkins so that he could keep tabs on her at all times.
"Alright, see you later." She smiled, approaching the door as he drove away. She knocked lightly as she took a deep breath.

The door swung open as Max looked up nervously, meeting Erica's eye. The younger girl stared at her in disbelief, her mouth opening slightly as if she was going to say something. She made a small noise before she started laughing. Max looked at her, confused as she walked away from the door. She wasn't sure if she was meant to go in or not, she peered through the door slightly as she caught Karen's eye. Her eyes widened as she stood up, "Max! Lovely to see you, sweetheart!" She beamed as she hugged her.

Max could feel everyone's eyes on her as she lead her inside to the living room. "Max!" Dustin beamed, walking up to hug her as she smiled. He hugged her for a while before pulling away to let El and Will hug her.
"We missed you so much!" Will smiled, looking over at El who nodded in agreement. Max diverted her attention to Mike who was sitting, still, in the corner of the room. He wasn't making an attempt to move closer to hug her. She sighed and mumbled to herself as everyone's parents began to swarm her and bombard her with questions.

She caught Sue's eye from the other side of the room, she looked slightly happy to see Max but whatever happiness she was feeling seemed to be overshadowed by the anger she felt toward the girl who had broken her son's heart. Although, Charles didn't look as angry as Sue, she could tell he was just as hurt by her actions.

Silence settled in as someone approached the door behind her. She knew who it was by the way everyones demeanour changed, she turned around as she met Lucas's eye for the first time in almost 5 years. He stared at her in silence for a second before brushing past her to sit with Mike. She opened her mouth slightly, not expecting that type of reaction before she folded her arms self consciously and watched everyone talk. Dustin made his way over to her from the other side of the room.

"Hey, that was pretty cold, huh?" He gestured toward Lucas, she nodded in agreement. "I get where it came from though, don't you?" She nodded again.
"Of course I do." She stated, looking down at her hands as she started to slowly chip away at her nail polish.
"Still, could have been a little warmer I suppose." He shrugged, "anyway, how are you? How's life treating you?" He asked, smiling at her.
"Fine. Everything's fine." She deadpanned, reaching over to fill a glass of wine. He watched her as she stopped herself before pouring it. She screwed her face up at the fact that it was Merlot and put the glass back down. He looked at her in confusion.