The Actress and The Artist

PROLOGUE

"You deserve every single one, okay? Don't let them tell you otherwise." Max said as El sat up, tears rolling down her cheeks. The hall was empty, only the couple remained. She put her hands on her face, wiping her tears away before kissing her gently. "You can't make everyone happy, so focus on making yourself happy. Because you can do that."

Eleven sighed, "These aren't supposed to be mine." She said, looking at the three awards on the table.
"They are, they have your name engraved into them. They were made for you Ellie." She smiled, "Now come on, are you ready to go out?"

El sniffled once more, looking up at Max as she wiped the last of her tears away. What did she do to deserve her?

"Yeah, just... stay close, okay?" The younger girl said, standing up. Max nodded, slipping El's phone into her pocket as they walked out.

Eleven held her awards in her hand, and as they walked across the red carpet she froze as she saw all the people.

"I've got you." Max spoke softly, putting her hand on the small of her back. She led her over to the red carpet, standing back, allowing the photographers to take photos of her girlfriend and her awards.

After a few moments El turned to her, signalling her over. "Come here." She smiled lightly. Max walked over, grinning as she put her arm around her waist, her hand on her hip as cameras flashed on them.

Max looked at Eleven, "I'm proud of you." She confessed, her eyes softening.
"You are?" El asked, feeling like nothing but a burden the whole evening.
The older girl nodded, "So proud." She leaned up and kissed her cheek, chuckling lightly as she saw the light blush colouring where she kissed before spreading across her entire face, even her ears. El smiled too, looking at her with nothing but love in her eyes before looking back towards the photographers.

The cameras flashed them with blinding white lights constantly, and Max decided it was probably time to get back to the hotel. After another minute or so she gently tapped El's hip twice with two fingers, her pointer and middle, a signal they had made as kids for when they wanted to leave but didn't want to say it out loud.

Her girlfriend glanced at her and Max nodded lightly. So she began walking towards the car that they had arrived in, and Max followed, getting in after her.

The door shut and El exhaled, glad the night was coming to an end. She glanced at her phone inside Max's trouser pocket, wanting to see what people were saying. She knew she shouldn't. She told herself that every time.

Max noticed what she was looking at, "Stop it." She said softly.
"Stop what?" El asked as the car started, beginning to drive.
"You don't need to know what they're saying." She spoke as if she could read her mind.

Eleven didn't reply, and Max held her phone in her hand, laying it face down on the car seat. She wanted to see what she'd do.

Her mind was screaming at her, telling her to get it and read more comments. She looked up at Max, who was already looking at her.

The car was quiet, and the older girl just wanted to figure out how she could help. She wanted to know what was going on inside her mind, why she needed the public's validation so badly.

El looked back at the phone, remembering what she had read earlier. They weren't like this before she turned 18. Why were they now? What had changed?

"Get it Eleven." Her mind spoke. "You know you don't deserve the awards sitting beside you right now. You don't deserve Max, you don't deserve the fame you have, you don't deserve anything. I know you know that. Why are you choosing to ignore it?"

Max watched carefully as El shook her head slightly, sitting back against the car door, trying to create distance between her and the phone. They heard a notification go off.

"Look at it. You need to know. What if someone's in trouble? Check it Eleven. Now."

"Can you... can you check it Max?" El asked quietly, knowing if she picked up the phone, she wouldn't be able to stop herself.
"Sure." The older girl said, picking up her phone and looking at the notification on the screen. "It's Dustin."
"What did he say? Is he okay?" Max noticed El's slight tone of panic, so she spoke calmly.
"Yeah, he's congratulating you for the grammy's, that's all. They watched the whole thing at home."

Eleven nodded, exhaling as her phone was set back down on the seat.

"You know that's not what I was talking about. Go on Instagram and look at what people are saying. Check the livestream. Pick up your phone and look." El shook her head lightly, glancing up at Max who was looking out the window. "She's not gonna help you. She thinks you're crazy. You are crazy. You're a freak. You don't fit it with the party, you don't fit in with the public. You don't fit in with her. You're gonna ruin her. You're gonna hurt her. Check your phone so you don't. Do it Eleven."

El glanced at her phone. The voice was back. The voice that had control over her 4 years ago. 4 years ago when Max was in a coma. It wasn't her fault. The voice was bad. It told her the wrong things to do, it wouldn't stop until she did them. When she killed Vecna it left. Why is it back? Why did it have to come back?! Don't check it El. You know better than to.

"FUCKING CHECK IT. IF YOU DON'T THIS CAR WILL CRASH AND MAX WILL DIE. IT WILL ALL BE YOUR FAULT JUST BECAUSE YOU WERE AFRAID OF PICKING UP YOUR PHONE. DO YOU WANT HER TO DIE? DO YOU?!"

Her mind screamed at her continuously, and her vision blurred as her head began throbbing. She had to check it. She had no choice. The car was going to crash if she didn't.

"YOU HAVE 5 SECONDS. MAX WILL DIE AND YOU WON'T. DO YOU WANT TO LIVE WITH THE GUILT? OR WILL YOU ALLOW IT TO TAKE YOUR LIFE? TELL ME ELEVEN."

El's eyes filled with tears as it began counting down. It didn't know she was going to crash, no one could know that.

"FIVE... FOUR... THREE... TWO... ONE-"

In the last second she snatched her phone up, opening Instagram.

The voice was back. The voice that had guided over her 4 years ago. 4 years ago when Max was in a coma. It was her fault. The voice was good. It told her the right things to do, it gave her a choice. When she killed Vecna it abandoned her. Is it back? Thank God it's back. Check it Eleven. You know it's the better thing to do.