Maxine Mayfield and her family had just moved into Hawkins, Indiana from the glistening, sunny state of California.
He first saw her at his football game and he couldn't stop thinking about her.
It wasn't long before Max and Nathan were acquainted.
...
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THE HARRINGTON HOUSEHOLDwas silent early in the morning. Steve sat at the family's dinner table, eating some breakfast that he had made for him and his brother. Steve glanced at a nearby clock on the wall, noticing that it was getting late for the both of them and his brother had not gotten up yet.
He figured that the boy was spending too much time with his friends and Max rather than actually getting sleep.
He slouched back into his seat and groaned out. A few moments later, a boy started walking down the staircase that lead to the family's bedrooms. The boy had on a green polo shirt with some jeans to accompany them. It wasn't anything special and it wasn't like he was going to be in that outfit for long anyway.
The boy rolled his neck around, attempting to crack it.
"Look who finally decided to show up..." Steve said, tapping his fingers on the table.
"How was the movie?" Steve asked, crossing his arms as he leaned back into his chair.
"The power outage ruined the beginning but, other than that, it was fine," Nathan responded shallowly, grasping his chair and pulling it out so he would have enough space to sit on it.
Steve hummed while nodding his head, folding his hands together and planting them on the table. Nathan's gaze locked on his brother, looking at his stance, with a raised eyebrow.
There was no way he was going to get one those talks—
"Nathaniel," Steve started.
"God, don't say my name that way, you sound like dad," Nathan interrupted, his face visibly cringing at his brother's words. "Just say it already." The boy facepalmed.
"Okay, fine. I don't like this thing you got going on between you and Max."
Nathan crossed his arms, leaning back in his chair, almost identical to what Steve was doing currently, "Why? That seems a bit hypocritical."
"Because, you guys don't do anything but make-out, that isn't healthy. I'm just trying to establish some boundaries between you and her."
"What else do you expect us to do? Would you rather us get drunk at some stupid party?" Nathan said, his voice slowly rising. He stood up, planting his hands on the table roughly.
"Or, or maybe you would rather us get high off weed like you?" Nathan countered. Steve's eyes widened, his little brother even picked up the way she argued from being together with the redhead. However, the way he was acting right now, he definitely didn't pick that up from her at all. Nathan didn't even pick that up from Steve.
Steve's gaze fixated on the broken family portrait that broke last year when their family fought. It was back on the wall, albeit the glass of the frame still cracked. His eyes traced over the photo for a second, spotting the old family dog that died, himself, his mother, and then his brother. Nathan was so young in that picture, so happy and free. His eyes flickered up to his father within the picture, he stood behind Nathan with his hands on his shoulders. The man only had a small smile on his face, an empty, hollow smile.
