𝘿𝙍𝙄𝙁𝙏𝙄𝙉𝙂 - Max Mayfield

- am I picture perfect or do I look fried?-

Elmore skatepark.. or at least that's what it was called. It was more of an eroded piece of land that'd grown bigger and bigger in the western part of Hawkins till skater kids had decided to take advantage of it.

It was one of Max's favorite places in the town.

She sat on the edge, behind the barricade that'd been set up. It was dusk and only few lights from houses were visible. Her ears were covered by her Walkman as she looked ahead, only snapped out of her trance by a small tap on her shoulder which immediately caused the girl to jump.

Looking up, she saw a familiar shape. She couldn't really see his face that well as the sun was behind him, but she couldn't mistake the shape of his hair, or the clothes. The black hoodie that had "Cactus Jack" written on it in a cross pattern was one of his favorites, right next to the Revenge one.

"Hey" he spoke as she took her headphones off.

"What're you doing here?" She furrowed her brows.

"When I told you I wasn't going to just let you go through shit alone, I wasn't exaggerating" he replied.

Max sighed. "I'm not a charity case, Aiden"

"But you are my girlfriend" He retorted, sitting next to her. "You can't just expect me to watch you sink further into this"

"Why do you care?" Max looked at him. "You shouldn't have to. It's my problem, don't get yourself involved with me. Everyone I'm close to gets hurt. Nate, Billy... Why can't you just take a hint? You can't fix everything or save everyone Aiden. There's too much change and chaos in my life"

"I know that now," Aiden said. "But I'm not going to lose anyone else. You don't get it, I don't care how much you push me away. I love you... So much, I'd rather check on you over and over at the risk of feeling dumb than risk losing you. I know you don't want me around but-"

Aiden stopped himself and sighed, pulling his hood over his head. Max could've sworn she heard his voice crack at the last part.

"Do you wanna listen to some music?"

Max looked at him for a second with furrowed eyebrows, but nodded anyway. Aiden reached into his pocket and pulled out a tape she didn't recognize.

"What is that?" She asked.

"A short mixtape I made" He said as he placed the tape into the Walkman, replacing Kate Bush's Hounds Of Love album with the cassette tape in his hand while he turned the volume all the way up. He then clicked on the play button and Running Up That Hill started to play.

"Aiden, I was just listening to this" Max sounded exasperated.

"Just trust me.. please"

Max sat back and listened to her favorite song once again. She wondered what he was driving at by playing the same song to her on a different tape. She stole a glance at him and found that his eyes were fixated ahead of him, his head bobbing lightly as he seemed to be paying full attention to the song; he knew what it was about.. she'd explained it to him before. About Four minutes later, the song came to an end. Max listened for a while before a different song came on. It had a dreamy melody and slow tempo that sounded almost unpolished. There were some light vocals but they sounded far off, like voices from a memory.

Max then looked at him in confusion. She was about to ask but a voice finally came on. It sounded deep and robotic.. to her surprise she almost instantly knew who it was. One of Aiden's favorites.

Travis Scott.

Listening to the lyrics, Max wondered what message was trying to be sent across but she was intrigued nonetheless cause from what she'd heard from Travis before thanks to Aiden, she'd never expected a song like this... It was much calmer. Delicate almost.

About two minutes in, the song seemed to end, only to start another which seemed to have a faster pace. The drums kicked in immediately, causing Max to look at Aiden, half expecting to see him bob his head, but he stayed still, his only movements being his lips as he mouthed the words.

"Look in my eyes, tell me a tale
Do you see the road, the map to my soul?
Look, tell me the signs whenever the smoke clear out of my face
Am I picture-perfect, or do I look fried?"

Max actually found herself listening.. no, the lyrics seemed to be penetrating into her head.

"I replay them nights, and right by my side, all I see is a sea of people that ride wit' me
If they just knew what Scotty would do to jump off the stage and save him a child,
I gotta find balance and keep me inspired"

It made sense to her. It was about regret, wishing he'd done better. Wishing he could at least help her out of this, despite whatever guilt he felt himself over Billy's passing.

"... If I gave you a day in my life or a day in my eyes, don't blink"

The last line finally made it click. This was Aiden's response to Running Up That Hill.

My Eyes was about them too, just like Running Up That Hill was. They both wished the other could see things the way they did so they'd both understand and be better.

"I don't know how long it'll take.." Aiden spoke. "But I don't care. I'd never rush you, I know how hard it is to heal. I just don't want you to think you're ever alone. You're the last person who deserves that. You don't even have to open up to me, just let me be here for you"

"No," Max shook her head.

"Max-"

"I have to be here for you too" Max looked at him finally and he saw tears on her cheeks. "I'm sorry it seemed like I was pushing you away, I-"

"Shh" Aiden wiped her tears with his thumb. "I know.. it's okay.. I'll get better with you. Promise. At this point, it's just me and you against this fucked up world"

Max couldn't help but smile, leaning in to give the boy a soft kiss. They hadn't actually talked in a couple weeks but it did feel like forever since she got to kiss him. She placed her hand on his cheek to pull him closer, the kiss lasting a few more seconds before she pulled away. She then placed their foreheads together.

"I'd love nothing more,Curls"

The two teens then sat back in their original positions, Max with her head on his shoulder as she rewinded the mixtape.

Even if the world was falling apart around them they still had each other and that was far more than enough for them both.