CRUEL SUMMER {stranger things • lumax}

𝖔𝖗𝖉𝖎𝖓𝖆𝖗𝖞 𝖜𝖔𝖗𝖑𝖉

With the spare key Susan had given Lucas, he knocked three times before letting himself into the Mayfield home. Max had managed to get permission to homeschool for the rest of the semester as she healed from the accident, but that didn't stop Lucas from seeing her as much as he could.

At first, her parents had encouraged their daughter to continue going, Susan naively insisting no one would treat her differently in a wheel chair. Obviously, she was wrong, everything would be different, but what really changed her mind was when she saw how Max was taking all of it. She started to grow nervous every time the idea was mentioned, her breathing picking up and eyes glazing over. It was downright heartbreaking when she couldn't even get out of bed some days, too overwhelmed by the stress of it all, and the lingering soreness of her leg.

Lucas called out to let Max know he'd come in, dropping his backpack on the couch and grabbing a couple Cokes from the fridge, their little after school routine.

Lucas smiled as he found his girlfriend curled into a ball, sleeping peacefully among her mound of pillows. He knocked gently against the door frame, and Max stirred, blinking slowly towards where he stood.

But Max didn't have her glasses on, and her furrowed brows reminded Lucas that she could not, in fact, see him.

"It's me, sleepyhead," he said softly.

She hummed, but drew her blanket back over herself, settling into the fluffy pillows once more. She waved him over though, and Lucas smiled, setting in gently beside her.

"How was today? Did your session go ok?" he asked.

Max's parents had found another therapist to work with through her doctor. When she refused to go back to the hospital for sessions though, the woman came to visit their home instead.

"It was fine," she mumbled. "My leg's been acting up though."

He frowned. "I'm sorry," he said, rubbing circles on her palm. Then a mischievous look grew on his face.

"Want to walk it off?"

Max knew what he really meant. She rolled her eyes, and called out to the living room.

"Chewy! Come here, boy!"

Seconds later a mop of golden fur trotted into her room. It waited patiently at the end of the bed, and Lucas grinned at his girlfriend.

"You're such a dork," she muttered, propping herself up into a sitting position. Lucas raised his hands in surrender. "It's not my fault you have the coolest service dog around."

Then he helped shift her legs to the edge of the mattress, and placed a kiss on both of her knees. He turned around to the corner of the room, grabbing the wheelchair that was folded up for when Max was too tired to walk.

He guided her into it, and Chewy couldn't wait to greet his owner, licking her face and tail wagging wildly.

"Ok, ok," Max laughed, pushing the dog away gently. "Let's go Don Juan."

And so Lucas led them out, pushing Max's chair down their front ramp, with Chewy's leash around his wrist. They took in the colors of Spring, the white blooms of pear trees, yellow daffodils, even noticing tiny violets pushing up between blades of green grass.

After everything, moments like this were simply, peace.

~

Max's leg never quite healed back to the way it used to be. In turn, she made the tough decision to retire her skateboard that summer and figured she'd put all that free time towards a job instead. She eventually found one at a record store downtown, and couldn't believe she got to listen to music all day and get paid for it.