dedicated to mileventrash, because i told her that if she could muster the courage to text first, will could have the courage to tell everyone.
—
"mommy!" holly wailed, jumping out of max's arms, and onto the hardwood floors of max's one story house. max smiled as the girl was reunited with her mother, and then her older sister. max had helped take care of holly for the past few weeks, and they had shared a room. max didn't mind at all. holly was like the cute little sister she never had. as holly was reunited with her real sister and mother, max wiped away a stray, warm tear from her right eye. she saw the joy holly was feeling— it was hard not to. she just hoped she would be able to feel the same way again, however, instead of being reunited with her mother and sister— whom they had known weren't missing, it would be with her brother, mike.
max handed nancy holly's puffy jacket, and she helped put it on the bouncy little girl. nancy would be going to the byers' home, with holly, to set up the big thanksgiving dinner joyce and hopper had been planning. max and mrs. wheeler would be going on the second-to-last local search party, before the government took over. max asked mrs. wheeler— no, not wheeler; ms. mason, if she was ready to go, and she nodded, lacing up her boots.
max offered a half-smile, and grabbed her keys, saying goodbye to her dad. her brother would be meeting max and karen at the hawkins lab parking lot. this was the last place they would be checking, as it seemed unreasonable– however, chief hopper thought it would be a good idea, and supplied them with a warrant.
—
as max and ms. mason pulled into the parking lot, she smiled at the sight of her (step)brother, billy. his car was bright pink, and his friend, jonathan, had done it himself, for april fools day. apparently, will's older brother had assumed it was a temporary spray, and had done so in a 'harmless prank', not expecting it to stay on until, well, november. she pulled into the spot next to his, and got out, giving him a hug. ms. mason opened the door to max's car, and got out, smiling at the two step-siblings. they used to bicker and fight when her step dad first married her mom, but now— they were practically inseparable. she was like that with a lot of guys, though. she just thought they were a good break from the drama, and they thought that she was cool and laid back.
"lets go find mike!" he said, with a dorky smile. she nodded, and looked to ms. mason, who was smiling, too. she had on a nice coat and a pretty dress, with stockings adorning her legs. she carried a heavy flashlight, and her hands were dressed in leather gloves. max knew that the chances of finding him were extremely slim, but she didn't want to let ms. mason in on her doubts. the trio set into the large laboratory, unsure of what they would find.
—
max had walked out with lucas, will, and dustin, talking about why troy would even bother showing up tonight— he always seemed to hate them. the bully, however, was incredibly skittish the entire night, and kept apologizing to them. he stuck with ms. mason, who didn't seem to know that he was the bully whom had made their lives miserable. will smiled to himself as they all walked up to the parking lot, trailing behind ms. mason and billy. billy seemed to be talking about how holly had been such a sweetheart all week, and how she really shouldn't feel bad about anything. it seemed to make karen feel better, so max didn't think much about stopping her brother from talking about sensitive subjects such as this.
—
as mike's mom talked on and on about mike as a baby, max drove them to will's house, for thanksgiving dinner. ms. mason was just getting to the story about how mike had once slept in the basement for two months straight when he was four, because he thought there was a monster under his bed; when max pulled into the driveway of the byers. they had moved from will and jonathan's childhood home after winning a lawsuit filed against the scientists in the government who had replaced will's body with a fake. they had won a million dollars in the lawsuit, and had immediately moved to a new home, and paid for jonathan's first two years of college, and put the rest in the bank.
karen smiled at the two-story house they were greeted with, and unbuckled her seatbelt, thanking max for her kindness and all she's done for her family.
max was astonished at the smell of a beautiful roast turkey and mashed potatoes, and her watering mouth seemed to lead her up the stairs of the patio outside, and to the front door, where she knocked twice, and was greeted almost instantaneously with a hug from joyce byers, and a handshake from chief hopper. he had his hand around joyce's waist, and smiled as everyone filed into the house. max could almost imagine that mike would be inside, laughing with will, lucas, and dustin, and calling her over. she tried not to let a frown show, as she walked into the kitchen, to help joyce with the dishes.
—
as everyone took their seats, will smiled sheepishly, as he stood up, holding a glass of apple cider that the minors were allowed to drink. "i would like to make an announcement," he started off, and max could see his hand trembling. she knew what he was about to do, and beamed at one of her best friends. "you all know that i have been experiencing a lot recently, what with one of my best friends going missing, my brother winning a photography contest, my mother and hopper growing closer by the minute—" he took a moment to smile at his mom, and her boyfriend, the police chief hopper. "i feel like it's appropriate to do this right now, so here it goes. i feel like i can trust you guys, my friends and family— and i want you guys to know, i'm- i'm gay." he said, and everyone clapped. he grinned, and bit his lip, before sitting down, his face red from admitting that to everyone he cared about. hopper smiled, and took this moment to stand up, and share something of his own. everyone could see he was nervous, as his hands were both shaking. he pulled out a large piece of paper from his pocket, and took a deep breath. "before i begin with this, i would like to take a moment to thank everyone for coming here to share dinner with us tonight, and i feel like if i can even muster a sliver of the courage will just had, i can do this. joyce," he said, his voice dripping with love. "i love you to the moon and back. you know i would swim across the ocean to get you anything you need. i've loved you ever since i can remember, and i hope you have too. what i'm trying to say is-" he stopped, and suddenly set the paper down on the table, and pulled out a little blue box, and got down on one knee, joyce cupping her hand to her mouth. "i love you more than you could even know, and i just want to spend the rest of my days on this horrible planet with you. you've made me see that there's more to life than one night stands and getting drunk with strangers. you've showed me love. would you please marry me?" he asked, his voice trembling, as he opened the blue box, exposing a beautiful little ring. she wiped a tear out of her eye, and nodded. "of course!" she exclaimed, jumping out of her seat to attack her fiancé with a hug.
