Summer 1985 - Mileven/Jopper/Lumax

Chapter 7: The Date Part 2

Ten minutes later, Max and El were down by the water per El's request. "Why'd you wanna come down here? Do you want to go in the lake before we eat or something? Because you can swim after you eat, that's just a stupid myth." Shaking her head, El bites back a smile and, right on time, Lucas and Mike come into view a few feet away.

Catching on immediately about what is happening, Lucas looks at Mike with an angry expression. "Are you guys serious!" he exclaims. The freckle-faced boy was sure he was about to be punched in the face had Max not turned around and smiled at them.

So she must not know their plan, Lucas thought. He throws an annoyed look at Mike and, hesitantly, walks closer to the two girls. Mike joins him and El runs behind the tree a few feet away. She plops the wicker basket in between the four of them and simply smiles.

Max, with knitted eyebrows, looks at her best friend's face and then the basket in between them. "What the hell is happening?" she asks, a sinking feeling in her stomach because she feels like she already knows. Between El's odd behavior, Mike's smirk, and Lucas's pissed off scowl, she tries not to get embarrassed by the idea of this planned date with a boy she's positive doesn't feel the same way.

Max has never seen herself as the type of girl who would be considered dateable; she's not cute and girly or soft-spoken and kind like El. She would never change herself for anyone but, as she's seeing the look on Lucas's face, she almost wishes she could.

"I'm sorry, guys! I was going to tell you both but I wanted to plan a surprise date for my two best friends," she said sweetly and adding on with a wink, "I'm a matchmaker," which got a chuckle out of Mike.

Shaking her head, the fiery red-head lets out a humorless laugh. "What makes you think he wants to go on a date with me?"

Before El could answer, Lucas, who's rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly, walks towards Max. "I, uh, do wanna go on a date with you. Only if you want too though, it's okay if you think it's weird."

Shocked by his words, her face brightens. "Oh. Well, yeah, I liked the idea of a date too. I just thought...you wouldn't want too."

Squealing, El runs over to the uncharacteristically awkward duo and hugs them tightly. "Have fun Lumax!" she exclaims, taking Mike's hand to run off back to where the rest of their friends were.

"Lumax?" Max and Lucas say simultaneously, followed by a laugh. Biting her lip, she looked at the dark-haired boy. "So, are you sure you're okay with this?"

Smiling at his friend, he smiles and nods. "Of course, why wouldn't I be?" Shrugging her shoulders, she mumbles "I don't know, I thought you'd just see me as one of the guys like most people do. I'm not exactly...girly" she says as she lets out a nervous chuckle.

It takes him a few seconds to build up the courage to take her hand, "That's what I like about you Max. I mean, I just like you. A lot. You don't care about what others think and you do what you want, you know who you are and that's the coolest thing."

Feeling her heart flip, she smiles up at him brightly and squeezes his hand in gratitude. "Oh, well, I like you too."

Romance was uncharted territory for both of them. Lucas always secretly longed for a girlfriend. It started with seeing his parents in love after fifteen years together and continued when he watched the way Mike looked at Eleven and vice versa. He just never knew how to approach it, wanting to keep up a tough front but also needing to let himself be vulnerable with the right one; right now, his fourteen-year-old self thinks he found that person.

After Max squeezes his hand, she lets go and walks over to the wicker basket. "Oh hell yeah, El did good!" she says, pulling out two sandwiches, a giant tub of fruit, and a big bar of chocolate. Laughing at his date, he laid out the quilt that was under the food and patted the spot next to him. "Well, let's get this date goin' pretty lady."

It was the first time he saw Max full on blush.

After dinner with the rest of the group, it was Dustin's turn to help Will and Joyce clean up, leaving Mike and Eleven to have some time alone. Hand-in-hand, the two walked closely. "How do you think the date is going?" Looking up at her boyfriend with a shrug, she thinks back to the last few minutes of Lucas and Max's encounter. "Good, Max was so happy when Lucas said he wanted to go on the date."

Mike looked down at El a few moments later and saw her eyebrows furrowed. "What's wrong?" he asked, stopping them and lifting his thumb to her forehead to smooth out the crevices.

"I don't know, I just don't understand why she thought he wouldn't want to. She's nice, funny, AND pretty. Dustin says that's a rare combination."

Laughing and shaking his head, Mike raises an eyebrow. "Oh did he?" Nodding, she smiles and then takes a look at their surroundings. "Wait, this is where we were before. With the cute old couple and their dog."

Biting his lip to hide his smile, he nods and leads her over to the hammock between the two trees. "What are you doing, we can't go on this...thing!" she whisper-yells with a giggle. As he plops down, trying his best not to fall over and embarrass himself, he gives her a sweet smile. "I know, that's why I asked Judy if I could come back later and hang out on it for a little. I knew you probably hadn't seen one before and it's a lot of fun."

Smiling at his gesture, she cautiously gets on the strange contraption only to flip over and fall on her butt."Oh my god, El! Are you okay?" he frantically asks, greeted with the unfamiliar sound of her boisterous laughter. Relieved to see she wasn't hurt, and seeing her on the ground hysterically laughing, made him laugh as well - this left the two teens wildly laughing in the middle of the campsite.

Wiping tears from her eyes, she gets up and slowly leans down on the hammock while grabbing onto Mike's arm. "I've never heard you laugh like that, El." Giggling again at what just happened, she had to calm herself down. "I just couldn't believe I fell off, right onto my butt! What is this crazy thing anyway, Mike?"

Moving slowly to put his arm around her, she lays her head down on his chest and their feet intertwine. "A hammock. You see how it's between the two trees? That's how it stays up, so it's kind of like an outdoor bed." Lifting her head slightly, she sees the cords around the tree and nods.

They swung lightly on the hammock for almost an hour, giggling away and quietly counting the stars. A few miles away, their best friends were doing the same while laying hand-in-hand, silently thanking El that matchmaker.