THE ONLY EXCEPTION! | elmax

three

it had been about a week since the first day of school and max actually enjoyed hawkins. she just really missed the people back home in derry.

-

the group sat in the wheeler's basement, all bored out of their minds. jane convinced max to show up by repeatedly begging her in first period. what was max supposed to say? no? it's not like she had any others friends to hang out with.

she had been sitting with the boys and jane at lunch the whole week. she decided that if she wanted to make friends she would have to shut that wild 😜 mouth of hers so that's what she did. it made her thoughts more aggressive but at least people would like her.

"do i talk too much?" max didn't mean to let the words slip out but they did. she couldn't keep all the thoughts stuck in her head, it was driving her mad but she would never admit that. as soon as she was about to apologize for the outburst, mike chimed in. "sorta yea- OW WHAT THE HELL!?" he rushed down to put a hand over his knee and rubbed in a soothing manor. "no you don't, i dunno why you think so." dustin gave max a goofy grin that made her chuckle.
"mike stop being an asshole!" will whisper yelled to mike, maybe he thought max wouldn't hear, but she wasn't sure how you could sit in the basement and not hear.

"uh... why do you hate me?" it slipped again and max mentally slapped her forehead for letting it happen. "i don't hate you." mike whispered under his breath, emphasizing the word hate. "why don't you like me."

mike stares down at his hands, he would admit he did feel a little guilty. "i don't like new party members. it's too complicated,
we've all been hurt and if we let you in we will have to tell you about our pain and re live it."
shit. that was deep. mike never looked up. "well uh when i lived back in derry, there was this crazy fucking clown guy, he killed one of my best friends little brother and almost killed my friends and i. i've been through stuff too, i know what it's like. you don't have to let me in all the way. i just- i.. don't wanna be alone." max stared at mike, while everyone else stared at her. jane laid a hand on her shoulder,
she probably looked tense.

mike finally looked up and nodded. "then welcome to the party, max." he smiled and held his hand out for max to shake. she happily did.

"MICHAEL LUNCH IS ALMOST READY!" mrs. wheeler called from upstairs, she ruined the moment but they didn't really care. mike sighed and yelled back "OKAY MOM!"

"aye at least your mum is nice." max said in a bad accent. "not when yous get ta know 'er" mike replied with a laugh making max smile then quickly frown as her eyes took place in her lap.

lucas quickly noticed and rushed to her side "you okay?"

max took a second but quickly nodded, tears threatening to spill from her eyes. "excuse me for a second" she covered her face and ran to the bathroom, shutting the door with an accidental slam.

everyone looked at eachother before jane stood up and knocked, "hey.. max can i come in?" the door opened a crack and the brunette slid into the bathroom.

max was sitting against the wall, her knees against her chest, her fiery hair messier than usual, and the thing that made jane break, her cheeks were tear stained, her eyes puffy and red. "you were crying.." jane slid down to her side.

max looked as though she wanted to tell the other girl everything but just couldn't. jane held eye contact, staring into max's cold, blue, icy, eyes which were glossy and glass like from tears. just looking into those pain filled eyes made jane want to cry so she quickly looked away.

jane had no idea what to do. out of instinct from her father comforting her, she leaned over and put an arm around max, pulling her closer to her chest. usually she wouldn't but max gave in, laying her head on the brunettes chest.

jane ran her fingers through the redhead's hair slowly.
"i-i can hear your heart beat."
max's voice broke a little.
jane smiled "i'd hope so."

they were interrupted, "my mom made lunch so.. we're gonna eat. no rush though come up when you're ready. we'll save you two some sandwiches!"
mike yelled, running up the stairs, quickly followed by the others.

they heard the basement door slam and jane exhaled slowly, "okay, so can you tell me what's wrong now? i promise it'll feel better to talk about it"

max bit her lip "you promise?"

"yea, i promise"

max nodded slowly, still laying on jane's chest. "okay.. well, it's gonna sound really dumb but like you know how i just moved here?"

"hey it's not dumb if it's making you cry and yeah, is it about the move?" jane began to play with max's hair again.

"well.. yeah you see i had lots of friends in derry. there was this one boy, richie, he looks just like mike, i'm not joking like they could be identical twins. they even act the same!" max sniffled. "so fucking stubborn." she lot a noise that sounded like a mix between a sob and a laugh.

"it's hard isn't it? being around someone so similar to him but not him? makes you miss 'em even more doesn't it?"
jane looked down.

"yeah that's exactly how it feels.. how'd you-" max got interrupted by jane, she spoke quickly like she was ashamed. "my mom.. she was sad.. she left when i was a baby. seeing all my friends with amazing mothers when i don't have one, it hurts. so bad." jane shut her eyes, letting the tears spill from the corners.

max sat up and looked at her, cupping her face, using her thumbs to wipe away her tears. "hey please don't cry sunshine"

jane opened her eyes, her warm chocolate eyes suddenly colder and glossy. max leaned in and kissed her nose, caressing her rosy cheeks as they turned scarlet.

"did you and richie.. date?"

max's mouth went all dry.
"i mean, we liked eachother and had a thing but he didn't want to be my boyfriend even though i wanted to be his girlfriend. he said he hated labels. how stupid." max frowned slightly.

"well mike wants me to be his girlfriend but i don't want to. he says we're basically dating cause this thing happened last year.. long story.. i just don't want to be mike wheeler's girlfriend. it sounds wrong." jane bit her lip and max panicked a little, before she could apologize the brunette spoke "hey max don't worry it's different okay!" jane smiled and rested her hand on max's.

the two made eye contact and smiled shyly "i'm hungry let's go upstairs" max nodded and stood up, grabbing jane's hand to pull her up.

a/n- idk this is pretty trash