what is beautiful? - elmax

chapter 17

a few weeks later

max stayed at hoppers cabin until her mother arrived back home, when she went back to the house and her mother made sure that her step dad wouldn't do anything to her.

in the end, her mom decided that they needed to leave, and one night, after another argument with her step father, they packed their and left. they went and stayed with max's grandmother, who lived on the other side of hawkins, closer to hoppers cabin than the other house.

maxs stepfather left them alone after that. they had come to an agreement that if he could keep the house, max and her mother could leave. how long he would keep his word for was unknown, but for the time being, the two remained safe.

max didn't know how to cope with being moved around again. her whole life, her and her mother had lived in various different houses, towns and states. and every time she thought she would finally be used to it, she wasn't. her grandmothers house was small, and max had to sleep on a camp bed in the basement, meaning she spent even more time sleeping over at el's. el didn't mind though. she loved spending time with the gorgeous redhead.

one day, eleven and max had climbed up one of the trees in the woods surrounding hoppers house. the leaves were green and the sky was blue and the two girls felt like the only people in the world.

"max." el said quietly.

"mhm?"

"what are we?"

"what do you mean?"

"well, i know we're more than friends but... am i your girlfriend?" she asked nervously. although the two had been spending so much time together, they'd never really confirmed what they were, if they were dating or not, and eleven was far too paranoid to assume anything, so she had just avoided the question until then.

"well... would you like to be?" max replied, looking at the girl next to her.

a grin overtook elevens face, and she pulled max closer and kissed her softly, hand cupping her face. max kissed back, hands tangled in el's hair.

they pulled away.

"i'll take that as a yes then." max grinned.

a/n: this is REALLY short and i'm v sorry

i'm trying to write a bunch of chapters and save them as drafts so then i can post them this week while i'm away, because i have time to do it now and i probably won't for a while so

yeah anyway love u all thanks for putting up with me