The Tubular Moments // Lucas and Max (Lumax)

It Can't be Tubular

It can't be Tubular

Max sobbed into El's embrace, not caring that her grief could be heard throughout the entire mall.

Billy was lying motionless in front of her, blood staining his, what was once white, shirt.

"God, I hope it's not you. I really hope it's not you."

But it was. That thing... the flayer, had taken him away. Despite being under it's control, Billy still saved her best friend from it's fateful strike. He sacrificed himself for everybody in the end.

Max knew that her and Billy didn't have the best track record. They would curse out one another, ignore the other's presence, and even argue until their throats were sore. But it was an unspoken love they withheld for their step sibling.

And yeah, maybe they took out their respective anxiety and anger on each other. Their pain at the failure of their family lives - the yelling, the screaming, the pretending like they weren't dysfunctionally upset - they often took it out on their sibling , as they both knew they could forgive each other and understand. Because for a while, they only had each other.

So what? They never uttered the words 'I love you'. But it was there. That brother/sister bond that they both needed.

"I'm sorry." Those were his last words to her. And they echoed through her head. He may have been an asshole, but she needs him. She needs to tell him that she's sorry too. But he's gone. Forever.

El stroked Max's hair as her sobs grew louder.

"Shhh. It's ok. It's ok."

Max tried listening to El's soothing. But she couldn't. The cries of her pain flooded it out, almost as if it were competing with El's voice. The grief was winning.

So, Max buried her face further into her best friend. Like El would use her powers to stop the grief getting to her. Because Billy couldn't save her anymore.

"Max."

A voice broke its way through her wall of emotion. But it wasn't El's.

"Lucas." She cried out.

El gently pried Max away from her and into Lucas' arms, where he was kneeling. Max fell into his chest, and he had to steady himself (and Max) from the impact of her embrace.

He held her like he was her lifeline. She let herself be held, as her body didn't seem to acquire the strength to hug him back. Her sobs took over her again.

"I need him back! I need Billy. Please! Please..." She called out. "Lucas, what am I going to do? Please."

"Shhh. Max, I've got you." He whispered. "Billy's in a better place."

El, Mike, Will, Steve, Robin, Nancy and Jonathan watched on. The zoomer was broken down. They had never seen her this vulnerable, only tough.

A bang filled the air as the doors to Starcourt flew open, revealing the military running in. Everybody jumped out of their skin. At least 15 soldiers came running towards them, as Nancy and Jonathan threw their hands up, signalling they were harmless.

"Kids, there are ambulances on their way, we need you to get out, now!" One of them yelled at the group.

"No! No, we can't leave Billy here! No... no!" Max wailed.

"Max listen to me. We have to. He'll be brought out by somebody else, nobody's leaving anybody behind." Lucas hugged her tighter.

He then pulled her up from the ground, against her screams.

"No! No! Please! Billy! Billy... please. No Billy!" Max tried running towards Billy. But Steve stopped her.

Max began hitting him, desperately calling Billy's name. Lucas went to help Steve, while whispering to Max that Billy would be ok. He would be taken care of. Max kept hitting them, trying to escape their arms as they dragged her out.

Lucas tried to stop the tears on his face, as he pulled his hysterical girlfriend away from the mall, screaming. He had to be strong for her.

A paramedic took one look at the state of El, and treated her immediately. Another took notice of Max's grief, and grabbed a shock blanket for her to wrap herself in, as well as an ice pack for her head, where Billy had knocked her out.

Lucas went with Max to an ambulance where the paramedic had advised her to sit down. Almost straight away Max began to throw up, either from her concussion or her emotional state, perhaps both. Lucas felt useless, as all he could do was hold her hair back, he wished he could take away her pain.

Max had seemed to calm down after a while, so she took a hold of Lucas hand and rested her head on his shoulder. Lucas held an ice pack to her head with the arm he had wrapped around her shoulders.

A body on a stretcher covered by a white sheet was bought out, that Lucas only assumed could be Billy.

Max hid her eyes into Lucas shoulder and whispered:

"I'm sorry too, Billy."

Max's silent tears leaked through Lucas' shirt, but he didn't move away. Max needed him, and he was her shoulder to cry on.

Another gut-wrenching cry filled to night air. But it wasn't Max this time. It was Eleven. The pair looked up just in time to see Mike catch El before she fell to the floor. She was calling out Hopper's name.

"No. No. No. Not El too." Max whispered amongst her own tears.

Max wanted to go comfort her best friend, but she knew that she needed Mike right now, just like herself needed Lucas.

"Hey Lucas?"

"Yeah Max? What is it?" He looked at her with concerned laced across his expression.

"I don't want to go home tonight. I don't want to tell them that he's... he's- I just... just, don't want to be alone."

"That's ok. I wasn't going to let you anyway. You'll come home with me and Erica."

"Thanks stalker."

"Anything for you Mad Max."

Almost on cue, cars of concerned parents came zooming into the car park. Max noticed that her parents weren't there. She felt relieved.

Mr and Mrs Sinclair came running towards Erica and Lucas. And scooped them into their arms, Mrs Sinclair and Erica crying. Max couldn't help but see how much they looked like a family. She was beginning to feel out of place until Mrs Sinclair gathered Max in her arms.

"Max honey! Oh my goodness!" She sighed in relief. "I was so worried!" She hugged her tighter.

Max was taken aback. She hadn't felt a motherly hug for far too long. She could only sink into it. It took everything in her, to stop herself from having a breakdown.

Mrs Sinclair let go and looked her in the eyes. Lucas had his mother's eyes; chocolate brown, warm and inviting.

"Oh goodness sweetheart. Your head! How are you feeling?" She asked Max.

That was enough for Max to crumble again. Mrs Sinclair asked a simple question, but Max had a complicated answer.

To be honest, she felt like shit. Her chest was pounding, her eyes were burning, her head was throbbing, her heart was breaking. She felt empty. Like, happiness would never come again. The worry for her friends still remained as she had not talked to them all. The fear she was overcome with, running for her life. The anger that her brother was the host. The heart stopping dread as she watched him die. The pain in her stomach from it constantly twisting when it was afraid. All built up. She wasn't sure how she felt. There were too many emotions. She was a mess.

And so, she let herself cry into Mrs Sinclair.

"Billy." She breathed.

Mrs Sinclair understood. "You'll be ok Max. I promise."

She would be. It would take some time. But she was Mad Max. And if she learnt anything from her stepbrother brother, it was to fight her battles. Hell, it would be a big battle, and not the last either. But she would make him proud.