A reason to fight for.//elmax-Madmage

Chapter 16:

The other girl chuckled and reached her hand out for her to shake.  'I'm Robin.' Still staring, Robin casually grabbed Max's hand and shook it with hers. 'You're pretty.' Max's eyes widen, because she didn't mean to say that our loud. Robin chuckled and looked her in the eyes. 'And I'm 18 and taken.' She winked and Max's face again turned to a tomato. Max shook her head. 'I'm Maxine Mayfield, but call me Max.' Robin smile disappeared. 'You're the girl whose step-brother tried to kill little Byers and the girl who just lost her entire family?' Max looked down and nodded, embarrassed about all of it. 'Where are you gonna live?' Max just shrugged still looking at her feet like it's the most interesting thing she's ever seen. 'Where's Mrs. B?' Max confusedly looked up. 'Joyce Byers.' 'The kitchen.' Robin nodded and gave her a little tap on her shoulder, leaving her alone in the bathroom. Max went to the door and locked it.

The ginger just stared at herself in the mirror, seeing her red eyes. Then the bandaid on her head, from being smashed with the skateboard caught her eye. First she started touching it, she then decided to take it off, even though she wasn't as gentle as when she was putting the new bandaid to El. That thought made her smile. Eleven's soft skin, trembling a bit under Max's hands, trying to be quiet. The smile faded when she remembered where that wound had come from. Her stepbrother. And why had he gone to the hospital? Because he knew that Max would be there. How did he know that? Because he had hit her with her own skateboard. And why did he do that? Because she forgot to take it in the first place. All what happened after was her fault. Only her fault. It was like a chain reaction. One thing leads to another. Like a domino. All her fault.

She hadn't noticed, how it looked like. She had a little bump on her head. It looked like a crushed tomato. She slowly moved her hand up to it, and touched it and yelped. What she didn't acknowledged was that Eleven had been  knocking on the door. As Max didn't hear, she didn't open it, Eleven started panicking and used her powers, turning the lock open. The younger girl recognized Max, touching her head. She slowly walked over to her, and as she appeared in the mirror, Max flinched and turned around. Eleven raised her hands. 'Just me.' Max rolled her eyes and clearly regretting it. 'Do you knock? Jeez.' 'I did, you didn't open.' Eleven cleaned her nose and winked, which made Max giggle. 'I like the sound of that.' Max frowned, not understanding what she meant. 'Your laughter. It's like music to my ears.' Max hid her smile as she looked down and hid underneath her curtain made out of her read hair.

Eleven then broke the silence again. 'Do you want me to take a look at that? (Pointing at Max's head)' Max shrugged and met the brunettes delicate eyes. The butterflies in her stomach appeared again, out of nowhere. She wasn't expecting it, so she blushed. Eleven chuckled, noticing Max's reaction. 'Sit down on the toilet. I'll grab the supplies.' Eleven mysteriously knew where the stuff was, and grabbed them. Got on one knee, which made Max giggle. 'What's so funny?' Max gulped and looked down at those brown eyes. 'It looks like you're asking me to marry you.' Eleven chuckled, but her cheeks flushed, which Max noticed. She just figured that it was, because it was really hot in there.

Max bend down a little, to make it easier for Eleven to see her wound. At that moment, she understood how Max felt when she was cleaning her wound the previous day. Her hands started to shake, just like Max's the day before, her breath was uneven, and the constant gulping. Of course the redhead noticed it and gently put her hand on Eleven's. 'You got this. I trust you.' (WHOOP, THERE IT IS) Eleven felt that weird feeling again, like her stomach was fluttering. She nodded and took the supplies she needed from the first aid kid and started to take care of Max's wound, while Max was clenching her jaw, trying to stay still and not making a sound, hoping that Eleven wouldn't think that she was weak. The pain was too hurtful, so she felt a tear fall down her cheek, she cursed herself for being this vulnerable. She had built those walls fro years, and this random girl, who hated her guts if I may add, was just slowly but surely breaking them down?

When Eleven nodded, meaning that she was done, Max was about to whip her tear away, but Eleven got there first, and gently whipped it away. She didn't take her hand back though, but she placed it on Max's cheek. She started rubbing her thumb and whispered. 'Pretty. Really pretty.' Max blushed, nothing new, and just stared at the younger girl in front of her. Then there was a knock. They both startled as if they were doing something bad or illegal. Eleven retracted her hand and looked at the door. 'It's open.' She said, trying to sound confident. It was Joyce. 'Girls, we need to talk to Max. Can you join us in the kitchen? You too El.' They both nodded and stood up at the exact same moment, and bumped they head. Max yelped because of her wound, while Eleven just looked at her with guilt and worry. 'I'm fine. It's ok.' The redhead tried to reassure her. Joyce just stood there, watching the whole thing, how they were both blushing, and the way they looked at each other. It took her everything inside of her, not to smirk.

Max left the bathroom, directly followed by Eleven and Jane. Everyone was in the kitchen; Hopper, Robin, Will, Kali, even Jonathan was there.

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A/N: I had to add my iconic queen! I mean, come on! It's ROBIN BUCKLEY! Yas!