Love Me Back // Elmax Fanfiction

Chapter 17 ~ How Did It End Up Like This?

After I puked, El rushed me off to the bathroom while everyone else in the theater stared in horror.
She acts as if I don't have puke all over my shirt.
She, without saying a word, walked me quickly to the bathroom and brought me into the handicap stall. I only threw up a few more times, but Eleven sat there as I did, holding my hair out of my face and rubbing my back.
Once I was done, she ushered me to the sink and helped me clean up my face and shirt. Every time someone would walk into the bathroom and look at me in disgust, El would give them a death glare, which at first I just thought was sweet, but after a few times began to make me laugh. She laughed along with me, still acting as if we weren't trying to get puke stains out of my shirt. At least the shirt was black.
I stood facing the mirror, looking at my shirt to see if we missed any spots, El behind me. Catching me by surprise, she walked up from behind and wrapped her arms around my waist, just below where my shirt was wet. My heart fluttered as she hugged me a bit tighter and set her chin on my shoulder. I smiled at her, and she smiled slightly back.
God, she's adorable.
We stood for a second, just being with each other, until she said, "You ok?" My mind flashed back to Mike aggressively eating El's face off. I shuddered a bit. I felt my eyes sting as a singular tear slid out of my eye, but I quickly wiped it away with the back of my hand. Remembering Eleven's face, how uncomfortable she'd looked, it hurt.
"Yeah, I guess all that candy just didn't sit right in my stomach. That's all," I lied. By the look on her face, I could tell that she knew I was lying, but she didn't say anything.
Instead, she asked, "Do you wanna go back to my house and watch movies?" She paused for a slight second before continuing, "We don't have to go to the lake with the boys. I don't want you to be sick again."
My face was overtaken by a wide grin. And entire day with El? Yes, please! Instead of saying all of that, I replied with a short, "Sure." We stared at each other in the mirror for a bit. Her eyes ventured down past my face for barely a millisecond, but that easily was enough to send a chill down my spine and make my heart throb. I stared into her eyes for what felt like the longest time. They were several shades of brown and gold-ish, as if you took a deep, winter forest and sprinkled over it a golden dust. They were was stunning. They were also super deep, as if I could just fall into them and never be able to climb out. We rocked slightly from side to side, and it was so comforting that I closed my eyes. I paid attention simply to my crush's touch, her warm hands snaked around my waist, her head resting in the crook of my neck and digging ever so slightly into my shoulder. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath in, inhaling Eleven's light, flowery scent. It reminded me of a field of flowers, how there are a million different shades and sizes that the flowers could come in, but how they all blended together and mixed with green to create a bright, beautiful scene. I let out a content sigh, my mind as quiet as it'd been in years.
We were suddenly awoken from our spell when we heard the bathroom door burst open. My eyes shot open, and El flinched, her arms pulling away from my waist. Without them there, I felt cold. Some odd reflex inside of me told me to pretend to wash my hands, so I flipped the faucet on and wetted them under the cold water. I flinched at how cold it actually was, and quickly flipped it back off and dried them off with paper towels. El giggled. I attempted to give her a playful glare, but her face was so adorable that I just began laughing myself.
The woman that had opened the door had now reached us, and we tried to hold in our laughs as she walked by, but failed miserably. We probably looked horribly pathetic, and we had most likely had her completely confused.
As we walked out of the bathroom, I had a strong urge to hold El's hand, but decided against it, thinking back to what had just happened. We strolled back into the theater to see that the movie was nearly over by now. Since I'd puked everywhere and the toxic-smelling cleaning liquids were still drying, Eleven and I had to share a seat. Fine with me, I thought.
El and I giggled quietly together for no apparent reason, trying our best to hold them in. Again, Mike leaned over and whispered something in Eleven's ear. I couldn't hear what, but when she replied, "Yeah, she's ok," I assumed there had been a question about me.
He whispered a second time, and this time I could hear it. "Why don't we pick up where we left off, babe? Before we were rudely interrupted." He giggled the last line, but it had sounded fake. Mike has never liked me, and his words struck me like a knife in my chest. I looked down at my lap, messing with my hands. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw El give me a quick glance. Mike, more gently but still with force, directed Eleven's face towards his and began kissing her again.
She jerked away. "Not right now," she whispered, almost submissively.
"Aw, come on, El! You know you want to." And with that, he wrapped his grimy hand around the back of her neck and almost yanked her forward. El fought slightly, but he held her in place, his other hand now running through her hair. Suddenly, I felt the fear spark through the brunette and she ducked her head, enabling herself to escape his grip.
"Mike, I said I didn't want to!" El exclaimed in a whisper, tears evident in her voice
I stood up. "What the fuck was that?" I asked, looking directly at Mike. Eleven gave me pleading eyes, begging me to sit back down, but I ignored her. This wasn't something I could just forget about. I could feel the eyes of everyone in the theater on us.
"What?" Mike looked annoyed.
"I'm not just going to sit here while you fucking hold El down so you can kiss her! Holy fuck Mike." I was getting louder, and everyone was staring at me, but I literally could not care less.
"Max, chill out, she's fine. Right, El?" She looked from me to him, her eyes painted with fear.
"No, shut up Mike, she's not fucking fine! She said no, that doesn't mean kiss her anyway!" I was yelling now, but under my breath, I mumbled, "What the actual fuck," running my hand through my hair in disbelief. Mike just stared at me, looking even more annoyed and disgusted then before. I calmed my voice, putting on a quiet, reassuring tone and reached for El's hand. "Do you wanna head over to your house, now? Watch movies?" Mike looked like he was about to interject, so I added, "And don't fucking talk to her, Mike." He looked scared enough, and El stood wordlessly, grabbing my hand. She looked like a deer in headlights. "Bastard," I mumbled again, but loud enough so I knew that Mike could hear me.
With that, Eleven and I walked out of the theater. The minute we stopped at the bike racks, she broke into tears. I wrapped her in a tight hug, wishing I could protect her from the world. I stroked her back, occasionally running my hand up her neck and slightly through her hair, trying to make her feel as protected as I could. Sobs wracked her body. "Ok, El, ok. You're ok. I've got you now. It's ok," I said, repeating myself over and over to make sure she heard me. Tears streamed down my face, but I kept my voice strong. For El.
After she was slightly calmer, I spoke again, "Hey, why don't we hop on my bike? You get behind me, and I'll drive us home, ok? We can snuggle under the covers and not have to worry about anything." She nodded into my shoulder, and with that, I released her for a slight second to grab my bike and roll it over. I hopped up, and El did the same behind me. She gave me a tight squeeze, and then, almost as if she realized she was hugging me really hard, she loosened her grip. "It's alright. You can hold me as tight as you need," I told her, smiling. Instantly she gripped to me tighter, and I solemnly smiled, peddling off.

Hello my people.

Yeah, that chapter was quite the rollercoaster. I hope you at least enjoyed that cute Elmax action and then Max being a total badass. You really gotta love Max, she's just awesome.

Anyway, sorry that I did Mike like that. It just felt right, if you know what I mean. Just, take it like this... Mike didn't realize how horrible he was being, or at least I don't think he did. I mean ok he was kinda a jerk but he can be a jerk in the show. The kid's got issues my dudes.

I chose Mr Brightside as the song not only because of its overall message but because of the line, "it started out with a kiss, how did it end up like this?" I just think that's super funny and ironic and perfect. So yeah.

Sorry that this is moving kind of slow. I don't want to just up and end the book, so it'll be more of a slow burn. After all, they are lesbians in the 1980s.

Thank you for all the votes and whatnot! Like, over 1k views?! That's so awesome guys, I really appreciate it!

Word Count: 1728

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