strangerThings oneshots

comfort

Comfort
TheNewsbiansWriter

"Where were you?" Billy demanded coldly as Max opened the door to the living room. Her mother and Neil weren't here, right now, leaving her alone.

With Billy.

With Billy.

"Uhm.." Max gulped. She'd been at the arcade with the rest of The Party, she decided on lying. "Skatepark." Billy sent a glare towards the skateboard under her arm, before glaring at Max again.

"You know what happens when you lie to me, Max." His voice was cold. He had just finished a cigarette.

"I'm not lying, Billy." She insisted. Billy grabbed her right arm, tightly, causing her skateboard to drop to the hard floor beneath them. Max's breath instantly quickened as Billy lit another cigarette.

"Breaking your precious skateboard ain't enough apparently, Maxine." He took a short drag, before taking the cigarette out of his mouth. Max's eyes widened. She knew what was coming.

"Billy," she pleaded, "Billy, don't—" Before she could get the rest of the words out, the burning end of Billy's cigarette met her wrist. Max tried to yell, but her step-brother just used his other hand to smack her. She silently cried, the tears burning at her ocean blue eyes and freckled cheeks hurt almost as much as the fire that was marring her skin. Billy only pulled away for a second, moving the cigarette to her other wrist. Billy only stopped fully after making more marks down her arms and when his cigarette was now only a stub.

"FUCK YOU!" She flipped Billy off, sobbing openly now. Max pushed her way to her room. She slipped a long-sleeved jacket on before quickly packing a bag, slinging it over her shoulder.She stormed back down the steps, grabbing her skateboard before booking it down the street.

Her speed continued its soft increase, scared that Billy might be following her. Scared someone would do worse. She just kept running where her thin legs would take her, hoping they wouldn't give out and she'd crumble. She felt so close to that, but then she saw a log cabin, running quicker to it, realizing it as a very familiar home. She finally got there, eyes threatening to spill over again as she knocked on the door.

She heard the noises of soft footsteps from behind the door before she saw the doorknob turn. There before her stood the tall-ish figure of someone so familiar to Max. Short, curly brown hair hanging just above her shoulders. Piercing, dark eyes and a soft smile playing on her lips. It was easily recognizable as Jane "El" Hopper, The Party's mage and Max's best friend. She hadn't attended the meet-up that started this whole mess, but Max had always turned to her brunette best friend before. This was no different. Sure, she'd never told her about Billy's abuse, but now, she could.

"Maxie...?" El cocked her head to the side, eyebrows furrowing. "Max, why are you here so late?"

"Um... I can't tell you out here." Max felt a tear slide from her now clenched shut eyes, before Max looked up at her. Max sniffled. "Can I come in?"

"Of course. Be quiet, though. Jim's sleeping." El gently grabbed the arm that didn't hold the bag and skateboard, (not noticing Max's wince of pain), tugging her into the cabin and then her room. El closed the door, allowing Max to settle herself on the bed before she sat beside the redhead.

"What happened?" El was gentle, wrapping an arm around the slightly shorter redhead's shoulders. The Mayfield girl pulled away, before slipping off her jacket. El noticed the cigarette burns on her arms, a small gasp tumbling out of her mouth. She gently took Max's arm, seeing the girl wince as she did. El gently ran her fingers across the girl's heavily freckled arm, now marked with dark spots that mingled with the red dots on her arms.

"Billy, my step-brother, got mad, Ellie. He decided to... he pressed his cigarette against my wrists and arms. Hard." Max was crying again, and it startled El. Max was the strongest person El knew, and she rarely showed any tears, or even a sad look. El looked at her friend with soft eyes, her heart hurting as Max continued to cry.

"God... I'm so, so sorry, Maxie..." El reached out, cupping Max's cheek with her hand, brushing the falling tears away. "It's gonna be okay, Max..."

Max just let out a loud sob, falling into El's arms. Her head burrowed quickly into El's chest, just laying there, her arms wrapping around El. El held Max up slightly with one hand, the other switching between stroking Max's hair and her arm.

Max continued her crying, and it mayn't have been a good time to notice, but she noticed she really liked- no, loved Max. It wasn't like she was attracted to Max crying, not at all. But, thinking back to how much she wants Max happy. Thinking how nice Max is to her, and how many times she'll let her vent to her with an easy smile. She wants to see Max and her smile, that cute smile that El loves to see. Her eyes, her soft red hair, the wrinkle of her nose while she laughed. El loved all of it, and she just thought of it as Max took a few breaths to calm down. She wiggled out of El's grip, giving a tentative smile.

"I'm better now." Max gave a soft smile, accompanied by a blush. "Thanks to you."

El responded with a bright blush. She then took a minute, watching Max with her head tilted. Her gaze was focused on the soft curls of the redhead's hair. Perfect chance for a compliment, El thought, before she reached her hand forward and tugged on a loose strand of Max's hair. "Pretty." El complimented softly, watching as the other girl's cheeks became tinged a color rivaling a color very much like the hair El was praising.

"Pretty? My hair? Thanks! Yours is.."

"No." El mumbled, moving her hand from Max's hair to Max's face, both of her hands now resting on Max's face. "You're beautiful, Maxie..."

El pressed her lips against Max's own. Max pulled back in shock, while El just questioned quietly, mentally, why she did that.

"Why-why did you do that?" Max questioned, hiding her flushed face by resting her head on one of her hands. El tried biting her lip to stop any answer from slipping out.

"Because I like you!" El blurted out, surprised that her vocal cords would betray her with a secret she had long kept hidden. Her master plan didn't work, she noted, mumbling a curse. The blush, now prominent on her face, darkened when she said this. Max's blush got somehow even deeper as she thought of what to say next.

"Are you gonna say something?" El asked, worried that Max doesn't like her back. If Max didn't like her, who would?

Max, not even thinking that much before doing so, kissed El, sparks immediately flying (figuratively) between them as El kissed back, surprised at the action of her companion.

Max's lips were soft, and they tasted like the cherry lipstick she applies almost every time she and El hang out. On Max's end, El's lips tasted of peach, no doubt from the chapstick El applies endlessly.

Max pulled away first, eventually, and smiled a bit, saying, "Was that an okay answer?"

El smiled as well and hugged Max tightly, relieved that the redhead likes her back. El's convinced that this is the best day ever. And El didn't even have Eggos!