Nether Of Annihilation

The Serpent's Tongue

"You're so much stronger than you know, and i will always be here to remind you of that" Lucas says. 

Max stares at him, with tears in her eyes, really taking in everything that was leaving his mouth. 

She could see the sincerity in eyes, as well as the concern, he was right though. 

If she could stand up to Billy, than she could definitely, stand up to Neil. 

She never understood how Lucas could always say what she needed to hear, let alone understand her, better than anyone else. 

That fuzzy warm feeling took over her body, as she stared into his eyes, it felt as if he was not just staring into her's but all of her completely. 

Her flaws, her weaknesses, her imperfections, her fears, and he didn't care.. he still liked her.

 All of her, like they always say, the eyes are the gateway to the soul. 

And in this very moment, he had touched hers. 

"I love you" Max says softly, feeling anxiety creep into her mind, as she watched his reaction.

 He doesn't move, feeling his heart skip a beat, when those words leave her lips.

 "i love you too" he says, without hesitation. 

A small smile, find it's way across Max's face, as she pulls him into a kiss, under the billions of stars in the sky. 

They have kissed before, but never like this. 

Their "i love you's" were the very first thing to not only make the bond, between them stronger, but the passion within them deeper.  

As they both pull away from each other slowly, hearts beating a mile a minute, "i should go freshen up" Max says, wiping her tears and trying to fix her hair. 

"Uh..yeah" Lucas says, shocked at what just happened, yet still wanting more. 

Max chuckles a little, noticing the stunned expression on Lucas's face. 

She gets up to leave, but turns back around to Lucas, to give him one last kiss. 

"I'll be back" Max says, and then runs off into the woods, finding the bunker.

 "What is it, Will?" Eleven asks, as Will sits next to her, on the opposite side, of the campfire.

 "I have to tell you something" he says, feeling his nerves kick in to overdrive. 

"What is it?" she asks, starting to lose patience. 

"Remember when you first moved in with us, and my mom asked you if you wanted your own room. But you said no, because you didn't want to be alone in all this?" Will says, trying to ease his way into it. 

"Yeah...why?" Eleven asks, looking at him with complete confusion. 

"That night, and every night since, you've cried yourself to sleep because you miss hopper. And i didn't even do anything about it, i just left you alone. When you told my mom, you didn't want that. I messed up completely, with our friendship at first. And i just feel terrible, i'm so sorry El" Will says, meaning every word, yet still scared, she might snap his neck right then and there. 

Instead she puts her hand on his shoulder, "Will" Eleven says, very softly and calmly. 

He looked up at her, "it's okay.." she says, with a small smile. 

"You're not mad?" he says, relieved. 

"Of course not, you just wanted me to have my space, you didn't know what to say or even do to make it better. And to be honest, there was nothing you could do. Will, that night, when i asked to sleep up there with you, i gave you a chance to be there for me.. and you were" Eleven starts, Will looks at her, with sympathetic eyes.