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max told lucas she liked el. they kissed one last time before falling away. lucas wasn't all that sad about it. he'd told her he always had a feeling, and he wanted to stick by her until she figured it out. max and lucas were too worried about will and mike to care.
but break-ups, no matter how predictable they could be, always hurt.
they did share their lives. that hurt to lose. but they were too worried about the others. mike and will were hurting more than anyone else.
and it hurt the others to know. even dustin.
what a special case dustin was. it was the pretending for so long that he loved will that messed with his head. there was something about those moments, protecting will from mike and holding him when he was afraid. no, it was all platonic. this year, things were a mess, it was no doubt.
what was going to happen?
four months after the breakup.
"you're gonna look so cute, will, i'm so happy your mom let me do this!" max cheered, reading the instructions on the hair color-draining peroxide. el chuckled at her girlfriend's enthusiasm.
"i'm watching you two closely, you better not mess up my sons hair," joyce said jokingly, "don't forget, i'm also here to help!" will sat on a chair in the middle of his house's small kitchen, playing with his chestnut locks that were now all chin-length. his hair was thick and a little wavy even— it'd be straight for the most part and then curl at the ends. max and el loved playing with it and giving him ponytails and braids.
and will's 16 now. he hasn't really changed.
when will told max he wanted blonde highlights, max jumped straight on it after asking his mom, of course. el accompanied, though she had no clue what hair dye was. max even offered to bleach hers as well, as it grew much longer now— chin length, like wills, but much fluffier and wavier. max thought el looked pretty both ways, buzzcut and chin length. the brunette girlfriend declined on max's offer to bleach her hair. she wanted to see what it looked like on will, first, at least.
and so, the trio were in the kitchen, with joyce keeping watch. max was mixing the color in a cereal bowl, while el fetched the tin foil. the redhead worked quickly and applied the bleach to small, thin strands of wills straight hair. el would wrap the foil around each strand every time bleach was applied. will was surprised at how experienced max was at this.
"have you done this before, maxi?" he inquired, his eyes squeezed shut.
max giggled, her fingers curling a strand of chestnut brown. "nope, but i've seen people do it," she replied.
