If I Only Could- Lumax

every ending has a beginning

"I thought moving here would be a good change. Like, maybe everything would go right for once. But no, I get to live the wonderful life in Hawkins where my brother gets possessed and killed and my family falls apart and your friends move away after knowing them for only a year. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is the life of Max Mayfield! Welcome to my fucking world." She's out of breath and feels ready to continue her rant, until she feels a familiar hand on her shoulder pulling her back.

"Max." He tugs her hand, turning her forward to face him as she reluctantly looks up at him. "You're right. Hawkins is probably the worst town you could possibly move to. I mean, have you seen the shit that goes down here?" He shakes his head. "Yeah, I was there." She tries to hold back a smile as he grins at her sarcasm, but the rare moment lasted for a short time, their smiles fading as they realize just what they're facing this time. This wasn't the demogorgon, or some bats, or even the Mind Flayer. No, this being was truly a threat, a person with pure evil coursing through his veins who preyed on the vulnerable minds of troubled souls.

Max can still feel his tentacles wrapping around her neck and body. She can still feel the urge to fight back as he tried to penetrate her mind. The deep voice that had been a part of her for almost a year, telling her that her friends didn't need her and that a part of her wanted Billy gone. And now, she hates that part of her with a deep resentment. She hates Vecna for what he did to her, and how she will always relive that memory.

Suddenly, she can't tell the difference between past and present and flashes of the red dimension become visible. She clutches her throat, feeling unable to breathe. She doesn't know what is happening, but Lucas notices the way she's grasping at her neck, and suddenly he feels his heart stop as everything suddenly stops and her face turns eerily calm, and Lucas can see the familiar color her eyes shifted to. He feels his heart drop. "Max, hey. Wake up! Max!" He shook her shoulder, already knowing the outcome of the situation if he didn't do something fast. "No, no, no! Please, Max." He quickly puts the Kate Bush song on again, hoping for the best but getting the sinking feeling that it might not work.

Max's face goes white as she realizes what's happening to her and who is standing right behind her. She feels a slimy tentacle crawl up her back and up her neck, making her spine shiver. "You thought you were safe?" Max can hear Vecna's chilling voice behind her as he walks creepily close to her. She felt her eyes well up with tears but she willed them not to flow, needing to stand up to him and escape again. "I'm here to help you, Max. Let me help you." His evil voice whispers in her ear as she can spot a small rip in the dimension with Lucas. She stands still, pretending to give in to his wishes. She hears him go quiet, and rips her hand from his grasp, punching him in the face. Vecna lets out a groan in pain, briefly letting her go. She attempts to run, but gets caught by one of the slimy vines as he growls in anger. "You are too confident, Maxine. Too confident that your friends will save you." She shakes her head, holding her chin up to look him in the eye. "No, I think you have it wrong." He put a finger up to her face. "Shh, do you hear that? It's that song again. But it won't work this time." He scowled as Max felt a vine cover her mouth, disabling her ability to speak in retaliation. She suddenly heard Lucas from the other side. Was he...crying? She felt her heart soften as she heard him retelling memories from the past two years. That's it! The portal was getting bigger, and the only thing holding her back was the evil being in front of her. She suddenly had an idea. It was a disgusting one, but it might buy her the time she needed.

"Max, please wake up." Lucas begged as he held the girl standing in front of him, the music still playing on loop. He felt his throat constrict with unshed tears as the girl he loved laid motionless in front of him. He suddenly thought of all the happy memories they had together, the words beginning to spill out of his mouth without even realizing it. "Remember that one time...that one time in February when I finally had the guts to ask you out? It...it was the 22nd, I remember. You wanted to do something casual, so we went to the arcade and I tried to beat your high scores, which was a really, really bad idea." He let out a sad laugh. "You ended up beating every high score of mine and insisted we stay longer just so you could get the highest score on every game I dared to call my favorite. That night...you rode on the back of my bike and I dropped you off and was about to leave when you kissed me. It was barely anything, but my 13 year old self was on fucking cloud 9." He smiled sadly, recounting memory after memory until he felt tears start to fill his eyes and he suddenly saw her eye twitch for just a split second. Lucas grasped her shoulder, looking into her white eyes. "Can you hear me, Max?"

Max could distantly hear Lucas as he recounted the time they went to the movie theater with Dustin and everything ended up turning into an argument turned popcorn fight, all of them getting kicked out by the workers. She tried to smile when she realized who was still holding her captive. "He can't help you, Max. He never has." Vecna saw a moment of weakness in the girl's eyes, targeting the brief moment of insecurity. "You don't want to admit it, but he's unable to empathize, share your pain. Maybe a part of you wants him to feel part of your pain. Then he would understand. But the truth is, he doesn't understand people like you. Only I do." He tilts his head, trying to get to her. Max shook her head vigorously, trying to break free from his grasp. She suddenly remembered her plan, closing her eyes in disbelief that she was really about to do this, and bit down hard on the hand covering her face. Vecna let out a noise of pain as she managed to break free, running quickly to the portal. I'm never biting anything from the Upside Down again. She thought as she still heard the iconic song playing and Lucas screaming her name. She ran fast, ignoring the vines trying to trip her and the debris falling around her. Talk about deja vu.

Lucas looked down, a hand still on her shoulder, starting to lose hope as he suddenly saw her eyes snap open. She gasped for air, trembling as Lucas quickly wrapped his arms around her waist. "Oh, my God, oh my God." He says as she buries her face in his neck, something she hadn't felt since that fateful day by the graveyard. "You seriously have to stop doing that." Lucas breathed out as she clung to him tightly. She slightly smiled, relieved more than anything that she hadn't succumbed to Vecna's curse like Chrissy, Fred, and Patrick. "I'm...I'm still here." She repeated her past words into his shoulder as he held her tighter.

"I thought you were really gone that time." He said quietly, the image of her possessed state never leaving his mind. "Me, too. You...you saved me, Lucas." She whispered. Lucas felt his eyes well up with tears, not even bothering to stop them. "I'm sorry." He said so quietly she almost couldn't hear him. "What are you sorry for?" She asked, lacing her fingers through his. He felt his heart constrict in pain as he remembered the reason why they broke up in the first place. "I wasn't there for you. During...all those times when you were suffering in silence. I didn't pay attention and I wasn't there." He said as he felt her pull back. "You were there. I just pulled away. I became invisible." She replied. "No, I just didn't look hard enough. I didn't empathize with you." Max's head snaps up as she hears Vecna's words come back to her: "You don't want to admit it, but he's unable to empathize, share your pain. Maybe a part of you wants him to feel part of your pain." Max puts a hand on his cheek, stopping him from saying any more. "Lucas, please stop. Stop saying that." She shook her head, trying to not flash back into the Upside Down where all her insecurities only intensified. "I just want...I want to fix everything. I feel like our lives are slipping away. I want to fix this before it's too late." The first tear slips down his cheek as he admits what he's been wanting to say ever since the threat of Vecna became known. Her eyes soften as she tilts her head gazing at him, never seeing him this vulnerable before.

"Part of me wishes that I hadn't told you everything about the Upside Down. Then your life wouldn't be fucked up just because I wanted someone else in the Party years ago. But..but now I couldn't imagine this without you. I couldn't imagine facing all this evil without you, because it feels like you've always been here and I've just been too blind to see it. You were right here all those months after Starcourt, and I fucked everything up. Is there any way...we could.."He stops his rambling when he feels her lips connect with his. Max softly kisses him for a minute, feeling the warmth and radiation fill her body again for the first time in months. She feels whole again, never wanting the moment to end. He pulls away gently, placing a hand on her cheek as hers is still on his. "I needed you during all that time after we broke up. I pushed the only source of comfort that I had away, I ruined that. We...we need a second chance." She said as he smiled and their lips met again. They pulled away and Lucas hugged her tightly, sighing. "Thank you." He says softly, and she buries her head in his shoulder. "I love you, Stalker." She barely whispers, not even noticing the tears trailing down her face. He pulls away, cupping her cheeks and wiping the tears. "Love you too, Madmax."