A life less ordinary ||~~Elax/Elmax~~||

Push part 1

"Um, 'night Max" she replied, understanding that Max didn't want to talk anymore.

*~~~~~~~~~~~~*

El lay awake most of the night thinking about the situation, finally drifting off for a couple of hours sleep before dawn. She awoke to find herself face to face with a sleeping Max. She spent a long time admiring her features, her long red hair, her beautiful face replete with constellation containing freckles, her hidden blue eyes, her full lips, slightly parted, looking so inviting. She gulped, resisting the urge to brush a stray strand of hair from Max's face. You don't look at me, because you want to look at me, you want to see me like that...and I don't look at your thoughts, because...because I want to see how you feel about me...

*~~~~~~~~~~~~*

Max awoke to a strange sensation, opening her eyes she found El was incredibly close to her, more than close, she was kissing her, on the lips. Pulling away in shock she saw that El's eyes were closed, and that they stayed closed even when she pulled away, she was still asleep. Whilst contemplating what was happening, before she knew it, El had pulled her close and kissed her again. Max knew she should resist, it wasn't fair to do anything else, but she found herself completely powerless and sank into the kiss. Max had never felt anything like it, her whole body felt amazing, her stomach clenching unexpectedly. She couldn't help but let out a small moan, immediately making her stop. It was going too far and it wasn't fair on her best friend, whom she felt as though she'd influenced into doing this, it being on her mind before sleeping. Pulling further away from El she slowly shook her, "El...El wake up" she said softly.

Her eyes fluttered open and she saw Max, looking slightly flustered, "hey, are you ok?" El asked out of concern.

"Uh, yeah, yes, I'm ok...strange dream, that's all" she said, knowing she probably looked flushed. "Did you, er, sleep well?" she asked awkwardly.

"Kind of" replied El, looking unsure, "I had a weird dream too...but I can't really remember what it was about" she said shrugging.

They sat in silence for a couple of minutes before hearing "knock knock" outside the tent.

"Come in" said Max quickly, grateful for the intrusion, not knowing how to behave right now in front of El.

"Hey ladies" said Dustin, winking at Max, "we're going for a swim in the lake, you coming?"

"Yeah, definitely" Max replied, looking at El who nodded in agreement.

"Ok, be ready in 10" he said. The nodded and got their clothes and swimsuits ready, turning their backs to each other as was the norm now whilst they changed. Exiting the tent, they met up with the guys who were waiting patiently outside. "Wow, you actually got ready in the time we said" said Dustin jokingly, "got to be a record or something" he said to everyone's laughter.

After a hasty breakfast, they set off down the trail to the lake, El rushed to walk next to Mike, holding his hand to let him know she needed him. He looked at her questioningly, "what's wrong?" he asked quietly, concerned by the look on her face. She looked at him, clearly at a loss as to how to explain, and just shrugged shaking her head.

Max watched as they walked in front of the rest of the group, hand in hand the entire time. She felt a pang of something inside, she couldn't explain it but she didn't like it, her stomach was twisting into knots and the longer they walked the angrier she felt. "Hey, Max, are you ok?" asked Will softly, noticing her hands that were balled tightly into fists. She looked at him, and after a fleeting second realized that he knew exactly how she was feeling, seeing Mike and El holding hands. He had a look of discomfort on his face too, and they shared a look of surprised recognition.

*~~~~~~~~~~~~*

They reached the lake in less than 15 minutes, and despite the early start they were happy to jump in to stave off the already stifling heat of the day. After an hour or so, El decided to take a break and watch the others have fun. She always found that she needed time to herself, needed time to gather her thoughts and process the world around her. She watched as the boys messed around, trying to knock each other off the other's shoulders, as they splashed and yelled and laughed, but mainly she watched her. The way the sun glinted off her hair, the way her eyes lit up when she found something funny, her pale skin making her shine in the water like a beautiful jewel. She felt a tear roll down her cheek. "El, what's wrong? Talk to me" insisted Mike, who had joined her on the shore unnoticed.

"You and Will..." Mike's breath hitched, immediately scared as to where her words would take them, "when you look at him, what do you feel?" she asked, looking straight ahead at the lake, her eyes never once leaving Max.

Mike thought carefully for a few minutes and El waited patiently, knowing that he would answer, that he would tell her the truth. They never lied to each other, not since she returned from the upside down and he fulfilled his promise, to give her a home and a family. She had literally been to hell and back, and he knew that what mattered most to her, above all else, was the truth in her relationships with them all.

"I...I feel happy when I look at him, when I'm with him" he stated simply, he wasn't sure what else to say, he'd never contemplated putting his feelings for Will into words for another to hear.

"Do you like him...as more than a friend?" she asked tentatively, not really understanding where her own question could lead. Her entire life had been led in Hawkins, either in the lab or with Mike and his family. She refused to count her time in the upside down, it wasn't living, it wasn't even existing as she had in the lab for 12 years, it was just surviving. She had no experience of relationships outside of what she saw, the gang's parents teaching her that relationships can last a lifetime, Nancy and Steve, then Nancy and Jonathan, teaching her that relationships can change. The short-lived teenage flings at school, teaching her about the whims and complicated social standings centered around rapidly changing hormones. She'd never even contemplated that people of the same sex could have feelings for each other.

Mike hesitated for a long time, he'd not even come to terms with his feelings himself, let alone thought about sharing them. "Promise you won't say anything" he pleaded, terrified at what he was about to say. She finally looked at him and nodded, holding his hand reassuringly. "I...I like him as more than a friend" he confessed, his heart thumping hard in his chest, "I'd really like to hold his hand, to...to kiss him...I'd like more than we have now is what I'm trying to say" he blurted out quickly, unable to contain it any longer now that he'd started.

"So...it's not wrong?" she asked, and upon seeing Mike's confused face elaborated "to like someone the same as you...like, you're male and Will's male...I'm female and..." she trailed off, not knowing how to finish that sentence.

"Some people think it is" he said sadly, not recognizing the significance of what she almost said, "but...I don't think you can help who you fall in love with."

El studied his face then looked over to Will, who kept glancing at them suspiciously from the lake, giving away his own feelings. She wasn't always very astute when it came to reading people's emotions, but this she knew, "he likes you too, I can tell...you'd look cute together" she added, bumping his shoulder with her own and smiling.

Mike was shocked at her assertion, "r...really?"

"Yes, I think it's nice, when two people love each other," she paused for a moment, Mike noticing a sad look in her eye, "I know what it is to live without love, it...it isn't good" she stated plainly. They sat in silence for a while, each lost in their own thoughts, Mike for once completely oblivious to El's feelings.

*~~~~~~~~~~~~*