𝐨𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐥𝐲 𝐜𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 ( 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐫 )

4| stop staring, she's not even yours.

max regretted signing herself up to do the dishes because mike didn't keep his distance when standing to the side of the redhead and she grew wildly aware of it. max tried to make space between them but mike always managed to shuffle his way closer. it want that max didn't like it, she was just unsure why mike - max's biggest hater - would want to be in a tight proximity with her.

as max dunked her hands in the warm soapy water diving for plates and cutlery, she could see michael wheeler staring at her from the corners of his eyes, mike was reflected from the window in the wall facing her and he was putting little effort into hiding his stare. max felt like her guard was down, she felt vulnerable, why the hell is he exposing me like this? she thought as she grew more uncomfortable by the minute.

when mike pulled away from the sink to put the plates in the higher cupboard, max took this chance to glance at him and suddenly felt hot in the face as she saw the faint outline of defined muscle exposed to the world as the shirt riddled up with his arms as they reached up to place the plates away. but she darted away her head the second mike was moving back down to stand next to her.

after what felt like hours, the pair finished washing and drying up. max pulled away from the sink, groaning about how soaking wet her hands were and that there was no nearby towel. max didn't realize that mike was fetching one for her until she turned at the very last second to get startled by the boy standing right behind her. mike had the towel in his hands and bopped his head, signaling max to put her hands on the towel - and she hesitantly did so. mike was gentle to softly dry her hands, reaching every damp spot and making them dry as the desert.

max had not stopped staring at him as he did so, feeling more uncomfortable, vulnerable, and grossed out than ever. mike was too busy been a nice person to even bother glancing down at max's facial expressions.

max was so caught up in trying calm her head about what the hell was happening that she didn't realize that mike had finished doing his good deed and already hung up the towel back where he found it. she awoke from this daze when mike was standing in front of her (yet again not keeping his distance from max's personal bubble) and placed a firm hold on her shoulder with his warm hand.

"you alright?"

"i-i'm fine, thank you," max replied, stuttering only once but that felt like that was already enough to embarrass herself, "the guys are probably missing us,"

"yeah, let's go."

max lead the way, desperate to gain some company that she could actually feel comfortable in her own skin with, not with this ravenhaired dork that insisted he dried her hands for no reason whatsoever. mike stayed in the kitchen for a little longer, staying at himself in the reflection, staring into his own eyes as if they were supposed to answer his most burning questions that scorched throughout his brain.

max practically skipped down the stairs, not caring about the risk that she could fall and injure herself, she saw her friends playing on a new game, one she didn't recognize, but it wasn't like she wanted to play it - she just wanted to sleep today's experiences off. the redhead was on the sofa, legs over the edge and frizzy hair was laid out on the couch's cushion. she was staring at the ceiling. she was not aware for how long though.

it felt like hours. she soon felt lucas sitting on the couch, and sighed contently as he brushed through her hair with his fingers.

mike was walking down the stairs when max sat right correctly, they locked eyes just for a second before jane came screaming to mike saying she was growing worried and that she missed him. the girl engulfed him into a hug and mike forced himself to return the favor.

"why were you taking so long up there?" will asked, not looking away from the game board he was playing against dustin on.

"yeah, you were gone for like, almost an hour," dustin wheezed in his own little charming way.