A reason to fight for.//elmax-Madmage

Chapter 6:

Will bursted in: 'Hopper send Flo to get us. Come on.' Max stood up and followed Will out of the room, Eleven was left alone with her thought: why do I hate her? Well I don't anymore. She saved my life. Well I saved hers twice. But why did I hate her? I guess I was jealous that she could be around Mike. Or...what if...no. No. Yeah I was jealous that she was able to be around Mike and not me. Right? Yeah. Yeah. Shit.
'Are you coming?' Eleven flinched lightly when Max interrupted her thoughts. The brunette nodded and followed Max through the halls.

Will was already in Flo's car, waiting for the girls. Flo was a very talkative person, but as she saw Eleven with a bandaid on her shoulder and Max with one on her head, she couldn't find the right words. 'What- How- Who- Does Jim know, Jane?' Eleven shook her head: 'No. He left before we found out that he had been able to hurt me. But don't worry. Max took care of it.' Flo looked over at Max: 'I'm sorry about your brother Maxine.'

Sorry? Why would she be sorry?! Max looked up at Flo: 'I'm the one who's sorry. I mean my stepbrother literally shot Eleven.' Eleven put a hand gently on Max' shoulder: 'Don't apologize for what HE did. It's not your fault. Nothing about this is your fault. And I'm fine. I promise, I mean you saved my life-' Max interrupted her:'I didn't. You saved my life twice. And If I hadn't stayed at the arcade, he wouldn't have smashed the skate on me, you wouldn't have had to...do all that stuff-' Eleven unexpectedly hugged Max. The redhead flinched and was tense, but then relaxed and hugged her tighter.

Eleven groaned and Max quickly pulled away: 'I'm sorry. Right. Your shoulder. I'm sor-' Eleven trying to look as tough as she could: 'I'm fine. Stop apologizing.' Max without thinking answers: 'I'm sorry-' Eleven chuckled: 'Apologize one more time and I'll pick you up like a sac of potatoes and drag you to the car.' Max blushed: 'You wouldn't dare, and even if you did, I'm too heavy-' Eleven picked her up on her other shoulder, before Max finished her sentence: 'WhAA-' Max bursted out laughing and giggling uncontrollably. 'Are ya done? My mom is waiting for me.' It was Will, still with his soft, sweet voice but he sounded more confident than an hour ago. Eleven gently put Max in the left back seat and sat down next to her. Will was in the passenger seat, talking to Flo like mothers talk between them: 'Children, am I right?' Flo chuckled: 'Yes.'

The girls looked at each other and continued giggling uncontrollably. Flo first drove to the Byers, Joyce obviously made sure that Eleven and Max were also ok after she had examined her son. As they walked back to the car to go to Max' house, Eleven surprised the redhead, because she had secretly called Hopper: 'Max, I...uhm, I called Hopper, and he proposed that you could stay over...only if you want to of course. And well, I guess none of us wants to be alone after what happened today and-' 'Yes!...I mean, yeah...sure....why not.' wow Maxine, way to keep it cool and not sound excited at all. Or should I be scared? Wait no...no. It's Eleven. She saved your life. Twice.

Eleven giggled, and got back in the car after waving at Will and Joyce, Max followed Eleven and again, sat next to her on the backseats. 'So. Now to the Mayfileds/ Hargrove?' Flo entered the car. 'No, she's staying at my house, so just drive us there please?' Flo obeyed and drove them to the cabin. On their way to the cabin, Flo could sense the awkward tension and turned the radio on. Take on me started playing and Eleven chuckled. Flo looked through the mirror: 'I know you love this song El, just sing already.' Eleven shook her head no, and looked out the window, hiding a smile. Flo started singing: 'We're walking away-' Eleven cut her off: 'I don't know, what I'm to say' Eleven elbows Max lightly and gave her an „sing with us" look, Max looked down shaking her head. Eleven chuckled: 'Come on Max, song with us! I'll say it anyway! Come on! Sing!' Eleven's voice was sweet, but she didn't have a voice of a singer, even though Max thought that she sounded like an angel. Eleven started moving her hands as she was singing, taking a shoe off and using it as a fake microphone. Max stared at the brunette in awe.

Max had never laughed so much since, well, she had never laughed so much in her entire life. She felt joyful, free, and just happy in general, but most importantly safe. The way she felt when it had been only her and her mother back in California. Before Billy. Before Neil. Before all the pain and abuse. Before they made her life a living hell. Before she had to be tough all the time. Before she had to build walls and use her toughness as an armor. And without noticing her eyes started getting teary. She closed them immediately and looked out the window quickly, so Eleven wouldn't notice her crying.

Eleven continued singing, so Max assumed that she didn't see her. 'Come on Max, sing! Please?' How could Max say no, after Eleven used her softest voice on her. They were already at the chorus. Max chuckled and sighed: 'Fine...Taaake ooon meee. Taaake meee ooooon. I'll beee gooone. In a day or twoooo.' Max noticed that both Eleven and Flo stopped singing, she turned around to look at them and found them staring at her. 'W-what?' Eleven opened mouth turned into a smile: 'Wow. You have an angelic voice.' Flo as surprised as Eleven by the redhead's voice: 'It's true Max, you have an amazing voice. How come haven't I heard you sing?' Max's face turned into a tomato: 'I uhm...thank you...but I hate to sing...I sound like a muppet. A muppet giving birth. I hate my voice. I used to sing in the bathroom when I was a kid, but then Billy started mocking me and well...I stopped.' Max's voice started shaking, but fortunately for her, they arrived at the cabin. Max thanked Flo with a little nod and smile, Flo did the same in response. Max sat down on the porch of Hopper's cabin, while Eleven and Flo and exchanged a few words.

Eleven approached the cabin and made that serious look that she always makes when she uses her powers, suddenly the door unlocked. 'You know that there's a thing called keys that could be helpful.' Eleven smiled at Max: 'Yeah, I know, but Hop lost his so he had to take mine today, so, I figured if I didn't want you to die of cold out here, I should open the door.' Max looked up at the brunette and giggled: 'How nice of you.' Eleven opened the door and held it open for Max. As Max entered the unknown place, and looked around, she felt this warmth inside of her, a feeling that she couldn't possibly explain even if she'd try really hard.

A/N: this chapter was originally 2486 words, so I decided to turn it into two separate chapters. <3