The Party sprinted towards the field, bursting through the doors to find Will standing in the middle of the field. The group rushed over to the boy, who was shaking.
"Will!" Mike yelled, taking him by the shoulders and shaking him a little. "Will! Will!"
Suddenly, Joyce Byers ran up from behind. "What happened?" She panicked, taking Will into her arms.
"I don't know! I just found him like this! I think he's having another episode!" Mike explained, backing up to stand beside Cal on his left watching with wide eyes.
"Sweetie! Sweetie, wake up! It's mom! Will" Joyce screamed, fully shaking will.
Cal walked up to Joyce, placing a hand on her shoulder. The mother turned her head to look at the boy, his eyes telling her he can help. Joyce looked back to Will before nodding her head. Cal nodded back, taking his hand of Joyce's shoulder, as he moved his hands onto Will's temples before closing his eyes.
When he opened them again, Cal saw that he was now standing on the opposite side of the field. He frantically looked around until his eyes land on a big shadow monster surrounding Will.
"What the...?" Cal trailed off, his eyes wide with surprise and confusion and what he looked at. He couldn't tell what it was doing, but whatever it was it wasn't good.
"Hey!" He shouted, drawing the monster's attention. "Get away from my friend!" Cal shouted, pushing his hands out as he used his powers on the monster, forcing it to be pushed back slightly for it to be enough to release its hold on Will.
Will's body disappeared from the field as the monster let out a shriek, causing Cal to cover his ears at how loud it was. The monster then began to charge towards the young boy, Cal noticing as he acted quickly, throwing his arms out once more and using his powers to hold the monster in place.
Cal smiled, glad it worked, but dropped it when he saw that it was moving ever so slowly towards. Cal needed to get out of there. He closed his eyes, still using his powers on the monster and tried to get out, but it didn't work.
Cal tried over and over again, blood coming from his nose and eyes from overusing his powers, hoping it would work. The monster was halfway across the field, slowly pushing back on Cal's hold.
Cal!
That was Mike. He heard Mike. Focus on his voice!
Cal tried to focused on Mike's voice but it slowly became distorted until it disappeared, the monster now a quarter of the field away.
Cal!
Wake up Cal!
Please wake up dear!
He could hear his friends shouts and continued to concentrate, feeling he was almost there. The monster was now in front of him, readying to attack.
Blue! Wake up!
With one final push, Cal disappeared from the dark field narrowly missing the monster's attack.
When Cal opened his eyes, a sharp gasp escaping his mouth, he was met with Max standing in front of him as her eyes filled with concern and worry. He looked around to see the party surrounding him along with Joyce, who was next to Max, with Will in her arms.
"Max?" He asked, a little dazed from his depleted energy
"Yeah, it's me. Are-are you okay? Will woke up and then you started to shake. We tried to wake up, but then you started bleeding from your nose and your eyes a-and I was so scared. I thought that-'' Max's voice trailed off for Cal. He wiped the blood away from under his nose and eyes before looking back to Max to see her rambling on.
Cal pulled her into a soft hug, Max returning it while grabbing the back of his shirt, "Yeah... yeah I'm fine. Sorry for scaring you." He spoke softly, tring to ease her worries, as he rubbed her back gently.
The boy looked up from the hug towards the party and Joyce, all of them having concerned looks. He mouthed 'Tell you later' to them before looking at Will, the Byers boy mouthing back a mouthed back 'Thank you'. Cal gave a small smile before pulling away from the hug, giving Max a reassuring smile.
Joyce walked up to him, as she spoke, "I'm taking Will home, do you want to come with us? I can drop you off at your place" She gently asked, Cal shaking his head no.
"Sorry Mrs Byers, I want to walk home if that's okay." He responded to the mother.
Joyce let out a sigh, bringing Cal into a quick hug as she whispered a thank you. She pulled away before turning to Will, gently grabbing his hand, and walked to her car, driving away once the two got in.
The party watched them drive off before Cal turned his head towards the others. They were about to ask him questions but he shook his head, stopping them before they could, "Sorry, guys. I really just want to go home. I'll see you tomorrow"
As he began to walk away, he felt a hand intertwine with his, causing him to stop and turn around to see Max with a look of concern.
"I'm not letting you walk home by yourself. I'll come with you." She stated.
Cal gave her a small smile. He turned to look at the party and gave them a wave goodbye.
Dustin and Lucas both looked at Max, who mouthed to them 'I'll take care of him.' The two boys gave her a thankful look as she and Cal made their way to his place, still holding hands.
The walk was silent, Max not knowing what to say and Cal not wanting her to freak her out. The boy sighed, realising that he's brought her into all this chaos.
"I'm sorry." He mumbled as he looked down at the ground, feeling the need to apologise for what she saw.
Max looked at him with concern before she gently grabbed his hand, giving it a soft squeeze.
"I shouldn't have gotten you involved in this." Cal said, his lips forming a frown.
Max raised an eyebrow, "Involved in what?" She asked, not understanding what the boy is talking about.
Cal looked over at her, debating if he should just tell her and get it over with. It would make it easier for him if he did, but was it worth the risk? Cal thought about before sighing,
"If you really want to know, I have to know you accept the risk." He told her, his face morphing into seriousness.
Max scoffed, "A risk?" She asked, watching as Cal nodded in responce. The redhead raised an eyebrow, "How big of a risk?"
"Pretty big, like, could possibly get you killed big."
Max's eyes widened as she stopped walking, her mouth slightly open from shock. Cal nticed and stopped walking as well, watching as the redhead began to be lost in her thoughts, as silence now filled the air.
"Is this "Risk" the reason why I'm not allowed in your party?" She asked, her tone slightly annoyed.
Cal cringed, remembering how Mike was against her joining, before nodding his head. Max let out an irritated scoff as she rolled her eyes
"Of course it is. " The redhead mumbled, "Fine, whatever. If it means they'll actually let me in their party, then I accept the risk." She told him, the slightest bit of sarcasm evident in her tone.
"Okay, so, remember how I told you that our friend moved away?" Cal asked, looking over at Max. She nodded her head in response.
"Well, her name was El, short for Eleven." He continued. Max looked bewildered at the name.
"Eleven? As in the number?" Cal nodded and continued.
"Yeah... Well, she didn't exactly move away."
And so he told her, told her everything about what happened last year, with Will, El, the Demogorgan and even himself. By the end of it they had reached Cal's house. Max was silent the whole time, trying to process everything she was just told.
"Cal... I don't know what you're trying to pull here, but whatever that was, it wasn't it" Max finally said. Cal sighed, he should've realized she wouldn't believe her.
"I know, I know it sounds crazy, but that's the truth, that's the reason why we're searching for Dart, why Mike wouldn't let you into the AV Club and why you weren't allowed to join the part." Cal explained.
Max looked over towards the boy, their eyes locking as she tried to see if everything Cal said was a lie.
"How do I know this isn't some stupid prank?" She asked, still not believing it.
"Simple. I can prove it to you." Cal told her, a smile on his face, as Max gave him a deadpan look, waiting for him to prove it, "but we have to go inside. I can't really show you in public" He explained with a smile, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly.
Max raised her eyebrow, as Cal realised what he said.
"Yes, I know that sounds creepy, but it's not. You just have to trust me on this." Cal assured, giving the redhead a small smile.
Max looked at Cal, debating whether or not she should, before letting out a sigh. The redhead nodded her head causing Cal to smile.
"Awesome! I-I mean cool, yeah." Cal coughed out, trying to keep his cool, as they made their way into the house, only to find Steve there.
"There you are, Jesus, I was worried that the lab got-Oh, hey there" Steve greeted, stopping himself from saying anymore, as he noticed Max by Cal's side.
"Hi"
Steve nodded his head, not wanting to say anything else, as an awkward silence filled the room. The older teen looked anywhere but Cal's face, knowing he almost spilled Cal's secret. The younger Harrington let out a sigh.
"I told her" Cal simply said.
Steve's eyebrows raised as he looked back to his brother,
"Huh?"
"I told her, about everything. About me, El, what happened last year, everything." Cal said, looking at Steve. Steve looked surprised, about to say something but stopped.
"I, uh-" Steve paused, trying to think of what to say "Well... It's your secret I guess. I'm surprised uh..." Steve trailed off, not knowing the girl's name.
"Max"
"Max-Max?'' Steve confirmed, nodding his head a little, "I'm surprised you believed him," He said to Max.
"I'm on the fence about it all, but he said he can prove it somehow" Max told the older Harrington
Steve turned to Cal, giving him a confused look, before seeing the pleading look on his face.
"No" Steve stated
"Come on" Cal begged
"Nope, not happening"
"Please, just once"
"Nuh uh, nope, nope, nope" Steve deinied, crossing his arms over his chest,
Cal sighed before turning towards Max. "Here's your proof" He said, slowly raising his arm.
Steve uncrossed his arms as he found himself beggining to slowly lift off his feet. The older teen began to panic as he yelled at Cal to put him down. Max watched Cal's display of his powers, amazed at what she was seeing.
Cal gently put Steve down before heturned towards Max, "Believe me now?" He asked, wiping the blood away from under his nose.
"Holy shit" She said, frozen in awe, before continuing. "So all of it is real? that's so, so-"
"Fucked? Yeah, tell me about it." Steve interrupted her, catching his breath from being lifted up.
Max nodded. She then turned towards Cal with wide eyes.
"Wait, that means that everything you said about you, and El, and what I can remember about the lab..."
"Was true." Cal finished for her. Before he could continue he was brought into a bone crushing hug by Max.
"Holy shit, are you alright? Okat that's a stupid question. Who'd be alright after that? I can't believe they did that to you two- " Max began to ramble on as Cal smiled and returned the hug.
Steve watched the two with a smile before he spoke, "Now, I hate to interrupt the moment, but we need to wipe that dried blood off you." He said to Cal, while the two pulled away. He then turned towards Max.
"Since you're already here Max, why don't you stay the night? I can set up some blankets for you in Calum's room" He suggested to her. Max looked over at Cal who was quickly nodding his head. She chuckled and looked back at Steve.
"Yeah sure, I just need to call my Mum." She answered.
"No need, give me the number and I'll call them for you" Steve said. So with that Max gave him the number and Steve made the call. Steve then set up the blankets in Cal's room and gave Max some spare sleepwear he found in the parent's bedroom. Before going to bed, Max helped clean the dried blood off of Cal and then the two made their way to his room.
"Hey Max?" Cal asked, hopping into bed, looking over at Max on the floor.
"Yeah?"
"Thanks for... staying here, and also believing me about all this. It really means a lot, more than you realize." He told the girl.
"Well duh, we're friends Blue, of course I'm gonna be here for you" Max said, looking over at him, both of them not releasing the little space between their faces.
Max finally noticed the little space between them, Cal notcing as well, both of them not moving. They stayed in comfortable silence before the boy swallowed down his nerves as he leaned in further, Max following his actions.
The next thing they knew was that they felt like Heaven. Their lips had connected. Cal felt a spark of electricity go through his body, while Max felt a similar spark go through hers. They pulled away from the kiss, both smiling like idiots.
Cal opened his eyes to see the smile on Max's face as she opened hers, her smile growing even wider. The two stared into each other's eyes, a comfortable silence forming around them.
"So" Cal said, a stupid smile on his face.
"So" Max repeated, mirroing Cal's smile
"Im guessing we're...?" Cal trailed off.
Max nodded, the smile never leaving her face as Cal grinned like a young boy opening up a present.
"I really do hate to ruin the moment but we should probably sleep, it's really late." Cal told her, having noticed the time on his clock.
Max didn't respond, instead she Max pulled him into a quick kiss. They seperated as the redhead down in her make-shift bed, leaving a flustered Cal where he was.
"Goodnight Blue" She said to Cal, snapping him out his flustered state.
"Goodnight Red" Cal said back as he laid in his bed.
The two fell asleep that night with big smiles and blushes on their faces, thinking of what just happened.
The Next morning, Cal woke up in his bed feeling something next to him. He turned to his right to see his Red, Max Mayfield, looking at him with a smile.
"Morning sleepyhead." She said,
"Morning" He mumbled. "When did you wake up?"
"About 30 minutes ago, you were still asleep so I thought I would join you."
Cal gave her a tired smile before giving her a quick kiss. "As much as I would like to stay in bed with you, we really should start getting ready."
"Ugh, do we have to?" Max groaned out.
"C'mon, we got to get to school to help find Dart, you can get changed in the bathroom." Cal said to Max while getting out of bed. Max sighed before she grabbed her regular clothes and made her way to the bathroom.
By the time Cal finished changing, Max was waiting for him by the stairs. They grabbed each other's hand and made their way downstairs to be met with Steve cooking in the kitchen.
"Alright you two are up, good. Quickly eat up otherwise we're gonna be late for school" and with that the two ate their breakfast and made their way to Steve's car. They both sat in the backseat and drove to school.
The ride was filled with Cal and Steve singing to different songs that played on the radio while Max smiled at the siblings. When they got to the parking lot, Steve turned down the radio and turned to face the two in the back.
"Alright before we go, I just wanna make sure that Max knows not to tell anyone about what she knows alright?" Steve said to Max.
"I was actually gonna tell the whole school about it because they'll totally believe me and not think I'm crazy" Ah there's Max's sarcasticness. Steve playfully shook his head as Cal and Max exited the car.
"Cya Steve."
As Cal and Max made their way to school, Max quickly remembered something. She grabbed Cal's hand and turned him towards her.
"Should we tell the others about.. you know? I mean I'm fine with telling them, I just don't want people to think we rushed into this." Max stated. Cal gently squeezed her hand.
"Hey it's ok. Tell you what Red, how about we hold off on telling them for like a couple more days. Then if we both feel comfortable, we'll tell them." Cal suggested.
"Sounds perfect Blue"
With that settled, the duo made their way towards Lucas and Mike who were around the school dumpster. As they made it to the destination, the two could only watch as Lucas jumped in and out of the dumpster, throwing out garbage bags while Mike searched through it with a stick.
"What the hell are you two doing?" Max asked.
"We're looking for Dart, what else would we be doing?" Mike answered.
"Scurrying for coins?" Cal responded sarcastically. Mike rolled his with a small smile.
"What the hell is going on?" Yelled Dustin, approaching the group.
"Like I just said, we're looking for Dart?"
Lucas then hopped out of the dumpster, trash flinging everywhere.
"Dude! Not the jacket" Cal yelled, covering his blue jacket so it doesn't get dirty. Max shook her head at his actions.
"Well, well, well. Look who finally decided to finally show up. After I drew the short straw, it was really convenient." Lucas scoffed, crossing his arms.
"You stink." Max said, moving back in between Cal and Max. Dustin looked over at Max. "Hi Max" Dustin said with a smile.
Cal looked at Dustin, amused at his actions. Max awkwardly smiled at Dustin with a wave.
"You guys gonna stand there or are you going to help?" Lucas yelled, chucking the three sticks.
The three caught the sticks and walked towards the garbage bags and started poking them.
It was now lunch time, the group were hanging out at the stairs while Mike tried to call the Byers. Max and Cal were talking about skating ideas, sitting on the steps, while Dustin and Lucas made small talk.
Eventually, Mike ran back towards them, Lucas noticing first.
"Anything?" Lucas asked the boy.
"We need to talk. AV room. Right now." Mike said. Cal grabbed Max's hand and pulled her up and started to make their way, keywords started to.
"Party members only!" Mike said looking at Max.
"Dude, seriously?" Cal asked.
"Come on, Mike." Dustin pleaded.
"No! This is non-negotiable." Mike said before turning towards Cal. "Are you coming or are you staying here?" Cal was about to respond before a hand grabbed his. He turned and looked at Max.
"It's okay Blue, you can go with them. Just, meet me after, okay?" Max said softly. Cal slowly nodded before looking at the boys going upstairs. Cal turned back to Max and pecked her lips before running up the stairs, leaving a flustered Max who had an idiotic smile on her face.
Once Cal was in the room, Mike started speaking.
"Will didn't want me to tell anyone but... on Halloween he saw a sort of shadow in the sky." Cal froze, remembering the monster he saw around Will.
"A shadow?" Lucas asked.
"I don't know, but it scared him That's why he freaked out when we saw him." Mike explained. "And if Will really had true sight-I mean really see into the Upside Down, maybe he saw that shadow again yesterday at the field."
Cal then decided to speak. "Yeah he did" All focus was now on him. "When I went in there, I saw Will standing where he was, but the shadow was surrounding him. I don't know what it was doing so I used my powers on it and freed Will." Cal explained.
"So that's why he was frozen like that?" Dustin asked, wanting to make sure.
"I suppose so."
"Did it hurt him?" Lucas asked, concerned.
"I don't know" Cal answered.
"Dustin, do you know anything?"
"Well, if you're in another plane, you can't interact with the material plane, but Cal said he moved the shadow back, so maybe the shadow was taunting Will?" Dustin questioned.
"What do we do now?"
"We acquire more knowledge. I'll go to Wills after school, see what's going on while you guys stay here and find Dart." he said, grabbing his backpack.
"Dart? What does he have to do with all of this?" Dustin asked, sounding defensive.
"Will heard him in the upside down. I don't know yet, but he's got to be connected to all of this. He's gotta be." Mike explained.
"And if we find Dart, maybe we can solve this thing and help Will." Cal finished.
After that they all headed off towards their classes, except Cal who was hoping to find Max at her locker. When he arrived he found her grabbing out her books.
Cal sneaked up behind her and engulfed her in a hug. Max let out a yelp and turned around to see who it was. Max smiled when she spotted the familiar blue jacket.
"Hey Red"
"Hey Blue, what did you guys talk about that was so important for me to not know." Max remarked. Cal could practically see the sarcasticness coming out of her mouth, so he treaded lightly in what he was going to say.
"Just stuff about the Upside Down and Will. I'm surprised you didn't let me tell them I told you about that stuff."
"I just didn't want you to deal with Mike, I could tell he was pissed at something." Max answered Cal.
"Yeah, he was just worried about Will. Anyway Me, Dustin and Lucas are going to search for Dart after school, you wanna join in?" Cal invited Max.
"Sorry Blue, I don't really want to hang out with them at the moment" Max sighed. Cal could tell she was frustrated at the group, he would be too.
"Nah it's okay. If I don't catch ya again today, I'll see you tomorrow?" Cal asked the red-haired girl.
Max nodded and quickly pecked Cal's lips before going to her class, leaving a flustered Cal staring at her leaving.
At the end of the day, Cal was trying to find Lucas and Dustin. He wandered the halls and eventually made it outside seeing Max and Lucas fighting. He quickly made his way over as Max left Lucas.
"What was that about?" Cal asked the boy.
"She's mad at us for not letting her in the party."
"I think you mean mad at you guys, she's fine with me"
Lucas looked over at the boy then back at Max walking away. "I'm gonna tell her. I'm gonna tell her about everything." Lucas insisted.
"Oh, she already knows." Cal informed him
"Huh?" Lucas said, shock evident on his face.
"I told her yesterday when she walked me home. I was gonna tell you guys before but she stopped me."
"She believed you?" Lucas asked, confused on how she would believe anything like that.
"I mean it helps when you're a walking lab experiment."
Lucas winced at his bluntness but agreed.
"Listen, she just needs time to herself, okay? Trust me on this" Cal reassured Lucas.
"Alright, I'll let your girlfriend cooldown."
Cal turned beet red at the mention of Max being his girlfriend. "H-how did you-"
"Know? I saw you guys kiss in the hallway." Lucas explained. Cal let out a oh at that. Lucas smiled at him and patted his shoulder.
"Nothing to be ashamed of man, it was bound to happen with the way you two looked at each other." Lucas told the boy with a smile. Cal looked at him before shaking his head with a soft smile.
"Alright, let's go find Dustin so we can find Dart" Lucas nodded his head and the two made their way back into the school.
To be continued