...
"It's boobies."
...
March 21st, 1986. 8 months since the incident at Starcourt mall. The party has started high school and the Byers and El had moved the California.
Over these 8 months, Max hasn't been doing to hot. She was diagnosed with depression and has distanced herself from everyone in the party, besides Liv. Not the mention the constant headaches, nightmares, and nosebleeds.
"Wake up, loser! It's your birthday!" Max yelled as she jumped on Liv.
Liv groaned. "5 more minutes."
"No. Get up or else." Max threatened.
Liv didn't respond. Max rolled her eyes before she started to tickle Liv. Liv immediately woke up and bursted into a fit of laughter.
"Okay! Okay! I'm up!" Liv laughed.
Max didn't stop. Liv flipped their positions so that she was straddling Max's waist. Liv pinned Max's hands above her head as she breathed heavily. Max smirked as she stared into Liv's eyes.
"Why did my birthday have to be the day before spring break? Why couldn't I have been born tomorrow?" Liv asked.
Max laughed. "I don't know."
Liv looked down at Max's lips before looking back into her eyes. "Birthday sex?"
"Anything for the birthday girl." Max smiled before Liv crashed her lips against Max's.
( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
...
"Fuck, Max." Liv panted as Max laid down next to her.
"Happy birthday." Max smiled as she leaned on her elbow.
Liv sighed. "Happy birthday indeed."
Max stared at Liv for a few seconds before her smile fell. "Are we gonna be in love forever?"
"What? Of course we are." Liv said. "Why would you even ask that?"
"I just don't wanna lose you. You're, like, the best thing that has ever happened to me." Max honestly said.
"Aw, Max." Liv smiled and gave Max a peck on the lips. "You're not gonna lose me. We're gonna spend so much time together over break that by the end of it you're gonna be sick of me."
"I could never get sick of you." Max laughed and went in for a kiss but a honk from outside made her quickly pull away.
"Shit! Steve's here!" Liv yelled as she quickly got out of bed and looked for her clothes.
"Already? What time is it?" Max asked as she sat up.
"7:00." Liv said as she buttoned her jeans. "Come on, get dressed!"
Max stood up from the bed and grabbed her clothes as Liv put on her shirt. Max got her clothes on and picked up Liv's jacket from the floor.
"Max, that's mine." Liv told her.
"I know." Max said as she put the jacket on in the mirror and noticed the amount of hickeys on her neck. "Livie!"
"What?" Liv stood behind Max in the mirror.
Max turned around and pointed to the hickeys on her neck.
Liv smirked. "Sorry. I got a little carried away."
"A little?" Max tilted her head.
"Here." Liv got some foundation from her backpack and applied it to Max's neck. "There. Good as new."
Honk!
"Let's go before Steve kills us." Max said as she grabbed her backpack.
Liv grabbed her backpack before she and Max ran out of Max's trailer and over to Steve's car. Max opened the backseat door and Liv threw her backpack in before getting in, with Max getting in after her.
"Happy birthday, Liv!" Robin yelled as she turned to look at the two girls. "Wow. You really did a number on Max's neck."
"What?" Liv furrowed her eyebrows as she buckled her seatbelt.
"I can tell when people put on makeup to cover up hickeys." Robin said.
Liv and Max shared a look as Max buckled her seatbelt.
"Uh, so, anyways... happy birthday, Liv! I wanted to be the first person to give you a birthday gift." Steve smiled as he handed Liv a box.
"I think you might be the second." Robin smirked.
Liv took the box and opened it to reveal a new comic. "Thanks, Steve."
"You're welcome." Steve smiled and started to drive to school.
"Wanna read it with me?" Liv asked Max.
"Of course." Max smiled.
Liv smiled and turned so that she was leaning on Max's chest. She opened the comic and the two of them started to read it.
...
"And then there's Heidi tomorrow night, but the problem with Heidi is that she's going out of state for college. So it's like do I really wanna start another relationship that has no point other than sex? I mean, I just- I don't know. Does that make sense to any of you?" Steve looked at Robin and then into the rear view mirror and saw that none of them were listening to him. "Robin, Liv, Max, are you listening?"
"Uh, yes." Robin lied as she applied mascara.
Steve looked into the rear view mirror at the two girls who were giggling about something that happened in the comic. "Hello? Liv, Max!"
The two girls ignored him.
"Steve, let them be." Robin told him.
"They're not listening to me." Steve complained.
"Well, they're teenagers in love. What'd you expect?" Robin asked.
Steve sighed. "Livax!"
"What?" Max and Liv yelled at the same time.
"Are you two listening?" Steve asked.
"Uh, yeah." Liv waved him off.
"What did I just say?" Steve wondered.
"You said something about sex with- with Linda." Liv said as she went back to her comic.
"No, I'm talking about Heidi." Steve yelled.
"Cut her some slack, please. Your love life is one of labyrinthine complexity. And it is 7:00 in the morning, we have to go to this stupid pep rally, and I woke up looking like a total corpse." Robin complained as she put her hands on her face.
Liv closed up the comic as she and Max focused on the argument that Robin and Steve were having.
"You're worried about a basketball pep rally? You expect me to believe that?" Steve asked.
"Yeah? So?" Robin sheepishly looked down at her makeup bag.
"So we all know what this is about." Steve nodded.
"This is about Vickie." Liv jumped in.
"Who's Vickie?" Max whispered.
"Robins crush." Liv whispered back.
Robin quickly looked at Liv. "Absolutely not."
"Yes, it is. You know what I think?" Steve said as Robin turned back around and started to apply lip gloss.
"Uh, I really don't care what you-"
"I think you gotta stop pretending to be someone else when you're around her, okay? You just gotta be yourself." Steve advised.
"You're literally quoting me to me. You do realize that." Robin told him.
"Well, maybe you need to listen to yourself. Ever think about that, smarty pants? I listened to you and now look at me. Boom. Back in business." Steve said.
"I wouldn't say that." Max mumbled causing Liv to laugh quietly.
"It's not the same thing. Okay? You ask out a girl and she says no. Big deal. Nothing happens. Maybe your ego's a little bruised. But if me, Liv, or Max ask out the wrong girl, bam, we're town pariahs." Robin ranted. "Max and Liv got lucky."
"I did get pretty lucky." Liv smiled as she looked up at Max.
Max smiled back and leaned in to give her a kiss.
"Hey, no PDA in my car." Steve told them causing Liv to roll her eyes. "Anyways, I'd buy that, except that Vickie is definitely not the wrong girl."
"We just don't know that, do we?" Robin asked before spraying breath spray into her mouth.
"She returned Fast Times paused at 53 minutes, 5 seconds." Steve reminded her. "Do you know who pauses Fast Times at 53 minutes, 5 seconds?"
Robin shook her head.
"People who like boobies, Robin." Steve added.
"Ew! Gross. Don't say boobies." Robin told him.
"Boobies. It's not a big deal, okay? I like boobies. You like boobies. Livax likes boobies." Steve stayed silent for a few seconds. "Vickie likes boobies. Definitely."
Robin shook her head and Liv scrunched up her nose as she opened her comic back up.
"It's boobies." Steve shrugged.
"Please stop." Liv shook her head.
...
As soon as Steve pulled into a parking space, Robin grabbed her band stuff, left the car, and chased after her friends. Max opened the car door and stepped out. She put a hand on the door while she waited for Liv.
"Bye, Steve." Liv waved as she grabbed her backpack and left the car.
Max shut the car door behind Liv and the two of them started to walk to the gym together.
"Can I take you out tonight?" Max asked.
"Max, you don't need to take me anywhere." Liv smiled.
"But, I want to. I want this to be the best birthday ever." Max said.
"As long as I'm with you it'll be the best birthday ever." Liv told her.
"But-"
"No buts."
"Not even yours?" Max asked with a smirk.
Liv rolled her eyes as she bumped her shoulder with Max's. As the two got closer to the gym, Max noticed Miss Kelley standing in the parking lot and yelling at everyone to go to the gym.
"It's Miss Kelley. Don't make eye contact." Max said as she started pushing Liv.
"Why?" Liv asked.
"Because I missed our session yesterday and I really don't wanna talk to her." Max explained.
"Why'd you miss your session?" Liv wondered.
"Because-"
"Max!"
Max and Liv turned around to see Miss Kelley walking over to them. Max sighed out of annoyance.
"Where were you yesterday?" Miss Kelley asked with a kind smile.
"Oh, yeah. Sorry, I forgot it was Thursday." Max lied.
"Well, I'd like to see you today. Come straight after lunch, okay?" Miss Kelley told her.
Max nodded before walking away with Liv.
"God, I hate her." Max mumbled.
"Hey. That's not nice." Liv lightly scolded as they continued to walk to the gym.
"Well, she always makes me talk about things that I dont wanna tell her or stuff that i'm not ready to talk about." Max complained. "I'm better off with you as my therapist."
"I'll be your therapist anyday." Liv joked as the two of them walked into the gym.
Inside the gym the bleachers were filled with students, the band was playing, and the cheerleaders were cheering in the middle of the gym floor.
Liv spotted Mike and Dustin in the crowd of students. "There's Mike and Dustin. Let's go sit with them."
"Livie, I don't want to." Max whined as Liv pulled her over to Dustin and Mike.
"Please." Liv pleaded.
"Fine. But I'm not speaking to them." Max huffed as the two walked up the bleachers to Mike and Dustin.
"Look, I'm not saying that my girlfriend is better than yours. It's just that Suzie's, like, a certified genius." Dustin argued with Mike.
"You do realize El saved the world twice, right?" Mike retorted.
"And yet you still have a C in Spanish." Dustin teased.
"I know I just got here but neither of your girlfriends are better than mine." Liv bragged.
"Oh, please. When does your girlfriend ever do anything interesting?" Mike rolled his eyes.
"Um, the girlfriend is right here!" Max jumped in.
"She does interesting stuff in bed." Liv told Mike.
Mike cringed. "Gross, Liv. I don't need to hear about your sex life with Max."
The cheerleaders finished their cheer as the band stopped playing. Everyone clapped as the cheerleaders waved their pom poms and ran to the sidelines.
"And let's hear it for your Tigers!" The principal said over the microphone.
The crowd cheered as the banner broke and the basketball team, Lucas being one of the players on the team, ran into the gym. Jason, the captain, was the first person to run to the middle of the gym with his teammates behind him.
"Good morning, Hawkins High!" Jason yelled into the mic as the cheers slowly died down. "First off... Hey. First off, I'd like to thank each and every one of you. Without your support, we wouldn't be here. Give yourselves a big hand."
The crowd cheered. Lucas made eye contact with Max in the crowd and waved to her. Max quickly averted her eyes from him and found something else to look at.
"And of course, of course, I have to give a special shout out to the best and the prettiest fans of all time, the Tiger Cheer Squad." Jason pointed to the cheerleaders and the crowd cheered again. "Chrissy..." Jason patted his chest. "Chrissy, I love you, babe."
The crowd aww'd as Chrissy blew him a kiss. Jason stepped back and looked at the crowd.
"You know... I think I can speak for all of us when I say it's been a tough year for Hawkins. So much loss. And sometimes I wonder, 'how much loss can one community take'. In dark days like this, we need something to believe in. So, last night, when we were down by ten points to Christian Academy, I looked at my team, and I said, 'think of jack. Think of Melissa. Think of Heather. Think of Billy'."
Liv looked over at Max knowing that Billy was a sensitive topic for her. Max just leaned her head on Liv's shoulder while she kept her eyes on Jason. Liv sighed and put her arm around Max's waist.
"'Think about our heroic police chief, Jim Hopper. Think about every one of our friends who perished in that fire. What did they die for? For us to lose to some... some crap school? No'."
"No!" The crowd shouted.
"'For us to return home with our head hung low in defeat? No'."
"No!" The crowd shouted again.
"'No. Let's win this game. Let's win this game for them'. And that's exactly what we did!" Jason yelled.
The crowd cheered. Dustin, Mike, and Liv all shared a look. They couldn't believe that Jason was using what they went through to help motivate some people for a high school basketball game.
"We embarrassed those candy asses in their own house, and now, tonight, tonight, we're gonna bring home the championship trophy! Let's go." Jason yelled and the crowd cheered.
"Hey, you okay?" Liv asked Max.
Max shook her head no and wiped her tears. Liv pulled Max in for a hug and rubbed her back.
"It's okay." Liv said as Max pulled away.
Max sniffled. "I got snot on your shirt."
"That's... That's okay." Liv said.
"Tonight?" Mike asked.
"How is that possible?" Dustin asked.
"They call it a tournament. You win one game, you go on until there's only one team left." Max explained to them.
Mike, Liv, and Dustin looked back down at the basketball team as Lucas high fived and hugged his teammates.
...
After lunch Max and Liv were walking in the halls, on their way to Miss Kelley's office. Max really didn't want to go but Liv forced her to.
Max had the walkman that Liv gave her over the summer attached to her belt loop. The headphones were over her ears and playing Running Up That Hill by Kate Bush.
They walked past Lucas who was at his locker with one of his basketball teammates. Lucas noticed the two of them and stared. Max looked away from him while Liv just shook her head at him knowing that he was debating on whether or not he should talk to them.
As the two girls turned down the hallway to Miss Kelleys office they noticed Chrissy Cunningham, one of the cheerleaders, walk out of the office.
As they walked up to the office door Max put her hand on the handle and looked at Liv.
Liv sighed. "I know you don't wanna go but she's gonna help you."
"Livie..." Max trailed off.
"I have to go get some work from Patrick but I'll be back in 15 minutes when you're session is over." Liv promised.
Max nodded before going in.
Since high school started, Liv has been failing Math so her teacher had Patrick McKinney tutor her. They've been having sessions every Wednesday during lunch.
Liv turned down the hallway where Patrick's locker was and sure enough he was there with Jason.
"Hey, Liv! Happy birthday." Patrick greeted when he saw Liv walk over to him.
"Happy birthday, Harrington." Jason said.
The entire basketball team knew who Liv was since Steve played on the team before he graduated.
"Thanks guys." Liv thanked.
"What brings you here?" Patrick wondered.
"I just came to pick up some work." Liv told him.
"Oh." Patrick pulled out some papers from his locker and gave them to Liv. "Make sure you have these done before school starts back up."
"You got it." Liv said before walking away.
"Bye, Liv!" Jason and Patrick called out.
Liv waved and made her way back to Miss Kelley's office. As soon as she turned the hallway Max came out of the office.
"I hated that." Max said as Liv walked over to her.
"What'd she ask about?" Liv wondered as they started to walk down the hallway.
"My mom drinking and Neil leaving. You know, the usual." Max told her.
"Max, Liv, hey." Lucas came up from behind the two girls.
Max turned her head to look at him and sighed as she kept walking. "Are you stalking us or something?"
"Oh, no, I... I just wanted to give you guys this." Lucas handed each of them a ticket.
"What is this?" Liv asked as she and Max took the tickets.
"A ticket to the game." Lucas told them.
Max sighed of annoyance as Liv just stared at the ticket.
"I know you guys never want to go to my games but this one is kind of a big deal." Lucas said.
"A big deal?" Max repeated with a scoff. "Lucas, you really care about this?"
"Yeah, I... I do. Maybe you guys should find something you care about too." Lucas suggested.
Max and Liv stopped walking and turned to face him.
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Max snapped.
"Uh..." Lucas sighed. "You're just... It's... It's like you're not even here anymore. It's... It's like you're a ghost or something."
Max looked at him with hurt eyes. "A ghost? Really?"
"Max, I know somethings wrong." Lucas said.
"Yeah, right. Yeah, something must be wrong with me because I don't wanna go to a stupid basketball game." Max said.
"No." Lucas shook his head. "No, that... that's not what I meant."
"Lucas, look, people just change, okay? That's it. I've changed. It's that simple." Max told him before giving him back the ticket and walking into the bathroom.
Lucas sighed and looked at Liv. "Can you come?"
Liv shook her head no. "It's not that I don't want to... It's just..."
Lucas furrowed his eyebrows. "It's just what?"
"You... you don't remember?" Liv asked.
"Remember what?" Lucas asked.
Liv sighed. "Do you know what today is?"
Lucas looked at her in confusion. "March 21st?"
Liv shook her head and gave him back the ticket before walking into the bathroom. When Liv walked in the bathroom Max was at the sink and taking a few pills of tylenol. Liv stood next to her at the sink and sniffled.
"Hey, what's wrong?" Max asked with concern evident in her voice.
"Nothing." Liv lied and started to play with her bracelet.
"You don't have to lie to me." Max said.
"What?"
"When you lie you play with the bracelet I bought for you." Max pointed to her wrist.
Liv quickly stopped playing with her bracelet and put her hands at her side.
"I can't believe you still have it." Max smiled as she looked into Liv's eyes.
"It hasn't left my wrist since you bought it for me." Liv smiled.
"That's very dorky of you." Max joked.
"Says the girl who is still wearing the ring I gave her the day the Byers moved." Liv smirked.
Max's face got red. "Just tell me what's wrong."
Liv sighed. "I think Lucas, Dustin, and Mike forgot my birthday."
"What?" Max asked with anger.
"I asked Lucas what today was and he replied with 'March 21st' and Mike and Dustin didn't even say happy birthday. I wonder if El and Will forgot too." Liv looked down at the ground.
"So, maybe Lucas, Dustin, and Mike forgot but El and Will wouldn't. They adore you." Max said as she took Liv's hands in her own.
Liv shrugged. "I guess."
As the two girls were about to leave they heard someone coughing in the stall all the way at the end causing them both look over there.
"Hey, are you all right?" Max asked.
"Yeah- Yes, I'm... I'm fine." The girl responded.
"Okay, um..." Max said as she walked closer to the stall. "You're sure?"
"Please, just go away." The girl told her.
Liv and Max looked at each other before exiting the bathroom and heading to class.
...
After school Liv met up with Max outside Max's English class. She patiently waited against the lockers for Max to come out of the classroom. When she did Max didn't notice Liv at first so Liv gently took her hand.
"Oh, hi." Max smiled.
"Hey." Liv smiled as the two of them started to walk out of the school, "So, I know I told you I'd sleepover tonight but Steve really wants me home because he has a date tonight and he needs me there so he can rant to me."
Max's smile turned into a frown.
"We can still hang out I just have to be home by 9:30." Liv told her. "I'm really sorry."
"It's okay. Don't worry about it." Max told her as they exited the school
"Liv! Liv! Liv!" Dustin yelled as he ran up to the two girls. "Do you wanna join Hellfire tonight?"
"I'll pass." Liv said.
"What? Why? You used to always wanna play when we were kids." Dustin said.
"Yeah, exactly. I've grown out of that stuff. We're not kids anymore, Dustin. And besides I have better stuff to do today." Liv told him.
Dustin scoffed. "Like what?"
"Celebrate my birthday." Liv mumbled quietly enough for Dustin to not hear but loud enough for Max to hear.
"What?" Dustin asked.
Liv shook her head. "Nothing."
Dustin looked at Max. "What about you?"
Max smiled. "If I play, do I get one of those cool T-shirts?"
"Yes." Dustin laughed.
"Really?" Max asked with a sarcastic smile.
"Everyone gets a T-shirt. We make them ourselves, and if you..." Dustin trailed off when he realized Max was being sarcastic. "You're being sarcastic."
Max sarcastically shrugged before getting on her skateboard and skating away.
"You being sarcastic?" Dustin called after her.
"Good luck with your campaign." Liv glumly said as she walked after Max.
Max waited for Liv at the end of the pathway. Max's smirk fell when she saw her girlfriend walk up to her with a frown.
"See? Forgot." Liv said.
Max held out her hand. "Hop on."
"What?" Liv asked.
"Hop on. I'm taking you on a joy ride." Max told her.
"I don't know, Max. Are you sure thats safe?" Liv worried.
"Would you rather have me drive?" Max wondered.
"No. I love you but never again please." Liv shook her head.
"Then hop on." Max told her.
Liv sighed and took Max's hand and Max helped her onto the skateboard.
"You good?" Max asked.
"Yeah. Don't go to fast please." Liv said.
"No promises, princess." Max smiled before pushing off.
...
Max took Liv to the quarry and the two sat up on the cliff for about an hour and a half just talking and enjoying the view.
After that the girls went back to Max's trailer and now they were cuddling in Max's bed with the radio playing in the background.
Liv had her head on Max's chest and her leg on Max's waist. Max had her arm wrapped around Liv's waist and the other arm was behind her head.
"After a tragic year for our town, the Tigers have brought home the conference title for the first time in 22 years." The man on the radio said.
"You still upset?" Max asked as she looked at Liv.
Liv nodded.
"Did our trip to the quarry at least make you feel a little better?" Max asked.
"And what a great game it was, Allen, ending with a dramatic buzzer-beater from benchwarmer Lucas Sinclair." The other radio man said.
Liv nodded again which made Max smile. The two girls sat in silence just listening to the radio before the phone in Max's bedroom rang. Liv stood up from the bed and walked over the phone.
"He must be feeling on top of the world right-"
Liv turned off the radio, cutting off the man's sentence, before picking up the phone.
"Hello?" Liv said.
"Liv!" El yelled on the other line.
"Happy birthday!" Will yelled.
Liv smiled. "Thanks guys."
"How was your day?" El asked.
"It was... okay. Went to school. Hung out with Max. You know, the usual." Liv shrugged.
"Sounds fun. We have to go but enjoy the rest of your day." Will told her.
"I will. Thanks guys." Liv smiled.
"Bye!" El yelled before Liv hung up the phone.
"Who was that?" Max asked as Liv laid back down next to her.
"El and Will calling to say happy birthday." Liv said.
Max nudged Liv with a smirk. "See? I told you they wouldn't forget."
Liv and Max smiled at each other before Max's eyes widened in realization.
"I almost forgot!" Max went into her nightstand draw and pulled out a box. "I got you something."
Liv took the box and smiled. "Max, you didn't have to get me anything."
"Just open it." Max said.
Liv opened the box to reveal a necklace. "Max! How much did this cost?"
"Don't worry about it, princess." Max took the necklace out of the box. "Turn around."
Liv moved her hair out of the way and turned around. Max unclasped the necklace and put it around Liv's neck. Liv turned around to show Max.
"Beautiful as always." Max smiled.
Max stood up from her bed and went to the radio. She pressed a button and True by Spandau Ballet started playing. The song that Liv and Max danced to the night they had their first kiss.
Max went back over to Liv and held out her hand. "May I have this dance?"
"Max, who knew you were such a romantic?" Liv said with a smile before she took Max's hand.
"Only for you, darling." Max said as Liv stood up from the bed and wrapped her arms around Max's neck.
Max wrapped her arms around Liv's waist and the two started to sway to the music as they stared into each others eyes.
"I'm so in love with you." Max whispered as she leaned her forehead against Liv's.
"There are no words to describe how in love I am with you." Liv whispered back.
The two stood in silence, listening and dancing to the song for a few seconds before Max went in to kiss her. When Max pulled away, Liv grabbed the back of her neck and pulled her back in for another kiss. Liv pushed Max down on the bed, with their lips still connected, and straddled Max's waist and Max put her hands on Liv's waist. Liv angrily pulled away when the neighbors dog started barking.
"Look at that. We're getting interrupted by dogs now." Liv said with her hand on Max's chest.
Max laughed. "Let's go feed him."
Liv groaned and dramatically rolled off of Max.
"Dramatic much?" Max teased.
"Shut up." Liv said.
Max laughed and pulled Liv off of her bed. The two girls walked out of Max's room and into the kitchen. Max put out her mom's cigarette and threw away some of her beer cans while Liv took some leftovers out of the fridge and held them out for Max.
Max walked over to Liv and took the leftovers from her. "Thanks."
The two girls exited the trailer and went over to the dog. The dog continued to bark as the two girls got closer.
"We're coming. We're coming." Max picked up a piece of meat and kneeled down next to the fence. "Here you go. Good boy."
Liv stood behind Max with her arms crossed and a smile on her face. Liv and Max turned their heads as they heard car tires screeching. A van had pulled into the trailer across the street. Eddie Munson stepped out of the van with Chrissy.
"This is, uh, my castle." He told her before the two of them went inside.
The dog barked and pounced on the fence, getting the two girls' attention again
"Okay. All right." Max said before feeding the dog another piece. "One more. That's it though, right? Good boy." Max stood up from the ground and saw the smile on her girlfriends face. "What?"
"Who knew Maxine Mayfield had a soft side for animals." Liv smirked.
"Gross. Don't call me that." Max laughed. "Don't mention this to anybody."
"Why? You need to keep up your tough cool girl act?" Liv asked with the smirk never leaving her face.
"Shut up, Livie." Max said before punching Liv in the shoulder.
Liv smiled. "I hate to do this but I have to go home. If you have another nightmare don't hesitate to call me."
Max nodded. "Okay."
"Goodnight. I love you." Liv said before giving Max a kiss on the lips.
"I love you, too." Max said as she watched her girlfriend walk away.