CHAPTER TEN:
UNDER THE STARS
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THE NIGHT HAD come rather quickly. The group had finished boarding up the bus with the abandoned sheet metal they found around the time that the sky had turned from pink and purple, to orange and red. The sky was clear, and showed off the thousands of stars that littered the night sky, but the ground was covered in a thick fog that made goosebumps arise on Liz's arms. Lucas had climbed up the ladder that Max had positioned underneath the open emergency ceiling exit, and acted as their lookout. The other four were in the bus; Steve and Liz sat side-by-side against a wall as Steve played with a lighter while Max sat in one of the remaining bus seats, and Dustin paced around the bus.
"So... you really fought one of these things before?" Max questioned Steve. Liz turned her gaze to Max, and she sighed. Max didn't believe them, but she thought maybe that was better. It didn't put her in as much danger as she could be in, and the last thing Liz wanted was Max in danger.
Steve looked at her and nodded, "And you're, like, totally, a hundred percent sure it wasn't a bear?"
"Shit! Don't be an idiot! It wasn't a bear!" Dustin snapped causing Max to raise her eyebrows and give him a look that said 'excuse me'. "Why are you even here if you don't believe us? Just go home."
"Geesh. Someone's cranky." Max comments. "Past your bedtime?"
Liz looks between the two and purses her lips before standing up. She walks over to the ladder, and climbs it, peeking her above at Lucas who was watching the ground with binoculars, "You wanna switch off?" He looks at her. "You've been looking for awhile, and I thought that switching off every once in awhile would be good, because it's a fresh set of eyes, you know?"
Lucas nods, "Yeah, that's a good idea."
He hands Liz the binoculars which she takes, and she sits on top of the bus where Lucas was sitting. He winks at her before climbing down, "Good luck."
Liz smiles at him as he climbs down into the bus, and she leans her back against a stack of tires that we're placed on the roof of the bus. She watches the landscape, searching for any sign of Dart. As she gets deep into searching, she doesn't hear Max come up the ladder to join her on the roof. She jumps slightly as Max speaks, "It's kinda awesome."
"Huh?" Liz asks, removing her gaze from the landscape to Max.
"The fog, I mean." Max corrects, smiling out at the thick layer of fog on the ground. "It looks like the ocean."
"You miss it?" Liz asks, prompting Max to ask 'what?'. "The ocean. The waves. California in general. I've never even been out of Hawkins, so compared to California, Hawkins must seem like a dump."
"No, no, no, it's not that. It's just..." Max starts. Liz notices her sad expression, and sits up. She watches Max, and waits for her to be comfortable to speak, "My dad's still there. So..."
"Why?"
"It's this legal term called divorce." Max states, causing Liz to chuckle slightly and nod. "See, when two married people don't love each other anymore—"
Liz rolls her eyes, "Yeah, yeah, I know. My parents need that."
"My mom and my stepdad, they wanted a fresh start away from him. As if... as if he was the problem, which is total bull." Max explains. Liz watches the girl and hangs onto every word. "And things... are just worse now. My stepbrother's always been a dick, but now he's just angry... all the time and... well, he can't take it out on my mom, so..."
"So he takes it out on you?" Liz asks, noticing Max's glossy eyes.
"I don't even know why I'm telling you this." Max says, wiping her eyes. "It's just... I know that I can be a jerk like him sometimes. I do not want to be like him. Ever. I guess I'm angry, too, and... I'm sorry."
Liz watches as a tear falls down Max's cheek. Max quickly pretends to laugh and wipes more tears. It practically killed Liz inside to see the girl so upset, "Jesus! What's wrong with me?"
Liz reaches out and grabs Max's hand, "Hey, don't you ever compare yourself to your brother. I may have never met him, but from what my brother tells me, he's a fucking asshole. You are nothing like him. Okay?" Liz runs her thumb over Max's knuckles. "You are smart, kind, badass, and you are so damn beautiful, it drives me crazy!" Liz's eyes widened in realization at what she said, but all Max did was smile and grip Liz's hand tighter. "What you said to me the other day after school—"
Max sighs, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have—"
"Don't apologize." Liz interrupts. "I treated you like shit, hell, we all did, and you didn't deserve that. I'm sorry. I want to be your friend, Max. I want to get to know you. I want to know your pet peeves, your weird quirks, your fears, your favorite movies, celebrities, music artists, everything."
"Me, too." Max smiles. Liz loved that smile, and she knew that she would do anything to see that smile, and there was something about being under the shining stars that made her love it even more.
"You're the first girl besides Eleven that I've actually gotten along with." Liz chuckles. She's missed having a girl friend to talk to, and with Eleven gone, Max was filling that hole in her heart.
Max smiles largely, "I didn't really like Hawkins all that much until I met you and your friends. Especially you." Liz couldn't help but blush at Max's words, and thanked the darkness for hiding it. "Did you really mean what you said? About me being so damn beautiful that it drives you crazy?"
Liz giggles, and nods, "Yeah. Yeah, I did. You are beautiful, Max. I hope you see that, because I know everyone else does."
Max lowers her head slightly, and Liz can tell that she's blushing. She raises her head, "You're beautiful, too."
Liz bites her lip and smiles. She notices their hands are still together, and she quickly pulls her hand away. Liz then takes a deep breath, "Can I... tell you something?"
Max nods, "Of course."
Liz gulps. She had only told Steve this, but she knew she had to start telling her friends. Why not tell the girl she had a crush on about it first? Liz looks up at Max, "My brother is the only one who knows about this, because I just found out, but... I like—"
A shrieking roar interrupted Liz. The two girls whipped their heads around so fast that they could've gotten whiplash. Liz grabbed the binoculars and sat up, peering out across the horizon. A yell came from Dustin from in the bus, "Liz! What's going on?"
"Hold on!" Liz yells back. As she peers through the binoculars, she hears Lucas come up the ladder. She hands them to him, and he peers through them.
"I've got eyes!" Lucas yells. Max and Liz share a worried look before trying to follow his gaze. "Ten o'clock! T–Ten o'clock!"
Liz grabs the binoculars from Max and peers through them, searching the same direction that Lucas was looking. Sure enough, not too far away from them was Dart. He wasn't doing anything besides standing there, and somehow not eating the meat they had left out for him. Liz didn't know how smart Dart was, but she knew that trouble was coming. She handed the binoculars to Max, who after looking, asked, "Wait, you sure that's not a dog?"
"What?" Lucas asks, a confused look present on his face.
Liz scrambled down the ladder and back into the bus. She hurried over to the window beside Steve and Dustin, and watched Dart. Liz furrowed her brows at Dart not even sniffing the meat, "Why's he not taking the bait?"
"Maybe he's not hungry?" Dustin guessed.
"Maybe he's sick of cow." Steve states, before he pushed back from the window. Liz and Dustin around and watched Steve. Liz studied his face and her eyes widened as Steve grabbed his bat.
"Steve? Steve, what are you doing?" Dustin asks as Steve walks over to the bus door.
Liz rushes over and grabs his arm, trying to pull him back but failing. He turns around as Liz continues to hold onto his arm, "I swear to fucking God, Steve. Don't you dare go out there!"
"Liz," Steve starts, sighing. He reaches into his pocket, and pulls out a lighter. "I'll be fine. Just get ready."
He throws Dustin the lighter before looking at Liz once more. Her facial expression is practically begging him to not go out there, but she lets go anyone. Before he goes to open the door, Liz wraps her arms around his body, and hugs him, hoping that this wouldn't be the last time, "I love you."
Steve smiles as he opens the bus door, "Tell that to me after I save our asses."
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A/N:
[ 1541 WORDS ]
i love my girls so much!!
also, their ship name rn is lax, bc i can't think
of anything better but if you can then comment it!!