Chapter Twenty Three: See you soon
"I will be king."
•
"Turn around, look at what you see!"
Max and Eve sang loudly in the living room as they packed away some of the last things belonging to the Byers. The two had been tormenting poor dusty bun ever since finding out the only way to get a code was for dusty bun to sing with Suzie pooh.
"In her face, the mirror of your dreams! Rhymes that keep their secrets, will unfold behind the clouds!"
"Wait, did we get that verse right? It's 'unfold behind the clouds?'" Max asked Dustin, who was staring at her with a completely unamused look.
"Yeah," he answered, "but you're butchering it, so could you please stop?"
"Ouch!" Eve gasp, grabbing her heart, "dusty bun!"
"Join in, dusty bun!" Max continued as Eve packed an empty picture frame away.
"You guys are so funny, you should be on Carson," Dustin said with a straight face, looking like he wanted and craved death.
"Can't we just hear your rendition?" Max asked the boy. Who instantly replied with a sharp, "no."
"Please, just one verse?" Max begged.
"No! No, it's reserved for suzie's ears, and Suzie's ears alone!" Dustin snapped at them, making Eve Turn her head.
"You really love her, huh?" Eve spoke softly, a small smile on her face, "I'm glad you got over that crush on me."
Dustin's eyes went wide as his face went red, "w-what? I didn't have a crush on you."
"Yeah, you did," Eve laughed, watching his face turn into a tomato, "you'd weirdly stare at me, like, every day."
"Uh, I, hm," Dustin said. Max laughed at his face before staring to sing.
"Turn around..."
Eve smirked at her girlfriend, "look at what you see!"
Dustin put the finger up at the girl's, as they continued to sing the song that would be remembered by them forever.
-
The time had come, the boxes were in the moving van, the house was packed up, and everyone was standing outside saying their goodbyes.
Eve hugged Will first, the boy crying onto her shoulder as Eve closed her own, not wanting to cry. She rubbed his back softly as he cried, before pulling away.
"I'll see you soon, yeah?" She said to him, making him nod and croak our a 'yeah' whcih consisted of his voice cracking.
He went on to hug Lucas as Eve walked over to Joyce, giving the woman a huge hug.
"I'll miss you, honey," Joyce told Eve as they hugged, "feel free to visit any time with Steve."
"I will," Eve promised the woman as she pulled away, Joyce caressing the girl's arm in a motherly way. Over the last three months Joyce had stepped in and let Eve stay while her and Steve found a place. She became the mom Eve needed for a short period of time, and Eve would forever be grateful.
Next up to say goodbye to was Johnathan, the boy still felt guilty about what happened at the convenience store, no matter how many times Eve told him she forgave him and said she was fine.
She gave him a hug, telling him to look after will which he already did, before walking over to her best friend, Eleven.
The two girls hugged tightly, both crying at the thought of not seeing each other for long periods of time. They were best friends after all, and it hurt.
"Call me," Eve instructed the girl, "every day at 6 and we'll talk for an hour, I swear. I don't care if mike gets jealous. I'm gonna miss you so much."
"I'll miss you," Eleven told the girl with a sad smile, giving her best friend one last hug before El moved on to talk to Dustin.
Eve walked back, wiping her eyes as she watched El talk to Dustin and Will hug Mike. Max came and stood next to Eve, slipping her hand into hers. Eve smiled as she put her head on Max's shoulder. At least they still had eachother.
Around ten minutes later, the group, minus Eleven and the Byers, stood and watched as the Van drove off, Johnathan's car following it. Eve had her arms threaded through Max's with her cheek on her shoulder as she watched the cars go.
"Mine or yours?" Eve asked the girl after a moment of silence.
"Yours," Max responded, making Eve smile. Steve wasn't home, he was out applying for a job with Robin, so it would just be them.
"Come on then," Eve said, going to grab her bike, "let's go."
-
When they arrived back to Eve's house, they went to her room and lay down on the bed. Eve had her arms around Max, her head on the girl's chest as Max had her arms around Eve.
"I can't believe they've gone now," Eve told max, Eve voice a little muffled. Max hummed in agreement as she closed her eyes.
"We have to go down to visit," Max finally spoke. She opened her eyes again after a second, letting out a sigh of sadness. Every time she closed her eyes all she could see was Billy get killed.
Eve looked up at the girl's face, noticing how upset she was and sat up, grabbing Max's hands in her own.
"Love?" Eve asked softly as Max's face started to crumble, "what's wrong?"
"I miss him," Max finally whispered, her eyes filling with tears as Eve's face turned into one full of sorrow. Max sat up, not letting Eve let go of her hands as she sniffed, "He was getting so much better."
Eve didn't know what to say, she never really did, so instead she brought max close and hugged her, letting the girl cry.
"He just wanted happiness," Max whispered onto Eve's shoulder as Eve squeezed her tighter, "he wanted his mom."
Eve sighed, fighting back her own tears as she felt her shirt dampen with Max's tears. The girl had been coping so well, it shocked Eve to an extent. The girl was strong, stronger than she'd care to admit, but in that moment she needed Eve, and Eve wasn't going to go anywhere.
-
Eve woke up in the middle of the night from being way too hot. She tried to get out of the bed she was lying in to go and open a window but an arm around her prevented her from retrieving it.
She groaned and looked to see Max's arm around her. She tried to shift the girl's arm, only causing her to tighten it and bring her even closer to her chest.
Max's face was buried in Eve's neck, her hand tangled in Eve's hair whilst her other arm was hooked around her waist, holding her so her back was flat against her.
Max's soft breaths fanned against Eve's neck and shoulder, they were warm and peaceful to listen to, Eve managed to turn herself around in Max's arms, and even whilst sleeping, the corner of Max's lips turned up.
She lifted her hand and moved a piece of Max's hair off her face, a smile present on her features.
Eve took the moment to study her features.
Max adjusted herself, still completely knocked out and held Eve in a more comfortable position. This time her hand resting cheekily on Eve's ass.
Eve rolled her tired eyes and found herself playing with Max's hair when a pair of hooded blue eyes met hers, "Eve? Why are you awake?" She asked groggily, loosening her grip on Eve.
"I got a little hot," she whispered, snuggling her head into Max's chest, "I'm okay though."
"Mhm," Max mumbled, closing her eyes once again and falling asleep, Eve doing the same. Happy, together, and home.
a/n
Thank you for reading Voyager, I love you all so incredibly much
See you for Season 4!