Chapter Text
Max was sitting at the table, eating breakfast in silence. Her mom was out again at another shift, or at least what Max hoped was another shift. She heard the phone ring, so she walked over to pick it up. She expected El’s cheery voice on the other end, but she was met with the last person she expected.
“Hey Max,” Mike droned on the other end.
“Mike, what do you want?”
“No need to sound so defensive Mayfield.”
“Yeah yeah, but seriously, what do you want?”
“I was wondering if you wanted to come over for New Year’s? Everyone is gonna be there, the whole party’s gonna be there, including El,” Mike said with a smirk once he mentioned El’s name.
“Yeah, I'll be there, what time?”
“5:00, my mom ordered a pizza for 6:00 and she made brownies for us too.”
“Well isn’t your mom such a doll,” Max teased.
“Stop pretending you have the hots for my mom!” Mike groaned
“Who said I'm pretending?” Max started to laugh as she heard Mike mumble something to himself on the other end.
“You know what, if El wasn’t my best friend, I would uninvite you.”
“You could never Wheeler, you love me too much.”
“5 o’clock, no later,” Mike said, and with that, he hung up the phone. Max couldn’t wait for this, but not just to mess with Mike.
Hours later, Robin pulled up at Max’s house. Max had called her and asked if she could drive her to the Wheeler’s, only to find out that she was also invited to the Wheeler’s, but to hang out with Nancy. As soon as Max got into the car, she instantly started teasing Robin.
“So, are you ready for midnight tonight?” Max asked.
“What do you mean?” Robin tried to deflect.
“Oh, you know, you’re supposed to kiss your partner at midnight.”
“Well wouldn’t you do the same.”
“Yeah, of course, but would you?”
“Stop avoiding my question, if you get to interrogate me about my New Year’s kiss then so should I.” Max slumped in her seat, annoyed that her plan backfired on her. The rest of the way there, they talked about what they might do. Knowing Mike, they were probably going to be holed up in the armpit that the Wheeler’s basement is. Max scrunched her nose at the thought and Robin laughed. Robin was most likely going to be in the living room, telling Steve all of the latest gossip at Hawkins High. Max laughed at the idea of Steve still being invested in highschool drama, but it wasn’t too out of the ordinary for him. Both Max and Robin could tell that the Wheeler house was coming up, so they started to slow their conversation down. Once they reached their destination, Robin parked the car so they could get out. They then left the car and walked to the door. Before knocking, Max took her opportunity to tease Robin one more time.
“Go get 'em’ tiger,” she said with a grin. Robin rolled her eyes and knocked on the door.
Max could hear footsteps inside the house and someone, presumably Mike saying, “I got the door mom.” The door finally swung open and Mike was standing on the other end. “Hey Robin, Max,” he said. They both walked into the house and said goodbye to go their own ways. Max watched Robin walk over to Nancy and instantly sat in her lap. Max smiled, secretly happy that Robin was finally able to pull Nancy. Her endless crushing over Nancy was unbearable to Max. She turned her head to follow Mike, which made her pass though the kitchen, right where Mrs. Wheeler was. Mike turned his head back to Max and said, “If you flirt with my mom, I will end you.”
Max took that as a dare and replied, “Oh really,” with a smirk. She could see Mike’s face drain of color when she walked up to Mrs. Wheeler.
“Hi Max, how are you doing sweetie?” Karen asked,
“Oh, you know, the usual, and you?”
“Not too bad myself.”
“What’s that I smell, seems kinda sweet.”
“Oh it’s just the brownies I'm making for you guys.”
“You’re too kind, we’re older now and should do things like that for ourselves now.”
“Well Holly is going to have some too.”
“Oh yes, Holfly, such a sweet girl.” Max could practically feel Mike’s anger radiating off of him, so she decided to put an end to his torture. “Well, I think I must get going now, but before I do, do you mind me saying how spectacular you look in that dress?”
“Oh, why thank you,” Karen replied.
“Mr. Wheeler is a very lucky man,” and with that, Max walked off with Mike fuming behind her.
Max and Mike made their way down to the basement where Max could already hear her friends. As soon as Max saw El, she made her way straight to her. Once El noticed Max she stood up and ran to give her a hug. They stood together for what felt like hours until Mike interjected.
“We get it, you guys haven’t seen each other since Christmas.” Max pulled out of the hug to flip Mike off, then she took El’s hand and led her to the couch where they curled up with each other. Everyone else was invested in a game of D&D, something they hadn’t done for a long time. For hours, the four remaining party members played D&D while Max and El talked or made comments about how to play, even though they had no idea what was going on. After what felt like hours, Mike got up and started acting like a wounded creature, which made Max die of laughter. While Max was laughing she didn’t notice El looking at her like she was the only person in the world. Their moment was cut short by both of them jerking their heads in the direction of the game. Everyone had let out loud shouts because they had finally finished their campaign, something that hadn’t been done in a long time. Max and El had never played D&D before, but they knew this was important to them so they let them have their moment. Once they calmed down, everyone went upstairs to have some food because all they had done was either play or watch D&D for hours. Before everyone went downstairs, Max caught a glimpse of Robin telling Steve about the later Hawkins High drama, which sent Max into a fit of laughter as she walked down the basement stairs.
After hours of waiting, it was finally 11:50. They had watched Back to the Future, played truth or dare, which led to Mike’s head in the toilet, and they had tried, and failed, to build a massive pillow fort across the entire basement. Now, here it was, the new year so close you could taste it. Mike was already eyeing Will, who was laying on Mike’s lap, wondering when the best time to ask for a New Year’s kiss was. Lucas and Dustin were laying on the floor right in front of the tv, hands intertwined. In the corner, Max and El were curled up together on a bean bag. Once the clock was five minutes till midnight, everyone joined Lucas and Dustin on the floor, impatiently waiting for the clock to strike 12. Dustin’s leg was bouncing, Will was fidgeting with Mike’s fingers, and El was twirling Max’s hair in her hands. Once the newscaster finally started counting down, all of them stood up and started counting down along with them.
“30, 29, 28.” Max looked over at El, her focus on the tv.
“21, 20, 19.” She couldn’t help but admire how the light from the tv reflected on her eyes, making them shine like the stars.
“17, 16, 15.” If Max could capture this moment and put it in her pocket, she would.
“11, 10, 9.” Suddenly it hit Max like a ton of bricks, she loved El.
“3, 2, 1, happy New Year!” Max took El’s face between her hands and brought it to her own. She pressed her lips against El’s, relishing in the feeling. El was surprised, but quickly realized what was going on and reciprocated the kiss. Everything felt so natural, like it was meant to be. Once they pulled back, they just smiled at each other until Max broke the silence.
“I love you.” Three simple words. Once they left Max’s lips, El let out a subtle gasp and smiled. She responded almost instantly with another quick kiss.
“I love you too.” Max broke out into a grin, never wanting this moment to end. Max let her hand fall to El’s as she brought her to the couch. They sat down, El curling into Max’s side, both of them happier then they had ever been.