Max and Steve are my favorite sibling duo now because of Stranger Things S4 and since no one is making content for them I did it myself.
Summary: Steve goes to check in on Max a few months after the Byers' move. Mentions of death, abuse, and absent parents
Steve had only hung out with Max a few times. It wasn't his fault that most of those times happened to be when they were saving the world. Although, if he was being honest with himself, he should have gone to see her sooner.
Him and Billy had never been friends. Far from it actually. But Steve could tell Billy had pulled the short straw compared to Steve's family drama. Steve couldn't begin to imagine what that had meant for Max.
After the Battle of Starcourt, Max had seemed...fine. She had continued dating Lucas, she hung out with the rest of the kids, she slept over every night at the Byers' with Eleven until they moved. Everyone else assumed Max was taking the whole thing rather well.
Steve had never known death so personally but he knew the struggles of hiding pain behind a happy face. Nancy herself had called him out on it the fall of his senior year. Instead of dealing with the pain of family abandoning him and not paying him any mind, he surrounded himself with so called "friends". He drank. He partied. He dated. He had a cheesy grin on his face and made sure his hair was styled just so.
Max was lucky the people she was surrounding herself with were people that did care. That would listen if she ever needed to talk. But for whatever reason, she never did.
That's why Steve had decided to go over to Max's. It would be her turf. It would be most comfortable for her. Steve thought himself more mature than the other kids as well. If she needed to talk, he may be able to give some advice as well.
Steve pulled into the neighborhood using the directions Lucas had given him. Steve had never been in this area of Hawkins even though he dated a few girls who had lived there. He had always invited them to his place since his house was always empty.
This neighborhood wasn't exactly bad it just wasn't Lake Nora. Steve lived a privileged life. His opinion on that changed on the day of the week. Sometimes he found himself sleeping in the woods behind his house because he couldn't stomach the idea of sleeping in his bed.
He pulled into Max's driveway and looked at the small house. From how imposing Billy was on the basketball court, Steve couldn't imagine living with Billy in such a confined space. He could only hope Billy turned down his temperament when he was at home.
Steve went up to the door and knocked. He waited for footsteps that never came. He knocked a bit louder. Still nothing. He tried to look in the nearest window. No lights seemed to be on. "Damn Sinclair. You told me she would be here." He would already seem like a creep. 20 year old looking through the windows of a freshman's house.
The truth was that Max was home. Or at least coming back to it at the moment. She was on her skateboard. The thing she did when she was alone. It was easier to skate outside than do anything inside that empty house.
She rolled up to find none other than Steve the Hair Harrington looking inside the windows of her house. Was everyone in this town a stalker?
"Hey Harrington! If this is your new strategy for picking up girls, you're going to go to jail."
Steve turned suddenly at the sound of Max's voice from the street. He sighed and put his hands on his hips, "Sinclair said you'd be home today. I assumed that would mean in your home."
Max hopped off her board, but stayed in the street, "Well that was very presumptuous of you, wasn't it?"
"Yeah I guess it was" when he realized she wasn't going to walk up to the house he walked to the street, "What are you doing anyway?"
Max could feel herself adjusting her stance as Steve came closer. He was obviously taller than her, like Billy used to be. Max had learned how to make herself seem taller when interacting with Billy. It was a defense mechanism. One that now engaged whenever a taller man was near. She knew Steve was harmless - even if he had randomly shown up at her place for seemingly no reason - but her subconscious would react this way no matter what. "I could ask you the same question Harrington."
Steve stopped a few feet back and looked at the girl in front of him. With that question alone he was reminded of Billy. Max had an invisible wall around her, stopping him from even thinking about putting a foot in the street. Steve wondered if the kids ever sensed that.
"I came to check in on you," he saw no reason to lie to Max. Although he already knew how she would respond to that:
"Well thanks a lot, but I don't need a babysitter Steve."
Her eyes were ice as she looked at him in disgust. Such a fiery spirit in that small body. He tried a different tactic, "What has you so attached to that board anyway?"
Max looked at the board she had leaning on her leg. It was her escape from everything. Her happiest memory was her first time riding a skateboard. She had gotten scabs on her knees that still had remaining scars to this day, "It's - it's just a fun thing to do on the weekend."
Steve stared at her for a moment. She still had that wall but there was a slight softening in her eyes, "More fun than hanging out with your friends?"
"As hard as it is to believe? Yes." Her eyes had hardened again. It seemed the skateboard was his safest form of conversation if he wanted a way in.
"Really? I've never tried it before."
Max scoffed, "I'm not surprised. Pretty boy like you probably couldn't handle a scooter."
"Probably not," he held her eye contact as he slowly stepped forward, "Could you show me?" He was giving her the option to be in control of the situation. He'd leave if she asked him to, if he didn't he knew she'd threaten to get a lawyer, but he was putting the situation in her hands.
She scrunched her eyebrows together. There was no reason for Steve to be here. She knew that. He was the last person she'd expect to show up at her door. But here he was all the same. Maybe - "Are you sure you don't need any knee pads or a helmet?"
Steve smiled and chuckled, "With everything I've been through I think I can handle a few falls."
Max remembered the bruises and blood covering Steve's face from the Russians. And then there was that fight...
As Max handed Steve the board she started "You know, I know he's not here to... um... apologize for-"
Steve put his hand on her shoulder, "Hey, you don't have to apologize for him. He was his own person that made his own choices. And besides, he wouldn't apologize to me for what he did."
Max nodded along silently before saying, "Yeah, he probably would have told you what you were doing wrong the whole time."
"You know he actually did! After he knocked me to the ground."
Steve and Max shared a laugh before Steve motioned for her to get started on teaching him how to skate.
They hung out for about an hour. Keeping it light. Steve made dude to be dramatic when he fell to make her laugh. He hadn't seen her truly laugh before. He thought to himself If I had a sister, I think this is what it would be like.
origamiaround
jacobvanloon
turnnoffyourmind
blakekathryn
kaledo-art
stormborns
yousharknotpass
