did I stutter?

Stranger Things Appreciation Month

stranger things month | day five:  Season 2 - favorite scene

“Ugh, we can’t go to the arcade,” Max had said over the telephone. “It’s raining.”

Lucas thought she must not want to hang out with him and couldn’t think of a good excuse. It wasn’t even really raining, it had just been sprinkling on and off all day. The rejection stung, but she promised him another time, so Lucas told himself she was probably just tired and tried not to take it personally.

However, Lucas quickly realized she had been completely serious about the rain when it started sprinkling again, two days later. It was the end of the school day and the rain was so light that the boys hadn’t even bothered to put up the hoods of their jackets. But Max stood under a large polka dot umbrella and carried her skateboard under her arm to make the two minute walk to her stepbrother’s car.

After that, Lucas notices that Max’s wardrobe is about a month ahead of everyone else’s in Hawkins. She starts wearing a beanie in early November, passing it off as a fashion statement (Lucas thinks this works, for the most part, because she looks absolutely adorable in hats). She starts wearing a puffy coat around Thanksgiving while everyone else is still comfortable in a light jacket. On December 1st, she’s the only person at school wearing a scarf, and since then, Lucas has never seen her go out without one.

Max never complains about being cold, but once Lucas notices how much it bothers her, he tries everything he can think of to make it more bearable for her. He starts holding her hand more after he notices how her hands are always cold. He makes sure she gets an extra blanket during the party’s movie nights in the Wheelers’ basement. He starts wearing long sleeve shirts, so that he can offer her his jacket if she needs it and still be warm himself. It all becomes second nature, making sure Max is never in the seat at their cafeteria table that gets a blast of cold air when the door opens, setting the thermostat a few degrees higher whenever she comes over.

He’s not sure when she began noticing what he was doing, but on a chilly February day, after Lucas takes her hand in his and begins rubbing his thumb across the back of her hand, Max says, “Thanks.”

“For what?” he asks.

She blushes and says, “For the hand holding, the blankets, the jackets… I’m pretty lucky to have a boyfriend who would do all that without being asked.”