#max and steve

she paused at the corner, peeking in.

billy was at the stove, flipping pancakes shirtless with a concentration that looked almost comical on his usually scowling face. steve stood beside him, leaning against the counter a cup of coffee in hand, grinning like he’d just heard the best joke in the world. he said something low, and billy snorted shaking his head, but max saw it…the way his mouth twitched into a smile he didn’t bother hiding. steve bumped his shoulder gently with his arm and billy nudged him back with the spatula, mock-annoyed but clearly not.

it was strange, seeing billy like this. not just calm, but soft. open. happy.

when billy had first told her about him and steve, she’d been surprised. not because it was steve (though that part had taken a second to process) but because billy had told her at all. he’d sat her down one night, awkward and tense as if he were bracing for impact. she remembered the way he’d looked at her, like he wasn’t sure if she’d yell or laugh or silently just walk away. but she hadn’t done any of those things. she’d just nodded, let it sink in, and said, “okay.” because it was okay. weird, sure. unexpected, definitely. but not bad. not wrong.

and now, watching them in the kitchen, she felt something warm bloom in her chest. maybe she hadn’t realised how much billy needed this. someone who made him laugh like that, who stood close without flinching, who looked at him like he wasn’t just the angry guy with a chip on his shoulder.

steve spotted her first. his eyes lit up, and he waved her over.

“morning, max,” he said, voice bright and easy. “come sit. we made wayyy too many pancakes!”

she stepped into the kitchen, the warmth wrapping around her like a blanket. billy glanced over, gave her a nod, and turned back to the stove. he didn’t say much, but he didn’t have to. instead he plated a stack of pancakes with toppings she liked and set them in front of her with a quiet “here,” then slid into the seat beside her, his knee bumping hers under the table.

steve joined them, sitting across from billy, and for a moment, it was just the three of them, the clink of forks and the soft hum of morning settling around them.

max watched them out of the corner of her eye. steve didn’t touch billy much, not like he probably would if she weren’t there, but there were little things. the way she knew his foot tapped against billy’s under the table. the way their gaze lingered on each other when they thought she wasn’t looking. the way steve’s smile softened every time billy spoke.

they were in love. she could see it now, clear as day.

and billy…he was different. not completely, not like he’d turned into someone else overnight. he still had that edge, that sharpness in his voice when he got annoyed, that guarded look when someone pushed too hard. but with steve, it was like some of that melted away. like he didn’t have to be on defence all the time. like he could just…be?

max took a bite of her pancake, syrup sweet on her tongue, and let herself relax. this was nice. quiet. safe. she couldn’t remember the last time breakfast had felt like this.

steve leaned back in his chair, stretching his arms above his head. “so,” he said, looking at max, “any big plans today? or are we all just gonna be lazy and eat pancakes until we pass out?”

max shrugged. “lazy sounds good.”

billy smirked. “you’re always lazy.”

“and you’re always annoying,” she shot back, but there was no bite in it. just habit.

steve laughed, and billy rolled his eyes, but he was smiling again, that soft kind of smile that max was starting to think only steve could pull out of him.

they talked a little more about movies, about school and the arcade about nothing important. and max found herself still watching them, not in a nosy way, but in that curious, quiet way you watch something rare. something good.

she thought about neil and susan, about how different the house felt without them. how billy didn’t have to flinch at every sound. how she didn’t have to brace herself for the next argument. how steve had slept over for the first time last night, and it hadn’t been weird or tense or anything but normal.

and maybe that was the best part. how normal it felt. how right.

after breakfast, billy started cleaning up and steve helped, their movements easy and practiced, like they’d done this a hundred times. max stayed at the table, sipping orange juice and watching them move around each other like they belonged in the same space.

she didn’t say anything, but she didn’t have to. billy caught her eye once, and something passed between them. an understanding, maybe a thank you.

max just nodded. because yeah. she was happy for him.

really, truly happy

Kinda made with my Iceland au in mind but also work standalone

Season 4 "canon":

Will admits in phone calls/letters that he wanted Lonnie Byers dead (similar to her issue with Billy). Max and Will talk over the phone when they can, usually after or before Jane talks to Max.

Max and Will talked about how Will and Jane can survive California.

Will asks Max advice about Jane and how she's being bullied but he feels he can't help or she won't let him.

Highschool:

In highschool, Max comes out to Will as bi and how she feels guilty not telling Lucas. Will kept her secret and talked her through it while (accidentally at first) opening up about his crush on Mike and how when Mike was dating Jane, Will felt guilty all the time.

Max called Will out on calling Mike ‘his Tammy’ after finding out what it meant. She helps him get through it but knows Will still isn’t over Mike. 

Whenever Will needs an extra hand to help Max out (and Lucas isn't there), he goes to get Steve

Steve and Will end up bonding this way finally (sidenote)

Highschool/Madwheeler Note:

After Max comes out as bi to the party (first one-on-one to Lucas, who of COURSE accepts her), Mike comes out to Max a few months later.

Max put two and two together and realized Mike loves Will. But promised Mike she wouldn’t tell anyone (per his request), especially Will.

College/On (Back to Madwise):

So Max is now instead waiting years for Mike and Will to get their heads out their asses and sabotaging Will’s dates (subtly) when she can.

Max also rescues Will whenever a girl flirts with him (if Lucas is unavailable to rescue him instead) because Will gets very uncomfortable but never says anything. 

Max and Will have wine nights where they watch a crappy movie and shit talk.

Max absolutely, openly, despises Carlton but doesn't attempt to talk Will out of it (after having tried and failed that once before)

Max is the only one who will offer Will any art critiques because she sat in on a few of his classes once (she was bored) and now knows how to do so without hurting his feelings/knows he can take it.

Will once worried he was Max's "New El" after Max did a mall run with him and mentioned Jane and her used to do that. [They have a tiny spat but respectfully (you know those people who can argue without being mean? yeah that) and it's resolved in an hour.]

Will knows that some days are worse than others around the anniversary of her "death" (he gets it)

He helps her out a LOT during that time and offers extra support but ALSO knows sometimes it helps to have your older brother around.

This is my way of saying Jonathan and Will started to meet up with Max and Steve every year around that time

Steve cracked one eye open, he had fallen asleep, he looked around and saw that the kids had fallen asleep too.

He smiled a little, after the mind flyer and the demodogs, the kids had become attached to him, especially Dustin.

They would follow him around, ask for rides and hangouts at the arcade or to the cinema.

Unfortunately, Eleven had to keep a low profile, so she could only come to places that were near Hopper´s cabin, for example, Steve´s house, which was practically in the woods.

Even though he would never admit outloud, he felt fond of the kids, they were funny to be with and even when they got in trouble, they were very good kids.

Dustin, he was very smart, sometimes too smart for his own good, he was very hyperactive, and loud, very loud, he would talk nonstop about the things he liked, which were nerdy things, and even if Steve was still trying to understand Dungeons and Dragons terms, he would listen to Dustin ramble about them because it made the kid happy.

Mike at first didn't like him much, because Steve was his sister´s boyfriend and eventually his ex boyfriend, but after Steve protected the kids, including Mike, from Billy and the demodogs, Mike had come to like him, he would tugg at Steve´s sleeve and ask for him to take them to the comic store or something like that.

Lucas, he was a very nice kid, he would ask Steve for advice and he would always tell him about problems he had with other kids, and he could be very snarky when it came with his younger sister, Erica; not to mention that after Lucas told his parents about the Billy incident, they had been very grateful with Steve, Ms Sinclair even delivered some cookies and pastries the week after the whole thing happened.

Eleven was very quiet, sometimes she struggled to understand new concepts and things that everyone was familiar with at her age, it broke Steve´s heart that she didn´t have the proper childhood every kid deserved, one time, he buyed a bunch of VHS movies, went to Hopper´s cabin and gave them to Eleven, they watched some together, and Steve was happy to see that Eleven couldn´t stop smiling at seeing all the movies Steve gave her

Will was also very quiet, like Eleven, more than anything because he was shy, but he was very enthusiastic with the things that he liked, like Dnd, arcade games, drawing, and Lord of the rings. He would sometimes hide behind Steve when he felt like people were watching him a lot (the town couldn't seem to mind their own business, and would look at Will in public for god knows how long until Steve would yell at them that it was rude to look at people that way).

Max, she was very sarcastic, even kind of mean sometimes. She liked to skateboard a lot, she had tried to teach the boys and even Eleven how to do it, but surprisingly, Eleven was the only one who could manage to at least stand on the board, the other little shits would fall in three seconds. And even though Max was very sarcastic and a little grumpy looking, she would also show her vulnerability when it came to Steve, she wasn't afraid of crying in front of him, because she knew that he would protect her.

Steve turned off the tv, he and the kids had fallen asleep on a movie marathon, he looked at the clock, it was already past ten, good thing that the kids were sleeping at his house anyways.

He didn't want them to sleep on the couches, so he went to prepare their inflatable mattresses, he put some pillows and blankets on them, then he started to carefully carry each kid and put them on one of the inflatable mattresses.

Mike and Will in one, Dustin and Lucas in other and lastly, Max and Eleven on the other.He tucked them in, and when he had finished arranging a little bit more Max´s pillow, he felt a hand weakly grab his wrist, he looked down, Max had one eye cracked open.

“Steve” she called.

“Yes?” he asked softly.

“Why can't you be my brother?” she asked.

That question sent Steve aback.“What do you mean?” he asked.

“You are nice to me and the others, you look after me, you protect me, you do everything you can to make me happy, you don't yell at me, you don't take your anger out on me, you don't attack me or my friends” she said “Why can't you be my older brother instead of Billy?”

Steve´s demeanor softened more, honestly, if he could he would take Max out of that house, maybe when he was older, had a good job and economic stability, he could try to adopt Max.

“Believe me, I also wish I was your brother” he said.

EEK i love love love this question thank you anon! there's so many but i'd HAVE to go with max and nancy since i feel like she's the first woman max has actually looked up to and idolised in a way she hasn't really experienced before. they're like sisters to me and i feel like max would really crave that in a relationship since the only female friend she's ever had is jane 🥹

so when he picks them up one day and it's clean, not only on the outside but also on the inside, they're surprised. but they put it off as a one time thing, because he HAS to clean his car at least like once a year, right?

but it keeps happening. it doesn't get dirty anymore. it's almost like there's some magical thing going on that just... keeps his van clean at all times. at this point they're too worried about losing their ride to ask though.

max, climbing past billy: WE COULD HAVE USED THE DOOR-

Steve and Max As A Sibling Duo

headcanons

summary: steve and max are the best sibling duo we could’ve asked for

pairing: steve harrington x max mayfield (platonic)

warnings: swearing, mentions of canon typical violence, mention of death/grieving

note: why are there no gifs of steve and max?? also there’s no reader insert here this is just my take on steve and max behaving as siblings !!

Steve and Max are absolutely the best sibling duo

Steve is the big brother that Max deserved and having Max around makes Steve feel less lonely

Steve always wanted a little sister !! He would beg his parents for a sibling all the time when he was younger but to not avail

Steve is obviously protective of all the kids but Max would literally kill somebody for Steve. Nobody is gonna ever hurt him while she’s around.

I feel like Max is already super protective over people she cares about but it’s just different with Steve. Like she’s already lost one brother and feels the guilt of that, she’s not gonna lose another.

The entire party is a found family for Max and somehow Steve fits in so perfectly.

They argue and she loves to rile him up, but they have such a strong bond that almost rivals Steve and Dustin’s.

Max isn’t affectionate at all and Steve knows that, so he tries to go about things differently with her. He makes her mixtapes (she absolutely roasts his taste in music but she secretly treasures them so much), he buys her little things that he knows she needs or likes, and he really tries to be there for her in ways Billy wasn’t.

Steve is the only reliable male figure Max has ever had and she still doesn’t really know how to express things to him.

Max’s love language is gift giving. She saves up months in advance to buy Steve something really nice for his birthday or Christmas. That usually means she’s on a budget for everyone else’s gifts but she really wants to show Steve how much she appreciates him, so it doesn’t matter to her.

Max knows that Billy was an awful person and he treated her like shit, but he was also her brother and she had some fucked up idea that she should have protected him. She feels so much guilt over his death. She’s not even really grieving, she just feels so guilty.

Steve knows this and, in one of Max’s moments of vulnerability, he confesses his guilt over Barb’s death. He’s come to terms with the fact that there was nothing he really could have done for her, but he can’t help but feel like he should have done something.

They have a little bonding moment over shared trauma and guilt.

Having a little sister is uncharted territory for Steve. He has Dustin, who is the equivalent of a little brother, but Max is so much different. She’s snarky and unaffectionate and a little mean sometimes. He really has to learn how to be there for her in a way that makes her comfortable.

Steve loves Max and he would voluntarily lay down his life for any of those kids but especially Max, who has been through hell and back for the last year and who he just wants to protect so bad.

Max is used to being the responsible adult and looking out for herself, so letting go of the responsibility and letting Steve Harrington, of all people, make sure she’s safe is really difficult for her at first.

I’m 100% convinced that Max’s letter to Steve is so sappy. It’s full of the things she was never brave enough to say to him.

She thanks him for looking out for her, for being the best big brother in the entire world.

By the time she’s finished writing it, the ink is slightly smudged by the tears rolling off her cheeks and onto the paper.

they have a brother-sister relationship BUT turns out that max is extremely protective over steve, even though everyone thinks that she doesn’t give a flying fuck about him since she’s always starting stupid arguments and straight up bullying him sometimes just to get him riled up. but when someone even thinks about hurting steve, she’s suddenly in their walls and she will haunt them — even if she has to ask eleven to explode someone’s drink right on their faces.

but can you imagine max actually liking you? and trying to pair you up with steve all the time? creating extremely lame excuses so that you and her big brother can be alone in a room together? yeah, because she will do that, trust me.