NEVER HIDE SHIT FROM ME AGAIN !

☀︎

MAX AND EL HAD STARTED TO GROW CLOSER AS THEY BEGAN TO DISTANCE THEMSELVES FROM THE BOYS. Having a friend like El was exactly what Max had always wanted. Alex was great, but she was older and wasn't at the same point in her life as Max was. And in return, El had needed Max all the same. She needed a girl to bond with that could understand her and show her the importance of being a girl. But when the three were able to come together just to themselves, it was a fresh breath of air.

The two younger girls had kicked off the night with music, makeovers and gossip. It wasn't long before they had decided to grab the phone and beg Alex Henderson to spend some time with them and ditch her own boyfriend just as they had. Plus, they felt having Alex around would be a shield from Hopper's check-ins. If anyone gave Hopper problems, it was always going to be Alex, and that gave the other to an opportunity to hide away.

Tonight, Max and El had planned to test Eleven's powers beyond fighting evil people and monsters from another world. This was purely for entertainment purposes only. The only thing standing in their way was being caught, and they weren't so willing to wait for Alex to get to Hopper's cabin.

Max raised her finger to her mouth, keeping her eyes on Eleven as she wiped the blood from under her nose. Hopper's footsteps had made their way around and neither wanted to be busted spying on people in Hawkins. It wasn't until a smile had crept up onto her face that they had felt relief wash over them.

"Aren't they a little too young for you to be hanging out with them?" Hopper's question had been muffled through the door, but there would only be one person he could be talking too.

"Aren't you a little too old to be watching that?" Alex's voice called out with a laugh. Following after was some clatter before the background noise of the tv had shut off. "I don't know why you think I'm going to be a bad influence. They think I'm awesome. When did you start doubting me?"

"When you started stealing Phil Larson's garden gnomes again!" Hoppers voice had boomed.

"Whatever. Nice shirt though. You got a hot date or something?"

Alex's question stirred an annoyance in Hopper. After being stood up by Joyce Byers and drinking way more than he should have, he began to question where she had been earlier tonight. His dislike of Steve Harrington had been unleashed as she had tried to hide her smile and raced towards El's bedroom. The minute she had entered, Alex had shut the door behind herself, muffling his voice before she could listen to him explain the importance of supervision of parents when spending time at Steve's house.

Max and El had eagerly smiled at one another as they sat back up in the bed. Bad influence or not, they did enjoy listening to the stories that always involved her raising Hopper's blood pressure.

Taking a seat along with them, Alex looked down at the set up they had in wonder. In the middle of a board had sat an empty bottle and post-its with the names of friends and others in Hawkins. Plucking Steve's name off the board, she flashed it at them in question. "What the hell are you two doing?"

Taking it back, Max had laid it on the board. "Trying to have fun." Reaching over, she took Billy's name off the board and crumpled it into a ball, tossing it in the direction of the garbage.

The two had already spent their first round spying on Billy Hargrove and Max wasn't sure telling Alex was the smartest move. She knew the struggle Alex continuously went through and to worry her over something she was sure El had seen wrong wasn't worth it. After all, Alex was keeping her own secret from the two girls, not wanting to worry them over the Russian code that may or may not have came from Hawkins.

Alex had readjusted herself as she looked over the names. None had really stood out to her that she would be too concerned about spying on until she saw Mr. Clarke's name. "Oh, come on, we have to spy on Clarke. He probably does a lot of weird shit."

El had scrunched up her face, "You need to land on him."

Frowning, Alex could only hope that she would land on Mr. Clarke for some entertainment and for her own curiosity. Spinning the bottle, she was only met with disappointment to see it land on the one person she knew how their night would be— Steve Harrington. Picking up the bottle, she made it point to Mr. Clarke. "I don't care what the bottle says, Steve's just driving home."

"Then we'll wait," Max stated. "He's gotta be up to something hilarious when you're not with him." Picking up the homemade game, she had given Alex no fight in the matter. Rules were rules and it wasn't fair for her to break them. Plus, her own curiosity had played a small part in the matter.

Getting up off the bed, Max had moved over to El's desk, keeping her back to the two as she remained silent. She had bit the inside of her cheek in thought as she tuned out El and Alex talking about El's newest life being single and finding her own style. When there was a pause, Max had turned around, leaning back on the desk with her arms crossed. "Why'd you talk to Billy?"

Alex's smile dropped as she looked from El over to Max. "What?"

Max swallowed hard as she gave a small shrug. Her worries for Billy had silently been building up in only a matter of minutes after what El had told her. She had the right to be worried— if something was happening in Hawkins, it was a matter of time before they all were involved. And that was her thing— she had grown to care for the small group just as if they were her own family, and to drag them into it was a nightmare was not an option. However, just like Max, the rest of the group had their own secrets they kept to protect one another. In reality, all they needed were each other.

"He works at the pool and he's always there when I'm there," Alex began softly. She felt guilty. Despite everything in her always telling her to stay clear of Billy, she still lived by her fatal flaw— caring too much. She had cared what the Mind Flayer had thought, what Dart had felt before his death, and even now, she felt she had to care for someone that hurt her and make it right. "He came over to apologize."

Max could see the hurt in Alex's eyes, knowing she felt that she betrayed the group. "He treated you like shit."

"I treated him like shit too."

Pulling herself up off the desk, Max uncrossed her arms, taking a seat beside Alex. She wanted to be nothing but to be furious with her, but nothing could change what happened. All she wanted was for Alex to see exactly what she saw and understand. Alex may have been older, but even Max and El could teach her a thing or two. "Yeah, and who gives a crap? The difference was you didn't do what he did.  He couldn't take that you didn't like him and nearly killed Steve because of it. He had you hallucinating a life where you and Steve adopted all of us. You don't get to be sorry."

El had felt the need to give her own thoughts on the matter. Reaching over, she had placed a hand gently on Alex's knee. "Mom," she whispered.

"Dad," Alex and Max said quietly in unison. El didn't seem to understand, but gave a nod in acceptance that this was her life. It was weird and the people she spent her time with were just as strange as she was... and she loved it.

"Whatever the hell you said to my brother... I hate you," Max stated in annoyance. Alex had turned to her in question, unsure if she had truly ruined Max's life all because of what Billy could have done to her. "He's been all weird lately and I can't handle it. It's like one second he's the same Billy— a total ass, and other times, he's actually okay. Sometimes I actually question if he's my brother if he's actually decent to me." Sighing, Max had decided to ask the one question that had burning away at her, "Did you even tell Steve?"

Alex's eyes turned down as she found more interesting in a loose thread on El's blanket. "I-I mean, I'm going too. I'm just... I'm afraid of how he'll react."

"Imagine how he'll feel when he doesn't hear it from you." Max kept her eyes on Alex, hoping she would know how to handle the situation from there. As much as she felt she needed a sister in her life, she knew Alex had felt the same. Age didn't matter between the two, especially when they understood one another as if they were sisters.

"I'll tell him," Alex said softly. "I will. I just... I have to find the right time. You know, when he's not working or when Dustin's hanging around. It'll make it easier."

Max had placed her hand on top of Alex's showing her understanding. She had known Alex's reasoning— even if she didn't completely agree or understand why, she still wanted to be there for her. And if all this did manage to make things easier between her and Billy, she wanted to say least try.

Looking up at the girls, El found herself smiling, wondering how she became so lucky to come across Alex with the boys that rainy night in the woods and how thankful she was that Mike finally agreed to let Max into their party.

"Never hide shit from me again. I always find out," Max whispered with a small smile. Giving a final squeeze to Alex's hand, Max had tossed El the blindfold before sliding off the bed. "Now we find out what your stupid boyfriend is up to."

Quickly pulling herself back together to keep the energy fun, Alex playfully took the blindfold from Eleven. "Or... we just don't."

"That embarrassed of him?" Max teased. El had taken the blindfold back from Alex's hands as she draped it over her eyes. There was no time to waste when it came to spying on boys. She was curious on what they could be up to without any girls around and she needed to find out. "Spy now," she stated plainly. A woman of few words and Alex knew better than to fight with her.

Gently pulling the blindfold down, Alex had pointed at El and gave her a look of disapproval. "You're the bad influence around here, not me." Dropping her hand down, she looked to each of them with a frown of worry. "This is a terrible idea."

"Come on, he can't that weird when he's alone," Max fought back.

"It's not that. I just feel bad spying on him." It was as simple as that to her. Steve deserved whatever privacy he did have when they weren't together and invading it had felt wrong. She knew he wouldn't be jumping to find out what she could be up to if he had the chance.

Max had given a shrug as she placed the radio on the bed beside them and pulled herself up. "Relax. At least you're here so we know for a fact we won't be seeing anything disgusting. I really don't need to be scarred for life."

Adjusting the blindfold back onto her eyes, El had let out a sigh of agreement. "No happy screaming."

"Happy screaming?" Alex repeated back in question. Her eyes immediately traveled over to Max in question. Face heating up, Max had shook her head with embarrassment. "We were gonna spy on Billy and I had to warn her."

"Oh, gross," Alex gagged. Knowing who had been catching Billy Hargroves eyes recently, she knew it would only live in El's nightmares to see Max's brother with Mike's mom. Placing a hand on El's knee, she gave her the comforting words she needed to hear. "Trust me, you won't see anything gross. Unless he's cheating on me, then I give you permission to tear him apart."

El had smiled at Alex's words as she had tried to focus in on entering into the void. "Quiet," she whispered, placing her hand on top of Alex's. Whether or not she had become used to escaping her surroundings, feeling the comforting touch of someone she had trusted always made her feel safer diving into the darkness of the void.

It had been quiet as El had stood in the darkness surrounding her. There was nothing there but she knew if she had focused in hard enough, she would be able to find Steve and report back to the girls with her findings. Standing in that void, she had turned around in time to find Steve Harrington still in his Scoops Ahoy uniform with a phone to his ear. Her head had tilted to the side as she observed him, a small glare coming across her face thinking he had been on the phone with someone who hadn't been Alex.

"He's on the phone," she had whispered to the other two.

"Not with another girl, I hope," Max mumbled. El had opened her mouth to instruct her to be quiet for the sake of Alex, but when she had heard the sound of the back of Alex's hand make contact with Max's leg she had knew it had been handled.

El had slowly approached Steve, never taking her eyes off him as he ran his fingers through his hair, his cheeks bubbling up with air before he let out a long sigh of defeat. Coming to a conclusion, El's demeanor had changed, "No one's answering the phone."

The sudden movement of Steve sitting up in his bed had El shockingly take a step back, but kept her eyes glued on him. He had pulled the phone away from his ear and let it sit down in his lap as he rolled his eyes in annoyance. "Dammit, Jonathan."

El had furrowed her brows further as she made her way around his bed, watching as he stood up to hang up the phone. "He's calling Jonathan," she informed the other two.

Alex had slapped her forehead while Max had fought back a laugh. "Seriously? I thought they hated each other."

Pulling her hand from her face, Alex shook her head. "No, I mean, they don't hate each other but their not exactly best friends either. I told him I miss Jonathan since he's always with Nancy and works so much... He's probably calling to kick his ass."

"What a hero," Max teased sarcastically. Turning to El, she gave a nod, "What's he doing now?"

A deep frown had replaced her focused look before she had quickly pulled the blindfold down from her eyes. An embarrassed look had spread from her face as he cheeks had began to turn a soft pink. "He took his shirt off." However, her embarrassment didn't last long as both Max and Alex leaned into one another, giggling. El's smile had slowly began to spread as she found herself laughing along with them.

Picking herself up off the bed, Max rolled her eyes. "Steve Harrington shirtless— barf."

"Barf? He's not barf," Alex fought back with a deep frown. Max may have given the impression she may have not liked Steve all that much, but Alex knew that deep inside, there was a soft spot for him and it was one that she could not simply 'barf' at.

"Oh, please, Alex, he's not all that," she stated with a simple laugh. Max had turned away as she spoke, a soft smile had came to her lips as if something deep inside had been the reason and no longer her words that amused her so much. It had caught Alex's attention when she had gently tucked her hair behind her ear and kept her eyes focused on the other things around her.

"You totally like him," Alex said in realization. "Ew, you like Steve, barf," she jokingly teased. "Trust me, Max, he's not all that."

"Can we just spy on Mr. Clarke?"

"Oh, now you want to do what I want to do all of a sudden? Is that why you were so interested in spying on Steve? When I leave here, are you gonna ask El to describe in full detail what he looked like with his shirt off?" Motioning to herself, a bright smile came to her face, "Max, you got the Steve Harrington expert right here. No one here loves him more than me... except maybe you."

"He's cute," El whispered, laying on her stomach and flipping through her magazine once again. She had been disinterested in the conversation the moment it had begun. Had it been about Mike, she would've had a part to say, but she didn't care much when it came to Steve Harrington. He gave her ice cream from Starcourt and that's all she cared about— so she liked him.

"Gross," Max mumbled. Clearing her throat, she looked up at herself in the mirror as she began to braid her hair. "Mother Steve is far from cute. I mean, have you seen him in his Scoops uniform?"

Sighing quietly to herself, El had gently bounced her legs behind her. "Max likes Steve."

With a secret thrown out into the open, Max had hung her mouth open, her hair half done and her face a bright red. "I do not!"

"If you tell him, I bet he'd give you free ice cream for life. He thinks he's losing his charm because of the sailor cap he has to wear," Alex said as she laid beside El for a peek at the magazine.

"N-no!" Max yelled, however her denial didn't seem to stick as the other two kept on looking over the magazine. Leaving it as is would be a nightmare if anyone else had found out, so she took it into her own hands. Reaching over, she pulled the magazine out from in front of them. "Don't go telling him I like him either. H-he'll just be all full of himself."

"I wouldn't dream of it," Alex scoffed, taking the magazine back out of her hands. Laying it out in front of her and El again, she was unprepared for what Max would unleash to ensure her secret would stay between the three.

Turning to the mirror, she had continued to braid the other side of her hair as she gave a small smile to herself. "So, Alex, do you think El knows Mike has a huge crush on you?"

Alex's eyes had shot up towards Max, but it hadn't gone unnoticed when El had slowly looked over to her. Knowing what El could be capable of, Alex slowly pulled herself up and got off the bed to further herself away. Letting out a small laugh, she looked to El as she glared at her. "He doesn't even like me anymore. He has you." Reaching over, she had went to open the door, only when she had gotten it open just a few inches, the door had been taken from her hand and slammed closed from El's powers.

Laughing uncomfortably, Alex it gave it a go at turning this into positive news. "Come on, it just... it shows Mike has great taste in girls, right?"

"Taste?" El questioned suspiciously. Pulling herself up into a sitting position, she wiped her nose clean from blood. "What's that?"

"It's like... he-he likes awesome girls like us. Imagine if he liked Stacey Albright." Before Alex could finish speaking, both Max and El had turned to one another to share their mutual disgust with the girl mentioned. "Exactly, see, if he liked her... he sucks." Coming over to the bed, Alex had draped her arms around El, resting her cheek on her head, "And you're the coolest chick ever so Mike has to have some brains." Looking to Max, Alex had sent her a small glare for diverting her own embarrassment into having Alex defend herself from Eleven. "And Lucas has no brains because Max is crazy."

"Excuse me?" Max scoffed. "Says the one dating Steve Harrington."

"Says the one who has a massive crush on my boyfriend," Alex had shot back. Smiling, El had leaned into her, seeing all the fun in the teasing. It was all lighthearted and none were out to ever hurt the other. Before she would've never thought to feel this sort of love and fun being stuck in Hawkins Lab used just as an experiment. Now she had friends of her own and even if they were a bit chaotic and poked fun at one another, she loved them regardless.