WHO: max mayfield & @stevehharringtcns WHAT: max returns steve’s bat and bonding ensues. (aka their mutual coming out moment) WHERE: harrington residence.
admittedly, max had forgotten she owed steve the safe return of his bat. still adjusting to billy’s return, she hadn’t been in the house enough to remember it was tucked beneath her bed. she’d been out with cole, then stopped by lucas’ for a little before she made it home bright and early around five in the morning. and truthfully? she found the bat by accident when looking to replace the batteries in her radio, she thought she might have some underneath her bed. then max figured, she was already awake, might as well return the bat now before she forgot again. besides, zooming around town with a nail bat in broad daylight probably wouldn’t be a good look.
she raced the sun by board to steve’s house, instantly spotting an open window on approach. max knew enough about steve by now to know that his parents were hardly ever home and even if they were this morning, she liked to think she was sneaky enough not to get caught. scaling the trellis up to the open window with a bat in her hand was a daunting task, in fact, max feared every time she climbed a little further she was going to wack herself in the face with the thing, but somehow, she did it. thoughtlessly, she tossed the bat in first, then rolled in after it. she wasn’t very stealthy at all, but the sight of steve snoozing in his bed relieved her of any worry.
leaving the bat on the floor, she rose to her feet, crossed her arms, and woke steve with a matter of fact, “you really shouldn’t leave your window open, you know.” she kicked the bat in the direction of his bed, “i brought your bat.” max then crossed and sat on the foot of his bed, as if this were completely normal, “sorry it’s so late-- or i guess early, i’ve been kinda busy lately.” code for, i haven’t been home. maybe it was the lack of sleep kicking in or the fact she was with someone she trusted, but the moment her body began to relax from all the running around she had been doing, all of her worries rushed to the forefront of her mind.
sure, she was concerned about all the weird shit that hawkins was going through yet again, but she knew how to handle that to some degree. what she couldn’t handle, however, was the rapid rise in drama her social life had taken on. specifically, her love life. max never felt like she had anybody to talk to about that kind of stuff. she was usually doling out her own advice or hiding her troubles from her family. always trying to seem wiser than she was had it’s pitfalls. figuring there was no time like the present, she scooted across from steve and cleared her throat, “hey uh, while i’m here...” this was stupid. “could i maybe ask you something?” before steve could assume the worse, max ripped of the bandaid and spit it out, “is it like, bad, to kiss three people in a short amount of time?”
