#dustmax

[fears--all-the-way-down]

She sat back in her chair, pulling the glass of dark pink liquid to her lips. Throwing back the cider she looked at the bottom of the glass and pouted for a fraction of a second. Third one down and she was already depressed over it. She hadn’t had nearly enough to suffocate this dinner, this engagement celebration.

“We’re going to get going. I have a meeting at the shelter tomorrow and it’s early. Did you want us to give you a ride back?” Amy’s sickeningly sweet voice questioned towards Claudia and she looked over at Dustin. His eyes were on her, concerned about her mood? Her consumption? Both? 

“I’m good sweetie, I appreciate the offer though.” with reluctance she held in her eye roll, knowing better than to start anything about Amy.

She shouldn’t have been jealous

She had no right to be jealous.

“Mom, can you call me when this one’s home?” “I’m not drunk.” “right, and i have the high score in mario kart.” “you can’t even drive in a straight line!” she barked back in defiance of herself as he walked around the table and leaned down. She hadn’t meant to tilt her head back at the right time. As his lips brushed against her own she heard herself whine for the briefest of moments as he pulled away, “alright, maybe I’m a little bit drunk.” Amy was glaring daggers at her, she didn’t have to lift her head to feel them.

He was shaking his head at her. Amused. But still shaking his head. As he reached for her hand and held for a moment while walking away from the table with his eventual wife to be.

“You can gag now, they’re far enough away to not hear you.” Max’s eyes sparkled for a moment and she glanced over at her best friend's mother and reached for another chip off of the picked apart appetizer tray. “Excuse me, hun, can i have another cider over there, and a second glass of merlot?” and this was the reason that Max thought so highly of Claudia. Well, one of the reasons anyway. “And you know what… I know there’s a delicious brownie sundae on the dessert menu. We’ll take one of those with a couple extra cherries too.”

Oh god the cherry stems. Max’s head went backwards in what once would have been embarrassment but now was only occupied with the memory of moments passed.

Why exactly had Claudia Henderson continued to put up with her after that? The inappropriate comments she’d made right off the bat in teenage defiance probably should have gotten her barred from the Henderson home immediately. Not that it would have worked of course. For years she’d come through the window at night.

In reaction to the thought prior she hid her face in the sleeve of her sweater, “You’re not doing real well with this, are you Max?” she avoided Claudia’s gaze opting to instead straighten the messy bun and pull fingers through her hair. Anything that she could use as a distraction she did. “Why don’t you just tell him.” she made it sound so simple. She knew she wasn’t good for him and Amy could provide stability that she’d never been able to. Why was she going to break that for him? Especially when he’d proposed (which had come out of nowhere). 

They’d had their chance and she’d given it up. “He proposed to her, mom.” she deadpanned

It was only when the glass of alcohol arrived that she smiled again, offering the waitress the slightest of gestures anyway. “Baby…” Claudia began to chide and Max shook her head. There were plenty of moments when she’d listen, plenty of times when Claudia’s words meant more than anyone’s.

This was not one of those times.

“Mom… don’t” she shook her head, not allowing Claudia to get another word in. It wasn’t worth it and she wasn’t going to listen to the lecture for once. “He’s happy with her. She can give him the calm peaceful life he deserves. Me? I can’t give him peace.” she took a longer than appropriate swig from the glass she’d just been brought.

“Did you ever think that maybe he’s your peace?”

Oh she knew that. Claudia didn’t need to tell her that one

“What we had is in the past, mom. He’s happy with her, she’s good for him.” she tried to hide her bitterness as she picked up a spoon off the table and took a bite of the ice cream. Sure, maybe she was a little bit jealous, but it was just due to the fact that pretty soon those vices that she’d always relied on wouldn’t be clutches anymore. It wasn’t as if she could still call him for every little thing once he was a married man.

At least, that was her story and she was sticking to it.

She and Claudia were both quiet for a moment and she could tell that the other woman was biting her tongue not to say what she wanted to. Max was almost relieved. Well, until that dam broke anyway, “I’m just saying baby, you might want to have an honest conversation with him. Before there are legal constraints…”

Max lifted a hand, passively, Claudia could say whatever she wanted, but in this case Max knew she was right. Or at least that she was sticking to this one. He was happy, they’d had their time, there was no way she was going to change her mind and medal in the middle of the life he’d built for himself. She had no right on that one.

“How excited are you to have a daughter in law? Sure, she’s a bit mouthy and prudish… but you’ve finally got that daughter you wanted.”

The annoyed look on Claudia’s face wasn’t missed on Max as she tipped the glass of merlot back before giving the typical Claudia Henderson look, “Baby, i’ve had a daughter since freshmen year of high school. And she’s a damn pain in the ass too. Real Henderson right there.”

Max Henderson. Wouldn’t that have sounded good...

#continuity: speak now #speak now: current #Max Mayfield #dustmax #dustin henderson

[hawkinsschoolcounselor]

It's funny how people read the same scene differently. I'm with that anon, when Nancy was dancing with Dustin and telling him girls that age don't know what they really want, it seemed like she was talking about Max, not just the girls at the dance. And obviously Nancy's first relationship was with Steve, who she thought she loved but actually didn't. I read it as saying Lucas will be Max's Steve, and Dustin will be her Jonathan. And then season three sees Dustin maturing a lot faster than Lucas

"I like Suzie, but I'm not expecting her to stick around. She feels like a summer love to me. Personally I'm not sure Max and Dustin would have much romantic chemistry, but it hasn't been tested, so the actors could surprise us. My memory is hazy but the Princess Daphne thing definitely wasn't the only piece of foreshadowing for Dustin eventually "getting the girl" in s2. Does anyone else remember? I'm actually a Lumax fan but I've thought Dustmax would be the endgame since my first watch."

Wow, look at how quickly I got called out for being wrong here. Heh, well, when you're wrong, you're wrong. These came in while I was writing my last reply, so I guess you managed to get your points across before I even read them.

What can I say? You're both right. Hopefully Lucas learns from this experience.

[mayclair]

okay okay i know This looks awful and horrible and bleh ew dustmax

BUT in my desperation for this not to be real and for them to save some room for jesus (or lucas) i noticed they're NOT actually standing as close as they appear to be!!

if you look at max's skateboard and her shoes, the sun is shining on it and max. dustin, however, is completely in the shadows, which MEANS it LOOKS like they're standing really close but in reality they're several feet apart and max is ahead of dustin. i am SO relieved i swear if they brought back the dustin-max-lucas love triangle i would CRY

but anyways moral of the story dustin and max ARE saving room for jesus and they are not, in fact, that close. hallelujah

SAVE SOME ROOM FOR JESUS IM CRYING but exactly it's j the camera angle that's making them look close they actually probably have a ton of space between them like the amount a person could stand in between cough lucas jesus cough. also if they brought the triangle back i'm literally gonna shut off my tv it's literally not worth it </3 dustin and max are friends !!!!!! why do u have to ruin that for the sake of some stupid romance which is even more stupid when u realize they have no chemistry lol

#asks 💌 #anna tag #this was the funniest bestest thing to wake up to so ty love u bestie #also ur prompt has been sitting in my inbox for days now and i feel a little bad but i Will get to it as soon as midterms end <3

[fears--all-the-way-down]

“I don’t get why we have to come to all of his stupid games anyway. I had band practice!” Mike’s whine occurred every time Lucas had a baseball game. Max was sick of the complaints. As if any of them really wanted to spend extra time at school. They did this because when one member of the party needed support they all provided it. Like building blocks. Considering the strain that Lucas and Max’s friendship was under, if anyone should have gotten the chance to complain and bail it should have been her. Yet for the good of the party Max didn’t complain. She painted his number onto her cheek and pulled Dustin’s debate sweatshirt that she’d stolen out of his locker tighter around her shoulders, “get a grip Mike” she barked, annoyed. She wasn’t about to allow Mike to get his way for the millionth time. They were going to watch the 9 innings and he had no say in the matter. Another groan spilled from Mike, angering her further as she felt an arm wrap around her shoulders that only could have belonged to one person, “oh shut it Mike, you’re not going to lose an octave by sitting in the stands. Unless a pop fly or whatever hits you in the balls.” Robotics had to have ended early. She’d expected to go most of the game doing her best not to murder Mike or text El that she was going to do so. “All for one and one for all Mikey” he chimed in again as Mike grimaced at his words, clearly over the party’s antics already, “oh fuck off Henderson.” It was as if on cue, as Lucas spotted them a smile crossed his features and a left hand proudly supporting a middle finger was admonished in their direction. As much as he said he didn’t care if they showed or not, he was always clearly happy to show off for them. This was the reason that they bothered to show up. “Look, he saw us, we can go now.” if only. Throwing a punch to Mike’s arm, Max smirked as he complained and held his bicep. “Hey Dusty, come sit over here.” Carmen’s voice broke across the bleachers as the girl who’d had her eye on Dustin for weeks now patted the spot beside her. She’d caught the conversations in calculus. Something about how he wasn’t a pudge any longer, how she and the other girls had noticed that he’d pretty much come back from Camp Know Where a different person this time. “Go ahead Dusty, go sit” she egged along, knowing that the name always got under his skin unless it was coming from his mother. It was a tactic she employed just to aggravate him. One that she would especially continue after this whole thing. She followed in step with Mike behind her, as they made their way to the other side of the lower bleachers where Carmen and the other junior girls sat staring way to hard at the field without actually understanding the game. Sitting between Dustin and Mike she made herself comfortable, putting her converses up on the chain-link fence in front of her that separated them from the dugout. “So Dusty, a couple of us are going to the diner for dinner tonight. You should join.” she felt Mike reach across in back of her just to thump Dustin on the back and she held in an eye roll. Lucas and Mike had an ongoing obsession with trying to get D to take the asking girls up on their offers. “Actually my mom’s making pizza tonight. Can’t miss pizza night.” beside her Mike groaned and dropped his head into his hands, clearly annoyed with Dustin’s response to the girl beside him. “Not cool D” Mike mumbled under his breath and Max took the moment to once again jab him in the shoulder, this time with her elbow. A second later Mike leaned into her, whispering into her ear, “You are not helping D get any sort of a sex life here Max” wouldn’t he like to know. Those were details they hadn’t included Mike or Lucas into, what happened between her and D didn’t need to be broadcast to the entire party. It only would have caused trouble that none of them needed. “Shouldn’t you worry about your own?” “my girlfriend is states away!” These were the moments when she missed El the most. Mike had pulled out his cell phone and Dustin was engaged in conversation with the girls as Max looked across the field to find Lucas on second base, he was concentrating hard on the batter and waiting for his chance to run to third. She hadn’t minded being forced into these games so much. They always gave her the slightest reminder of Billy playing back when they were in California. In the little things she always looked for her brother now. “So you still coming camping with us D? Or does your mom have plans for next weekend too?” Dustin’s obvious confusion gave off the notion that he hadn’t heard a word of hers and Mike’s talk while he’d been deep in conversation with Carmen. She wasn’t sure for a moment if she was relieved or concerned. “What are you talking about? I’m the one with the tent!” she let the conversation go on around her, once again looking out into the baseball field. In that moment a strange sensation hit her, as if a sudden drop on a rollercoaster had started off a flurry of butterflies. “Max? You okay?” she should have known he’d been looking at her. Placing her hand in the front pocket of the sweatshirt she regrouped herself, “huh?” running her other hand through her hair she finally zoned back into the moment, “yeah, i’m good. Think I need a snack though.” Slipping off of the bench, she started to head in the direction of the concession stand without looking at either of the boys and wasn’t remotely surprised when footsteps suddenly became in sync with her own, “sunshine?” his tone was worried, even though there was hardly a reason for it, she hadn’t been lying. “Oh wait, I have this that Lucas slipped me earlier.” pulling a clear packet from his pocket her face lit at the site of the gummy bear and without a seconds hesitation she snatched it from his hand and pulled it from the package. Thanks to the baseball team, Lucas had become one of their best sources for CBD products. “Remind me to thank you later.” the elicit smirk that crossed his dorky features told her that he wouldn’t soon forget. They’d finally reached the line of the concession stand when a voice beside them and a child’s wail made them both turn, “Titi” the little boy with the crocodile tears couldn’t have been more than three years old had fallen off of his bike, blood poured out of a scrape in his knee. “Little boys don’t cry Dax, get up and stop your whining. Don’t be a sissy.” she and Dustin exchanged a look at the young aunt of the child stood by lecturing him instead of taking care of the scrape. Dustin was the first one to make a move. “Actually, boys do cry. I cry all the time, especially when she’s mad at me.” blue eyes followed him as he knelt on the ground in front of the child, using the sleeve of his own tee-shirt to wipe the excess blood off of the torn knee. “It’s totally okay to cry when you’re hurt or sad.”producing a bandaid from his pocket (one that she could only guess was probably meant for her just in case). She watched him carefully place the bandaid the way she’d shown him how, the same way she’d patched all of her own injuries, with such a delicate touch to even a strange child. Over emotion fogged her eyes and she couldn’t explain why. She must have been overtired from the first few weeks of school hitting her again. Because if there was anything Max hated most it was emotion. That wasn’t a question to anyone around her. The little boy had a smile on his face when she looked back over to the commotion, where Dustin was standing up now from his crouch in front of the kid. She had to admit, he was pretty good at that. She really shouldn’t have been all that surprised by it either.

#continuity: paper rings #paper rings: flashback #max mayfield rp #dustmax