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intergalacticaquarium · 2 years

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No Need For Introductions

PART ONE of the Eddie and Max AU! Finally! I have a ton of these written and I'm gonna get out the summer ones before the season four plot where it will become abundantly clear that these two should've been the besties instead of Eddie and Dustin. Sorry Dustin, but you already have Steve and Max is having brother problems.

No Pairings, just Max and Eddie being friends and Eddie adopting random sad kids bc they remind him of when he was a random sad kid.

(and a special thanks to @seafoamgreenpng for helping me create this vision of this beautiful friendship.)

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Summer was an annual trial in the trailer park, and Eddie couldn’t spend any more of it sitting inside in front of a fan and a bowl of ice. Staying inside his sweltering oven of a bedroom was obviously no longer an option.

Putting shorts on the list of things he considered against his personal doctrine might have been a mistake.

But regardless of the length of his pants, he grabbed a one-hitter and his walkman, along with a claw clip he hoped nobody would see him wearing to get some of the heat off the back of his neck and headed outside. He wasn’t surprised but he was a little mad when it was noticeably cooler outside than in his room.

The little woods behind the trailer park were shady and peaceful for contemplating nature, or whatever. He unpacked the bat and dug around for some weed and took a hit, but turned around in confusion when he heard another sound.

It sounded like somebody…crying?

He walked forward, making sure to crunch on a few sticks so he wasn't sneaking up on anybody.

"Come on…c’mon- shit-' a small voice said, sounding frustrated and angry until she let out a frustrated shout and he heard something hit a hard surface.

Now that he was close enough he could see that it was a kid. A redheaded teenager in a sweatshirt with a pale and blotchy face that was so drawn and pinched he could tell that she really hated that she was starting to cry.

Eddie recognized her as Billy Hardgroves sister, Max. He almost said it out loud but he wasn't sure if he should- He didn't know if she knew that just about everybody in Hawkins knew her name from the impatient and angry bellows of her name her brother was prone to.

As a super senior, soon to be for the second time, most of the bullying didn’t really register with Eddie anymore. In fact, he had relished in most of it. But Billy Hardgrove was an asshole. Most people just ignored him at this point, but in all his years Billy was the only one to do Eddie the favor of shoving him literally into a locker like in a terrible movie. The fact that he was so dedicated to the John Hughes dickhead act was almost kinda pathetic, in Eddie’s opinion, and that level of tormenting others probably wouldn’t hold him over for long, and he seemed ready to snap at any moment. Hardgrove never seemed so much like a bully as he did a future felon.

Eddie had done his best to just keep away from him, but the angry shouts of his little sister’s name were enough to draw attention, and Eddie had to admit that he worried about that kid a bit. Anybody could see that she was scared of him and trying not to show it, which was a sight that hit Eddie a little too close to home. Once he had been in the arcade when Billy dropped her off and he asked her if she was okay, but she had only glared at him and said something along the lines of none of your fucking business.

Then Billy died in the mall fire. Famously, in fact. Sure, lots of other people died too, but Billy was apparently the biggest ticket item on the list of casualties.

Max and her mom had just moved into the trailer across the path from his but aside from her hauling boxes on moving day he hadn't seen her come outside once in the two weeks since.

Every time he'd ever seen her rushing towards Billy's car or getting the mail her face was stony. Now, this kid was crumbling.

"Hey- you okay?" He asked as comfortingly as he could, and Max jumped in shock, quickly wiping her face.

"I'm fine-"

"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare-"

"I said I'm fine!" She shouted, and he shut his mouth. She was standing now and in her hand was a cassette tape with the ribbon unraveled and tangled.

"I hate it when that happens too. Do you need some help?" He asked gently, and she looked down at it helplessly.

"Don't think there's anything to do at this point- this shit is ruined." She said, frustrated and thick from emotion.

Eddie held out his hand for the tape, making a gimme motion. She looked confused, but walked forward stiltedly and shoved the tape and the massive delicate tangle into his hands and he looked at it and shrugged. Bad, but not the worst he had ever dealt with. Eddie just took it and sat down on the dirt ground at the base of a tree and began to work while she stared at him, bewildered.

"You don't have to do that." She said, a little awkwardly, and Eddie just shrugged.

"I don't mind, I'm actually pretty good at untangling knots. Lots of practice with the hair and everything." He said casually. She didn't laugh, but she also didn't seem like she was about to run in the opposite direction.

"You don't have to stay here if you want, or I can go. I'll just put it in your mailbox when I fix it." He offered, and she glanced back to the trailer park, then back to him. Instead of leaving she picked up her walkman off the ground and sat down across the little clearing from him. Far enough away to get away quickly, not so far she couldn't see what was going on. Eddie recognized that calculation. He always called it the mafia seat.

He methodically worked on fixing the tape as they sat in silence, and he could feel her very keen eyes on him. He finally glanced up and she looked away awkwardly before he turned back to the tape.

Eddie laughed quietly. "I was about to tell you my name but that look tells me probably don’t have to-I gotta know- what have you heard about me that you're trying to figure out is true?"

Out of the corner of her eye he saw her head snap to him, looking embarrassed.

"Its- he- Billy didn't have a lot of nice things to say about anybody. Not….not just you." She said carefully, and Eddie grinned.

"No he did not. But really, go for it. I just wanna know if he had anything he didn't say to my face." He glanced at her and still looked worried. "You don't have to if you don't want do,, but no hard feelings, even if it's really bad.. I promise."

She fidgeted a bit, her hand mostly in her sleeve and pushing out the wrist like a webbed hand.

“You sure? Because…there were a couple main ones.” She warned, and Eddie gave a decadent shoulder shake like he was about to get a present.

“Awww, I didn’t know I made such an impression that he’d talk about me at home.” He said, and heard what might’ve been a quiet laugh. “Lay it on me. Worst he got.”

“Uhhh, okay…the first one was trailer trash,” She said sarcastically, but continued, “But that one wasn’t just you, that one was a go-to. Um, I think you were the one he said probably kept people in his basement.” she said, almost joking now. He got that, too. Sweat the little stuff and joke about the big ones. Emotions were easier to process in reverse.

“Oh, and then the worst one was, that you were ‘just some creep too stupid to realize that the only reason people let you keep going around running your mouth is because you’re the only hookup for drugs in this shitty town, and when you eventually dropped out you might as well be dead in a ditch. Or in…prison. I think that was when he mentioned the basement, actually.”

Eddie let out a low whistle and glanced up at Max, who still seemed to be bracing herself

"Damn alright. That's pretty cold. Not the worst I've heard but not great either. I can’t believe he didn’t tell me about the bodies in my basement, though. I would’ve let them out if I had known.” he said, and she laughed in surprise.

"Thanks for telling me, though. And I'm just gonna ask with…however much respect is due in this situation- how do I keep people in my basement if I'm trailer trash? I don't have a basement. It's a trailer. Nothing wrong with living in one either. Where else can you go where you can just faintly hear Skynyrd all the time." He said, and he heard a small breath of a laugh from Max.

"Sorry. He was….his dad was really hard on him." She said lamely, and looked kind of offended when Eddie snorted.

"Okay? My dad taught me how to hotwire and steal cars when I was 12 because he thought if I got caught the most the cops would do is put me in the foster system. As if I wasn't the most redneck looking kid out there that most cops would love to arrest." He spoke while still focusing on the tape, but he saw Max frown.

"My dad was hard on me, Billy's dad was hard on him and Billy was hard on you if I remember how he used to yell at you in parking lots. I don't know you, Max, but I’ve never like, attacked anybody and I don’t want to either. Everybody’s dealing with shit but the only way that we can stop having to deal with it is to not bring it the fuck up all the time to excuse our own shitty behavior" He said, glancing at her reaction before finishing undoing the final knot in the fragile film. He might be repeating something he had told himself more than a few times throughout his life. When he was a kid he used to get angry, but he didn’t like the feeling and all the guilt that always came with it.

"I…guess not." She muttered.

"Sorry, I shouldn't speak ill of the dead." He said, wondering if he had gone too far.

Max sighed. "It's okay i….I'm glad that somebody's willing to.'she said. "Sorry, no. Billy….its…yeah."

"Yeah…..grief…sucks." He said, unsure how else to put it.

He was surprised at her thick and breathy laugh that sounded on the verge of tears.

"Yeah. It just…sucks." She laughed a little at the understatement

"And dont- don't take anything people tell you about living here to heart. It's really not that bad- besides the Skynyrd- I know it's not 5 stars but the worst part has always been the people that act like it makes you different." He said, and he thought he noticed a small smile.

They were both quiet for a little while as he slowly spooled the tape back together as she watched him, probably remembering the steps for next time.

"Kate Bush, huh?" He asked after a while of silence. That was the first thing to make her smile a little bit, and she nodded.

"I haven't heard this one yet, but a few years back I was kind of obsessed with the Dreaming." He admitted freely, and she didn't hide her surprise.

"Really? You don't really….seem like the type to be a fan of her." She said, and he grinned.

"I've got two ears and a heart, don't I?" He said and she laughed a little bit.

"Well…it's good. Really good. Better than the Dreaming." She said, and he was glad that he had finally gotten her mind onto something else.

"Eh, I'll believe that when I hear it." He said, carefully winding the last of the film back into the tape, holding it up to show it to her fully intact.

"Viola." He said proudly, and stuck out his arm. She popped up instantly, all of a sudden forgetting her troubles to grab it excitedly. Eddie grinned at how she looked more like a kid now as she managed to actually smile. She lowered the tape to look at him and looked a little more shy now, glancing back to the spot he had caught her crying.

"Thank you." She said simply, and he waved it away.

"No problem, I told you, I hate it when that happens to me and I'm good at untangling things. It would be wrong to leave somebody else in a bind when I can get them out of it. Especially not another Kate Bush fan." He said with a grin, and she glanced down at the tape, then stuck out her hand to him.

"You should listen. It's just a loaner but…I bet you'll like it." She said, her hand still out in an awkward offering.

"You sure? You've just been reunited."

She nodded. "Definitely. Besides, Running Up That Hill is gonna change your life." She said, and he glanced at it and smiled.

"Well, thanks Max. I'll get it back to you soon." He said, and she nodded.

"Sure. And…thanks again, Eddie." She said, and walked away.

He smiled to himself, glancing up to make sure nothing nabbed her on the way, and put the cassette into his walkman, feeling good to have helped, and hoping that he made her feel better.

The next morning Max grinned when she checked the mailbox and saw three cassettes with a note that said top one first, it'll change your life.

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Max and Eddie Taglist (let me know if you want to be added!)

@annikin-im-panicin @anths-girl @pips-qeak @sweet--em @infitsovermisfits

#stranger things #stranger things fic #eddie munson #max mayfield #joseph quinn #sadie sink #eddie munson fanfic #max mayfield fanfic #this is the first of...many #max and eddie #if u have any headcanons or prompts for them that u come up with lmk bc I allllways wanna hear them I love these two #is this short enough to not have a cut?#ehhhhhhhhh #i think its fine but if u want me to lmk and I will

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