lovers' spit

✧

AS THE MOONLIGHT shined into the room from the windows, Max's worry only grew. Rue should have been back by now, she promised. The moonlight was soft, as always, and the stars were winking back at her as she sat next to the window in the dim room.

Everyone was asleep; they had taken the couches and chairs. El had invited Max to sleep with her in the comfort of her room, but she brought down the offer, saying she wanted to wait for Rue.

Jonathan said he was going to stay up and wait for her, and Nancy said she would stay up with him. However, Max told them they should sleep, especially after what they've been through that night.

But it wasn't night anymore. The sun would begin to rise in about two hours, and Rue still wasn't at the cabin.

Max sighed, her leg bouncing as she looked down at the object in her hand again. It was probably the millionth time she's done it. It was the Walkman Rue left in her bag, in the car.

She had her mixtape playing her in her ears, knowing Rue wouldn't have minded if she was listening anyway. Don't You Forget About Me by Simple Minds was softly playing in her ears as she looked out the window.

"Love's strange, so real in the dark . . . think of the tender things that we were working on . . ."

Max's heart dropped. She saw a light — a bright light in the distance. It made its way between the trees, almost like it was walking.

"Slow change may pull us apart . . . when the light gets into your heart, baby . . . "

"Max. . ." A voice whispered in her mind, over the music, "Max. . . Rue needs your help." It said. She didn't recognize the voice, she's never heard it before, but it was calm and soothing — like an angel's.

And then, she saw it. That glowing light was shaped like a person — a woman. With fading strings of gold and blue near her edges, she walked closer to the cabin, carrying something — someone.

"Don't you . . . forget about me. . ."

It was Rue, who laid limp in the arms of the light, her body engulfed in the glowing rings from head to toe. Despite being carried, the girl looked like she was floating. Gliding through the air, as if she was in space, with her hair hovering by her head like a glowing halo. And her body three feet from the ground.

Max watched, the music in her ears forgotten as she was frozen in awe and shock as the gold figure carried Rue to the porch, and once she heard the quiet creaking sounds of the wood and the light glowing from the cracks at the door, Max had snapped back to reality and pulled off the headphones, running to the front door.

Gingerly, she put one hand on the knob, the other on the lock. The shuffling had stopped, and the light was fading away.

Max quickly unlocked the door and opened it, finding Rue on the ground, who struggled to keep her eyes open. There was still a glow surrounding her, and it was clear and encased her like a liquid shell. Rue was tucked under the blue and gold hue of rings that would shift as she moved.

The glows slowly faded away as Max kneeled next to Rue, and once they were gone, tears pricked to her blue eyes when she saw it. Rue was crying softly, and tears were rolling down her cheeks, smudging the blood on her face.

Max's eyes were wide in shock and horror as she shakily pushed Rue's hair out of her face; she had a gash on her forehead that wouldn't stop bleeding, above her eyebrow, she had a cut where blood would roll down her temple. Then her nose and ears were bleeding two. Rue was covered in the sticky scarlet, and her chest rose and fell so slowly it terrified Max whenever she'd breathe out.

It was like a scene from those horror movies Max and Rue would watch. And as her eyes scanned down from the bleeding trail from Rue's face to her collarbone, to her ruined white Polo. Her lower right leg was injured badly, and Max has never seen anyone hurt like this before. There were shards of plate still in her hair, and her neck was red and bruised. And what was worse, it was Rue.

Rue was the one who got hurt, her favourite girl. Her moon to her stars. Her best friend.

"Rue," She cried, watching as the girl barely kept her eyes open as blood rolled from her nose to her cheek. "Rue — I'm —I'm gonna get help —"

"No," the voice said in her ear again, and Max's heart dropped lower.

"No?"

"Mmm. . . Max? Is that . . . you?" Rue slurred, squinting her eyes as she tried to focus on the face in front of her. Oh, and the delight that filled Rue when she realized it was her, and her tears came much faster. "Max? I don't . . ." she gasped and coughed, and her voice gave up on her. "I don't wanna die. . ." she thought, and Max heard it. "He — he wants me . . ."

The tears finally slipped from Max's eyes as she heard her cries. Rue's mouth quivered as she tried to say something important, but nothing came out. Instead, her thoughts had travelled from her mind with an invisible string and into Max's.

"You're — you're not gonna die," Max sniffed, too much in her mind to ponder why she was hearing Rue's thoughts. "I won't—" she wrapped her arms around Rue, trying to help her stand. "I won't let—" Max froze in her movements when she heard Rue's groans. "I'm sorry," She whimpered. There was a depth to her apology, Rue could tell — Hell, she could feel it. Max was sorry for letting her leave with Sky on her own — she was sorry for not stopping her.

"It's not your fault—" Rue tried to say, but she hissed in pain when Max ignored her and helped her stand. Rue weakly wrapped her arms around Max's shoulders, hugging her tightly as the girl had pulled her from her feet and carried her.

They stumbled through the cabin's living room, Max wanting to wake someone up for help, but that voice would keep telling her not to. The blood on Rue was dripping from her chin and fingers, making a trail as they reached Hopper's room.

"Max. . ." Rue tried to speak again, but Max hushed her, and she clicked on the lamp next to Hopper's bed. The girl winced at the sudden light, and her head began to throb in pain. "Max, we need to talk," She whispered frantically. Her pretty green eyes were frightened and dishevelled, her skin was pale under the blood that coated it, and she looked like she had seen a ghost as she tried to get Max to listen.

Rue huffed when Max sat her down on the bed, inspecting all her wounds, and as she stared into Rue's eyes, she said, "I think you have a concussion."

"Max," Rue said very slowly, narrowing her eyebrows when she saw double. She looked between the two Maxs trying to choose which one to tell everything to. Rue blinked rapidly, and her head hurt — her brain hurt — her stomach hurt — her leg, too. Fuck, everything hurt. And she just wished it would all just stop.

The two Maxs shifted before sitting next to Rue, "Can you tell me what happened?" They asked, and Rue blinked dazedly, finding it harder to breathe.

"Sky—" She started to say but stopped when she saw the two Maxs' face harden. Their faces went cold for a moment, and their bodies stiffened.

"She did this?" They exclaimed at the same time, and Rue winced, panting as their voices echoed in her head. They bounced off her skull, shaking at her brain. "I swear I'm gonna—"

"No," Rue wheezed. "No, she's — she's," Rue couldn't say it. The word was at the tip of her tongue, but it wouldn't come out. She looked back up at Max, thankful that there was only one of her. Rue chewed on her lip, biting into a gash that was there. "Her — her uncle — they — a trophy? Um — an arm — under the couch?"

Her mind a mush. Rue was drained from using her powers. She got drained the second the figure brought her here. She'd have to thank her later. "Max. . . I think . . . my mom. . . . I've been lying. . . . The — the thing." Nothing she said made sense. "Uhm. . . . Hurt?"

"Yeah, you're hurt," Max frowned, gently caressing Rue's arm. "I'm gonna get you cleaned up — stay awake, alright?" She whispered, and Max bit her lip worriedly when she didn't get much of an answer but mumbles and more blood rolling down her nose.

Rue whimpered when she felt Max's hands slip off her arm. Her body felt colder, and she wanted Max to stay. However, while she was gone, Rue thought about her next words wisely. And she wondered what was going on. Why couldn't Rue just say it? What was stopping her?

She felt like she was being torn away from life, and maybe she was over exaggerating, but Rue has never felt this way in her life. This wasn't the same pain that she could easily hide with a smile. People could see it. There was no hiding it. And she could feel it with every inch of her body. Rue couldn't bury this one like she used to.

Rue jumped when she heard the creaking on the floor and Max's voice talking shakily and fast. "No, just — just — go back to sleep, okay? . . . No, I can't — she told me — I don't know who — she just said — just go back to sleep, okay?!"

The door opened again, and Max stumbled inside. She had a bucket in one hand and the first aid kit in the other.

"M—Max," Rue stammered as Max led her to sit on the floor. The girl wasn't listening to anything she was saying, not as if it was much — Rue couldn't get a single sentence out. Instead, she began to clean her wounds, which was the most important issue.

She pulled a wet rag from the bucket, straining as much water away from it as she could before shuffling closer to Rue, wiping the blood on her face, beginning with her cheeks, then under her nose.

There was a moment of silence after, and Rue tiredly watched Max. She had raised her chin with her thumb and pointer finger, trying to get a better look at everything with the dim light from Hopper's lamp.

Rue stared at her focused blue eyes, forgetting what she was struggling to say. Another tear slipped from her eyes, and Rue wiped it away with her thumb, but she brought her hand back down when the blood on her finger smudged on her cheek. "S—sorry," she mumbled.

Max sadly smiled as she put the rag back in the bucket, cleaning it. She watched as the water tinted with red before going back to clean Rue's face. "It's alright."

Rue flinched with a small cry when Max pressed the rag on her cuts. She had so many tiny of them littered across her face, which stung, but the one on her forehead throbbed when Max put pressure on it. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry — I just need to make the bleeding stop." She said as she kept applying pressure. With her other hand, she was pressing around Rue's head, trying to find any more injuries. Max found a bump growing at the back of her head and made a mental note to get lots of ice.

"I don't think you'll need stitches for this one, but it's really big," Max said as she searched for gauze and tape in the First Aid kit. Rue watched her carefully — not missing the way her hands were shaking when she was cutting up the gauze. Max began to bandage up the gash on her head, she accidentally pressed too hard, and Rue felt like little knives were stabbing at her brain. "I'm sorry, I—" Max started to say, but Rue brushed her apologies away, the pain leaving just as fast as it came when she felt a rush of emotions.

It was weird, yet natural. Rue felt a rush of emotions coming from Max, and they were mostly anger, worry, and another one she couldn't describe, but it was warm and familiar.

"I want to hold her hand," Rue heard Max's voice. Her eyes widened the slightest bit, causing a few tears to fall, the ones she was holding back. Max gently wiped them away for her with a soft smile as she finished bandaging her face.

Maybe El was right. The lady was right. Telepathy was what she had said. She could too read minds — she was a Mind Reader — and now that Rue thought about it — she always was. That would explain why all those times she thought she had said something out loud . . . she never did. She had said it Telepathically! And unlike all the rest of her abilities — this one wasn't given to her by her mother that day of the accident — no, Rue was born with it.

God, how could she be so stupid?

"You're not stupid, Rue," Max snorted, shaking her head as she peeled a small bandaid and placing it above her eyebrow.

Rue tilted her head in confusion, "What?"

Max sighed and smiled at the girl sitting before her. Rue was always one to get confused by what she had said herself. "How could she be so cute at a time like this?"

And while Rue blushed heavily at Max's thought, she tried to block them out. She knew it was an invasion of Max's privacy, but Rue just couldn't help it. And who could blame her? She wanted to hear Max's voice — she wanted to listen to that soft voice that would always calm her. And Rue needed to be calm if she wanted to gather her thoughts about what she needed to say.

"Should I hold her hand? Would that be weird?"

"No," Rue thought to herself, answering her question.

Instantly, Max stopped her movements as she cleaned up the blood on Rue's legs. She looked up at Rue, who smiled innocently yet dazedly. Rue's eyes were still unfocused, and she looked a little crazy with her hair stained strawberry red from her blood. Max hesitantly slid her free hand higher, holding onto Rue's blood-covered one. But rather than the usual butterflies that would fill her stomach, it was cold and full of worry when she saw the handprints around Rue's neck. Max put down the rag in the bucket, lifting Rue's head slightly so that the light would shine on her neck. Her eyes widened, and her mouth parted — she was about to say something — but nothing came out. "Who did this?" She thought instead.

"Sky's uncle," Rue replied in her head, no longer caring about keeping it a secret.

Max's hand dropped, and she gave Rue a funny look. "What?" She asked while wrapping her leg.

Her mind was finally clearing, "Sky was flayed . . ." she said aloud, and winced when Max had finished tying the bandage around her leg. She had knotted it tightly when she heard Sky's name, her anger showing from her fingers.

"Sorry."

Rue didn't answer as she kept saying what she was literally dying to say mere minutes ago. "And so was her uncle. . . it was all a trap," she sighed, "Sky didn't go to the hospital to visit her aunt, she was there to join the other flayed that turned into that monster. . . or she was there to get me . . . I— I'm not sure — but — the Mindflayer — he — he used Sky and her uncle to get to me —"

"Rue—" Max started, but Rue cut her off, not wanting to lose her train of thought.

"No, wait. They pushed me off a building — no wait — not — not a building they pushed me out the window —" Rue's mind was becoming muddled again, and she was feeling more and more drained the longer she talked. "They said they need me to build an army and—"

"Rue, do you have powers?" Max said very slowly, watching the girl cautiously.

Rue blinked, and she shrugged like a child.

"I hope you realized this whole conversation was in our heads."

"Oh,"

Rue's mind went completely blank. That had never happened before, there was always something running through her head, either it was a song stuck in her head or her console deciding what to do next. But now, it was completely and utterly empty.

"So . . ." Max started, speaking out loud, and she began to clean Rue's hands, "How long—"

"Can we talk about the fact I fell off a second-story window?" Rue quickly changed the topic. "Because that was hella crazy,"

Max involuntarily laughed. She wanted to be worried because her heart was still racing from finding the girl she liked nearly dead on the porch half an hour ago. She wanted to be angry at Rue for keeping her powers a secret from her — and angry again, but at herself for letting Rue go with Sky on her own. To let Rue get hurt. She's already been through so much — it's not fair she has to go through more. "I think you've hit your head really hard."

"Hopper told me not to tell you," Rue looked down at her bandaged leg, admiring how neatly Max had tied it. "El knows. . . and Will, and Joyce . . . Jonathan . . . Nancy. . . I think Mike figured it out . . . he's smarter than I thought . . . um. . . the Mindflayer. . ."

"I don't care," Max said, raising her hand and tenderly stroking Rue's cheek. "I'm sorry we let you go tonight. I should've have known—"

"But you didn't know," Rue reassured, "And that's okay. I didn't know either."

Max nodded, swiping her thumb over Rue's freckles. "That light lady — who brought you here. . . was she?"

"I think it was my mom. . . ." Rue racked through her brain, trying to remember what she had been told in the woods. "My mom used to be in the lab like El, a long time ago. She had incredible powers — and when I was born, I got her Telepathic abilities. I didn't know. Not until now. But — the day of the accident, she gave me her powers. And I think a part of her stuck with me that day. All those times I've talked in third person — it was her. She was speaking for me. . . . And tonight, I should've died," she spoke darkly.

"When I was in the woods, I should've died, Max — but then this light came out of my hand, and there she was," Rue sniffed, not realizing she had begun to cry. "I have a lot of power, now. And I'm scared," Rue looked up at Max, her lips quivering. "Max, I'm scared I'm going to hurt someone. . . that I'll hurt you."

Max wiped Rue's tears, ignoring the way tears flowed down her own cheeks. "You can never hurt me."

"This isn't fair," Rue sighed, "We're just kids. We're supposed to be having fun — it's — it's summer. . . . Max, I don't want to keep fighting like this," she cried, "I'm tired . . . and they're going to take me away. . . I don't want them to take me."

Max shuffled closer to Rue, "They're not going to take you,"

"But they were so close and — I wasn't strong enough— "