Chapter Forty-Four: Safe & Sound

"Annie, Max is here!"

"Send her up!" The brunette yelled, continuing on writing without looking away. Max was a bit early, but it was fine, it meant she could add a note to the letter Annie was writing.

"Dear Will and Jane:

I'm so glad to hear about everything! You better take a polaroid of that painting once it's done and send it in the next letter because I so need to see it. And Jane, I'm sure you'll get the hang of English class. It can be kind of hard and weird, but sometimes you just make stuff up about what you read and if you can back it up, the teacher likes it, too.

I know there's the summer, and we just saw you guys a couple months ago, but I'm really sad my mom said no to me going to California. I really miss you guys and really want to see Lenora! Plus, I need to beat that Angela chick up, she sounds like a bitch.

Okay, so I wouldn't but if Max came with me she totally could. Just promise me, El, you'll tell Mike some of what's going on? Not everything, but he knows what it's like to get bullied. He'd understand.

Leaving room for Max to write but I better get the polaroid, Will! I will walk to California if I have to!

-Annie"

She had just finished signing it when Max knocked on the door and pushed it fully open. "What's up Barbie? Finished your letter to the Cali peeps?" she asked, making her way over to Annie's desk.

The redhead left a kiss on the crown of Annie's head before picking up the letter. "Yep, and I left enough room for you to write something if you want to," Annie said, moving from her chair so Max could sit.

The redhead took the brunette up on the offer and sat down to write something down. "Oh hey," Max said, grabbing Annie's attention. "Can I have some of the painkillers?" Max gestured to the bottle in the corner of Annie's desk.

She nodded. "Yeah, sure. I don't think my parents have noticed I've taken it yet," Annie replied, and the girls chuckled.

She sat on the edge of her bed, and Annie put her new Converse on- some cute yellow ones Max got her for her birthday. They went well with the yellow shirt Steve got her for Christmas.

"Don't forget, I have one more practice today after school before the rally and game tomorrow," Annie said after she tied her shoes up. She stood from her bed and walked up behind Max to wrap her arms around her shoulders.

Her eyes trailed along the words Max wrote. She agreed with Annie, that Angela sucked and she missed them. There was an added note about how they better go to the beach during spring break, cause it should start to warm up.

Max signed it and handed the letter to Annie. "Drop it off after school?" Max asked. "Well, after your practice I mean."

"Yep. I don't know how long practice will be, but we should have time!" Annie carefully placed the now sealed letter in between the pages of a book and put it all in her backpack before zipping it up.

"You excited?" Max asked, her smile wide as she nudged Annie's shoulder.

The girl rolled her eyes and slung her backpack over the other shoulder, so she wouldn't hit Max. "Maybe a little, especially because the next time I'll be cheering, it'll be as a sophomore! I get just a tad bit more respect than I currently do."

"Oh, they're not that bad, are they?" Max asked, somewhat serious. "If they are you better tell me. I'll take care of it."

Annie laughed, harder than she meant to. "Oh god, oh, I am so sorry Red you know I don't mean to make fun, but still, that was hilarious," Annie said, catching her breath.

There was a second where Max wanted to roll her eyes, walk away, and have Annie begging for forgiveness (all in jest, of course), but she just smiled and threw an arm around her girlfriend. "I mean it though. Anyone gives you grief, point me in their direction."

Smiling, Annie leaned her head onto Max's shoulder. "Of course. Better you than Steve, he's not the best at winning fights." This had both girls laughing as they hurried down the stairs.

When they got past the wall, Max's arm was immediately away from Annie and Annie's head was back up. While Steve knew about their relationship, the Harrington parents did not. For good reason, too. There were only a handful of adults that even knew. Annie was sure she could count them on one hand.

Steve, Billy, Hopper, and Joyce.

Would you look at that, one hand. Nancy almost made the list, but she was still in high school, as well as Robin, so they didn't technically count. Hopper didn't really count, either, since he died in the mall's secret Russian base.

So that left three.

"Have a good time at practice!" Annie's mom called as the girls hurried out the door. Annie looked over her shoulder briefly and gave a quick smile to her mom. She was a cheerleader, too, back when she went to Hawkins High, but that's not why Annie wanted to join.

"Come on, let's go, my shift starts in half an hour," Steve said, his window open and head leaning back. The girls went into the back so they could still sit next to each other on the ride to school.

So far, Hawkins High hadn't been too terrible to the Party. Max and Annie were perfectly fine, having each other to lean on and hang out with. They still had a couple of acquaintances in their classes, you know, in case one of them missed a day and needed to know what happened.

Annie was far too scared to make another close friend. She didn't even think that was possible, considering she wouldn't bond with them the same way she bonded with the others- over trauma. She still hoped she could, maybe one day. Having a normal friend sounded nice.

The other Party members still in Hawkins did okay, too. Lucas decided to do something similar to Annie and went out for basketball, getting on the team. He and Annie became closer because of it. She cheered at the games and he usually stayed on the bench, so they talked and stuff.

He also joined Hellfire with Dustin and Mike. It was this DnD club that some seniors were in. When Dustin told Annie about it, she had to reign in her anger.

Will was her second best friend (after her girlfriend, of course), so of course he told her all about the lack of DnD last summer. It was all he wanted to do. Now, he's alone in Cali and his old friends are playing their beloved game again. It all rubbed Annie the wrong way.

They arrived at the school and Steve pulled up close to the front to drop the girls off. "Thanks Steve!" Annie called, waving at him before Max pulled her arm and led her into the building. "Red- you almost pulled my arm off!"

Max just laughed and brought Annie into a quick side hug. Short enough to not be suspicious. "Oh come on, you're fine! Other than being slow, of course."

Another eye roll. "Whatever, we're not even going to be late."

"Yeah, well, maybe I enjoy talking to you before class starts, hm?" Max suggested, raising her eyebrows.

It took a lot of willpower for Annie not to grab her girlfriend's face and kiss her right then and there. She really enjoyed time with Max, she did, but it was hard having to reign herself in. Other couples got to be super showy, it hurt they couldn't be.

"Well what else could we have to talk about? Ooh! We could plan a trip to California? If we want to go over the summer I might have better luck convincing my parents," Annie said, suddenly getting excited.

Max laughed. "Yeah, okay, sounds good. I mean, we should visit El and Will at some point."

Annie shook her head. "Not even just that. Maybe, if Steve and or Billy could come, we could make it a whole thing! A roadtrip around Cali where we start or stop at Lenora?" she suggested. "Maybe one of the stops could be where you used to live?"

The last idea came out quieter, a bit more apprehensive than the rest. Max's adrenaline fell some, but a light smile remained on her face. "Yeah, I... I think that would be really nice," she said.

The bell rang and the girls went their separate ways, only having one class together the whole day. It wasn't their first. "I'll see you at lunch?"

"Of course, you don't even have to ask."

By the end of the school day, Max was ready to spend time with her girlfriend. She really couldn't wait for spring break because it meant even more time spent together. Even with her selfish feelings, Max was okay sitting in the bleachers and watching her gorgeous girlfriend practice the pep rally cheer routine.

The uniform looked pretty boxy, but like Annie had explained several times: freshman didn't get a lot of respect when it came to the cheerleader hierarchy. Next year, she said she'd get her own uniform that she could actually keep.

"All right girls, that looks wonderful! Remember to get here an hour before the rally starts so you can get ready and we can do one last run-through," the coach called form the sidelines. Max could see the boys on the basketball team peaking out from the locker room, waiting for the court to clear.

Max noticed Lucas and sent him a small smile. They've been pretty good friends lately, especially after they talked about their past relationship.

Other than Lucas, she saw that one guy, Jason? He was dating the cheerleader Chrissy. It was obvious they were going to be "that" couple in high school, the one everybody wishes they could be. Jason and Chrissy seemed to be perfect for each other.

Well, if Annie and Max could be public with their relationship then they'd be "that" couple instead. Life just doesn't always work that way.

Annie ran over to her girlfriend, sitting on the bottom bleacher. "So, enjoy the show? You'll get to see it for the last time tomorrow morning," she said.

Smiling, Max stood and nodded. "Oh for sure. I'm going to miss seeing it, but at least you can always do your part whenever I come by," she joked. Annie laughed and made Max smile even bigger.

"All right, well, let me go change out of my sweaty uniform and we can go," she said, already making her way to where the other cheerleaders had gone. "Wait right here!"

She did. Once Annie was off the court, the boys came running out with the coach coming from another door. He was shouting some stuff at them, mostly getting them to start running and about the huge game that night.

As the boys ran around the gym, Max noticed a few lingering gazes on her. They weren't just plain curiosity, either.

A couple whistles caught her attention and Max lifted her head. She looked at the running boys and followed their gaze to see Chrissy and Annie walking out.

Annie's cheeks were growing red while Chrissy laughed and pulled her into a side hug. Max stood and decided to meet them in the middle, and caught the last bit of something Chrissy was saying.

"They're dumb boys, just ignore them. I can get Jason to get them to leave you alone if you need me to?" she offered. She really was the sweetest.

But Annie shook her head. "No, it's fine, just... weird," she admitted. Then she looked and saw Max approaching. "Oh, hey! I don't know if you two have officially met. Chrissy, this is my g-" Annie stopped herself and cleared her throat. "My best friend, Max. Max, this is Chrissy, cheer captain."

Chrissy waved. "Hey, I think I've seen you at some of the practices this year?" she asked, looking between the girls.

Max recovered a bit quicker than Annie did, considering she was still flustered from all the eyes on her in a very different light than what she was used to. "Yeah, we ride together before and after school. It's just... carpooling," Max explained.

The older girl nodded, the sweet and genuine smile still on her face. "Well, I better go. You should, too. Tomorrow is going to be early and jittery, so it's best to get a lot of sleep," she told Annie.

At this point, the brunette was regaining some of her natural color. "Thanks, Chrissy. I'll see you tomorrow morning," she said. The girls all waved to each other and then Annie was off with Max.

"She's really nice, are you sure being a freshman cheerleader is that bad?" Max asked once they were out of the gym.

Annie sighed. "She is the nicest of them all, there's no contest there. The others just aren't even close to being as nice. They're more typical mean girl types." Max nodded along, taking everything in. "But it's good to be in a sort of friendship with the captain. Stops them from being downright bitchy."

"I bet," Max said, scoffing lightly. "Anyway, let's drop that letter off and get back to mine for homework."

Annie nodded and smiled. "Sounds perfect. Well, anything with you sounds perfect."

A/n: welcome to season four! Y'all are not ready for it