Chapter Text
Max settles down into a floral patterned La-Z-Boy recliner chair; ‘very 90’s’ she thinks to herself. The chair is soft and plush, and rocks back slightly underneath her weight. It sinks and conforms around her body, even the armrests providing a plushy resistance that adds to the snug experience. It’s comfortable, a stark contrast from how she was currently feeling at the moment.
She looks around the room she’s sitting in. It's a small room, not much bigger than a maintenance closet and the walls are painted a soothing Lilac with framed news clippings of previous journalism awards received by past students of UC San Diego. This wasn’t surprising to Max since she was currently at the Communications Building of the university in the journalism wing. What she did find surprising was the amount of awards hanging from the walls. She’d come to UCSD primarily to be close to her dad, but also because of its stellar engineering program, specifically civil engineering. When she’d done her research into the school while applying for colleges, its communications programs hadn’t seemed to be anything special.
But here she was, sitting in a small brightly lit room, staring at an armchair and what seemed like a movie grade camera pointed at her. She swallowed hard and cursed her boyfriend silently for talking her into helping out one of his friends with their final senior project. As a senior herself however, the thought of graduating in a few weeks did put a smile on her face. She was excited to move back in with her dad and get away from messy roommates (being messier than Max Mayfield should honestly be a crime) and she was excited to finally, for the first time in nearly a decade, spend time with her boyfriend where the conversation didn’t inevitably veer toward the topic of homework.
The door opened and two young adults around Max’s age walked in, a petite black girl with glasses that adorned what Max swore were gold colored eyes and a large portly white boy who was already balding at the crown of his head in his young age.
“Hey Max! Sorry for the wait, Toby was running late, as usual.” The girl said with a quick glare toward the boy who smiled sheepishly as he stepped behind the camera.
“Hi, you must be Sylvie. My boyfriend has told me a lot about you.” Max said casually, shaking Sylvie’s outstretched hand before she took a seat at the armchair in front of her.
“Hopefully only good things.” Sylvie responded with a laugh, as if she was the first to ever make that statement. Toby laughed along with her, which caused Max to cringe a little and laugh politely with them.
“Anywho, I do appreciate you agreeing to do this interview for my final. We’re supposed to interview different students on campus on different topics like family, future goals, past hardships, et cetera, et cetera.” Sylvie started.
“You, Max, are going to be the student we interview on the topic of love. Well… you and Lucas, of course.”
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“So Toby is going to count down from 3 and then say action. When he does, you’ll say your name, year, age, and what your major is. Then we’ll start the interview. If, at any point you need a break, or have any questions, just raise your hand and we’ll stop the recording. Sounds good?” Sylvie said with a smile full of braces. Max nodded, smiling back nervously.
“Alright, 3… 2… 1… Action.” Toby said with a squeaky voice that didn’t match his large body whatsoever.
“Hi, my name is Max Mayfield, I’m a senior, I’m 22, and I’ll be graduating soon with a bachelors in Civil Engineering.” Max said, a bit robotically, still trying to find her nerves.
“Hello Max, thank you for joining us this evening. We’ll be asking you a series of questions, and we’d like you to just answer as openly and honestly as you can. Today we’ll be focusing on the topic of love. Tell me Max, are you in a relationship, single, or something more complicated?” Syvlie asked, her voice transforming from the soft sweet tone she had before the camera was rolling to something more professional and fake. Max remembered Lucas explaining to her once that this was called ‘code switching’.
“I’m in a relationship.” She answered
“And how long have you been in this relationship?”
Max crinkled her nose slightly as she pondered the question. In truth, Lucas had never officially ever asked her out. They both just kind of decided the Snowball was when they became a thing. Then, they kind of just… stopped dating on Thanksgiving the next year after Max’s depression took over her life. Two years and one coma later, they sort of just got back together; still with no official discussion. To this day however, Max still contends that the Snowball was when it all began, and Lucas must’ve agreed since they celebrate their anniversary on that date.
Max smiles to herself at the ridiculousness of their relationship timeline before answering.
“A little over 8 years.” she replies confidently.
“Wow, that's a long time.” Sylvie says with raised eyebrows.
“What’s the secret to such a long lasting relationship?”
Again, Max has to think about her response. She had to give it to Sylvie, she was asking more in depth questions than she believed she would before the interview started.
“Have you seen my boyfriend? It’s easy to stay in a relationship when the other person looks that good.” Max says with a laugh.
“But to answer seriously: loyalty, devotion, honesty, and trust among many others. You have to be that person’s safe place.” Max answered after a moment.
“Could you elaborate on that last part? It’s not often you hear that as a major reason for a relationship lasting.”
“Really? I don’t know… My boyfriend and I have been through a lot together. I’d argue more than most. He’s 100% my safe space. I’m at my calmest when I’m with him, and I’m most myself when it’s just the two of us. I don’t have to have any guards up and I’m never afraid, because I know he’ll never hurt me. I can’t speak for him, but I’d like to believe he feels the same way about me.” Max said with a small shrug.
“Was that something you felt immediately or did you build it over time? Was there anything in particular that cemented him as your ‘safe place’?”
“Defintely not immediately, I thought he was a total stalker the first time I met him.” Max said with a light laugh, remembering how Lucas and the rest of her friends used to follow her around when she first moved to Hawkins.
“But it happened pretty quick, I can’t lie. He opened himself up to me first, trusted me with secrets he shouldn't have. He was so kind… He broke through my defenses without even trying. Eventually, a few days into knowing him, I found myself sobbing and pouring my heart out to him, and… he didn’t judge me. Didn’t show me any pity or sympathy. He just told me how amazing he thought I was and made me feel like I could stand above all the bullshit that was going on in my life. There I was, completely vulnerable and he didn’t try and take advantage of me or get his way. Instead, he uplifted me. I’d never felt so comfortable with someone in my whole life. I guess that was when I felt like he was my safe space.” Max answered, remembering her time with Lucas on top of the bus fondly.
“So your boyfriend being your safe space… it was to be safe from other parts of your life? Can you elaborate on what you needed to be safe from?” Sylvie asked, her eyes trained on Max.
Max frowned and raised her hand, catching Toby off guard as he fumbled to stop the recording. After an awkward moment he nodded toward Sylvie.
“Yes Max?”
“I thought I was here to talk about love. What do my personal hardships have to do with that?” She asked, her jaw tight with her teeth clenched.
“Well, love isn’t just the relationship between two individuals. Your environment, your upbringing, all external aspects of your life shape who you choose as a partner. You spoke about Lucas being your safe place. I’m assuming you needed to be safe from something. I’m just curious what that something was.. Or still is.” Sylvie said, her soft tone returning.
Max ground her teeth slightly, remembering her past trauma with her step family as well as with Vecna’s curse. But her mind immediately snapped to images of Lucas being there for her throughout it all, never leaving her side and she relaxes slightly. She looks up at Sylvie and realizes she’s right. Her eyes soften and she leans back into the recliner.
“Sorry… It’s a sensitive topic. I’m ready to continue.” Max said apologetically. Sylvie smiles knowingly and nods.
“Lucas said you might give some pushback during the interview, and to not take it personally.”
Max smirks slightly, she was going to get him back for that later.
“Alright Toby, count me in. I’ll restate the question and then we go from there.” Syvlie said looking back at her camera man who nodded in response.
“3…2…1… Action.”
“Your boyfriend being your safe space… was it to be safe from other parts of your life? Can you elaborate on what you needed to be safe from?”
“Yea… early on in our relationship, my boyfriend was honestly the only good thing I had going for me. My step father and step brother were both the absolute worst. I’m talking about real domestic type stuff… yelling, fighting, the whole nine yards. So… I would spend as much time as I could away from home.” Max started with a sad smile.
“When it got dark out, and I couldn’t be in the streets hanging out with friends, I’d be at my boyfriend's house, eating dinner with his family and hanging out until his dad would have to drop me home. Most nights, my boyfriend would sneak out of his house, and ride his bike all the way over to my place and bring me back to his, just so I could be away from all the yelling.” Max continued with a laugh.
“Now that I think about it, it must've been such a hassle for him… but he never complained. He’d wait for me under my window with the biggest grin and say something corny like ‘It’s been forever since I last saw you!’. I’d eat it up every time. How could I not? He looked at me like I was priceless, and in a home where the men in it looked at me like I was gum on their shoe… It was intoxicating.”
“So your boyfriend knew what was going on in your home? How young were you?”
“God, we were so young… 8th graders. And yes, he knew everything. I was open and honest about everything going on in my life. He… he was unfortunately a victim to my home life as well..” Max responded in a hushed tone.
“What do you mean by that…?” Sylvie asked, a single eyebrow raised as she leaned forward, curious.
“My step brother and my step dad were racists.” Max said plainly, not mincing words.
“When we were first together, my boyfriend was a secret I hid away from my family. He never stepped into my home, never met my step dad, and one of the few times he interacted with my step brother, he was hate-crimed. A middle school boy, physically assaulted by an 18 year old. God I spent months apologizing to him about it. I felt so horrible I was physically sick for weeks. I was wracked with such guilt because I knew if he’d never met me, he wouldn't have had to deal with that shit…” Max wiped away a tear forming in her eye as she spoke.
“You and your boyfriend met in rural Indiana, correct?” Sylvie asked. Max nodded in response. Sylvie sat back in her chair and took a deep breath and sighed.
“I can’t imagine being in an interracial relationship in the midwest during the 80s was easy. Especially as children.”
“It still isn’t easy. But… it never defined us. My boyfriend never made it a topic when we were children. We were just… us. It wasn’t until we were finishing high school and I was living with him that his parents sat us down and spoke with us candidly about stepping out into the world as an interracial couple. It was a hard conversation, but it was necessary. We still have those conversations to this day. That bullshit that happened with Rodney King a lil while ago in LA? I’m a white woman dating a black man, those conversations are always necessary.” Max responded. Sylvie nodded in response, particularly sensitive to the mention of Rodney King.
“You mentioned that you were living with your boyfriend toward the end of high school? Why was that?”
Max faltered slightly, remembering Vecna’s curse. The curse that broke her limbs, made her partially blind, put her in a coma for two years and worst of all, stole her mom from her. She looked up at Sylvie, knowing she couldn’t tell her the whole truth, especially not the part where she was stuck in a demon alien’s mindscape for two years.
“There was a horrible earthquake in Hawkins, tore the whole town apart. I was unfortunately hurt really badly.” Max said, rolling up the sleeves of her shirt to show the scarring of where her limbs were broken and the subsequent surgical marks. Sylvie and Tony both gasped at the grisly sight.
“Both my arms and legs were broken, and I fell into a coma for two years. When I woke up, I realized my mom had died in that same earthquake. My boyfriend's family took me in. Made me one of their own. So for the last year and a half of high school I was living at my boyfriend's house.”
“Wow, I’m so sorry to hear that Max. But wow, giving you a place to stay after all that trauma. It’s no surprise you love your boyfriend.” Sylvie said, awe layered into her tone.
“Oh that’s the least of what he did for me.” Max said with a knowing smile.
“What do you mean?” Sylvie asked, confused.
“During my coma, he sat by my side, Every. Single. Day. He took care of my body and my medical care for two years while I was unresponsive. Then, when I woke up and couldn’t move a single muscle in my body, he continued to care for me like it was second nature. Fed me, bathed me, clothed me, carried me, anything you can imagine I needed doing, he did. Because of him I went from being quadriplegic to walking and skateboarding again. Shit, throughout my coma and at a certain point in my recovery process when I was incontinent, he would even change my diapers when I soiled myself.” Max said, amused at the shock on her interviewer's faces.
“Before we’d ever been intimate with one another he’d seen me at my most vulnerable, and didn’t even bat an eye.” Max concluded.
“Wow…” Sylvie responded, still shocked at the information.
“I know. Every day I recognize I don’t deserve that man. I’m a lucky girl.” Max said with a chuckle.
“Earlier you’d mentioned devotion as a key factor in your relationship lasting so long. I’d interpreted it as being faithful to one another but you meant…”
“True devotion. Steadfast, powerful dedication to the other person.” Max finished where Sylvie trailed off. She glanced down at her exposed arms, staring at the scarring on them before looking back up at Sylvie and holding her gaze.
“I’m a ticking time bomb. Because of my ‘accident’ I’ll be dealing with major repercussions as I get older. In a couple years my eyes will start to deteriorate to the point I’ll have to wear corrective glasses. My doctors say I’ll lose my eyesight completely in my 50’s. Soon after? These bones that were snapped in the earthquake will start to crumble. The wheelchair I fought so hard to get out of, I’ll be sitting right back in it around my 60’s. And the worst part? My cognition will degenerate much earlier than the average person because of my time in the coma. Have you heard of dementia? It robs you of your memories. I’ll forget about Lucas when we’re barely getting past our middle ages. He’ll still be young and strong.” Max said sadly.
“If I'm honest, I’m only doing so well now because of youth and good ol 'Mayfield stubbornness.” She said with a laugh as she flexed her arms.
Max relaxed into the chair, smiling peacefully as she continued speaking.
“But I’m not afraid. I don’t have a single fear or anxiety about it. Because I know Lucas is going to be by my side, and he’s going to love me even more than he does now. Do you know how freeing it is to know deep within your bones that you have a person out there in the world that devoted to you? It’s a luxury of love that most people never get to experience, especially not to the degree that I have. I received that kind of selfless, intense affection when I was just a teenager, and I’ll receive it for the rest of my life. Like I said before, I’m lucky.” Max spoke with a blissful grin.
Sylvie couldn't help but smile back, truly moved by her conversation with Max. Even Toby was grinning at the history of Max’s love.
“Max, I want to thank you for being so open with us today. Before I let you go. I just have a few last questions to ask you.” Sylvie said and Max nodded.
“When did you first start to love your boyfriend?”
Max thinks back to when she first arrived at Hawkins, her first day in Hawkins Middle, playing DigDug at the arcade, and she smiles when she realizes.
“When I started to love him? The same day we spoke for the first time, Halloween 1984. I didn’t know it at the time but yea, that’s when.”
“Do you believe you two are soulmates?”
Max took a deep breath in, taking a moment to really think about the question before answering.
“I have no doubt in my mind we are.” She said resolutely.
“Max… what is your boyfriend's name?”
“Lucas Sinclair.” Max responded, his name forcing a smile on her face she couldn't hide.
“And finally… Are you in love with Lucas?”
Max relaxed into her recliner and leaned her head back, her gaze rising up to the blank white ceiling. Her lips curved into a wistful smile as she closed her eyes.
“Hopelessly.”