37. Red Tainted Dates (Mileven and Lumax)

A/N: Hey, guys. First of all, sorry for not updating sooner, but IT WAS NOT MY FAULT! As some of you might now already, Fanfiction got fucked up. I tried updating all Friday, but it did not work.

Anyway, this is for Val, who wanted Mike and Lucas taking care of the girls when they had their periods. Also for becc-gallanter who wanted Mike taking care of El when she's sick or hurt (I know you want to see her real hurt, you meany, but hold on for it). I think someone requested a double date sometime in the beginning of this story, so you got it kid! I love you all and I hope you enjoy this. Xoxo!

Also, HOLY SHIT GUYS THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR LOVING THIS SO BAD! My story got nominated for the Stranger Things Levoes awards for Best One-shot or One-shot series, and guess who won? (I'll give you a hint: she's writing this) MEE! My other story Opposite Date also won in the category of Best Max story so, thank you all so much for nominating me and for just loving my work.

PROMPT: Max and El coincide on their periods and Mike and Lucas take care of them/ Mike takes care of El when she's sick or hurt.

Ever since El saw Grease, she wanted to have a date with all of their friends.

Well, not really with all of their friends. She just wanted to be able to kiss Mike and still hang out with all of them like she had watched in the film. Because there were only two couples in The Party, she had settled for what Will had told her was called a double date. Going out with Mike, plus having Max and Lucas and watching them be all cute to each other (El was their biggest fan and adored seeing her friends be in love, even if it meant getting a shove from Max when she caught her looking when the redhead and Lucas kissed) sounded perfect to El.

But it hadn't happened, much to her chagrin, because Max had stated multiple times that double dates were cheesy and cliché and as much as I love you, I don't want to have you all in my business, more than you already are, El!

The issue had been addressed again the previous night when both girls were having a sleepover. ("Aren't we too grown to have a sleepover?" Max had asked. "You're saying no?" El asked smartly with a raised eyebrow. "I never said that." Max had replied quickly, unknowingly proving El's point.) And the redhead's answer had been the same.

But she couldn't do anything now, could she?

"What the hell are you doing here?"

Mike looked over his shoulder and raised his eyebrows in surprise when Lucas appeared behind him. "It's my girlfriend's house." He said in a 'duh' tone as Lucas finally caught up with him, standing in front of his friend as they stopped a few meters away from the first wire trap. "What are you doing here?"

"Max's here," his friend explained as they resumed their walking. "I brought her some things."

"Period blues?" Mike questioned as he inspected the numerous chocolate bars and colorful candy wrappers inside the transparent plastic bag in Lucas' hand. "El too." He chuckled as he raised his left hand and showed his friend a similar bag.

The brunette had answered to his usual morning call, but her voice gave away she wasn't feeling right. After being together for four years, and watching her grump away when she had her period through them, he knew what made her feel better, and because he suspected Hopper was at work, he decided to come for a visit and comfort her for the day.

Something similar had happened with Lucas; he'd woken up very early in the morning to hear the voice of his beloved through his Supercom, telling him to wake up in a very soft voice, and that had given it away for him. Max got very Lucas-seeking when she had her monthly, so he had gotten dressed, took the car and went to the nearest grocery store to buy some candy for the redhead, who claimed sugar soothed her cramps. He'd headed to El's cabin to seek her out, and to maybe lure her out to his house so he could pamper her there in case the Chief was home (Hopper didn't scare him anymore, but he had a tendency to rile the kids up for fun, so it wasn't the best idea to have Max there at the moment).

Knock. Knock.

Knock.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

Both boys waited patiently as they heard some shuffling inside, and then the locks clanked as the door creaked open.

"Eww." Mike said teasingly as he spotted Max on the couch. The redhead was wearing a big blue hoody with her copper hair in a messy bun, grey sweats and a very miserable face as she curled up in Hopper's favorite spot.

"Bite me, asshole!" She snapped viciously, glaring at him through narrowed eyes as she shifted on the couch, her electric blue painted toenails peeking under her thighs as she sat on her legs.

"Well, aren't you just a little ray of pitch black?" He said sarcastically as Lucas closed the door behind them. The redhead chose to ignore him in favor of extending her arms out to her boyfriend. Mike rolled his eyes in amusement as Lucas instantly fell into them, curling around the redhead like a python.

"Has anyone seen my girlfriend?" He asked loudly, placing the bag on the little table by the kitchen and looking around as Max and Lucas continued to whisper sweetly at each other. "Brunette, kind of a shorty, can throw you out of the window with her mind?"

"I'm not a shorty." Her voice was muffled by the sound of the flushing toilet, and a few moments later she appeared out of the hallway, her eyes hooded and her face pinched in a grimace while her hand massaged her lower stomach.

"Hey," He greeted softly, reaching out to gather her in his arms. "How're you feeling?"

"Like my uterus hates me." She mumbled against him. He laughed, rubbing circles on her back as she clutched the back of his shirt. "What's that?" She pointed behind him, to the table where the bag was.

"Oh, yeah, I brought you some stuff." He mumbled against her hair.

As she rummaged through the bag, sighing gratefully up at him when she took out the Tupper full of cookies his mom had baked last night, he lounged against the wall, taking in her outfit. She was wearing a pair of black leggings, loose enough to not suffocate her, but tight enough to keep the pad from shifting (he knew, okay?) and a large Hawkins Police t shirt that she had stolen from Hopper. He smiled at the fussy pair of socks she had on, and he swung his gaze back on her face after she wiggled her feet self-consciously.

"Stop staring at me," she whined as she bit into a half-eaten cookie. "I look disgusting."

"No, you don´t." He replied instantly, helping himself to a cookie.

"Yes, we do," Max said grumpily from the couch. "Why can't our bodies tell us we're not pregnant by sending us a nice fruit basket or something?"

"Because we all come to earth to suffer." Lucas said wisely as he stood up from the couch and went into the kitchen, Max following him to plop down on one of the chairs in the table with a groan. "Have you guys eaten anything?"

"Just these." El said quietly with a mouthful of cookie, gesturing to the container in her other hand.

"And you?" Lucas asked the redhead who was currently trying to melt her head into the table.

"Whadda ya think?" She mumbled.

He nodded to himself, sighing, and with a nod from El, he began to rummage through the cupboards, looking for any signs of eatable food in the Hopper home.

Mike watched as El ate cookie after cookie, sharing some with Max when the redhead sneaked her hand inside the container. When she paused to swallow, he saw her rub her lower stomach again with a tiny whimper. "Do you want to go lay down for a bit?" He asked her gently.

When she nodded, he took her hand and led her to her room, scooting back in her bed to make room for her once he was on it. She sighed blissfully when they were lying on top of her covers, and even though his touch usually comforted her, El got really heated on her period, so he settled for passing an arm behind her head instead of pulling her against him.

He placed his other hand on her stomach, under her shirt, and began to rub the skin in circles, applying pressure occasionally. Sighs of relief left her lips as she closed her eyes, clasping her hand with the one against her shoulder.

"I'm really happy you're here." She mumbled.

"Me too." He whispered back.

She opened her eyes and met his dark ones, her lips stretching in a slow smile. "Are you going to kiss me or what?"

He chuckled, matching her smile, before leaning down and pressing a soft kiss to her lips, humming in contentedness as they broke apart.

"You guys are sickeningly sweet." Max said as she appeared on the doorway, her shoulders slumping and her bun even messier than how Mike had seen it when he arrived.

"This is some private time, Mayfield." He deadpanned as she began to climb on the bed.

"Oh, my bad," she said without meaning it. "Scoot over for your zoomer, nerds." She managed to squeeze herself in next to El, her face on the brunette's neck and her breathing hitting Mike's hand as she settled down. His girlfriend huffed a little from the close contact, but kept mute in favor of reaching down and tangling her fingers with the redhead's, leaving Mike's hand to bury itself in her hair.

The room was quiet for a few minutes, the soft breathing of the three mingling with the light sizzling that came from the kitchen, before Lucas voice sliced the air. "Michael Edward Wheeler!" He screamed loudly, channeling Karen Wheeler with frightening accuracy. "Help!"

"Coming!" He yelled back, maneuvering himself over the two girls and jumping out of the bed to walk out into the kitchen.

He whistled. "Chef Lucas!" He patted one of his best friends on the back as his eyes wandered over the counter where Lucas had laid out the breakfast.

"All right," Lucas exclaimed as he turned the stove off, rubbing his palms together with a grin as he contemplated his work. "We've got: bacon, scrambled eggs and toasted bread for us, and some banana pancakes for the girls. I figured grease would mess their stomachs up a bit and they don't need that right now."

"Oh, sweet!" Mike cheered as he spotted the chocolate milkshake.

"No!" Lucas slapped his hands away before he could grab a glass. "That's for the girls. I mixed two nutty bars and a Hershey's with some milk to get that. Man," he shook his head as they started gathering the food in their arms, figuring El wouldn't mind to eat in her room. "Given how El inhales chocolate milk whenever she can get her hands on it, you'd think Hopper would have a few gallons around."

"He doesn't let her eat much sugar," Mike explained as they carried the girls' meal first. "We're spoiling her."

Lucas chuckled when Max opened her tired eyes and they lit up the moment she spotted food. "Is that a chocolate milkshake?"

El's head snapped up. "Gimme!" She made grabby hands, not bothering to sit up fully.

"Okay," Mike stopped, eyeing the bed and the two girls on it. "We need new sitting arrangements if we're all eating here."

"Who said you'd be eating with us?" Max mock-glared at him without moving an inch from her laying position.

"Play nice." El chastised her, moving around the bed on her knees with slight winces, settling herself with her back against the wall and her feet nearly dangling off the side of the bed.

"Here you go, babe." He waited until she plopped a throw pillow on her lap, before he placed the plate full of pancakes on top of it, setting her drink on the floor.

Max whined loudly as she sat up, a frown marking her face as her bent pelvis made pressure on her insides, making the cramps appear again. She shuffled to sit next to El, and then received the plate from Lucas' outstretched hands. "Thank you." She mumbled gratefully to him, and then proceeded to tear a chunk of the pancake with her bare hands.

"There's a fork right there, you know?" El told her as she swallowed her first bite.

"Shut up." The redhead bumped her shoulder.

The boys went out to get the two chairs from the tiny table, returning for their own food and settling down to eat in front of the girls, their feet nearly touching their plates.

"Am I eating toes for breakfast?" Lucas chuckled as Max gently bumped his hand with her toes again, which was holding his spoonful of eggs on the way to his mouth. The redhead giggled (quite adorably, if anyone asked Lucas' opinion), before resuming her eating.

"Wasn't Eggos," El said after they boys finished cleaning their plates, returning with some water bottles and more chocolate milkshakes for their girlfriends. "But those were pretty good. Thanks, Lucas." She was lying down again, next to Max who was sandwiched between her and Lucas, who was nearly crushed against the wall now that Max had curled herself around him. Mike, like the slave he was for her, was sitting on a chair next to her, holding her drink as she slurped from a straw, too tired to sit up and drink it from the glass like a normal person (He really did spoil her too much).

"Yeah, thanks, baby." Max said sluggishly while Lucas ran his fingers through her scalp, making sure to not pull on her bun, lulling her to sleep as the Advil both girls had taken after breakfast kicked in.

"You're welcome." He answered against her forehead, locking eyes with El and chuckling as he watched her drink from Mike's hand.

The brunette smacked her lips with a contented sigh, leaning back down on her pillow as Mike set the empty glass on her night stand. "Max?"

"Mmh?"

"Guess what?"

"What?" The redhead answered, sounding more asleep than alive.

"… We just had a double date."

Mike full out laughed, holding onto El's fingers as she giggled madly and Max groaned loudly through her haziness, reaching back to bump her butt against El's as Lucas chuckled deeply, still running his fingers through her scalp.

Milkshakes, food, cute boys and two friends? Yeah, that definitely counted as a double date in El's book.