Chapter 35: 35. Cupcakes and Bad Fights (Lumax)
A/N: Ahhh... you're going to hate me for this one, hehe. This is for Abi117 who wanted Lumax fighting real bad. I strongly suggest reading my Opposite Date story after you read this one, because that's alot fluffier and it's the actual sequel of this. My OC Kenia Grady is also mentioned in the Drunk El chapter (Ch 27). Any confusions, let me know and I'll clear it up. I had a lot of struggles when writing this, so I'm sorry if it's a bit forced. Happy belated Valentines Day *evil snicker*.
PROMPT: Lumax's big fight over break up.
Here's the thing…
Max and Lucas didn't fight.
Sure, they bickered and verbal spared continuously, but that was all for fun. They couldn't help but talk back whenever an interesting topic was brought up. It was all part of their relationship.
But something about this felt different. It felt heavier and more dangerous.
Kenia Grady's little smiling notes on Lucas' locker had annoyed Max to no end at the beginning of the week. She couldn't think about what other way could she make Kenia understand that Lucas had a girlfriend, and that said girlfriend didn't like the girl's over-friendly gestures for him.
Because they hadn't ever been the type to not voice their thoughts, she had told Lucas how annoying the girl was. From the cupcakes she gave him, to the notes she wrote on the back of his notebook in the class they were together in and Max wasn't. But she had chosen a bad moment to rant to Lucas, because unbeknownst to her, Mr. Saltsman had given him a C on his essay, the one she had watched him read countless of books for research for the past weeks and the one that made him oversleep on Saturday morning, leaving her stood up in Benny's old diner for breakfast.
He had snapped, telling her to quit her jealousy and angrily ripping the 'have a great day. K xoxo' pastel colored notes from his locker, shoving them into her palms and stomping away from her without a glance back.
Of course she had been furious. How dare he embarrass her in front of the nosy little assholes that had watched them in the hallway? He had made her look like a green giant jealous ball, like the cliché girlfriend who demanded him to stop having girl friends, which she wasn't. Of course Lucas could have girl friends; she wasn't a control freak. The thing with Kenia was that she didn't stop. The girl was persistent, Max would give her that. But she could only take so much before she snapped, and that wasn't going to end pretty.
So after the locker thing, they naturally ignored each other for the rest of the week. The Party had been divided. She felt kind of bad, because that had made El and Mike divide too. The brunette obviously followed the redhead to lunch, and Mike, in a comradery attempt, had followed Lucas to the table he had very obviously chosen to sit, on the other side of the cafeteria and in sight range so they could look up and glare moodily at each other. The only two who split evenly between the two groups were Will and Dustin, who took turns throughout the week to sit with the girls and with the other two boys.
But on Thursday, when the bell rang and she got out of a very difficult class of math in which Mike had attempted to tutor her with no success, she watched through narrowed eyes as Kenia, all lilac dress fluttering around her knees and white sneakers circling the floor, laughed prettily up at Lucas, who was smiling nicely down at the girl as he took books for his next period out of his locker.
The sudden anger that had shot through her veins would later awe her, but at that moment the only thing she could do was walk towards the pair with quick stomps, nearly shoving a boy out of her way when he had walked out of the bathroom.
"Excuse me," she interrupted whatever the hell Kenia was in the middle of saying. "We need to talk." She said with finality at her estranged boyfriend, and without waiting for his response, she walked out of the school doors, her long hair blowing around her face as the air hit her face.
Lucas could only stare, watching her purple backpack (full of badges and band pins he had helped collect) smack against her back as she walked away fiercely.
"I'll see you later, okay?" Kenia said uncomfortably.
"Yeah," he sighed, slamming his locker door closed. "Sure." I might be single by then, he thought sardonically.
Max was pacing on the pavement by the bike racks, her lips tight and her eyebrows drawn together in a frown, which he knew meant she was angry.
"What is it?" He asked stonily, his eyes on the cars that littered the parking lot to avoid looking into her glaring blue eyes.
"What the hell is your problem?"
"Me?!" He questioned loudly, anger coming back to him. "What is wrong with me?!"
"Yeah, did I fucking stutter?" She snapped, crossing her arms tightly across her stomach and planting her feet on the ground. "You've been ignoring me all week because I told you I didn't like your little friend's notes—which, what, are they sacred to you?- and then I walk out of fucking Smith's class to see her—"
"Oh, not this again." Lucas groaned, throwing his head back and lifting his arms in the air.
"Yes, this again!" She snapped loudly, her patience running thin as she saw how annoyed he suddenly got with her. "Because even if you don't like to talk about my feelings on this or you just don't care anymore—"
"When have I ever not cared about your feelings?!" His nostrils flared, and his eyes pinned her with anger as he glared at her.
"This whole week!" She nearly screamed, lifting her arms in the air and lowering them down to slap her hands against her thighs in frustration. "This whole… fight we've been having is because I told you what I thought and you didn't like it, so you chose to snap at me and then ignore me for the rest of the week!"
"Well, if you had bothered to put your fucking ego aside and tried talking to me—which, it's your fault too, because you have been ignoring me too—you would've found out that I got a C on my Holocaust essay, and that all those fucking nights of going to bed at 1 in the morning were for nothing, because even if I tried to talk to the asshole, Saltsman refused to reread it and I'm going to be stuck with a C, and I can already hear my mother chewing my ass for it—"
"That's not my fault! You didn't have to take it out on me by shoving those notes on my hand! I got a paper cut and you—"
"Oh, grow up, Max!" Lucas groaned with an incredulous face, anger on his face; anger at her.
"You grow up!" She shrieked back, knowing it was the most immature thing to say now, but she couldn't help herself. She felt the grip she had on control slipping away to reveal the unmasked anger and hurt she felt at him.
"Yeah, real mature thing to say. Come back to me when you learn a little and—"
"Don't you dare walk away from me again!" Her throat scratched raw when he started to turn towards the school entrance, and she walked over to roughly grab his elbow and make him stare at her again.
He slipped out of her hold easily, his stature giving him the upper hand in the stare down that had involuntarily begun. But she was done.
"I'm done," she said heavily, her palms spread open. "Being patronized by you because of every little thing you don't like about me."
"It's not that, Max," He answered with frustrated eyes, his eyebrows high with near desperation. "How many times do I have to tell you that I'm not interested in her or that I don't see her in that way because—"
"And that's the thing!" She laughed humorlessly, taking a deep breath because she felt it coming. Whatever it was, it felt like it was coming to an end. "You don't see. You've told me- I know you've told me, I'm not deaf, contrary to what you think, I do listen; but you don't see her, and the way she looks at you, the way everyone else can see it but you."
Lucas shook his head in exasperation, his hands running through his short dark hair and a tired look on his face. "I don't know what you want me to tell you, Max. I don't know what you want me to do! Do you want me to slap the cupcakes out of her hands whenever she brings them to me? Do you want me to rip her notes and hand them to her so she can take your point?"
"What I want is for you to put yourself in my shoes! A little trust and understanding would do this relationship real good right now!"
"Trust?" He nodded, his lips a tight line as he put his hands on his hips. "Okay, want to tell me why didn't you say anything about Billy being back in town?"
She didn't see that one coming.
"What does that have to do with this?" She spluttered with a frown.
"I want to know why you didn't trust me enough to ignore whatever the hell is going on between us and tell me he was back!"
"That's none of your business!" She snapped, eyes tight and mouth pursed. "I figured you were too high on your horse to listen, so I—"
"I know you're not suggesting I wouldn't have listened if you came to me." He said tersely, the vein in his neck staring to protrude out.
"I don't know who told you it was your duty to protect me, but newsflash, Lucas, you're not a fucking superhero and I can take care of myself!"
"So all those times you came over because—"
"Don't." She hissed.
"—he was on another rampage were you taking care of yourself?" Lucas continued, ignoring her threatening finger. He was heading down an ally with no way out, but at this point, who fucking cared? "Why do you keep doing this? You're not alone, Max! You don't have to pretend to be tough, and I don't know when you started, but I'm not liking it!"
"Well, maybe you shouldn't like me then!" She yelled. "Maybe you should just go back inside to perfect little Kenia, with your perfect family and no worries in your life—"
"It's not my fault you have a shitty family!" He screamed finally, his hands in the air and a wild look of raw desperation on his face, and it was until the words left his mouth, she made the decision. Why keep tiring each other out? Why continue to drag this on when it was clear they didn't have anything to drag anymore?
She sighed with heaviness, her chest hard and her throat constricting, and she lowered her eyes to her shoes as she berated herself mentally as her eyes began to sting.
"I shouldn't ha—"
"You know what?" She licked her lips. Her ears suddenly cleared up to listen to the clean air around them, freshening up her head as she saw their situation with sudden clarity.
"Tell me what." Lucas said, nodding his head as he took in her straightened back and high chin.
Her mind was made up.
"Maybe we shouldn't date anymore."
His throat bobbed, his eyes widening momentarily, before a cold mask slipped on his face, hiding his feelings behind squared shoulders and sharpened jaw.
"Yeah," He nodded, and even though she was sure of it, she couldn't help the way her heart dropped. "I agree."
"You're agreeing with me?" Max smiled sarcastically. "Miracle of the year."
"So we're on the same page, then?" He asked wearily, his hands tightening into fists inside his pockets. "We're breaking up?"
"Yeah," she nodded stonily, looking over her shoulder in an attempt to gather herself. "We're breaking up."
"Great."
"Awesome."
They stared at each other for a few terse seconds, blue against dark brown, and she cursed herself when her heart sped up at the sight of his watering eyes.
"Alright," he threw his shoulders back. "You can do the honors of delivering the news to the others. Fight's over." And then he turned around, walking away from her with quick, sturdy steps.
"Say hi to Kenia for me!" She screamed at his back, hating the way her voice was beginning to shake. "Enjoy her cupcakes!" His response was a salute with two fingers over his shoulders.
She stood there for a few minutes, contemplating what just had happened, before she gave in and burst into tears. Silent cries fell from her throat as she hid her face in both hands, and she felt pathetic, crying over a mutual break up in the middle of the school's entrance.
"Christ, Max," she gasped at herself, wiping her tears hastily and then drying her moist palms against her jeans. "This is what you wanted."
She took a few minutes to even her breath and to make her face appear less puffy, before she walked back into school. It was well into fifth period by that time, so the halls were deserted as she walked to her locker. Getting her skateboard out, she paused at the little photo of them glued to the inside door. She had complained about being cheesy, but she secretly loved staring at it every time she opened her locker. With a furrow of her eyebrows and a pang in her chest, she tugged it down, shoving it inside her backpack and making a mental note to clean her locker for any Lucas remains inside.
There was no way in hell she was staying there now, so she skated home with tears on her cheeks and trembling lips, not caring if Billy would be home if it meant she could lock herself in her room and cry in peace.
That afternoon she collected everything Lucas had given her, shoving gifts and stupid teddy bears she supposedly hated but held in her sleep inside a duffel bag he had stashed away in her closet. Hoodies, t-shirts, that one bandana and one tear-stained letter joined the pile, and she cried the whole time.
It seemed fighting wasn't really their thing, after all, but after this, there wouldn't be more to tell.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone