25. Photoshoots (Jonathan and Max)

A/N: Hi, again! This is for LittleWolf who wanted some Max and Jonathan bonding. I actually really liked this, so I hope you guys do, too.

PROMPT: Jonathan bonds with Max.

Jonathan wasn't a babysitter.

He once told Nancy that he didn't like most people, and that still was true.

But, Will's friends were something else. He liked the little kiddos (teens, really). They were always fun to be around, and they carried that childish-like aura with them, as if nothing dark had tainted their souls yet. He was glad everything about the Upside Down and the Mind Flyer was brushed aside by them.

Again, he really liked the kids.

But he wasn't a babysitter. That was Steve's job.

So, why the hell was he pouring chips in a bowl for the 6 kids in his living room?

Somehow, he had gotten roped in on staying home with them, supervising the movie night and making sure they were safe (and not breaking anything, again).

And, as randomly as it was, he found himself having fun.

Dustin and Will were bickering over the movie, still not deciding which one they would play; Mike and Lucas were sprawled on the couch, trying to fix the antenna in Will's Supercom (which had gotten bent when Lucas had thrown both Mike and Dustin on Will's bed); El was happily coloring on the table, using Will's crayons and his old coloring book; and Max was—

Well, where was Max?

Jonathan frowned, licking salt from his fingers and putting down the bag of chips, as he counted heads in search for copper curls.

"El?" He called his almost-sister, who acknowledged him with a slight jerk of her chin. "Where's Max?"

The brunette didn't stop her coloring, only letting go of a blue crayon to point in the direction of the bedrooms. "Rooms."

His frown deepened as he walked past Eleven, throwing a look in the direction of the boys who were still in the same positions. He wasn't going to lie and say he wasn't a bit worried. He didn't really know Max. He didn't want to think ill of her, but being 18 years on this earth made him be aware of people and what they could do when left alone.

He calmed himself down with the thought of Max being Will's friend. If there was a person whose judgment he trusted blindly, it was Will's. And he knew his brother wouldn't befriend a bad person.

When he spied inside of Will's room, the only thing that greeted him was silence, and the rumpled sheets on his brother's unmade bed.

He eyed the bathroom next, finding nothing but toilet paper and an open shower curtain.

He didn't have to search his mom's room, because when he peeked inside his own bedroom, surprisingly, he found the redhead he was looking for.

Max was sitting on his bed, calmly looking through the freshly revealed photos he took of Nancy early in the week. He watched Max's pale eyelashes flutter against her cheeks as she blinked, not noticing him at first.

"Max." He knocked on the door to gain her attention.

"Oh my god!" She gasped, nearly jumping out of her skin as the photo she was holding flew in the air from her shock. "Jonathan!" She took a hand to her chest with a frown. "You scared me!"

"I could tell," he chuckled as she caught the photo. "What are you doing?"

"Sorry," she flushed then, realizing she was in his room without his permission and that she had taken the liberty of going through his things. "I didn't mean to snoop around."

"It's fine, I just got worried a little," he admitted as he walked into the room. "The boys are all out there and then you disappeared on us."

"They're just fighting like always," she rolled her blue eyes as he took a seat on the bed, too. "It gets kind of tiring after a while."

"Yeah, tell me about it." Jonathan laughed as he took one of the photos between them. It was one of Nancy smiling softly at him while she was driving. The sunlight hit the left side of her face, highlighting her cheekbones and hair, giving her a soft look while her eyes showed amusement.

"These are really good." Max commented as she grabbed another photo.

"Thanks. It's easy when you have such a good model." He smiled as he looked down at his girlfriend.

"You took them with this?" Max asked as she eyed his camera on his bedside table. He almost had a heart attack when she took his Pentax in a hand and pulled it towards her.

"Yup." He answered once his technological baby was safely in her grasp.

She inspected his camera for a few minutes, turning it over in her hands, and then she handed it to him with a shrug.

"I don't know how you work it, but I definitely like the results." She pointed down at the spread photos.

"Want to see more?" He asked with a small smile as he set the Pentax down in the middle of the bed and stood up when she made an inquiring noise.

He walked to his closet, crouching down to take out a medium sized shoe box, and then walked back to hand it to her.

"What's this?" She asked him curiously, popping the orange lid off.

He didn't have to answer her, as her eyes went round with wonder at the stacks of photos he had in there. Her pale hands reached in to take a couple, flicking through them with different looks. For Will's birthday photos, her eyes would crinkle as she smiled softly; for the water fight the boys had in the backyard, her cheeks would lift up as she laughed, eyes scanning all of the corners she could find; for the Snowball, her eyebrows dropped a little and her blue eyes shined as the right corner of her mouth twitched up while she touched Lucas' face with a gentle finger.

Those shiny eyes made him reach for his camera, and she only registered that when the loud click of the photo echoed around them. Her head snapped up as the photo was taken, and her eyes widened beautifully just in time for a second click of the Pentax.

"What are you doing?" She questioned with slight alarm in her face.

"Keep looking."

"No, what the hell?" She frowned, her shoulders slumping down as she lowered the stack of photos to her thighs. He only smiled encouragingly as he clicked away.

"C'mon, give me a pose." He said teasingly as her mouth began to twitch up with amusement.

"No!" She was grinning now.

"Oh, she smiles!"

"Jonathan!" She was laughing now. "Stop!" She reached out to block the lens but he leaned back just in time to capture her laughing face in the new angle.

"Wow, beautiful." He clicked away.

"If I had known this would end in a photoshoot, at least I would have worn something nicer."

"You would've?" He lowered the Pentax with a raised eyebrow.

"Not really." She shook her head with a laugh, making her red locks flop around and he quickly captured the movement with the Pentax.

"Why wasn't I invited to this photoshoot?!" El suddenly appeared in the doorway, hands on hips and a pout on her lips.

"It was improvised, El." He smiled at his sister.

"And not wanted." Max raised her eyebrows pointedly, putting the photos back inside the box.

"I was just outside, you could've yelled for me," El said as she walked in to take a peek inside the orange shoe box. "Besides, Max and I look good together." She smiled as she put her head next to the redhead and he lifted the Pentax with a laugh, taking a quick photo as Max rolled her eyes.

"Photoshoot is over, weirdo." The redhead smiled, putting the lid back on the box and pushing it over to Jonathan.

"The boys put on 'The meaning of Life'." El informed them as Jonathan stood up and placed the box inside his closet again.

"Ugh, no!" Max groaned, standing up and taking El's hand in hers to drag the brunette away. "I wanted to watch Jaws 3!"

"And I wanted Muppets take Manhattan." El whined as both girls walked out of his room.

Jonathan laughed as Max's disgusted sound echoed through the hallway. He took Nancy's photos and grouped them into a neat stack, placing them on his bedside table next to his Pentax.

He walked out to finish with the snacks with a mental note of taking the camera with him when he went out tomorrow.

A week later, next time he sees Max, they're all walking inside his house again, just before he went out the door.

"Max," he called her while the others rushed past him and ran inside Will's bedroom. "Hold up."

"What's up?" She questioned with a slight frown.

He opened the flap of his bag, took out a crinkled paper bag and handed it to her.

"It wasn't so bad, was it?" He smiled as she opened the bag and took out its contents. Her blue eyes widened behind the photograph paper, and her eyebrows flew up on her forehead as her lips parted in awe.

"Wow," she breathed in wonder as she looked at the photos. "These are amazing!"

"It's easy when you have such a good model." He smiled, and he was rewarded with her blue eyes twinkling in surprise. Her lips stretched into a soft smile and she ducked her head to hide her blush.

She surprised him when she stepped up and actually hugged him.

"Thanks, Jonathan." She mumbled against his jacket.

"You're welcome, Max." He smiled, squeezing her back as he placed his chin on top of her head.

Will really did know how to pick his friends.