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Dustin had asked him, the night when Will had been freed from the Mind Flayer and El had closed the gate. Lucas was standing to the left of the Byer’s couch, where El was curled up at Mike’s side, fast asleep, despite the occasional narrow glance from Hopper, and Dustin, sitting with his legs crossed in front of them, had looked at her, and then looked at Mike, and asked “Why didn’t you tell us?”
“Tell you what?”
“That you were still trying to contact her.” There’s a sadness sitting behind his eyes, one Mike’s never seen before, one that shouldn’t be present in someone their age. “That you thought she was still here. That you hadn’t given up on her. We wouldn’t have, either, if we’d thought-”
“I didn’t know that.” Mike interrupts, suddenly, unable to meet his eyes. “I didn’t know how you’d react, and I didn’t want you to think that I was crazy, or tell me I was wrong, okay? All I had was hope, and hope is a lot easier to believe in when you don’t have people applying logic to it.” He looks up, only to see Dustin’s eyes flick to El, who he was apparently loud enough to wake up. He’s about to apologise, but she just smiles softly at him, before extending her arm out to Lucas, and raising her eyebrows at Dustin. “Come here. Hug.”
If it was anyone else, they might disagree, but El isn’t exactly anyone else. Despite the fact that she’s a freaking hero who’s saved them countless times, and can move shit with her mind, she’s also a friend. A friend who they love fiercely, and who’s finally returned to them. Mike isn’t entirely sure how it happened, but suddenly Lucas is wrapped around El’s side, one arm behind her back so his hand rests on Mike’s shoulder, and the other reached out to touch Dustin, who’s half on Mike’s lap, arms extended around them all. Most boys wouldn’t think this is normal, Mike’s aware, but most boys haven’t consistently had their friends violently ripped out of their lives at random intervals. Most boys haven’t been made uncomfortably aware of how easily something can be taken from them, and how important it is to make sure that the people you care about know that you care about them. He doesn’t care what most boys think. He’s had his fill of emotional repression, thanks. He’ll take this over boring, macho bullshit any day of the week.
He hears a creak in the floorboards, and looks up to see Max watching them. He expects her to laugh, or mock them, or something, but she simply nods at him, with an expression on her face that might be longing. Mike would know. He’s seen it on his own face too many times to count. He nods back at her, starkly aware of the fact that had he not been such a dick to her, she might feel comfortable enough to be a part of this too. It’s okay. The monsters are gone, and the gate is closed. He has all the time in the world to apologise now. El’s stiffened beside him, just a little, but before he can ask what’s wrong Dustin’s leapt off the couch to loudly greet Steve, who’s finally returned from the kitchen where he had his head checked by Nancy, under Jonathan’s watchful eye. Mike can’t even begin to understand that dynamic.
Eleven nudges an elbow into his side. “Who is that?”
Mike forgot she didn’t know everyone. Steve knows who she is, mostly, thanks to the stories Dustin and Lucas told him on the drive back to the Byers’ place. Mike had only interjected once, not trusting himself to say more, and Steve had smiled sadly back at him in response. He’d been there when Mike and El had reunited, when they’d said goodbye on the porch. He knew enough about her, but El knew nothing about him.
“That’s Steve. He’s, uh-”
“The one with the baseball bat.” The guy must have super hearing, or something, because he’s standing in front of them in an instant. “You must be El. I heard you saved all our asses.”
“Yes.” El replies, blunt as ever. Mike lets out a surprised snort. He’s missed her so much he thinks his chest might collapse.
“Well, thanks.” Steve offers her a smile, and she gives one back cautiously. “These shitheads are actually pretty cool. It would have sucked to lose them immediately.”
El’s grin widens, and she looks straight at Lucas as she repeats: “Shitheads.” Steve’s facial expression instantly turns to one of mild panic.
“Oh my god, please don’t tell the Chief I said that in front of you. I’ve had enough guns pointed at me in my life, I don’t need any more.”
“Who’s been pointing guns at you?” Max asks, incredulous. “I mean, I know I shouldn’t be surprised by anything that happens in this weird ass town anymore, given what just happened today, but really? Come on.”
Mike knows this story; Nancy had recounted it to him about a week after it happened, when the situation was still raw enough they hadn’t had to repress the hell out of it yet. She didn’t cry, but her hands started shaking halfway through, and Mike had held them until both of them had finished telling their stories. He had cried when he told her about Eleven, about her sacrifice, and she just held him, let his tears soak the shoulder of her top through, even though it was one of her favourites. He has the sudden urge now to go to her, to hug her, to check she’s alright. She’ll probably yell at him for persuading everyone to risk death and set fire to the vines, but. It’d be worth it.
He did get up to go see her, and she did yell at him a bit, before wrapping him in the tightest hug possibly ever. They’d fallen asleep next to each other, later that night, at the world’s most dysfunctional sleepover ever: the boys hadn’t wanted to leave Eleven but neither had Hopper, Steve didn’t want to leave the kids, Nancy didn’t want to leave Steve or Mike, and nobody wanted to leave Will. Somehow, with the help of mattresses, blankets, pillows, and even the occasional towel, the living room floor was made comfortable enough for eleven people; Will had woken up and come through to sleep with the rest of them, and was now on the couch with Joyce behind him. Jonathan lay beside them on one of the two mattresses on the floor, Nancy beside him, Mike beside her, El beside him, and Hopper rounding off their line. Nancy had grabbed his hand, just as he was on the brink of sleep, and for a second he could almost forget everything that happened, and just focus on El’s head on his shoulder, of the warmth of his sister’s hand in his.
The same thing had happened, a month later, when she came back from Barb’s funeral. He had just walked out of his room to grab some water when he saw her in the hallway, leaning on her door, tearstained and numb, and something in his heart cracked open. He can never quite get over the intense guilt he feels, that he got both of his friends back from the Upside Down, and Nancy didn’t get her one. They slept in her bed that night, hands clasped together again, and Mike fails to understand why he was so determined to hate her for so long. Young him was an idiot, and yes, he knows he’s still young, but he also feels like he’s aged 10 years in only one, so. Go figure.
Months pass, and Eleven Days, as his friends have taken to calling them, have started to increase in regularity. Sometimes they all go to the cabin, but mostly it will just be one of them. Usually Mike, though he also visits on days that aren’t technically Eleven Days. Officially, Hopper doesn’t know, but Mike isn’t particularly confident in his stealth abilities. He’s glad Hop hasn’t called him out on it, because besides all his occasional glares, and his co-incidental interruptions of Mike and El’s time together, Mike knows he ultimately just wants Eleven to be happy. And, for some godforsaken reason, Mike is one of the things that makes her the most happy, so Hopper won’t begrudge his presence, for the most part. He does make them leave El’s bedroom door open when Mike’s there, which she doesn’t understand, and which Mike doesn’t have the strength to explain just yet.
They’ve reached a special Eleven Day because she’s allowed to come over to his house for a change. It’d been hard selling Hopper on the idea, but after repeatedly insisting that was fine, that it was safe, that his parents wouldn’t be home but Nancy would, he was finally worn down. The fact that the rest of Mike’s friends, including Max, were going to be there probably didn’t hurt either. Hopper’s dropping her at Will’s, and from there Jonathan is driving her and Will here, because Dustin pointed out that the chief of Hawkins Police dropping off some random child at the Wheeler’s is slightly more conspicuous than they would like. Eventually Eleven’s going to be introduced to the public, but they still need to iron out the details of her cover.
Lucas, Dustin and Max arrive before they do, and by the time Will and El appear they’re already bickering away about something most likely irrelevant and completely blown out of proportion. Nice to see no matter what shit they go through, some things will never change. Both of the Byers’ brothers give him a smile, before Will slips past him to go to the basement, and Jonathan heads upstairs to see Nancy, so it’s just Mike and El alone in the hallway. Before he can even open his mouth to properly say hello, she’s cupped a hand to his cheek and kissed him, once, a peck. Still enough to make his chest fill with something, making him feel like a balloon, like he’s buoyant. That something might be love, but he isn’t sure. He isn’t great at parsing through his feelings at the best of times, especially not now, when she’s laughing at him and grabbing his hand and tugging him downstairs, towards the rest of their friends.
Their faces light up when they see her, especially Max’s. Mike hadn’t known about their less than friendly first run-ins until El had confessed to him, shamefacedly, that she’d been at the school and pushed Max off her skateboard.
“I thought I was just angry,” she’d said, looking down at her hands. “But then I told Dustin and he said that I was a specific kind of angry. That I was jealous.”
“I knew that was you!” Mike had exclaimed, then: “Wait, jealous?”, then: “El, you know that, Me and Max, that’s not, like, a thing. At all. You managed to witness the one time I’ve ever displayed any sort of positive emotion towards her.”
“I know.” She’d smiled beatifically, and then said: “I talked to her. She said you were an asshole-”
“Hey!”
“And that Lucas was also an asshole, and a stalker, but she likes him.”
“Did you say that I’m not an asshole?”
Eleven cocked an eyebrow at him. Mike wants to know where, or who, she learned that from. “You weren’t very nice to her.”
“You literally pushed her off a skateboard with your mind because I smiled at her,” Which wow, that fact has only really just hit him, Jesus. She actually did that. For him. Because of him. Whatever. She moved as if to drop her head again, but he caught her face in his hands, kissed her. When she didn’t move away, he kissed her again, twice, three times. She gasped against his mouth, and something in his chest burned, right below his ribcage. He’d started leaning onto his back, not wanting to be covering her, wanting her to know that she was in control and they could stop at any moment, but he’s pretty certain Hopper has a video camera in that cabin, because there’s a sudden loud and deliberate knock at the door. Mike threw himself off of the couch in what is probably the most athletic feat of his life. Eleven fell face first into some pillows. Hopper gave them a suspicious glance on entering, while they’re sitting on the couch remaining a respectful distance apart and only holding hands, but that’s typical, so. Mike feels safe in the knowledge that his Chief of Police doesn’t in fact know that Mike’d just kind of made out with his daughter.
Anyway, Max and El had quickly become friends, and Mike had accepted that maybe she was good for the group; she made El smile and Lucas soft and she didn’t treat Will like he was made of glass. Plus, her brother is one of the worst people he’s ever had to interact with, and she gets intense respect both for knocking him out and simply interacting with him on a daily basis without committing murder. She bemoans El’s inability to be outside almost as much as Mike does, if only because she wants to teach her how to skateboard. “Properly.” She’d said, flicking an eyebrow up at El. “You’re not allowed to use any of your weird mind shit.” El pouted, and that confirmed in Mike’s mind that Max was infinitely stronger than he is. He would have given up instantly, but Max just shook her head.
Their plan for the day was to watch Star Wars, as El obviously hadn’t seen it, and Max had only seen the middle one, which according to Dustin was a “crime against humanity.” Dustin mouths along to the entire scene with Han, Luke and Chewie in the cantina, and Eleven instantly decides Leia is her favourite, which is fair. Leia is really kind of the coolest one in the trio, despite what Dustin might say about Han. They move on to Empire Strikes Back, and when Luke starts his training on Dagobah, Lucas can’t help but point out the similarities between he and El. El, however, is more focused on repeating all the names Han and Leia call each other. Nerf-herder. Laser brain. Sweetheart. Her head cocks in something like familiarity at scoundrel, and Mike finds out it’s pretty common in the fifty billion soap operas she watches. Finally they reach the scene with Vader and Han and Leia, and Leia says I love you, and Mike’s heart breaks, just a little. El’s head tilts again, this time in confusion, and her eyebrows crease when Han responds “I know.”
“Why’d he say that?” She asks, while Mike’s in the process of putting the Return of the Jedi tape in. “Why didn’t say he say he loved her back? Does he not love her?”
“He does! But-”
“That moment isn't about him, it’s about Leia, and-”
“Just because he didn’t say he loved her doesn’t mean he doesn’t love her. Sometimes people say things that mean I love you, but they don’t necessarily say those exact words.”
“Why?”
Mike looks around, but no-one seems to be opening their mouths to speak, so he guesses it’s his turn to answer. “They might be scared, or it might be a weird time, or it might not fit with the conversation. Like, I don’t say I love these guys very often, but it doesn’t mean I don’t love them-” His sentence is interrupted by a chorus of ‘awww’, which make him very much want to retract his statement, “-it just, isn’t right for us.”
“What would you say instead?”
“How are you doing?”
“I’m proud of you.”
“You did good.”
“Be careful.” That one comes from Will, and it makes El’s eyes flash sharply up at Mike. He’s confused for half a moment, before he remembers; the porch, and “I can’t lose you again.”, and El’s face, so close to his own, eyes bright and shining among her black makeup. He coughs once awkwardly, and the rest of them must sense something because Dustin instantly starts talking loudly about how excited he is for them to see the Return of the Jedi, which he proclaims is the best one, which then instantly sets off a fairly intense debate of it vs Empire Strikes Back. Mike settles back in next to El, unsure of whether to take her hand again, but she’s interlaced their fingers before he can even think. He looks at her for a long moment, not knowing what to say, and she just offers him a smile, before simply saying: “I know.” A dam opens in Mike’s heart, and he’s certain anyone looking his way could see it, see the sheer feeling leaking from his chest right now. I never gave up on you. I can’t lose you again. You look beautiful. He doesn’t need to say it. He doesn’t feel ready to say it, in all honesty, but that’s okay. She knows. That’s enough.
Return of the Jedi plays. Max cheers when Leia stabs Jabba, and gasps when it’s revealed she’s Luke’s twin. There’s total silence when Luke removes Vader’s helmet, and, okay, no naming names, but some of them (Dustin and Will) definitely tear up. The end makes Mike grin, because okay, yeah, there were no space fascists in Hawkins, but. There were bad guys, and they were defeated, and the good guys are all still alive. Mostly.
“So,” Lucas says, head swivelling between Max and El. “What did you think?”
Max talks enough for the both of them, agreeing with Lucas than Empire Strikes Back was the best one, and that Jabba was even grosser looking than D’art (both statements earn her frowns from Dustin), and was the Luke/Leia kiss really necessary, because seriously, that was so weird. El simply nods along, and doesn’t say much as they’re saying goodbye to everyone; Jonathan’s taking Will home, Lucas and Max are biking together, and Steve’s here to pick up Dustin and El.
There is a weird moment in the hallway between Steve and Nancy and Jonathan. Nancy and Jonathan are coming down the stairs just as Steve is herding Dustin and El out the door, and when Mike looks at his sister’s face he can’t recognise the expression on it. It’s somehow both guilt and longing, and that’s not even the weirdest part. Jonathan’s face is exactly the same. Steve looks like he’s trying very hard not to break down, maybe. Jesus, Mike waited almost an entire year for a sign of contact from a girl who he’d known a week, and somehow even his love life isn’t this dramatic.
El tugs him outside with them, and shoos Dustin and Steve away with one hand. Steve clasps a hand to his chest in mock-offence, but she has him completely wrapped around her finger; she’s probably the only one of them who could get away with doing that. “Just don’t take too long, alright? I got places to be.”
“Like where?” Dustin retorts, and they’re off bickering across the front yard.
“I liked Star Wars.” El announces suddenly, brightly. “I liked Luke. He reminded me of me, but he also reminded me of you.” Mike’s eyebrows crinkle in confusion, and she lifts her hand up to run through his hair. “He was kind, and he was good. And he did everything to save his friends, even though it wasn’t what other people wanted.” Mike flushes, and she smiles. She loves making him blush, and she likes to tell him it’s pretty, because she knows it makes him blush even harder. Jonathan and Will open the door just after she'd kissed him and ran across to Steve’s car, and Mike turns to them, still kind of in shock. “How.” He says to them. “How is she a real person?” He’s a bit embarrassed that Jonathan of all people is seeing him in this state, but Jonathan has also known him since he was six, so he has 100% seen Mike do a lot more embarrassing stuff. Will, who’s apparently gained what are either psychic or just general asshole abilities, just responds: “I know.” Seriously, Mike loves him, and is intensely glad he’s home, but some things just make you deserve to get thrown back in the Upside Down. (Except if there are any Demogorgons, or Mind Flayers, or anything else that has suddenly decided to read his mind, that’s fully a joke. It was an incredibly traumatizing time for all of them. He’s good with not reliving it again.)
That night, he dreams of the quarry. He hasn’t, not in a while, but suddenly he’s there. He can see the blue of the water, feel the rush of the wind as he falls, and he keeps falling, because El isn’t there, she’s been taken, and he wakes with a start as his dream self collides with the water. He feels wet, and panics for a second, before he realises it’s just sweat, which. Ew. He peels off his sticky t-shirt and climbs on top of his covers. It’s July now, so it’s definitely warm enough.
He didn’t think of it as a suicide attempt, when it happened. Dustin might have. He only tried to talk about it once, months after El was gone, and Mike was in one of his worst stages; he would barely speak to anyone, or eat, or sleep. They were sitting in Lucas’ living room, while Lucas was in the bathroom and Will was at home, and Dustin had asked him, cautiously, like approaching a spooked animal: “Hey, that time at the quarry, that wasn’t-” Mike yelled no before he could even finish his sentence, which, looking back, probably wasn’t the most convincing way of going about it.
It might have been. Mike isn’t sure. It’s not like he’s actively suicidal, he’s never had any plans towards it, but. He sometimes, most times, feels as if he doesn’t care whether he lives or dies. The apathy is almost scarier. This wasn’t brought on by Eleven’s departure; he’s felt this way since he was about ten. Days or weeks could go by and he’d just feel nothing, and then would suddenly have mood swings so violent and sudden it’s like he’d fully switched personalities. He’d tried to talk about it once, with his mom, and she’d told him it was just part of growing up. Which was weird, because none of his friends were like this. Nancy was never like this. Then bullies started showing up, and monsters, and Mike started throwing himself into situations which would, more likely than not, get him killed. He’s getting better, mostly. To be fair, Troy and James have most fucked off, and there fortunately aren’t an abundance of monsters roaming around Hawkins any more, so. Who knows.
The next morning, Nancy spends most of breakfast staring at the wall, not touching her cereal. Mike’s busy helping Holly with her toast, and besides, their parents are there, so he can’t exactly ask her about it. Especially when he’s pretty sure it is something to do with the weird encounter she had with Steve and Jonathan yesterday. He follows her up to her room when they’re done, and she apparently knows what he’s going to ask, because she just tells him to shut the door on the way in.
“What” He says, throwing himself down on her bed, “is up with you and Jonathan and Steve?” She looks like she’s about to say that nothing’s up, and he glares at her. “And don’t tell me nothing. You forced me to talk about my feelings about Eleven, both before and after she got back.” It’s true. Nancy’s probably the one he’s talked to the most about her with (which is to say, still not a lot), probably because she didn’t know El, and it made it a lot easier. “Besides, what happened to your no secrets rule?”
“Fine!” She exclaims, raising her eyebrows at him indignantly. “But you can’t tell anyone about this. I’m serious. Not your friends, not El, and especially not Will.” Mike looks at her quizzically, and she huffs a deep breath, looks like she’s trying to figure out how to start. “Okay, so you know how I’m dating Jonathan.”
“Yes, I’m aware.”
She glares at him, but it’s not as intense as usual, and Mike realises that this is probably a bit more serious than he may have thought. “And how I used to be dating Steve.” Mike nods. “Well, I kind. Maybe. Still want to date Steve.”
“Does Jonathan know?”
“Yes,” and, okay, wow, “Jonathan knows, because Jonathan. Jonathan also wants to date Steve.” Mike blinks a few times. Thinks over what he just heard. Blinks a bit more. “Wait, is Jonathan gay?”
“No! Jonathan and I, we still love each other, but we also-”
“Love Steve.”
“Yes.” Nancy looks up at him, actually looks at him, for the first time since this conversation started. “And we don’t know how to like, bring it up with him, because, how do you even.”
“Yeah, I can imagine, ‘hey, you know how I dumped you a few months back, what do you say you come and date me and the guy I dumped you for’ isn’t exactly the best way to start a conversation.” Nancy smacks him with a pillow, but she’s laughing, anxiety rolling out of her body in waves.
“So you don’t think this is weird, or-”
“My girlfriend is telekinetic and one of my best friends has been both kidnapped and possessed by multiple different monsters from another dimension. The weirdest thing about this scenario is the person you both want to date is Steve Harrington, because, really-” Nancy hits him with a pillow again, which yeah, he deserves that. He actually really likes Steve, but is also legally required to give him shit whenever the opportunity arises. Nancy suddenly glances at him with a look in her eye which Mike is not a fan of.
“Girlfriend, huh?”
And yeah, okay, not his best slip-up. “She’s not, I don’t know, it’s weird, because. It’s not exactly like we can have a proper relationship, you know. And I mean, we already behave like it regardless. She knows how I feel. I don’t feel the need to like, claim her, or whatever.”
“And I’m glad.” Nancy smiles at him, nudges him with a shoulder. “Because that’d be like, super creepy.”
“I think I love her.” Nancy’s eyes go wide. “No, I know. I do. But you don’t have to worry, I’m not planning on proposing to her at age sixteen, I’m not even planning on saying it yet, but. I’d like to say it to one person. At least.” Nancy tilts her head, and her eyes are shining with tears, and Mike’s reminded of his second day with Eleven, when she’d smiled at Nancy’s picture and called her pretty, and he’d disagreed back then, but he can’t help but agree now. He rests his head on her shoulder, and she rests her head on top of his, and it’s good. It’s enough.
He visits El at the cabin two days later, and she smiles as wide as she always does when she sees him standing at the door, throwing her arms around his neck. He drops his head, presses his smile into her collarbone. He would have waited years, if it meant he got to have this again. He may actually have to wait years, given the exaggerated cough Hopper gives from behind them. Eleven releases Mike simply to turn around and glare, before deliberately leaning forward to kiss Mike on the cheek, like a challenge. Hop, to his credit, doesn’t do anything but laugh, clearly as enamored with El’s stubbornness as Mike is. El shows him the work she’s been doing, in order to catch up on their level of education. She’s ridiculously intelligent, which isn’t a shock, but though she’s relatively good at science, she much prefers other subjects. That’s fair. Mike probably wouldn’t like science, either, if he’d spent most of his life being treated as nothing more than an experiment.
Hopper gets called off on some kind of domestic disturbance, and he presses a quick kiss to El’s hair before heading out the door. “No funny business, you two!” He yells. Mike likes to think it’s a joke.
El pulls him onto the couch to watch TV, and apparently the episode of the show playing is a repeat, because she can recite the lines at the same time as the characters.
“People are going to be aghast!” She exclaims, both hands folded on her chest. She catches Mike watching her instead of the screen, which might embarrass most people. She never had learned to be ashamed, and so she just widens her eyes further, to increase the drama, before collapsing with laughter onto Mike’s shoulder. He moves his arm so it’s around her, thumb stroking the back of her neck, and when she looks up at him her eyes flick from his own to his mouth to his eyes again. He lets her make the move, lets her press her mouth against his, lets her pull herself up and press him back against the arm of the couch. It’s kind of a weird position, his feet are still planted on the floor, but he doesn’t want to move them in a way which might lead them to territory they’re not ready for. He’s not even sure if she knows about that, which is probably something they should have a discussion about. At some point. Not now. He’s a little preoccupied right now, to be honest.
Hopper arrives back, eventually, and informs them that they’re going to a ‘family dinner’ at the Byers’ tonight. For a second Mike thinks he means that his actual parents will be there, but then quickly realises he means family as in, well. The people Mike actually considers family.
Dustin and Steve and Nancy are already there by the time they arrive, Nancy sitting between Steve and Jonathan on the couch. Mike raises an eyebrow at her, and she just nods, and smiles, just a little. Little, but incredibly happy. Steve and Jonathan share the same smile, if slightly more awkward. Mike grins back, because seriously, Nancy has been through so much shit. She deserves this. Will hugs El, and Dustin high fives Mike, and promptly launches into a new idea for their next D&D campaign. Nancy, Steve and Jonathan slip into the kitchen in a little while, because it’s unanimously decided that neither of the adults can really be trusted to cook, and Lucas and Max show up soon after, Lucas with a tray of macaroni cheese and his parents greetings, and Max with two containers of ice-cream, because she found out Hopper doesn’t have any at the cabin, and felt that El was being deprived.
The night is good. Steve eats more pasta than Mike realised was humanly possible. Dustin has an intense brain-freeze after eating far too much ice cream far too fast, which causes El to look at her own in alarm. Once she was repeatedly assured that no, it doesn’t actually hurt to eat, Dustin is just an idiot, she enjoyed it. A lot. Not more than Eggos, she confirms, but a lot. Nancy promises to take her out so she can try as many flavours as she wants one day, which makes El smile and nod ferociously, before remembering her situation and looking over at Hopper questioningly.
He sighs. “Well, since we’re all here, might as well.” He smiles at Joyce, and Mike’s heart starts doing a funny dance in his chest. “I’ve talked to Doc Owens, and Joyce, and we figured, since it’s getting closer to September, we better get you enrolled in school, kiddo.” El’s face is one of picture perfect shock. Mike would get Jonathan to take a picture, if he weren’t so busy having a mild heart attack.
“Seriously?” Lucas yells, full of excitement.
“Yeah.” Hopper answers, but his focus is still fully on Eleven. Which is lucky, because she stands and completely throws herself at him, only saying ‘thank you’ over and over and over. “Don’t thank me, thank her. She was the one ready to start war with Owens over it.” He points a thumb over at Joyce, who simply smiles at El, tears in her eyes. El untangles herself from Hop, and wraps Joyce in a hug which is just as fierce. Max hugs El next, and Steve wraps an arm around her shoulders, and Dustin, Lucas and Will trap her in a group hug which leaves her laughing raucously. Finally she comes over to Mike, and everyone, coincidentally, is pulled into a conversation of their own. She tugs him into the kitchen by his sleeve, but doesn’t hug him, just grips both of his hands in her own.
“I’m going to school.”
“You’re going to school.”
“I’m going to be with all of you.” She frowns a little. “I will, right?”
“Of course!” Mike doesn’t actually know that for a fact, but. He’d like to believe. “Of course. We’re going to be together, El.”
“Together. Be careful. I know.” She lists. If Mike was having a mild heart attack before, it’s a critical situation now. “Promise?”
He takes a breath, realizing what this means, what this holds. For him, for her, for both of them. “Promise.” The smile she gives him is possibly the most beautiful thing he will ever see. He kisses her once, lingering just a little. Their foreheads knock together. “Promise.”