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“I live life with no fear, except for the idea that one day you won’t be here.” — NEW MAGIC WAND.
There was El, standing at the iconic hill; Weathertop. She was standing like a heroine, thinking to herself, with determination, “I will fight. I will fight this monster even if it’s the last thing I do.”
And as anger consumed her body, so did exhaustion. Her mind wasn’t able to pace through everything that’s happening. Max– her only girl-best-friend– in the hospital because of, in El’s opinion, her fault. The love confession which’s going to be the most– actually, she doesn’t know what’s gonna happen. Not to mention she just found out her dad’s alive! And everything on top of her having the responsibility of saving a whole town, specifically her town, made her realize how her head was pounding, her heart was somehow racing and extremely slow at the same time, her stomach was cursing her for only having eaten and drank so little, and all the walking made her legs want to fall on the ground and cry.
She wanted to fall and lay in the ground, hoping that the aching, dead flowers would welcome her, and sink her till the end of the earth until she’d just die.
But, unfortunately, that’s not how life works– especially not with her and the town this “fine” afternoon. Her wishes of just “rotting” away wouldn't work in her favor. She had to start the action. She had to think.
Ignoring the feeling of mild fatigue in her body, she started to think.
Then, she finally got it.
A distraction.
What if El made a “plan”? A fake plan that would include a bunch of metal objects and working with them. Except, they would mean nothing. And while having dealt this many objects, it would confuse Henry and make him ponder about it, and whilst said pondering, she would slowly– but surely– so he doesn’t notice– teleport him to a place where she can lock him up and deal with him, alone.
Because, no matter what happens; she will never, ever have her close ones near any sign of danger or harm… Especially him.
The words “I can’t lose you!” kept echoing in her brain like sirens.
“It’s fine,” she thought. “I’ll be just fine.” at least, she hoped so.
After her thinking session was over, she heard a familiar voice call her name.
‘El?’ Mike voiced in a worried voice. And that’s when she realized her legs were shaking, finally giving in to her exhaustion, she fell to her knees.
The ashes of the ground were soft and supportive. Perhaps too soft. Her vision became blurry and her body tumbled to the ground.
Her ears were ringing loudly while a voice screamed her name like an echo in the distance, the voice’s footsteps came running to her, sounding like gunshots in her ears.
‘El! El!’ she saw a pair of dirty, black, half ankle converse shoes and the leg opening of black pants, kneeling before her.
‘Mike?’ she whimpered from the hurt in her ears before passing out.
‘El!!’ Mike screamed as he got her into his arms, the rest following quickly.
‘El, wake up..’ he said, cupping her right cheek with his hand. He slapped her cheek lightly in an attempt to wake her up. But, it was no use. So, he took his forearm underneath her knees and the other at her back, while the rest of his arm supported her head. Getting up, his eyes mainly focused on her but the corners of his eyes watching everyone’s worried and sad reactions, especially Hopper. His eyes were shining from the tears urging to be let out, his mouth was trembling and his fingertips couldn’t be any more shaky.
‘Get out of my way!’ Mike yelled, pushing through everyone and running as fast as he could to the cabin, everyone jogging after him. Panting as he ran to his destination, he kept breathlessly muttering under his breath ‘Come on, El. Come on.’ as he felt his eyes become blurry from the tears in his eyes that were leaking out.
He slammed the open front door so brutally that it almost rocked back to its original place. He did the same thing with her bedroom door except it was so brutal it slammed the door closed.
He took her and gracefully laid her body down onto the mattress.
— — — — —
“I wake up screaming from dreaming. One day I’ll watch as you’re leaving.” — Anti-Hero.
‘El…” He carefully poked her cheek.
Her eyelids clenched as she slowly put her hand on his. ‘Mike?’ she whispered, her eyes opening up since the blackout that occurred.
‘Oh, El.’ He sighed in relief as he lifted and took her in his arms, hugging her as if she was his oxygen. ‘I-I thought y-you–’ he stuttered as tears ran across his cheeks. ‘I thought you were g-gonna–’ just the thought of him losing his Mage was enough to bring him to a mental breakdown.
And luckily, El knew that.
‘Shh.. I know, I know.’ She petted her Paladin’s hair. ‘There, there. It’s okay. I’m alright.’ she comforted him with her soft, soothing words as he was clenching his fists with the back of her shirt.
And now everyone was watching.
Though they couldn’t see Mike’s face, which was red and wet from the amount of tears leaking out from his clenched, and shut eyelids which were complemented by his down and pulled together eyebrows, but, they could hear his loud crying and choked sobs.
El looked at everyone who was witnessing their wholehearted hug, especially Nancy.
She looked sadly at her brother. She wished that she could come onto the bed and hug him, let him talk about his problems like how he used to talk to her when their parents would have an argument.
But, she also knew that they needed to be alone. So, she silently told everyone to go.
They got out and ironically, Hopper was the one that fully closed the door.
She pulled away from the hug slowly once he calmed down. ‘I’m.. sorry… this doesn’t normally happen– That wasn’t really manly of me–”
‘Mike,’ El said. ‘It’s fine. Plus, I like when you cry.’
‘Yeah, well– Wait- What?-’ He looked at her with confusion.
‘Uhm, no… What I meant was; I like that you cry because then you’re not afraid to open up in front of me. And having you open up to me, to share your deep emotions with me while trusting that I won’t make fun of you, but instead comfort you and talk about it… That’s what makes me joyful and content.’ she said, her eyes looking at her fingers which were fidgeting with the sheets.
‘Oh…’ But “Oh” wasn't what Mike really felt. He felt like the Fourth of July, fireworks and butterflies were blasting in his stomach like a wild party. His eyes were the shiniest they’ve ever been.
‘El..’
She looked at him with that same look that made him crazy at the supermarket in 1985. ‘Yeah?”
And, oh how it was so difficult to just grab her face and kiss her with all the love, and passion he could give. To show her how much she’s his weakness and strength at the same time. To show her how much he’s devoted to her. To show her that he’d die for her, that he’d kill for her, that he would be willing to be tortured as long as nobody lays a finger on her. That was extremely difficult.
You know what? Fuck it.
He grabbed her face and pulled her in a kiss. It was slow and loving.
El was taken aback but kissed him back, her hands getting tangled in his hair. He put his hands on her waist, treating her body as if it were a dainty and fragile piece of art. Her body melted into his.
Slowly, he laid down on the mattress, El on top of him. She moved her hands to the side of his neck and jawline, leaving his hair a bit messy.
They pulled apart once they were completely out of breath. Breathing heavily, they looked into each other's eyes and that was the last straw for El, she couldn’t stay with him, every thought made her sick. She doesn‘t know what to feel. She loves him so much it physically hurts her heart. “I love you for exactly who you are.” That sentence hurt her more than it should’ve. She wished she’d have everyone hate her and live alone to just wait until she dies.
Mike Wheeler would’ve loved her till the day she died. It made her want to cry of happiness and sadness. It was sickening. ‘Just wrap your arms around me and never let me go..’, her mind muttered.
Her hands were shaking and her body felt like it was being crushed and teared apart slowly, descending into a rabbit hole of madness.
She sat up, beginning to leave. But, he was quicker and sat up, making her straddle him. His grip on her waist became tighter while his eyes filled with worry and sadness.
‘El, no…’ He muttered. He just wanted to be with her, to lie in her arms forever. ‘Please, I’m begging you…’ His eyes started tearing up, which he found out after they leaked out.
‘Mike, we have to go.’ She said, trying to maintain herself calm before she starts crying too. ‘No!!’ He exclaimed, while his loud and choked sobs were filling the room. ‘I don’t want to leave!! Please, El. Stay here. I’m begging you… Just stay.’ He sniffed. ‘El, Please… I can’t fight. I just need to be with you’ Mike concluded, clutching her shirt so hard he almost had white knuckles.
‘Mike,’ She took his face in her hands and lifted it up to her, muffling his cries by kissing him devotedly. ‘we have to go… We have to fight. We have to kill him.’, she reminded him.
‘I know I– I just want to stay with you, El, it’s not fair! Why’s it that we have to fight monsters and shit like that! We’re teenagers! I’m supposed to have fun in the Hellfire club. I’m supposed to be hanging out with the party, hanging out with you! Having fun as an ordinary couple– And I’m not blaming you for being in this shit it’s definitely not your fault
‘Please… I’m sorry…’ He apologized, even though he didn't know what for. Maybe it was for the whole ‘I love you.’ thing. Or maybe it was something else, he didn’t know. He was just sorry.
Tears started to spill from El’s eyes.
They connected foreheads, Mike wrapping his arms around her waist, while El caressed his cheeks. ‘I love you, Mike. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to get you into this love mess. I never wanted to let you witness the horrible and disgusting monsters. It’s all my fault.’
‘El, no..’ She pulled away and went outside the room before he could talk to her. After Mike stayed for a bit, feeling nothing and everything at the same time, he cleared his head and went outside.
— — — — —
“But at that moment I felt such warmth.” — Fallen Angels.
Everyone that came from California showered and had a meal in the Wheeler household.
El wore Mike’s Hellfire t-shirt and black sweatpants that were a bit too small for him, but was the perfect size for El. Mike wore a gray sweatshirt from the GAP along with a black flare pants.
Karen, wanting to distract herself from everything going on, decided to talk to Mike’s girlfriend for the first time.
‘Mom, this is El.’ He looked at her with sorrowful eyes.
‘Are you a princess?’ she asked, looking at El in admiration. Supposedly one of the perks of being a child is not fathoming what’s going on with the world. But, due to Mike (and his perfect emotional parentification), Holly had to watch stuff that implied that if the sky looks like that, you’re fucked.
‘Oh– Uhm…’ El had some knowledge on how to deal with little kids. She learnt it from books on how to talk to kids- and she found herself sometimes getting into children’s books. The drawings were sometimes too cute for her. ‘Yes..?,’ El started to get more confident and scooped Holly up and had her close to her. ‘I’m a magical princess who grants wishes to little balls of energy like you!’ El poked Holly’s nose as she giggled.
‘Nice to meet you, El.’ Karen said with a welcoming smile.
‘Nice to meet you, too, Mrs. Wheeler.’ She gave her a smile as much as she could.
‘Oh! Please, come sit down.’ she nodded to the couch.
El sat down on the couch, Holly on her lap. Mike sat next to her, his hand cupping her’s. But, El pulled away and held Holly’s hand. Her eyes were stuck to the ground, trying to hide her pain from Karen.
‘El… Please, don’t do this. You can’t do this to me. I care about you so much. Please, I’m sorry. I can’t live without you, I really ca–’ She interrupted Mike’s whispering by touching his fingertips with her’s, making Mike smile softly. And El, watching Mike smile, happened to make her heart warm again, just like how it did when she saw him everyday in the Summer of 1985. ‘El.. I lo–’
‘So.. Do your parents work?’ She asked.
El looked at Karen. ‘Well– Biologically, they don’t.’
‘Biologically?’ Karen asked, confused.
‘My biological parents aren’t my legal guardians, I’m adopted.’
‘Oh, I’m so sorry.’ She looked at her in pity.
‘Oh, it’s ok…’ El said, with the sudden thoughts of Terry Ives and Andrew Rich flooding her mind.
‘It’s okay. My mother just didn’t want the responsibility of having a kid and my father.. Uh, he didn’t want to take responsibility, either. So, he left.’ She obviously lied. She never wanted to say anything bad about her parents. But, lying would’ve been the better option.
Mike looked at her with an unreadable expression, he never heard a word about El’s father, he never even thought about mentioning it. He knew what El said about her mom, Terry, was a lie. But, he didn’t know if what she said about her dad, who he didn’t even know what his name was, was the truth or another lie to protect his family.
‘I’m sorry about that.’ Karen said, blaming herself for the question. She only wanted to start a conversation with the poor girl.
‘But, I’m happy with my foster parents. They treat me as their own, and so do my brothers.’ El said, her eyes shining again. She didn’t want to be pitied, especially not now.
‘Well, I’m glad.’ Karen said politely– and rather also awkwardly.
But, luckily, for them; Holly spoke up.
‘I wanna have a tea party! Can we have a tea party??’ She began hopping happily on her lap. ‘Pleasee. Pretty please.’
‘Well, I–’
‘Pretty please with a cherry on top!’ She gave her her iconic puppy dog eyes.
‘Oh, um..’ She didn’t want to upset Holly but she had to work.
Mike had told her once before in a letter that Holly isn’t really a talkable person. Most of the time she’d stay quiet, just observing. So much that they sometimes forget she’s even there.
So, getting her to talk so much like this was a record. And El felt an instant connection to her, as if Holly was her own kid.
‘No. I have to start working.’ she thought, looking at Holly with a smile and saying. ‘I have something to do–’ Holly began to pout. ‘But..’ Her eyes then started shining with hope. ‘I suppose we can have a little tea party while I work.’
Holly’s eyes lit up like they’ve never had before ‘Yayy!’ Holly jumped and wrapped her arms around El’s neck, hugging her.
El giggled and hugged her back.
‘Who is she?’ Ted asked in a mouthful, looking with confusion while he stood at the doorway and ate a hotdog. Holly then got off of El’s lap and sat next to her.
‘Dad, this is my girlfriend, El.’ He looked at her.
‘Nice to meet you, Mr. Wheeler.’ She got up and offered a handshake.
‘Oh, so, you’re his girlfriend.. What’s up with your hair?’ Ted asked bluntly.
‘Ted!’ Karen gave him a death glare.
‘Dad.’ Mike looked at him with a look he never saw before, almost sort of scary.
‘Just asking.’ He said with a shrug. ‘So, are you gonna answer or what?’
El put her hand down, her frown growing bigger.
‘I wanted to try a buzz cut, to see if I like it or not…’ She said quietly.
‘Uh-huh.’ he said looking at her in disrelish. He moved to his La-Z-Boy, shoving her shoulder whilst going there. ‘It’s not bad. I just didn’t think you’re Mike’s kind of girl.’
‘Oh.’ was all she replied with.
Mike looked at him in disgust and looked at El with sympathy. ‘Come on, El. We gotta go start working.’
‘Yeah, sure… Holly, wanna come?’
‘Karen, you’re letting a stranger take your child?’
‘This is Mike’s girlfriend, she’s not a “stranger”. You should trust her, you know.’
‘Fine, whatever.’ He sighed in annoyance.
‘It’s okay, she doesn’t have to come with me. It’s fi–’
Karen interrupted, ‘No, no. Holly should have fun. But, please, be careful. And Mike, you better take care of her.’
‘Mhm.’ Mike replied, thinking of something else.
‘Michael!’
He snapped out of his daze, ‘Okay, okay! I got it! I’ll be careful.’
‘Mhm. And pay more attention, you’ve been losing attention a lot these days.’
‘U-huh.’ He rolled his eyes in annoyance and sighed.
‘I’m gonna go get my tea set, I guess.’ Holly said as she shrugged and got up slowly, jogging upstairs to her room.
Holly came back down with a little plastic pink suitcase which had a big sticker on it, that was brutally scribbled on with a marker, and had the title “Pretty, Pink, Toy Tea cup Set.” ‘Ready.’
‘Okay, let’s go!’ She said, grabbing Holly and lifting her up swiftly which made her giggle. In the distance she heard Ted and Karen arguing. And Mike noticed the look on her face. ‘No. Don’t you dare.’
‘What?’
‘It’s not your fault, El. They have issues from the start, don’t blame yourself.’
He knows El more than he knows himself, just a simple expression and he could know exactly how she felt and what thoughts roamed her mind.
‘El?’
‘Hm? Oh, yeah. I understand. I guess. I just didn’t want to cause a problem, that’s all.’ her face looked like it had been painted by an artist who had never felt any emotion but sadness and guilt. She didn’t have that spark in her eyes that made Mike want to get lost in them forever. She walked out the door, Mike following her and closing it shut. The rest were already in the car waiting for them to come back.
‘I know. But, you didn’t do anything wrong, got it?’
‘Mhm.’ she replied nonchalantly.
Right after she put Holly in the van, Mike interrupted her from going in.
‘You guys go, it’s too cramped anyway. Me and El will walk home.’
Nancy didn’t really like the idea of Holly being exposed to this traumatizing stuff. But, El promised to keep her safe and won’t give her any ideas of what they were doing.
‘Where to?’ Jonathon asked as he started the engine.
‘’To the Hospital. I want Lucas and Erica. Then, go find wherever the rest are.’ El replied.
‘Got it. And be careful.’ He started the engine and drove off.
— — — — —
“And then the rain opened up the sky to get..
One last kiss!
I love you like an alcoholic.
One last kiss!
I love you like a statuette.
One last kiss!
I need you like I need a broken leg.”
— I Love You Like An Alcoholic.
‘Weather’s nice.’ He said sarcastically, trying to spike up a conversation as they kept walking.
‘Mhm.’ Was all she said.
‘We should talk about this.’ He stated, holding her hand and intertwining their fingers. To his luck, she didn’t pull away, but got closer.
She realized that this time, she was the one that was ignoring their awaited conversation about “love”. ‘Yeah, we should.’
…
‘About Rink-O-Ma,’ She started.
‘Shit. I forgot about that situation.’ He chuckled.
His laugh brought a sort of comfort to her. To her, it was like relaxing and hearing the sound of ocean waves after having a long, tense day. That was enough to let her continue.
‘Yeah. Well, I think I might know why I didn’t wanna tell you.’ Her voice growing
‘Oh– Yeah, that’s great. So.. why did you not tell me.. That?’ He asked, to which she responded by dragging him to an abandoned place away from people.
They both sat down, Mike attempting to prepare himself for what he’s about to hear.
‘In the lab,’ he sharply inhaled. ‘I was, uh– Bullied, and when I got bullied my bullies would tell me not to tell Papa.’ She was looking down the entire time. Something about her talking about her past to her felt uncomfortable. Of course, since it’s Mike, this conversation is a bit easier. But, there’s still something in her that wishes to push her past out, as if it never happened. ‘And one time, they hurt me a bit too badly which meant that Pap– Brenner knew. So, he asked me who hurt me and promised nothing bad would happen to the person that hurt me, or so– I think that’s what happened?’ She shook her head. ‘Anyway. So, I told him who did it. And when we.. Training..’ Her vocal cords swelled up as tears swelled in her eyes. ‘He told 002, my bully, if he hurt me. He lied. He said no. So P-Papa got a choker and put it around his neck and electrocuted him.’ Mike took her hands, which were shaking violently, into his and rubbed the back of her hands with his thumbs in soothing circles. ‘He kept shocking him until he confessed. It’s all my fault– I didn’t want him to get hurt– I guess I was scared to tell you and something bad would happen and I screwed everything up.’ Mike tried to ignore the ache in his heart, hearing El talk about her experiences, and saying that it's her fault, even though it clearly wasn’t. It broke him. ‘I’m not a hero. Even if I try I never will…’.
Her sobs were reaching all of the small playground, the tickle in her eyes never stopping. He twisted his swing to her so that his body was fully turned to her, she did the same and came closer. His hands placed firmly on her shoulders. ‘Listen, El. I don’t know who said you’re not a hero but, you are. Who saved Will in 1983, hm? Who closed the gate like a badass in 1984? Or how about when you literally saved the world twice? You are a hero, El. I just hope you’d see yourself the way I see you… Well, then again.. No, I see you as literal perfection– I think you’d be a little narcissistic.’ he giggled but she just stared at him.
‘Narcissistic; basically someone who loves themselves too much that it’s bad, they view themselves as perfect.’ he explained to her.
‘Ohhh– Wait, why is that bad? Shouldn’t people view themselves as perfect?’ she asked, still a bit confused.
‘Well, yeah, but… Uh… It’s not bad, it’s just that they’re egotistical–’ he answered.
‘Ego-tis-ti-cal?’ She spelled it out confusingly.
‘It means that someone is self-centered,’ he explained yet again.
She stayed quiet… ‘So, does that mean someone standing in the center of the room or does “self-centered” mean something else?’ she questioned slowly, sort of disappointed and insecure about the fact that she’s kind of shitty in her first language.
‘Uh, nevermind…’ Mike said. He obviously didn’t want to sound exhausted from El's questions. But, as much as he tried, he couldn’t help her. ‘Sorry, it’s just– I don’t really know how to explain it. It’s not you, it’s me.’
‘No, Mike. It’s fine. I understand.’ she told him.
‘Yeah?’ he asked
‘Yeah.’ she answered.
…
‘El.’ he started another conversation.
‘Mhm?’
He sharply inhaled, trying his best to talk quickly but not so quick that she wouldn’t understand it. He was very scared about what he wanted to say.
‘I love you.’ he blurted out. ‘And it kills me every second knowing that I don’t say it because of how much I'm scared of losing you. Because you were always, and always will be the one for me; the one who I could trust without a doubt, the one who I would always choose to spend my eternity with, and the one who I would throw myself into any course of danger for. You are the reason I live and breathe. You’re the only reason I wake up, thinking that the sun is full of life and beauty. You’re the one that I would choose to be in their arms forever, raptured in your love. You’re my only reason and hope for life. I see you in every thought I have that’s filled with compassion. You’re my safe space. You’re the one who makes my heart skip every second. I’ve read a thousand comic books, I’ve listened to music knowing I’d have my one to share it with, I’ve seen flowers blooming to their heart’s content and I knew. I knew that I would have my hero one day. And that I’d soon hand them their favorite flowers, just like how I’d hand them my heart and soul, and give them all the love I have for them. Tell them how much I love them. And I know it’s real. Because I’ve never in my life felt this way for any other person in my whole goddamn life. Just the thought of losing you makes me want to cry my eyes out. But, I don’t care. I promise– no, I vow to you and swear to God that I will say it and I will feel it till the end of time. I love you, Jane Hopper. There’s no one else for me and there never will be.’ until that second he hadn’t realized that he was holding his breath.
Once again; tears swelled in her eyes.
‘Mike, I– I love you too.’ she stuttered. ‘I’ve loved you ever since you came running to me once you heard me fall and asked me if I was okay when you saw me cry. I loved you even more at the Snow Ball. Each second I spend with you makes me love you more than I already do. You’re the one I’ve always dreamed about every second of my love; Someone who’d save me. Someone who’d protect me and fight for me even after they knew where I came from and the cost of staying with me. You’re the first person I trusted and made me feel pretty. I love you, too. I’ll never love anyone else but you.’
Mike smiled while his face was red and wet from crying… Or was it the rain? It was probably both.
He twisted his swing and pulled it closer to hers’. She repeated his moves.
He supported her by holding her waist. They were both staring at each other’s lips, getting closer and closer, until their lips finally collided.
El wrapped her arms around his neck and dug her fingers into the back of his mane, pulling him closer and getting as much of him as she could.
They pulled away and just sat silently for a bit, staring into each other's eyes in admiration until they let go of each other and untwisted their seats, holding hands and looking up at the sky.
‘You know, when I was little I knew I’d say my love confession to my true love… Just not while we’re sitting on swings in an abandoned playground while it’s pouring rain and my town is in danger.’ he chuckled.
‘Yeah, I guess that’s what life is; a test or game to see which person can face their problems and make the most out of said life. I’m not doing so well with “life”. Honestly sometimes I feel like it’s actively treating me like a piece of shit…’ she said.
‘El!’ Mike looked at her. His mouth was agape and his eyebrows almost reached the ends of his bangs in amusement.
‘What?’ she looked at him confusingly.
‘Don’t say that!’ He was laughing.
‘Say what? “Shit”?’ she assumed.
‘Yes! It’s a bad wor–!’ He was laughing so hard he couldn’t finish his sentence.
‘You say it.’ El shrugged.
‘I– I knoww–’ He was now wheezing and gasping in an attempt to refill his air supply.
The idea of El saying something vulgar was so funny to Mike. It’s just… not El.
Once he calmed down he wiped the tears in his eyes and said, ‘Oh my God, El. I’m corrupting you.’ he chuckled.
…
‘You thought of true love as a kid?’ she looked at him in wonder.
‘Yeah, I did. Why do you ask?’ Mike turned to make eye contact with her.
‘I don’t know. I guess I just thought that maybe you’d be too interested in monsters and stuff.’ She explained.
‘Ah, I see.’ He nodded. ‘Wanna know a secret? But promise not to tell
anyone
, not even the party knows about this. Only my mom and Nancy.’
‘Sure. You can tell me anything. I promise I won’t tell anyone.’ She gave him a comforting smile.
‘Okay. So, uh… My favorite movie when I was a kid was… Cinderella.’ He mumbled, looking at the ground, a bit embarrassed. As of now, eye contact was hard for him.
‘Wait… Really?’ She asked.
‘Yes! I secretly was obsessed with the idea of saving my one true love from their evil parents and marrying them then living a “happily ever after”.’ Mike confessed, while he began to gently rock his swing back and forth with his feet.
‘Well, I think you already got the “Saving your one true love from her evil parents” step done.’ El also began swinging back and forth. Except her swinging was about 15 cm further than him.
‘Yeah, all that’s left is marrying her, right?’ she smiled at him whilst asking her rhetorical question.
‘Yeah.’ he answered anyway, ‘That’s right.’
His thumb went over the knuckles of her ring finger and as he zoned out whilst staring at it, imagining a ring, he muttered ‘Someday.’
After they picked up Lucas and Erica, they got Robin, Steve, and Dustin.
They were now standing in the cabin, memories of 1985 flooding each person’s mind differently.
El came out of the room with a bunch of metals. I need these things sharpened, sanded down and clean.
‘Wait– What?’ Lucas spoke up.
‘Yeah, what’re we doing, exactly?’ Dustin asked, trying to piece the idea together.
‘It’s– For the plan. Very… helpful.’ El said in a rather confused tone, as if she memorized and rehearsed it the entire way home.
‘Uh-huh. But if you don’t mind, we'd like to know what we’re gonna do, instead of just sharpening, sanding and cleaning.’ Will said, clearing sensing something off about her.
‘Guys, just please start working.' She said, hoping they'd go along with her.
'Alright, you heard her.' Mike spoke up, getting up and going to the kitchen to grab a sharp knife. 'I pick sharpening duty.' He took a piece of metal, sat down on the couch and started sharpening.
Dustin rolled his eyes and muttered 'Son of a bitch.'. 'Fine.' He said.
Erica talked for the first time in what seemed like days 'I swear to God if this plan of yours doesn't work.'
'Trust me, it'll be helpful.' El reassured her.
Lucas shrugged ‘Guess I'll take sanding duty.’
‘Same’ Nancy said.
.
‘I pick cleaning.’ Will said.
‘I think I’ll be cleaning too.’ Dustin said.
Erica spoke up, ‘Guess I’ll take sharpening duty.’
‘I’ll take the sanding.’ Hopper said.
Then Joyce said, ‘I’ll be cleaning.’
After that was Steve ‘I’m taking sanding duty.’
Robin announced that she’d tag along with him.
Argyle said he’d take cleaning and Jonathan said he’d sharpen.
‘I guess I’ll go with sharpening.’ El disclosed.
— — — — —
“I see you, you see me.
How pleasant; this feeling.”
— After Dark.
They almost immediately started working. Everyone was making conversations to cure their boredom. Along with others taking shifts to clean the house.
Holly joined in once she started sharpening.
‘Good morning, princess El! Would you mind having a tea party with me?’ She requested, happily onto the toy suitcase.
‘Why, of course, princess Holly!’ El accepted happily, trying to pay attention to both the metal and Holly.
Holly sat down cross legged in front of El, opening the suitcase like a “little lady” and handing her a tea cup, which El attempted to hold three things at once, and to her luck, managed it.
Holly took the tea pot, its body was pink, emboldened with gold patterning, and the lid was purple.
She poured the “tea” in El’s tea cup and hers after.
‘Thank you.’ El smiled politely as she quietly “sipped” her non-existent tea.
‘Of course!’ Holly started drinking after her.
Mike, who sat between El and Holly kept watching their roleplay, oftentimes accidentally focussing on El only.
It’s kind of funny how El helps him to keep alert and careful. But sometimes he can’t help it, it’s like everything around them is black; nothingness, like the void. It’s like they’re the only ones there, together, with no problems or anything. Just them being cheesy, dorky, and in love. Buying each other flowers everyday, having a nice cottage and a garden to grow fruit and flowers in… Oh! And they can be married, have two kids and have picnics and kiss, slow dance, and chase each other in the rain! They could also make waffles and pancakes for each other every morni–
‘Helloo? Mikee?’ He got startled from a hand right in front of his eyes, which was El’s. The rest, who were worried about him for a second, returned to their work.
‘Are you crazy?,’ El whisper-yelled so nobody could hear but him. ‘I thought you were– I thought Henry– Ugh!’ She covered her face with her hands. Mike thought it was cute how she was worried about him.
‘But, I’m fine. See?’ He said, grabbing her hand and placing it right where his heart is. ‘I’m here, and I’m not leaving’ Het smiled at her wholeheartedly.
He sensed eyes on him, and when he looked he saw Dustin just staring at him.
Then, it happened.
For a second he could have sworn he was in the Upside Down with Vecna.
When he got back his eyes were widened and his mouth parted.
‘– shit!’ He heard Dustin say, jogging to him. He looked at Holly, who’s eyes were wide and full of worry. Then El, who’s eyes were staring into his eyes, tearing up. Her breathing became slightly heavier.
While everyone got to him, she discreetly got out of the house. Running far enough for no one to notice her, she fell to her knees and started crying loudly. Why? Why should everyone she loves get tortured? Because she deserves it? But, why them? Shouldn’t she be the one at the hospital? The one having those visions?
It’s all her fault. If she didn’t go see Max for advice in 1985… If she didn’t go to Mirkwood in 1983… And, the people that dedicated their whole lives to her on the Nina Project, what about them? She never asked to be like this.
‘Why?.. Please, just kill me…’ She said, with choked sobs in the middle.
‘Eleven…’ El got startled when she saw Nancy next to her, smiling at her and kneeling to sit down with her.
‘Why’d you come here?’ El asked, trying to make that question sound the opposite of rude or impolite as possible.
‘Well, after Mike explained what happened he panicked and insisted on going to find you. So, I took that job.’ Nancy replied. ‘But, uh– Are you okay? We can talk about it..?’ she said awkwardly.
‘Um, I don’t know if this is the right ti–’
‘Well, Hawkins is already screwed. Might as well take our time, I guess… Well, we do need to hurry up, of course. But, I think we should have a talk.. I think you need a little bit of comfort.’ El forced out a giggle.
‘I’m fine, thank you.’ She smiled as she got up.
‘Alright, what is it then?’ Nancy got back to the main topic, walking with her.
‘Nothing! I’m fine! Everything’s fine.’ Eleven looked at the deadpanned stare she gave her.
‘Really? “Everything’s fine”?–’
‘Well– No! Of course, not. But uhm, I have a question to ask.’
‘Hit me.’ She replied, giving her full attention.
‘Am I… problematic?’ El asked, trying to start the conversation.
‘What?’
‘Problematic is when a person is the–’
‘No– I know what it means, I just don’t understand why you’re asking.’
‘Well, I–’
‘Oh, wait. I get it. Mike and Max?’
She nodded, looking down at the floor.
‘Well, a lot more, but as of now, yeah.’
‘A question; why are you blaming yourself and not Vecna?’ Nancy asked her.
‘Because he’s out of this equation! I’m the Superhero, I do the saving! My job was–
is
– to save and help you guys, and the town. Now the town is doing terribly and Max is in a coma, and Mike is now having visions!’ Her eyes started tearing up.
‘We'll talk about it later, let’s just get back to the cabin. Okay?’ Nancy stopped.. ‘After all, we got somebody to kill, right?’ She looked over her shoulder at El, whose face lit up with determination, nodded.
They both walked back together, talking and laughing, trying to mask whatever happened back there. Even if the tears leaking from her eyes were denying it. She saw Mike outside at the porch, pacing nervously. He looked at El and that’s when his face filled with relief.
‘El..’ He ran quickly down the stairs and hugged her tightly, squeezing the air out of her.
Once he pulled away, he grabbed her shoulders. ‘Where were you?! You can’t just leave me like that!’ He got her into his arms again. ‘I was so worried something happened to you.’ At this point, Mike doesn’t care about whoever’s watching them anymore.
‘I’m fine, Mike. Don’t worry. Are
you
okay?.’ She asked as she elegantly placed her fingers on the nape of his neck.
‘As long as you’re here.’ He replied with no hesitation.
‘Yeah?’ She asked.
‘Yeah.’ He confirmed.
They both smiled at each other as their eyes dug into each other's.
Mike saw the sparkling sun in her eyes.
El saw the caressant moon is his.
— — — — —
“Sometimes I wish I could lend you my ears.
Lend you my thoughts and lend you my tears.
Sometimes I wish I could take a new form.
Switch out some parts and become like the norm.”
— Blow My Brains Out.
They finally finished their work and had Argyle send Holly back home.
‘Okay, guys. This is it. Does everyone have their weapons ready?’ El asked.
They all said yes.
‘Now, I have a question… Where’s a gate hidden far away from people? I don’t want anyone to know where we are.’ El said.
‘Well, there’s Eddie’s trailer.’ Steve answered.
‘Eddie? Isn’t that the main guy from Hellfire?’ She looked confused.
‘Wait, what’s Hellfire?’ now Will was also confused.
‘It’s uh– Just the high-school-status-quo think we’re in, you know? Like the Basketball team. Except only freaks.’ Mike answered, not fully telling the truth.
No one said anything.
‘Well, let’s go, I guess.’ Nancy said, getting to the door.
As they arrived, they started climbing up the roof to get to the Upside Down, El going first.
As everyone got up there and got their objects up. They realized something.
Where’d Eleven go?
They didn’t have time to figure out the answer to that question since Demobats came attacking them in the small and crowded trailer, everytime they kill one, another comes to attack them.
They stood in front of each other, not knowing what to say.
‘Jane.’ he said.
‘Henry.’ she responded.
…
‘It’s been a long time since we’ve spoken without attacking each other.’ he let out a chuckle.
‘Yeah, it has.’ she said ‘But, I want to make a deal with you.’
‘Interesting.’ he expressed as he walked closer to her.
‘You’ve been wanting to rule the world for years now, right?’
‘Right.’ he confirmed, not really seeing how this was going.
‘But, when I sent you to the Upside Down, you lost interest in that matter and now you’re just doing it out of spite from me.’
‘... More or less.’ he said hesitantly.
‘So, what if I give you a date? Where you… kill me.’
‘What? You’re sacrificing yourself?’
This wasn’t how it was supposed to go. He was supposed to kill her, but not in this way. He wanted to kill her for revenge. He didn’t want her to sacrifice herself.
‘Yes. In exchange, I want you to leave the world and my friends and family alone… Deal?’ she held out her hand.
‘... What date?’ he asked, tilting his head in wonder.
She thought for a moment. ‘28th of July 1988. You can kill me at… 10:45 PM.”
‘Hm… Deal.” for some reason, it went well. He shook her hand and teleported her near her squad, as every single Demobat suddenly dropped dead.
‘I did it… I saved the world.’
Everyone was confused but cheered happily. Mike told her that he “knew she could’ve done it” and hugged her. As she hugged her back, tears welled in her eyes while in her mind, she kept apologizing. As they spilled out, she pretended they were happy tears.
Suddenly, the world was fixed and Max woke up. Lucas and El spent an hour crying over her bed.
And just like after every year’s Hawkins’ incident, everyone moves on.
And in 1987, she told Lucas, Dustin and Will her deal. They were all sad but Will told her it was best not to tell Max or Mike,
especially
Mike. He knew he would’ve done
anything
to break the deal. And as much as they didn’t want to let her sacrifice herself, the logical answer was to sacrifice one person for the whole world. It was worth it… The problem was the person that they grew to love.
She recorded a tape and gave it to Will so he could give it to Mike when she’ll gone.
— — — — — — — — — —
“While the others talk, we were listening to ‘Lovers Rock’.
In her bedroom.
In her bedroom.
And if you start to kiss and the record skips; flip it over, and sit a little closer.”
— Lovers Rock.
19th of June 1988.
Hawkins, Indiana.
As Mike and El were making out in the backseat of Mike’s black Mercedes-Benz W124, they were listening to the song “The Flame” by Cheap Trick. Mike was on top of El, resting his hand on her upper thigh while he had his elbow on the car’s seat so he wouldn’t crush her. El had her hands on Mike’s neck, pulling him closer and getting as much of him as she could.
‘Mike’ she called as they pulled apart a second for air. ‘Mm…’ Mike sounded as his lips were on her’s. ‘Mike!’ she said as she pulled them apart, giggling when she saw his swollen red lips which were stained with lipgloss. ‘Whatt?’ He whined like a little kid whining when his mom told him to leave his toys and go study and rested his head on her chest. ‘Starcourt Mall; we have to go. The Party’s waiting for us.’ In the calm year of 1987, the town managed to fix and reopen the Starcourt Mall again.
‘I don’t wanna go.’ his words were muffled by her chest. He lifted his head and grabbed El by the waist, flipping them over so El was on top of him.
His formed circle patterns of her waist with his thumb. ‘Let’s just call the day off and spend it together, hm?’ he suggested while giving her his puppy eyes and adorable pout in hopes of convincing her to go along with his plan as the newly released song, “Waiting for a Star to Fall”, started playing. ‘Hm…’ she pretended like she was considering it. ‘Nice try. But, it’s my birthday, they just want to celebrate it with me. Imagine celebrating a birthday without the birthday girl.’ she gave him a quick eskimo kiss then sat up and went to grab a tissue to wipe his lips. He grabbed her wrist and kissed it before he also sat up ‘Fine.’ he muttered, sighing in defeat.
He turned off the Radio at the moment the 1st verse of the song ended and turned off the car while El wiped her lip gloss off and reapplied it then adjusted her hair, which was a botticelli bob with bangs, and her clothes. She wore a light pale yellow tank top which had a smiling cartoon sunflower as a printed design in the front while the outlines of the yoke of the shirt were colored a pop yellow and jean shorts.
They got out of the car and walked to the Cinema.
‘Oh, thank God. We thought you guys were gonna bail on us at the last second.’ Lucas sighed in relief as El ran into Max’s arms, hugging her tightly as Max giggled and wrapped her arms around her. ‘Oh, we wouldn’t dream of it.’ he said sarcastically as he rolled his eyes.
‘Okay. Now that the birthday girl’s here, let’s let her pick a movie before it starts, please’ Dustin said as he dragged El in front of the movie selection. Her eyes scanned the movies.
‘Waxwork!’ she decided enthusiastically.
‘Alrighty then, Waxwork it is.’ Will said as he went to buy the tickets.
Once the movie finished they went to get ice cream. El got her favorite, strawberry while Mike got mint chocolate chip, Max got Lotus, Lucas got Vanilla, Dustin got Chocolate and Will got Butterscotch. Then they went to the food court.
— — — — —
“I was wishing we were two other people; two people who need not say ‘Good-bye’” — Dangerously Yours.
After that they went to Mike’s basement at night so they could finally sing happy birthday and eat the cake. They all gave her a gift except Mike, who silently signaled her to look to the corner of the basement, which had a towel covering something. She assumed it was his gift.
Max got her a necklace, keychain and a yellow cross-body purse. Dustin got her a remodeled and fancier version of the experiment she claimed she liked and was interested in when he ranted about it to her and he also got her a limited edition figurine he had along with a bunch of X-men and Superman comic books. Will got her a real pottery kit. On one of their nights when they were having sibling movie nights and eating pizza, along with Jonathon and for some reason, Argyle, whom they took him as if he was their actual sibling, El said that she started getting into pottery and on Mike’s birthday she made him Yoda and Darth Vader rings (and got him a strawberry scented perfume which he shamelessly used everyday in his life, even if his friends made fun of it) which she spent a month of crying to make due to how hard the details were and because she had a crappy kit. Lucas got her a Walkie Talkie and a zip up hoodie she wanted to get but was too expensive for her.
Once they left Mike went to the table and gave a mediocrely and poorly wrapped present. She opened it and found a teddy bear holding a heart and a VHS tape of “The Breakfast Club”, one of her favorite movies along with a bunch of heart shaped dark chocolates. Her favorite type of chocolate.
‘Why’d you signal me to look over there?’ she asked as she pointed to the corner of the room. ‘Oh, uhm… I-It’s nothing. Don’t worry about it. I signaled it by accident.’ He pinched his pants, a nervous tic. ‘You sure? You seem nervous.’ she looked at him worryingly. ‘It’s uhh…’ he trailed off for a second, thinking if he should give it to her or not. ‘It’s a gift I got you. It’s mainly for the future.’ he went to lift the towel and grab the box. It was a very small velvet red box. He went back to her and opened it, showing a ring. A
wedding
ring. It was silver and had the smallest and barely noticeable diamond on it. ‘I know it’s kind of awkward and cheesy. But, I thought, maybe in the future, if you want, I’m going to propose to you… With this ring.’ he bit the inside of his cheek anxiously, thinking he was acting like a creep for getting a ring when they were only 17 years old.
She started crying and hugged him. ‘I love you so much.’ she was sobbing and ugly crying on his shoulder while he hugged her back, tears slightly filling his eyes. ‘Oh… I love you too, El. More than words can explain.’ he rocked them back and forth.
Please, wrap me in your arms and never let me leave.
And at that moment, words were superfluous.
— — — — —
“Did you get enough love, my little dove?
Why do you cry?
I’m sorry I left, but it was for the best.
Though it never felt right, my little Versailles.”
— Fourth of July.
10:45 PM.
28th of July 1988.
Hawkins, Indiana.
This was it. His hand was gliding over her face. Right before he killed her, El managed to silently teleport a realistic doll filled with fake but realistic organs and filled it with blood that looked like her in her place while she teleported herself out of her place to a forest where not a single person can find her, she was in so much pain that words can’t explain how bad it is.
But, one thing matters.
She’s alive.
— — — — —
“Well you may not like it but you'd better learn how ‘cause it’s your turn now.
You’re wasting your tongue on lame excuses and lies.
All by yourself, sittin’ alone
I hope we’re still friends, yeah, I hope you don’t mind.”
— Not allowed.
10:34 PM.
28th of July 1988.
Hawkins, Indiana.
They all gathered to hang out together. Mike kept calling El but she wouldn’t pick up. He sighed and said ‘Come on, where is she?’
Suddenly, Will broke out crying. ‘I’m sorry, Mike. I’m so, so sorry.’ he confessed what was happening to El and he thought he was joking, and when it started acting seriously he tried to convince himself that El and Will were just tricking them. Until Mike clenched his fists as Will told him he told her not to tell Mike.
Mike felt the same rage boiling in him. The same rage he felt when he found out Hopper was hiding her for 353 days. Mike threw him to the ground and started beating the shit out of his best friend. Mike hated him. He kept cursing and yelling at him as the Party and young adults tried to separate them. Mike’s face was red and crying, his knuckles were bruised from punching and hitting him.
He pushed Max, Nancy, and Steve away as he got up and ran to Eddie’s trailer.
— — — — —
“How can Cupid?
How could you be so cruel?
How can Cupid?
How could you be so?”
— Cupid.
11:25 PM.
28th of July 1988.
Hawkins, Indiana.
He froze as he saw her body lying on the floor, a pool of blood and a cut in her stomach. ‘Oh, God. Please, no.’ he said as he gagged and ran to her, falling on his knees and taking her in his arms. He checked her pulse,
nothing
. ‘No, no, no, no, no!’ He rested her on the ground and started giving her CPR. ‘Please, don’t leave me!’ he begged while his tears fell onto his oversized band t-shirt of “Queen” that she stole from him as a joke. But, as time passed it technically became hers’. He stopped and cried his heart out, hugging the “dead corpse” and muttering that he loves her with all of his heart.
Him and Nancy went back home, Karen hugged him when she saw him frozen and crying, unable to speak or form words.
Nancy later told him that his girlfriend died. She couldn’t tell her why she died so she kept it brief.
Mike threw the wedding ring in the drawer of his nightstand and slammed it shut, crying his eyes out until he went to sleep.
— — — — —
“Like you lit the fuse, you think it’s fictional?
Mystical? Maybe.
Spiritual hero who appears on you to clear your view when you’re too crazy.
Lifeless to those; the definition for what life is.”
— Clint Eastwood.
He woke up on a grassy hill, where there were flowers everywhere, everything was green and the morning sky was full of life.
‘Good morning, Sleepy-head.’ Then, he heard it.
Her giggle
. He moved his head to the side only to see her.
‘El? W-What?’ He sat up on his elbows and got a clearer view of her. She looked like an angel, as always. She wore a cream colored dress with puff sleeves, the dress ended just above her knees. Accompanied by a cream colored headband, flats and a pearl necklace.
She kept giggling. ‘You fell asleep while you were talking about your DnD campaign.’
He looked down and realized that they were sitting on an iconic red and white plaid blanket with a basket in between them. They were having a picnic.
‘Oh, sorry.’ he said as tears filled his eyes.
‘What? Mike, are you okay?’ she looked at him, worried. She took his face in her hands and caressed it. He rolled on top of her, wrapping his arms around her waist and sobbing in the crook of her neck. She hugged him back and gently played with his hair, something that tends to calm him down. ‘It’s okay. Let it all out. I’m here for you.’ she whispered gently in his ear.
Her scent was the same, like always. Her vanilla perfume and scent danced around the picnic loud and happily, while Mike had a faint and quiet strawberry scent.
He replied with a louder cry, his hands clutching onto her dress as if she was going to disappear at any given moment.
And he wasn’t wrong.
‘Mike, wake up.’ she suddenly said, the softness and kindness of her voice leaving. He felt a push against his chest. ‘What?’ Once he blinked he opened his eyes to his mom. ‘Mike, wake up.’
‘Hm? What?’ He looked around and saw his room.
It was all a dream.
‘Breakfast’s ready, Honey.’ she looked at him pitifully. His eyes were puffy and all signs of life he had ever since he claimed he met his girlfriend were gone. ‘Oh. Yeah, I’ll be right there.’ he said and he sat up.
— — — — —
“I wonder how I managed to end up in this place, where I couldn’t get away.
We’re on the borderline.
Caught between the tides of pain and rapture.
Then, I saw the time.
Watched it speedin’ by like a train.
Like a train.”
— Borderline.
Five minutes later he came downstairs with his Pajamas and sat down on the table.
‘I wanted to make you pancakes but we ran out of some ingredients, sorry, Honey.’ she apologized as she began eating. He looked down to his plate.
Eggos
.
He sighed as he began eating. Surprisingly enough, he still had an appetite.
‘She’s resting now. You should be happy for her.’ Ted said as he attempted to comfort his poor child. He never saw him like this. His face looked deflated and pale.
That's how he spent the rest of his 2 weeks, not being able to see Hopper nor Will's face. Will gave him the recorded audio of El, and he didn’t handle it very well.
— — — — — — — — — —
“She’s a killer.
One look is all it takes.
She’s a killer, and she took my breath away.
She’s a killer.
Romantic lover.
There is no other.
She is my lover.
I need her.”
— Romantic Lover.
9th of September 1990.
Hawkins, Indiana.
As Mike was walking to College after getting his Coffee on break in between the sessions, he was going to pass by an alleyway. He saw a teen tripping on his skateboard from something in the dark alley and fell.
‘Woah, you okay?’ He said as he sat on his knees and supported the kid up.
‘Uh, I guess. I think I tripped on something.’ he grabbed his skateboard as Mike swept off the dust on his ripped black jeans, which were complimenting his basic maroon shirt. ‘You su…’ he trailed off once he found an exact replica of Dart. ‘Uhm, you go on, now.’ he shooed the kid away whilst never taking his eyes off the creature.
He started following it with caution, clutching the philosophy book his professor assigned them to read. He looked to the side of the alleyway when he saw her.
It wasn’t a dream, he was 100% sure it was reality.
She was sleeping next to a trash can. Her hair reached her chest and it wasn’t frizzy anymore. Her bangs looked freshly cut. She was wearing a tight fitting black and white horizontal striped crop top which ended right above her belly button with short length sleeves, along with a pair of black sweatpants and black and white horizontal striped socks with a pair of black Converse high tops. She was hugging her black comfy jacket.
‘El.’ he muttered as he sat down on his knees and put the coffee on the ground. His hand went to caress her pink cheeks.
Her eyes slowly fluttered open as she put her hand over his and snuggled to it. ‘Hmm…’ She looked up to see Mike, with tears in his eyes and a smile on his mouth. His hair was now cut and a bit curlier. Just like how she sees him when she sees him in the void. She sighed and smiled. ‘Good morning, Mike.’ She said casually, not registering what she just said. ‘Mike?!’ She got up quickly, dropping her jacket.
He got up after her.
‘Who are you?’ She poorly tried to act confused.
‘El, you just said my name.’ he said, his smile slightly fading away.
‘El? Who’s El? I, uh, I don’t know. You just look like a Mike kind of guy, you know?’ She removed the dust from her clothes and got her jacket and black backpack she was using as a pillow. She stuffed the jacket in the backpack.
‘If you’ll excuse me, I have, uhm, a class to attend.’ She wore the backpack, only putting it on one arm, and walked past him.
‘El.’ he said as he stood in front of her, grabbing her forearms. They were standing now in the middle of the small and narrow alley. Tension was building between them as they stared into each other’s eyes, their hearts beating faster than ever before.
Mike harshly pulled El closer and kissed her in a hard and intense way that caught her off guard, he was normally so gentle. His hands left her forearms and rested on her waist while she wrapped her arms around his neck. They pulled apart, gasping for air as he said breathlessly ‘Vecna’s gone. You’re safe now.’ before kissing her again. He made her walk backwards, pinning her to a wall. She dropped her backpack after Mike dropped his book. He lifted her legs off the ground and wrapped them around his hips as her thumb and index fingers moved to the side of his face while the rest were behind his ear, getting tangled in his hair. He changed into a French kiss, his hands now on her upper thighs.
They pulled apart and rested their foreheads on each other’s and smiled.
‘I missed you.’ He said, still catching his breath.
‘I missed you even more.’ Their breathing was synchronized.
‘Not possible.’ And so were their heartbeats.
‘Can I please get to class now?’ she giggled once they calmed down.
‘What?’
‘Class, Mike. I got to college too, you know. I already told you I had class, like, 5 minutes ago.’
‘Oh, yeah. Right.’ Mike said, carefully dropping her.
He wrapped his arms around her, hugging her and resting his head on her shoulder. He pulled away.
‘Bye, Mike.’ her cheeks were more pink than usual. She was going to go get her backpack but–
‘Wait.’ he gently gripped her wrist. ‘Don’t tell the party, though. Please. I want to hang out with you before they know.’ He gave her a look of love she’d never forget.
‘Alright.’ she nodded then grabbed her backpack.
‘What major are you?’
‘English.’ she quickly replied before sprinting to her class.
‘I love you!’ he tried to scream once he got his book and walked out of the alleyway, to which she replied with her turning to face him and running backwards, raising her hand and waving widely.
" LOVE YOU, TOO!!” she screamed, her sound not so loud to him due to the distance between them, before turning her back to him and continuing to run
fast
. He laughed and then started walking slowly back to class, his session still having some time before it starts.
Once he finished his classes, he snuck out to the bathroom 5 minutes before it ended so he could walk to El’s class.
He spotted and ran to her, giving her a hug.
‘Oh, who’s this?’ A girl said, pointing at him.
‘Uh, guys, this is Mike.’
‘Ohh– You’re the boyfriend, right?’ A boy with light brown, fluffy hair said, pointing at him.
‘Right.’ Mike answered. ‘And you guys?’ he asked.
‘Angelina.’ The girl said.
‘Peter.’ the boy with the light brown answered.
‘Jake.’ a guy with bleached blonde, curly hair replied. He appeared to look a bit stronger and more intimidating. Though his mannerisms were soft and gentle.
‘It’s a long story, but, uh… They’re from the Lab too.’ she whispered to him.
‘What?’ his face turned shocked.
‘Yeah, they managed to fake their deaths like me… We used to be best friends before Papa gave us mood-changing medicine or something like that to make us hate each other… Also he gave them injections to make them look older so whilst they were 8 and 9.. They looked like teenagers and young adults.’
‘Oh…’ Mike said, just taking this info in.
Jake heard her explanation. To which he said ‘I’m 002.’
‘I’m 004.’ her face didn’t look like how it was before, it slimmed down.
‘I’m 010.’ Peter answered.
‘They’re my best friends.’ El told Mike with a smile.
‘Yeah, she’s an original member.’ Peter rested his arm around her shoulder.
‘Wait– Original member?’
‘Uhm… Your party wasn’t my first party.’ she explained to him as Peter removed his arm.
‘Oh.’ Mike would be lying if he said he didn’t feel a ping of jealousy. ‘That’s cool.’
‘Yeah, well, let’s go?’ she said as she took Mike’s hand.
‘Yeah, let’s go.’ he looked at her lovingly.
‘Janee,’ Angelina groaned. ‘you promised.’ she whined.
‘Yeah, you said we’d hang out.’ Peter said with a pout.
‘Guys, I just reunited with my boyfriend after 2 yea–’
‘Janee’ they all interrupted her.
‘Tomorrow.’ she said.
‘Fine.’ Jake said. ‘Let’s go get Taco Bell.’ they all smirked as they started walking away.
‘Son of a–’ she stopped herself when she looked at Mike, who was just confused. ‘We always go to Taco Bell together. THEY’RE GOING TO TACO BELL WITHOUT ME SO I CAN FEEL REMORSE AND GO ALONG WITH THEM.’ she heard faint giggles.
‘You can go, if you want. I don’t mind.’ He did in fact mind.
‘Nope, I wanna spend the day with you.’ she smiled, gave him a quick kiss and started walking with him. As they were holding hands, their fingers were intertwined.
— — — — —
‘Where the hell is he?’ Will said, looking for him.
‘Found him!’ Dustin said, pointing at him, it looked as if someone was next to him. ‘MIKE!’ he screamed for him. Once Mike and El heard Dustin they started to run away together, hand in hand and giggling.
‘What the hell? What’s he doing with that girl? And who
is
that girl?’
‘Beats me.’ Max shrugged. ‘Well, there’s a new Arcade that just opened. Lucas, wanna go?’ She invited him out on a date. ‘Uh. Yeah, sure.’ he said, slightly blushing.
— — — — —
“Your lips, my lips.
Apocalypse.
Go and sneak us through the rivers.
Flood is rising up on your knees.
Oh, please, come out and haunt me.
I know you want me.”
— Apocalypse.
Mike and El were now in Benny’s house, an abandoned location. They were… Well…
They were on the couch. Mike was on top of her, giggling. ‘I love you more!’ He kissed her.
‘No, I love you more!’ She gave him a kiss on his cheek.
He laughed. ‘Nooo…’ his voice muffled when he planted his face on her chest.
‘Yess!’ she laughed.
He lifted his head and gave her his competitive face. ‘My love for you is bigger than the sun.’ he said.
‘Well, My love for you is bigger than the Milky Way.’
‘Well,’ he flipped them over so she would be on top of him. ‘mine is bigger than every galaxy in the whole world combined!’
They giggled as they got closer.
Their kiss became a Makeout. Mike sat up. So, El straddled his lap. He wrapped his arm around her waist and his other hand clutched the couch. His lips went to her neck. Kissing it as she sharply inhaled and clutched onto his shirt.
‘Mi– ke! M– i– ke–!!’ Dustin unknowingly interrupted them on Mike’s glitching Walkie Talkie.
‘Motherfucker.’ he cursed as he went to get the Walkie Talkie.
‘Mike!’ she chuckled.
‘Whatt?’ he faced her.
‘Don’t curse!’ she laughed even harder when she saw his swollen lips, it was messed up from El’s red lipstick.
‘Shh.’ he shushed her. She forced herself to stop laughing, but they were both smiling widely.
Mike replied ‘What do you want?’
‘Uhm, mind explaining where the hell you ran off to and who was that chick you were with? I thought you said, quote “I’ll never find someone like El.’ unquote.’ he answered.
Mike's face became red while El looked at him and smiled wholeheartedly. She started playing with his shirt.
‘Whatever man, I’m busy.’
‘Wai–’ he got cut off by Mike closing the channel.
— — — — —
“She looks just like a dream, the prettiest girl I’ve ever seen.
From the cover of a magazine.
In the car, cruising around with you.
And, my baby, you know that I got you.
Hit the road.
I’m taking off with you.
Not in a hurry.
There’s something about you.
We stayed up all night and slept till noon.
It’s so nice to wake up next to you.
Let’s start the day with breakfast in bed.
Think I’m gonna love you till I’m dead.”
— Something About You.
They spent the rest of the day cuddling and catching up on their two years together.
‘When you gave me the wedding ring on my birthday… I got a house… For us, when we get older.’
He couldn’t say anything, he was speechless in the best way possible. And El understood that.
They fell asleep cuddling.
El woke up to Mike looking at her lovingly.
‘Good morning, beautiful.’ he said with a raspy voice, kissing her wrist.
‘Good morning, love.’ she replied, kissing his jaw.
‘You smell like strawberry.’ she remarked with a smile, her eyes boring into his’.
‘Always.’ and he didn’t lie.
She sat up and stretched while Mike got up.
‘Mike,’ she said, her tone getting a bit serious. ‘Yeah?’ he replied. ‘Do you want to see it?’ she asked. ‘Uhm– See what?’
‘The house. I mean– Imagine if we move to the house and you don’t like the design. That’d be bad.’
‘Oh. Yeah, sure. We can go, I guess.’ he nodded.
They got in his car and drove away.
‘I missed this car.’ she said, her fingertips gliding over the seat’s fabric.
‘Did you? Or did you miss our make outs?’
‘Shut up.’ They both laughed as she covered her face with her two hands.
She looked at the dashboard and saw a bunch of college-related books.
‘Wow. I feel betrayed.’ she admitted.
He looked at what she was looking at. ‘I just… wanted to fill this part with something.’ He shrugged, sounding a bit sad from remembering the past 2 years.
‘Welp, that doesn’t matter now.’ she said, taking the books and tossing them to the back seat. ‘I’m right here.’ She put her feet on the dashboard.
‘Yeah, you are.’ he said, his stomach was exploding like the 4th of July. That’s it. They’re gonna be together forever.
She turned on the radio. It was playing throwback songs from the 80's.
‘Ohh, I love this band!’ She turned up the volume.
‘Really? I hate it.’ he said.
‘What?! How can you not like “The Smiths”?! Everyone loves them!’
He snorted. ‘Someone’s getting a little defensive.’
‘Hm.’ she crossed her arms, acting like she was mad. It was her smile displayed on her lips that betrayed her.
She suddenly bursted at the chorus.
'AND IF A DOUBLE-DECKER BUSSS CRASHES INTO USSS, TO DIE BY YOUR SIDE IS SUCH A HEAVENLY WAY TO DIE.' She clung onto his free arm as he snorted.
'Thanks? I gue-'
She interrupted him. ;AND IF A TEN-TONNE TRUUCKKKK KILLS THE BOTH OF USS, TO DIE BY YOUR SIDE, WELL, THE PLEASURE, THE PIVLEDGE IS MIIIINEEE.'
He laughed.
— — — — —
‘That’s it! That’s the house!’ she pointed at a two story cottage.
‘Holy shit, El.’ he stared in awe.
‘What? Is it bad?’ she asked nervously.
‘It’s perfect,’ he said.
But not as perfect as you.
He parked in the Garage and got out.
‘Come on, let’s go!’ she said excitingly, grabbing his hand and dragging him there.
— — — — —
‘El.’ he said, sitting up and resting his back on their queen size canopy bed’s headboard.
‘Mhm?’ she answered, following his movements.
‘You know I don’t want to ruin the day, but…’
‘But…?’ She was starting to get nervous.
‘When you “died” we had to clear some of your things. Uhm, I found this in your messenger bag and I was wondering who they were.’ He reached for his pocket and got out a polaroid.
She sharply inhaled when she saw it. It was a polaroid of a brown haired guy, his hair was shaved to the point that it almost showed his scalp, he had brown-green eyes and was smiling, his arm was extending for the camera. Right next to him was a girl with dirty blonde hair, she had brown eyes and wore a pretty paisley patterned shirt. She was also smiling, but she was reaching a bit more forward than the boy.
‘They’re my parents. My
real
parents.’ she said, lying down.
‘Oh… I’m sorry, I didn’t kno–’
‘They’re pretty.’ she remarked.
‘Yeah, they are.’ he smiled.
‘I’m not mad, by the way. It’s fine. I’ve accepted my life. Plus, I don’t really care anymore about anything. As long as you’re here, I know my life is safe and complete.’
Mike’s heart was screaming. ‘Oh– I– Uhm–’
‘What? What is it?’ she straddled his lap.
He cleared his throat. ‘Nothing, I just– I don’t mind my parents, too.’
She giggled. ‘You’re acting ridiculous,’ she broke their eye contact to stare at his lips. ‘It’s adorable.’
‘You’re adorable…’
‘Oh, really?’ she caressed his cheek.
‘Yeah, really. Really– Very much.’ he nodded frantically.
‘Thank you. You look very pretty.’
‘A– Aha–...’ he said, love-struck, as she fisted his shirt and brought him closer.
She kissed him, her hand resting on his chest.
They pulled away.
‘I love you,’ he said.
‘I love you.’ she said.
— — — — —
She reunited with the rest of the party. They were all happy and in tears. Especially Max. Dustin decided to throw a celebration for the “Return of the Jedi”; a joke. Nobody laughed except El, who snorted. When she saw no one laughing she cleared her throat and just stood there awkwardly.
She also introduced them to her friends. And Peter would go on to say with a hint of pink in his cheeks ‘I found Will very interesting. He’s an amazing artist, too. His talent and kindness are beyond me.’
Then she reunited with her dad and mom. They ended up crying and hugging her for hours. Insisting on them hanging out alone and for her to tell them what happened those years. She told them about her new friends but didn’t mention they were from the lab. Nor did she mention the house she got for her and Mike until before they moved out by a couple of weeks.
— — — — — — — — — —
“Oh, I remember you driving to my house in the middle of the night.
I’m the one that makes you laugh, when you know you’re ‘bout to cry.
I know your favorite songs and you tell ‘bout your dreams.
Think I know when you belong.
Think I know it’s with me.”
— You Belong With Me.
12:45 AM.
14th of February 1993.
Hawkins, Indiana.
El wore a silk beige crop top with a white lace design on the sweetheart neckline and a spaghetti strap, along with light gray short lounge shorts. She wore a golden heart locket Mike had gotten her on her 20th birthday. Mike wore an oversized half sleeved cream t-shirt with a pair of gray sweatpants.
Mike and El moved out of their house / dorm on their graduation day.
They were in their bedroom, facing the window while their back was facing the side of the bed.
Mike was behind El, his arms were wrapped around her lower waist as he was rocking the both of them.
The moonlight was glistening upon them as if they were a divine Goddess and God. El’s head was tilted to the side as Mike was pecking her collarbone and neck.
‘Jane,’ he whispered in her ear seriously.
She tensed. He’d always call her El.
‘Yeah?’ she replied.
The next four words he said would change their lives forever.
‘Will you marry me?’ he asked, his grip tightening as he rested his head in the crook of her neck.
She lightly gasped. With tears filling her eyes she said ‘Yes.’
She left his smile and tears trailing down her neck. ‘That’s great to hear,
Mrs. Wheeler
.’
— — — — —
“You and me, always forever.
We could stay alone together.
You and me, always forever.
Say you’ll stay, never be severed.”
— Always Forever.
2:34 AM.
5th November 1994.
Hawkins, Indiana.
‘We're getting separated tomorrow.’ he said sadly. ‘24 hours before the wedding separation rule or something like that… I don’t know.’ he groaned.
‘We make our own rules.’ she turned her head to look at him.
He chuckled ‘Unfortunately, not this time.’. He looked at her with a smile on his face.
‘I can’t
wait
to slow dance with you. I’m gonna be facing that bitch, Hopper’s, face the whole time and I’m gonna give him a middle finger.’ He had a smug smile plastered on his face.
‘Mike!’
‘What! Listen, I’m on good terms with the old man now but ever since 1985 I just wanna… Ughh.’ he planted his head on the pillow.
She giggled.
‘I know this is gonna sound weird,’ he said as he lifted his head from the pillow. ‘but, I’m gonna miss resting my head on your warm stomach and hearing it go blaghrarebralagha. You know, like doing the little demonic voices it makes.’’
‘That’s not weird. You’ll just miss me.’
‘No, it actually kind of is.’ he pursed his lips.
‘If it makes you feel better, I don’t think I’ll be able to sleep without hearing your snoring.’ she said.
‘What?! I don’t snore!’ he suddenly sat up.
She deeply sighed. ‘Don’t deny it, Michael. Your snoring is so loud to the point where it could intimidate an elephant.’
‘Okay,
DAMN
.’ he said, with an exasperated and scandalized look. Obviously, he wasn’t actually mad. He was playing around with her.
She stretched her arms out and he happily jumped into her arms, getting snuggly and cozy.
‘We’ve been through a lot to get here, huh?’ she said in wonder, staring at the ceiling.
‘I think… No, I know… I wouldn’t mind repeating my lifetimes and experiencing the pain if it means I get to hear you say “yes” again…..’ he trailed off to sleep.
She chuckled low. ‘I love you.’ she kissed his forehead, which was covered by his hair.
She stayed up thinking about their future until she heard it.
She put a hand over her mouth and quietly giggled.
His snoring is already starting to pick up.
‘Goodnight, love.’ she said, closing the table lamp’s light and going to sleep.