#so I’m guessing that where el and mike slept while Will slept on the floor 😭

[bombshellbois]

Mommy Issues

@harringroveweekoflove

Harringrove Week of Love Day 4: School Dance

Rating: T

Words: 1633

Summary: Steve and Billy have a philosophical discussion that they're both way too sober to have.

“Are you a Mama Bird or a Mama Bear?”

The question comes way too early in the dance when the kids are only just barely beginning to cross party lines and venture into the neutral ground that is the dance floor. Steve has only had one cup of punch and he barely spiked it because he’s trying to make the flask in his jacket pocket last. So he still feels way too sober for this brand of bullshit. 

“Hargrove,” he sighs. “We’re the only people between the ages of 16 and 40 at this dance.” He doesn’t have a follow up for that. He could end it with ‘Could you not be a dick?’ but he’s honestly not sure that’s in the cards when it’s Billy. Sure, he’s trying to be ‘better’ in some vague and unidentified way, and he is here with Steve acting as emergency chaperones for the school dance since there’s a shortage of people willing to be out after dark in this town these days. He just still doesn’t do the ‘nice’ thing. Ever. So Steve just kind of leaves the sentiment hanging and hopes Billy takes something away from it. 

“Please. You’re a 40-year-old woman at heart,” Billy scoffs, pulling a cigarette from the packet in the breast pocket of his white dress shirt. Which looks annoyingly good on him. He even buttoned it all the way up. Steve isn’t sure if that’s because of the formal setting or the scar on his chest, but the end result is the same. Billy Hargrove can absolutely pull off shirts with high collars and Steve has to live with that knowledge. “So. Are you a Mama Bird or a Mama Bear?”

“Dude, I don’t even know what that means,” Steve groans. “I’m not a mom at all.” Glorified babysitter who doesn’t actually get paid and spends more time fighting monsters than trying to monitor who’s watching a scrambled porn channel, sure. Mom? No way. 

“I saw that dish towel over your shoulder at Byers’ place. You’re a mom.” Billy looks at his cigarette like he’s really contemplating lighting it. 

“You can’t smoke in here.” Steve realizes a moment too late how that sounded, and Billy is already grinning widely. No taking that back now. 

“Yes, Mama Steve,” he says, tucking the cigarette behind his ear. 

Steve downs the rest of his punch. He’s kind of surprised that Billy remembers he was wearing a towel over his shoulder almost a year ago when he’d be hard-pressed to remember a single thing Billy was wearing that night, much less some accessory. But then again, he’s pretty sure he got a concussion that night too so… that probably has something to do with it. 

Halfway through the night, Mike and El have ventured out onto the dance floor. They’re probably a little too warm and snuggly for Hopper’s preferences but he’s been remanded to staying home and watching The Magnificent Seven again. Steve has no doubt he’s watching the clock to get a head start on beating the traffic on that 9 pm pickup time. 

Dustin and Will are huddled in the safety of the boys’ side of the gymnasium, heads together like they’re forming some kind of strategy. Except they never actually make any attempt to move or anything. Steve isn’t even sure if Dustin has permission to dance at this thing. Long-distance relationships have too many nuances and kudos to Dustin for trying one right out the gate. He’s a brave kid. 

Max and Lewis are loitering by the punch bowl and every time Max makes a vague motion towards the dance floor, Lucas appears to look around and then decline. Steve pauses in his kid check to follow one of Lucas’s covert glances to where Billy is staring the kid down from across the room. Well, that’s probably something he’s gonna have to deal with because who else is going to? 

Steve comes back to stand beside Billy, pulling the flask from his pocket and offering it up. “So… what does that stuff mean?” he asks, because he has to make conversation about something, and what do he and Billy even have to talk about that’s not horrifying? 

Billy reluctantly pulls his eyes away from where he’s glaring at Lucas. “What?”

“Bears and birds. What was that about?”

Billy takes the flask, shakes it experimentally, and pours a large amount into his cup of punch. Steve’s hopes of even getting a mild buzz to offset the pain of this whole affair drain into Billy’s cup with too much of his stash. “Christ, Harrington, didn’t you even pass the animal chapter in biology?”

This is going great. “Pretend I slept through most of it.”

Billy rolls his eyes and takes a sip from his punch. Then he empties the flask into it entirely before handing it back to Steve. “You some kind of superhero or something?”

“Sorry?” Steve tucks the empty flask back away, making a mental note to never try and share with Billy again. 

“No parents, no sleeping, chasing monsters with a fucking bat…”

“I’ve got parents.”

Billy takes a longer sip from his punch and sighs out through his nose. “You’ve got landlords. That’s what you’ve got.”

Steve takes a breath. Counts to five. Reminds himself that dealt with a Russian interrogator for longer than he’s dealt with Billy so far, and if that didn’t kill him then neither will this. And he only has to deal with him for another 90 minutes. 

“What’s the difference between a Mama Bird and a Mama Bear?” he asks again. 

Billy looks him up and down, and for a second, Steve thinks he’s going to refuse. Make some snide comment and put them right back at the place they’ve been stuck for weeks and months now, with Billy hovering around the edges of Steve’s life while trying to re-integrate himself with Max. Seems like if anything, he’s at least realized that Max is something good in his life and that he’s a little short on good things so he should probably hold onto that. 

“It’s like… a mama bear is gonna protect her kid, right? Baby bears are all cute and hikers think they can just go pet it because it’s friendly and then the mom shows up and rips them apart,” Billy says. Steve is sure he notices that Max grabs Lucas’s hand and drags him onto the dance floor, but he doesn’t comment on it, and that’s some growth right there. 

“That’s horrifying,” Steve says in a conversational tone that implies he understands and Billy should continue. 

“Where the mama bird straight up shoves her kids out of the nest so they’ll learn to fly.”

“That’s… also horrifying,” Steve says, in a new tone that implies that… that’s horrifying. “Mama birds are assholes.”

“You gotta show the kids the door sometime, or they’ll sit in the nest forever and eventually starve when winter comes,” Billy says, like that somehow makes it less terrible. Send a kid plummeting towards the ground to teach them to leave home? Nest. Whatever. 

“Well, I wanna be the bear then.” 

Billy looks him over, a look on his face that Steve can’t for the life of him decipher. “Yeah. You are a Mama Bear, aren’t you? You chase all the monsters away.”

Steve shrugs. “I mean, I’m not gonna leave that up to Dustin. Have you ever seen him swing anything? That kid is a goalie at best.” And not a great goalie either. Passable, but he’s definitely not someone you trust with hitting anything. 

“What happens when the monsters come and Mama Steve left for college?” Billy presses. 

“I’m not going anywhere.” Steve has a stack of college rejection letters that speak to that, but Billy doesn’t need to know that. But he’s also stopped applying because one, he’s not smart enough to get in. Obviously. And two, seriously, none of these kids can get any power behind a swing. Someone with a decent batting average has to be around. “You talk like you’d rather throw a kid off a ledge and hope for the best.”

“Yeah, because that’s how you find out if they’re gonna make it,” Billy says, taking another swig from his punch. 

Steve doesn’t think that’s remotely true. Billy is no bird, even if he’d like to be. He did a lot of damage overstepping every boundary ever while he was trying to keep an eye on Max, and maybe he’s scared of doing it again. Maybe. They don’t exactly talk about stuff like fear and emotions. Or much of anything unless they’re really bored and forced to make conversation because they’re stuck around a bunch of kids. Conversations like this feel like poking the surface of a lake with a stick and trying to guess where the deep parts are.

Steve kind of wants to ask if Billy was once the baby bird in this weird National Geographic metaphor they have going. He doesn’t because he thinks he knows the answer and he also thinks that Billy will probably take a swing at him if he pokes. They’re not there yet, and Steve hasn’t figured out if they’re heading there or not. 

“Well I know they’re gonna make it,” Steve says, taking Billy's cup of punch and draining it because he really needs at least a bare-bones burn down the back of his throat to finish this conversation. “Because I’m gonna be here.”

Billy eyes him, but he doesn’t argue. Eventually, he just scoffs and rolls his eyes. “Fine. Whatever. But I’m kicking all of these brats out of Hawkins when they go to college. We’re not staying in this hick monster town forever.” 

Now that is a level of Mama Bird that Steve can work with. “Deal.”

[haileygarciasunshine]

Rude Awakening

Pairing: Steve Harrington x Reader, Mentions of the Party

Warning: Violence, altered turn of events, swearing

(1/2) or (1/3)🧐🤔

You were currently, home studying when the phone rang, you knew it wouldn’t be your parents, since they only ever used your pager to contact you.

“Hello?”

“Hey! Do you want to come over?”

You sighed, while pinching the bridge of your nose.

the voice continued

“Come on Y/N/N! The Parties over, and they’ve been dying to meet you. Now is the perfect time. Besides, will really misses you.”

“Fine, I’ll be over in five.”

Hanging up the phone, you made your way into your car driving over to the byer’s hosuehold. You had barely made it to onto the front porch before the front door was flung open, and someone practically throwing themselves into you. 

Chuckling and hugging the person back you greeted, “Hi, Miss Byers!”

“How many times do I have to tell you, Y/N! Call me Joyce!” 

She was happy to see you again. It had been awhile since, you were last over at the Byers house. She was seemingly, over joyed to have another female around, since she was always around males. 

Joyce, grabbed your hand and lead you into the house. It wasn’t long before another body was flung onto yours. You knew it was Will, because he was around the same height as your upper stomach.

“Hi, Y/N! I’ve missed you! Never go that long without seeing us again, okay?”

You nodded in agreement, hugging him back and kissing the top of his head. He grabbed your hand and lead you over to where a group of kids were sitting in his living room. You had immediately, assumed that these were the kids in the “Party,” everyone had referred to. 

“Guys, this is our friend, Y/N!”

 “Y/N, this is Mike, Dustin, Eleve, Max and Lucas.” Max and Eleven, were so happy to have another girl around they ran over to you and gave you a hug.

Awhile passed since you were introduced to the party. Usually, they had gatherings at your house since you lived there alone. Tonight however, was a “Girls Only,” night.

“So who do you have a crush on, Y/N?” Max had started the cringe worthy conversation. Finding out, Eleven liked Mike, and Max liked Lucas.

“Uh, nobody at the moment.”

“Uh huh.”

“What do you mean, uh huh?”

“Oh nothing.”

You had chuckled, getting up and grabbing the empty bowl of popcorn. Eleven, had been looking at you weird all night. Almost like, she knew but that you had helped her escape from that night at the Lab, but couldn’t quite put her finger on it.

“I’m going downstairs to get more, do you guys want anything?”

“Yeah! Let’s all go down.”

It was awkward silence, on the venture down to the kitchen.

Suddenly, eleven spoke, sitting on the stool of the breakfast nook.

“It was you, wasn’t it?”

Max turned to face her a little, with a confused expression.

“You helped me escape, didnt you?”

You let out a sigh of defeat, letting your shoulders slump forward.

“Yes, but you can’t tell anyone okay? You too Max.”

“Wait, if you were at the same place as El, does that mean...”

She didn’t finish asking her question, as her faded trying to allow her thoughts to catch up.

You hummed in response.

Suddenly, two high pitched sequels sounded and you were being hugged.

“This is so cool! I have two super hero best friends!” Max exclaimed over joyed!

Accepting the hugs, you kissed the tops of their heads, feeling nothing but love for them.

Once the new mall opened, you and the girls had gone to shop. Seeing as you were the mom of the group, you tried to spoil them.

“Can we go get ice cream?” Max asked. She had a hint of something mischievous in her voice.

“Oka-“ you were suddenly, being pulled by both girls in the direction you could only assume was the ice cream shop.

Once you arrived in an ice cream parlor called ‘Scoops Ahoy’ you were surprised to see an attractive guy, who looked to be about your age.

“Ahoy Ladies,” he said. His name tag said Steve.

Both girls giggled, before ordering their ice creams, and running to a both in the store.

“What can I get you?” Steve asked

“Uh nothing, I’m okay.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah, I’m not an ice cream for lunch kinda gal,” you replied tilting your head a little.

“Yeah,” he sighed “I get that...”

“Y/N!” A voice yelled excitedly

“Hey, Robbin!” You laughed happily excepting her hug.

“Oh no,” she groaned “not you too!” She said dramaticly.

Furrowing your eyebrows together, you exclaimed, “What!”

“You’re friends with, dingus, here’s children too!” Playful nudging Steve’s shoulder with her own.

Looking to him for answers, and him you.

“You’re friends with the party?” He asked intrigued

“Uh, yeah, I guess, I am-“ you had barely gotten out before, the two girls came bounding up to you.

“Can we go to shopping now?” Max asked. You nodded your head, reaching in the pocket of your shorts to pull out money.

Two voices in unison said, “it’s on the house.”

Giving them a confused look, you nodded in gratitude.

“I guess I’ll see you guys around. Bye robin, nice to meet you Steve!”

“Nice to meet you too ... “

“Y/N,” you called as the two girls hooked their arms in yours and pulled you backwards out of the parlor laughing.

“Y/N.” Steve happily to himself.

Robbin turned to him and said, “What the fuck was that dingus?”

You were currently shopping in the Gap, with Max and El. They were giving you a fashion show, of cute outfits each of you had picked.

The party, decided to hangout at your house this time. Max was currently, on high alert because her brother Billy, didn’t want her to see Lucas anymore, for whatever reason. It wasn’t long before everyone had shown up, including Steve.

The doorbell sounded, opening the door you were surprised to see Steve and Dustin standing at your front door. Stepping aside to let him in. He handed you a bouquet of fresh flowers. The gesture made you blush,

“I’m gonna go put these in a vase. Thank you, Steve.”

You moved to give him a hug. This time, it was your turn to make him blush. He followed you to the kitchen. As you were putting the flowers in a vase you said,

“You know you didn’t have to right?”

He shrugged leaning against the counter before adding, “I know, I just thought a pretty girl, deserved pretty flowers.” He said shyly.

“May, Steve Harrington, are you flirting with me?”

“That depends. Is it working?”

Before you could respond, you heard a chorus of “Shit!” Being yelled by your friends. Suddenly, they all flooded into the kitchen.

“Billy’s here! How did he find me! He’s going to kill me,” Max said nervously, as El was trying to comfort her.

You, Steve and Jonathon all exchanged glances. Rolling your eyes, you said “Don’t worry boys, I got this.”

Making your way, to where you kept your bat for instances like these, you threw open the front door, and waited for Billy to exist the car. You didn’t have to look to know that the party was pressed into the front window watching nervously. Both Steve, and Jonathon had joined you on the porch.

“Well, well, well, if it isn’t the Queen, of the misfits herself,” his rough voice sounded as he put out his cigarette.

“Bite me,” you snarled

“Oh I dream of it, sweetheart,” Steve was about to move towards Billy, before you looked at him and wrapped a reassuring hand around his arm.

“Aw, look at that. King Steve, being a bitch,” he taunted.

“What do you want Hardgrove?” You asked darkly.

“Aside from you?” He asked, tilting his head, causing both Jonathan and Steve to step in front of you protectively, causing Billy to let out a hardy laugh, “ I came for Maxine.”

“Guys,” you whispered, “I don’t need you to protect me, I got this.” Hesitantly, they both stepped away from you, but not by much. You took a step forward closer to Billy.

“Leave her alone Billy.” You said confidently.

He chuckled in response, he moved closer to you, almost close enough to tower over you.

“Make me, Y/N, oh wait, you can’t, that’s why you have the goon squad protecting you.”

He was close enough that you could smell the alcohol on his breath.

“Are you drunk? Go, home Billy.”

You decided it wasn’t worth it, you moved to go back in the house, when a rough callused hand grabbed your wrist.

“You and Harrington huh? I could rock your world better than he -“ you didn’t give him a chance to finish, before you dropped the Bat, swinging around so your fist could meet the side of his jaw.

“WHAT THE FUCK!” Billy boomed, letting go of your wrist to bring that hand up to his jaw, causing you to flinch.

Suddenly, both boys were beside you protectively.

“You’re dead Y/L/N,” Billy yelled angerly

“No, you are!”

And with that Steve began throwing punches at Billy gaining the upper hand, but not for long. Soon, Billy was on top of Steve, punching him. Deciding, you had nothing to lose, you turned around and lunged at Billy to get him off of Steve.

After, Billy left, you, Jonathan and Steve all went back into the house. Forgetting that the your friends were watching the whole thing unfold.

“Holy Shit you guys!”

“That was badass!”

Greeted you the minute you all walked back in the house. You brought Steve to the bathroom so you could fix his bruises.

“That was stupid, why’d you do that?” You questioned him. You were actually released that he had stepped up and covered you.

“I couldn’t let him hurt a pretty girl like you.”

“Even with a messed up face you’re still trying to flirt with me?” You questioned with raised eyebrows.

“Save it for later old man.”

“Hey! Who’re you calling old? I’m not that much older than you!” You chuckled at his defensiveness.

It was late, so everyone slept over at your place, since they were already there. Steve wasn’t laying far from you on the floor.

You couldn’t sleep, so you crawled over to where Steve was, gently shaking him awake.

“Steve?”

“Steve!”

You whisper yelled to wake him up

“I can’t sleep.”

He didn’t respond before lifting the blankets in front of him, silently inviting you in. Once you got comfortable, you realized how close you were to Steve, a fraction of an inch and you would be kissing his neck.

He was flirting with you all the time.. what harm could having a little fun with him do? You thought. You decided to lean up, that fraction of an inch and latch your lips onto his neck. Sucking and biting you made your way up to his jaw, leaving a trail of love bites on his neck.

“What do you think you’re doing?” He whisper groaned.

You didn’t respond, as you attached your lips onto his, placing chaste kisses. It wasn’t long before you, felt one of his hands, tangle in your hair holding you to him. Steve took control, and moved so your back was on the floor, with his upper half pressed to yours. The sudden movement enciting a gasp from you, allowing him to snake his tongue into your mouth. Closing your lips around his tongue, you began to lightly suck on it. Steve let out a low moan, causing you both to freeze your actions Incase you accidentally woke someone up. He placed kisses along your face, to your ear. Running his tongue, on the out shell of your ear, he took your earlobe and chewed on it. Your hands made their way to his biceps, digging your nails into them, gently bringing yourself up to his biceps you lightly bit them to keep from morning.

“Would you two stop? Some of us want to sleep!” Dustins annoyed voice sounded. This caused Steve to shoot Dustin a glare. Dustin flipped him off in return.

“Goodnight, y/n”

[stevesweetart]

Mιʂυɳԃҽɾʂƚαɳԃιɳɠʂ Pαɾƚ 2

Fluff a bit of angst

Word count 1.8k

Year 1985

The warm water of the shower falling upon your skin is just what you needed right now. Especially after all the confusion. Thinking about everything that has just happened in the past 12 hours, it was all coming back to you. Maybe these people were on some type of prank with your family and friends, and you can really just call them. So you decided after your shower you would check your phone. There must be an explanation and so far the prank idea was your only option. Once you turned off the water, you got out and looked around the hallway, looking back and forth and running back into the bedroom where your outfit lays ready for you. A white top, blue jeans and white tennis shoes. You dried your hair through the towel and dug through your backpack, finding your phone. You turned it on and felt just as overwhelmed as last night. The time was unknown and location unknown as well. Not to mention no signal. You sat down in defeat, turning it off and looking for a place to plug in your charger. At least you can take pictures and listen to spotify offline.

A knock at the door stopped your train of thoughts, and Steve stood there in the doorway.

“Clearly you’re still recovering from what has happened-” A younger boy with curly hair and an adorable smile stopped him and pushed him out of the way.

“But you’re safe with us!! We’ll be your second family” He had you smile and giggle for the first time in a few days. You looked at the younger boy.

“Thank you, what’s your name if I may ask?”

“My name is Dustin but you can call me Henderson if you want” You smiled, nodding your head.

“I’m Y/N” Dustin smiled and walked into the room, offering a handshake which you accept. Behind him a few more kids pop up behind him. One with bushy hair walked up to you too and sat next to you, offering out his hand like Dustin.

“I’m Mike, and that is Will, he is Lucas and the girl is Max” I waved at them sharing a soft smile as they wave back with smiles on their faces. Steve watched them with his arms crossed, a soft smile on his face.

“We’ll be outside and if you need anything let us know” Dustin said, as all the kids go outside and laugh among themselves. Steve watched them run outside, turning back to me.

“Are they your siblings?” Steve’s eyes went wide.

“Oh no no no they are just kids that I babysit basically and I’m more like a parent to all of them, including El who you met last night” He said, scratching the back of his neck. He looked around the room and even the hallway. Soon looking at the device in your hand.

“What is that?” He asked, pointing to it. You look at your phone and looked around, thinking of an explanation of what to say. Before you could say anything, he stops you.

“It’s something from the future, of course but what exactly is it?” You struggled to find an answer but decided to come clean in a simple way.

“It’s a cellphone. Which means I am able to make calls, send people messages through the phone, take pictures and videos and even listen to all kinds of music” You said, smiling at Steve’s reaction of wide eyes and mouth open.

“Do you think you can still make calls in this time period?” You shook your head.

“Highly doubtful, like no doubt in my mind it will not work” You sighed, plugging in the charger and charging it up. You left it alone and turned to Steve.

“What else do you have in your bag?” He asked, looking at your light blue backpack. You smiled in an embarrassed way, and held up a couple of fingers to your lips.

“Are you sure you wanna know? It’s very embarrassing for me…” Steve rolled his eyes slightly.

“Come on you can show me, I’m sure it’s nothing” You nodded in agreement and grabbed your bag, unzipping it as you pulled out a few Nancy Drew books, a huge set of colored pencils, pencil set and your sketchbook. Steve held up the sketchbook, looking at the cover of it that shows a tree with different colored leaves on it.

“What kind of drawings do you have here?” You took it from him and patted the seat next to you on your bed, flipping through the pages filled with animals, different patterns, fantasy nature scenes and even cartoon characters. You would stop at a few drawings and tell Steve what exactly you drew and the meaning behind it when he would ask.

“You are a very talented person, the most I can draw is a stick figure” You laughed at this comment.

“Thank you but I don’t think I’m that good, I’m still working on it” You say, putting the book back in your bag.

“But I think you��re great”

“Thank you Steve but I don’t know about that. I see other people’s drawings and paintings and feel…. Not as good as them, or that I ever will be-” The door opened up, showing two girls and a guy. One girl had short hair, the other bushy and the guy had somewhat greasy hair.

“What are you guys doing here?” Steve asked, clearly annoyance in his voice as he asked them.

“Just came by to say hello, but who are you?” The short haired girl asked you, her tone was comforting in an odd way.

“I’m Y/N, I um..” You started, but couldn’t finish due to the fact that you think they won’t believe you. But Steve took over for you.

“She is not from this time period, she’s from 34 years in the future” All three of them outside of the door looked at Steve in shock and disbelief and turned to you again.

“Um I highly doubt that, time travel isn’t possible Steve” The bushy haired girl said, with a slight attitude in her voice as she looked at you with a side eye. Steve placed a hand on your back.

“You can ask El about her, she’ll give you more information” He stated, his hand patting your back softly. Two of them left while one stayed back for a few seconds, looking at you both in what seemed jealousy but then walked off with her arms across her chest. You turned to look at Steve.

“Why did she stare at us like that?”

“She’s my ex, she swears she’s over me but whenever I am near a new girl, she gets jealous” He sighed, leaning back on the bed.

“So I guess she is not fully over you if that is the case”

“Yeah….” You felt bad as you saw the annoyed and pained look on his face. You looked forward and the both of you remained in silence for a while. Until Dustin came to the bedroom door, moving his hand back and forth.

“Come, we’re talking about how to get you home” You sat up and Steve followed behind. Everyone was in the living room, even his ex who did not seem happy to see you.

“Okay everyone, how are we gonna get Y/N home?” Mike said, looking around the room.

“What about the Russians? What if they have a time machine?” You eyes went wide.

“A time machine?! And Russians??” You asked in a panicked tone, looking at Mike.

“What about my car?”

“You have a car?” The older guy asked you. You nodded as El took over.

“She was driving through the forest nearby and somehow got here through a storm” She said softly, looking up at you then the rest of the group.

“Well I highly doubt they would keep it under the mall” His ex said, bottom lip slightly popped out. Steve noticed your nervousness, taking your hand softly as your other hand hooked around his arm. You looked down at the floor as the conversation continued.

“Well we gotta think of something, it never hurts to try to go back-” Max started but got stopped.

“Oh hell no! The last time we did blood was everywhere” Steve said sternly, which caused you to hold onto his arm tighter, Dustin’s head popped up.

“What if we wait until the next storm comes and she can drive through it like she did when she got here?” You nodded slightly in agreement.

“I feel like that could work” You said, and a few of the kids agreed with you.

“As long as you’re safe doing it I approve” El said, but then pouted.

“But when is the next storm?” She asked, Mike spoke up.

“I believe in two weeks” You sighed in defeat, leaning into Steve as you look at the floor.

“Well we’ll keep at as plan A but if anything else turns up, let the rest of the group know” Steve said, looking anywhere but his ex. Everyone agreed strongly, especially his ex. You excuse yourself to go to the bathroom once you noticed her glare at you. Steve caught up to you as you turned around.

“Hey, I know she isn’t friendly but if she tries to do anything to you, let me know ok?” You nodded, holding out your pinky.

“I promise I will” He chuckled and hooked his pinky around yours as he left to the kitchen and you went to the bathroom and sighed in relief that you’re safe from her glare. Once you got out after a couple of minutes, the kids were out and the rest were watching TV. The girl with the short hair noticed you and got up, a soft smile on her face.

“I never got to introduce myself, I’m Robin” She said, holding out her hand. You shook it in a relaxed way, at least she’s nicer than his ex.

“Also I have something to share with you, follow me” She whispered as she took your wrist and pulled you into the bedroom you had slept in the night before.

“Is this about his ex?” You asked softly as she closed the door and locked it.

“Yes, and to also be a friend for the time you’re here who is close to your age so you won’t have to deal with just Harrington”

“Harrington?”

“Steve’s last name”

“Ooooh ok”

“Yeah so about his ex, she was a total sweetheart at first but as time went on, she turned into a tougher person?” She said, unsure about how to explain the last part.

“And she claims to be over him?”

“She says so but whenever she sees him flirting she looks like she has holding herself back” She said, fixing her hair slightly.

“But either way, ignore her and the guy she is with”

“What’s her name?”

“Nancy, the other guy is Jonathan” She said, disgust in her voice. You giggled slightly and yawned, and Robin noticed immediately.

“Do you wanna go do something?”

“Like what?”

“Ice cream and maybe bowling?” You nodded excitedly, and clapped slightly.

“Can Steve come?” She nodded, going out the door as you followed behind to have a fun afternoon.

[m11leven]

Ever fallen in love with someone (you shouldn't have fallen in love with?) -

-chapter three : I'll only end up losing you

a/n : I'm back???? Sorry for taking so long on such a short chapter??? Please still read it I hope you like it!

Summary : the party eats pizza and continues to be oblivious to each others feelings.

Ao3

-

“The saddest kind of sad is the sad that tries not to be sad. You know when sad tries to bite its lip and not cry and go “no, I’m happy for you!” that's when it's really sad”

-

“Hi Mike” She can't fucking breathe, he looks heavenly. He looks the way he sounded on the phone earlier, soft. He looked happy. “I brought you ice cream! We couldn't decide so we bought four kinds!” he laid the ice cream down on the floor and stretched his (uncontrollably long) hands in the air.

“You didn’t have to buy four kinds, I’m fine with just one” she stood up and walked over to him to greet him, he opened his arms to her, pulling her into a warm embrace. She hugged him back, trying to act as if her heart wasn’t swelling (or aching, she couldn’t really tell the difference at this point) at the thought of his kindness. He ruffled her still damp hair and kept walking into the living room to greet Dustin.

She walked into the kitchen, where Lucas was stationed.

“Did you order already?” she asked him, looking out the window of their tiny kitchen. “Yeah,” he looked kind of sad, kind of like he was trying to hide it from Max that was standing by the fridge, scanning through it to find something to eat, because if Max wasn’t eating she was definitely hungry.

“When was the last time you guys went to the store? There is literally nothing in here!” Max sighed dramatically, not even trying to hide her disappointment. El looked at her, are you for real right now? “I went to the store like two days ago and besides,” she looked over to where Mike and Dustin were engaged in a conversation, “didn’t you just get married yesterday? Don’t you have a ton of leftovers in your fridge?” she looked at her and flashed a joking smile, “my husband literally just bought you four boxes of ice cream, you’re not really allowed to make fun of my eating habits right now, Hopper!” Max kicked her lightly in the shin. She pretended to fall back in pain, laughing and landing on Dustin who caught her, “hi Dusty!” she looked up at him and smiled as he cringed at the nickname, “hi Ellie!” he looked down at her and laughed.

“Uh, guys? Is Will coming over too?” Mike yelled from the living room, “Yeah, I think so. Unless…”

“Unless what?”

Max rolled her eyes at Mike, “unless he’s with Charlie” the redhead said mockingly. Will’s boyfriend Charlie was pretty cool. He was a real artistic type, studying modern art or something. None of them were quite sure. Will seemed happy and to be honest? He deserved it.

He spent nearly every day with him, he would go away for school in a few weeks so they didn't really blame him.

El was about to say something regarding the matter when the doorbell rang.

An overexcited Dustin yelled “Pizza!” and started running towards the door with Max following him swiftly.

The boy that delivered the pizza was only a few years younger than they were, he’d gone to high school with them. He congratulated Max on the engagement to which she smiled and then proceeded to tell him that “we’re actually married now!” then she showed him the ring.

The pizza was great, it almost made her forget the fact that she wanted to puke.

Almost.

“So, you guys want to watch star wars or…” Dustin was sat in front of the tiny tv Lucas had bought off of his uncle a few months ago, looking for a movie to watch, “we also have back to the future, ooh the shining, It’s been a while since we watched that, hasn’t it Max?” He grinned at the redhead that was sitting behind him. She pointed her middle finger at him and scoffed.

“I wasn’t that scared”

“Sure you weren’t,” Mike laughed at the girl in his arms but when she shot him a glare however his smile faded, “I say we go for back to the future, to warm up for the new one!”

“I always forget how much I love that movie,” Dustin was lying on the floor, stationed with a bag of Cheetos and a three musketeers bar next to him (“just let me eat my nougat and I'll let you eat your gross eggos!”) “Wanna watch another one?”

El really disliked this. Her two best friends were married! They’re married to each other. But she’d learned a long tima ago that she’d have to be ok with it if she wanted to keep both her best friends in her life.

Mike and Max were an unlikely couple, to say the least. They both had explosive personalities which caused them to clash. They fought like crazy when they fought but surprisingly that had never caused them to leave each other. (unfortunately). During their junior prom Lucas lost it at Mike when he’d hurt Max with a snarky comment but at the end of the night, Lucas and El found them in the middle of a heated make-out session behind the school. El felt her heart burn and her stomach sank at the sight.

She’d spent the night at Lucas’ place that night, the first night of many spent making sure Lucas was ok.

“Do you guys wanna stay over? It's like one am and I don't care how good of a driver you are Max, you cannot drive after those two beers you've had” Lucas laughed and Max frowned at him. “Fine. We’ll stay.”

Max and Mike stayed in Lucas’ bed and Lucas stayed with El in her room.

“This feels a bit like old times, huh?” Lucas laughed, reminding El of their high school sleepovers. “I guess,” she laughed too “just promise not to spill Gatorade over my bed like that one time. It turned my sheets blue.” He laughed at the fond memory, “in my defence, you startled me”

She fixed him a look, “sure”, she rolled her eyes jokingly at him, “sure I did.”

Lucas was about to retort with some brilliant comeback, no doubt when the door swung open. Mike’s face peered in. “Are you staying here Lucas?” he asked confusedly.

“Yeah? I am” Lucas was equally as confused. He always slept in El’s room when they stayed over. “Yeah, ok, no, I mean-” Mike stammered. He looked… nervous. There was an emotion in his eyes that she couldn’t quite read. He walked out leaving a confused El and Lucas behind.

“What the hell was that” El whisper screamed at Lucas. “He was… jealous?” El stared at him in shock. Even the notion that Mike was jealous of Lucas staying in her room was absurd, just as absurd as Lucas bringing that up as a reason for him to act strangely. It was just the way that Mike was, sometimes he was a bit out of it, he was probably a bit tired. It was almost two-thirty in the morning and she doubted that he’d gotten a lot of sleep the night before due to reasons she was entirely uncomfortable thinking about.

“Yeah, right,” El scoffed. “Next thing I know he’ll be dumping Max and falling at my feet! ‘Oh El! I was wrong this whole time! You’re the love of my life!” She mocked sarcastically. Lucas rolled his eyes at her.

She threw her pillow at him “shut the fuck up Lucas, he was clearly out of it, you know how he gets when he’s tired!”

“He never stutters, maybe he-”

El’s stomach stung with a feeling she could only recognize as disappointment, “can you drop it?” she whispered.

“I’m sorry, El,” Lucas climbed over the bed and took her into his arms, “It’s ok,” he rubbed her back as she clinged to his taller frame. “You’re my best friend, you know that, right?” she said to him softly, “I thought Max was your best friend”

“You can have more than one, you know that, right?” she peered at him through her eyelashes, “You’re my best friend too”.

-

Someone was shaking her. Why does waking up always involve someone shaking her until she finally wakes up?

“El! You gotta wake up!”

She opened her eyes and sat up immediately when she saw who it was. It was Mike. Mike with a tear stained face.

“Mike, what’s wrong?” she reached for a hoodie and put it on while he caught his breath. “Can we go for a drive?” was all he could say back.

-

Tagging : @paladinsthings @spaceshakes

A/n : so, I know it's been a few months and that was definitely not planned, I'm sorry about that. All that being said, I hope to get a new chapter out soon, hope you liked this one!

[elshopper]

Wish You Were Here

Chapter 3 - The Second Lie

Hi people I have added a new chapter :) Here she is. I owe a large thank you to everyone who has given me such nice feedback since I started writing this... you’re all incredible and i love you. 

Ch. 3 WC: 6,131

Rating: T

Summary: Mike and El continue their journey on the run as they slowly but surely come to the realization that this ‘vacation’ isn’t exactly what they thought it would be. They wait anxiously for Hopper’s first report, both secretly hoping that he’ll send the all clear that lets them make their way back home. 

Read on ao3 here, or down below. You can find Ch. 1 here.

June 14th, 1989 – 9:35 AM Brandon, South Dakota

Taking a deep breath of the stale air around him, Mike comes to after his first full night of sleep in what feels like weeks, except it’s only been a day.

Holy fuck, it’s only been a day.

He blinks, and turns his head from one side to the other, waiting for his neck to pop. The pillow the motel had graciously given him was nothing less than a sack of Legos, and he felt like he must have been absolutely exhausted to fall asleep that early, on that uncomfortable of a pillow, and still have slept all the way through the night.

He got up to pee. He was trying to be as quiet as he could to avoid waking El, looking for her in her bed as he passed. She was curled up in the thin sheets, facing the window, looking absolutely lost to the world.

The morning light was shining through the cracks in the curtains, and he thought it might be time that they hit the road again. One glance at his watch, and he knew it was time. Dammit. We gotta go, and soon.

It probably wasn’t as urgent as Mike felt it was, but he was freaked out. So freaked out, he had tried his absolute hardest to hide it from El all day yesterday because he didn’t want her to worry about him. He didn’t want her to worry at all. So maybe, if he acted like he was actually enjoying this whole thing (a ‘vacation’, if you will), she would too.

That way, she wouldn’t notice that he checked over his shoulder every five minutes for that menacing white-haired man in a suit that he saw in his nightmares. No matter the monster, no matter the scenario in front of him, Mike had always been haunted by the mere appearance Dr. Brenner. He made Mike so angry that it terrified him. He hoped, for the bastard’s sake, he was dead or on some far away island, because when Mike got ahold of him…

Shut up. Mike thought, stopping himself. You aren’t going to kill anybody, calm down.

But he was still freaked out. He felt like, if they didn’t get a move on right this very second that the bad men and scary doctors were hot on their tails with guns and ropes and sleepy medicine in syringes to make sure El would never escape and he would never be seen or heard from again.

All that faded away on his way back from the bathroom, when he saw that El had shifted in her sleep to face his side of the room. Her face was all smushed up in her pillow, and her mouth was open just slightly. She looked so calm, like she didn’t know how stressed Mike was at the moment. He thanked his lucky stars that she didn’t have a nightmare last night, thankful that she was getting some much-needed rest. He was always there when she called him in the middle of the night, but he had a sneaky suspicion that she didn’t ask him for help as often as she needed it.

He stood above her, ready to gently wake her up so they could keep going, but he stopped himself before he could gently shake her shoulder.

No one is following us, at least not closely enough to be all the way out here by now.

So, he just got back in bed, deciding to let her wake up on her own.  

He was so lucky to know so much about her – he knew how strong willed and powerful she was, how stubborn and determined she could be. He knew what made her laugh, he knew what made her nervous. He knew what made her happy and what made her want to hide. Even though he felt like he had known her for as long as he’d been breathing, he was still completely in awe by the simple things she did. For example, how adorable of a sleeper she was.

He let himself catch up to everything a little. Reminding himself what he was really so nervous about, and simultaneously why all of his worrying was unnecessary. If El was here with him, they were going to be okay. She was unbelievable, indestructible, and fierce. They would be just fine. He knew it.

El breathed what sounded like a contented sigh in her sleep. If he was being honest, he absolutely loved it that she stole his Math Camp shirt from him a couple of years ago. He never once questioned where it went, because he figured she had snatched it from his room. It was cute. Perfectly cute. What normal girlfriends did with their normal boyfriend’s t-shirts.

He wanted to reach out and touch her, but she was too far away.

He didn’t know how he was going to make it through college without living in the same town. He was torn – torn between being with her, and having the “true college experience” his family was always on him about. Even though (to his absolute disdain) his dad rambled on about “branching out” and “meeting new people” every chance he got, Mike knew he was at least a little bit right. New experiences in a new town were a good thing, but it didn’t mean any of those new experiences needed to replace El. Or any of the rest of his friends, for that matter.

He loved her. Much more than he could have ever imagined loving someone. It was different… that was the only way he could describe it. Different, in the way he was just sure. He was sure about everything she said, sure about everything she did, sure about everything she was. When he looked at her (even right now, as she was stirring out of sleep and blinking into the morning), he didn’t have a single doubt in his mind.

“Oh my God…” she said, yawning. “Mike, how are you already awake?”

“It’s almost 10,” he replied, reaching to flip the lamp switch on. She winced at the sudden brightness. “Sorry.”

“Did you sleep okay?” she asked, rubbing her eyes.

“I did, what about you?”

“Fine,” she replied. “Just fine.”

He was sitting now, waiting for her to start making her way out of bed, but she wasn’t. She was letting her eyes drift open and closed, fighting the idea of being awake. It would make him antsy if he wasn’t totally lost in watching her wake up.

“Why are you just sitting there staring at me?” she asked.

“Because I love you.”

“That’s weird,” El said, yawning one more time before opening her eyes for good this time. “But I guess it’s okay.”

“Oh, really?”

“I guess.”

Mike smiled, and it broke into laughter as he stood himself up to walk towards the bathroom. Before he could get very far, she rolled her way out of bed and stopped him, standing in his way with her arms crossed. Her hair was a little… everywhere since she slept on it wet, but she hadn’t yet noticed. He was glad, he loved her hair like that.

“How long have you been sitting there staring at me because you love me?”

“I dunno. Forever, probably.”

He leaned down to kiss the top of her forehead and walk on to the bathroom to brush his teeth, but she stayed in his way, pulling him into a hug which he gladly reciprocated. An impenetrable force, she seemed.

“Good morning,” she mumbled into his shirt. “I love you too.”

“I know.”

“Then why are you trying to walk away from me?”

“I’m trying to brush my teeth so my breath doesn’t stink, is that okay with you?”

She let go of him then, and followed him to the sink in the bathroom. He grabbed his toothbrush from the holder, and she did the same. In seconds, they were both brushing their teeth, taking turns spitting into the sink and trading looks in the mirror. She giggled at him, and he laughed at her – for what, neither of them seemed exactly sure.

Wiping the rest of the toothpaste off his mouth with the spare towel on the rack behind them, he turned back around to face El, who was doing the same on the washrag by the sink.

“Better?” she asked, mocking him with her facial expression in the mirror. For that, he swept her up all of a sudden, spinning her around and lifting her up so that she was eye level with him, his arms wrapped around her waist. Her feet were dangling about a foot off the floor.

“Mike,” she laughed. “Put me down!”

But he didn’t. He kissed her instead, and with that her hands moved from his shoulders to his face and she sighed. He did it to cushion what he was about to say, but he forgot all about that for a few seconds while he got a little lost in the way her fingers were playing with his hair. I’m sorry, El. I’m so so sorry.

Just as she was moving her right leg up to lock around his hip, he lowered her back down to the floor and pulled back to see her look back at him – all dazed and confused.

“El, we should get back in the car.”

She rolled her eyes and threw her head back, exasperated.

“Why?” she wined. “Haven’t we driven far enough? Can’t we just stay here?”

He could tell she was hoping that the proposition of staying here would tempt him, but he was sure they needed to leave and she frowned.

“I think we should keep going. I said so last night.”

“I thought you would get over that,” she said, as she grabbed her toothbrush and set off for her bag in the room.

“Come on, El, don’t make me the bad guy…” he tapered off, cringing a little at his choice of words and praying she wouldn’t fixate on them.

She fished for a set of clothes in her bag. He figured he should do the same.

“I just don’t want to sit in the car for an eternity like I did yesterday.”

“I get it, I don’t want to either,” he said, thinking hard about a way to make her not completely hate this. She stepped in the bathroom to change, so Mike just stayed put, swapping his pajama pants for jeans and pulling on a fresh t-shirt.

“Well, we can try to find something to do every couple of hours, how does that sound?” he called to her through the wall.

When she opened the door, she was in a different t-shirt and a pair of shorts with her hair up in a pony tail.

“I guess that’s okay,” she said, walking past him to grab her bag and toss it over her shoulder. She turned around, looking over the room one last time to make sure she hadn’t left anything. “Come on,” she said, and nodded him towards the door He took a few steps to follow her before stopping in his tracks.

“You go ahead, I’m going to check one more time to make sure we didn’t leave anything.”

He reached into his pocket and tossed her the keys. She caught them in her free hand.

“Alright… see you in a minute.”

When she closed the door behind her, Mike let out a small sigh of relief. Almost forgot. He opened the bedside drawer where he had stashed Hopper’s gun last night while she was showering, and made sure the safety was on before he stuffed it in the waistband of his jeans.

He figured she didn’t need to know about Hopper giving him a weapon unless something crazy happened – she would only get more concerned with the state of things and want to go back home all the more. Of all the places he could take her, that was the only place they couldn’t go.

It turned out that Sioux Falls was just a couple of miles away, so Mike decided it was the perfect place to refill the gas tank and grab them some breakfast at the nearest McDonalds. A couple of quick Egg McMuffins and cups of coffee later, he and El were at the first gas station he could find fueling up the car before they set off to find new scenery.

She sat in the passenger seat, with a baseball cap low on her head to avoid any of the stupid cameras that might be at the gas station – though Mike thought that was unnecessary. He didn’t see any cameras anywhere, as if they’d even have that kind of technology up here anyway.

As he was watching the gallon ticker move up steadily and tapping on the folded up manila envelope in his back pocket, El got out of the car and came to the back to stand by him.

“I’m going to run in and go to the bathroom really quick,” she said.

He mouthed to her, “Watch out for the cameras!” which earned him a light slap on the arm before she walked across the parking lot and into the store. A few minutes later she came back out to him, grabbed his hand and begged him to come inside with her. He reluctantly followed her away from the car, praying the door was locked.

“El, what are you doing?”

“I had an idea… look at these!” She motioned him over to a stand in between the named keychains and the mini license places.

They were postcards, with beautiful pictures of Sioux Falls, South Dakota in all its glory – scenic rivers and flowers and rocks and whatever the hell else was out here. El started spinning the stand, and her eyes lit up.

“El, you know we aren’t supposed to tell anyone where we are…”

She acted like she didn’t hear him, plucking one of the post cards up with the phrase Greetings from Sioux Falls in bold, loopy cursive over a rocky waterfall. Wish You Were Here!

It was kind of dirty – Mike could only guess the postcards had been on the shelves since the 70’s – and El blew the dust off the card.

“It’s only 15 cents, Mike.”

“But we can’t send it to anyone at home,” he whispered.

“I don’t want to send it,” she whispered back, determined. “I want to keep it. If this is a vacation, I want to treat it like one.”

She turned to him with those big, defiant eyes of hers, and Mike knew he couldn’t say no even if he wanted to. And where was the harm, really? As long as she didn’t secretly slip them to Max back at home, he figured it was a pretty good idea.

“That would be a cool way to know where we’ve been...”

“Like a travel diary!” she finished his thought for him. “I found one of Joyce’s in a box once.”

He fished a dollar out of the envelope in his pocket and she went up to the counter to buy it, putting the spare change in the Take a Penny Leave a Penny jar in front of the cash register.

Her souvenir in a little brown bag under her arm, El climbed into the passenger seat and waited for Mike to strap himself in. Once he buckled his seatbelt, he looked over to her and she was pulling postcard out, admiring the waterfall on the front. It was a pretty scene, but Mike didn’t have any idea where it was.

“We don’t have to tell anyone we never saw the real thing,” she said, smiling at him. He grinned, and leaned in to give her a quick kiss before shifting the car in drive and peeling out of the gas station. She grabbed the map out of the console, and tried to find their position on the tangled mess of roads and highways.

“Vacation day number two,” Mike said. “Where are we headed, El?”

---------

June 18th, 1989 Bismark, ND

The past few days had whizzed by in a weird slow blur, and El was convinced she knew both of the Dakotas as if she had lived in the two states her entire life. Her and Mike had weaved north and south through forests and plains for the past couple of days, deciding that they didn’t want to head much further from home before hearing what Hopper had to say that Sunday.

El had secretly been dreading what there was for Hopper to find in Hawkins. She had been pushing that tiny aspect of their predicament from her mind as often as she could, buying post cards at every stop and writing a few sentences about their day whenever she got a chance. It had been like a vacation so far – no bad men or horrors from their past in sight – except the fact that it was absolutely boring most of the time. El was pretty much reading her book one page at a time just to prolong the inevitability of finishing it in a couple of hours and having nothing else to preoccupy herself with.

Mike had been good. They had been driving less and less as the days moved past them, stopping to walk around quaint downtown squares, look in store windows, and eat in little country kitchens to avoid another burger from McDonalds. The places they’d been staying had been alright so far, with no extreme complications to date. One time, El was positive there was a hair that didn’t belong to her in her bed, but she just flung it on to the floor and forced herself not to think about it.

Mike was still getting them double rooms, something that El still did not understand. 

At the time, she just figured the first time must have been a mix of nerves and exhaustion, but the next couple of nights were the same. I mean, we’re still sleeping two feet from each other in the same room. El thought, every night, like clockwork. What’s the difference?

He let her drive sometimes, though, and she loved those few hours of freedom while she let him rest. They had spent so much time talking about everything under the sun, that El couldn’t imagine there was anything else left on earth to talk about.

After complaining about her lack of clean clothes, Mike had asked their waitress about the nearest laundromat (Laundra Matt? Who the hell is Laundra Matt?) and they had spent a couple hours sharing a pint of chocolate ice cream from the nearby convenience store and doing their laundry in this seemingly massive laundry room. Mike exchanged a few dollars for quarters and they did a few loads, goofing off while they waited. Why anyone would ever want to do their laundry at home in their tiny laundry closet when they could do it in a place like this was completely lost on El.

That was probably her favorite night so far, and she still stifled a laugh when she thought about being caught with Mike pushing her around the isles in one of the laundry carts by the old, persnickety attendant woman.

“What are you kids up to? I’ll run you out of my store if you’re messing around with the equipment.”

“So sorry ma’am,” Mike said, trying his hardest to hide his laughter. El hid behind him, a smile cracking on her face. “We’ll stop. We’ll leave soon, I swear.”

Now they were held up in North Dakota. After dinner that night at a diner outside of Bismarck, Mike pulled them into the adjacent motel, and El carried their bags while he went in to pay for the room. It had been a nice day, the sun had been shining, but there was a looming presence over them. She knew Mike would never ever say it, but he was hoping Hopper would tell her it was alright to come home. She hoped so too, and she had been anxious about it all morning – biting her nails and being fairly silent on the drive. She knew he noticed. He always noticed.

Mike passed her the keys – Room 115, and what do you know? El thought. A double room... At least this one has a TV. She put her bag down on the sixth bed she’d slept on this week, and they watched reruns of America’s Funniest Home Videos, Mike checking his watch every couple of minutes, until…  

---------

“Hey, kiddo.”

El has grown to hate it here, in the dark expanse of her mind. She always tries her hardest to come back here only when she needs to. Most recently, those needs had only been to find people of interest for Dustin and Lucas after saying “Fine, if you’ll shut up,” and seeing what Mike was doing sometimes when she missed him.

She hadn’t gone in her mind to look for… him… in about a year. She was too afraid she’d stumble upon something she wasn’t ready to see, or something that would make her lose control and create another… rift in the Earth. She felt like the world was too fragile for her to ever be exploring the full extent of her powers. They did much more hurt than good. She stuck to grabbing things that were out of her reach, being effortlessly coordinated, and doing the occasional party trick for her friends. The black void in her head was no place for her to spend too much time, especially when there were wonderful people in the dimension in front of her that she didn’t want to risk.

She was here now, though against her will, and Hopper was in his chair back at home. The lamp was on over his shoulder, the yellow light spilling into the darkness. There was a chilled beer can on the side table next to him. His eyes moved around the room, and El wondered about the rest of the scene… was Joyce waiting in the kitchen trying to look busy? Was Will impatiently listening on the couch?

“It’s about 7:30 our time. I don’t know if you’re listening yet, or not, because of the time changes… I hope he remembered the time changes…”

El almost rolled her eyes. He was always so on Mike’s case about being late. She swiftly moved her concentration to the lamp, and the lightbulb flickered a few times, enough to catch his attention. He looked up at it and smiled.

“Okay… okay you’re here then.” His voice grew in excitement. El took a step closer and looked in his eyes – they looked impossibly tired, like he hadn’t been getting much sleep. She sighed. She hoped, oh she hoped he wasn’t smoking again. She glanced on the table looking for an empty box of cigarettes but didn’t find one. Hopefully Will is holding him to his word.

“I – we miss you,” he continued, staring straight ahead. El moved a step over, so that she could pretend, just for a second, that he was looking right at her. That he could see her. “I hope you’re not mad at me.”

Ha. I’m not mad at you, I’m pissed, you stubborn son of a –

Hopper’s gaze shifted to someone she couldn’t see.

“What’s that? Oh. El, blink twice if you’re mad at me.”

Without a shred of hesitation, the lamp light blinked two times.

Hopper started laughing, likely with whoever else was in the room. It was absolutely agonizing not to know who.

“You don’t have to answer that quickly, Jesus,” he said, rubbing his eyes and reaching for the beer beside him. “Your little friend Max is already mad at me enough for the both of you.”

Max.

“Speaking of which, she’s fine. Everybody is fine.”

Hopper started to tell her what was going on in Hawkins. It was the absolute talk of the town that Ted Wheeler’s son had run off with his girlfriend for “no apparent reason” although most people in town knew it was because Ted probably told him he didn’t approve. Karen was upset – with Ted, mostly, for being so insensitive. She called Hopper every day to see if he had any updates on their kids, and every day Hopper lied and told her he had no idea where they’d run off to or why they’d gone.

He said her friends were told everything they needed to know, and they were pissed at him for not letting them tag along. Max was the angriest of all of them, and she had asked who needed to die in order to bring Mike and El back home. Will was a little down, probably because he was faced with all this for the first time in a while, and it was showing. Hopper was worried about him, and El could tell by the way he avoided talking about him altogether.

Just as El felt responsible for everything, so did Will. They shared that, and would often argue over it, but El couldn’t understand why he wasn’t scared of her. She was the one who did those things to him. He was the victim, and she knew it. She would say she was sorry, and every time he just threw the I’m sorrys right back at her.

Will, please be okay.

What El and Mike wanted to hear, most of all, was when they could come home. It didn’t have to be tomorrow, but they just wanted to know that it would be soon. The uncertainty of everything was weighing on them, and she could tell when she looked in his eyes. He was cracking under the pressure – pretending for so long that he was alright with it all. He was trying to be so strong for her, but she didn’t need it. She just needed to get them both back home somehow.

As she waited for Hopper to continue, she could feel Mike’s pulse in his hand that held on to hers. It was grounding her, and she squeezed it to let him know she was alright. He squeezed back. Any news would hopefully be good news. They just wanted to know something.

“But, uh, we don’t have any more leads,” Hopper shifted the subject. “Everything’s gone quiet.”

El swallowed.

“So just keep moving, kid. And be careful. Please.”

He’s still not going to tell me what he knows, is he?

“Have a good week. Be safe. We love you,” he said, his tone wavering a little as he spoke.

El flickered the light one more time, just before she opened her eyes.

“Any news?”

It was Mike now, and she had almost forgotten how refreshing it was to be seen by someone. That was one of the things she hated so much about being in there – not being seen.

“No,” El said, moving her hand to wipe her nose.

“Here,” Mike said, handing her the tissue in the hand that wasn’t tightly gripping hers in his lap. “What did he say?”

El remained solemn, she didn’t want Mike to know homesick she was. She knew he was too, and having to comfort her through it wouldn’t make him feel any better.

“Max is pissed,” El said, with a half-smile and Mike laughed.

“Of course, she is! She’s pissed she can’t be in on all the action.”

El rolled her eyes.

“He says your mom’s okay,” she said, moving on with a faint smile. “And that she’s madder at your dad than at you.”

“Shocker…” Mike said, lightening the mood a little. El laughed.

“Come on, I’m worried about your mom.”

“She’ll be okay once we get back,” he said, reaching to run a hand through his messy hair. “Which, I guess won’t be any time soon?”

“No,” she answered. “He didn’t tell me anything. He just said everything had gone silent and that we should keep going.”

“Well...” Mike said, and then he abandoned his train of thought and shook his head. “Then, I’m going to take a shower.”

As he stood, he put a hand on El’s shoulder and leaned down to kiss her forehead, taking her bloody tissue with him as he walked towards the bathroom.

“I’m sorry, El,” he said, turning around to face her from the door. “I wanted to go home too.”

She smiled at him in reassurance one more time, but once he closed the door, El flung herself back onto her bed, put a hand over her mouth and let a few tears escape from behind closed eyes as she heard the shower turn on.

I just want everyone to be safe. Is that too much to ask?

It wasn’t the not being home part. They were in a boring part of the country, sure, but El didn’t mind going on daily road trips with Mike. She didn’t mind eating loads of fast food. She didn’t mind getting to see him every night before she went to sleep and every morning when she opened her eyes. She didn’t mind a single bit of that.

But the fact that they couldn’t turn around, the fact that they were floating around the northern plains as fugitives running for their lives, the fact that her friends were in stupid stupid danger back at home… it was soiling all of that goodness. She didn’t even know who the hell she was running from… who was looming right over her hometown waiting to snatch her up the second they went back home... who was…

Mike drew her out of her thinking spell then, peaking his way through the door, his hair all wet, wrapped up in a towel like he’d forgotten his change of clothes on his bed.

“I’m sorry, El, but I have to know. It’s killing me.”

“You have to know what?” she asked, sitting up and sniffing away the last of her tears.

“He’s dead, right?”

“What?”

“Dr. Brenner is dead, right?”

El blinked, and opened her mouth, but before she could speak…

“Right?”

---------

A few minutes later, with Mike freshly clothed and sitting cross legged on the foot of her bed, El was trying her hardest to think of any possible way out of this.

“I mean, he died, right? He died when we were kids.”

“Y-yes,” she answered, looking down. Convincing. Way to go.

“How do you know that?”

His questions weren’t pressing, just curious. That didn’t mean she could answer him, not in a way that would ease his state of mind. Her heart was racing under her sweatshirt, and she moved a hand up to her chest to try and slow it down.

“Because,” Mike went on. She could see the gears turning in his head, connecting the dots. “What if he didn’t die? What if he’s still out there, and that’s who’s back in Hawkins.”

El swallowed, and looked down at the piece of lent she was playing with from the bed spread.

“He’d dead. I know it.”

“How do you –“

“Why can’t you just trust me?” she cut him off, a little harsher than she meant to. He took a breath.

“Are you scared to go find him? Because –“

“I’m not scared. I just don’t need to, I know he’s not there.”

He took another breath, looking lost in thought. Much to El’s udder frustration, she knew he wasn’t going to give up on this.

“Because, I’ll be here with you. But, I really think you need to do this. To make sure.”

Her heart beat buzzed in her ears. He was right, again. That was the worst part. He was right and she couldn’t avoid him looking at her in that way… like he would forgive her and love her no matter what she did next. Even if she persisted and kept refusing, he would still kiss her and wish her sweet dreams before he shut his eyes and went to sleep that night. Still, a tiny part of her wanted to do it. For him.

You’ll be able to prove it this time, she thought. This time, when you say that he’s dead, you will know.

El turned so that she was facing Mike on the bed, and took his hands in hers.

“Don’t let go, okay?”

“You’re going to be fine, El,” he said, nodding his head. “I promise.”

She closed her eyes, and away she went…

The blackness was back surrounding her for the second time that night. The water cold, the feeling eerie – like if she spun around quick enough she would see her greatest fears coming to greet her. But there was nothingness for eternity, just like always.

She could still feel Mike’s hands in hers, grounding her from what seemed like an infinity away. She knew he was there with her, his thumbs rubbing the backs of her hands.

Okay, El thought. You’ve been through worse. You can do this. Do it for Mike.

She pictured him, cold and domineering, and she felt her breath quicken at the sight – even if it was just her imagination. A lightning-fast rumination of all of her memories of him flashed before her, making her gasp and then squeeze her eyes shut – all to open them all over again to the blackness. This time, she could feel it. She was not alone.

She didn’t want to see anything at all. Blackness, like he never even existed.

El was very torn in two pieces. She could remember with grotesque clarity reaching out to find Nancy’s friend when she was a kid. What she found was a corpse, not a person. She wanted him to be gone so very badly, but she didn’t want to see him like that. And if he was gone, that’s the way he would be. Rotting away in the Upside Down. Demogorgon food. Like he should be.

Holy shit. She hadn’t thought about the damned Upside Down in years. She’d been pretending that it didn’t exist, like they’d all made it up as a part of some game. A figment of Mike’s brilliant creativity. It all came flooding back then, every ounce of their past as being something excruciatingly real and El couldn’t take it anymore. The only thing reminding her that she was still a part of the real world were Mike’s hands holding on to hers even tighter than before, and the wetness she could feel streaming down her face.

“It’s okay, it’s okay, I’m right here, you can open your eyes if you want to.”

She could hear him somewhere above her, echoing out across the rippling water.

Deep breaths, El thought. Get ready. Do it. One two three.

El kept her eyes closed, but spun around, omitting a quiet sob into the blackness. That’s when she swore she heard it – and she knew it wasn’t Mike because he hadn’t called her by that in years.

“Eleven…”

El’s eyes flew open then, but she found Mike kneeling in front of her with his arms out stretched, ready to catch her when she came falling forward. She fell into him, and he held her as tight as he could, stroking her hair with his hands.

“Shhhh, it’s okay. It’s okay. It’s okay, you’re back with me, see?”

She was aware then that she was sobbing, a pretty red mess dripping out of her nose that she went to wipe on her sleeve. She tried to breath deep and control herself, but it was so hard.

“Here,” Mike said, reaching again for a tissue and wiping her nose for her this time as she kept crying into his shirt, feeling bad for the mess she was probably making.

He just let her go, until her breath was back to normal and she stayed all curled up in his lap with her eyes closed.

“I’m sorry, I’m really sorry,” he rubbed her back with his free hand. Why on earth is he so sorry all the time? It’s not like any of this mess is his fault. “I shouldn’t have asked you to do that.”

They stayed that way for a few minutes, as El’s heart beat slowed. She was pressed tightly against his chest, so she could hear his too. Beating in quick rhythm with hers.

“Do you want to tell me what you saw?”

El made a decision right then and there, and she didn’t regret it. Not one tiny bit. She couldn’t go back there, she couldn’t feel that again. She couldn’t keep letting her mind – her fearful mind – trick her into insanity.

She looked up at him, with glassy eyes, and said to Mike with as much certainty as she could muster…

“He’s gone.”

And that… that was the second lie.

AN: Dun dun dun... (sorry). Part 4 is coming soon! Thank you so much for reading, let me know what you think!!!! ilysm

Tagging some sweet people: [ @puzzlingsnark ] [ @eleven-n-mike ] [ @dancingskygreen ] [ @formerlyjannafaye ] thank you for your kindness 💕💕💕💕

[thepokyone]

Finding Eleven Pt. 6

Pairing: Billy Hargrove x Reader

Content/Warnings: language

Words: 2341

A/N: So I finally finished part 6 - it’s been sitting partially done for days but I finally was able to get it written this afternoon. Both Steve and Hopper finally make an appearance, and things are happening! Enjoy, guys!

Series Masterlist

Part 6: Dustin’s Dilemma

You awoke some time later, with a pounding headache and no recollection of how you had ended up in a bed. You groaned, pushing yourself up into a sitting position and rubbing your temples. Joyce appeared in the doorway. “Oh, you’re awake! How are you feeling, sweetie?”

“Like I got run over by a truck,” You mumbled. “So, you know, could be better.”

“Here, drink some water,” Joyce said, picking up the glass of water you hadn’t noticed sitting on the nightstand. You took the tall glass and gladly drank the cool liquid. “I’ll get you some Tylenol.”

You sat in the dim room with your eyes closed for the several minutes it took for her to return. You swallowed the medicine with the aid of the water. “Thanks, Ms. Byers. Is Will okay?”

“Yes, he’s okay. He’s just… drawing,” Joyce said. “Oh, and Hopper is here. He showed up while you were unconscious and helped me get you into the bed.”

“I suppose now is a good a time as any to meet him,” You said, ignoring your body’s tired protests as you pushed yourself to your feet. “So he’s in my circle, you’re free to talk about me with him.”

“Alright, if you’re sure,” She said, leading you out of the bedroom. It took a moment for your eyes to adjust to the bright light, and it caused your headache to flare up. “Hopper?”

“Good, you’re up,” The police chief said, standing and placing down the bundle of papers he was holding. “Hopefully you’ll be able to answer the questions that Joyce wouldn’t.”

You heard the irritation in his voice, and felt bad about driving a wedge of distrust between them. “First of all, what I’m about to tell you cannot be discussed with anyone besides Ms. Byers, Will, or the rest of Will’s party.”

“Okay…” His eyebrows raised. “What is it?”

“I’m assuming you know about Eleven,” You started, and his face instantly morphed from confused to guarded.

“Yeah, what about her?” He asked suspiciously.

You let the question hang for a moment, methodically rolling up the sleeve of your shirt to reveal the tattoo on your wrist. “She’s my sister.”

“You’re from the lab, too.” Surprise was painted on his face, and his features softened.

“I was, yeah,” You said, pulling down your sleeve to hide the ‘010’ that would be forever imprinted in your arm.

“So when did you escape? What’s your name?” He asked curiously.

“I think I was around eleven years old,” You recalled, mind flashing back to that day. You picked up one of the drawings that Hopper had set down, the distraction stilling your trembling hand. “So around six years ago. I found out that my name, my real name, is Y/N. But my parents are both dead.”

“That long ago, huh?” He asked, sounding surprised. “Sorry about your parents, kid.”

You gave him a bemused smile and shrugged. “ I never knew them anyways. And what, you thought Eleven was the only experiment? Or that she was the first to escape?”

He gave a half chuckle. “I guess not. What can you do?”

“Telekinesis, like El,” You said, making one of the drawings hover to demonstrate, “and mind control, to put it simply. It’s why you don’t remember me.”

“Wait - we’ve met before?” Hopper demanded.

“Yes,” You said calmly, ignoring his affronted look. “Briefly. You were a cop, I couldn’t risk you remembering me. It’s nothing personal, but at the time I didn’t know if I could trust you or not. Now, what are these drawings?”

“They’re Will’s,” Joyce explained. “He has these… these memories, but they’re not his memories. He can’t describe it, but he can draw it.”

“Yeah, the problem is that all he’s drawing are a bunch of scribbles,” Hopper said, sighing and sitting down on the couch.

“Hmm…” You mused, turning the drawing you held around in your hand. “It doesn’t look like much of anything. Has he drawn them all with the same colors?”

“Wait,” Joyce said suddenly, taking some of the papers.

Hopper furrowed his brows. “What?”

“These black lines, see?” She brought together two of the drawings.

“What?” Hopper asked as you walked over to see.

“They connect,” You supplied for her.

“They connect!” Joyce exclaimed.

“It’s not just scribbles,” Hopper muttered. “C’mon, lets move this stuff out of the way. Can you use your mind powers, Y/N?”

“My head is killing me, but I can try,” You said.

“In that case, don’t worry about it,” Hopper dismissed your offer. “With whatever’s going down, we need you in top shape.”

He shoved the coffee table and television back against the wall with a grunt, and the three of you started dropping the drawings on the floor, trying to figure out where they connected. It took a while, but eventually the three of you managed to connect everything that Will had drawn thus far.

“Does this mean anything to you?” Hopper asked, staring down at it.

“No,” Joyce said, frustrated. “Is it some sort of maze, or a road? It’s sort of forking and branching, like… like lightening.”

“You think it’s that storm?” Hopper asked.

You gnawed on your lip, thinking. “I don’t think it’s a storm.”

“Yeah, it’s nothing like the storm he drew. He used red,” Joyce agreed, following after the police chief. “This is all blue, and has this weird dirt color. Maybe it’s roots.”

“Roots…” You whispered. Stretching, reaching out ever farther, stemming out from one singular source.

“’Cause, remember he was saying it was spreading, and…”

“Killing,” Hopper finished. “He said they were killing.”

The answer hit you in the face. There was something else that had been spreading out - the rot. And you’d bet money that the rot and Will’s drawings were connected. “They aren’t roots.”

“They’re vines,” Hopper realized, grabbing his coat and hat. “He’s drawing vines.”

“Hopper, wait!” She said, watching him in confusion as he sped away. “Where’s he going?”

“I’m not sure,” You admitted. “But I have to leave too.”

“What? Why?”

“You saw what happened to me with Will. The shadow monster, whatever it is, is extremely powerful. Strong enough that he almost got control of me, too. And if that were to happen, it’d be game over,” You explained. “He’d be unstoppable. For your own safety, I have to leave.”

“Where are you going to go?” She asked.

“Don’t worry, I have a place where I’ve been staying,” You assured her. “I’ll be fine.”

You grabbed your coat and said your goodbyes, waving to Mike as he biked by, presumably to check on his friend. You didn’t want to stay in the house you had been squatting in for the rest of the day, but your head was still pounding and you knew you needed rest. You made the decision to check on Will again in the morning - but you had the sinking feeling that he would only get worse.

You barely remembered putting down your head when you got back to the place you were staying, and you slept soundly through the night and well into the following day. Your watch hands read 2:17 PM, and you sat straight up with a curse. You hadn’t wanted to sleep in that late, but apparently you had needed the rest. Your mental power struggle with the shadow monster must have tired you out more than you thought, considering you had slept nearly 24 hours.

You straightened your hair and clothes before leaving, making sure to grab the map that you had discarded on the floor sometime last night. Jogging down the road, you reached the suburbs of the town within twenty minutes. You slowed, breath steaming up in the cold air. “Hey, Y/N! Y/N!” You heard yelling from up the road, and made out the figure of Lucas as the boy rode closer on his bike.

“Hey, Lucas,” You greeted as he slowed to a stop. “What’s up?”

“We have a really, really, really big problem,” He panted. “Dustin radioed me while I was out talking with Max, and he said Dart had grown up again. He’s not just any monster from the Upside Down - Dustin adopted a baby demogorgon.”

“Of course he did,” You muttered. “Is he alright?”

“Yeah. He and Steve Harrington are making a trap for Dart. I have to make a stop before I get to the junkyard,” Lucas said. “That’s where I’m meeting them. You in?”

“You don’t give me much of a choice,” You said. “So yeah, I’m in. Somebody has to look after you idiots. What’s the quick stop?”

“I’m picking up Max. I told her about what happened with Will last year and she didn’t believe me. So I’m going to prove it,” Lucas said.

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” You asked, jogging along behind him as he biked.

“Look, she practically hates me right now,” The boy said. “If I show her this, she’ll know I wasn’t lying.”

“There’s really no stopping you, is there?” You asked, shaking your head as he slowed down.

“Nope. This is her house. Take my bike and wheel it around that side,” Lucas said, pointing down the left side of the house. “I just hopes she answers the door and not her asshole brother, Billy.”

You raised your eyebrows. “Are you sure about this?”

“Absolutely. Now, just go wait over there,” He said. “Don’t worry. I’ve got a plan.”

“Fine,” You sighed, wheeling his bike around the side of the house and waiting impatiently. A couple minutes later he sprinted around the house, out of breath.

“Here, the bike, give me the bike,” He said quickly, as the redheaded girl you had asked directions from the other day opened the window. Lucas waved her over. “Come on, hop on! Hurry.”

The redhead - Max, you reminded yourself - climbed out the window, swinging herself on to the bike with a curious glance in your direction. “This better be good, stalker. Who’s she, anyways?”

“She’s…” Lucas trailed off. You gave him a slight nod, wordlessly allowing him to tell Max about you. “That’s Ten. She’s from the lab too, just like Eleven.”

“You can call me Y/N, though,” You interjected.

“You probably could have started with that,” She quipped. You liked her already. Lucas waved you on, and the next moment you were running after his bike once more, panting as you tried to keep up. Fortunately, he wasn’t going too fast with Max’s added weight. It took the three of you half an hour to reach the junkyard, and you were wishing you had thought to bring some water.

Max climbed off as soon as he had slowed to a stop, eyes drawn to Dustin and the teenager that you realized must be Steve - yet another person that would have to be in on your secret.

“I said medium well!” Lucas yelled, waving at the two.

It was clear that Steve was confused about you and Max - though perhaps you, most of all - and it didn’t take long for him to strike up a conversation with you. “I’m Steve, by the way. And you are?”

“Y/N,” You said, tossing him a small sheet of metal. “Nice bat.”

“Thanks. I’ve never seen you around before, are you new in town, or like homeschooled, or something?” He asked curiously, the two of you reinforcing the sides of the bus.

You let out a huff of laughter. “Not exactly. You’ve heard about Eleven, right?”

“Yeah, that kid that escaped from the lab? Nancy told me all about it,” He said. You wondered who Nancy was, but decided against asking. “What does that have to do with anything?”

“I’m Ten,” You said briefly, watching his mouth form an ‘O’ of realization.

“No kidding,” Steve said, sounding slightly impressed. “So you’ve got those, uh, freaky mind powers too, huh?”

You let out a bark of laughter. There was something about the teenager that just put you at ease, and you had a feeling the two of you would get along fine. “Yeah, that’s one way of putting it. I’ve got telekinesis, like El, and mind control.”

“Mind control? You’re not, uh, controlling me right now, are you?” He asked, sounding slightly more guarded than before.

“No,” You said, shooting him a smile and noticing how he visibly relaxed. “You’d know if I was.”

“Oh. Good.” He struggled to lift one of the heavier sheets of metal.

“Here, move. I’ve got it,” You told him, waiting for Steve to step clear before stretching out your hand, using your powers to lift the sheet. It wasn’t much exertion - telekinesis wasn’t difficult for you anymore. It was silent mind control that still gave you trouble. It had to be practiced in order to be improved upon like most things, but it was something you had neglected over the years.

“Whoa,” Steve and Max said in unison, staring at you.

She shot you a smile as he walked off to get more metal. “That’s awesome!”

“Yeah, I guess it is,” You agreed, grinning back.

A loud clang of metal-on-metal made you jump, and you turned to see Steve staring impatiently at Lucas and Dustin. “Hey! Dickheads! How come the only ones helping me out is Y/N and this random girl?” You and Max shared amused smiles as the teenager gestured towards you. “We lose light in 40 minutes. Let’s go!” Lucas and Dustin started following after Steve. “Let’s go, I said!”

“Alright, asshole!” Dustin snapped.

Lucas sounded equally annoyed. “Okay, stupid!”

“Steve’s right,” You said, sending the two boys a look. “We’re in a race against time here, and unless you want to be a demogorgon snack I suggest we start getting a move-on.”

Steve was right about losing light - within forty minutes, the five of you had managed to reinforce the bus as the sun sank low, casting long shadows across the ground. You just hoped that it would be enough. And so your waiting game began.

Tag List: @the-crime-fighting-spider @micachu1331 @esoltis280 @ilvermornyqueen @team-heichou @hyphymanatee @haven-in-writing @thepatheticsuggestions @bi-pie67 @xxwarhawk @jodibullock1 @crazylost-soul @thecrispypancak @hjlauderdale @yourneonbunny @sarcasticvodka @kaliforniacoastalteens @veryweirdintrovert @4-a-m @mirajanestrauss1999 @pageofalexandercross @hippie-taco-lady @snicketyssnake @the--real-wombat @sunflowersamssinkingsadness @violet-potter @outerxorbit @ayatimascd

[wantisamlindyla]

Your Ghost - Chapter 3

Fandom/Pairing: Mike/Eleven Rating: Will be M in later chapters. Summary:

New York, 1999.

He wanted her to live again, even if she could only come back to him through the pages of a book.

Read previous chapters on AO3 here:

15 December 1984 - Day 399

 Mike was playing with his Super Comm in the fort when Nancy found him.

 He was flipping from channel to channel aimlessly when Nancy knelt down and ducked her head under the blanket. “Hey,” she said gently.

“Hey.” Mike looked up at his sister. Her hair was still curly and pinned back in an updo, but she’d scrubbed her face clean of makeup and switched her dress for pyjamas.

 “I think your friends missed you tonight at the dance.”

 Mike just shrugged. “I didn’t really see the point in going. We didn’t go any of the previous years.”

 Nancy refrained from reciting a list of reasons why he should have gone to the Snow Ball as his parents had during dinner last night. She just watched her brother closely.

 “Are you ok?”

 Mike frowns in confusion. “Me? I’m fine, what about you? Barb’s funeral was yesterday.”

 Nancy shook her head. “I’m fine. It’s really her parents that are grieving. It happened a year ago for me you know? But for them...I guess when she disappeared they still had hope, but now...it’s like they’ve lost her all over again.”

 Mike listened to her intently, taken aback by the fact that Nancy was telling him all this.

 “You know,” Nancy continued, “I was just…sad for so long after it happened. Then all I felt was angry, angry at myself, angry at Steve, angry at Mom and Dad. I felt like I needed someone to blame. But yesterday at her funeral…all I felt was…peace. Like wherever she is…she’s ok, you know what I mean?”

 Mike nodded. He could definitely relate to the feelings of anger and the powerlessness Nancy had just described.

 “Yeah, I mean, sure. What you and Jonathan did, getting the lab shut down.” He smiled at his sister, “It was ballsy, and brave. What you guys did for Barb…and Will, it was good.”

 Nancy looked at him seriously, “We did it for El too,” she said.

 Mike stared at her.

 “I’m really sorry I haven’t been around much for you this year Mike. I know it’s been hard on you, I should have made more of an effort to be here for you. It didn’t really hit me until tonight. I was watching Dustin, Lucas, and, Will, dancing and goofing off and I realised that it wasn’t just me who lost Barb, you lost someone last year too.”

 Mike didn’t say anything, he couldn’t. He looked down at the Super Comm in his hands, desperately trying to stop the dam that was building in his chest.

 Nancy didn’t say anything. She sat there on the basement floor next to him and waited patiently.

 Finally, Mike raised his head and said tearfully, “I used to get this feeling…she was with me. All year, at random moments, I’d get this prickling feeling on my neck or this funny feeling in my stomach, like she was right there in front of me. Sometimes I thought I could see her. I thought I was going crazy. But now I can’t feel her anymore. Ever since that night the thing came out of Will and Hopper said that somehow forced the Gate shut. I’ve…I’ve lost her. She’s really gone.”

 As soon as the words came out of his mouth he burst into tears. Huge, gulping, painful sobs tore out of his chest. Mike realised he hadn’t cried at all since that night when his mom had arrived at the school in a panic and pulled him into her arms.

 All this time, he’d been holding onto hope that El wasn’t truly gone, that she would find her way back to him somehow.

 A long time later, he realised that he’d crawled into Nancy arms. She clung onto him tightly, tears slipping silently down her cheeks.

 “She’s really gone isn’t she?” Mike asked Nancy fearfully. “I don’t know if she’s at peace or not, how do I know?”

 Nancy sniffled and brushed her brother’s messy hair away from his forehead like she had done when he was much younger.

 “Maybe...El really was with you, this whole time. Maybe she was too scared to move on….but… now the Gate’s closed, and she knows we’ll all be safe from the monsters. And she doesn’t want you to feel sad for her anymore so she decided to move on.”

 Mike rested his head on her shoulder, listening to his sister’s steady heartbeat and her words. He wanted it to be true but at the same time he was also frightened she was right, that El had left and walked by herself into the dark, some place he couldn’t follow.

 He asked Nancy something he’d been turning around in his mind for over a month, but too afraid to voice in case it sounded insane.

 “Nancy…do…do you think it was her that stopped those demodogs outside Will’s house that night?”

 Nancy didn’t say anything for a while. She considered it. “You mean…like her ghost?”

 Mike sniffed and wiped at his face, “Yeah.”

 “Maybe. It could have been. I mean…with all the crazy shit we’ve seen…who knows right?”

 Mike laughed, “Yeah, right.” He felt a bit better, cleansed somewhat by his tears. “Thanks Nance.”

 Nancy smiled at him, “You’re welcome. I just want you to know I’m here for you ok?”

 “Ok.” She squeezed him in a tight hug and then she left.

 Mike stayed in the fort by himself a while longer. Then, he stood up slowly, and he started taking apart the blanket fort bit-by-bit.

 He folded up the bed sheets carefully and laid them on the chair. He, rolled up his sleeping bag, placed the cushions back on the couch and took the heavy books he had used as weights and stacked them neatly back on the desk.

 “Goodbye El.”

 ***

 Mike was just stepping out of the shower when he heard his phone ringing. He dashed out of the bathroom clad only in a towel to grab his phone. “Hello?”

 It was Lola.

 “Hey, did I wake you?”

 Mike checked his watch. It was 3 am in the morning in San Francisco.

 “No, not at all.”

 “How’s the tour? Where’d they put you up?”

 Mike looked out the window of his hotel room onto 58th street which was already teaming with people at six in the morning. “The Plaza.”

 Lola gave a low whistle. “Jesus. What I wouldn’t give for four walls and a private bathroom.”

 Mike had started dating Lola about a year ago. She was the lead singer of a rock band that was on tour 8 months of every year so she spent most of her time on the road in a tour bus with five of her bandmates.

 They’d met at a mutual friend’s party where Mike had been intrigued by her tattoos and she had made fun of the way Mike wore his shirts; buttoned up and tucked neatly into his jeans.

 “Did you just finish up? How was tonight’s show?” Mike inquired.

 They spent a minute catching up.

 His dinner with Will had been postponed until tonight, they were going to a sushi bar in the West Village.

 Lola was frustrated with the gigs their manager was booking for them.

 Mike was probably going to head to Indiana for a few days after New York.

 There was a lull in their conversation and Mike stared out his window at the city feeling strangely unmoored.

 He could have blamed it on exhaustion and the long tour, he hadn’t slept a wink last night. But it wasn’t that, ever since his candid interview on the radio, he’d felt like he was slowly unravelling.

 “Mike, are you ok? You sound...distracted.”

 Mike tore his eyes from the window. “No, no, I’m fine. Sorry, just got distracted.”

 Lola paused for a moment. “Is...is there someone there with you?”

 Her strange tone didn’t register with Mike immediately. “What?”

 “Am I...calling at a bad time?”

 “What?” Mike was startled. “No, no, of course not, I’m just...I’m tired that’s all.” Then the full meaning of Lola’s question hit home. His confusion morphed to anger.

 “Why would you think that I was with someone?”

 “Are you mad? It’d be cool with me you know. It’s not like I own you.  We’re both adults. We haven’t even been in the same state as the other these last three months.”

 “What? I...have you slept with someone else in the last three months?”

 “Jesus, no. I’d tell you if I had, why are you so angry?”

 “Because you just accused me of cheating on you-”

 “You can’t cheat on me Mike, we’re in an open relationship.”

 Mike blinked. He plopped down on the edge of his bed trying to process the bombshell his girlfriend had just dropped on him.

 “What? We’re what?” He was getting tired of saying that. “We’re in an open relationship?”

 “Of course we are honey.”

 “But I didn’t know...we never talked about it.” Mike was bewildered. “Is this a new dating rule I haven’t been told about? You’re presumed to be non-exclusive until proven otherwise?”

 Lola laughed, “No, no it’s just the way it is. If I tried to slap a label on our relationship then we probably wouldn’t have made it past two months.”

 Mike was stunned. “I...I always thought of myself as a conventional guy Lola. Too old fashioned for something like an open relationship. I barely even understand how that works. What are the rules?”

 “There are no rules Mike. We see each other when we’re both in town. We have a good time together, then you’re off working and I’m back on the road.”

 “Have most of your relationships been...open?”

 Lola paused. “No, you’re the first one.”

 Mike processed this for a minute. “So the problem is me. Am I….do I come off as a commitment-phobe, or am I too much of a nerd to be full time boyfriend material?”

 Lola sighed, “No sweetie. You know exactly what the whole intense broody author thing does to us ladies. You being really good in the sack helps too.

 You’re just obsessed with your work. You don’t leave much room for anything else. And you like your space. Be honest, what is the longest relationship you’ve had with a woman?”

 Mike didn’t want to admit to her that theirs was the longest running relationship he’d had at that moment.

 “It’s not that easy to build a relationship when we’re separated all the time. Maybe when we’re back home we could try making more of an effort? Maybe I’ll even go on tour with you in July. I’ll help JJ out at the merch stand.”

 Lola laughed lightly, “Well that I gotta see.”

  ***

Mike had a book signing and an appearance at a small event at the Brooklyn Art Museum that day before he caught a taxi to the West Village around seven that evening to meet Will for dinner.

 Will kept apologising profusely for having to postpone dinner so many times.

 Mike had to assure him it was fine. Usually he would have stayed at Jonathan and Nancy’s apartment, but his sister and Jonathan were currently away on assignment and Mike would have felt strange sharing the small space with Mrs Byers.

 “She’s invited Hopper to spend Christmas day with us this year. How weird is that gonna be? Not weird-bad but weird blast from the past you know? Anyways I’m flying the next day to Hawkins the next day but it’s kinda a big deal. Next thing you know they’ll be moving in together...”

 Mike couldn’t really reconcile the fact that Will’s mom was dating Hawkin’s former police chief. He had mixed feelings about the man.

 Hopper had moved away so suddenly in ‘85, after everything that had happened, Mike couldn’t help but feel a bit abandoned by the guy. But Mike couldn’t ever blame him, he had saved his and his friends’ lives countless times.

 And really, who could blame the man for not wanting to live in a town where kids got possessed by shadow monsters and there were creatures going around eating the townspeople?

 Will must have noticed Mike was unusually silent during dinner. He nudged his elbow against Mike’s. “Hey. What’s up with you?”

 Mike looked over at his best friend. Nobody in Hawkins would have recognised the handsome man sitting beside him as the Zombie Boy who had been picked on by bullies his entire adolescent life. He was tall and broad shouldered, the California sunshine had left him with a healthy golden tan. His light brown hair was well-cut and styled so that it didn’t hide his startling blue eyes or his sharp cheekbones.

 Mike felt like a lanky, pasty vampire sitting next to him.

“Nothing.” He picked at his seaweed salad listlessly. “Apparently I’m in an open relationship with Lola because I’m afraid of relationships.”

“Huh?”

Mike explained the morning’s telephone call with Lola to Will. When he finished, Will didn’t respond immediately, he just took a long drink of his beer. Mike felt a sinking feeling in his stomach.

“You agree with her don’t you.”

Will sighed and gave Mike a wary look.

“I just don’t think you’ve met the right person yet that’s all.”

“You think I have problems with being in a committed relationship?”

“You have control issues.” Will stated plainly. “But so does Nancy, it’s fine.”

Mike didn’t feel like arguing the point with Will. Maybe he realised, deep down, that they were right.

He’d always known something was a bit broken inside him, a little bit skewed, but he’d always thought he was in good company amongst the party.

But he hadn’t realised how everyone had really moved on and how desperately he was still clinging on to the past.

***

Mike decided to take the subway instead of sharing a cab with Will after dinner.

He wanted to walk.

He wandered aimlessly through the city for a while. He got a drink at a tiny hole in the wall jazz bar and listened to the band playing for a while. Then he bought an overpriced coffee from a tiny diner across the road.

It was almost midnight when he decided to catch the last train back to his hotel.

There were only a few people waiting for a train on the platform. There were a few tired looking shift workers on their way home and a group of noisy teenagers and a young woman sitting on a nearby bench.

The woman’s glossy brown hair was pulled back into a messy ponytail and she had a large pair of thick black glasses slipping down a cute button nose which was buried inside a worn and well-loved book.

Mike realised with a start that she was reading his first novel. It was a rare first edition. His publisher had only printed a conservative 500 copies. There had been a printing issue and fthe raincoat on the small figure on the cover had turned out green instead of yellow.

The sounds of a train approaching caused the woman to look up from her book.

Mike’s breath caught in his throat.

He couldn’t take his eyes of her as she closed the book and placed it carefully away in the handbag she was carrying, her movements precise and careful.

She stood up, she slipped the straps of her handbag onto her shoulder and caught Mike’s gaze and froze.

They both stood there on the platform unable to move or do anything else but stare at one another.

Mike wondered if he was dreaming.

He had been thinking about El so much these past few days that perhaps his mind had somehow conjured her to appear before him.

But...she was El, but she wasn’t.

The frightened little girl with a shaved head was gone. In her place was a beautiful woman with long brown hair, but those eyes, those eyes that were staring at him behind those black wire frames.

El’s eyes.

Mike felt his mouth stretch into a smile, and then he was beaming at her.

She’s alive.

She’s ok.

She’s back.

He needed to touch her. He needed to hold her.

He took a step towards her.

The spell broke. El started like a frightened doe and bolted towards the train.

“El! El!”

Mike started after her, but the train door slammed shut in his face with more force than was usual.

“Shit!! Shit!” Mike slammed his fists against the train doors, barely noticing when the other passengers turned their heads to stare at the madman pounding on the side of the train and screaming.

He tried to make a break for the next train carriage, but all the automatic doors were closing.

Mike pressed his frantically hands to the glass window where El was staring at him. “El! El! It’s Mike! Mike!”

The train started to move. He moved with it, staring at her, desperately trying to take in every detail and commit it to memory, her sweet face, her wide eyes, the tears slipping silently down her pale cheeks, her pink sweater and the name-tag clipped to the front which read, ‘Jane.’

“I’ll find you El! El! I’ll find you!”

She shook her head, he watched her mouth form the words, Mike. No.

Then there were two pairs of hands on his arms, pulling his hands away from the glass and heaving him off the side of the train.

The train sped past him and disappeared into darkness.

And she was gone.

[prongs-mileven]

Next to Normal - Chapter 2

Mike Wheeler was the type of guy that enjoyed college. He enjoyed every aspect of it, even the actually attending class part. He had enjoyed moving into his tiny little dorm room with Lucas. He enjoyed having Dustin and Will down the hall from him, and he enjoyed eating nothing but noodles every day, as both Dustin and Will were the better cooks of the group. He had enjoyed going to purchase his text books and equipment required for his Biology and Chemistry classes. Lucas on the other hand, wasn't as fond of the college experience as Mike. He also enjoyed the classes, having always enjoyed Science, ever since Mr. Clarke had introduced him to a Bunsen burner back in sixth grade. However, he didn't enjoy having a diet less variable than that of a Squirrel. Nor did he enjoy how expensive all his textbooks were, especially if you were him, and had to buy them every couple weeks as they always found a way of disappearing without a trace. He did enjoy living with Mike though. He hadn't imagined enjoying it as much as he did, but the truth was, the two got on very well and understood each others boundaries when it came to sharing a bathroom.

The four boys had lasted the whole first month of college before being coaxed into going to a party. It wasn't that the boys were against parties, they just enjoyed Star Wars marathons and the occasional Dungeons and Dragons campaign more. They weren't, however, impartial to alcohol, and all four had managed to consume copious amounts impressively within two hours of arriving at said party. The party was being thrown by someone in Will's art class, who had invited Will two days prior.

"You should totally come Will. It'd be nice to see you in clothes that aren't covered in clay." The boy had smirked. Will blushed profusely, promising that he'd consider it. Truth be told, Will had wanted to go more than anything in the hopes he would see the boy, again and had begged his friends to join him at the party. They had all sighed in agreement, deciding that if Will was actually excited about going to a party, that the party must be worth going to. They had been correct.

The room stunk of alcohol of course, with music blasting and lights dimmed. The boys entered into a sea of bodies, unsure of where to stand or what to do. It turned out that not attending many parties in High School hadn't actually been a good idea in the longrun. Never the while, the four had drunk plenty of the punch on display, not caring what was in the bowl and shaking their heads in disgust as they chugged the liquid down.

"Look, all I'm saying is that maybe, JUST maybe, Darth Vader is actually a misunderstood guy." Dustin slurred, staring up at Mike who towered over him. Mike looked down at him with an eyebrow raised.

"God Dustin how much have you had?" He laughed.

"Enough to know that YOU, Michael Wheeler, aren't drunk enough!" He raised his glass and swallowed another gulp. Mike chuckled before joining his friend in another drink. Shortly after, Will grabbed both their hands and pulled them into a circle full of people with drinks in their hands and a bottle placed firmly on the floor. Mike rolled his eyes as he sat down, Dustin one side of him and Will the other. Will looked over at the boy from his art class, whose name he had learned was Ryan, and blushed when he caught his eye.

"I L O V E spin the bottle!" Dustin shouted to which the rest of the group cheered. Mike laughed again, deciding he definitely wasn't drunk enough and took another large gulp from his cup.

"Wait! Wait for us! Do not start without us!" Called a voice. He searched over to see two girls pushing through the bodies to join the circle. One had bright fiery hair, long and wavy down her back, with bright blue eyes, dressed casually in a yellow hoodie and jeans. The other was petite, with little brown curls wrapped around her face and big brown doe eyes. She was dressed cutely in a little dress and tights. The first girl seemed very excited whereas the second girl could not look more uncomfortable. She sat there quietly as the game began. Mike concentrated on the game, watched as people he didn't know leaned across the circle. The bottle got to Dustin's turn and he spun, with the bottle landing on a boy from their Biology 101 class, and the whole circle erupted with laughter. Mike gave Dustin a pat on the back as he leaned in and dutifully kissed the boy quickly on the lips before rushing back to his spot, embarrassed, cheeks filling with blush. Mike then spun the bottle himself, and it landed on the girl with short brown hair. She looked alarmed and Mike felt his cheeks burning. He made his way to the centre of the circle and watched as her friend shoved her forward.

"We, uh, don't have to, if you don't want to." He muttered when they came face to face. He found his heart pounding heavier than usual, and blamed it partially on the alcohol and partially on just how attractive this girl was up close. She smiled sweetly.

"No, it's okay. I'm playing aren't I?" He chuckled and lightly kissed her lips, as soft as he could manage. Everyone booed.

"At least give her a real kiss. We're not in kindergarten!" A girl across from Dustin yelled. This made the girls cheeks blush even further and her friend laugh. Mike shrugged before sitting back down. The rest of the game didn't last very long. Will didn't get his chance to kiss Ryan and a fight had broken out before the bottle had gotten round to the girl with the short hair. The fight had consisted of two boys, fighting over something Mike couldn't quite make out but didn't sound very serious. What was serious was the punch that was thrown. The boy had fallen backwards, into the circle they had formed. He wasn't down for long, grabbing the bottle they had been playing with before launching it back at his aggressor. Mike had quickly ducked out, pulling Will and Dustin with him. They found their way to Lucas, who had decided to cling to the redheaded girl from the game earlier. She was laughing at him, and looked unimpressed as he tried to talk to her.

"What you're saying is, you have been staring at me all night? Is that supposed to make me want to sleep with you?" Lucas giggled loudly, his head swaying.

"I mean I didn't say sleep with, but if that's what you want to do I am totally cool with it." The girl laughed.

"You don't even know my name." Lucas paused.

"Is it... Lucy?" She laughed again.

"For a stalker, you didn't really learn much about me did you? The names Max, and this is my friend El." She gestured to the girl stood next to her awkwardly. Lucas put his hand out to her. El stared at his hand, not sure what it was she was supposed to do. Max gave her an eye, before El's eyes widened quickly and she took his hand.

"Uh... Hi." She smiled awkwardly, before turning around, bumping straight in to Mike.

"Oh, it's you again." He smiled sheepishly. He found the girls sight intoxicating. She was several inches shorter than him and he had to crane his neck slightly in order to look directly into her eyes. Eyes that were brighter and sweeter than he could have hoped. She smiled up back at him, shyly. Mike quickly spoke again, hoping to defuse the awkward tension. "So have you picked your major yet?" She giggled.

"Its like our second week in... why have you?" She asked, alarmed. He smirked and shook his head.

"No, definitely not. I'd probably be in my dorm, already stressing about it if I had."

"If it were up to me, I'd probably be in my dorm, stressing about anything rather than at this party."

"Not much of a party animal?"

"No. Not really."

"Me neither. The drinks help though." She laughed again.

"I had been avoiding those actually. Is that your secret?"

"What? Get too drunk to care? Of course it is." The rest of the night had gone by in a blur, Mike and El spending it at each others sides, cups repeatedly refilled by both parties. Will managed to lock himself in the bathroom, and Max had been the one to break down the damn door in order to get him out, despite both Dustin and Lucas' efforts to open the door first.

"Really? We get our asses beat by a GIRL?" Dustin has exclaimed loudly, gaining an eye roll from Lucas and a punch in the arm from Max herself.

"You'll get your ass handed to you if you carry on." She had responded. The six of them had left the party a little around 3am, merrily singing as they strolled across the campus.

"Just come back to our place! Saves you trudging back halfway across town!" Dustin had suggested, and Max had agreed before El couldn't even get a word in. El walked back quietly with Will next to her, learning more about his past.

"I've always been into art I guess. My mom would always bring home new colouring pencils from the shop she works at back in Hawkins." El's stomach dropped. Will kept talking about his family, seemingly not noticing El's sudden tense body next to him. El bit her tongue. "You'd be surprised though, Hawkins is actually really nice in the spring. Lucas, Dustin, Mike and I would go to the quarry all the time after school." El's stomach dropped further. All four of the boys were from that place. The place she had resided in for the first fifteen years of her life. In all honesty, she found herself desperately trying to move on with her life, like Max had, but she couldn't help it when the lab and Papa and her hospital gown visited her every night as she slept. She didn't tell Max that she visited the void at least twice a week, hoping to find any trace of what had happened, where Kali might be, or if Papa had lived. The lab had burnt to the ground. That she had found out via the newspapers Max picked up on their travels. "El?" Her thoughts were interrupted by Mike's voice. She looked up at him, wide eyed and embarrassed. "Where would you like to sleep? Max seems to be bunking with Lucas." He laughed, much to Dustin's dismay who had ducked into his room. Lucas and Max had run ahead to Mike's dorm, hand in hand. El looked up at Mike.

"I reckon they may need a bit of privacy. Please tell me you don't share a bunk bed." Mike scratched the back of his head in embarrassment. Will poked his head back from inside his dorm room.

"Me and Dustin are making enchiladas and are gonna watch a movie! Would you guys like some?"

"Yes!" Exclaimed the pair simultaneously. They laughed as they entered the smaller boys room. El had to admit, the alcohol was starting to ware off and she was starting to feel more anxious about the fact she had found her way into an unknown apartment with three boys she hadn't met previously. Three boys who had grown up less than ten minutes away from her. Will and Dustin had started cooking the enchiladas already, something El had never tried before. However, Dustin, who had claimed to head to his room to look through his collection of DVD's had managed to pass out as soon as his head hit the pillow. This left Will to finish the cooking by himself as both El and Mike were hopeless, and had decided to sit on the couch and patiently wait. The last thing El remembered was listening to Mike explain the plot to one of his favourite films - Lord of the Rings.

[reylorowaelin]

Stranger Things: Daughter of Death Fanfiction Chapter One: Flicker Flicker

Hey guys! I just uploaded my first fanfiction on archiveofourown.com! It is a Stranger Things fan fiction with Steve Harrington and a character of my own creation. Down below I have copied the first chapter so you can get a sneak peak on this platform! If you like it, you can check out the second chapter on my archiveofourown page (reylorowaelin)! Here’s the link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20086411/chapters/47575000

Summary: Set in the fall after the third season of Stranger Things, while Eleven and the Byers family are visiting for Thanksgiving a new supernatural being enters Hawkins, with new powers that the Party haven't witnessed. Unaware of this mysterious girl's abilities, motive, and past, Steve Harrington is assigned to keep an eye on her. And as she becomes a bigger and a more dangerous threat, it is up to Steve to protect the Party. As more adversaries come into play, it is up to Steve to get the supernatural girl to become their ally in order to save Hawkins a couple more times.

Chapter One: Flicker Flicker

The Starcourt mall was almost empty. Every shop was closed, the metal gates glistening in the neon lights. It even flickered against the pearly tile floor, freshly cleaned by the janitorial staff just fifteen-minutes ago. The maddening, generic music that annoyed every mall employee was finally silenced, leaving Starcourt to succumb to a haunting quietness. Even with the heat on, the entire building was colder.

The icy chill swept goosebumps across Eleven’s tan skin—Hopper’s flannel couldn’t even keep her warm. It caused the brown hairs dancing across her arm to pause, no longer swaying to the humming of Steve Harrington’s favorite song. Instead, they became alert, aware. Eleven didn’t know if it was the cold of the ice cream parlor or of the hollowness of the mall that caused her heart to thump irregularly.

She balled her fists, pulling them underneath her orange and brown sleeves, barrowing further into the red leather booth. Steve, who had taken off that ridiculous hat and shoved it in his duffle bag, had pulled a black hoodie over his head, messing up his infamous hair. But he just ran his fingers through his chocolate locks at an attempt to add some sort of order to the chaos, really working his shoulder deeper into the canister of strawberry ice cream.

“How do I look?” Robin Buckley burst out from the swinging doors at Scoops Ahoy. Her tone was wrecked with nerves, stumbling over the rather simple sentence. Her fingers fiddled with her long tan cardigan, dragging it over her red tank top. Robin kept tugging up her loose jeans, the brown belt doing little to keep them upright.

Steve briefly glanced at Robin before plopping the last scoop of strawberry ice cream into the waffle cone. “You’ll be fine, Buckley,” he responded, completely dodging her question. Steve let out a slight grunt as he shut the cover to the ice cream canister closed, pressing his elbow against the top. “As long as you’re your usual, charming, irritating self I’m sure Mellie Fitzgerald is gonna love you.” Steve offered her a sarcastic smile, cupping his cheek with the palm of his hand.

Robin frowned, puckering her burgundy smeared lips. Waltzing forward, she tipped the top of Eleven’s strawberry cone into Steve’s face as she snapped, “you’re a real grade-A douchebag, you know that dingus?”

The teenager rolled his chocolate eyes, pushing himself off of his elbow. Grasping Robin’s shoulders, he shook her slightly, forcing her to look at him. “You’re gonna be fine, Buckley,” Steve said softly. He turned, peering past Eleven and towards the exit of Starcourt. “Go, leave for your date. We can pack up here.”

Robin let out a little groan, biting her bottom lip in between her teeth. She seemed to be having an internal struggle, smoke nearly coming out of her ears. “Fine,” she grumbled, stepping away from Steve and slinging her own duffle bag over her arm.

Eleven and Steve stayed silent as Robin scattered off, letting the taciturnity linger between them. The older boy took a towel, wiping the rest of the strawberry ice cream off his face, licking some off his finger. Eleven, who was only back in Hawkins for Thanksgiving break, chipped her over-grown fingernails against the wooden table. Earlier that day they’d been painted black by Max, claiming it was a look that suited El’s…unique personality.

But the black reminded her too much of the other place…of that realm. And of the waves that crashed along the Californian shores, the violent slapping of flesh on flesh, the cries of a terrified but very pretty women—

El?

But then the muteness of an abandoned child. The blackness reminded Eleven of her skin getting wet with tears that were not her own and were salty like the waves of the west coast. And then anger—anger consumed the endless void and that antagonism would transpire into wrath that wrapped itself around Eleven’s bones, tangled within her muscles, plagued in her blood. But it was not her own rage, no it was foreign and far bigger than herself. And she couldn’t control it, it just overtook her like fear—

Eleven?

And then she couldn’t breathe, it was like the darkness gripped her throat, dragging its claws through her vocal cords. But she couldn’t scream or maybe she could, but no one heard her. She was trapped, isolated in an oblivion that Eleven wasn’t sure she’ll ever escape from—

“Eleven!” Steve shouted, leaning across the table, grabbing her face in between his hands. They were warm, unlike the goosebumps erected across her bone chamber, unlike the blackness, unlike the delicious ice cream that was now so close to her face. “Are you alright?”

Eleven finally broke free of her trance, her vision unblurring. She leaned back, disconnecting their touch. “Yes,” she replied simply, taking the ice cream cone. “Yes.”

Steve scrunched his brows together, leaning back in the booth. He slung his arm over the ledge of the chair, using his other hand to yank a bunch of napkins out of the container, sliding them over to Eleven. She only paused, peering up at him. Then, she took one, wiping a chunk of strawberry from the corner of her mouth. “Where is Robin going?”

He sighed, turning his head to the door that Robin had rushed out of nearly five minutes ago. Steve was tired, oh so tired, too exhausted to even rub the bags underneath his orbs. He had worked a twelve-hour shift, coming in earlier than he was supposed to so he could calm Robin’s nerves for her date with Mellie. And he had barely slept at all in the past three months, for every time he came home he was welcomed to his father’s bellows—the same sound that haunted his dreams.

And Steve had promised Eleven these free ice cream visits every time she came back to Hawkins. They had a…mutual understanding. She lost a father and Steve never really had one.

“On a date,” Steve said, picking at the eroding leather on the booth.

“Mellie is a strange name for a boy.”

“Mellie isn’t a boy, she’s a girl”—

“Girls can go on dates with other girls?”

“Yes-I, uh,” Steve stuttered, running his digits through his hair. “Of course,” his faced flushed with embarrassment, he was never good at having these types of conversations. “I’ll have Robin explain it later, God knows she can word it better than me.”

Eleven nodded, licking the rest of her strawberry ice cream. Words evaded them again as they sat in a peaceful calmness, mutual comfort. She didn’t know if they sat there for seconds, minutes, or even hours before she spoke, but there’s one thing she did know—her dessert never melted. “Next time, I want sprinkles.”

Steve mocked offense, tugging at the strings of his hoodie. “You’re getting unlimited free ice cream every time you come home, the least you could do is say ‘thank you’.”

Eleven let out a soft giggle, chewing up the rest of the waffle cone. However, the snickers slowly dissipated from her mouth as she got hung up on one word, one simple word, that she only knew for a year or so. A word that now seems so foreign and so distant—a faraway dream that now tastes so very different on Eleven’s tongue. “Home?”

Steve was speechless for a few moments, twirling his fingers along the crevasses of the booth. He didn’t acknowledge El’s presence as he spoke, “Yeah, I guess Hawkins isn’t really your home anymore, is it?”

Eleven shrugged, sweeping the strawberry off her face. “Hopper was my home,” she whispered, crumbling the napkin in her fist. A tear slipped out from her waterline, drizzling down her cheek. Eleven didn’t even try to wipe it away with her napkin—it just wasn’t worth it. “And now with him gone…I just feel lost.”

Steve took the cloth that was attached to his belt and smoothed it over the table, picking up any crumbs Eleven might have left behind. “I’ve never felt the feeling of home with my parents—especially with my dad,” Steve admitted, tucking the cloth back underneath his belt. His brown irises grew heavy, increasingly interesting in the fraying fabric of his navy shorts. “And I guess, well—I guess the closest thing I felt to home was with Nance, but then”—

“But then she dumped your ass.”

Steve squinted his eyes at the impact of Eleven’s choice of words, holding is hand up in the ear in rejection. “Okay, no hold up, Nance did not dump my ass; Steve Harrington does not get dumped”—El couldn’t hide her laughter at his fluster-ness, his face turning as red as Robin’s tank top. Eventually, Steve just rolled his eyes, shutting his mouth.

And again, silence consumed them both, but it was comfortable, welcoming. In the past couple years, they both had too much noise. Too much violent, nightmare surging noise.

But when Steve spoke again, something about if Mike ever broke her heart he would kick his ass, a sudden chill slithered up Eleven’s spin like a snake. It caused her back to go rigid, her blood taut with fear. Apprehension caused her movements to freeze, her bones icing over with trepidation.

And then, Steve felt that cold breeze too. It swindled his hair just as those neon lights began to flicker. It was as if they were spazzing in terror too, thrashing on and off to the beat of both Eleven and Steve’s hearts. And every time the electricity flicked off, so would the heat, making the atmosphere chillier and chillier until it was as if they were in an ice box.

Steve slowly stood up from his seat in the booth, blocking El from the breeze that was rushing into Scoops Ahoy, from the chaotic lights that could give anyone a seizure. But that did not stop the girl from peering out from behind Steve, from seeing what he saw. Like him, Eleven’s breathing caught in her throat, her heart stopped pounding her chest, as her vision landed on a beautiful girl a couple hundred feet away.

Around Steve’s age, the girl wasn’t looking at the two, but she knew they were there. They could only see a side of her pale face, could only make out her intense cheekbones and jawlines, only picked up one of her dark eyes dancing with the same chaotic neon. Her dark chocolate locks, nearly black, cascaded down her leather jacket, blowing in the wind she so obviously curated. And the more and more she pressed her hand against the countertop of the Chinese restaurant, the heavier the wind got. It slammed metal chairs into columns, flipped the tables on its sides. And even through all the ruckus, the girl did not flinch. She did not waver.

But then as quickly as she came, the girl was gone.

<>

The newborn Mind Flayer roared in agony as the restraints electrocuted its bloody flesh. It’s verbal wrath nearly broke the impenetrable glass, its limbs flaring out in pain. But its screeches and its cries were unheard in the sealed overlook where two Soviet officers stood, arms crossed with clipboards tucked away in their jackets.

           Are you sure this is going to work? the younger lieutenant inquired hesitantly in Russian, eyes not able to peel away from the monstrosity before them.

           All in good time. The smile dancing along the elder Soviet’s lips was vicious, looking at the dangerous Mind Flayer like it was a masterpiece sent from God. The trapped is laid—and soon the young child will bring the Daughter of Death to us…He looked to his comrade, the lust for power drenched in his tone. And we will have the two powers that control the upside down…the ultimate weapon of mass destruction.

           And when the Mind Flayer thundered again, the officer laughed.

If you enjoyed, make sure to check out chapter two! Here’s the link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20086411/chapters/47575000