#the last one i watched had el threatening to turn mike into an eggo so... that was fun

[glitchinginhyperfixis]

guys i have a confession to make. i think there’s something wrong with me. i can’t stop watching those terrible gacha react videos

[diagnosedblog]

Pretty much anything Mileven (calling El, El not Jane) with fluff or angst or anything really but preferably while there still young (shortly post season two)

Word Count: 3k 

Rating T: Occasional language

Pairing(s): Mike/Eleven

Content:

Chill!Mike - not as nervous or fidgety 

Growing!El - has grown on her knowledge but still struggles with things

Limited telekinesis - she doesn’t want to accidentally hurt Mike so she keeps them to a minimum.

Enough fluff but probably not enough bc this is horrible and it’s my first request please spare ily anon

okay let’s DO THIS

(please enjoy it and thank you for the prompt) - Diagnosedblog

January 11th, 1985

7:40 PM

Jim & Jane Hopper Residence

“7-4-0.”

She read this and sighed. Hopper was nowhere to be found, and El was becoming very bored.

After what happened with the gate closing and the previous events, El had decided to simply relax and enjoy being able to sit down and breathe. She still had to hide for the remainder of the year so everyone made sure to keep her under wraps. However, things were no longer as hectic as they used to be and she could finally be with her family and friends. She had more time to be with Mike now and that was the cherry on top; spending time with him. Even a day without him seemed to be a struggle now that they were able to see each other. She had grown used to their separation, and she was glad it was over.

Hopper was out because apparently someone had taken a lawn mower from farmer Merrill’s shed and used it to mow obscene images into the free grass outside of his field. Merrill was absolutely furious and insisted that it was one of Eugene’s ‘hooligan friends’, and he refused to lay it to rest. Hopper went to go question Eugene, only to find out the same thing happened to him. Both men went to the station and were going off completely on one another, and Hopper had to stay to help calm them down and gather more details. He would be home at around 8:40 or 9, beeping “HOME BY NINE” in Morse code.

This left El free to do as she pleased and she didn’t mind, to begin with. She had eaten 7 Eggos, watched 10 soap operas, took 2 naps, read 4 magazines, and attempted to fix the broken radio (which proceeded to explode).

She lay there, dazed and still extremely bored. She no longer wanted the house to herself as she had nothing to do; she had no work to do because she was not yet enrolled in school, and she had already finished her daily practices (she was home-schooled at the moment). There was nothing interesting for her to (try) to read, and she had watched a majority of the soap operas on the television. Everything else was trash on a screen. El wanted Hopper to come home so he could teach her how to play board games tonight, but since he was out she had no guide. She didn’t understand the directions and playing without them was pointless, so she gave up. Board games aside, El really just wanted to call Mike and maybe talk to the Party (except Max - there was still bad blood there). She had trouble working the phone and also didn’t know the Wheeler’s number though, so there was no hope. She laid there, contemplating life.

Suddenly, there was an unfamiliar knock at the door. It wasn’t the secret knock, but it wasn’t alarming either. It was quiet yet simple. Almost as if this person was being cautious or trying to hide. El had been taught by Hopper to never open this door for anyone else under any circumstances and these rules still applied to her even after she no longer had to hide but this person didn’t seem threatening. She pondered on whether to hide and let the mysterious person leave, or just to crack the door open a  bit.

She decided to do neither and simply turned the porch light on, looking out of the window onto the porch. When she saw them her eyes grew wide and she quickly scurried to the door and opened it.

The mysterious person had been Mike. Having been grounded, he snuck out of his basement and took his bike up the trail to the woods, as he hadn’t seen El since Christmas Day in late December. They greeted each other with a hug.

“Hey, El.”

“Hey, Mike.”

Having Mike here really brightened up her mood. The boredom was starting to consume her, and she had been wanting to see him for a while, but now that he was here things were looking up; this night wouldn’t so boring after all.

“I brought you some chocolate candies since I know you like them. Maybe you can put them on your waffles.”

“Thanks, I will put them in the fridge. I’m too full to eat anything else.”

She smiled as she took them from his hand and headed to the kitchen. As she went to go put the chocolates away, she noticed Mike was still standing awkwardly at the door.

He noticed her puzzled face and grew flustered. “What’s wrong?”

“Why are you still standing? You may sit after all.”

“Oh. Right.”

She stifled a giggle. Even after knowing for 2 years he was still a nervous wreck, and she thought it sweet.

He quickly took a seat and casually watched the television. “I got the candy from Dustin - he had a bunch of chocolate left over from our last campaign.”

Dustin and leftover food was a suspicious combo. “Is it safe to eat?”

Mike laughed. “Yes, it is, this time at least. He had a bunch of other weird candy that no one wanted and tried to shove it at me, but I just threw it back at him because of no one like honeysuckers.”

This made her grin cheekily as she came up with an idea. As Mike stayed on the couch, she quietly went through the kitchen drawers until she found a pack of uneaten jelly beans. She turned back to him from behind and began to aim. A lift of her hand and a swift wave-

FLICK.

Mike felt the back of his head in confusion. It was something had been thrown at him, like a little piece of paper. He looked around and saw El in the kitchen, who had sneakily pretended to look for something in the pantry. He didn’t find any answers and decided to just ignore it. He impatiently waited for El on the couch. “Whatcha lookin’ for?”

“Oh, just potato crunches.” While she actually picked out 3 more jelly beans.

“Oh okay. I’ll just be here. On the couch still.”

“I’ll be in there just a second.”

THUMP.

Okay, now he knew he wasn’t imagining things. Three tiny objects had basically been launched at his head and he knew who was responsible.

“Hey!”

He turned to find her giggling like a giddy little girl while holding a whole jar of beans.

“Stop throwing candy at me!”

“No. It’s fun.”

She proceeded to launch 5 more beans, but Mike ducked quickly.

“Stop it!”

El just laughed. She was clearly enjoying this.

Seeing her laugh really lightened the mood for Mike. She had never laughed so fluidly before and he loved how happy she sounded. Wait, no. No candy fights - they would make a huge mess and El might break something.

Mike huffed. “Give me the bowl.”

“Nope.”

“Fine, I’ll just take it.”

He got up and walked towards, reaching for it when-

WOOSH.

The bowl was 7 feet in the air.

“El, give me the bowl.”

“No.”

Mike tried to jump for it, but she only lifted it higher.

“Please?”

Mike pleaded with his eyes, which she found charming but ineffective.

“Okay.”

He went for it as it was lowered and-

WOOSH - thump thump thump.

She had levitated it again, but tilted it, so that about 7 pieces fell on Mike’s head.

He looked at the pieces on the floor but kept his head down. He decided it was better to play along. If she wants to play dirty, we’ll play dirty, he thought, smiling to himself.

“Okay..since we’re doing this..” he said, still facing the floor.

He jolted to the kitchen, catching El off guard and thundered through the cabinet doors to find more candies. El grabbed more beans and began to hurl them at Mike but her attempts to slow him weren’t successful, as he found a whole bowl of candy.

“GAME ON!” he screamed as he threw the candy.

El shrieked as about 10 things of candy were hurled at her. At first, she was frightened because she didn’t want Mike to throw them too hard, but the fear subsided when he literally completely missed her and basically threw candy at the fridge.

She bee-lined out of the kitchen as Mike threw multiple piles of jelly beans, laughing maniacally. El suddenly remembered the whipped cream in the top drawer to the right, and she snatched it out when she got back to the kitchen. Mike’s face dropped at the speed of light, as the can was levitated and suddenly sprayed everywhere. The whole living room was soaked - it was snowing whip cream. Mike covered himself and bolted into her bedroom, slamming the door where he could shelter himself.

“Try and get me now!”

“Damn you, Michael!” She learned that one from Miss Wheeler.

She chuckled as she set the can down and sat at the door. Part of her was exhausted, but the other part of her could have done this forever.

Mike was sitting on the other side. “El?”

“Yes, Mike?”

“I just wanna say..” Suddenly the door opened and El flew to the ground.

“Hey!”

“I found the spare can!” He snickered as held it directly in front of her face. “You better run!” She quickly got off her feet and ran out of the room. That’s what she gets for sneaking the second can into her room.

They did these things all night, and Eleven was truly having a good time. Though she did love his calm and kind demeanor, she loved Mike like this too - fun-loving and wild.

They threw and used every piece of candy and junk they could get their hands on - Skittles (“Taste the rainbow sucker!”), chips, whipped cream, waffles, even a piece of cake. The floor was basically destroyed with cream and crushed candy and snacks. You would’ve thought someone sprayed the place with a fire hydrant, as the walls were splattered with everything from syrup to flour. The kids looked even worse - El was covered in everything from Eggo crumbs to cinnamon, and Mike looked even worse with sugar in his hair and a powder covered face, with whip cream up his nose. Eleven found this especially hilarious, especially when it came out whenever he sneezed. He looked so adorable when he wrinkled his nose.

“I don’t find anything funny about this.” He pouted.

“I do.”

He looked at her as she laughed and giggled. This time he was able to truly look at her. She looked so pretty even covered in sugar and messy smashed chocolate. Her smile was still infectious as hell, and Mike couldn’t help but stare. It made him happy to see her so happy and to have so much fun with her doing something so ridiculous. It amazed him that this was the girl he loved, but he didn’t regret it in the least.

El loved that Mike had gone from being the party pooper to being the life of the party in just a matter of jelly beans. She hadn’t expected him to get into so quickly, or to have so much fun. It was so adventurous; throwing Skittles and Hershey’s and expired candy that elderly people gave you and pouring flour all over the place. The whipped cream was the best part - Mike has sprayed directly at her and running all the place had been a pure blast. She was basically in confectionery bliss; the boy of her dreams was acting crazy with her and enjoying every second of it.

She happily munched on a skittle she found in her pocket while continuing to think about it.

“I thought you were full.”

“Well, I’m not anymore, so haha.”

Mike let out a weird giggle that caused her to laugh quietly. Another great thing about him - his weird giggle. It sounded very odd, but it was still contagious. It was beautiful in its own way.

“El?”

“Yes?”

“I had a really great time with you. I thought we were just gonna watch TV, but this is way better.” He pointed to the ceiling, which was dripped with fresh cake dough. They had basically used everything in the kitchen.

“It would be funny if that fell on you.”

Mike raised an eyebrow. “I don’t think it would.”

“I think it will.”

“I bet you 10 bucks it won’t.”

“I don’t have 10 bucks.”

“Better find some.”

“Hmph.”

They quietly laid there, eyeing the fan to see if the cake stuff would actually fall. It did.

Eleven was in pure giggle fits as Mike wiped soggy cake mix off his face.

“You get some too!” He laughed as he slathered some on her.

“Gross!” She exclaimed

Mike cackled. “I’ll get it off just wait.”

“No, let me get it.” She said as he attempted to get up and wipe it off.“No, I got it just let me-”

He stopped as their faces got closer together, blushing very hard. Mike hadn’t realized he was that close to her when he went to focus on the cake mix and he had crawled in between her legs. He thought of getting out of her personal space so not to seem rude, but he didn’t do this. Instead, he leaned in, slowly but surely, and placed a small peck on her lips. They were soft even while dirty, and very comforting. It tasted like sugar and passion. It sounded corny, but it was the most honest he could’ve been. He almost kissed her again and then he realized what he was doing.

“I-I’m sorry. I should’ve given you a heads up, that was rude-”

Mike was interrupted by the crashing of lips onto his. El smiled as she held him in a smooth, but short little kiss, full of affection and silliness. She’d never kissed him like this before; the kiss was either really emotional or just rushed, but this was different. It was more joyful, more giddy and playful. Mike enjoyed it.

She pulled back and saw that Mike’s eyes were closed. He must’ve really liked it because he didn’t open them until she snapped her fingers.

“Mike?”

“Huh? Oh. I’m okay.” He chuckled nervously. El frowned; she didn’t mean to make him uncomfortable.

“I apologize.”

“What? No! It was amazing. I mean.. Really good. Cool. Yeah.”

She grinned at the nervous goof in front of her. “I love you, Mike. I really do.”

Mike smiled, face as red as a tomato. “I really do, too. Love you, that is.”

El laid back down, resting herself as Mike regained his composure. All the excitement had tired her out.

She felt Mike’s fingers intertwine with her, and instantly felt at ease. His soft, warm hands served as a forgiveness for the mess they had made, and both children blissfully fell asleep.

Eleven woke up first. She had had a very good nap, albeit on the floor, and she turned to see Mike still knocked out. He was cute while he slept; the silent breathing and the way he would slightly twitch here and there. She decided to get and check the time to see if Hopper was close. She immediately panicked.

“8-3-0! No! Dad is going to be furious!”

Mike groggily awoke. “What time is it?” Then he saw the clock.

“Shit! We only have 30 minutes to clean this whole house!’

Fear started to set in as the two realized the severity of their mess. Everything was basically vandalized with dry and sticky food as well as littered with candy.

“What am I going to do?” El mumbled to herself sadly.

“I’ll help you clean up. We have to hurry though.”

She perked up. “Of course. I will get the broom.”

“I’ll get the mop. Then we’ll do what else is necessary. Let’s go!”

They spent the next 25 minutes cleaning up what they could. It was definitely grueling; you would’ve thought there was a supernatural war going on, as paper towels and brooms and cleaning supplies flew back and forth along the house. It gave Mike a lot to keep up with and Eleven several nosebleeds and a big headache, but it had to be done.

At about 8:55 PM, the work was finally finished. Mike had just vacuumed the last of the candy, and after putting back in the closet, collapsed on the now clean couch as El sat there in her blankie, popcorn in hand (the only thing not used in the food battle). He looked at her with tired eyes and scoffed. “You get to sit there and eat while I clean. I’m underappreciated.” El playfully rolled her eyes at her silly boy. He smiled at her, all teeth, as they held hands until Mike decided it was time to leave. “I love you,” he said as he enclosed her in a tight hug. “I love you too, Mike.” She returned the hug warmly, and then he quickly got on his bike and peddled home.

Hopper came home shortly after Mike had biked home so he didn’t know the boy had been there. He didn’t notice anything at first, though he did note the house seemed cleaner than usual. “Hey, kid. I trust you been good.” He ruffled his daughter’s hair and let out a sigh of relief at finally getting home. “You been anywhere today?” “No.” “Good. Don’t want you to be in any danger out there.” He said gruffly as he rummaged through the fridge. Then he noticed it - the Eggos was completely gone. He turned back to Eleven who was completely lost in the television, holding the empty box. “Did you eat this whole thing?” She turned to face him and for a brief second Hopper saw worry in her eyes. “Umm…yes.”

He grew suspicious quickly. “Why?”

“…I was hungry.”

“There was plenty of leftover food.”

“It looked gross.” A blatant lie. The food actually was delicious, but she had eaten the waffles first and was too full to get to it.

Hopper grew irritated. “C’mon kid we talked about this. You can’t not eat just because it doesn’t look good. It’s still good for you, you can’t live off of waffles, alright?”

She nodded understandingly. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s alright. Just eat real food next time.” He started to walk towards his room when he noticed the fan was on but was going really slowly. He flicked it off, and El heard a strange gooey noise. Then she remembered: she’d forgotten to get the fan!

Hopper took note of the house again and walked back towards her, perplexed. “Hey, kid did you clean the house-”

SCHLOOP.

Sticky, soggy cake dough. All over him. Hopper stood there for a moment, pondering whatever it was that hit him when he realized it. “My cake mix?” She stayed awkwardly silent.

“Why in the hell was this on the ceiling?” He growled, turning to his daughter accusingly.

El didn’t know whether to feel bad for him or laugh at how he looked covered in dough.

“I can explain.”

Hopper slowly wiped it from his face. “Oh trust me. You will.”

As he went to go clean himself off, El recapped the evening’s events. She knew she would be in deep trouble. She didn’t care much though.

She remembered the fun she had and how much she had loved being with Mike that whole time. Throwing food, running around, sleeping on the floor, cake dough on Mike’s face; it was all brilliant.

A word she’d learned from Flo at the station. Perfect to describe the night.

Wait.

Mike owed her ten dollars.

Fun fact: Potato crunches are her weird names for potato chips. Just so you know lmao.

[urdearestmom]

Lights, Sound, Screwdriver! | Chapter 5

“Alright, so now that we’ve established what this project will be about, I want you to get into groups of at least two, maximum four.”

El looked to her right to see Mike already looking at her. He smiled when they made eye contact, then got up to join her at the empty desk beside her.

“Hey, so which decade do you wanna do?” He asked.

She cocked her head. “I don’t know. I don’t really care, to be honest.”

He shrugged, setting his bag down on the floor and taking out a notebook. “I’ve kind of always liked the fifties, for some reason.”

She laughed a little. “If you had a different haircut, maybe you could’ve been a greaser in another life. You look like the kind of guy that doesn’t own a leather jacket, but if you did it would look insanely good.” Fuck, now I’m imagining it. That’s hot… aaaaaand now he’s blushing. What a cutie.

Mike stammered over his words. “Uh, I don’t- I don’t know, if I would…” He cleared his throat. “Be able to, um, pull that off.”

She winked. “I’d pull it off.” WHY AM I LIKE THIS???????? Now the poor boy was as red as an actual tomato and the pair of girls behind them were giving them a weird look, El could see them out of the corner of her eye.

“Um, maybe we could do the seventies? A visit to childhood, if you will,” he said, changing the subject.

“Sounds good.”

“Great, let’s tell her before someone else takes it.”

The project was for their modern American history class, and they had about two and a half weeks to prepare a period-long presentation on a decade of their choosing, beginning with 1900-1909 and ending with 1970-1979. Technically, their teacher had said they could also do the eighties, but it would be kind of pointless since the decade wasn’t over yet and wouldn’t be on their final exam. The project was meant to help the class review major points of history by revisiting each decade.

Walking out together at the end of the period, Mike turned to El again. “So when do you want to get together?”

She choked. “What?”

“To work on the project?”

Jesus. She closed her eyes for a second, having taken his question in the complete opposite direction. “Uh, does today work? We can get started on an outline at least and my dad’s gonna be out until dinnertime so we’ll have the house empty, no distractions.”

She chanced a quick glance in his direction only to see him smiling at the ground. It put a soft smile on her own face.

“Sounds good. Meet at the bike rack as usual, yeah?”

“Yeah. See you later!” She waved, pausing in the doorway of her math classroom to watch until Mike vanished around a corner on his way to English.

“WOOOOOOOOO!” She sped up Elm Street pumping a fist in the air as usual, but this time she was pedalling as fast as she could because Mike was following and they had to race, of course.

The pair had been trailing along at the back of their group, and had decided to race when they got to Elm. They’d started stupidly fast, if only partially to get away from their friends’ whistling, but El had kept going fast and now her legs were burning. She could feel herself slowing down when suddenly Mike whizzed past her so fast all she saw was the blur of grey, blue, and yellow that was his shirt.

“LAST ONE THERE IS A ROTTEN EGG!” He yelled.

She was not about to let him win, it didn’t matter how nice she wanted to be to him. “YEAH, WELL, FIRST ONE THERE IS GONNA LOSE THEIR SOUL!” She started pumping again, calves feeling like they were a thread away from ripping apart.

“I SOLD MINE TO SATAN LAST WEEK!” At that, she had to stop to laugh. Also, she was in front of her house, which meant she’d won anyway.

“Hey, dipshit, guess who’s a rotten egg!”

Mike was almost at the next intersection, but it was close enough that she could see his utterly defeated expression from where she was standing. He turned around and slowly pedalled back, scowling the entire way. “Just when I thought I did something right,” he grumbled, setting his bike down on the grass next to hers. “But hey, you lost your soul since you got here first.”

She grinned. “Plot twist, I’m Satan.”

“I knew it! I’ve been telling Will for weeks that there’s something different about you!”

“I hope it’s a good different,” she remarked.

El saw him turn pink again. “Yeah, I- um. It’s not bad. You’re, like, the coolest person I’ve ever met.”

She shoved the door open and stepped inside, spreading her arms out. “Welcome to the police chief’s house. No drugs, no drinking, and certainly nothing else illegal!”

Mike stepped in after her, closing the door and taking in the surroundings. He didn’t notice her until she was pressed right up against him with a finger under his chin. What are you doing, El. Literally what are you doing. She didn’t really know, she just wanted to be close to him in that moment. “You better watch it, kid, or it’ll be more than your soul you lose.”

And then she was looking into his eyes, and he was staring back into hers with an intensity that made her feel like she was going to melt into a puddle right there on the floor. His gaze flicked down for a second, so hers did too, which was when she found herself staring at his lips. They looked so kissable in that moment, parted slightly and so pink and inviting. She wanted nothing more than to press hers against them, even for just a second, and they were so close all she had to do was push her face a little further up. It was something she’d definitely dreamed about before; laying up at night wondering what it would feel like, what it would taste like, to kiss Mike. She thought it might be nice. And it was so close…

He leaned his head back against the door, putting his face out of her reach. “Wow, that’s threatening,” he said.

She stepped back, avoiding looking at him. “Did you, uh, want something to eat?” She asked, taking off her shoes and walking into the kitchen. “I can successfully cook three things: scrambled eggs, bacon, and Eggos. Also you can take off your shoes, I’d rather not have to clean the floor later.” God, you dumbass. You gotta remember he doesn’t like you!

Mike joined her, looking around at the shelves while she rooted through the fridge. “You really like breakfast foods, huh?”

“Eggs, bacon, or Eggos, Mike?”

“Whatever you’re having is fine.”

“Eggos it is then,” she answered, ripping four waffles out of the package and popping them into the toaster.

He came and leaned on the counter, observing her profile. “Actually,” he said, “there’s something I want to ask you.” Oh shit.

“Shoot,” she shrugged, turning to face him and copy his position.

“How do you like your eggs?”

El wrinkled her nose. “Why? Are you gonna make me breakfast any time soon?”

He rolled his eyes. “No, I just have a very specific way of eating my eggs and I wanted to know how you like yours.”

She groaned. “God please no, don’t tell me you’re one of those people who thinks putting syrup on eggs is actually acceptable.”

He looked affronted, putting a hand to his chest defensively. “It’s delicious!”

“No, it’s a deal breaker is what it is,” she replied, putting the toasted Eggos on plates and passing one to Mike.

“But we’re not even dating, how is it a deal breaker?” He said.

Oh. Whoops. You’re being forgetful again, Ellie. “Fine, it would be a deal breaker if you asked me out.”

He looked like he was thinking hard about something, but he was just chewing on a plain waffle. “Would you like that?” He asked, raising his eyebrows.

“Maybe.” Aaaaaaand there you go again, you idiot. Might as well have asked him out yourself, you couldn’t have been more obvious.

Mike’s face was bright pink again, but she had to give him credit for not stuttering like he usually did when embarrassed. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

They finished their Eggos in silence.

Over the course of the next few hours, they managed to come up with an outline for what they could talk about and how they’d present it, and decided to include a mixtape of well-known seventies songs. Most of the time was actually spent just goofing off or talking, though, and the two learned some things about each other.

El learned that Mike was pretty sure his parents were going to get a divorce soon, judging by the amount of times he’d had to take his little sister out somewhere in the middle of the afternoon or (if they were really unlucky) the middle of dinner, as of late. In return, she told him the truth about how she came to be adopted by Hopper and living in Hawkins, which was that she’d had a terrible stepfather back in the town she lived in before.

He had threatened both her and her mother a million times before actually doing something, which was poisoning her mother’s cup. It put her in hospital and she died there within twenty-four hours. Hopper had been one of the cops investigating the case, the town’s police force having been unable to take care of it and calling in back up from neighbouring towns, and because little Jane had been left without any family besides her aunt Becky (who couldn’t take her), he had decided to adopt her.

“Jeez, El, I’m sorry. That’s terrible.” He was leaning against the wall as she hung upside down over the side of her bed.

She shrugged, or at least tried to, because it was hard to do when you were hanging upside down. “It’s fine. She was never the best mom, and at least I’m rid of that asshole.” This was her philosophy in life: you always have to look on the bright side of things, because if you only look on the dark side you’re going to end up becoming the dark side.

“Still! You know Dustin actually used to be afraid of you because of the rumours when you got here?”

She laughed. “He’s an idiot.”

“Tell him that!”

The two had never been alone together for such a long amount of time, and so it was on this day that El discovered that she really, truly, deeply clicked with Mike. There was something so inherently familiar about him, about the way he spoke and moved and looked at her, that made her feel like she was home. Like he was her home. Which was weird and very uncharacteristic of her, she thought, because she didn’t really consider herself a people person, and in retrospect they really hadn’t known each other for that long. However, it was a nice feeling, so she let herself bask in it for a bit before she knew she had to start pushing it away. There was no way he’d ever like a girl like her.

“Hey, El, I’m home! What do you want for dinner?”

Shit, she’d completely lost track of time! From the looks of it, Mike had too. The two of them had spent the last hour sorting through hers and her dad’s music collection searching for the perfect songs to put on their mixtape, and had been very enthusiastically dancing around her room to September when Hopper came in the door.

“Uh- hey, Dad!” El winced. She had forgotten to call the station when she got home to let him know that she had someone over. That was mostly because she’d only ever had Max over and Hopper didn’t mind if she was there without him knowing since he basically considered her his second daughter, but also because she'd gotten so caught up in being able to spend time alone with the boy she’d liked for the past three years that it had completely slipped her mind.

She turned to Mike with a frantic expression. “Stay here and don’t come out until I say so, I forgot to tell him you’re here and he might freak out that I’ve had a boy in this house alone all afternoon,” she whispered.

He was staring at her, looking scared. “Right, okay. I will be here pretending I don’t exist,” he whispered back, gulping.

Cursing under her breath, El walked out of her bedroom and to the front of the house to face Hopper. “Hey, Dad. How was your day?”

He was hanging up his coat and hat. “Was fine. Callahan’s an idiot as usual, and Flo’s still trying to convince me to stop smoking and eat healthy.”

She shook her head ruefully. “Smoking gives you cancer and eating healthy is, coincidentally, good for your health.”

Hopper shrugged, and she almost thought she’d gotten away with having Mike hidden in her room when her dad pointed near the door and said, “Whose shoes are those?”

FUCK! “Right, about that… I forgot to call and tell you.”

He raised his eyebrows. “That doesn’t answer the question. I know they’re not Max’s, they’re way too big.”

El sighed, defeated. “They’re Mike’s.”

She chanced a quick look at Hopper to see his eyes had widened almost comically. “The Mike? The one you-”

“Shut up, he’ll hear you!”

“What’s he doing in my house, missy?”

She glanced down the hall in the direction of her room, seeing the door just the little bit ajar she’d left it. “We got assigned a project in history today and we’re partners, so we came over here to work.”

Hopper nodded sagely. “Of course. This project wouldn’t have anything to do with anatomy, would it?”

“Dad!” El felt a flush of embarrassment creep up her face. “It’s not like that at all. Plus I literally said it was history, stop trying to make bad jokes!”

He laughed. “You know I just like to tease, Ellie. Call him out,” he said, gesturing to her door.

She swallowed. “Uh- you can come out now!”

The door creaked open and Mike’s head popped out, the rest of him following when he saw that both father and daughter were staring at him.

Upon arriving in the kitchen, he stuck his hand out to shake Hopper’s. “Nice to, um- nice to meet you, sir.”

Hopper narrowed his eyes, squeezing the boy’s hand. “I’ve heard a lot about you.”

Mike laughed nervously. “All good things, I hope?”

Hopper didn’t answer, simply staring as if he could see into the kid’s soul, before turning to the fridge and taking some eggs out.

Mike turned to El, who was now freaking out. Oh god, what if Dad scared him and he wants nothing to do with me anymore?

“Was that good?” He mouthed.

She raised her hands in an ‘I’m not sure, maybe?’ gesture. She cleared her throat, trying to rid the room of the awkward silence that had taken over. “So, what’s for dinner?”

Hopper was now looking like he was going to fry some eggs. “I figured I’d fry some eggs to make sandwiches and you guys can get a pizza if you want one,” he replied. “You’re staying, right, Wheeler? I’m sure your mother wouldn’t mind.”

El thought that sounded more like a thinly veiled threat than an invitation to stay for dinner, but she wasn’t about to get in the way of the proceedings.

(Who was she kidding, she wanted him to stay too.)

“Uh, no, I just have to let her know. Is it okay if I use your phone?”

“Sure, kid.”

As Mike went into the hall to call his mother, El sidled over to her dad. “So?” She asked.

“So, what?” Hopper answered.

“What do you think?”

He shrugged, cracking an egg into the hot pan. “Hasn’t spoken enough to make a judge of his character, but he looks pretty harmless. I think I might actually like this kid.”

She breathed a sigh of relief. “I told you he’s a good kid.”

“You did,” he agreed, cracking another egg. “Set the table, and when he’s done go order a pizza.”

El wrapped her arms around him in a hug. “Thanks, Dad,” she said, muffled into his shoulder.

He ruffled her hair. “Don’t worry about it, kiddo.”

Over dinner, Hopper made several comments that his daughter felt were entirely unnecessary. For example, did he really need to say that the reason he’d heard of Mike was that she hadn’t been able to refrain from talking about him in the past three years?

Or that he was excited that they were finally getting to know each other?

Or that El was always overly thrilled whenever there were mentions of a hangout, because that meant she got to see Mike outside of school hours?

The boy had gotten redder with every word, until he looked very similar to the sauce on their pizza. By that point, she just wanted him to leave before her dad caused any more embarrassment.

And so it was that as soon as the pizza and egg sandwiches had been finished, El ran to her room and snatched all of Mike’s stuff up before handing it to him and shooing him out of the house. She finished with an “I’ll see you Monday!” before closing the door and turning around to glare at Hopper.

“Why are you like this?” She seethed.

He didn’t turn around. “Like what?”

“Like that! You just had to say all that stuff, didn’t you? If he was ever going to like me before, he’s definitely not going to after that!”

He shrugged, scrubbing a plate harshly to get the dried yolk off of it. “If he couldn’t handle that then he shouldn’t date you. But I think he handled it fine. And he likes you, you’re just choosing not to see it. He’s very obvious.”

She scoffed. “Uh, no, he doesn’t! He’s not the type of guy to like girls like me, okay? We’re just friends and that’s all it’s ever gonna be.”

“I still don’t see what’s wrong with girls like you, Ellie. You’re strong, and smart, and beautiful, what’s there not to like?”

She sighed. Dads are biased, he doesn’t get it. “I’m going to bed, Dad.”

“It’s early.”

“I know, I just- want to go to bed. I’m tired.”

He turned his head to look at her for a second before turning back to the dishes. “Alright, but if you need anything I’ll be here watching Miami Vice.”

“Thanks, Dad. Good night.”

In her bed, wrapped up in the comforter, she was staring at the wall when she noticed a small notebook on the floor near her. It didn’t look like hers, so she must have missed it when she was picking up Mike’s stuff, or maybe it fell out of his bag when she’d shoved other stuff in.

She reached down to pick it up and saw that on the inside cover was indeed written Michael Wheeler. She knew she shouldn’t read it, but she was really curious. Besides, he didn’t need to know she’d read it, right?

The first half or so of the notebook was filled with messy notes about weird fantastical creatures. She thought it might be him trying to plan a ‘campaign’ for that game he and the boys used to play, because she remembered that he said they hadn’t played in a while and he wanted to make a big game for the summer. Then there were blank pages, and she thought that was the end of it until she noticed writing on a page further in.

At the top it read: Dear El, there’s something I need to tell you, but I don’t know how.

Shit. I shouldn’t have read that, she thought. He’s trying to write me something? Should I talk to him about it? No, then he’ll know I read this. Fuck.

El put the notebook on her bedside table and exhausted herself staring at it and wondering what it meant. The last thought she had before falling asleep was maybe Dad’s right…