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yesterdaysjam1 · 7 years ago

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The Idea

“El! You can’t just decide this all on your own!” Mike practically yelled. Actually, he WAS yelling. He couldn’t remember the last time he was this angry...maybe when his parents refused to “let” him marry El or probably when he had found out Hopper had hidden El from him for almost a year (he still hadn’t let that go).

“Mike,” El said calmly in that voice of hers. “Just listen to me.”

“Yeah Mike, just listen to her.” Dustin added.

Mike glared at Dustin who decided that it was better he kept his mouth shut.

“Ok,” Mike managed to spit out through clenched teeth.

El smiled, that was all the encouragement she needed. She knew this was the best for everyone and all they needed was for Mike to approve.

“Well,” El began, taking a deep breath. “I didn’t exactly decide this on my own.”

“El...what did you do?” Mike groaned.

“Nothing bad!” She quickly clarified. “I guess I just have to show you,” she sighed.

“Does this mean I need to leave you two alone? Because if you guys start making out in front...” Dustin asked.

“No!” El cut him off. “You’re kind of ruining this, Dustin.”

“I’m ruining it? You’re the one with the stupid idea that’s gonna get us all killed!” Dustin yelled.

“Hey! It’s not stupid!” Mike suddenly yelled out of habit of sticking up for his wife.

El’s eyes widened with hope. Mike quickly clarified, “I mean, it’s still dangerous.”

“Mike, you are such a pussy!” Dustin exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air.

“Don’t call him that!” El jumped in.

“You were literally just telling me to listen to her!”

“Yeah well...” and Dustin really didn’t have anything to say because he HAD just told Mike to listen to El.

“GUYS!” a voice behind them suddenly yelled.

Dustin and Mike gasped as they turned to face their best friend Lucas. Lucas walked into the tiny apartment with Max and Will following behind him!

For a moment, no one said anything and then all of sudden it was a tangle of arms and elbows colliding, screams and whoops, and hugs and kisses (because it had been a REALLY long time). And “Look, it’s Mr. El Hopper-Wheeler! (Max to Mike) And “That’s a terrible suit, you look terrible. I’m so happy to see you.” (Mike to Lucas) And “Dustin, you can let us go now.” (Will to Dustin)

When they had all finally settled down, Mike realized they had forgotten about why everyone was here.

“Ok, El, you’ve got some explaining to do.” He nudged her with his toe. She was laying on the floor talking to Max and Dustin laying next to her. They looked like they were 14 again, spending hours in his basement just talking.

El looked over at Lucas, who was sitting next to him on the couch. Lucas nodded at her and at Will who was to Mike’s right.

“Listen Mike,” Lucas began.

3 days earlier

El Hopper-Wheeler (she hadn’t fully changed her last name) finally arrived at her tiny apartment in Dorchester area of Boston. The neighborhood was somewhat safe (ok it wasn’t safe at all) and their apartment could be considered charming (it was a shithole) and the rent was affordable (it wasn’t). But despite everything, El loved the little haven she and Mike had created for themselves.

El couldn’t wait to see Mike. It had been a long and painful day. Most days as a social worker were like this for her. It broke her heart to see the kinds osituations her kids (she considered them hers) were in and it made her, if not appreciate, at least be grateful that she had survived her childhood in the lab without too much lasting damage.

Every time she saw an orphaned child or one that had been abused, she remembered that she had been saved. Her life after the lab had been good, in fact, the BEST, more than she could have ever hoped for. She knew that some of her kids wouldn’t have a Mike or Hopper or Joyce even to save them like she did. It made her work even harder to make sure they were cared for and placed with loving families.

El entered their apartment to find her husband hunched over his computer desk, muttering to himself. She put away her coat (it was freezing this October), walked over to him in their makeshift office (it was supposed to be a dining room).

She wrapped her arms around him from behind and squeezed. She barely got to the top of his head now and she swore he hadn’t stopped growing even though they were both 24 now.

He slightly turned to look at her, surprised, “Hey! When did you get in?”

“Just now,” she smiled at him and gave him a quick peck on the cheek.

“Well your nose is all runny,” he laughed as he kissed her red nose.

“Yeah well yours doesn’t look so good either,” she laughed back as she turned his chair and sat on his lap.

His arms wrapped around as she settled in closer to him. “How are you feeling?” She asked.

“Better.” He had been recovering from a cold and El had forced him to finally take a day off threatening to call his slavedriver boss herself.

“Better enough for...” she trailed off with a smile. He grinned back as he leaned in and covered her lips with his own.

He pulled back, “I’m always ‘better’ for that Mrs. Hopper-Wheeler.”

And she smiled at her last name. She had thought Mike would be upset at her request but he was just all too happy that she had agreed to marry him. El leaned in this time and pressed her lips against Mike’s as she moved to straddle his lap, Mike moaning with pleasure in response.

She loved these moments the best in their tiny apartment, tangled in Mike’s arms, making out like they were still teenagers. Only this time, Hopper wouldn’t keep interrupting them.

“What the hell! Do you two ever stop?” A voiced behind them groaned.

Now they had Dustin Henderson interrupting them all the time.

El and Mike ignored him as they continued making out.

“Just great, and right in front of my salad too!” Dustin complained as he sat down in front his own computer desk, chomping on his salad.

“I swear, you two have your own bedroom to make out in! I’m the one that sleeps in that closet we call a den.” Dustin continued complaining.

They still ignored him. El managed to move even closer to Mike as she continued to kiss him.

“I’m moving out the second I get my paycheck next week! Do you hear me? Do you guys have any idea what you’ve done to my love life? No one wants to hang out here and watch you two make out like your sixteen instead the couple that’s been married for 6 years!” Dustin continued to complain with a mouthful of lettuce leaves, as he typed into his computer.

He threw a baby carrot at the couple when it stopped mid-air and aimed for his mouth. Dustin dodged the carrot and yelled, “Nice try, El!”

El and Mike finally broke apart and El moved off of Mike, “I’m sorry Dustin, please don’t move out.” El said unenthusiastically. Dustin threatened to move out like 5 times a day but he never did. And they wouldn’t let him if he tried.

The three of them had been living together ever since they had moved to Boston, after graduating from high school. Mike and El had gotten married the summer after high school, much to the Wheelers’ disapproval. They had refused to help support the newlyweds who were moving to Boston. Mike had gotten accepted to MIT on a full scholarship and so did Dustin.

El had managed to get accepted to the University of Massachusetts with a full scholarship as well and Mike still hadn’t known how that happened. He loved her but she hadn’t been the best student, being so far behind. He hadn’t questioned it much because it meant they could be in Boston together and he REALLY wanted to marry her.

Unfortunately, their scholarships didn’t cover room and board and Mike’s parents had refused to help. Hopper and Joyce helped with what they could but they also were sending Will to New York who had gotten accepted to Parsons School of Design.

Dustin had given them the idea to get an apartment together. With their part-time jobs, they would be able to afford it.

El wanted Lucas and Max to join them too. But Lucas, who had gotten accepted to MIT as well, wanted to go to Georgetown University. He wanted to become a lawyer. And they had all eventually stopped hounding him when he kept giving them excellent arguments for why he should go to Georgetown and not MIT. He was going to make an amazing lawyer.

Max had decided to go to San Diego State University so she could be with her dad. This saddened El deeply because Max had become her other best friend. But she understood why Max wanted to go even if it meant being across the entire country. What she didn’t understand was why Max and Lucas broke up before they left for university.

“Why don’t you just get married like me and Mike?” El asked.

“Mike and I” they had both corrected her.

“See, you guys are so alike!” El pointed out.

They had both sighed and explained to her separately that it was going to be hard to make a long distance relationship work.

El didn’t get it. Just because they couldn’t see each other didn’t mean they stopped loving each other right? But they hadn’t listened to her and broke up anyway.

Mike and El loved living with Dustin. He was an amazing cook and always had something baking in their oven. He told the best stories and they loved hearing about his dating life. It’s what kept them young and unlike an “old, married couple”. Dustin was glad too that he had someone to go home too, even though he spent most of his time complaining.

They all hadn’t realized how quickly 4 years had gone by. They all had managed to meet up at least once a month, minus Max who they saw at Christmas and for a few weeks in the summer. But the meet ups kept becoming more and more infrequent. Classes had gotten tougher and all of them were focused on their future.

Still El made it a point call Max, Lucas, and Will (who was now living with Johnathon and Nancy). She even called Steve Harrington who had managed to become a doctor! He was a surgeon at in a hospital in Seattle.

She also made it a point to ask Mike every week when he would be able to build the technology that would allow her to send messages to all her friends and family at once. “Not for another 5-10 years,” he’d respond everytime.

El had gotten a degree in Public and Community Service and knew she wanted to be a social worker. Mike and Dustin had graduated with top honors in Computer Programming and had gotten job offers with a leading tech firm and they started to actually make a decent living. Lucas had immediately started law school at Georgetown Law and Max, always good with numbers, had moved to New York to work on “Wall Street”, whatever that was. Will was still in New York, living as a “starving artist” and had offered to be Max’s roommate.

El was just happy that her best friend was on the same side of the planet again. The hangouts had started up again and everyone made more of an effort to see each other. El even suspected that Max and Lucas had started dating again but they both swore they were still “just friends”.

Unfortunately, like before, their meetups became less and less while everyone had decided that making money, law school, and art were more important.

El made enough money that she was content but she didn’t really care about it. Money is what the bad men wanted. She wanted to help people.

Unfortunately money is what Mike and Dustin needed in order to start their own company. They had an idea to create video game but they didn’t have the resources. So they saved whatever they made that their 60 hour a week job and they had all decided to stay in that tiny apartment until they had saved enough.

So here they were. The last time everyone had seen each other was at Lucas’ law school graduation, 5 months ago. Max and Will were still in New York. El, Mike, and Dustin were getting by, saving every penny, surviving on ramen and salads. Unless. El had an idea.

“Hey Mike,” El called out. It was Mike’s turn to make dinner and he had gotten up to boil the ramen.

“Yeah babe?” Mike called back from the cramped kitchen.

El felt bad for lying but she had a brilliant plan, “I got a call from Hawkins. Hop and Joyce need me.”

#mileven #mileven fanfic #lumax #lucas #el hopper #eleven #mike wheeler #will byers #max mayfield #dustin henderson #stranger things fiction

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