Second story in a collection I'm working on entitled Alone in the Woods. First one is Zero-Mile Mark. Thanks for all the terrific feedback on that one and a shoutout to FangirlingStrangerThings for letting me rant about elves.
It wasn't that Jane Hopper didn't like her name. It was okay. It was fine. What she liked more was her nickname for herself, and what she liked more than that was his nickname for her. Scratch that, she loved his nickname for her.
Since being lost in the woods with Mike Wheeler she hadn't been able to stop thinking about him, and not just because they spent so much time together in close proximity. He was her friend and she hadn't had one of those. Okay, she would admit to herself as she fell asleep at night that maybe he was a little more than just a friend but she couldn't find the harm in that, not when she fell asleep thinking about how his lips felt against hers or how he smiled at her like no one else existed. They hadn't talked about labels but she knew that there was more to their relationship than just being buddies.
And with his friendship had come a set of other friends. She had been awkward and shy at first but she was beginning to consider them to be her own friends now and not just accessories to Mike. They had accepted her at their lunch table and would speak to her in class, even without Mike present. She had never known that having just a few people legitimately care about her would boost her confidence so much.
The best part of her new group, besides Mike, was that it came with another girl. Max Mayfield was considered a member (the Party, as Dustin insisted it always be called) but she didn't often get a chance to eat lunch with them because of her schedule. El hadn't spent much time with her until one Saturday when she joined Mike and the boys at the arcade. She immediately liked Max, her sassiness and take no shit attitude was both refreshing and hilarious. At first upon hearing there was a girl in the group she had been apprehensive that Mike might like her more, but after seeing them interact El knew that their bond was in no way of the romantic nature. It helped that Mike wouldn't let go of El's hand until he watched her play a video game, and then he stood behind her with his arms around her. It was both distracting and exhilarating for El. She didn't mind though. It was a good distraction.
"Damn, Wheeler, you're going to make her waste all of her quarters!" Max said with a huff as she glanced over at El playing a game while Mike was strapped to her back like a parachute. Max was busy playing Dig Dug while El was trying to play Star Wars, much to Mike's excitement.
"Right. Sorry, El." Mike stepped back and to the side a bit. El smiled apologetically at him before turning her attention back to the game. He watched her face as she concentrated, how her lower lip went between her teeth on one side and her eyebrows scrunched up. It was adorable.
"I'm at the Death Star!" El beamed.
"Shoot the guns!" Mike jumped up and down a little. "You're doing great!"
Use the force, Luke.
El didn't want to use her powers but it was tempting. She held back though, choosing to enjoy the moment for what it was, just kids playing games at the arcade. No powers necessary.
You're all clear kid!
El squeezed the trigger. The X-wing pulled back and she watched as the Death Star exploded. "I did it! I did it!" She turned to Mike who was grinning from ear to ear. She jumped into his arms. "That was fun!"
"Have you never been to the arcade before, El?" Lucas asked, having joined them when he heard the commotion.
"I never had a reason to go. I'm glad I do now. This is really fun." She smiled.
"We come every Saturday. Even if Mike is going to skip out on us next week to go hiking again." Dustin was saying as he shoved another two quarters into Dragon's Lair.
"You're going hiking next weekend?" El asked Mike.
"It's just a day hike. I'm still trying to bulk up, you know? Did you want to come with me?" Mike thought he knew the answer to that question. He was surprised at what she said instead.
"I definitely would like to come with you. Is that cool?"
"Cool. Definitely. We can eat lunch on the trail if you want." Mike offered, his head still spinning that she'd want to go back into the forest with him.
They both smiled and looked at the floor. They had been standing side by side, watching over Dustin's shoulder as he tried to keep Dirk the Daring alive. It wasn't going well for Dirk. El felt Mike's hand brush against hers and she threaded her fingers into his. He squeezed and she felt her heart beat faster.
The group was eating lunch together at Benny's Burgers when Max suggested that she and El should have a sleepover some time. She had decided upon meeting her that she did indeed like El. She wanted to get to know her better but the boys, especially Mike, made that more difficult. They always had something to say and Mike was always monopolizing El's time. El didn't seem to mind that one bit but Max wanted to see who she was when Mike wasn't around.
"You should spend the night with me some time, El." Max said as she dipped a french fry in ketchup.
"When?" El asked, surprising Max at how agreeable she was to the idea.
"What are you doing tonight? Oh, wait. My house is no good tonight. Billy is there and my parents are going out. I hate being there with just him. I wouldn't do that to you."
"You could come over to my house. I'm sure Hop won't mind. Sometimes he has to go out at night anyway. It would be nice to not be alone." El said.
"Really? Awesome. We're going to get to know each other really well." Max smiled at El. El looked across the table at Mike, who gave her a knowing nod. He knew that Max wouldn't come away from the sleepover knowing everything about El. She gave him a tiny secret smile and felt his foot bump against hers under the table. She took a sip of soda and pretended to be absorbed in what Dustin was saying about how Dragon's Lair was rigged against him, all the while keeping her foot on Mike's and her eyes glued to his.
After lunch everyone went their separate ways for the day. Mike and El were walking slowly toward her house.
"Are you sure you want to come with me next weekend? I figured you'd had enough of the woods." Mike asked, taking her hand in his once again as they walked.
"I like being in the woods. I don't like being lost in them but we're not going to get lost again. We will stay on the trail. I promise." Mike laughed at her statement.
"You are a quick learner, El Hopper."
"I like that you call me El. Thank you for that." She said quietly. "It makes me feel good."
Mike just smiled at her.
The girls had decided that Max would come over to El's house before dinnertime that night. She had never had a sleepover before and was a bit nervous, not really knowing what to do at one. Hopper sensed her wariness.
"It will be fine. You just watch movies and talk, mostly talk I think. You eat all my food and make me keep telling you to keep the noise down. Don't worry so much about it."
El didn't have a lot of time to consider if he was right or wrong because a short time later the doorbell rang and Max was there. El showed Max around the house, making a quick tour. They stopped at El's bedroom and Max dumped her bag into the floor. She looked around the room and noticed a few framed pictures.
"Hey, is this from the lost in the woods trip?" She asked, picking up a picture of Mike and El in front of a tent.
"It is. So is this one." El pointed to the two of them in front of a waterfall. "That's kind of the reason we got lost in the first place."
"Huh. Well for being lost you both look happy. Like, hi, we're on our honeymoon happy." Max laughed as she set the picture back on the dresser.
Hopper had bought them pizza and El was surprised and pleased when he said that they could take theirs into her room to eat. He was trying to be a cool dad but he also wanted to watch televison in peace for a while. They grabbed a couple of sodas and disappeared into El's room to eat.
"Your dad is pretty cool." Max said as she took a slice of cheese pizza from the box. They were sitting on the floor facing each other, the pizza between them, listening to The Queen is Dead by The Smiths. Max had already decided that she would pick the next album they listened to.
"This music is depressing." She said as she finished her slice.
"Mike likes it."
There it was. Max rolled her eyes. "So tell me about your little woodland adventure with him. Spare no details."
El looked thoughtful for a moment. She didn't really want to tell everything that happened, and she wouldn't possibly tell everything, but it did seem like it would be nice to have another girl to talk to about things that she was feeling or some of the things that happened. She was kind of bursting to tell someone.
"We got lost because of me. I wanted to look at a waterfall. We couldn't find our way back so we had to camp. I fell and hurt my ankle so we were stuck for a couple of days, not that we could have gone anywhere anyway because of a massive storm."
"So you were literally stuck inside a small tent for days with Mike? Wow. How did that go?"
"It was nice. I'm afraid of storms so he tried to make me feel better."
"I bet he did." Max laughed.
'It wasn't like that. He wasn't trying to take advantage of me. He kept me warm and made me not worry as much."
"How did he do that?" The smirk on her face was making El a little annoyed.
"It was really cold, Max. We had to do what we could to stay warm. We zipped the bags together so our body heat could combine."
Max was laughing outright now.
"Why are you laughing so much?"
"Because I know you don't mean it like that but literally everything you are saying could be code for we had sex. Like he tried to make me feel better (we had sex), he kept me warm (we had sex), so our body heat could combine (we totally had sex). It's just funny!"
"But we didn't have sex. You know that, right?" El was visibly worried.
"Come on, El. I know that. I'm just giving you a hard time. You should see how your face changes when you talk about him. It's obvious. You may not have done it yet, but I know you totally want to." Max's tone got softer and didn't sound so teasing. It didn't make El blush any less.
"We did kiss. A lot." Her eyes looked dreamy as she told Max how that came about. Mostly leaving in all of the details.
"And? Is he a good kisser?" Max asked, clearly interested in why El's face would soften and almost glow so much when she talked about Mike.
"I don't have anyone to compare him to, he was my first kiss. But if I could only do one thing for the rest of my life, I'd want it to be kissing him. Forever."
"Damn, El. Does he know you feel that way? Have you two talked about everything?"
"No. I mean, we keep holding hands and he kisses me sometimes and he hugs me but we haven't talked about feelings or anything like that."
"You should just tell him how you feel. Believe me, he feels the same way. I didn't get to see for myself but Lucas filled me in on that day in the cafeteria after you came back to school. When Mike kissed you in front of everyone. We're talking Mike Wheeler here. He doesn't call attention to himself. That definitely meant something."
El thought about it. She had been caught off guard by his actions in the cafeteria that day, wanting to believe they would still be friends but not letting herself believe it totally until she saw him there. When he touched her face she knew her life at school was about to change for the better. And the kiss made her weak in her knees. She still thought about it often.
"Earth to El!" Max was waving her hand in front of El's face.
"Sorry, I zoned out. I was lost in thought."
"Clearly. Even when he's not here, Wheeler is always running his mouth."
El turned red, hid her face in her hands, and the two girls rolled onto the floor laughing.
It was a fun sleepover. They stayed up late talking about everything. Max learned about all the foster families El had grown up with, which made her fights with Billy seem a little less dramatic. She found out that El had already taken the SAT and had scored an 800 in math and an 800 in verbal, as a junior.
"Does Mike know about that? I bet you're smarter than he is."
"It hasn't come up. I don't like to talk about it a lot."
"Okay, but that's something to be proud of. Quiet little El rocking the SAT and never mentioning it. That's totally you." El threw a pillow at her.
They finally were feeling tired enough to try to go to sleep. As they lay there in the dark, Max spoke up.
"So you're going back into the woods with Mike next weekend? Do you really just want to go hiking with him?"
El was silent. Max heard her sigh. "I just like being around him. I don't care what we do. I do like hiking and the woods though. I like to take pictures. And it's just for the day, we won't be spending the night."
"Aww, I know that's disappointing." Max was laughing again.
"Shut up." El said, good-naturedly. "I like how he makes me feel. He's just really special."
"Sweet dreams then, El." Max told her, her smile evident even though El couldn't see her face.
El was excited all week leading up to her next trip with Mike. Sure, it would only be a day but they'd also have the car ride to the trail and the car ride home. She was looking forward to spending time with him. She wanted to discuss their feelings but she was so afraid of ruining what they currently had going. If she told him how she felt, would he really feel the same way? What if it changed their friendship? It had taken so long to finally have a friend and now she couldn't bear the thought of messing that up.
That Friday Mike had invited her over to his house to watch movies in the basement. He had her bring her backpack so they could make sure they had what they'd need the next day. They weren't planning on becoming lost but Mike would always make sure he had everything necessary in case such a situation arose once again. Satisfied with their supplies and having agreed that he would pick her up at 7:00 the next morning, they turned their attention to the movie. He had let El decide and she had chosen Stand By Me. He nestled himself onto the sofa next to her. She smiled when he put his arm around her.
By the end of the movie El had silent tears streaming down her face. Mike noticed and wiped them away gently with his thumbs, holding her face in his hands after he did so. He found himself lost in her eyes, still sparkling from the tears she had shed.
"It's just a movie. What's wrong, El?" Mike asked, his voice so soft only she could hear him. His fingers were in her hair now.
"I know. It just makes me think about my life and how I didn't even have friends when I was twelve. When I really think about it, I know I'm not like everyone else. It makes me sad."
"You aren't like everyone else, El. You are better. Lots of people exist in the world, not many change the lives of other people. But you do. You changed my life. My life is better now and it's only because of you."
He had moved his hands from her hair and face and now they were both resting on her knees, the two of them facing each other on the sofa. El felt him gently slide his fingers up her thighs, stopping just before he reached her hips. She wanted to pull him into her but she held back, wanting to see what he was going to do next. She felt him squeeze the tops of her thighs ever so gently. She felt her body get warmer and couldn't keep herself from shifting closer to him. Without thinking her hands moved to his shoulders. His hands moving to her waist to pull her into him, their faces almost touching. She liked being so close to him, being able to feel his cheek with her nose, being able to feel his breath on her skin. It felt almost more intimate than kissing. Almost. She tilted her head as he moved his and their lips brushed together. She felt the slightest push, his hands sliding up her back as he laid her down on the sofa.
He's on top of me and I don't ever want him to move. She thought to herself, still kissing Mike, wrapping her arms around his neck to pull him closer to her. His weight on top of her felt perfect, like safety and home and she didn't want it to ever be lifted. He deepened the kiss, she could feel his tongue stroking hers, teasing by alternating between her lower lip and the tip of her tongue. She smiled into his kiss and she could feel him smile back. He moved to her neck and she tensed up, not expecting to feel his tongue on the skin there. It felt like nothing she could describe save for that she wanted more of it. She wanted more of everything but in the back of her mind she knew they needed to talk first. Tonight though, they could just continue what they were doing. She didn't want to talk tonight. She only wanted to feel, to feel Mike's mouth on hers, to feel his hands on her body (which caused her to imagine what it would be like to feel his hands when she was wearing fewer layers, when she was wearing nothing maybe), to feel his warm breath on her skin. She was happy to do that. Maybe they would talk tomorrow. There weren't a lot of distractions on the trail. For now she was quite content to be right here, underneath him on his basement sofa, letting him kiss her and kissing him back, feeling like she never wanted it to end. He slipped his hand under her shirt and she jumped, surprised at the move.
"No?" He asked, clearly sorry.
"Just surprised. Not no." She smiled and moved his hand back. He grinned and then his smile changed again back to concentration, to wonder as he felt her soft skin. His hand moved to the clasp of her bra and he felt it give, the tension on the straps immediately breaking and causing them to slide off her shoulders. Her soft gasps as his fingers gingerly touched her near her bra made his heart race. He ran his hand back around to the front and tugged gently, pulling her bra away from her breasts. He had been kissing her neck and collarbone area while he performed the removal. She finally felt the fabric slide away and his hand move around to cup her breast. She almost cried out, having never felt anyone else touch her there, and certainly never when she was in such a state of arousal.
Mike was also feeling blissful. He was currently lying on top of the most amazing girl in the world and she was letting him touch her chest. Her skin was so soft and her breasts fit perfectly in his hand and he thought everything about her was just perfect. He never wanted it to end.
They were getting hotter, the two of them, both at first satisfied with their activities but then both needing more, needing to be closer, to feel more. They didn't hear Karen Wheeler open the basement door but luckily she only called down to them instead of actually making the trip down the stairs.
"El, your dad is here! Early day tomorrow so you two need to get some sleep!" They jumped apart and then heard the door close once again.
They laughed nervously, both realizing that they were indeed about to get carried away to a point from which there would be no return. And in Mike's basement. With his parents upstairs. She quickly grabbed her bra off the floor and shoved it in her purse. With her jacket on Hop would never notice. She left her backpack because Mike would bring it in the morning.
"I'll see you in the morning." She was about to head up the stairs and he had followed her. She turned back around when he spoke and he pulled her close enough to kiss her goodnight. It left her hazy and her mind was foggy.
"Yeah," she managed. She stumbled up the stairs, a silly grin on her face.
A/N: So this is a sequel to Zero-Mile Mark. There will be hiking and camping but the titles are metaphorical. When I say summit in this one I'm not talking about the top of a mountain (wink, wink, nudge, nudge, say no more!). I hope it will be enjoyable and hopefully longer than the last one. Thanks for reading! I'll try to have the next chapter soon.