El Hopper's perfect Sunday started with a mouthwatering stack of Eggos complete with butter and syrup, a brisk five-kilometer run in the afternoon and to finish it off: curling up on the couch to watch her beloved soap operas before retiring to bed. Her perfect Sunday ended the moment her ankle rolled out and she tumbled to the pavement, leaving behind at least the first layer of skin from her knees and chin. Blood mixed with dirt and gravel from the road, stinging painfully as she investigated what she'd rolled her ankle on.
A rock.
It was just big enough that when El had brought her foot down it had caused her to slip and her ankle to roll out. Rolling her ankle while on the brisk five-kilometer run portion of her Sunday and face planting on the pavement had not been part of the plan. Running and a darkening sky were not always the best choice when there were no street lamps, but she had not anticipated how dark it would be out on this route as the sun sank lower behind the trees. The throbbing coming from her ankle was not promising and there was at least another two kilometers before reaching the main road.
The cold September night air was sharp against her skin, her labored breaths trailed behind her like tiny white clouds. The sounds of her own breath and uneven walk were the only things she could hear as she headed in the direction of the main road. The cold had long seeped into her; damp running clothes were of no help to her to ward off the autumn air.
Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. El swore mentally. Her ankle was definitely sprained. It was not an injury she was unaccustomed to, but it would only get worse the more she was unable to attend to it.
Hopper was working late tonight, which meant he wouldn't be home to see she hadn't returned from her run. El's only option was to walk back to the main road and hope to flag a vehicle down that would give her a lift downtown. Her plan had seemed pretty good about half an hour ago, but as it grew darker and darker the more her heart sank with the dying sun. Sunday night traffic in Hawkins was pretty slim and the later it got, the more her chances dwindled of flagging someone down. She could already hear Hopper's voice reminding her that she was "wasn't stupid". That's why they stuck to their rules. But El had broken one of those rules and was feeling pretty stupid right now.
"Run close to town." Hopper always insisted. And what had she gone and done? Went for a five-kilometer run on a near deserted road on the outskirts of town and injured herself. El grimaced, picturing the inevitable ass-kicking lecture she'd be getting from Hopper and her best friend Max. Once Hopper realized El wasn't home, he would call Max thinking that maybe El had just gone over to her house. And once Max responded that she had no idea where El was and they both panicked—Max would definitely kick her ass after for worrying both her and Hop— if they even found her.
"Stupid." El grumbled to herself, steeling her resolve for a long and very uncomfortable walk.
…
Another half hour crawled by painfully before she heard the noise. Her heart jumped into her throat and El stopped limping, straining her ears to try and pinpoint where the noise had come from. The wall of the forest loomed on both sides of the road, bears, wolves and cougars raced through her mind like a demented circus of possibilities even though El knew such sightings were rare in Indiana.
Silence pressed against her eardrums. Whatever the noise was she didn't hear it anymore. El slowly released the breath she didn't realize she was holding, trying to calm her hammering heartbeat.
There's nothing out here. El chastised herself, because the only one dumb enough to be out here is you.
Just as El was about to resume walking when she heard the noise again. Her head snapped up and she scanned the darkness, the sound of her own heartbeat in her ears almost defeated the point of trying to listen. There it was again! It was a far-off kind of noise. Maybe it was a car? Heart soaring with hope, El quickened her awkward pace, focused on the direction the noise had come from. But no… she stopped and listened again. It wasn't a car. It was voice! By the sounds of it… two voices?
The voices were suddenly much closer than El anticipated. She let out a startled noise just as bright light flooded her eyes, blinding her.
"Shit!" Someone swore loudly. The sound of squealing bike tires pierced the air as the two cyclists swerved to avoid her, one swerving right and one swerving left. Fortunately, the one who managed to swerve left came to an abrupt stop. Unfortunately, the cyclist who swerved right—swerved right into the ditch.
El blinked rapidly, trying to clear the spots from her eyes. She could barely make out the silhouette of the other cyclist as he clambered from his bike and to the side of the road.
"Dustin! Are you okay?" He called worriedly, squinting down into the ditch.
"Son of a bitch!" Dustin swore, followed by a much longer string of profanities before finally, "yeah. I'm okay." There were some rustling sounds as he climbed back up the slope of the ditch; awkwardly she stood back as the other boy held out his hand, hauling him up. Dustin looked disheveled, his jacket covered in dirt and his wildly curly hair flying away at almost every angle was adorned with twigs and grass. But he appeared otherwise unharmed.
"What the hell man?" Dustin snapped as he brushed himself off, agitatedly. Clearly, he was not happy that he'd just taken a dive into a ditch.
El bristled at Dustin's tone, but she took a deep breath. I guess I'd be pretty mad too.
"Sorry." El apologized uncomfortably, shuffling her aching feet.
"What happened to you? Are you okay?" The other boy asked, in the light cast by their bikes El could see his eyes widen as he took in the sad state of her bloodied chin and knees.
"I tripped during my run and sprained my ankle." El brushed her short hair from her face, looking hopefully at the bicycles lying on the road. "Do you think you could give me a lift?"
"Well actually we are on a very tight oof—" Dustin was quickly cut off by his friend, who elbowed him swiftly in the gut.
"Yes we can. We're heading to our friend Will's house. You can use the phone there." He offered with an apologetic look. El hesitated; maybe it wasn't a good idea to get on a bike with two boys she didn't really know? They looked vaguely familiar, but she couldn't place them.
"Don't worry, the Byers are really cool. They won't mind if we bring you." The dark haired boy assured her, seeing her unease.
The Byers? El perked up at the name. She vaguely recalled Hopper mentioning the Byers before. So they had to be okay right? And if she were being honest, between a nice warm house or staying out here and freezing she would take the Byers' house any day.
"I'd appreciate that..." El trailed off unsurely.
The dark-haired boy seemed to realize that this was his cue. "I'm Mike. Mike Wheeler and this is Dustin Henderson. We go to Hawkins High." Mike introduced himself and Dustin sheepishly.
"El Hopper. I go to Hawkins High too." Dustin made a noise of recognition. Both Mike and El glanced at him curiously.
"You're Eleven?" Dustin's question came out as more of a statement.
"Yeah," El cringed, rubbing the back of her neck.
'Eleven' was a nickname from her freshman year that had followed her firmly into sophomore year. Some over enthusiastic track teammates gave the name to her when she won her eleventh straight race in track season last year. El had hoped that over the summer the nickname would blow over, but she'd been sorely mistaken. The rest of the school had picked up on her nickname and now she was known as Eleven by the majority of her classmates. El was certain that most of her classmates didn't actually know her real name (or care to know) so long as she kept winning races. In sports you were either the hero or the bum depending on your performance and she didn't want to imagine what kind of names those same classmates would call her if she lost a race.
"So just El then?' Mike quipped, breaking the strained silence.
"Yeah. Just El." El breathed with an appreciative smile, meeting Mike's eyes properly for the first time. He was so tall and gangly that she had to crane her neck a little, but even in the light cast by the bikes she was taken aback by how dark his eyes were.
"You can hop on with me El." Mike tilted his bike right side up. El was glad to see that Mike hadn't seemed to notice her strange moment. Instead, he got on his bike first and nodded at her when he was ready. She limped around to the right side of the bike, throwing her injured leg over first and settling down carefully behind him. The size of Mike's bike combined with the length of their limbs made it a little bit of a tight squeeze, her legs brushed against Mike's and she tentatively reached out to hold his waist.
"Um… is this okay?" Heat rushed to her cheeks at their proximity; her hands hovered just around his waist. There was nothing else to hold onto and El would much rather hold on to Mike than fall off the bike.
"I'm good." If Mike was uncomfortable, he didn't let it show. El's face burned brightly, glad that Mike couldn't see her face. Somehow their position on the bike felt oddly intimate.
"Ready?"
"Yes." El confirmed. She lurched a little when Mike pushed off, her arms squeezing tighter around his waist in reflex as she regained her balance. Mike and Dustin picked up speed, settling into a comfortably brisk pace.
The cold night air nipped at El's face and arms, she ducked behind Mike as much as she could to hide from it, goose bumps erupting down her shoulders and arms.
"So, as I was saying before we were interrupted," Dustin began a little haughtily as they reached a comfortable biking speed, "does frosting turn a muffin into a cupcake? Or does it stay a muffin but with frosting on it?" Mike groaned loudly.
El turned her head and stared at Dustin in disbelief. "Or," Dustin continued as though he'd been uninterrupted, "is a cupcake not a true cupcake until you ice it?"
"Dustin oh my god, we've had this conversation way too many times!"
"Well clearly we haven't had this conversation enough because I still haven't got a straight answer!"
"A muffin is healthy. A cupcake is like a miniature cake. So it's a dessert!" Her lips twitched and El tried to fight down a laugh at the ridiculousness of their conversation. The relief of finally being off her ankle had left her feeling slightly lightheaded, and sitting on the bike pressed against Mike's warm back was making her eyelids heavy. It was only the highly entertaining bickering between the two that kept El awake.
About fifteen minutes later Mike was clearly losing patience for this topic and El was trying not to offend either of them by laughing.
"Okay so if you add too much sugar to a banana muffin recipe, it automatically becomes a cupcake?" Dustin asked dubiously. Mike let out a noise of frustration.
"Yes! I mean I don't know!"
"See! This is why we need to have this discussion again." Dustin grinned triumphantly.
"Fine," Mike relented as a house came into view. "We'll put it to a vote later. After that will you finally be happy?"
"That depends on the outcome of the vote." Dustin quipped, stopping his bike in front of the small bungalow.
Mike gently brought the bike to a stop. Sliding off clumsily, El studied the house as she waited for Mike and Dustin to park their bikes. Nerves creeped up again as El regarded the house, but the thought of being able to get warm and use the phone outweighed her shyness.
Dustin bound up onto the porch just as the front door swung open. A fluffy white mass of excited energy came barreling out to greet him. The dog jumped and slurped at Dustin's hand with a long pink tongue before spotting El and Mike.
A cold, wet nose pressed enthusiastically against her hand and El gave the dog a timid pat after a moment of hesitation. She had never really been around dogs much before and was a little unsure. Hop never wanted pets in the cabin. He worked long hours and with El at school it just wasn't feasible. Max didn't have any dogs either, so El's experience was fairly limited.
"This is Chester. He's really friendly." Mike gave Chester a pat on the head, who leaned into him, tail wagging happily.
"Chester." El repeated, petting Chester more confidently. Chester's tail wagged even more excitedly in response to all the attention he was receiving, his long pink tongue lolling sideways from his mouth.
"Dustin, Mike! I was beginning to think you got lost." A shorter boy stood in the doorway of the house; his blond hair just brushed his shoulders. He had a kind looking face, and soft blue eyes.
"Sorry Will, we ran into a bit of a situation." Mike apologized. Will peered around Dustin and Mike, just now noticing El. Surprise flashed across his features, but before Will could say anything Dustin beat them all to it.
"Yeah she pushed me into a ditch." Dustin remarked dryly, indicating his dirty clothes and crazy hair.
"Isn't that just how you usually look?" Will asked innocently.
"Bite me." Dustin pushed by a laughing Will, disappearing into the home.
"This is El Hopper." Mike drew Will's attention back to the unexpected addition to their party. "Can she use your phone?"
"Of course," Will stepped aside quickly, catching sight of her bloodied chin and knees. "The phone is on the other side of the living room."
Making her way into the Byers' house, El made a beeline towards the pale yellow rotary phone on the far wall. She grasped the handset gingerly, trying not to get her blood or dirt on the phone and dialed the familiar number to the Hawkins Police Station. Relief flooded through her when Flo answered on the second ring.
"Hawkins Police Station." Florence greeted in her usual drawl.
"Flo, it's El." El glanced across the living room as Will and Mike both came further into the house, they were talking in low voices as to not disturb her phone call. "Is Hop around?" She asked hopefully.
"Sorry sweetie, he's out on a call. Is everything okay?" Florence questioned worriedly.
"Yeah, everything's okay. I rolled my ankle out on my run, but I'm at the Byers' house so tell him not to worry. Could you send him my way when he gets back?" El sighed into the phone.
"The Byers' house?" Florence sounded surprised. "You were a ways out." El cringed. If that's what Flo thought, Hopper was definitely not going to be pleased.
"Thanks Flo." El bid Florence goodbye before hanging up the phone. Her shoulders slumped with exhaustion as she realized that Hop could still be a long while yet.
"Any luck?" El jumped slightly as Will poked his head around the hallway corner.
She shook her head. "Hopper is out on a call. I could wait outside though until he gets here." Will waved her off with a frown.
"You'll catch a cold if you wait outside." He pointed out, "and you're more than welcome to just hang out on the couch. You're Hopper's daughter?" El nodded.
"Adopted, yes." Why did I have to add that? El wondered to herself. She wasn't sure why she still had to point that out, but it didn't seem to faze Will.
"I'm Will Byers." Will held out his hand and El took it in a brief but firm shake. "My mom and Hop used to be friends in high school."
"Nice to meet you." El smiled tentatively. There was something about Will that was very soothing. Normally El was not great at the whole 'introductions' thing, but as she stood there with him the nerves in her stomach slowly abated.
"Will, are these okay?" Mike came around the corner from the hallway, a small bundle of clothes in his arms.
"Those are fine." Will nodded and Mike held the pair of sweats and a worn looking band tee to El. She reached out and confusedly accepted the bundle of clothes. El tried not to focus on the warmth that tingled from where her fingers bushed against Mike's.
"I know it's not exactly your size, but I figure you'd want a change of clothes." Will explained apologetically. "Those are my brother's clothes. He left them behind when he went to college this fall. But you're welcome to borrow them." El hugged the bundle of clean, warm clothes to her front.
"Thank you." She sighed happily.
"I'll show you where the bathroom is." Mike offered. El nodded and Mike turned around, leading her back down the hallway he had just come from. She marveled at the various photographs and children's artwork that lined the walls of the hall. Judging by the varying skill levels in the drawings, some of them must have been quite a few years ago.
Mike paused halfway down the hall, leaning into the bathroom to flick on the light for her.
"Here it is." Mike stepped aside so El could see into the bathroom. "Will grabbed his first aid kit, it's on the hamper there." Mike pointed to a bright red box on the laundry hamper. "We'll just be in the living room if you need us."
"Thanks."
Mike excused himself before El stepped into the bathroom, closing the door gently as he retreated back towards the living room.
In the quiet of the unfamiliar bathroom, El let out a breath of relief.
What a weird Sunday. Standing in the Byers' bathroom on a Sunday evening had never even entered her mind as a possibility. And yet here she was, standing and looking… eww. El wrinkled her nose at her appearance in the mirror. Her curly mop of hair looked like a rat's nest and the dried blood on her chin was caked with dirt. No wonder Dustin and Mike swerved off the road.
She didn't bother trying to fix her hair and instead examined the scrapes on her hands. They didn't look too bad, mostly painful because of the bits of gravel or dirt trapped in the now dried blood. Reaching for the taps, she gently turned the water on and waited, testing the temperature before gingerly sticking her hands under the running water.
El hissed as her scrapes stung smartly, fading to a tender throb as the cool water ran over her hands. She was relieved to see that the scrapes only looked worse than they actually were. The scrape on her chin was similar to her hands, the dried blood and dirt made it look much worse but El winced when she saw the scrapes on her knees—they were definitely deeper.
Max is still going to kick my ass. El sighed before turning her attention to the first aid kit. She dug out a couple of alcohol wipes and sizeable Band-Aids and closed the kit. The sharp coldness of the tub bit into her bare legs as she carefully lowered herself down onto the side. El was no stranger to scraped limbs and it wasn't long before she was done patching herself up.
Once she was done with the first-aid, El pulled on the set of borrowed clothes, relishing the warmth of the fleece pants and the feel of a dry shirt against her skin. The clothes swallowed her lithe frame, but the sweat pants were warm and fleecy, and the band tee was soft and smelled like detergent. It was a wonderful feeling. She folded her dirty clothes neatly and placed them on the hamper, making a mental note to return for them once Hopper arrived.
Opening the bathroom door quietly, El followed the snippets of lively conversation drifting back into the living room. The conversation died abruptly when the boys noticed her and she hesitated, unsure where to sit.
"El! Here you can sit here." Mike jumped nearly a foot into the air in his haste to climb out of a cushy looking chair to offer it to her once he realize she was standing there.
"Thank you for letting me use your first aid kit. And clothes." El accepted the offered chair shyly as Mike moved past the couch and disappeared for a moment into the hall.
"You're welcome. Are you feeling better?" Will moved over as Mike came back into the room so that he could sit down next to him.
"Definitely. And thanks to you I won't die of infection." El held up her palms so Will could see the Band-Aids. He smiled and opened his mouth to say something, but then looked curiously past El. She followed his curious gaze to see Mike reentering the room, awkwardly balancing a bag of frozen peas on a kitchen table chair.
"For your ankle." Mike carefully placed the chair in front of El's seat, handing her the frozen bag of peas with a wry twist to his pink lips. "Sorry, no ice. Just frozen peas." El accepted the frozen peas with a small, but grateful smile.
"You're a life saver." El sighed contentedly as she put her foot up and placed the bag on her ankle, coolness washing over her.
Mike settled back down on the couch beside Will and they fell quiet.
No one seemed to know what to say. The four of them had never really met in school, and El (much like Hopper) was no social butterfly. El was more than aware that she was horrible with small talk, her interactions often awkward and stiff. The art of making friends was just not something she was particularly gifted in – thank god she had Max otherwise she would be floundering through high school alone. And Max was the best friend she could ever ask for… even if she was a little impulsive at times. El decided she needed to try and channel a little 'Max impulsiveness' right now to get the conversation rolling again.
"So what do you uh… normally do Sunday nights?" Ouch. Okay, that sounded forced even to her.
"We normally work on our campaigns for Dungeons and Dragons." Will threw her a bone, but upon El's blank look he glanced to Mike and Dustin for help.
"You've never heard of D and D? Dungeons and Dragons?" Dustin huffed impatiently.
"It's a role playing board game that we play, basically you have your own characters that follow a set story." Mike explained excitedly, his dark eyes lively.
"Mike's the Dungeon Master." Will piped up. "I'm a wizard and Dustin is a dwarf. But there's other classes too. And you can be different races like an elf or a Halfling."
Should I ask for something to take notes or is that rude? El wondered, trying to absorb the new words and concepts that she didn't understand. Elf, Halfling, dwarf, dungeon master… she might need to refer back to this later!
"Our last campaign was thirteen hours. Mike here left a bunch of plot holes though so he's gotta up his game a little." Dustin ignored the poisonous glare Mike shot him and drew El out of her brief musings (of which she ultimately decided against asking for note taking supplies).
"Thirteen hours?" She repeated, her mouth agape at the idea of a thirteen-hour board game.
"Well… You take a couple food breaks." Will ignored Dustin and Mike as they began to bicker, clearly he was used to it. El's head swiveled back and forth as though she were watching a tennis game as Mike and Dustin snarked back at each other. It became clear that Will was the peacemaker between the group.
"Is it just the three of you that play?" El forcibly interjected herself back into the conversation as Dustin was taking a breath to continue to the argument. Will shot El a grateful look.
"We have one more member of our party, but he's grounded. Something about a thieving little sister and unjust punishment." Dustin grudgingly admitted.
"You might have seen him around Hawkins High too. His name is Lucas Sinclair." Will offered. Oh. Now that name definitely rung a bell.
El realized her face must have given away her recognition of Lucas's name because Will asked, "you've met him?" in a confused tone.
"No, just um…" How did she recover? "Someone on the track team mentioned his name one time." El finished lamely, mentally berating herself for being an open book. Max is going to murder me. Then bring me back from the dead and murder me again.
"Who on the track team was—" Dustin's question was thankfully cut off by the excited barks from Chester, a vehicle had just pulled up in the driveway.
Thank god! El sagged in relief. She would have rather taken a ten-kilometer run on her sprained ankle than answer Dustin's question. She was a terrible liar.
"I'm home!" A woman called as she opened the front door a few moments later. She balanced several pizzas in her arms and wore a blue vest with a nametag that read 'Joyce'. She didn't notice El at first, a whirlwind of activity as she tossed her keys and wallet down on the sofa table and moving to head towards the kitchen.
"Come and get the pizza while it's still hot." Joyce finally turned to study the crowd in the living room. Mike, Will and Dustin are all in varying stages of standing up and El sat there like a deer in the headlights.
Should I even be here? Is Will going to get in trouble?
"Oh hello," Joyce greeted warmly, looking from El to her son with a teasing glint in her eyes. "Will I didn't know you had company over tonight! Not like those ruffians you normally hang out with." Joyce teased.
Will jumped up to help his mom with the pizza boxes, taking them from her carefully.
"What are we, chopped liver?"
"Hey!"
"I'm Joyce Byers." Joyce ignored the protests from Dustin and Mike, but trails off when she sees the chair, Band-Aids on El's knees and tell tale package of frozen peas perched atop her ankle.
"El Hopper," El blurted nervously. "Will took me in after Mike and Dustin found me out on the road. I tripped and rolled my ankle, but I'm okay. I called the station and Hop will be here to get me as soon as he can." She rambled in one breath, hoping that Will wouldn't get in too much trouble for having unknown company over.
Joyce gently took El's hand, inspecting the bandages. Normally El didn't like to be touched by strangers, but she could feel the genuine concern and warmth radiating from Joyce and she couldn't help but let her.
"You're Hopper's daughter? I can't believe that grump hasn't brought you over to meet us sooner." Joyce smiled, gently dropping El's hand and standing up.
"It looks like Will's first aid kit has taken good care of you. If there's anything else you need you let me know. Are you hungry?" With possibly the best (or worst) timing, El's stomach growled loudly in the quiet of the room. Her cheeks burned, mortification snaking down her spine.
"I take that as a yes. We'll eat in the living room. Dustin, can you help me grab some plates?" Joyce stood and Dustin quickly followed her to help. Will and Mike cleared the coffee table for the pizza boxes and opened them up. The smell of hot, delicious pizza wafted over them and simultaneously El, Mike and Will sighed in anticipation. It smelled amazing! El vaguely wondered if she might be drooling, but judging by the similar looks on the two boys' faces, no one would mind.
"Here we go." Joyce handed El a napkin and Dustin followed up by passing her a plate.
"No Lucas tonight?" Joyce glanced around the living room, as if Lucas was just waiting to jump out from behind a piece of furniture.
"Grounded." Will, Mike and Dustin chimed mournfully.
"Our guest gets the first slice tonight." Joyce chastised as the boys reached for pizza. El held back a giggle as the Will, Dustin, and Mike yanked their hands back as though they'd been scalded, suitably scolded by Joyce.
"What kind would you like El? Meat Supreme, Pepperoni or Hawaiian?" Will asked courteously, disregarding Dustin's mutter of "Hawaiian isn't even a real pizza".
"I have to agree with Dustin." El's lips twitched as Dustin's head whipped towards her, surprise etched into his features.
"Pineapples shouldn't be on a pizza. Pepperoni please." Joyce took El's plate and passed it to Will. He grabbed two big slices of pepperoni pizza and placed them onto the plate before Joyce passed it back to El. That seemed to be the cue for everyone else to help themselves to the pizza and soon the room filled with lively conversation once more.
El bit into her first slice and nearly melted in happiness. Cheesy, greasy goodness had never tasted so amazing. As El worked her way through her pizza she was only half paying attention to the conversation in the room.
Joyce caught up on her son's day and Dustin and Mike were arguing about the best kind of pizza (Mike's favorite was unfortunately Hawaiian). She enjoyed listening to the easy banter between the friends, it was entertaining and comforting all at once. The cozy fleece pants and the warmth of the room were lulling her into a very relaxed state. Exhaustion weighed her eyelids down now that her stomach was happy and full of pizza. They felt so heavy. Her head lolled to her shoulder and El jerked herself back into awareness. She blinked rapidly to try and clear the sleep from her eyes but it was no use. The conversation drifted in and out as El tried to pay attention, but the chair was so comfortable and if she just moved her head just a little…
"Hey kid." El frowned.
"Too early for school." She mumbled, refusing the open her eyes.
Why was Hop waking her up so early? El jolted, realizing that she was not in fact in her nice warm bed, nor was Hopper waking her up for school. Hopper's face swam into view and El groaned, trying to force herself to wake up more. Her eyes were heavy with sleep from her nap, and much to her utter humiliation she could see Mike, Will and Dustin peering at her in concern.
"Have a good nap?" Hop asked, his knees cracking as he stood up.
"Really good." El muttered, trying to get up and get the hell out of there so she could go stick her head in the sand somewhere. Someone had been kind enough to throw a crocheted blanket over her lap; her pizza plate was also gone. Although El was touched that someone had thoughtfully gotten her a blanket, it definitely meant that everyone in the room had noticed she'd passed right out. Great.
"Did you have a good run on the outskirts of Hawkins on a deserted road in the dark?" Hopper's tone took on his 'disappointed parent voice' and El wilted. She hated disappointing Hop.
"It was good until I slipped on the rock." El mumbled, not meeting Hopper's sharp gaze. He took a deep breath as though he was about to start lecturing her but was cut off by an unexpected source.
"I slip on rocks all the time er… sir." Mike blurted from the other side of the room. To her astonishment, Dustin and Will nodded vigorously in agreement. The three boys froze as Hopper turned his stern gaze to them instead. The Hawkins Chief of Police was quite an imposing sight in his police uniform and stern face. El was impressed that they didn't back peddle and in that moment her heart stirred.
Why are they standing up for me? They barely know me. Confusion and warmth bubbled up in her chest simultaneously. It was a strange but not unwelcome blend of emotions and El was momentarily floored. First they helped her out… and now even Dustin was trying to take some of the heat off of her?
El observed dazedly as a tense moment passed, Hopper scrutinizing Mike, Dustin and Will for any sass. Apparently, he was satisfied with what he saw on the boys' faces because Hopper sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose tiredly.
"Just be more careful kid." Hopper said finally, turning back to El, missing how Mike, Dustin and Will deflated in relief once his gaze left them.
"I will Hop." El nodded almost as vigorously as Will and Dustin had, curls bobbing as she moved her head.
"You really should have brought El along sooner Hop." Joyce's scolding voice startled the teenagers, though Hop just turned to face the petite woman with a wry twist to his lips.
"You're welcome anytime El. Though hopefully uninjured next visit." Joyce gave El a bright smile before turning to Hopper. "It's good to see you Hop." Joyce said fondly.
"You too Joyce. Thanks for taking care of El." Hopper said gruffly.
"Actually I just brought the pizza. The boys were the ones who helped El out." Joyce glanced towards her son. Hopper's gaze scanned the three boys once more as he regarded them a little more thoughtfully this time.
"Right. You, you and you. In the truck. It's a school night, I'll give you a lift home." Hopper pointed to El, Mike and Dustin, his stern face firmly back in place.
Mike and Dustin rose from the couch, bidding Will a quick goodbye before heading to the front door. They knew better than to argue with the Chief of Police after all.
"Thank you again. You really helped me out." El thanked Will once more with a soft smile. "I had fun, the parts that I wasn't bleeding or passed out."
"I'm glad." Will grinned as they both moved towards the front door.
"Joyce." Hopper nodded seriously. Joyce rolled her eyes and gave El a brief, but warm hug. She froze momentarily, unaccustomed to someone other than Hopper hugging her, but also not disliking it. Joyce was warm and smelled wonderful, her hair tickled El's nose in their embrace but she didn't mind.
"Come visit anytime you two." Joyce pointedly looked at Hopper as she released El. Hopper grumbled and then turned to head outside, but El caught the smile on his features. It was a smile El had dubbed 'Hop's special smile' because it only came out when he was particularly happy or proud. But even this smile she did not totally recognize. It looked nice on his normally gruff features, like he was softer somehow.
El followed after Hopper, carefully limping out of the Byers' house to door of the truck and pulled herself into the cab. Mike and Dustin were busy grabbing their bikes and hauling them into the back of the truck. There were a couple of thunks as they climbed in and helped pull their bikes up after them. Hopper shut the door of the back cab and came around to the driver's side.
"Cool." Dustin said as he and Mike leaned against the divider between the front and the back cabs.
"Don't ever do this at home." Hopper growled warningly as he climbed into the vehicle. The old truck engine roared to life and they backed out of the driveway, waving at Joyce, Will and Chester who stood at the front step.
The ride home was quiet, aside from Hopper initially asked where both boys lived and a few whispered words between Dustin and Mike. El was glad for this as she mulled over the events of this evening, trying to sort out the jumble of emotions that was currently her thoughts. First and foremost, El wanted to apologize to Hop as soon as they dropped Dustin and Mike off for making him worry. Hop already had a lot on his plate as Chief of Police and she didn't want to add to his worries.
Fifteen minutes later Hopper pulled up in front of a nice looking bungalow. He got out and opened up the back of the cab, pulling out Dustin's bike.
"Bye Dustin." Mike called as Dustin slid out.
El waved timidly to Dustin out the window tentatively. He returned her wave before walking his bike up the paved driveway. It seems that being on the "Hawaiian shouldn't be a real pizza team" had done the trick of getting Dustin to warm up to her.
Hopper hauled himself back into the cab of the truck, slamming the door. After a moment they were back on the road, smoothly speeding towards the suburbs.
El leaned into her seat and studied Mike out of the corner of her eye. His gangly legs were folded up awkwardly between the bike and his chest. It was surprising that the two boys actually fit back there. Dustin must have been roughly six foot and Mike was just a little taller than that. His dark, curly hair brushed the ceiling of the cab. It was fluffy and El found herself wanting to touch it, enthralled by the rich, dark coffee colour and the softness of his curls. Before she did something stupid (like actually touching his hair) El decided ask him a question.
"So is it true what you said earlier?" She whispered conspiratorially. Bewilderment flashed across his features and he unconsciously leaned closer to hear what El was saying. He was so close to her that she could easily count the spatter of freckles across his cheeks.
"What do you mean?" Mike whispered back, brow furrowing.
"That you also slip on rocks all the time." Mike let out a bark of laughter and her heart stuttered ever so slightly at the sound.
"I know. That was lame." Mike lurched and nearly bumped his head on the top of the cab as Hopper went over a pothole.
"I didn't think it was lame." The words tumbled past her lips before she registered what she was saying.
His eyes widened. "O-oh. Good." Mike fiddled with the collar of his knit sweater, seemingly at a loss for words.
"If you're all done whispering, we're here." El and Mike jumped. Hopper regarded both of them pointedly before kicking open the door and sliding out.
El glanced sheepishly at Mike, ignoring her warm cheeks as Hopper opened the back hatch.
"Bye Mike."
"Bye El." Mike said shyly before he climbed out of the cab and took his bike from Hopper. Muffled words were exchanged before Mike walked his bike towards his house and Hopper climbed back into the truck with a grunt.
A few minutes later they were turning onto the highway that led towards the cabin. El was loath to break the silence of the truck, but she did want Hop to know how sorry she was now that they didn't have an audience.
"Sorry Hop. I'll make sure I stick closer to town for my runs from now on." El promised, eyes downcast.
Hopper reached over with one hand and tousled El's already messy hair fondly.
"I know kid. Just be careful next time." And that was it. She knew she was forgiven. They shared a brief smile, both relieved that everything was good between them.
The dark winding road sped by and El sank down into her seat, getting comfortable. It had been a very strange Sunday. As the day's events replayed in her mind, El couldn't help but smile. Despite the sprained ankle, scraped body parts and general discomfort, El was pretty sure she might have made some new friends and that was almost as perfect as a Sunday could get.