Fuck...FUCK...Dad? DAD!' El screamed through the Byers house, looking around her closet. Hopper sighed deeply from the living room, -'What's wrong', -'Where is my crop top?' She asked with a serious expression. Hopper shrugged, -'What crop top?', -'What crop top, the one I bought the other day! The red velvet one..', -'You mean the one I don't like?' He said rubbing his eyes. El rolled hers and nodded, -'Yes' her curls moving around the nape of her neck as she nodded vigorously, -'Why do you want it?', -'I'm going on a date with Mike, remember?' She said, waving a finger around, Hopper grunted, -'Fuck. I dont know, look in the clean laundry basket', El sighed heavily and went outside to look for it. Truth is Hopper didnt liked it because it exhibited his 15.5 year old daughter's body too much. She really just wanted to use it to show her belly button piercing. Oh fuck. That day, when he saw her with that thing he had freaked out so bad.
-'Max has one too! AND Nancy! It's the new thing' she had whined, -'I dont care if the fucking cat has one, El! This is about YOU' he had pointed at her and she rolled her eyes and slammed her room's door in his face. Will chuckled from the dining table where he was doing homework, -'I think it looks cool' he mumbled, Hopper had looked over at the boy, -'Don't gas her up'.
-'You're not going out with Wheeler in a crop top', -'Why not', -'You're fifteen', -'I'll be sixteen in a month!', -'STILL FIFTEEN, EL', -'DAD', with a vague, lazy move of her pinky finger, she slammed shut her window, closet door, bathroom door AND drawer, -'Do NOT even try that with me Jane Eloise', El rolled her eyes at her full name, -'Then let me use the crop top', -'Did you even found it', -'YES. I'll use it with my bomber jacket dad', Hopper held the bridge of his nose, -'Long jeans, El', -'That was the plan...', -'Where are you going again?', -'Diner and then quarry with the party', -'Then it's DINER and QUARRY. Only. Okay? I want you here by ten, and he better fucking drive slow this time, I've seen him getting excited with that little Mustang he got', -'Sure thing daddy, thank you. Oh and I need money', Hopper frowned, -'I gave you money last week!', -'Last week!' She closed her bedroom door and went on to get ready.
Twenty minutes later he saw his daughter come out of her room. She had wanted to keep her hair short and curly, easier to manage. Her eyes covered in subtle silver glitter, her lips with a coat of chapstick and lipgloss and her cheeks with a small amount of blush, -'Is he here?', she asked, grabbing her backpack and doing her shoelaces at the same time, -'Do you not hear that fucking engine' Hop sighed deeply. Mike had gotten a 70' navy blue Mustang in reward for his excellent GPA. It was quite a ride. Hopper never admitted he liked it. The kid loved that car almost as much as he loved El.
As El made her way out, she grabbed a 20$ bill that Hopper was holding up lazily. She leaned down and kissed his head, -'Lighten up old man, be back by ten!', -'You better' he grunted.
El skipped outside, the early fall breeze making her hair stand up. Chicken skin. She stopped Mike leaning against his shiny car. He had grown to now be almost as tall as Hopper, but with much less body mass. He had started to run track in his junior year of high school, he was one of the fastest because of his long legs and light weight. Made his body grow lean muscle, discrete, perfect in El's eyes. He hd stopped trying to tame his head of thick, deep black hair and instead let his curls run wild. His freckles were prominent, shading his fine nose and sharp cheekbones. He was truly beautiful. El always teased him and was lowkey mad at him, -'You look like youre wearing make up' she would say, wiping a hand across his cheek to make sure that wasnt the case, -'It's just the shadows in my face, El' he said, chuckling, -'Mhmm that bone structure is so unfair, all I have is a button nose and-', -'And the most beautiful, shiny big brown eyes, cute cheeks and pouty lips. You're flawless' El? El had stopped growing at 5'3" but she loved it because she thought it was cute when Mike had to lean down to her. He was 6'2" after all.
El waved from the porch of the Byer's house at the tall 16 year old before her. He smiled wide, a row of pearly white teeth shining at her presence. He hugged her tight and leaned down to kiss her gently, -'You look great' he mumbled, while caressing her shoulders and looking at her outfit. Gosh was she fine. He was lucky. She hugged him again, feeling his discrete back and arm muscles tense as he hugged her as well. His strong cologne. A faint scent of coconut and flowers, his shampoo. Perfect. -'Alright, I'm starving' he chuckled, patting her back. Her shoulder blades poked against his hands and he tensed up. Little details like that made him love her even more.
As they were riding the shiny Mustang down the road, Mike looked over at his girlfriend. She was looking out the window through classic Ray Ban sunglasses. Her curls playing in the wind. He smiled to himself and decided to tease her a bit. He poked her belly button ring, startling her, El jumped and swatted his hand away, -'MIKE!' She slapped his shoulder and chuckled, -'You changed the ring' he pointed out, now looking at the road, -'Yeah, you like it?' -'You know I do'. Mhmm, he did. Especially when they were intimate together.
-'You're fucking disgusting' Max said to Dustin who had mayo sauce all over his face, -'Now listen, Maxine. This sauce, man. This SAUCE' -'Is disgusting, who even likes mayo', Mike frowned, -'Who doesn't. You weird fuck', Lucas rolled his eyes, -'Don't gas her up', Will chuckled at their bickering and shoved a few more cheese fries into his mouth, -'So!' He announced, before sipping his coke. The party looked over at him, curiously. -'Guess what' he teased, El rolled her eyes, she knew what was coming. Then she smiled proudly. -'Spill it Byers' Lucas urged, -'Okay okay...I got a date with Mark', the table gasped and then smiled happily at their friend, -'Oh my GOD! I knew you'd get it!' Max smacked his shoulder playfully, -'That's great man, hope everything works out', -'Yeah Mark's a nice dude', -'If he isnt nice to you El's gonna snap his neck with-', -'DUSTIN!'.
When they finished the main course, the party decided to stop by the ice cream parlor.
-'Jesus it's 7pm already?' El sighed in dismay, -'Yeahh...we'll go to the quarry next, it's fine' Mike held her hand and they walked inside.
Max and Lucas stared at the couple. They were sharing an ice cream cone. She tried to look down at her sundae but the scene was too distracting. -'Can't you just share one after the other like normal people' Lucas rolled his eyes, -'She's practicing for tonight, to blow Mike's di-', El lifted her pinky and Max's spoon went flying behind her, -'What the- what did I say?', El turned to the red head, -'I don't have to practice', Will let a high pitch scream at his sister's sassiness, while Dustin choked on his chocolate chip ice cream and tried to breathe out a cackle -'EL' he laughed, making El smile. Mike on the other hand turned tomato red.
Max and El separates themselves from the group of boys to have some girl chatter, -'What kind of protection are you using?' Max asked curiously, -'Condoms, but I wanna start taking birth control, maybe...I heard it's good', -'Yeah, Casey from social studies told me about it', El nodded, she knew Casey as well. Spunky little girl. -'And you?' She asked without looking into the red head's sea blue eyes, -'...Just the pull out thing, you know', El's eyes grew wide, -'Max! That's too risky', -'I know I know...Lucas says he's embarassed and he doesn't wanna go...buy...' Max saw as El's face dropped into an annoyed gaze, -'...I'll tell Mike to buy him some' she rolled her eyes, -'That's such a shit excuse, I know', El nodded and went through her bag, picking out a shiny square wrapper, -'Here. Use it', -'...Why the hell do you have one in your bag?', -'It's better to be prepared than pregnant' El chuckled, -'He has one in his wallet all the time, we're covered', Max nodded and inspected the thing, -'Put it on him, it turns him on I bet. Pinch the tip when it's all the way on, it's what mom taught me'. With mom, El referred to Joyce. Max nodded and shoved the thing into her own bag, -'I'll talk to Lucas about it, thanks El', -'Sure thing!' She looked around distractedly, staring at anything.
Max hopped into the co pilot's seat of Lucas' sports car, as did Dustin. Will instead rode with Mike and El to the quarry.
The wind was cold but that wasn't stopping the party from jumping into the water. El took off her crop top and jeans, she was thin, petite but strong. Her body was firm. She had been dancing ballet for a year, so she had a ballerina body. Her hip bones poked through the laced panties, Mike swallowed and put on his swimming trunks, he heard a whistle from behind him, -'Damn Wheeler is that muscle?' Dustin chuckled while unpacking his snacks, Mike looked down at himself, -'It better be, track is killing me', El eyed him shyly and held his arm, -'Carry me?' She pouted, Mike nodded and swooped her off her feet, she giggled and he smiled wide -'My little girl' he kissed her deeply ans threw her in the deeper part of the water, El screamed and submerged before poking out seconds later, -Come here babe' she outstretched her arms and Mike walked to where she was. He could stand on his tip toes. She had to float. She clung to his shoulders like a little monkey and nuzzled her head into his neck, kissing his sensitive pale skin gently, -'I love you' she whispered, sending shivers down his spine, -'Love you too'.
Dustin was talking to Will about Mark, -'So is he good to you? Like...', -'Yeah Dustin...he's good. I'll introduce him to y'all when we get to know each other better', Dustin nodded while eating a pringle, -'I think I'm going places with Melany, ya know', Will's eyes opened, -'Really?', -'Yeah, we talk all the time. I think it's going somewhere', Will smiled wide and punched his shoulder, -'That's great man!', Dustin nodded and offered him some chips. He sighed deeply, -'She's very nice to me you know? Pretends she cares about the nerd stuff', Will chuckled, -'That's important...that she accepts your reality', -'Yeah. And then I listen to her talking about like, history and stuff...she wants to be an Egypt historian', -'Well, isn't his sad egyptian?', -'Aye. She's very well spoken about all that. People call her a nerd because of it but...I think she's pretty cool'.
Max and Lucas sat a bit further from everyone else. Atop some rocks overlooking the water. Max grabbed her olive green backpack, -'Babe. Look', Lucas turned his head to her lap, saw a tiny shiny square, -'What's that', -'El gave me a condom', -'WHY WOULD SHE-', -'Hear me out! Fuck!', she sighed, -'She says it's safer. She's even going on birth control, we don't even use anything! I think it's time to start-', -'No, I'm not going to a public place to buy condoms Max', -'Mike could do it for you. Just, please? For me?', -'Mike?' Never in his life would he think his lanky, nerdy friend Mike would have a more active sexual life than his. Then again, Mike was no longer lanky, he was lean, he was attractive. Still nerd. But attractive. -'Fuck...', -'For me, Lucas'. The boy looked into the girl's eyes. She meant well. And she was completely right. Lucas sighed and nodded.
El rode on Mike's back, caressing his soft, wet black hair, -'I talked to Max today...about...sex, I guess' she whispered, Mike frowned, -Sex?' He reached back and caressed her thighs, -'Yeah, she and Lucas are not being careful...I gave them a condom', the tall boy nodded slowly, -'Uhmmm okay. So they've been dumb since like, last year? That's terrible', El nodded and kissed the back of his neck. His back covered in small moles and light freckles, -'I told them how important it was. We do the right thing. They aren't', -'Well it's great you gave them advice El I'm sure they appreciate it a lot'.
El looked at her pink waterproof watch (A birthday gift from Mike) -'9pm...we still going with the plan? Have to be home by 10', Mike raised an eyebrow and nodded. He hopped off the water with El hanging from his back and dried both of them as much as they could. Their friends taken aback by their quick actions, -'El's getting her period guys, better get her home quickly', -'Ugh that sucks' Dustin said, Max on the other hand winked at her as the couple left, -'We'll take Will home, he's having too much fun canon-balling' Lucas added; Mike nodded -'Thanks man, see you tomorrow'.
Mike grabbed El's cold hand tight. Their underwear was still kind of wet and their hair dripped into their shoulders. Mike's freckles seemingly becoming more noticeable.
El looked up at him with a grin. She caressed his cheek as they walked, -'Your face stars' she said calmly, Mike smiled. He had tried to make El say freckles but she insisted that face stars sounded better and more romantic, -'When I get cold they pop out more', El nodded shyly and opened the door of the navy blue Mustang.
Mike tried hard not to come right away when El pinched the tip of the condom as Joyce had taught her, -'Fuck' he held his breath, -'Too much foreplay I'm sorry', El chuckled and grabbed his hands, putting them on her bare tits. He smiled and squeezed them to calm his arousal a bit down, -'I'll be on top this time' she climbed on his lap and rubbed her moisture against the tip of his dick. Mike's eyelashes fluttered, his jaw was clenched uncosciously, sighing to keep himself from coming early like a loser. She leaned down to kiss him fiercely while she sat on his dick. She felt air blowing from his nostrils against her cheek, -'Mint. Love it' she chuckled and kissed him harder, her hips doing all the work for him. He was so hard he could see stars dancing before his eyes. His skin was cold, but soft, the tiny, blonde baby hairs on his arms tickling El's fingertips. He smelled like freezing, fresh water, pine trees and shampoo. Always absolutely fresh and tidy. That's who Mike was.
As they both reached their peak, Mike held El into his chest a bit too hard, pushing the air out of her lungs, -'Fuck' she mumbled with her face pressed against his neck, -'Let go' she chuckled, deciding not to use her powers to make Mike let go of his death grip on her.
-'I'm sorry, I just-', he sank his short nails into El's back when she slid off his dick, -'I'm too sensitive' he breathed out a sigh of relief. He saw as El sat upright on his lap. She put on her crop top again, putting the wet bra inside her backpack. She turned to him. His cheeks blushing and his hair even messier than usual. Her smile made him melt. -'I love you' he mumbled, grabbing her hand and kissing it, -'Love you more'.
—
-'See you tomorrow then', -'Yeah mine's at 7 okay?', El nodded and leaned in to kiss him quickly, -'Love you, goodnight', -'I love you too'. El walked up the Byers porch and looked at Mike pulled out of the driveway (nearly hitting the mailbox with the tail of the car) and leaving.
-'Had a good time?' Hop asked from the kitchen table, El nodded and dropped her backpack, -'Where's Joyce?', -'Night shift', -'Oh...', -'Yeah...did you got to finish your homework? I forgot to ask you', -'Yeah, hold on' she went to get some papers and dropped them in front of Hopper, -'Alright then' he flipped the pages and looked satisfied, -'Plans for tomorrow?', -'We're planning like, a movie night at Mike's at seven. That's okay right?', -'Mhhm...I have to work late tomorrow', -'How late', El sat beside him will making herself some cereal, -'No idea, gotta cover for Chief Wilson', -'Oh. Chief Two', Hopper chuckled, -'Sure, chief two' he pinched one of her curls. He looked around, suddenly in realization, -'Will?', -'Lucas and Max are bringing him', -'Oh don't tell me that crazy redhead is driving, I've had enough of your shitty driving friends', -'Nah it's Lucas. He's slow as a snail, its fine', -'Wish I could say the same about that boyfriend of yours', -'One day you'll shut up about Mike's driving' she rolled her eyes and shoved a spoonful of Kellogg's into her mouth, -'Today is not that day' he finished, patting her shoulder, -'Will you stay up and wait for your brother? I'm tired as hell', El nodded and caressed his hand, -'And don't fucking snore, do you know how fucking loud you are sometimes?' She yelled at him while he made his way into the bedroom, -'GOOD FUCKING NIGHT, EL', the girl chuckled, her dynamic with her dad was carefree, and amazing. She was happy she had such a great dad. Even if Hopper was only adoptive.
El finished her cereal and turned on the TV with her mind, flipping channels with lazy and incredibly small hand gestures. She found a Bigfoot documentary, always fascinated by american mythos. If only people knew what was on the other side. Bigfoot was nothing.
She grabbed her snuggly blanket from her bed and waited for Will.
When Will walked in, finally, he saw El sleeping peacefully before the tv. Some urban legend doc was on. He left his bag aside and turned the tv off deciding it was better not to wake up his sister. After seeing how uncomfy she was though, Will coaxed her into moving to her own bed.
—
3am.
The quiet night was interrupted by the loud rumble of a 1970 navy blue Mustang. Its tires skidded on the Byer's muddy driveway before coming to a complete stop.
Mike opened the passengers door and let the cries of a small girl rip through the peacefulness of the surrounding area.
He grabbed a bag from the trunk of the car, tears making his eyes sore and his body tired. Holly held onto his brother as he held her up and closed the car; -'Hey, stop crying, you're safe now', Holly shook her blonde head and snuggled her face into his shoulder leaving a trail of tears and probably boogers on her brother's body, -'Fuck' he whispered, knocking on the wooden door. The light had already turned on, he heard shuffling inside. Joyce opened the door and frowned deeply at the scene before her, -'Uhmm-', -'C-Can we come in? Please?' Mike shivered, the cold making his bruised cheekbone even worse, -'YES! Come on! JIM?! Jim wake up!', Will looked curiously from behind his mother, his eyes opened widely when he realized who it was, -'Mike? I-...Do you want me to get El?', Mike nodded silently as he put Holly on the couch.
Will knocked on El's door, -'Hey! Wake up!', it took El a few seconds to open the door with her mind, -'What the FUCK WILL!' She fumed, obviously not excited about someone waking her up at three am. Then she heard Holly's cries coming from the living room.
Jim looked at the Wheeler siblings. A very sad, disrupted four year old girl, and her sixteen year old brother, who looked completely different from her. -'What the hell happened here' he asked, -'Uhm-', Mike didn't get to speak because El tackled him into a worries hug, -'Mike! Wha- your face! What- who did this?' She asked frantically, observing the bruise on his sharply chiseled cheekbone, -'Let me explain!' He pulled her hands away clearly annoyed by whatever had happened.
He held Holly into his lap and offered her a carton of orange juice, anything to keep her from crying. He sighed deeply and sniffled, -'So my parents are gonna get a divorce', he heard Will sigh in dismay, -'And-and I guess I-I pushed dad's buttons once in for all...he threw the tv remote at my face' he pointed a finger at his cheek, -'The screaming woke Holly up and...Mom didn't wanted to care for her, Nancy's not around so I-I couldn't leave her there' he started crying, -'She's so small still, she shouldn't be seeing this', Joyce nodded with tears in her eyes, -'Oh sweetie, I-I'm so sorry...You can sleep over tonight, if you want', Mike nodded, -'I brought some toiletries and clothes for her and I, just in case', Hopper nodded sternly, -'...Did you tell your parents where you were going in the middle of the night?', -'...Sir, I had a TV remote thrown at my face, they were screaming and throwing stuff around, I just shoved some things in a bag, grabbed my sister and left...I had to', Hopper agreed silently, -'I understand, kid. Alright...', in the meantime, El was trying to get Holly's spirits up, -'I like your princess pj's baby' she smiled kindly at the blonde baby, who sniffled and nodded gently, -'Thank you' she worded out in a hiccup, -'Are you tired? Do you wanna sleep?', Holly immediately turned to her brother and cuddled into him, -'Oookay then I get it' El chuckled and rubbed up and down her little leg for soothing.
Mike was too exhausted for anything right now...he hadn't slept at all and now he had to deal with this shit mess. Joyce brought him some green tea to calm his nerves, his hands were shaking, -'thank you, I'm sorry I came in like this, I don't know where else to go', -'It's okay kid. Will come help me fix them a place to sleep', Will followed Jim into his own bedroom to try and figure something out.
El sat beside him after crouching for a while to talk to Holly. She stretched her legs and kissed his hand, -'That bruise looks terrible' she whispered, Mike nodded, -'I nursed it on the way here' he looked down at his sister. She was tired but very much aware that she wasn't at home, but instead with El, Will and a few new faces. The little girl then crawled on El's lap, just as Hopper came out of Will's room, -'We made a thing here, come see'. Holly clung to El as soon as they started moving, -'Oh' the fifteen year old chuckled and held her up, -'Let's go see bed, okay?'.
Three layers of sleeping bags, two pillows and two blankets. The wheeler siblings' home for tonight.
-'Is this fine to you?' Jim asked, Mike nodded and grabbed Holly, -'Come on, princess, we have to sleep', Holly turned in El's arms and kissed her cheek, -'Bye El' she chuckled and grabbed her brother's hand, -'She's the sweetest, oh god'.
Mike and El stood under Will's doorway, -'We'll fix this' she said, almost like it was a promise, -'You'll be fine. You're great at solving problems', -'Yeah, math and chem and physics problems El...this is just-', -'Just the same. Now go, have a good night's sleep and make sure Holly sleeps tight. For me', Mike nodded and tears threatened to leave his dark honey eyes, -'Goodnight, love you', -'Love you too'.
Holly clung to Mike for dear life that night. Like she was afraid the only piece of home she had would be gone at any time. When Will woke up that Saturday morning, he found his best friend. His deep, black curls sprawling across a pillow with a pink-ish pillowcase on (El's spare one), his face was peaceful, breathing even and slowly. Like he hadn't been crying desperately a mere eight hours before. He was cradling a small, blonde headed four year old girl. If anyone saw these two together there would be no way of guessing they were related. Mike's hair was midnight black, his nose and cheeks were covered in freckles and his dark honey eyes gave him a kind, chivalrous look. Holly, in the other hand, had tanned cheeks and blue eyes making her look like a doll.
Will sighed in dismay, noticing smudged tear stains on both pillows, Holly's fists clinging tight into his brother's hoodie. The small girl started stirring at the touch of the sun unto her cheeks.
El stood beside Will's bed, all fresh faced and ready to handle the new guests; -'Hey' she said, caressing Will's shoulder, -'Good morning...she's waking up', El was gonna make sure Holly didnmt wake up Mike. He was tired as it was.