Two years had passed. Two whole years of freedom and happiness. It wasn't easy at first. Every day the fear was still there. It was hiding inside their souls. A premonition that eventually something- something really bad- would happen. But it never did. And suddenly all the insecurities started to fade little by little. They weren't so alert anymore. They started enjoying life and that's where all the good stuff started to happen. Late sleepless nights turned into beautiful dreams including each other's faces. Mornings turned into impatient encounters, since El started going to school with them. The year she had stayed hidden she did a lot of homeschooling. Mike helped her a lot and Hopper pushed enough, but eventually she was in a short of acceptable level to attend the same classes with the rest of the guys. It was difficult, but she was clever and willing to cooperate. Not exactly because of the learning part, not really, as for the fact that she would see Mike every day for hours without having to hide from the rest of the world. And he was likewise thrilled. He'd wake up every morning smiling and ready to grab the day and his mother would look at him like he wasn't really her son. And the time flew by and the days went on.
And their hands would start to meet under the school tables, their eyes would lock for countless minutes and no words would be needed, cause they knew… They didn't have to say anything to understand each other.
The daily encounters at school started to be followed by afternoon visits, playing around, riding their bikes. Their nights would extend, as El stayed longer than Max, Dustin, Will and Lucas. They would get cozy, watching a movie or talking or just staying embraced till the all known horn would make them reluctantly separate. Then gradually they would seek to have more alone time together. They would have dates and bets and inside jokes that no one else would understand. And they would grow gracefully embracing puberty in all its glory. And then El would need to get on her toes to steal a kiss from his lips, since he was way taller than her. She liked that very much. She liked their height difference and how both their hair would start to curl. She loved how his embrace got stronger and steadier by the years. How handsome he kept on getting, receiving looks from other girls. Well… THAT she didn't like. But she wouldn't protest. She knew better than that. She knew he loved her and that he would never hurt her by any means. She trusted him and so did he.
It was a cold afternoon when she felt it. Something was wrong. He felt her tense, since his arm was around her shoulder. He immediately looked at her alarmed.
"Mike…" she whispered, her voice trembling. Her heart started to pound like crazy. It wasn't like those times that Mike would push his lips a little bit harder on hers. No, nothing like that. That was the beating of fear and agony.
"Take a breath" he tried to calm her, his voice serious but soft. His hands found her cheeks and their eyes met. "Is it near?" he asked patiently.
"I… I don't know" she shook her head. He pulled her close, letting her burry her face in his chest. He held her tight and whispered comforting words in her ears till her breathing calmed and the realization of what was about to happen started to fill their souls.
"It's gonna be ok. It is…" he reassured her and started dialing Will's number.
He knew things were already bad, when blood started to come out of her nose.
There went the happy days…