i had a plan for this story but it just wrote itself... also sorry if any of them seem ooc! i'm still gettin a hang of writing them
CHAPTER ONE: who even is this guy
It's a chilly Friday afternoon when Mike first finds out about Eleven's new friend.
"...then he tried to impress her by doing some of those fancy schmancy dance moves he does, then- and then, Lucas totally ate shit and Sherry Williams laughed at him-"
Lucas punches Dustin's shoulder, the latter putting his hands up to defend himself as he laughs. "I did not! He's exaggerating!" He frowns as Will tries his best to hold in his laughter while sending him an apologetic glance. "I just... happened to mess up!"
"Yeah, happened to mess up and end up with a mouthful of schoolyard dirt in your mouth when you fell on your face!" Dustin holds his stomach as he and Mike burst out laughing, Will joining in with quiet chuckles.
"Ha ha ha. You think you're so funny. Wait til I tell the others about what happened on the sixth day of summer camp."
Dustin immediately stops laughing and gasps, making Lucas smirk victoriously. "You wouldn't, you promised you wouldn't tell! Lucas, we did the spit swear and everything!"
"Yeah, well you should've thought of that before you-"
Dustin shakes his head rapidly. "You're not telling them."
"Wait, I wanna know," Will says. "What happened in-"
"What happens in summer camp stays in summer camp!"
Mike shakes his head and turns to the girl next to him, who is being oddly quiet. Not that Eleven is the talkative type, far from that actually, but she's never this silent when she's with them (usually joining in the teasing and sometimes even holding her own when they teased her, the girl definitely had her moments). He notices the way she's walking with a happy skip in her step and how she's smiling to herself. Mike ignores the fluttery feeling in his chest as he addresses her.
"What's got you looking so happy, El?" He asks, and she turns to him quickly, looking a little startled.
"I, um," She starts, her smile coming back as she fiddles with the hem of her light blue dress, something Mike knows she does when she's excited or nervous. "I made a new friend." Mike's eyes widen with surprise. Eleven is very kind, but she's also timid, especially when it comes to people she doesn't know.
He's happy for her all the same. "Oh, really? That's great! When did you meet her?"
"Out with Joyce. Monday," Her eyes are twinkling with excitement, and he wonders who exactly this mystery person is, because they must be someone really special if they've made her this happy. "He was... loud at first, but he's nice," She tells him, and Mike stops. Her new friend is another boy? (he doesn't know why he's so surprised, and he tells himself it's because Joyce has been talking about Eleven needing to make friends with girls her age, not boys).
"What's his name?"
"Russell."
Russell, huh?
"Come on, slowpoke!" He looks up and sees Lucas, Will, Dustin and Eleven up ahead. The girl looks confused, as if she didn't notice he had stopped walking in the first place, despite the fact that she had been walking next to him before. Because she was busy thinking about 'Russell'. He frowns, picking up the pace and rolling his eyes when Lucas gestures for him to hurry.
-x-
"Hey, mom!" Will greets as he steps into his house, and Joyce pokes her head out from where she is at the kitchen counter, attempting to cook dinner (attempting being the key word here).
"Hey, Joyce," The three other boys chorus, and Eleven walks in silently behind them, still smiling.
Joyce wipes her hands on the apron she's wearing and sighs at the 'mashed potatoes' she had been making. She makes a mental note to have Jonathan give her more cooking lessons when they're both free because she's not going to feed the kids stuff she wouldn't eat herself. "Hey, boys," She places a kiss on Will's forehead and ruffles his hair playfully before hugging Eleven and running her fingers through her short pixie cut. "Hi, El," She smiles when she notices how happy the girl looks. I knew Russell was a good idea. "Excited for next Monday, sweetheart?"
Eleven's eyes widen as she looks up at Joyce. "So soon?"
Mike stops following the three other boys on their way to Will's room, focusing on what Joyce had said. Next Monday?
"Yeah, seems like Russell's taken a real liking to you."
"Really?" Joyce laughs, tapping the tip of Eleven's nose with her finger.
"Yes, really! Of course he'd like a sweet girl like you," Eleven giggles happily as Joyce bends down to give her little smooches on her cheeks. She likes when Joyce does that, it makes her feel all warm and happy inside. "Mrs. Lyons liked you too, and she said you can come over again next Monday. Now go on and play with the boys while I figure out what I'm going to do for dinner, okay?"
Mike quickly goes to Will's room before he's caught by either of them, and is immediately aware of the questioning stares the others are giving him when he enters. "Where were you, man?" Lucas asks as Will puts another tape into the radio. "Will's been showing us the cool mix tapes Jonathan made him!"
"...Bathroom, washing my hands," He replies quickly. Dustin raises a brow, immediately noticing his friend's odd behavior (because honestly he's more observant than people give him credit for).
"Mike, everything cool?" He asks, and he knows that as soon as Mike nods his head, avoiding his gaze, that this is going to be one of these situations in which everything could've been solved easily in the first place with a quick conversation. Dustin closes his eyes and focuses on the music. Let someone else play peacekeeper this time. He knows that if he keeps asking Mike if anything was wrong, Mike would be quick to shut him down by either changing the subject, or insisting that everything was fine and a why don't you mind your own business for once, Dustin? He chuckles to himself, because the voice he has for Mike in his head is all high pitched and squeaky and sounds nothing like him but he finds it funny anyway.
Eleven comes in then, still feeling giddy from the conversation she had with Joyce in the kitchen, but feels some of her giddiness dissipate when she sees Mike on the bed, frowning. She sits next to him, mirroring his frown. "Mike," She murmurs gently, "Are you okay?" She takes his hand in hers and squeezes it softly, just like he does when they're holding hands and she's sad or nervous.
"Yeah..." He looks down at their hands and squeezes hers back, and he doesn't even realize he's smiling until she smiles back at him. "Yeah, I'm fine, El." The "now that you're here" that is on the tip of his tongue is left unsaid.
Russell sounds like a nerd's name anyway.
-x-
Almost a week later, Will doesn't go to school because he's sick, so Mike decides to stop by the Byers' house and check in on him. He's seated on the couch, eyes on the television screen, while Eleven sits close to him, quietly reading one of the books he brought her from the library. Will had fallen asleep a little while before, and Joyce is in the kitchen, trying to follow the soup recipe Jonathan had taught her earlier today (trying being the key word here).
"Hey, El, you wanna go for a walk?" Jonathan asks, laughing when Eleven nods eagerly, marking her page and putting the book down on the coffee table before quickly going to her room to get her jacket. Instead of the usual blue one that Mike had given her, she comes out holding a newer looking, brown jacket. Jonathan helps her get it on before getting his own from the coat hanger. "I wanna show you this cool little pond I found. I don't think the ducks have migrated yet, so we might see some swimming around in there..."
"Ducks?" She tilts her head, confused. "Mi...grated?"
Jonathan smiles and bends down so he's at eye level with her. "They're like birds, but bigger," Her eyes widen at this. "When the leaves start falling from the trees, they fly away to another place, because they don't like the cold that comes with winter. That's migrating. They haven't done that yet, so we might be able to catch a quick peek before they leave." He ruffles her short hair, grinning when she pouts and tries to fix it back to how it was. "Mike! You coming?"
Mike gets up from where he's sitting on the couch, zipping his jacket up. "Yeah!"
Since the lab, Eleven never likes to stay cooped up in one place for too long. She likes to walk around and explore as much as she possibly can, now that she has the freedom to. Mike usually accompanies her, answering any questions she may have about what they find in the forest (there are usually a lot, but he doesn't mind, he finds her curiosity endearing). Usually, Mike and Eleven take walks by themselves on weekdays, and Jonathan joins them on the weekends, when he's not working. However, he had taken off today to help his mom take care of Will.
"...Who knows, you might be able to bring Russell along for a walk too. I think he'd enjoy it."
"Yes!" She agrees, immediately perking up.
Mike stops walking, feeling his mood sour. Usually forest walks were just him and Eleven (and Jonathan too sometimes, but it was mostly just the two of them), and it's his favorite part of most days. Why does she wanna bring him along? It's usually just us. "...Actually, guys, I think I'm gonna stay here," He tries to ignore the way Eleven's frowning at him.
She takes a step towards him, and Mike steps away and closer to Will's door. "...Mike?" She doesn't understand, Mike is usually excited to come along with them. There has to be something wrong.
"Will, he... might wake up and I wanna be here to take care of him and... and help him feel better," Before either of them could say or do anything, he goes into Will's room and shuts the door, sitting on the chair by the bed.
It's silent for a few moments and the only sound he hears is the rapid beat of his heart thundering in his ears. After a while, small, light steps make their way towards Will's door, and he tenses.
Then, he hears Jonathan's muffled voice. "...El, come on."
"But... Mike-" If he hadn't before, he definitely feels like an asshole now, hearing her dejected murmur. Why am I being like this? Maybe I should just...
"It's fine, El, he's just worried about Will. Come on, I'll show you where the pond is so you know where to take Russell, okay?" Any desire Mike might have to go is mostly gone when he hears that name again.
"...Okay."
There are sounds of tiny steps slowly going away from the door, and the sound of a screen door closing before Mike moves to the window to see them walking away into the woods, Eleven's brown jacket seemingly blending in with the fall foliage. Speaking of which, the jacket does look a little big on her, now that he really looks at it. He had assumed that it's a new jacket, but now...
Why would she get a new jacket that's too big on her? Unless... that's Russell's jacket? He feels his stomach turn at the thought. It could definitely be a possibility, given how much everyone's been going on and on about him recently and how much time Eleven's been spending with him and how happy she's been and... he really wants to know exactly who this Russell guy is, and how he managed to get so close to Eleven in such a short period of time. Based on what Joyce said, they only meet on Mondays. I have to get to the bottom of this.