Happier With You

Author's Note: Be prepared for some more angst! Hope you enjoy this one and please let me know what you think :-)


Chapter 2: Empty

353 Days Later, 1989.

The music was deafeningly as Mike hesitantly entered Danny Robertson's large house party with Dustin, Lucas, Max and Will.

It was the last party of senior year and the first one that Mike had been to in way over 353 days.

He looked around with a frown at the crowded warm room, "alright you got me here. Can I leave now?" he said turning back to his friends.

"Mike's that's not the spirit!" Dustin said reproachfully.

"Yeah man you might actually have some fun," Lucas said patting his shoulder.

Mike scowled at them, "I highly doubt that."

Max rolled her eyes and grabbed Lucas's hand, "let's get a drink. I can't stand the negativity all the time."

Mike watched them disappear with a glare. "Negativity…coming from her, the sarcasm queen!"

Dustin sighed and Will gave Mike a hesitant smile, "come on man let's go get a drink and have a look around."

He begrudgingly followed his friends through the crowd of seniors, some he didn't even recognise. Mike was counting down the days until he left for Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

The acceptance letter had been the only good thing to happen to him in over 353 days, but it had been bitter sweet. It should have been a moment that he cherished with her.

"Here you go buddy, get that down you." Dustin smiled handing Mike a red plastic cup filled with a golden looking liquid.

Mike sniffed it cautiously and quickly recoiled. "What even is this?!"

Dustin shrugged as he poured Will the same drink. "I don't know, whatever they've mixed in the punch bowl."

Mike looked down at his cup and took a hesitant sip. Once you got past the extremely strong taste and smell, it wasn't too bad. It at least warmed Mike's cold chest.

He started to gulp down the drink, realising that if he was stuck at this damn party at least he could be buzzed.

"Fill me up please," He said to Dustin handed him the empty cup.

His friends looked at him wearily. "Dude I don't think you need another one just y-"

"I said fill me up!" Mike said irritated.

Dustin mouthed a slow "okaay" and filled the cup again, handing it over.


The party was in full swing. Dustin had joined Lucas and Max at the keg and Will was busy chatting in the corner with a guy from his art class.

Mike whose head was spinning from the lights in the room had stumbled over to a couch and was nursing his drink.

"Oh my god it's so hot in here," a girl moaned as she took the spare seat next to him. She turned to him and smiled kindly. "Oh hi Mike!"

Mike slowly turned his head and squinted at her, taking in her appearance. "Oh…hi J-Jen." He said realising it was Jennifer Hayes.

She grinned at him, "enjoying the party?" she asked in a friendly tone.

Mike shrugged, all his movements feeling like they had slowed down considerably. "Not really," he mumbled before taking a sip of his drink.

Jen laughed slightly, "me neither to be honest. Jasmine's off making out with Danny and I lost Tracey like an hour ago!"

Mike didn't say anything, not really caring about Jasmine or Tracey's whereabouts.

There was silence between the pair for a moment as they both sipped at their drinks. Jen seemed to look into the crowd and smirk to herself.

"I can't believe Will turned out to be gay…I had the biggest crush on him!"

The smallest of smiles appeared on Mike's face as he tried to look for Will in the crowd, but his vision was a bit blurry.

"Yeah…I r-remember you c-crying at his f-funeral." Mike said stumbling over his words.

Jen laughed cringing, shaking her head. "I know right! And it wasn't even him. I'm glad he was okay…"

Mike nodded sluggishly, "yeah me t-" The music suddenly changed making his words be lost in his shaky breathe.

Every breath you take, every move you make.

Jen watched Mike who had frozen, his eyes wide. "You okay?" she asked him quietly.

Mike's eyes sprang with tears. "T-this song…me and El…" No more words could come out as he gasped to try and control his emotions.

"Oh Mike…" Jen said sadly. "Want to go somewhere to talk?"

Mike nodded slowly through his sobs and he let Jen help him up from the couch. He stumbled in his drunk state and she held onto him to keep his body steady.

Jen took him by the arm gently and they walked around looking for somewhere quiet. When she gave up looking downstairs, they headed upstairs, eventually finding an empty bedroom.

Mike sunk down onto the edge of the bed, sniffing as he tried to wipe at his tears. Jen came and sat down next to him, rubbing his back supportably.

"Me and El…f-first danced to that song at the s-snow ball." He said, his shoulders shaking with the grief he felt for the love of his life.

Jen didn't say anything and just listened to him carefully.

"I…I t-thought she'd be back by now. I…I've tried c-calling for her." He said, his words fumbling all over again as he tried and failed to keep his composure.

Mike sobbed and Jen frowned, "I thought she moved away?" she asked confused at his words.

He shrugged, not knowing what to say. "She…she left me." His words dripping in pain and unresolved anger.

Jen sighed, "well I know what it's like to be broken up with. I was dating Tommy for-"

"No this is different!" Mike said abruptly surprising Jen who just watched him for another minute.

"She…she broke my heart." He cried out, all pretence gone as he sobbed onto Jen's shoulder as she hesitantly pulled him into a hug.

Mike closed his eyes, breathing in Jen's floral perfume from her shoulder as she stroked his hair, he hadn't had his hair stroked since…her.

The comfort it gave him was unimaginable. If he shut his eyes he could pretend she was doing it.

"I'm sorry for what you've been through Mike…but if she broke your heart this bad, then maybe you deserve better. I mean maybe there's someone more suited to you out there." Jen said trying to calm him down.

"I'm sure there's a girl out there who would treat you-" Jen's words were blocked by Mike who had suddenly looked up and kissed her full on the mouth.

He pulled away, his eyes dilated and his throat dry from the sharp taste of alcohol. "S-sorry." He mumbled.

Jen's eyes were wide with shock. "It's…it's okay." She told him breathlessly.

They stared at each other for a moment before their lips crashed together. Jen's arms wrapped around his neck and she pulled herself closer to Mike's body.

His shaking hands moved to her hips and he pulled her down onto the bed, their legs tangling together as their kiss become more heated, more desperate.

Jen's hand moved quickly under Mike's shirt reaching up his shaking abdomen, her hand flat against his skin.

He moved a hand to her hair and when he realised it wasn't the thick curly hair he desired, he quickly dropped his hand back to her hips.

Mike focused his energy on kissing her, nibbling her lower lip as she gasped against him. She tugged at his hair with her free hand and pulled him in even closer.

He could feel his arousal building. He was sick and tired of being in the darkest depths of hell. He need to feel something.

"I need you," he groaned against her lips as she nodded quickly in response. "Okay," she gasped pushing him down onto the bed and straddling his lap.

Mike leaned up to meet her lips again before she reached down and pulled her dress over her head, leaving her in black lace underwear.

Before he could even try and remind his brain that this wasn't El, she started to unbutton his shirt quickly and threw it off his shoulders.

Mike only watched, his heart racing with trepidation as she unzipped his black jeans and pulled them down his legs, he kicked them off and they landed on the floor with the rest of their clothes.

Jen attacked him with her lips, kissing him eagerly, her lips trailing down his neck and onto his chest.

Mike shut his eyes and imagined El was doing this to him, he groaned as he saw her stunningly beautiful naked body in his mind.

He moved his hands onto her hips and gripped her skin, desperately grinding against her core making her moan and throw her head back in pleasure.

Mike flipped Jen over so she was laying on the mattress and he quickly discarded her panties, wanting the afterglow of sex as soon as possible.

Her fingers moved to the sides of his underwear and she pushed them down with force. Mike kicked them off his body as she moved up the bed slightly so her head was on the pillow.

Mike crawled up her body and moved her thighs apart slightly to line himself up. He entered her quickly and crashed his body on top of hers, keeping himself up just by his elbows.

He pushed his head into the dip in her shoulder and closed his eyes whilst he moved against her, clumsy and desperately.

Mike gasped as the pleasure mixed with the pain in his chest. He kept his eyes shut tightly as he saw in his minds eye El underneath him, whimpering his name.

He sped up, getting into a rhythm, the one El had always loved. Mike took slowly and deep thrusts as he heard her gasp and dig her fingers into his back.

Whilst their hips met each other and he kept his head in her shoulder, he didn't dare touch her with his hands, keeping them flat either side of her.

He knew if he touched her, he'd know this wasn't El. He knew El's body like a beautiful map. He knew where she was ticklish, which areas made her gasp when he kissed her and how she liked him to touch her with such tender love.

Mike's thrusts became quicker and he moved deeper into her core whilst she moaned in his ear. He started to pound into her, desperate for his release, desperate for the endorphin rush.

Jen cried out as he pounded her, and gripped him even tighter as he pushed her over the edge. He felt her muscles squeezing him as he drove into her again and again until the orgasm captured him.

Mike gasped into her shoulder and slowed trying to catch his breath. He lay on top of her for a moment trying to get his dizzy head together.

He pulled back as he looked at her face, a shock hit his chest. Those weren't hazel eyes looking back at him. Mike stumbled up onto his hands and pulled out.

He crawled to the end of the bed and tried to control his shaking as he sat down on the edge. "I'm…so sorry." He gasped.

He heard movement and saw in his peripheral vision that Jen got off the bed and was searching for her clothes. He couldn't look at her.

"It's okay Mike," she told him breathlessly as she put on her underwear.

He shook his head looking at the floor, "no…no it's not okay. I…took a-advantage of you. I am so sorry."

Jen rolled her eyes as she put her dress back on. "Mike you didn't take advantage of me. I'm soberer than you…if anything, I took advantage of you. So I'm sorry." She said biting her lip nervously.

Mike reached for his underwear and just as he was putting them on, his eyes widened as he realised he had forgotten something.

"I didn't use a condom…"

Jen smiled slightly, "that's okay I'm on the pill." She said shrugging as she put her shoes back on.

Mike frowned watching her, why was she so cool about this? He felt completely and utterly disgusted with himself.

He felt dirty, like he had just cheated on the ghost of El. Instead of feeling an endorphin rush, he felt empty. He had never regretted something so much in his life.

Jen turned and looked at him, smiling sadly. "If you ever get over El give me a call."

Mike watched in disbelief as she left the room, leaving him sat on the bed in just his underwear feeling horrified at himself.

What kind of man sleeps with a girl he barely knows? And does it whilst pretending it's someone else? Him that was who.

Mike groaned in frustration and got up from the bed, chucking on his jeans and his shirt.


Mike didn't even look for his friends, he just left the party completely.

It was a 20 minute walk home, but he didn't care. He needed the cold air, it sobered him up considerably but the peace and quiet also made him remember what he'd done.

He raked his hands painfully through his sweaty hair as he stumbled home and tried desperately not to allow his mind to replay the last hour.

He finally arrived home numb and in a heavy shock as he climbed the stairs, completely zoning out from his mom's words of concern asking him if he was ill.

Mike locked the bathroom door and slowly pealed his clothes off, the material stuck to his sweating skin.

He turned the shower on and got in, immediately putting his body under the shower head, pushing his hair back with a sweep of his hand.

Mike closed his eyes and allowed the water to rush over his face and into his mouth as he tried to breathe through the inevitable pain that was itching to be released.

He thought about the day El had left, the utter devastation it had caused not only him but her family and her friends. Hopper had almost hit him, screaming that he should have stopped El. Max had been especially devastated too and kept on saying if she had been there she could have stopped El from going.

No one could punish him more than himself though. He knew he was no match for her power, but maybe if he could have said something…anything to make her put the shield down.

He had convinced himself that with all those subjects together, they could have easily done this task quickly and he'd have El back with him in no time.

But she didn't come back, he counted the days, the months…and now he had reached 353 days and it was beyond harrowing for him.

Mike's shoulders started to shake, no longer able to hold the heavy burden of his emotions. He gasped as tears started to rush down his cheeks, mixing with the warm water of the shower.

He slowly knelt until he was on his knees, his body no longer strong enough to carry him. He cried out, his hands covering his face as he sobbed for the love of his life who was never coming back.


El knew she shouldn't do it, it only hurt more. But it had been 353 days and she was desperate.

She shut the bedroom door of the cabin they had broken into in Michigan and turned to the radio on the window sill, moving her head to the left slightly as she went through the stations until she found static.

El sat down on the edge of the bed and closed her eyes, focusing solely on Mike, allowing her mind to be filled with him for the first time in a long time.

She opened her eyes and found herself in the void, taking a sigh of relief that it had happened so quickly.

El looked around and saw a bedroom she didn't recognise materialise. She stepped forward with confusion, thinking her eyes were playing a trick on her.

She could see two people tangled up together on the bed making out. El moved closer, her heart pounding like crazy.

Her eyes widened with horror when she saw the familiar mop of dark hair, the hair that only she touched…but now someone else had their hand grasped in the beautiful locks.

No...this couldn't be real. This boy might look like Mike but it couldn't be her Mike.

"I need you," he groaned against the girl's lips as she nodded quickly in response. "Okay," she gasped pushing him down onto the bed and straddling his lap.

El's chest heaved as she hyperventilated, tears streaming down her face as the girl who she now recognised as Jennifer Hayes took off her dress.

"No!" El screamed her voice coming out in a sob. Her eyes frozen to the couple as Mike kissed Jennifer and then she started to unbutton his shirt.

No, no, no!" El cried tearing at her hair and forcing herself to try and look away. This wasn't real, this wasn't real!

The girl started to unzip Mike's jeans and El found herself screaming again, "stop it! STOP IT!"

A concerned male voice entered the void, "El?"

Next thing El knew she was being shaken and she opened her eyes to see Hunter staring straight at her, his hands on her arms in surprise.

"Are you okay?! You've been screaming! What did you see?" his voice was full of panic but all El could do was cry.

She shoved his hands off her and stumbled off the bed, running through the cabin as fast as she could. Her legs shaking as she made her way to the edge of the lake.

El screamed with an unprecedented anger and the water in front of her exploded with a force separating down the middle all the way to the other end of the lake. It may have been late at night, but the water still shone through the moonlight.

"Woah! Are you that moses guy or something?" Hunter's playful voice carried to her as he walked the distance from the cabin to the lake's edge where El was stood trembling with rage.

She couldn't speak as she replayed the images in her head again and again, like a mind torture.

For one moment, a glimmer of hope took her by surprise, "is…is Kali home yet?" She said, desperate to know if Kali had planted all of that in her head.

"Nope her, Emma and Sam are still getting supplies…why?" Hunter asked curiously.

El gasped out a breath, her last hope dying in her heart. That had been Mike. It was real.

She numbly sat down on the wet sand, moving her legs up to her chest and wrapping her arms around herself.

Hunter quietly came and sat down next to her, his long muscular legs spread out in front of him as he looked out at the lake.

"You can tell me what's bothering you, you know. I might be able to help."

El looked at the ground as silent tears fell from her eyes. "Nothing you can say can help me right now." She mumbled.

Hunter shrugged and they stayed in silence for a long time.

"I wanted to see M-Mike in the void…he was…h-he was with another girl." El finally said, her voice breaking, her words heavy with pain.

Hunter frowned and moved his hand onto her back in comfort, "I'm sorry El…"

She sniffed and wiped at her tears. "It's my fault…I told him to move on. But after everything we have been through together…I didn't think it would be that quick." El said as more silent tears fell down her pale cheeks.

"And it h-hurts like h-hell." She wept leaning her head down into her crossed arms.

Silence fell on the two of them once more until Hunter coughed awkwardly, "well…I know there isn't anything I can say to make you feel better…but there might be something I can do."

El looked up at him in confusion. "What do you mean?"

He smiled slightly, "you're not the only one with a power remember."

Her eyes widened as he turned his hands so his palms were on show. "I can't mend your broken heart…but I can take the pain away from what you've seen tonight." He told her softly.

El froze watching him with wonder and quickly nodded her head. Desperate for the pain to be gone.

Hunter sighed, "okay…well seeing as it's from your heart, do you mind if I?" he gestured from his hand to her chest.

El gulped and nodded again. Hunter leaned in closer and placed his hand over her trembling heart. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes.

El closed her eyes too as she felt a warmth spreading from his hand, it seeped into her heart and then rushed through her veins. It felt like hot chocolate on a winters day, like the comfort of an embrace and the beauty of a sunset.

Hunter slowly pulled his hand away and looked at El, hazel eyes locking on blue eyes.

"How do you feel?" he whispered.

El stared back at him, "better" she admitted. The memory was still there from what she had seen and the confusion and anger lay deep within her mind. But for the moment, she felt no pain. She no longer felt broken.

"Thank you," she said, her words laced in gratitude.

Hunter side smiled, "any time." He stood up and held out a hand for her.

El hesitantly took it and they walked slowly back to the cabin.

"So…why the name Hunter?" she asked randomly.

He grinned and shrugged, "well I much prefer it to ten and I don't know…I just thought it sounded bad ass."

El laughed gently, "it's bitchin."