Two hours after Holly and the rest of the Byers/Hopper family woke up, Mike emerged from Will's room looking fresh as a lettuce, his ebony dark hair glistening against the late morning sun, his face was completely clear, his face stars popping out more than normal. He smelled like pine trees, mint and some sort of nice soft cologne. El frowned, -'Hey' she said, surprised about how radiant he looked, -'Slept well?', -'Yep! Better than ever' he leaned down to kiss her cheek and she pulled off some hair from his face, -'Now. Pretty' she chuckled and kissed him deeply, -'Where's Holly? Did she eat? Is she clean?', -'Yeah, all that. She's outside with Will, he's showing him some mushrooms in the front yard or something'. Hopper cleared his throat, -'I called your mom' he announced, Mike directed his big brown eyes to him, and nodded unsurely. -'Is she mad?', Hop looked down at his mug of coffee...or was it beer?, -'Let's just say she's more mad that you were driving at night...that's all she really commented on the topic...', Mike sighed heavily, shook his head gently and smiled wide, a row of pearly whites showing through his lips, -'That's fine! Absolutely! Uhmmm I'll be home by tonight I think, and-', -'You dont have to go back tonight, kid...' Hopper insisted, putting a hand on his shoulder, -'I talked to Joyce, you can stay for a little while. Until things settle back home...we want you and your sister to be okay'. Mike felt his eyes welling up, -'Thank you sir, it means a lot to us', -'I know. Now, after Will finishes showing Holly whatever nasty plants we have, he has an art class session so...I was thinking maybe, so you dont have to stay here all bored maybe you and El can go take Holly somewhere? Keep her distracted...', El looked at Hop and Mike, examining both expression. She sipped her grape juice in anticipation, -'I'd like that sir, thanks'; -'We could have a picnic' El said, fiddling with a blue hair tie locked around her wrist, -'I can make some cookies, bring some leftovers maybe? How's that', -'Quarry?' Mike suggested, El smiled and nodded, -'Sure. We'll have fun'.
-'Mike look! We got all these plants from outside!' Holly brought in a slew of pretty flowers and a white mushroom, -'Will told me all about these!', -'Those are pretty, Holly...did you say thanks?', -'Yep! He told me he has to leave for art class though', Will nodded and smiled at the child, -'I had fun Holls, maybe tomorrow I can teach you more about swamp plants if you want', -'Yes! I'd like that', -'Okay hit me' Will put up his fist and knuckle touched the blonde baby, -'I'll see you later guys, have fun!'; before Will left Mike stopped him and dragged him to the side, -'Thanks for distracting her with your weird botanic knowledge' Mike flashes a half smile at his friend, who nodded and hit his shoulder, -'Anytime. Have fun'.
El stepped out of the shower with a towel around her body, before she could enter her bedroom a dash of blonde swooped into it. Mike frowned, -'Holiday come here! El's gotta get ready!', -'I wanna see you get pretty! You can teach me!' Holly sat on El's un made bed, expectantly, El shrugged, and then turned to Mike, -'Her name is Holiday?', Mike nodded absently while trying to solve his fifth Rubik's cube of the day, -'Born on July 4th. Pretty original huh?', -'In her defense I've never met anyone named Holiday, so yeah, I'd say so!' She smiled wide and went into her room to change.
Holly watched attentively at everything El did, -'Whats that' she asked, -'This is eyeshadow, goes in your eyelid, see?', Holly nodded and grabbed some lipgloss, -'Dis?', -'It's for your lips! You want some?', the little girl nodded eagerly as El brushed a small amount of the make up into her rose lips, -'All set, miss Holly! Now we have to buy some stuff for the picnic and we'll be ready to go!'.
El asked Mike to stop at the strip mall so she could buy a cute picnic basket and a blanket they could lay on, -'Since dad has zero sense of adventure we gotta buy this shit' she chuckled.
Holly had asked Mike to carry her on his shoulders, nd now she was holding onto his thick black curls, -'You really need to stop pulling my hair, tiny monster', Holly protested, -'Hey! I'm not monster!' She pinched her brother's cheeks and continued pulling gently; El chuckled lowly, -'You like getting your hair pulled though', Mike's eyes grew wide, -'JANE HOPPER, you are impossible' he then laughed and draped his arm around her hip, brushing his fingers against her hipbone, -'You do though'.
After a few minutes of walking, the pair stumbled against Dustin and a girl named Melany. She had olive skin and green eyes, hair wild like the boy's, a bit overweight but very pretty nonetheless, -'GUYS!' Dustin called, his lisp more noticeable since he had left his dentures at home, Mike and El waved happily at the pair. Dustin chuckled when he looked closer, -'What's up guys, adopted Holly for the day?', El's smile faded quickly, looking up way up at her boyfriend, -'Yeah...kind of-', Mike grabbed Holly and put her on El's arms, ignoring the girls' whines of protest, -'Dustin, we gotta talk...you girls go ahead, nice to see you again Mel!' Mike waved lazily, sitting with his friend on a nearby bench ready to share what had happened last night.
El, and Holly went into the dollar store to find everything they needed for their picnic adventure while Melany just looked around for whatever little artifact she could find.
-'Dis!' Holly reached out and grabbed a patterned picnic blanket, -'Good job kiddo! Basket!' Holly threw the thing in the basket and El moved on. She had been using her powers to make Holly seem
Lighter, God knew she wasn't the strongest of the bunch. After a few more minutes, they found a picnic basket and paid up, -'Alrighty! We are done miss H!', -'Good', the baby girl patted El's curly hair and pinched her so she could walk out.
Mike nodded at the end of his story, wiping away some tears, -'Holy shit' Dustin whispered under his breath, -'Yeah...so that's why...Holly's with me', -'...I got your back Mike. If you have to leave again or somewhere to stay, trust me I got you. My house is always open for you and your family, you know this', Mike nodded, -'Thank you Dustin...sucks huh?', -'Yeah I remember when dad left. It was shitty. But for the best, at the end', Mike looked out into the street, trying to get some fresh air to calm himself down, -'Is my face red' he asked his friend. Dustin examined Mike's snow white features. His cheeks were a little pink but nothing too noticeable, his eyes were swollen so he offered him his water bottle, -'Here, clean up your eyes and you'll be fine'.
When El encountered her boyfriend again she knew exactly what had been happening. She and Mike had a very special, emotional connection. It almost went beyond all science explanation. Literal soulmates. She KNEW.
She heard him whisper, -'Dont tell the others okay? I'll tell them myself', Dustin nodded and patted his back, -'Good luck man. And hey, have a good time now okay? Good time', Mike smiled and ruffled his friends' hair, waving goodbye to Melany as he held El's hand again.
El strapped Holly with the seatbelt, Mike got into the pilot's seat and turned on the car -'You better stay put while I drive, Holiday, I'm serious. I don't have a damn carseat', -'Why not?' Holly pouted, -'Because I don't have kids of my own why would I tamper my car with kids' stuff', -'I'm your kid for the day!' Holly sounded whiny, -'I guess you're right. Just stay put', the little girl nodded and fiddled with her plush rabbit toy.
El noticed as Mike's hand gripped the wheel so tight his bony fingers turned white. -'Mike...' she whispered, trying not to startle him out of focus, -'What' he whispered back, his hair blew in the wind, uncovering his also freckle-stricken forehead, -'Are you okay?' El asked, Mike went silent for a few seconds, -'No' he answered sternly. -'Michael' El
Pleaded with a worried voice, -'I'll be fine El okay? Now we are gonna have a nice fucking day at the quarry. Are we clear?', El nodded and went completely silent.
El laid back on the blanket in her underwear to tan while Mike was preparing some sandwiches beside her. Holly tried to stick her finger in the mayo jar and Mike swapped her hand, -'Can you wait?' He said harshly, Holly looked up at him with her bright blue eyes, -'...Why are you being mean?', -'Because you're not behaving! Who even puts their hand in a food jar', -'Mike shut up' El mumbled from her place on the blanket. Mike sighed deeply and continued preparing food.
When he was done, he turned to his sister who was fiddling with some rocks looking sad, -'Hey...come here...we have to be there for each other these times. Okay? But I need you to obey and be nice, do you understand?', Holly nodded and pouted, Mike chuckled and gave her a kiss, -'Good girl. Now' he got real close to her ear and whispered, 'go wake up El, she looks like a lizard over there', Holly chuckled and nodded. Mike had his back turned from the action, he just heard 'FUCK' when Holly sat on El's midsection, -'You tiny, vile monster!'.
After the picnic Holly started playing with the loose sand and rocks in the shore of the quarry while Mike and El drifted together a bit deeper, never really looking away from the baby girl.
El looked at his face. His perfect nose, small chin, big eyes, his face stars dancing as he smiled. His thick lips and white pearls peeking from under them. -'I'd die for you' she whispered in his ear, Mike frowned and looked over his shoulder, -'You okay?', -'Yeah! What can't I say cute stuff to the love of my life?', Mike blushed, -'I'm the love of your life?', -'Yeah...you're my favorite person ever' she kissed his cheek deeply and held onto his shoulders again, -'I love you El', -'Love you too Mike'.
After a while of the Wheeler siblings AND El playing in the quarry they decided to go to the Byers home.
-'Bedtime Holly! Go brush your teeth', -'Mike I wanna talk to mamma', Mike frowned, -'Mom? Wha-', -'Talk to mama! Come on', he should've seen this coming. -'Okay, lets call mom', he asked miss Byers for the phone and she happily offered it to him.
-'Mamma? Hi its Holly' *giggle*
-'Yeah I'm okay. Mike's being nice'
-'I ate mac n cheese for dinner yea...Will showed me some plants and then-and then we had a picnic at the quarry!'
-'Can we come home mama?' That sentence broke Mike's heart in a million pieces,
-'...No? Okay. When? I miss you'
Shoulders drop.
-'Mommy please' Mike noticed Holly's voice, she was getting upset,
-'Say bye to mamma Holiday, come on-'
-'No!'
-'Give me the phone', the boy yanked the phone from her hands
-'Mom?' He said a bit too loud, -'You made her cry! Yes you did!'
-'...What do you mean we can't come home, oh my GOD...I can't believe you mom'
-'No, don't talk to me, bye' he hung up the phone, grabbed the blonde baby girl and walked into Will's room, leaving El, Joyce and Hopper looking stunned.
Will patted Mike's back while he sobbed shamelessly. Michael Wheeler had always been very much in touch with his feelings, not holding back his tears anymore. He had bottled up his emotions when El went missing, he was not about to do that again. Holly cried at the sight of her brother looking so broken.
-'Oh God' Will was borderline panicking, -'I'm, I-...what did she say Mike?', -'She doesn't want us home yet, b-but she has something to tell us and I don't know what the fuck it is', -'She'll tell you when the time is right...', Mike shook his head, looking into a nearby mirror. The bruise was turning greenish-yellow. He hated how it had hidden his face stars. He knew how much El loved them. -'...Can you believe my dad did this to me', he sighed deeply, -'He didn't even apologize', Will nodded, -'I know. Trust me', Mike looked down at his friend, -'Thanks for taking me in Will', -'...You're my best friend. My sister's boyfriend. You're like family!'.
Mike sat with Holly on the living room couch. Hopper looked on at the scene. He sat her on his lap, hugging her tight while she played with her plush bunny. El stood beside her adoptive father, -'He's good to her' she mumbled, Hop looked down. His daughter a whole foot smaller than him, -'He is...good big brother', -'He knows how to take care of people before himself', Hopper had always admired his altruism. It was truly admirable.
-'I'm pregnant' Karen Wheeler said in one single breath. Her son and younger daughter sitting im front of her. Mike's jaw hung open. Holly frowned in confusion.
-'...With dad's baby?', his mother looked down at her feet, -'...', -'Mom, answer me! Is it dad's baby!', -'Michael, not now please', -'So it's not. Who's baby is it mom?! ANSWER ME PLEASE', -'It's a guy I met the other day, okay?', -'Wha- HOW DID I NOT KNOW THIS?!', -'I am not obliged to tell you what I do with my life Michael Theodore Wheeler', -'It concerns me when you get pregnant with some random's CHILD! What are we gonna do now mom?! Dad LEFT', -'I got a job, as a real state agent...so that's what I'm gonna do about it', -'Jesus fuck I can't be here...Come on, Holiday' he grabbed Holly's hand tight, -'MICHAEL!', -'I'll be at El's. Bye'. Karen knew it was pointless to argue with her son. Nancy had already yelled over the phone, she didnt want to put up with Mike too.
-'CAN YOU FUCKING BELIEVE THIS?!' Mike was flailing his arms around desperately, then grabbing at his hair, completely stressed, -'Mike you need to calm down, man' Will tried to tell him. It made Mike start angry crying. Fuck he hated that. -'She-S-She really did it, huh? She really shat on me and Holly's LIFE'. El watched the scene from behind her father's broad body, afraid Mike would start throwing shit around.
-'Listen kid, it's life shit that happens okay?', Mike looked at Hopper in the eye. Jesus fuck, Hopper couldn't intimidate him with his size anymore. Sure Mike was under his ideal weighg by twenty pounds because his metabolism was way too fast, but the kid was tall. Two inches away from being Hopper's height. His big, brown eyes looked into Hopper's grey-blue ones, -'You're right. Life is shit. Now I have to take care of this mess', -'Call Nancy!' Will suggested, Mike snorted. -'Nancy is not gonna leave nursing school to come to this mess', Hopper could agree. The young woman loved nursing school. She was good at it.
-'And now mom's gonna start working and-and who's gonna take care of the baby?! It'll have to be me! But I'm a boy!' He whined like nobody knew this for a fact. El sighed deeply. -'What if taking care of it prevents me from accepting my scholarship huh?! What will I do then?!'.
Despite being told by Ted Wheeler that he was a good for nothing, Mike was everything but. At just sixteen he had won a scholarship to go study chemical engineering at a Chicago college, where he could also run track if he wanted. He had done a project about how to make water everywhere drinkable by the process of chemical cleansers combined with natural purificatory systems. He had cried into El's arms when he won the scholarship. He was GOOD for something.
Will looked down at his friends' remarks. He was right. -'Try to be happy for your mom at least', -'for what? Cheating on dad? Like-I just can't believe this! I can't believe HER'. Hopper thought for a second...-'Why would she be doing stuff like these now?', Mike looked down at his sneakers, thick tears running down his freckled cheeks, then Hopper answered his own question, -'She was tired of the end of the cul de sac life, wasn't she. She was tired of being with a man who didn't love her'. The sixteen year old boy looked up. His feminine features casting shadows against the dim yellow light of the lamp. Mike felt a small hand hold his. Chunky fingers grazing against his long ones, -'Don't be sad' Holly looked up and patted his leg. Mike sniffled in some tears and held her up, -'We'll be okay right? Sorry I scared you, I was just angry...I mean I still am', -'Angry at me?' She pouted sadly, -'No not at you, Holly. At mom...but I'll be okay'.
Joyce and Hopper let Mike share bed with El that night. The boy was angry, sad and disappointed and he would need El by his side to get a good night's sleep. Holly slept between the two teenagers not wanting to let go of her brother. Mike stroked El's hair lazily, -'Thank you' he mumbled, his big eyes closing, -'For what?' She asked curiously, -'Just...helping me sleep', El chuckled and blushed, -'Any time baby. Any time'.
2am.
Hopper almost had a heart attack when he saw a silhouette sitting at the kitchen table. In the dark. The only source of light coming from a lone lamp post outside. Took him a couple seconds to realiZe it was Michael Wheeler. His pale skin almost glowed in the dark, his long gazelle legs stretching under the table, his hands grasping something.
Hopper turned on a dim light, startling the boy, -'Chief, I-I'm sorry I-', Hopper shook his head. The young man could be fearless and then a ball of anxiety at the same time, -'Calm down Wheeler...can't sleep?', Mike sighed deeply, -'Just dealing with shit', he looked down at the mint tea, -'Fuck' he mumbled in dissapointment, -'What', -'No, I just like the smell of the mint steam...it's going cold now', -'Oh...you can make more, you know this house is like your house', -'Thank you sir. I guess I just wanted something to soothe me. Things are pretty shit lately' he chuckled sadly, -'So you ranted at me a few hours ago...trying to intimidate me with all 120 pounds of you', Mike frowned, -'Hey! That's all muscle okay?', Hopper chuckled, -'Okay Wheeler...listen I'm sorry if I was kind of insensitive when you told us about your mom earlier. I'm just hsed to adults being shit, so it doesn't really...I mean Karen is amazing, she-I remember going to school with her', Mike frowned, -'Huh?', -'Yep. She was a cheerleader, of course. Always very nice, that huge smile on her face and her hair always just...done up-', -'It's weird when you talk about my mom, Hop. Was she your crush or something?', -'Oh no. That's always been Joyce. Always been and always will', Hopper smiled unconsciously. Mike tried to hide a sneaky tear from falling down his cheek. But Hopper noticed, -'What's wrong?' He asked, -'Nothing, just...I promised El I'd always be with her...that I'd always take care of her, and-and I do my best, sir. Don't get me wrong, but what if we end up like mom and dad and-', -'Michael' Hopper laid his huge hand on Mike's bony shoulder, -'You know how I know you actually love my daughter? I have known that, ever since she told me you put yourself in the line of fire for her. To comfort her. Ever since you ran past government rifles, not caring these men wouldn't hesitate on blowing your head off, for her. And you'd just known her for a week. I know you love her because you comfort her, you don't hurt, you protect and you teach. Michael, you're dating a young woman who could snap your neck with a flick of a pinky. I can bet my life that every single man in this Earth would be afraid of dating her. But you aren't. And you put your life on the line for her. You're nothing like your mom and dad Mike, what you two have...I have never seen before'. Damn. Now Mike was crying, he couldn't believe it took Hop this long and being in these circumstances to vent like this, -'It means a lot, sir' his face was embarrassingly red, his freckles popping more than usual, -'Go to bed Mike. Your sister probably realized El's not actually you, she may get upset when she realises you're not there', the young man smiled between tears and patted Hopper's arm, -'Thank you Hop. For the talk-', -'Anytime'.