Hopper was so caught up at work that he didn't come home until the next morning. Mike had called El, to see if she wanted to get together. She picked up the phone and said:
"Hello?"
"Hey, El, it's me."
"Hey, me!"
"*laughs* You're so cute! *pauses* How's your day been so far?"
"Not good, until you called."
"Aww, that's sweet, but why's it been bad?"
"He's been gone all day, Mike. I'm scared that he's in danger, but I can't risk leaving the house to save him."
"Hopper? Geez."
*pauses*
"El?"
"Yeah?"
"I'll meet you there in an hour, okay? We can wait for him together."
"Have I ever told you how much I love you?"
"I love you too!"
*hangs up*
Neither of them liked waiting around. El was pacing around the room. Meanwhile, Mike was biking over to her house as fast as he could. When he got there, he knocked on the door. Mike had created his own special knock for them. In morse code, it meant 'El.' He chose this since he was the one who gave her the nickname. When she heard the knock, she ran out to the porch, where he caught her in a hug. Her tears fell on his shoulder one by one as he stroked her long hair. He put her face into his hands and leaned his head against hers, their noses almost touching. He wiped away her tears and said:
"Everything's gonna be okay, I promise."
They both smiled and walked into the house together, their arms holding each other's backs. Then, they sat down, their elbows leaning against the couch and turned to talk to each other. He put a warm blanket on her.
"You want some coffee?"
"I've never tried it before."
"Well, there's a first time for everything! I'll make you some."
He patted her leg and got up to make some for her. She sat and watched him with a smile. She didn't realize how long it took to make, so she walked over to him after about 3 minutes. She hopped onto the counter and took out a whipped cream bottle and a container of strawberries out from the refrigerator. She had developed a liking for them after Hopper put them on her waffles every now and then. She opened her mouth, Mike thinking that she wanted to make out with him, but really she just did it to squirt whipped cream in her mouth. He chuckled as he fixed himself a snack. He loved how much of a messy eater she was.
"Hey, Mike?"
"Yeah?"
"Let's make out!"
"Okay!"
He was still standing, while she was sitting on the countertop, her back leaning against the cabinet. When she sat on the countertop, she was just as tall as he was, their eyes at the same level. He leaned in for a kiss, but all of a sudden, she pulled out the whipped cream and sprayed him in the mouth and on his face. She giggled, jumped off the counter, and ran. He spat it out and wiped a bit of it off his face. Then, he chased after her. She was really fast, having run from the bad men all her life, and Mike, not being athletic at all, had trouble keeping up with her. She used her powers to distract him. Sometimes she would shove a chair in front of him. Most of the time he jumped over it like a hurdle, but he managed to trip over the last one. She made sure he was okay before she kept running. Finally, Mike saw her turn a corner. He swept her off her feet and caught her in his arms. She let out a playful scream.
"Ha! I got you!"
He tickled her and she continued to spray him. He ran with her still in his arms, over to her bed, and plopped her and himself down. They were really out of breath but were rolling on the bed laughing. Mike was really flustered.
"I still have whipped cream all over my face, you goof!"
She thought that the way his face looked when he called her a goof was so funny and she laughed at the sight. Then, her face turned serious.
"I can take care of that..."
*smiles*
El kissed him all over his face, coming back to his lips every now and then. At one point, she got it on her nose and rubbed it against his as they both smiled. After making out for a while, Mike said:
"This is perfect!"
"What is?"
"Being here, with you-I've never heard you laugh or scream so much!"
"Awww, stop it, you're gonna make me blush!"
*blushes*
"Dammit, Wheeler!"
*laughs*
"El, you have no idea how adorable you are!"
*smiles*
"Oh, Mike!"
*kisses cheek*
"Oh shit! I just realized that the coffee's probably cold by now! We should go heat it up."
"Let's just heat it up later!"
"Fine by me."
*smiles*
They snuggled and took a nap for about half an hour. Mike woke up first and kissed her neck until she eventually did the same. Her eyes started to open. She yawned, stretched out her arms, and turned around to kiss him back.
"Can you fix me that coffee you promised now?"
"Sure! Wait here."
He came back and handed it to her.
"Here you go! Be careful now! It's hot and it can burn your tongue if you're not careful."
"I can handle it. I could always cool it down with my powers if it was too hot anyway."
"True..."
*sips*
"So, what do you think?"
"Mmm...Delicious!"
"Good, I'm glad you like it!"
Later on, Mike and El had watched E.T. Hopper had been gone all night and they fell asleep to it as they snuggled on the couch. They woke up to the sound of beeping, coming from the receiver.
"Did we fall asleep? What time is it?"
"11:00," she said with a wink.
"*laughs* Of course it is!"
El got up and tried to figure out what Hopper was saying.
"C."
"O."
"M."
"I."
"N."
"G."
"Coming."
Mike thought it was so cute the way that El spoke out each letter. His mom had gotten more uptight about him leaving the house. She even gave him a curfew of 10:00. He was really scared because he had never missed it before without getting her permission first, except for the night that El had closed the gate. He decided to do the responsible thing and call her.
"El, can I use your phone?"
"Sure."
Mrs. Wheeler had waited in the living room for him all night. She was worried sick and even called Hopper. That was part of the reason why he was on the way home, to check and see if Mike was over there.
"Hello?"
"Mom, it's Mike."
"Oh my god, Michael! Where the hell have you been?!"
"I'm so sorry, Mom. El and I fell asleep watching a movie. It won't happen again, I promise!"
"You had me worried sick! You never came home last night! You missed your curfew and I waited for you all night."
"Really? Gosh, Mom. I'm really sorry."
"It's okay, Michael. Just do better next time, okay? And you come home right now, mister!"
"On my way, Mom. Love you!"
"Love you too!"
*hangs up*
"Mike, thank you so much! I wish you could stay here all day, but I think it's best that you're not here when he comes home. I don't think he would be too happy."
"Yeah, good call. My mom's already gonna kill me for not coming home last night, so I'll see you later!"
He leaned in to kiss her and left.
Hopper took that whole day off to spend with El. When he got home, he found El listening to a record by The Police, which Nancy gave to her. He never had much of a liking for the newer pop music though, as he was more of an old school kind of guy.
"Hey, kid."
"You're late, *pauses* really late."
"I know, I know...I got caught up at work...I'm real sorry, kid."
"You should've called...I was worried about you!"
"Do you think I like leaving you here by yourself all day? *grunts* Will you turn that crap off? It's giving me a headache!"
"*grunts and sighs* Fine..."
He noticed that she was drinking coffee.
"Hey, what are you doing? You're too young to be drinking that!"
"Mike fixed it for me. Well, you never said that was a rule and whenever I try to talk to you in the morning, you always say 'Mornings are for coffee and contemplation!'"
"Wheeler was here?! Karen called me wondering where he was."
"Yeah, he was here. We fell asleep when we were watching E.T., so he didn't get home 'til just now."
This made him nervous, but he let it slide.
"Okay. Well, anyway, coffee will keep you up all night if you drink it too late."
"You're forgetting that I can put myself to sleep."
"You can?"
"Yes! *chuckles* Stop worrying about me, Dad. I'll be fine."
"'Dad?' Did you just call me 'Dad?'"
"Yeah, *chuckles* I guess I did."
"Aww. C'mere, kid."
He brought her in for a big hug and kissed her head.
"I love you, kid."
"I love you too, Dad."
*pauses*
"Dad?"
"Yes?"
"How much longer do I have to hide from the bad men?"
"I don't know, Kid, I don't know...Probably about 9 more months, and I know that's not what you wanna hear, but that's the best we can do right now."
"Okay."
"I'm making progress with these people. I'm interviewing and negotiating with them. I think things could change *pauses* soon."
She crossed her arms and looked out the window, hoping that things would look up soon. They ended the night by watching her favorite soap opera, All My Children, which Hopper suffered through.