AN:

OKAY SO I APOLOGIZE BECAUSE I'M A LIAR SORT OF.

This isn't the final chapter and I'm going to explain why really quickly.

I've had the final scene of this story in my head since I started writing it and I keep underestimating how much it's going to take to get there. Basically... this plot got a lot more complicated than I had anticipated and in order for me to feel happy with it I have to lengthen it out. I don't want to cut corners just to get to the ending more quickly. And I apologize for that.

So without further ado, I present the SECOND to last chapter.


Mike woke up suddenly, jolting a bit, and then reached for El, wanting to tuck her back into his chest and fall back asleep for awhile longer.

His hand met emptiness and he rolled over, squinting, in the late morning sun. He was alone in the bed and he frowned, noticing the sheets where she'd been were cold.

"El?"

His voice echoed in the quiet apartment and he felt a spike of fear pierce his heart. Maybe she was in the bathroom? He scrambled out of the bed, almost tripping, and pulled on a pair of sweatpants. He walked out of the bedroom, glancing at the empty bathroom and then walking through the living room to the kitchen.

She wasn't there. Anywhere.

His heart hit the floor and he found his phone on the counter, finding the contact that was his only guess and hitting call.

"Mike?"

"Max?! Is El with you?!"

"What?" Her voice took on a worried tone. "No… she's with you."

"No I—She's not, I just woke up and…"

He trailed off as he spotted the napkin, her familiar scrawl spelling out his name. Picking it up he set the phone down, eyes hungry as he read the note.

Mike,

Thank you for being so good to me. I'm sorry but I have to go back. I want you to know it's not your fault, you did nothing wrong. You deserve so much more than me. You deserve to be happy.

I promise not to forget what you showed me. I promise not to let someone in again like I did with you. I won't ever forget you, but I hope you forget me.

I don't expect you to forgive me, but please know I meant what I said last night.

I didn't want to hurt you. I'm sorry.

Goodbye, Mike.

He felt tears well up in his eyes as he realized what she'd done. Max was still shouting from the phone and he put it back to his ear, trying to hold in the sob that was bubbling up.

"S-She left," he told her.

"What? Where did she go? How do you know?" Max sounded frantic.

"There's a note… she went back. To him. She wants me to forget her…"

"Are you fucking kidding me?!"

Max's voice faded away again as she yelled for Dustin and Mike collapsed into the nearest chair, trying to process what was happening. His eyes read the note over and over until it fogged into gibberish, the tears blurring the letters.

She'd pushed him away again. He didn't understand why, why she couldn't accept that he loved her? That he wanted to be with her? That she made him happy? He knew there was something dark and twisted that lived inside of her, the result of her past and the struggles she'd faced, but he had thought that after last night she'd been able to break away.

"Mike! Are you still there?"

It was Dustin's voice this time and he put the phone back up to his ear.

"Yeah," he croaked.

"Stay put, we're coming to you. Don't… don't do anything stupid, okay? I know you want to go charging after her, but we need to figure out where she is first."

"She went back. To her dad."

"Is that bad? Usually dads are—" Dustin's voice cut off as Max said something in the background and then he came back. "Okay, fuck, um… just sit tight. Drink some water or something but don't leave without us."

"Okay. I won't."

The line went dead and Mike stared at the phone in his hands blankly. He couldn't even try calling her after he'd smashed her phone and he felt like punching himself in the face for being so irrational.

Dustin was right, he could go straight for Indianapolis and bust into Brenner's office, but that wouldn't do any good if he didn't know where she was. But sitting here doing nothing felt just as useless and he stood, pacing back and forth in the small kitchen. The counter was still covered in the fry containers, their clothes still scattered on the ground.

Her presence was still there, hanging around him like a ghost and suddenly he was angry. The bitterness from being pushed away for so long, the anger at letting those men use her, the jealousy of knowing she'd left his arms some nights to go to theirs was suddenly bursting out of him.

"Fuck!" He screamed, grabbing the empty containers and throwing them at the flower, eyes blinded by rage. His hands grabbed everything on the counter, the dirty dishes, the clean dishes, the toaster, and slammed them down, kicking them across the floor.

She left me. She left me for him. She left me for him.

He was panting, staring around the now-wrecked kitchen, and then the pain the hit and he slid down the cabinets, sitting on the floor and sobbing into his hands. The words in her note came back and he tried to understand what she had been thinking.

"It's not your fault. You deserve to be happy. I hope you forget me."

How was he supposed to just forget her? Forget her big brown eyes with their hazel speckles, the way her mouth curved up into a smirk when he did something stupid, the way she said his name as he covered her with kisses. He was supposed to just forget?

"I meant what I said last night."

He didn't want to think about last night because he knew it would hurt too much. She'd asked him to touch her, to love her, and he'd complied, trying to show her what she'd needed to feel. He could still see her, lying beneath him and panting, her eyes wide and honest as she finally cried out those words for him.

"Mike, I love you."

He felt numb. Last night had been… everything. He'd thought that everything had finally come together, that she had accepted what she meant to him. That she was finally ready to accept what he meant to her. When those words had left her mouth he thought the battle was finally over… that she was his.

But obviously he'd been blissfully unaware of just how deep her self-loathing ran. Despite everything he'd showed and her sudden revelation… she still hadn't been able to accept him and what he wanted for her. What he wanted for them.

It seemed like mere minutes as he swirled through the vortex of pain, the tears slowing and then stopping as he sat on the kitchen floor and stared at the note in his hands. Rereading it and trying to pretend like she was coming back, like it said something other than goodbye. His chest physically hurt, like something was being pulled out of it and he swallowed.

Bang!

"Mike!"

The door wasn't locked and Dustin and Max burst in, like some sort of bizarre team, looking around the apartment. Dustin spotted Mike first and let out a gasp. He'd seen his friend sad plenty of times, but never like this. Plopping down next to him, he put an arm around Mike's shoulder and tried to give him an encompassing hug.

"Hey, buddy, you… um, you okay?"

"Of course he's not okay," Max snapped as she found them, walking over and crouching down in front of Mike, grabbing his hands. "Does he fucking look okay?"

"Well I thought it would be polite to ask—"

Mike blinked, bringing Max's worried face into focus.

"S-She left," he choked out.

A fresh wave of tears came and then Dustin was pulling him sideways, hugging him around his neck as he sobbed again, his whole body shaking. Max gave Dustin a worried look and after a few minutes he pulled his friend off of him.

"Mike… what happened? Did she say why? And do you know for sure she went back?"

He held out the napkin as an answer and Max took it, reading it carefully, face puckered into a worried frown. She sighed heavily and then handed it to Dustin who scanned it too.

"She said she went back," Max bit her lip, "because he deserves someone better. God damn it… she's doing that thing again where she just… drops people. I'm sorry, Mike."

"What does 'I meant what I said last night' mean?" Dustin asked, curiously.

Mike swallowed. "She told me she loved me."

"No she did not," Max gaped and Dustin gave her a shove.

"Don't be rude, Maxine—"

"That's not even my real name!" She snapped back.

Despite his rather numb state, Mike glanced between the two, wondering how they were such good friends already.

"She said it. We were…" he trailed off, turning red and they got the point. "I fell asleep and… I think I woke up because she had to get up and pee and then…"

"And then you woke up this morning and she was gone?"

"Y-Yeah," he said quietly.

It was silent as the three tried to figure out what to do.

"Can we go to the police? I mean… she's basically a captive."

"What are they going to do? She's in Indy, Dustin."

"I dunno, we could find out if there's something we could do," he shrugged.

"That's… a fair point. Why don't we do that, Mike?" Max tugged his hand and he blinked, still numb.

"Yeah, okay."

They managed to get him into some actual clothes and picked up a cup of coffee on the way over to the police station. The receptionist there told them the chief was in his office if they wanted to ask his opinion but that she couldn't do anything for them since it was out of their jurisdiction. Dustin led them to the office and a balding, older man with grizzled beard and a shrewd gaze was sitting, drinking a cup of coffee out of a mug that said "contemplate".

"Hey, Chief Hopper, we were wondering if we could ask you some questions…" Dustin started.

After a semi-brief explanation, mostly supplied by Max, the older man looked at three young adults in his room and blinked.

"So she was at Wheeler's and then she disappeared?" he asked, scratching his beard thoughtfully.

"Yeah, um, she left a note…"

"Well, if she left willingly there's not much I can do for you. Especially if she's in Indianapolis now… what'd you say her dad's name was?"

"Brenner. Martin Brenner," Mike spoke up for the first time and they all looked at him, surprised.

The Chief nodded.

"I thought something about this seemed familiar. A few days ago I got a call from some shady sounding businessman. Basically told me that if I agreed to take the next case that hit my desk, I would make some extra money. Next thing I know Flo walks in holding some file transferred from the Indy Police Commissioner. Some drug bust and missing persons case," he turned his head to look at Mike. "You were the supposed perpetrator."

Mike felt dumbfounded. "What?"

"That's what I said after I had a good laugh. I remember you hanging around Hawkins throughout the years. You've never exactly been the type... let's just say I was struggling to believe you would turn from teaching chemistry to cooking meth. I tossed it into the garbage." Hopper furrowed his brow. "Now it makes sense… if he's got an in with the police commissioner he's basically untouchable out there."

Mike felt his heart pounding in his temples. Had she known about? Was that part of the reason she had left? Because Brenner had threatened him? But she hadn't talked to him since… before Mike had brought her to Hawkins. He frowned, wondering how she'd contacted him and then pulled his phone out of his pocket and checked the recent calls.

"You guys I—"

He held up the phone and then tapped it so it started calling. There was a click as someone answered, but whoever was on the other line was silent and some desperate hope filled his chest.

"El?" His voice cracked.

The voice that answered was oil, thick and suffocating and definitely not El.

"If you're referring to Jane, I'm afraid she's rather busy at the moment. Her… vacation this weekend caused her to miss out on quite a lot of work. She's prepping for the gala tonight, so I sent her to the spa," Brenner sounded smug and Mike bit his cheek.

"Don't you fucking dare make her do that again you son of a bitch!"

"Watch your language, Michael Wheeler. You're not doing yourself any favors."

"I don't want your favors. Just let her go."

"She came to me, Michael. I suggest you be the one to let her go."

"I'm gonna break your fucking nose you assh—"

"As fun as this chat has been, I'm a busy man. Don't bother calling again. From what I understand she doesn't want to talk to you anymore."

The line went dead and Mike barely kept himself from chucking the phone again, slamming it into his lap instead. He growled angrily and punched his leg, immediately wincing and rubbing his fist. "Ow, fuck."

"Who was… was that Brenner?" Hopper asked, eyebrows raised. Mike nodded and the older man sighed. "Look, Wheeler, I want to help, I do, but I can't. It's out of my jurisdiction and there's dirty cops involved. But—" He looked at the three, eyes serious. "If you can get her back in Hawkins, I swear I'll keep her safe if I have to stand outside your house with a shotgun myself."

It was the best he could do and they—mainly Dustin—thanked the chief for his help, walking out to the car and slumping inside. Max looked at Mike, biting her lip.

"So what do you want to do, Mike? I… I don't know if she'll talk to me anymore now either… since I know the truth." She swallowed, not wanting to say it but knowing it needed to be said. "And I don't… she's not coming back this time."

Mike stared out the window, hearing her but unsure of how to reply.

He was tired. Tired of trying, tired of hurting, tired of always being shoved away. His heart was sore from beating so hard against his ribs and he just wanted to go to bed for a week to try and forget everything. This was the third time she'd hurt him and he was struggling to hold the broken pieces together this time.

"I will never stop wanting you!"

He'd said those words, eyes full of tears as she'd turned away and told him to leave. And he hadn't stopped. Even now his heart beat for her, his arms longed to hold her, his eyes longed to see her. Part of him felt like it was missing and he realized there would never be a point where he would be okay with that.

"I hope you forget me."

He couldn't. He wouldn't. He'd sat around the past six months, hoping she would let him in, but now she needed him to fight. Something about the situation still felt off and he knew he'd never forgive himself if he didn't try just one more time. If she really didn't want him, if she really didn't love him… he wanted to hear it from her himself, not scribbled on a greasy napkin. He could accept if she really didn't want him—as much as it would hurt—if she could look him in the eyes and tell him.

He cleared his throat and turned to his friends, feeling grateful for their endless support. He felt there eyes on him and he let out a small sigh, setting his jaw and nodding.

"Well if she's not coming back… I guess we're going to have to go and get her."


AN:

If you don't think there's going to be a happy ending you're damn wrong. I apologize if the last plot twist pissed you off but I'm really trying to make this good. Or at least worth finishing.

Let me know if you're mad. Or sad. Or happy. Or whatever. I love to hear it.

~Wyn