Next update: August 16
Saturday, December 2, 2017
When El woke up the next morning, at nine thirty, Mike was sitting up in his bed, hunched over and looking miserable. She rubbed her eyes and sat up, throwing the blankets off her.
"Hey, you alright?" She asked. He looked over at her for a second, seemingly about to respond, when he promptly leaned over the other side of the bed and puked into the trash can. "Guess not." She scrambled over to his bed and actually held his hair back some, rubbing his back.
"Fuck." He croaked, spitting what was left in his mouth. He sat up and wiped his mouth with a tissue.
Where'd that even come from?
"Feel better?" He shook his head and leaned back.
"You're gonna... get sick," He said, voice still croaky, "being so close to me."
"I don't care." She shrugged. He gave her a look. "I don't! I'll be fine, Mike." She waved a hand. She sat back on her heels.
"I'm gonna get ready for work, think you'll be alright?" He nodded.
"Yeah, if I need anything I'll just... text Max or something." He grunted as he scooted back down into a lying down position. "Because I sure as hell ain't getting out of this bed unless I gotta pee." She chuckled and nodded, pulling his cover back over him and ruffling his hair.
He was asleep when she came back out, so she kissed his head and emptied the can, before putting it next to his bed. She put a cup of water on his nightstand and grabbed her things as quietly as she could and went downstairs.
"Ah, just the girl I was looking for." Max grinned at her. "Was the trash can needed?" She asked. El nodded.
"Yeah, I woke up and he was sitting up, looking miserable and he puked."
"The poor turd. I'll keep checking on him today since I don't have any where to be. He's in good hands." El smiled.
"I know. I don't have the best experience with taking care of sick people."
"The only reason I do is because these fuckers get sick a lot, whether it be the flu or just a cold." El chuckled. "Considering he's a big baby, he'll want to cuddle and shit when you get home so be prepared for that." El grinned and nodded.
"Thanks for the heads up. I don't mind cuddling." Max snorted at that.
"I don't know how you people do it, man, it gets so hot." El shrugged.
"I'm usually cold as shit so." She grinned, and looked at her phone. "Okay, I better get going. If he gets like, really bad, call me. I'm gonna keep my phone on me."
"I doubt it'll get much worse than this, but I will."
"I don't know, this flu season is ruthless according to the news, and my dad." She added. "Uh, he said like three people in Hawkins have died from it already."
"Holy shit, well, I'm gonna go get some stuff and chill out on your bed if that's okay, make sure he doesn't croak." El flinched a little at that but gave a forced smile, nodding.
"Yeah, that's fine. I'll see you later."
"Have a good day!" Max yelled as she shut the door.
El had been checking on Mike a good bit, with Max, but it wasn't until about four thirty when Mike sent a text to the group chat.
The Par-tayy
(4:31) Magic Mike- (video of idk wtf just happened)
(4:31) Magic Mike- my stomach when I eat something
(4:32) Willy Will- lmao more like your sanity when you're sick
(4:33) Magic Mike- Fuck you Will
(4:34) Eleven- whoa now, calm down children. It's not nice to cuss
(4:34) Magic Mike- ;p
(4:35) Stalker- mike what even the fuck
(4:36) Magic Mike- fuck off man im sick don't judge
(4:38) Dusty- we judge you when you're not sick why would we stop now
(4:45) Dusty- did he die
(4:46) Zoomer- no he just fell asleep
(4:46) Zoomer- (pic of Mike cuddled up next to Max)
(4:47) Eleven- omg i wish i wasn't at work
(4:48) Eleven- you think benny would be mad if i told him mike was sick and i needed to go to him
(4:49) Dusty- no benny's cool and all for true love
(4:50) Eleven- *middle finger*
(5:24) Eleven- I'M OTW HOME DONT' WAKE THE BABY UP
(5:25) Zoomer- even when you get here?
(5:25) Eleven- yes
(5:26) Zoomer- lmao okay
El arrived back at home about fifteen minutes later, and Max was walking down the stairs as El started to go up.
"Oh, hey." El gave her a grin. "He still asleep?" Max nodded.
"Yeah, I'm gonna see if I can find anything for him to eat, that he won't throw up." El nodded.
"Toast." She told her. "At least, that would help me when I was sick."
"Gotcha, I'll make it and bring it up." El nodded again and continued up the stairs. She heard a laugh coming from their room and she made a face, and rolled her eyes with a smile at the sight before her, leaning on the door frame. Dustin and Lucas were on either side of Mike now, hugging him. He was squirming, trying to get away but was too weak to actually get anywhere.
"What happened to you two not wanting to get sick?" She asked, and all three jumped and Lucas let out a squeak, and Mike groaned.
"I hate you." He croaked, squirming again. "Get away." He whined.
"Okay first, get off him." She told them. "And second, didn't I tell you not to wake him up?" They scrambled off the bed and Mike stopped squirming, instead rolling onto the middle of the bed and stretching, letting out a tiny grunt, his cheeks red as fire.
"Sorry. And he woke up when Max got up so we wanted to take her place." Dustin said innocently. Lucas nodded in agreement, but looked at Mike.
"You might wanna go take a shower, dude, you fucking reek."
"You tink." Mike muttered, sitting up and running a hand through his hair, causing it to stick up wildly. Dustin snickered and Mike flipped him off.
"Tink?" Lucas asked. "Like Tinkerbell?" Mike threw a pillow at him.
"If I have to get up 'cause of you, I'ma beat your ass." He grumbled, getting up.
"Why are you getting up?" Lucas smirked.
"I've gotta fucking pee." He didn't necessarily slam the bathroom door, but it was enough to make the three jump.
"Mr. Grumpy Pants. Come on, let's go pack." Dustin pouted. El rolled her eyes and flicked them both on the back of the head. She shut the door behind them and went to fix Mike's sheets, since they were nearly sliding off the bed, but when she pulled back the blanket, there was a giant wet spot in the form of a body. She cringed a little and just pulled them off completely. He came back out and froze.
"What're you doing?" He asked.
"Your sheets are soaking wet with sweat." She explained. "And I'm sure your clothes are too. I think you should take a cool shower and change."
"But..." He gestured to the bed, pouting a little. She chuckled.
"You can get in my bed, Mike." She told him. "I know you don't feel like showering, but I'm sure it'd make you feel better. Then I'll lay with you, okay?" He sighed quietly and nodded. He walked past her to his dresser and got clean clothes. She dropped the sheets in a pile on the floor and held her arms out to him, and he hugged her, leaning down and burying his face in her hair.
"I'm sorry I'm being such a baby about this. I feel like shit and I'm usually sick when I'm at home and with my mom and... now I have to get used to her not fussing over me."
"I know." She said quietly, rubbing his back. "I'm sorry for the way she's acting. She doesn't deserve you as her son." He sniffed a little and nodded.
Please don't start crying, please don't start crying. If you cry I'll cry and I've cried in front of you enough- holy shit thank God.
Mike pulled a way from her, resting his forehead on hers for a second before stepping away.
"I'ma get you sick." He muttered.
"Michael." She scolded. "If you do, I don't care. I'm not gonna leave you alone while you're sick. You're stuck with me for the next month." He smiled.
"Hopefully a lot longer than that." He pointed out. She blushed and grinned cheekily, winking at him.
"Go get in the shower, mister. I'll have the bed all cozy for you, with some food you hopefully won't throw up." He grimaced at the mention of food, but nodded, making his way back into the bathroom. As soon as the door shut, she sighed and picked up the sheets and blanket, deciding to worry about his hundred pillows later, and took them downstairs. She put them in the hamper for the time being and went in the kitchen with Max, who wasn't making the toast yet. She looked up from her phone when she heard El huff and sit at the island.
"You okay?" She asked, tucking it in her pocket and leaning on her arms in front of her.
"No." El scoffed. "I wanna fucking punch his mom in the face."
"Same." Max sighed. "I still don't know what she said to him exactly but it wasn't just that she didn't want him home for Thanksgiving or Christmas. She said something to upset him as much as it did."
"Hopefully he'll tell you, because then we can go beat her ass." She grumbled. Max chuckled.
"If he tells either of us what it was, we'll let each other know and go to her as immediately." She held out a hand to El, who giggled and shook her hand. "She hasn't always been like that, you know." She said. El looked at her, an eyebrow raised. "She used to be like a mom to me. She wasn't fucking around with other men five years ago, she actually tried to be a mom to them. She drinks too, you see, but she drinks wine. She doesn't drink the cheap liquor shit Ted does, but either way it didn't help the situation. She slowly started drinking more and more as Ted stopped paying her any attention, and she started sneaking off when we were sixteen. Mike knew about it, but didn't tell us about it for a while. He didn't really care, he'd seen it coming."
"Wow."
"Yeah, that's not all though. They were all younger guys, too, the youngest being eighteen, 'cause ya know, laws and shit." El nodded. "As of right now, she's fucking around with my step-brother, Billy. The one I wish would go die in a hole, remember me talking about him?"
"Boy do I. I wanna stick my foot so far up his ass it'll get stuck." Max snorted and nodded in agreement.
"I think he's fucking with her head, royally. I think that's why she's acting the way she is. How much you wanna bet her and Ted will immediately agree to give custody to Nance?"
"I know they will." She scoffed. "God, why does most of us have such shitty parents or family members? You, with your step dad and Billy, Will with his dad, Mike and his parents. My parents were abusive when I lived with them, before Hopper."
"It's a fucked up world." Max shrugged. "But I know one thing." She put a hand over El's and she looked up. "We learned from our parents mistakes, and we will treat our children a hundred times better than they treated us."