I'll be going into more detail about what happened differently in this AU next chapter. Heavily inspired by Fallen Pens.

The Light Of My Life

Chapter one: One Night Stand

What kind of monster am I...?

The heavy rain pattered against the window as thunder crackled in the distance, outside the near-empty home. Mike Wheeler could only keep thrusting his hips, feeling her arms wrapped around him.

"Mike! Please, don't stop! This is the best I've ever felt in my whole life!" she cried. The fifteen-year-old boy could hardly focus, lost in the many piling thoughts running through his head, with overwhelming guilt and lust deluding them immensely.

"El... I'm close..." he panted while holding her hips. She could feel his warm precum already. There was no care though. She wanted to enjoy this euphoria forever. His rapid heartbeat felt like it was drumming loudly now, clouding his mind at the same time. She paid little attention to his warning.

"It's so hot... I-I want it, Mike! Don't stop!" El assured. Mike could only close his eyes. The cries of pleasure from their shared orgasm erupted through the room, it would've been heard from the basement if anyone was home. He looked her in the eyes, and before he could catch his breath she pulled him down for a sloppy, passionate kiss. He broke from it panting and rested his head in between her neck and shoulder. He felt horrible for all of this, but he was unable to resist, he was in the heat of the moment. His body took control as his mind screamed for him to stop, protesting the unfaithful act he had just done.

"El... I'm sorry, but I'm drained," Mike said, still trying to catch his breath. The sex they'd had for the past hour and a half finally taking its toll on his body. "El, holy shit, I... I'm sorry for doing... any of that. It was wrong, and-... El?"

Eleven was sleeping soundly beneath him, a content smile on her face. The mop-haired boy was quiet for a few seconds, he reached down and pulled the covers over her naked form.

He got up from the bed and walked across his room to where their clothes lay in a messy pile, he redressed and made his way over to her. "I'm so sorry, El. I... We'll talk about this when you wake up. I promise," Mike said to El, still sleeping peacefully. His mind was running faster now, he couldn't think straight. He went back to get her clothes and laid them over the covers near her feet, leaving his room right after, closing the door behind him as gently as possible.

He was greeted with his pitch-dark hallway, all lights in the house being off as he was the only one home. His family was visiting his nana, gone away until the next day. He'd walked through this house hundreds of thousands of times though, so he easily navigated his way downstairs and into the kitchen, he flicked on the lights and poured a glass of water for himself, sitting at the table in the dining room. The dark and empty house leaving him to his thoughts.

He took a drink from the glass, his throat feeling so relieved from no longer being as dry as the desert. His thoughts were killing him though, so he put his head down and got ready for the worst his brain could conjure up.

You cheated, Mike! What in the fuck?!

He whined. "I know. I really, really fucked up... I was just trying to comfort her, and when it didn't work I tried singing for her... and then she was kissing me," he said miserably into the table, his voice muffled.

But you didn't try to stop her, did you? In fact, you were the one who started touching her first!

Mike wasn't going easy on himself, even though he knew exactly why he didn't even try to stop El. "We both know why I didn't stop her, I-I had no control!" he said weakly, once again talking to himself.

Well, that doesn't make it right, does it?

Shit, Mike couldn't even pretend to think it was okay to cheat, he royally fucked up. This act has no excuse to justify it and he knows it.

Mike had been dating Stacey Albright for just over four months now, he was put up to asking her out by Dustin and Lucas after they had gotten tired of him moping around since freshman year. They weren't anything serious, really, but that still didn't sit right with Mike, being unfaithful. He felt that it was dire to be faithful 'cause he wouldn't want to be cheated on. Even though Stacy was a bit of a filler for the empty space in his heart, he made a silent vow to himself one night to give her a chance at the very least. Sure, she was kind of snotty for the most part, but she had her charms and sometimes they showed themselves, but only ever in his presence. She's not in The Party, even Mike wouldn't go that far with giving her a chance, and she didn't really appreciate the nerdier side of him. Sometimes he figured she only really got with him because he wasn't as lanky as he once was; after freshman year, over the summer, Mike picked up swimming. He was surprisingly good at it so he decided to practice anywhere he could, even asking Steve if he could use his pool.

Mike wasn't blind, she sometimes let her eyes linger on his body way more than his face or whatever movie they were watching. It felt kind of objectifying but he didn't have the balls to call her out on it or even bring it up. He was a coward, too scared to get what he wants, but even this can't be right, the cheating, the unfaithfulness that he allowed. They hadn't gotten serious, at least not to Mike. Sure, they kissed and held hands in public places, but it was only Stacey that initiated those displays of affection. She was probably just marking her territory, showing him off, or just got tired of staring and wanted to feel him. He didn't have to tell her of the events of this summer night, maybe after talking to El, they could come to an agreement about keeping this quiet, as fucked up as that may be.

Mike felt like shit now, or rather worse than shit, he felt like scum.

He stayed like that with his head down for what felt like hours when in reality it had been a half one. He heard the shower running upstairs suddenly, and he nearly got whiplash at how fast his head turned up to look at the ceiling, as if he had x-ray vision and could see El one floor above. He quickly drank down the water that was left in the glass and hurried upstairs. The light in his room was on, spilling into the hallway, it was also the only door that was open, but he knew El was in the bathroom.

He made his way slowly to the door and took a calming breath before knocking just loud enough to be heard over the shower, a few seconds passed and then the door swung open. Mike's eyes felt like they were bulging out of their sockets. El stood naked before him, he didn't dare look down but her beautiful breasts were in clear view, and even though he was holding onto them for dear life not too long ago, he quickly averted his gaze.

"Oh, hey Mike," she said in a sultry voice. "I was just about to shower, wanna join me?" El walked up to him and put one hand in his hair and rested the other on his cheek. He squirmed under her heavenly touch and she giggled.

"I-uh, El, we should talk... Can you please put your clothes on?" El quickly picked up on his discomfort, letting go and taking a step back, Mike didn't see but she looked disappointed and dejected.

It was silent for a second as El composed herself, Mike didn't know what was happening but was way too scared to give a peek. "Uh... Yeah, just gimme a sec," she shut the door and Mike let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. He went to wait downstairs in the living room, sitting on the couch and preparing for what he was gonna say.

He didn't know what to do, his mind weighing the options. He could either let her down gently and possibly confuse her, or he could be blunt and possibly break her heart. Mike really didn't want to do either, he just wished none of this had happened in the first place. He was disrupted from his thoughts when she came down the stairs, he called out to her to let her know he was waiting in the living room.

Mike kept his gaze downcast, he denied her the opportunity to read his face of the guilt that plagued it. She sat next to him on the couch, but she kept her distance. Good, maybe she understands, Mike thought. They sat in silence for a few moments while Mike tried to summon his quickly depleting courage, he started with what he could. "El, I-I'm so sorry for what I did to you. I feel so terrible for it, I just... I understand if you're upset with me,"

Mike was still averting his gaze like he had earlier, looking down and not even sparing her a glance. Another moment of silence passed over them, so he continued. "I went too far... You know, with the... S-sex," Mike forced the words out of his mouth, feeling immense shame for all of it. Despite his classes on the subject, he still felt sheepish about even discussing it.

"Jesus, Mike, you're making it sound like you raped me," El claimed. She had her hands in her lap, somewhat surprised for the guilt that was clearly killing him on the inside.

"Well, yeah... That's... That's what it felt like, it feels like I did exactly that, El. You were crying and talking about how bad it is at home with Hop and Joyce. I just wanted to cheer you up, I just didn't mean to do any of t-that to you... I just lost control like a mouthbreather," Mike exclaimed. The look in his eyes was one of pure regret, El felt bad for unintentionally messing with his head.

"Like you said, I just need to talk to Hop and Joyce about how unhappy I've been, Mike. It was getting to me... But you always try your best to make me happy, no matter what," El got closer and pulled Mike into a tight hug, surprising the hell out of him. "Seeing you there for me at my worst just made me feel like everything would be okay, Mike. I feel safe and strong when you're near," she said into his chest.

Mike looked at her in shock, nervously running a hand through his hair, he didn't know what to say to that. But he was glad he could make her a better person, he's a better friend than he knows.

"That's why I kissed YOU, Mike," she said, letting go of the embrace to look at him. "You made me feel better than I've ever felt, you always do, right from the start," El reassured, bringing up the night they'd met in the rain. "Mike, if anything I took advantage of you, I didn't think and I just kissed you. But I just wanted to show you how thankful I am for you and all that you've done for me, I don't think I can ever repay you... I care about you, Mike," She wasn't joking about how grateful she was, he could tell, and she clearly felt like she was at fault for what they had done. She regretted making him feel so guilty, knowing he had a girlfriend.

"I care about you too, El... A lot. But I have a girlfriend," It hurt so bad to have to say those words, but whether he liked it or not, he was in a relationship already, he wouldn't allow it to go any further than it had tonight. Even if they lost their virginities to each other, he had to stand his ground on this or he'd be an even bigger monster.

"Oh... Right," she knew, she knew he had a girlfriend but it still hurt to hear it out loud, it somehow made it more real. She had no clue if they were close or not, but that didn't matter, he was hers and she knew how loyal Mike could be, he did fight monsters from another dimension and ran from the government with her, after all. "I'm so sorry, Mike..." she truly felt bad for it all, but she didn't regret it, she'd never regret anything with Mike.

"It's okay, El" he pulled her into another hug, which was shorter. "Come on, I think the rain's getting lighter, I should take you home," he gave her a warm smile so she didn't think he was mad at her or anything, 'cause he wasn't.

"Yeah, okay. Hopefully, Hop didn't find out I snuck out." she gave a small laugh to show she was feeling better, because she did. Although it still hurt that she can't have Mike, she was glad that he wasn't mad at her and settled for just having him in her life as a friend.

They hugged one last time to reassure each other that there was no bad blood between them and ran out to Mike's car. They drove off into the night and Mike dropped her off at the Byers' house, which she and Hopper had moved into two years ago after Joyce and Hop got together after she got over losing Bob. Jonathan was off at college so El took his room, and she snuck back in through the window.

Mike drove off after feeling sure that she'd gotten inside safe. He made it home rather late, but nobody was there to tell him off. He made his way up the stairs and to his room, flopping down on his bed after a long night, he still had a lot of thoughts running through his head, and a lot of hurt too.

But there was something nagging at him, he couldn't put his finger on it, but it was something serious, he thought. Not being able to figure out what it was, he quickly fell asleep.

Holy shit, hope that was good lol, prepare for a shit ton of angst, drama, and fluff, oh so much fluff. See ya ;)