It seems crazy, since this account is really only for smut, but I feel I should warn that this chapter is all smut. I mean, a little fluff because of who it is, but that's what the Magladin account mainly is. So just letting you know.
When El heard the secret knock, she assumed Hopper had forgotten something. She never expected to open the door and see the person she cared about most in the world standing on the porch. Her eyes immediately welled up with tears and her lower lip trembled.
"Mike," she managed to breathe out before she jumped into him. She threw her arms around his neck, letting her fingers plunge into his shaggy locks as her legs encircled his waist.
All Mike could do was hold her. For the first few seconds he couldn't speak. Tears were streaming down his cheeks and as he buried his face in her hair he inhaled, being rewarded with the scent of peaches. Finally he was able to pull himself together enough to talk to her. He wasn't sure how he'd kept from falling because he'd definitely felt his knees buckle but it was from disbelief and not from Eleven jumping into his arms.
"El? You're alive? You're alive. Why didn't you tell me?" He asked anxiously, still holding her tightly, not quite able to set her down on her feet just yet.
"Come inside. Too hot out here," El murmured with her face pushed against Mike's neck, not wanting to pull away.
Mike carried her back into the cabin. Still not wanting to let her go, he sat down on the sofa with El straddling his lap. They gazed at each other, both studying the way they'd grown into themselves.
What Mike noticed first was that he'd seen this particular version of El so many times in his dreams.
"You look the same as in my dreams," he said without realizing that he was even speaking.
El looked down. She was a little afraid to tell him. Instead, she told him about why she'd been sequestered for so long.
"Hop found me. But it's too dangerous for me to let anyone know. I've missed you so much. The others too, but especially you." El felt Mike's hands cover hers.
"Chief Hopper? You've been living out here with him for all this time?"
El nodded.
"When I woke up, after the Demogorgon, I was in the Upside Down. I called for you. I called for you so much my voice stopped working. Then I saw lights coming from the other side of the wall. There was still an opening, but it was starting to close. Like…like a wound healing quickly. I got out but there were so many Bad Men that I hid. In the woods. I hid there for a while. It snowed. I found a wooden box and sometimes it would have food in it. I'd take the food, and someone would put more in the box. One day I hid to watch. It was Hopper. I was tired of being cold and in the dark at night. I followed him and let him see me. He brought me here and this is where I've been since then. Mike," El started to cry softly. "I thought I'd never see you again."
"I thought that too. But look at us…we're here together. I could never give up on you."
El couldn't unlock her eyes from his. The electricity between them was palpable. She couldn't hold back any longer. El leaned forward and kissed Mike. She'd learned a lot from her soap operas and also from visiting Mike in the void, but feeling the real thing was a million times better.
Mike kissed her back, noting how similar it felt to making out with her in his dreams. But this kiss was rawer, needier. He needed it too. He tried to kiss her gently but El was beginning to get more aggressive, moving to his neck, her hands roaming everywhere. Mike started to cry again.
"What's wrong?" El asked, clearly concerned. "Isn't this what you like?"
"What do you mean?" He held her still, stopping the kiss but keeping her close.
El sighed.
"I…Mike, I got better. At using the void. I'm a lot stronger now. Those dreams you had? That was me visiting you. Those weren't dreams at all. At least, some weren't. I'm sure you did have some dreams that were your own," El admitted.
Mike stared at her slack-jawed.
"So all those times…all the stuff we did, you felt it too?" Mike needed to know.
"It was amazing," El said quietly.
Then Mike remembered the things they'd talked about.
"Wait, you love me? You love me too? All those things we said, that was real?" Mike remembered every conversation, good and bad.
"Oh shit. Shit, El…" Fresh tears spilled down his face. El wiped them away.
"I…know about her. About Max."
Mike could feel his heart breaking.
"I was just so angry and sad and she kinda started it. I missed you so badly. I could be someone different with her. I'd never treat you the way I treat her. But I only did that because it's what she likes. I'd much rather have you, you know? I…she never made me feel like you did. She never made me happy. I'm s-sorry. I'm s-so sorry, El. If I'd known you were here, I'd have done anything to get to you. I only love you. You're all I ever w-want." Mike's words came stuttering out as he tried to keep from all out bawling.
"Shhh, I know. You told me." El gently caressed Mike's cheek, her thumb wiping away a tear as her hand cradled his head. "You told me when you were making me cum. Remember? It was, what does Lucas say? Oh, right. It was awesome." El kissed him again. First she kissed away the remaining tears and then their lips connected softly and sensually.
"I want to do it for real," El breathed over Mike's lips.
Mike was suddenly in a quandary. He'd had no idea when he woke up that by late afternoon he'd have El in his lap kissing him. He was not prepared.
"Oh, God I want that too. But I don't have any protection. You know?"
El sat up.
"Protection?"
Mike sighed heavily.
"Like a condom. So you won't get pregnant. I mean, when um, was your last, um, period?" He managed to spit out.
El was thoughtful.
"Come with me," she said, standing up and taking Mike's hand.
Mike followed her into the small bathroom. On the wall was a calendar.
"Hop gets scared of me when I have that so he makes me keep track. I put a green X on the day I start and a red X on the day I stop. It helps him know to not make me mad." El laughed lightly.
Mike regarded the calendar. He was suddenly glad to have an older sister. He discovered he'd soaked up a lot of information just by living with women. He saw a red X drawn on the previous Monday. He flipped the calendar back, looking at previous months and counting in his head. It seemed to be a regular interval.
"So it stopped last Monday?"
"Yes." El looked up at him, her big eyes wide with hope.
"Wanna show me where you sleep?" Mike asked, already leaning in, holding her again close to him.
El smiled warmly and led Mike to her meek little room. She'd never gotten to show anyone her own special space and now she was getting to show the only person she'd ever really wanted to show anyway.
"Hop's working tonight and won't be home until tomorrow night," El stated casually before pressing herself into Mike. They were standing beside her bed. "We don't have to be fast."
"Good," Mike whispered as he began to lift her shirt up.
El ignored any thoughts of embarrassment that skirted across her mind. This wasn't the void; this was real and she could tell by the look on Mike's face that he wasn't seeing anything he didn't like. She allowed him to remove her shirt but then she used her mind to unfasten her bra, noting with amusement the sudden surprise that showed on Mike's face.
They fell together onto her bed. El could feel Mike's erection through his shorts as their bodies rubbed together. She pulled his shirt over his head and felt his warm skin over her own.
"This feels…so nice," she purred as they kissed. She pulled him into her more, loving the feeling of her breasts squishing against his chest.
"Take off the rest," she commanded, though her voice was sweet and shy. Mike complied, removing her shorts before he slowly tugged her panties over her hips. Once he had them at about mid-thigh level, all he could do was drink her in.
"You're even prettier than in my dreams, El. You're like, perfect. I just wanna look for a minute." Mike memorized the scene; El lying on her back on her bed with only a light pink pair of cotton panties pushed down to the middle of her thighs. Her hairless slit beckoned with moisture. Mike could see how it glistened. He'd seen her in what he now knew was the void but this was altogether better.
"Take yours off too," El was saying, breaking Mike from the trance he'd fallen into. He'd been mesmerized by her beautiful pink pussy. He dropped his shorts and boxers to the floor.
El watched his erection spring into view. She bit her lip as she saw it in the light of day. It seemed bigger than in the void, definitely redder, and was shiny and leaking at the tip.
Mike climbed on top of her, covering her warm body with his own. He relished in the feeling of having her naked against him. He was afraid to close his eyes, so in fear that this was all some crazy effect of heatstroke or some other injury he surely incurred while walking through the forest.
El could read Mike. She'd always been able to even without being able to actually be with him.
"Mike," El murmured, smiling up at him. "It's okay. I'm real." She ran her fingers through his hair. "This is real."
Mike nuzzled his face into her neck. She smelled like vanilla. Her arms were holding him too and it occurred to him that he'd never felt so safe and intimate. He could feel her wetness against his loins but he wasn't going to do anything fast.
El had some different ideas regarding that though. While she didn't want to worry about being fast, she wasn't trying to hold off on anything she wanted. She pushed her hips up in an attempt to get Mike's cock to touch her more.
"Mike, I like when you talk to me. Like in your dreams. Can you do that?" El wiggled underneath him. "But like you talk to me, not like…," she stopped, not wanting to say Max's name. "Just talk to me, it makes it better. We can talk about other stuff later." El still had some things to tell him, some regarding Max, but she didn't want the redhead to be part of her reunion with Mike.
Mike understood. He remembered that his dream version of El had known a lot about what he'd done with Max. The dream version of El was hurt that it hadn't been with her. Mike vowed to himself that he'd give El anything she wanted for the rest of his life.
"You mean, you want me to tell you how much I want to feel my cock slide into your pussy? You're so wet, El." As he spoke, he dropped his head to her chest and lazily sucked on her left nipple.
"Uh huh," El replied as she watched him. Her other nipple was pert and erect and Mike squeezed it gently.
"But what about other fun stuff? I could lick you all over. I could let you feel my mouth on your hot little lips," to show her he didn't mean her face Mike touched her gently, his hand tickling down her body until his fingers grazed her smooth pussy lips. El shivered.
"We have all night, right?" She asked. "I want to feel you inside me for real. Can we do that first?" El pleaded. She wanted the other stuff too but she was currently so excited for Mike to be inside her she found she couldn't wait.
"We can do anything you want," Mike told her. He ran his hard dick through her slit, quickly drenching it in her juices. He eased himself forward, thinking surely that it would be just like his dreams but better because it was real.
El thought the same so when Mike slipped himself inside and she felt sharp pain, she hadn't been ready.
"Ow!" She cried. "M-Mike, it hurts."
Mike pulled out. He'd only gone in probably about three inches but he could see the pain on El's face and how her eyes watered with tears.
"Shit, I'm sorry, El!"
"No, I am. I'm not good at it I guess. This isn't the void." She was on the verge of real tears. "I'll never be able to give you the things you want." El put her hands over her face.
Mike felt like crying himself, not because of this tiny little hiccup, but because El seemed so disappointed in herself.
"Hey," he said as he slid beside her, holding her against him. "It's okay. We'll get there. Don't worry. It's normal, I promise. El, we have the rest of our lives. Now that I know you're here, the Chief can't keep me away from you. I'll never let him." Mike kissed her cheek. "Let's just get comfortable. Cool?" Mike felt her snuggle closely against him, her head in the crook of his neck. From the position he could hold her with one arm and touch her with the other.
"Cool," El sniffled.
Mike traced the curves of her body with his finger.
"You know, you're still really wet," he breathed. Being so close to her, he found that he didn't need to speak loudly. "I have an idea." As he spoke, his hand dipped further until it rested just above her bare slit.
El liked feeling his hand there and she definitely trusted Mike, but she was nervous still. The good feeling outweighed the nerves though.
"What idea?" She asked, spreading her legs a bit to give him more room.
"Even you couldn't get me to leave here tonight." Mike touched her gently, barely letting the tips of his fingers brush over her clit. He'd noticed how it peeked out when he was removing her panties.
"What if…" Mike touched her a bit more. "What if I made you feel really good. I want to see you cum for real. I want to watch your pussy pulse when I finally get you off. Then maybe a little later if you want we can try me inside again."
El pondered.
"You'd do that even though I'm so bad at fucking you?"
"Stop it. Don't ever think anything you do is bad. I think it hurts for all girls at first. Maybe for some it hurts the first several times, I don't know. What I do know is that I love you so fucking much and you could never disappoint me." Mike's fingers teased her lips. He could feel how they were coated in her arousal and he was spreading it everywhere he touched.
"Okay, Mike," El whispered. She was looking down her body at his hand as he teased her.
"Does it feel good when I touch you here?" Mike stroked her clit with his finger, swirling circles around it.
"Uh huh," El answered.
Mike took his hand away. He went back to rubbing her lips, occasionally running his fingers over the smooth flesh of her inner thighs. Then he went back to her clit.
"Does it feel the same as in the void?" He asked.
"Better," El answered honestly.
It went on for almost an hour. Mike would just tease her, alternating between her lips, her clit, and the opening of her tiny hole. He didn't put his fingers inside, he only teased. El made soft sighs and louder moans as Mike excited her more.
"Do you have like, a mirror or something?" Mike asked. "I like holding you like this but I want to see everything too."
El looked across the room at her little dresser. She didn't have a big mirror like some girls on television. The mirror was in the bathroom. She did have a purple hand mirror though.
"I'll get it." With a flick of her head the mirror floated to the bed.
"Fuck, you're so badass," Mike hugged her closer before maneuvering them so that he was sitting up and she was in the V of his legs. "Hold it so we can see. Yeah, just like that. Oh, look at me touching you. Look how wet you are."
El looked into the mirror as she held it and watched Mike's fingers moving over her. She watched him tap the top of her little hole before he'd touch the little lips inside. He was holding her outer lips open with his forefinger and his pinky finger and using the other two fingers on his hand to play with her.
Mike watched too. From her position in front of him he could easily reach her, teasing her and listening to her soft moans.
"You sound so good when you make those noises," he whispered. He'd gone back to lightly circling his finger over her clit. He'd noticed that as he teased her lips El would try to move herself more into him, seeking more of his fingers.
"Mike," El breathed. "Do it more."
"I'm going to. When I do this," Mike rubbed her clit a little more firmly for a few seconds, "and then I take my hand away, look at what happens." He did it again so she'd understand.
El felt a tremendous energy building up but when Mike would stop the feeling would strain and then go away. When she watched him after he explained, she saw her wet pussy throbbing. Mike would make her almost feel the feeling and then his hand would be gone and she could see how her entire cunt seemed to quiver and breathe, pulsing lightly.
"Nnnn," El couldn't stop the moans escaping.
"Look how puffy it's getting, El. I know you want to cum. I know you need to. I'm gonna make it really good. Just a little longer." Mike licked her ear and felt her sink into him more. With his free hand he massaged her breasts. El was writhing.
"Make…make me," El sighed. She could have easily made him do what she wanted but the feeling of Mike being in control of this, of Mike being the one to make it happen, was too delicious to change. She liked being so vulnerable with him. She'd spent so many nights wishing to just be with him and now she was and El couldn't think of anything in the world she'd rather be doing.
"You want to feel it?" Mike asked softly. He was about to get serious with it. No more teasing. The way she was seeking his hand, twisting in his arms, combined with the erotic sounds she was making told him that El was indeed ready to feel some much needed release.
"Pl-please, Mike," she panted, her arm reaching behind her head to hold Mike's closer to hers. She turned her head to look at him.
Mike held her close and looked down at her. Her neck was craned and she looked so lovely, her eyes loving yet pleading, holding his head with one hand and his arm with her other. He could feel her fingernails in his hair scraping gently over his scalp as she wriggled.
"Okay, El. Watch. It's gonna look so good." Both of them watched the mirror as Mike finally started to toy with her earnestly.
El watched his fingers glide over her slick pussy lips before he touched her clit again. The feelings from before resurfaced quickly and she felt like a small explosion was about to happen in her body. It was definitely not a bad feeling but it felt more intense than anything she'd ever experienced in real life.
"So puffy and pink, so clean and wet," Mike whispered as he watched himself. He could feel how much her clilt had swollen from his teasing. He took his hand away one last time.
"El, tell me what you want," Mike instructed. It wasn't at all a command. She'd wanted him to talk to her and hearing her say things back was just as hot for Mike to hear.
"I wanna…please…I need…Mike, make it happen. Make me cum. For real." Watching his hand and seeing how aroused she was caused El's sentence to be disjointed.
Mike saw how she pulsed the last time he took his hand away. Upon hearing her ask him and feeling her muscles tensing, feeling her hands gripping anything on him they could, Mike knew it was time for him to let her have what she so desperately needed.
"Cum for me, El. Watch your pussy." Mike tapped her clit and then pressed more firmly, making sure that his fingers were on either side as well, feeling the whole organ in his hand. He felt a new gush of wetness.
"Oh! Just like…please don't stop this time," El was pleading. Mike had no intention of stopping.
"Fuck, look, El. Look at my fingers touching you. Look how slippery they are. Look at your little clit practically standing up," Mike murmured, himself mesmerized by the sight.
Hearing him softly in her ear and watching him do what he was saying, feeling his teasing, feeling the buildup of something that could only be considered magical, sent El over the edge.
El started to cum. It was forceful and long, exciting waves crashing, her entire inside pulsing with the warm quakes of what Mike had caused.
"I love you, El," Mike said lowly into her ear as she trembled in his arms. He watched the mirror as El came. He could see her pussy pulsations, having taken his hand away at the moment her orgasm struck her. It went on for a while.
When it was finally over, El snuggled into Mike, turning herself so that she could hug him.
"That was so much better than in the void," she said.
"That might have been the hottest thing I've ever seen. It'll all be better, El," Mike said as he held her and ran his fingers through her hair. "Just being here with you, I'm happier than I've been since 1983," Mike admitted.
They dozed in El's bed for a couple of hours. Mike couldn't let go of her. He was definitely not going to rush her into anything her body wasn't ready for. Just feeling her form against him was enough for Mike.
El, however, had other plans.
The orgasm Mike had given her a little earlier made her feel soft and eager. She knew the things he'd done with Max and while she knew they'd talk about it in depth at some point, she currently just wanted to prove to herself that she could do what Max could do.
So El started to lightly stroke Mike's cock. She felt him harden in her small hand. It was almost instantaneous.
Mike opened his eyes to see El studying his rigid shaft. She seemed to be memorizing every ridge and vein.
"Hi," he said sleepily.
El smiled up at him, his cock still in her hand. She could feel how slick she was already between her legs.
"I want to try again," she stated.
Her determination was touching to Mike.
"El, are you sure? I mean, I can go really slow. No, actually, maybe you can be in charge. If you get on top of me, you'll be able to control how far in I go. If you don't like it, we can stop. I promise it'll be okay." Mike looked at her still stroking him. He ran his fingers through her hair.
"I want to do it," El replied. Her voice was sure, unwavering.
"Come up here," Mike whispered, pulling her onto his chest. El's legs went to either side of his body and he could feel his stomach getting saturated by her arousal as her soft lower lips brushed against him. Mike pulled her down to kiss him.
The kiss quickly deepened. Mike could have been content if all they did was kiss, but it seemed that El wanted more. It dawned on him as they kissed that she hadn't had anything close to real affection. She seemed needy to be held and to be touched, touched anywhere. Just to be connected to him in any way she could. Mike at least had his friends, he at least could be hugged or anything else. El had been so alone for all this time. The thought made his chest ache and Mike pulled her tighter against him.
"I really missed you, El," he whispered, their faces so close together.
"I missed you too. So much." El kissed him again.
Having him hold her and kiss her was enough to make her feel happy, but El wanted to do more. She knew that Max had her issues, and she'd talk to Mike about that later, but she also knew that Max was good at sex. Good at fucking. El wanted to be good too and she knew she couldn't do that if she couldn't even take Mike's cock inside her.
"How do I?" El started, sliding backwards until she could feel Mike's dick run along the length of her slit.
Mike felt her folds envelop him.
"That feels really good, El. But you wanna know how to put it in?" He asked. El nodded. "Why don't you do what you're doing now…yeah, slide on it like that. See how when you slide it touches you where my fingers did? At the top. Do that for a little bit. See what happens." Mike felt her slipping over him. Her lower lips were soft and smooth, so slick with her own juices, and to Mike it felt amazing for her to just be doing that.
El liked how it felt too. As she stroked Mike's cock with her wet pussy lips, the feeling of needing more started to become stronger. She could feel herself wanting it more as she slipped and slid. With every pass she got more into it, rolling her hips and grinding against Mike.
The sight of El rocking herself on him, of his cock appearing and disappearing from between her legs as she moved on him, emblazoned itself on Mike's brain. Hearing her breathing increase, feeling her hands grip his chest, biting her lip as she moved, it was all just so sexy.
"Mike, I want to put it in," El said quietly as she continued to move on him.
"Raise yourself up just a little," he explained. El lifted her pelvis from his and Mike held his hard cock at its base. "Now lower yourself down onto it. You can go as slow as you want and if it hurts you can stop."
El wasn't going to stop, even if it did hurt.
She felt the tip of Mike's dick touch her opening. She pressed a little more and felt it squeeze inside. El held herself in the position for a few seconds to accommodate. It wasn't hurting like it had earlier, she noticed, so she took a little more in.
"It's…going. I'm doing it," El said as she took a little more. She'd stop every few seconds to get used to the new sensation.
"Yeah you are," Mike watched her. She was about to have as much inside her as he'd been able to get in before. "Careful, you're about to be where it hurt earlier," he warned. "Just relax."
El was determined to cross this threshold. Her eyebrows furrowed as she pushed herself down more. Mike massaged her breasts and her thighs as she worked to get him inside her. His hands running over her body felt nice. El felt herself relaxing.
Mike watched her taking his cock. The feeling of her going so slowly only made it hotter, the anticipation of being completely inside her being almost as good as feeling her doing it.
"Oh, fuck, El. Look, I'm inside you now. All the way." Mike was in amazement. Having El sitting atop him with his dick buried fully inside her and seeing her grinding down on it still, was utterly astonishing. "Does it hurt?"
El shook her head. "No, not now. At first when I," she suddenly remembered that talking about what she was doing made it better. "At first when I felt your big dick squeeze inside, it was like, tight. But it doesn't hurt now. I think sliding on you made it better. It made me so…wet…that…your dick…just went in." She emphasized her words with her thrusts. El rocked herself harder on Mike.
"We're doing it for real, El. You're fucking me. Is this what you wanted?" Mike asked as his hands touched her everywhere he could reach and he watched her fuck him.
"Yes. Am I doing it right?" El asked softly.
"You're doing it perfectly, El. You feel so fucking tight. I thought my dreams were good but this…fuck! This is like, exquisite. So good. You're so good at everything you do," Mike said in all honestly.
"I want…to do it all the ways," El breathed. Riding Mike was getting to her. As she watched his expressions, how she was making him feel written all over his face, she thought about all the things they'd done in the void. "I want to…lick you. You lick me. I want the stuff we did in your dreams." El could feel the strange buildup feeling starting again.
Mike liked hearing her tell him what she wanted.
"We will. We'll do it all. I'm not gonna let you go. I can't lose you again." Mike moved his hands to her hips, holding them as she fucked him. He didn't do anything rough, not with El. He let her do what she needed to do.
"Will you let me feel you cum? For real?" El asked meekly.
Since Mike had been so turned on earlier when he'd edged El until she couldn't take it anymore, he knew that now that he was getting to feel her he'd be cumming soon. He knew it was going to be hard and probably a lot.
"You want me to cum?" He asked her. "You want to feel it inside you?"
El rocked even harder and faster.
"Uh huh. I want to f-feel it." El was rubbing her own breasts. She liked how Mike's hands felt on her hips as she moved her pussy over his dick, as she stroked it with her cunt. Thinking the words made it better. Her rhythm increased even more.
"Mike," El panted, "I'm…don't stop."
Mike grinned.
"You're the one doing it, El. Use my cock to feel good. You're close aren't you? You don't stop. Get what you want."
El's legs gripped Mike's hips tighter as she rode him faster. Mike could tell that she was merely seconds away from climax.
"Need to…I'm gonna…oh, Mike, you're inside me. Feels…so good," El babbled. She looked down and saw her hips moving lewdly before she looked into Mike's eyes. She could feel his fingers on her ass as he held her. "Need your cock…making me cum," she cried as she rode even faster. "Hhhhhhhnnnnn, Mike!" El felt her insides churning. She felt Mike's cock in her and how her pussy was squeezing it tightly, throbbing around it as she was overtaken by her orgasm.
It was then that Mike let himself cum. He'd been holding back, wanting to make sure El got what she wanted. Feeling her quake around him, the rhythmic pulses as she came on him, caused his own orgasm to thunder into her.
"Fuuuuck, El. I'm cumming too. Inside you, just like you…oh, God…wanted." He could feel the spurts jetting out of his cock. "So hard. You're so good."
Feeling him inside her as he came was indescribable to El. She felt so connected to him. She collapsed onto his chest, still feeling her own waves. Mike held her. He'd never felt so close to anyone.
The sun was beyond having set and after the emotional day they both had, Mike and El were exhausted. They fell asleep cuddled together.
When they awoke it was still dark out but Mike knew it had to be close to morning. They talked quietly. In El's bed, their limbs entwined.
"How did you find me?" El asked.
"You know, it's the weirdest thing. Will brought me out here. I think somehow…somehow he knew. And if he knows, there's no reason for you to stay hidden. El, the lab closed a long time ago. It's just a building now."
El thought about what Mike said. It angered her.
"Then why did he hide me away?" She asked, though more to herself than to Mike. "Why did he keep me from you, from everything, for so long? What did I do wrong?" She was starting to become upset. All this time she'd thought that Hopper was protecting her and that she was protecting Mike by staying hidden. It had all been a lie.
"You didn't do anything wrong. And now that I know you're here, I'm never gonna let anyone keep me from you again." Mike rested his chin on her head as she cuddled into his chest.
El was quiet for a bit.
"Mike?" Her voice was small. "I…I saw some other things in the void too."
It pained her to bring it up but she knew she had to. Friends don't lie. She had to tell him everything.
"I saw you…with her. And sometimes…I'd visit just her. I wanted to know more about her. She's…sad. I know sad. But she's a different sad. I'm lonely. She's just…I don't know. I don't think she ever had a Mike. Like, someone who made her feel like she was worth something." El was afraid she was painting Max in too good of a light, but she really did feel for the girl. She didn't want her to take Mike away from her but she did empathize with never having love reciprocated. .
"I'm sorry you saw that, El. I'm sorry I did that. Max is…I'm not sure how to put it. I mean, she's part of the group but I was always afraid they wanted to replace you with her. I don't think they actually did, but that's how I felt. I was always annoyed by her. And I think she thought it was fun to annoy me. I mean, the only reason anything ever happened was because she was mocking me."
"I know," El said softly from Mike's chest.
"Damn. You saw that too?"
"I had to take some breaks from seeing you sometimes. It hurt too much to watch. But then, after I got more used to it and after I'd visit you when you thought you were dreaming…," El's voice trailed off as she recalled her sad Mike crying and begging her not to leave. "You'd be so sad and you told me how much you loved me and you needed me. So after that, I sometimes watched. I sometimes, um, liked it." El's admission caused her to hide her face, pressing it into Mike's warm chest.
"You watched?" Mike asked incredulously. He pictured El watching what he did with Max. She'd said she sometimes liked it. The thought of her watching them, maybe touching herself, inspecting from every angle, made him hard. Not because of anything pertaining to Max, but because the idea of El studying them and then feeling the need to touch herself to get some relief from being aroused. It turned him on with intensity.
"I…yeah," El moved her leg over Mike's torso. The sun was only beginning to show itself through the forest. "She's um, pretty."
Mike pulled her onto him the rest of the way. He held her head in his hands as he looked into her eyes.
"But not as pretty as you. Not as anything as you. I promise."
El smiled. She wasn't sure she believed that but she knew Mike believed it so that was all she really needed.
"Do you think she'll want to be friends?" El knew Max was officially part of the group. She didn't like it that the girl had gotten to do so much with Mike that El herself had missed out on, but she wanted to be included. She didn't want anyone to suffer anymore. Already she was envisioning meeting Max. El wanted to know why she was the way she was but she knew she'd have to start small. But that was something to think about another day.
"She'd be crazy not to want to be your friend," Mike noted. "You are the best."
El smiled and nuzzled into his neck.
"Stay? Just a little longer?" She asked sweetly.
"Anything you want. El, I'm not going to let him keep you away from us anymore. Away from me. But I want to talk to the guys. So just let me know when to leave today so Hopper doesn't see me and we'll figure out what to do. The Party." Mike traced circles on the soft skin of her back as he spoke to her. "You have me for forever."
"Good," El smiled, though this time it had a glint of mischief. "Let's stay here until you have to leave. Without clothes. Let's play and make each other feel good again."
Mike had never heard a better idea.
A/N: A lot will take place in chapter 16. Reunions, normalcy, conversations, and probably some jealously near the end of it. It spans the next month in their lives. I'm hoping to get it written this weekend. No more social distancing for Eleven.
