Hues of the late afternoon light sprinkled through the thick canopy of branches, dusting the shadowed ground with flecks of yellow as El walked to her car. She was finally going home. Her father had come home around lunchtime, announcing with an odd sense of ease that the coast was clear. She was safe to go back home to Indianapolis. Back to her job. Back to some sense of normality.

He'd had to leave again for work almost immediately, but he took the time to drop the silver lockbox on top of her bag before he left. It thudded heavily onto her bedroom floor as he insisted once again that she take it home and read the files that were stashed inside.

She should've asked him questions.

She should've asked him what else he knew. How he'd determined that it was safe for her to go home. She should've asked what she would find in the files, and how to prepare herself.

But she didn't have it in her.

To be honest, she'd hardly had it in her to even get out of bed that morning.

The little energy bit of she'd been able to muster had been expended on an awkward and uncomfortable phone call to her boss. It was a call filled with lies: A sick father. A dead phone. Luckily, it resulted in her being able to keep her job, but it drained her immediately, nonetheless.

And so, she'd spent most of her day in a kind of stupor. Unable to sleep, but also unable to function. The day passed through the sound of muffled birdsong from the trees outside and the low rumble of daytime TV, all punctuated by random text message alerts that made her heart jump and her hands lurch for her phone every single time.

They were always from Max.

They were never from anyone else…

Despite one quick text to Max first thing in the morning, letting her know the very same lie that she'd told their boss, El hadn't been able to find it in herself to reply.

Finally, as the day was just beginning to shift into evening, El pulled together the energy to drag herself to the car. She weakly dropped her go bag and, regretfully, the lockbox, into the passenger seat. Buckling herself in, she maneuvered down the driveway and toward the road. It felt like a relief to turn her back on the cabin; leaving its darkened windows and dour walls behind. Yet, as she neared the road, something became immediately clear.

There was no leaving this behind.

Reminders were everywhere.

Instead of throttling forward, El eased her foot onto the brake. Her eyes wandered and locked to a specific spot the left side of the road.

She wasn't waiting for traffic. Of course not. There was never traffic on this windy back road. People rarely ever found their way back here, at all.

Yet, Mike had.

He had been right there.

Three years ago. Amid thunder and rain and reeling confusion. Spinning and sliding through the median on the slippery storm-soaked asphalt. So close to her that her power had touched him. Held him… Changed his life.

It was a memory that felt so fresh she could swear it had only happened the day before. She could see every detail of that harrowing moment. Yet, more than that, she could feel it. Every twitch, every shock, every emotion that had coursed through her body as his mystery car had stolen her attention.

El's breath caught in her throat.

Something had happened within her that night… She'd felt an odd kind of pull as the storm had rolled in, beckoning her to stay on the path. It had rooted her in place to take shelter beneath the old oak tree as the rain crashed down, despite the fact that she could have easily run back to the dry haven of the cabin. And, as the car… Mike's car... approached? The sensation overcame her with so much intensity that she abandoned all sense of self preservation. Putting herself on full display in an effort to stop him from hitting the tree.

That feeling? That intense buzzing pull deep within her chest?

It was the same feeling that had consumed her the first time she'd laid eyes on Mike at the airfield.

The same feeling that had bubbled over when the hint of his breath had skirted across her lips on her front step.

The very same spike that had shot from her body as he'd kissed her passionately under the moonlight in the back of Thelma's.

Like an invisible thread, the exquisite intensity that had coursed through her in the past few weeks led all the way back… to here. Back to that night. Back to Mike…

How?

How did he have this effect on her? He tugged on every nerve in her body. It was unrelenting and all-consuming, filling her with more delicious intensity than she could ever hope to hold within her skin. She'd only known him for a few weeks, but she already knew that this feeling was unlike anything else she had ever experienced. Even during quiet moments with Mike it had simmered warmly beneath the surface, toying with her heart. She could feel it in the way he had touched her. She could see it in the depths of his dark-hued eyes.

She desperately wanted to feel it again.

The most miserable sigh clawed its way out of El's throat.

Because the cold hard truth was… she would not be feeling that again. Not after everything had come to light.

How could Mike feel safe around her now? How could he trust her? After all the coverups? The selfish lies? The physical danger she had put him in? The years of being surveilled by her father without his consent, all because he'd been in the wrong place at the wrong time?

After her father had handcuffed him and treated him like a criminal?!

Why would he ever want to be near her at all?

...And she'd had the audacity to get angry at him…

With a rebellious jerk, El found her fingers digging into the pocket of her hoodie, hoping yet again to find proof that she was wrong. She pulled out her phone and looked down, begging to see his name reflecting back.

All that greeted her was a blank lock screen, just like every other time.

El swallowed back tears that she desperately did not want to shed.

She couldn't even blame him for his radio silence. If faced with all the truths that Mike had just learned, El would have disappeared, too.

Turning away roughly from the spot where their paths had first crossed, El pressed the gas and pointed her car back in the direction of Indianapolis. The drive passed in a haze of self pity, time stretching and collapsing amidst the backdrop of a setting sun.

Dusk was descending into night as the city came into view. She numbly took the exit for home. Despite it all, she could admit that it was a relief to be back in her neighborhood, to drive past the shops knowing that her life wasn't in fact going to be uprooted. Past the bar where she would sometimes play trivia. Past the flower shop. Past Benny's. ...Oh, what she wouldn't give to stop in at Benny's. To see a friendly face who knew nothing of her problems. Someone who was just happy to see her... But it was 7pm, long past closing time, so she didn't slow down.

Before she knew it, El was parking in her driveway. She surveyed the area before she got out of the car. Her home had remained entirely unchanged since Thursday night. Broken light fixtures were still crusted in the sockets in front of her door. The smashed pot was still spilled across the walkway... its dirt strewn messily upon the small slab of concrete.

It was almost poetically relevant; A frozen tableau of broken things.

Balancing her bag and the lockbox in her arms, she made her way to the door. She was too lazy to dig for her keys, so after taking a sly look around to ensure that no one was watching, she clicked the lock open with her mind, kicking at the door as she entered to make her entrance look somewhat natural. She dropped the contents of her arms immediately inside the door and lumbered to her favorite chair in the living room. She took a seat and let her eyes close for a deep big breath.

She did not receive it.

For, at that moment an almighty bang slammed against her door.

El sucked in a harsh gasp. The tension in her body coalesced into a dangerous ball.

"Ellie?!"

It was a familiar voice. And El, deeply relieved but completely confused, made her way back to the door. As soon as she opened it, El found herself pummeled by a rush of red hair barreling into her as Max yanked her into her arms.

"Oh my God! I was at the bar and I saw your car drive past and I just ran all the way down here! I am so happy to see you!" Max cried, breathless, before pulling back and promptly punching El straight in the arm, hard.

"Ow!" El yelped, grabbing her bicep. "What the hell?!"

"Don't you EVER disappear on me like that again, do you understand me?" Max commanded, a thread of anger spiking through her blue eyes.

Surprised, El took a step back. "I'm... sorry? I told you, my dad was sick."

"Yeah," Max huffed, "And you couldn't have texted me days ago? Or replied to any of the thousand texts I sent you?"

"I - "

"I've been texting you all day today!" Max dug out her phone and swiped it open, scrolling through her unanswered texts right in El's face to make her point, "All day yesterday. The whole day before. And all I get back is a single, 'Sorry, my dad was sick. Be home soon.'?! It's been DAYS! I thought you were dead or something. Or kidnapped? I almost went to the cops!"

Taken aback, totally blindsided, El lost what little control she'd had. And finally, the gate broke. Tears sprang from her eyes and cascaded down her cheeks in a heavy burst. She looked away, hiding behind her hand. "I'm - I'm sorry. I - "

"Oh, shit," Max muttered in a tight whisper. She immediately pulled El back into a hug. "Shit, no. El, it's okay. Are you okay? Is… is your dad okay?"

"Yeah," El said through a sniff, hating the lie that was once again thick in the air, "I'm just really tired. But you're right. I should've let you know."

"Yeah," Max said matter-of-factly, "El, why would you think you could just disappear for days without a trace? Everyone's been worried sick about you. Did you just think no one would notice?"

The answer was so much bigger than El could communicate. But as she looked up, meeting her best friend's eyes, and all she wanted to do was tell her. Tell her everything. To empty the heavy weight of her chest onto a good friend's ear. Every little detail from the last days, years… decades.

"I don't know," El murmured instead, the true answer sitting bitter and unused on her tongue.

"Okay," Max replied, petting El's hair a bit, "but like, you have people that care about you. And we were really worried. You realize that, right?"

"...I guess."

"Me. Everyone at work. Mike,"

At that, El's gaze fell from Max's. "Yeah, I don't think that's a thing anymore."

"Mike? Oh, because you stood him up on Saturday?" Max asked casually. She seemed completely confident in her instant assessment of the situation. She tried to brush El's worry away with a bizarre sense of ease, "Trust me, just talk to him and explain what happened. I think you could say literally anything to him and that guy would forgive you. You could probably go over there right now and he'd find some reason to apologize to you, instead. He's completely hung up on you."

"What?" El asked, looking up in surprise. "How do you know that?"

Max's eyes lit up, "I spent my Saturday night with him looking for you. He was completely freaking out. Honestly, yeah, he's a dork. But he's a really nice guy, and smart. And boy, does he like you," Max teasingly poked El in the side, "I'd use a stronger word but it's only been three weeks, so that'd be weird. He looked terrible when I saw him tonight, though."

El's eyes popped wide. "You saw him tonight?"

"Yeah, he - Oh, Shit!" Max cursed and moved in an instant, digging into the bag on her shoulder, "I would've remembered but I was just so caught off guard when I saw you drive by. I didn't expect to see you so soon. I just came from their place. He gave me this to give you to." She pulled a manila envelope out of her purse. The envelope was so heavily covered in tape that you could hardly see it, "He told me I couldn't open it. Seems like overkill to seal it so many times, though. Does he not trust me? I'm not a snoop."

El tried to stop her fingers from shaking as she reached for the envelope. "What is it?"

"Dunno. But he seemed pretty broken up." Max adjusted her bag and tossed her hair behind her shoulder, "Anyway, I should get back to trivia. I wanted to see with my own eyes that were alive. Do you want to come?"

El hardly heard her question. The object in her hand was stealing every ounce of her attention.

"I'll take that as a no," Max replied with a light laugh.

"Sorry," El said with a sudden shake of her head, "Wait, did you say you were doing trivia? You?"

Max scoffed and turned for the door, "Don't rub it in how much I like this guy, okay?"

"Enough to voluntarily go to trivia, it seems."

"Lucas can be very...persuasive," Max said, blushing a bit, before her face took on an air of faux sternness. "Okay, before I go, tell me what you've learned."

El couldn't help but let out a light chuckle. "To let you know if I'm leaving town."

"To let everyone who cares about you know if you're leaving town," Max corrected.

She reached out for El one more time, whispering in her ear how good it was to see her, before she was gone... leaving El alone with an envelope that just said 'El'.

Her heart began to race faster than it did during a freefall.

Clumsy fingers worked to undo the tape that concealed its secrets so well, and finally she was able to fish out a single sheet of paper from the inside. It was handwritten, with thick black ink, small letters and consistent spacing. He had nice handwriting. Nicer than hers, at least.

El swallowed hard, steeling herself as her eyes fell upon the first words.

Dear El,

Please forgive me if this letter is intrusive. I don't want to force anything on you, and a letter felt like, well, at least you could choose if you wanted to read this. So, if you are reading this, thank you for giving me a couple minutes of your time. I'll be quick. I just really need you to know a couple of things.

First off, thank you.

You saved my life that night. My sister's too. And it's only clear to me now how much danger you put yourself in to help us. I can't thank you enough for risking yourself to save us.

After knowing you, though, I can't say I'm surprised. El, you're one of the kindest and most open hearted people I've ever met. You have no idea what knowing you, even for just a little bit, has meant to me. You've opened up something in me that's been closed off since the accident. So, thank you for that too.

I am so sorry that I repaid your kindness by making you fear for your own safety. It was so stupid of me. I could give you a million explanations for what I did. Honestly, I've tried writing them in every other version of this letter, but I realized that whatever explanations or excuses I have don't really matter. What matters is that I hurt you and I betrayed your trust. I would take it back in a heartbeat if I could. I am so sorry.

El, I need you to know that your secret is safe with me. I will never utter a word of this. I promise. If there is anything I can do to help you feel safe, I'm here for you. If not and you'd prefer not to speak to me again, I'll respect your decision.

You are one of the best people I have ever met, El. I wish you every ounce of happiness.

Mike

El read the letter three times before his words truly started to sink in. And at that, the paper began to blur through fresh tears.

It was so… kind. She could almost hear his voice sounding on every word. The way he would speed through his thoughts and stutter. His defiant emphasis when he wanted to make a point. How his voice would drop in moments of importance.

Every word felt like a balm to the wound that had been gaping in her chest.

Yet… There was something else.

It read as though it came from an alternate dimension. A missive from a world where she'd done nothing wrong; a world where all of the blame laid squarely upon him.

But that simply wasn't true.

And after everything he'd been through, he surely didn't deserve to feel that way.

In an instant, El found herself shoving the letter into her pocket and barreled out of the door.

Night had just begun to wrap the city in darkness, but she hardly noticed. Without so much as a single thought to what the hell she was doing, she started her car and peeled out of the driveway, tracing her steps from only a few days before as though she was following a homing beacon.

It wasn't until she was standing in his street that she halted.

Feet frozen, she looked up to where he lived, and in a way that made her chest feel tight, she spotted him. It was hard to make him out at first, but she inexplicably knew it was him. He was just barely visible an the upstairs window. He sat at a desk, chin propped on his hand in lamplight, looking at something unseen before him.

Could she do this? Just march up to his door and demand his time? After all she'd done? Knowing what very likely might lay at the end?

At that moment, a sheen of silver began to paint the dark roof above his head in the most subtle way. El stood silently, heart frantically beating in her chest, as the first sliver of the moonlight rose above him.

It felt like an answer.

Her fingers wrapped around the letter, it's ink still fresh. She allowed it to give her the courage to walk to the door.

El's body was shaking something fierce as she made her way up his steps and placed her finger on the doorbell. She almost couldn't push it, but finally, with a wince, she made it ring out. It's chime reverberated through the house, and at its call she had to stop her legs from running in the direction.

She heard no movement in the house.

There was still time to abort. She could just leave - Run - Get far away...

But then, she heard footsteps.

"Coming!"

His voice was muffled through the door. The doorknob creaked, and her pressed her eyes shut, head down, bracing for impact.

And finally, light flooded over her as the door opened.

Of course, there was no impact.

There was just his soft voice, entirely surprised.

"El?"

Looking up nervously at the mention of her name, pulse pounding in a sickening rhythm through her whole body, El found herself face to face with Mike's dark and penetrating gaze. She swallowed hard, trying to find her voice.

"Hi…"

"Hi…" Mike replied slowly.

She held up his letter in a shaky flourish, as though it was a ticket that allowed her the privilege of being at his door.

"I got your letter. It's…" she looked down to the paper as her voice trailed off, "...It's very kind. Thank you."

"El," Mike said with a sudden urge, stepping toward her through the doorway, "I'm so sorry. I-"

"No," she said firmly, cutting him off, "I'm sorry."

Mike's words hung unfinished on his tongue, and his brow curled. He shook his head as though he didn't understand. "What? What are you sorry for?"

"For everything!" El exclaimed, hands coming up in the air as a burst of frenetic energy broke through her. "You're right, I put you in danger. That was really really wrong of me! It was selfish. I'm so sorry -"

"El - "

"And…" she winced as she forced out the words - "How my dad treated you?! At his house and…" she leaned in close to him, eyes blowing wide as she lowered her voice so as not to be heard by outside ears, "Mike, he's been tracking you. All the way back since your accident. I didn't know. I promise you, I didn't know. But I'm so sorry and - "

"El." Mike said, his voice soft yet insistent, "It's okay."

"No it's not!" She refuted, "It was so wrong and -"

"Your Dad came here this morning and told me all of this. It's okay."

At that, El's jaw dropped. Her stomach lurched painfully. "He what?"

"Yeah. We talked," Mike confirmed with ease, "I take it he didn't tell you?"

"No," she blurted with bald surprise. "He came here? Mike, I'm so -"

"El, it's okay," Mike stepped closer to her once again. He looked over his shoulder before he continued, his voice dropping delicately low, "I mean, I can't say I'm comfortable knowing someone's been doing surveillance on me, but I get it. He was trying to keep you safe from some really dangerous stuff. If it was to keep you safe, then it's okay. That's not your fault."

El stared at him in blank disbelief. "...You should be angry…" she insisted, "You wouldn't be in any of these situations if it weren't for me."

Mike shook his head emphatically, "No, I don't think I would be alive if it weren't for you."

Words continued to sputter from her tongue in flustered confusion. "I… I put you in danger. The lights. The explosion. Even… even what happened to you on the dive! I lied, It was me. I- "

"That's why I wanted to help you!" There was an insistence in his gaze that she couldn't understand, "Not for some experiment or anything. But just to help you control it. I - "

"But I can control it!" she cried, her voice raising.

Mike took a step back, "What?"

"Yes! Just… just not..."

El's voice trailed off as the final secret sprang to her lips, unbidden and ready to launch. Her body began to tremble as she looked up to him. He regarded her with so much patient curiosity that she had not afforded him at all when their roles had been reversed. He was being so incredibly kind, so understanding. But this? This final truth? It would be the end of his kindness - she was sure of it.

"Not what…?" he finally asked.

El almost whimpered, her voice low and sullen as she spoke the final truth that he deserved to know. "...Just not when I'm around you."

"What? Why not?"

The porch light dusted across his cheeks in the most lovely way as he asked, his voice thick with innocent confusion. His pale skin was glowing in the amber light, just like it had on her front step the very first time that the feelings inside of her become too much to bear.

In fact, she could feel it now! Burning in her veins, begging to get near to him, threatening to break -

"You drive me crazy!" she exclaimed, her hands shaking and her feet fidgeting as the truth burst from her lips, "I don't know what happens! Or Why?! But when I'm near you, I - I don't know - It just feel like I'm going to burst. And sometimes I - I do?" Her breath felt thin as the admission tumbled from her lips. "That's what happened with my lights, and at Thelma's... I've never felt like this before," she found herself admitting, "Like, everything inside of me just goes into overdrive! When you get near me or you kiss me or touch me and I just… I can't contain it. I don't know why, but - "

"Really?" Mike breathed.

"Yes…" El confessed, unable to meet his eyes, "And I'm so sorry."

Mike fell quiet for a moment, before he finally asked, "Is it hurting you? Am… am I hurting you?"

El shook her head vigorously, "No. It's the opposite. It's like too much of a good feeling. It's like I just can't keep it in my skin."

Her voice trailed away, and Mike... he didn't talk this time. He looked stunned.

Thick silence filled the air around them, punctuated only by the sound of the evening crickets. El's heart began to beat with a gut wrenching intensity, slamming against her chest so loud that she was sure he could feel it through the floorboards.

Everything she had just laid bare felt so heavy, so damning, so guilt ridden.

"I was trying to figure it out," she offered quietly, refusing to meet his eyes, "I was trying to get it under control and I was succeeding. But, you didn't know and I put you in danger and - ."

"El?"

"I'm so sorry! It was so selfish of me! So - "

"El."

"I - I'll understand that you won't want to see me again. I-"

"El. Stop."

Mike's fingers wrapped lightly around her forearm.

His touch, light yet insistent, seemed to break El out of some kind of panicky trance. Fearfully, she looked up to meet his eyes.

Only to find that he was... smiling.

He didn't seem to know what to say for a moment. He chewed on his lip between deep breaths. But there was something in his gaze that pierced her, caught her, made it so she couldn't look away. Then, slowly, his hand slowly slid down her forearm, finding hers. His fingers intertwined softly through her frozen ones.

"I feel the same way," he said, his voice thick with admission.

What?

"What?"

He shrugged sheepishly, "I mean, it can't escape my body like it can yours. But like…" he heaved out a nervous sigh and almost chuckled, "When I'm around you? Hell, even when I just think about you? I could easily blow something up if I had the power to, it's so intense. I've never felt this way with anyone before you."

Mike didn't look away as he fell silent. His words lingered in the breath between them. His gaze, sure but unsure at the same time, remained fixed upon hers.

El's brain was moving too slowly. She tried to make sense of his words, but her brain seemed to be moving at the speed of molasses. "You should be afraid of this… of me..."

At that, Mike breathed out a laugh. There was light in his eyes as he shook his head. "Why would I be afraid of the person who saved my life?"

And at that, El's breath caught on her lips, and something... clicked.

Mike knew.

He knew everything.

And yet... here he was, staring at her with those beautiful deep eyes, as though she were something precious.

It was with a sweep of stunning clarity that reality came crashing in, and in that sweep she reached for him, hand skirting across his jaw as she desperately searched for his lips.

Mike's breath shuddered upon her kiss, but almost in an instant his hand found its way into her hair, holding her firmly in place as he kissed her back.

Chills shot down her spine at his touch. She felt lightheaded. Confused. Turned around.

And absolutely divine.

Bundled in his arms under the soft porch light, heady warmth cascaded through her every inch of her. Yet, it didn't spike to it's once dangerous heights. It peaked at a perfect crescendo as she simply melted into his embrace.

This was definitely not how Mike had expected his night to turn out.

He almost wasn't even sure that this was real.

Everything had turned to a haze when she kissed him, blurring beyond comprehension as he guided her backwards through the doorway, tripping over the threshold before kicking the door shut. He could hardly even remember how they'd even gotten up the stairs to his room, but somehow they had. Which was where he found himself: leaning against the freshly closed door of his bedroom, catching his breath with bruised lips, his shirt rumpled almost as much as his hair - both courtesy of El's hands.

El.

She's seemed so distraught when he'd found her waiting for him under the porch light. She'd been fidgeting, shifting her weight like a cat planning an escape. Her features had been pale, tight, drawn. Her hair messy in a lopsided bun. Her oversized hoodie swallowing her body completely from view.

She looked a little different now.

A gentle expression painted her flushed face as she rested her forehead against his. Her eyes were lightly closed. Her breath easy.

She felt nothing like the taut ball of nerves that had shown up at his door.

A thick segment of her hair had escaped it's tie, cascading over her eye in disarray. He reached for it, toying it softly through his fingers as he secured it behind her ear.

El sighed, eyes fluttering open to meet his.

"Hi," he breathed, bemused, still trying to make sense of this surprising reality.

She smiled the tiniest, most bashful smile, eyes twinkling in the shadow between them. "Hi."

"I have to admit I wasn't expecting this," he said.

"Me either," She agreed with a sheepish nod, glancing down, "I didn't think you'd want to see me again."

"I didn't think you'd want to see me again," He replied, surprising himself by the naked honesty of his tone, "You were so angry. I mean, rightfully so. And I am so sorry. I - "

"No," El said, her hand falling on his shoulder to interrupt his apology, "I should've given you a chance to explain. I was in shock."

"I'm still so sorry I made you feel that way."

El looked back up and met his gaze, something inexplicable in her eyes, "Thank you," she said simply.

Then, she sighed. Yet, it was not a sigh of distress. On the contrary, she pulled herself closer into him, closing the miniscule space between. Tenderly, her lips found their way back onto his. She kissed him slowly in a lush and lazy fashion, scrambling his brain in an all-consuming way.

Kissing El had always felt amazing, ever since his very first ill-conceived attempt. Yet, in this precise moment? It felt… electric.

"El?" he asked, pulling away ever so slightly, a question rising to his mind that suddenly felt so incredibly important, "How do I know if it's too much for you? Is this okay?"

El smiled, "This is perfect. Um, I'll tell you if something is too much, okay?"

"Okay."

"Okay," she said, before shaking her head with what sounded like an embarrassed giggle, "It's easier now than before, though. I was getting it under control before everything… well, before everything happened last week. I still need to take things slow, though. Like - "

"Yeah, of course," Mike said immediately. "I understand."

"Okay," she breathed, catching his eyes with a grateful look.

Despite his urge to abandon words and lean back into her kiss, his brain had begun to awake. And with it, a flood of questions began to populate in his mind.

"Have you always been able to control these things you can do?" he asked.

She didn't reply right away. A slight thread of tension reappeared between her eyebrows.

"I'm sorry, did I - "

"No," she said with a shake of her head before she met his gaze. A kernel of fear was apparent in her eyes, "I've just never talked about this with anyone before."

"Oh, right," Mike replied hesitantly, "I'm sorry. You don't have to."

"No, it's okay," she murmured. She took a couple of steady breaths, swallowed visibly, and finally said, "Yes, I can control it. It feels just like any other muscle, usually. When I was a kid I'd sometimes lose control when I was angry, but other than that it's always been pretty natural. Except with you."

"That's fascinating," Mike said, before cutting himself off. The thousand questions were jockeying in his mind, but he kept his mouth snapped shut upon them.

It seems he was more obvious than he would have liked, however. For, El gave off a weak chuckled and asked, "Is there something else you want to know?"

Mike grimaced, "You really don't want to take free reign on questions. I will definitely overwhelm you."

"Okay," she said, somewhat self-consciously, "Um, you can ask one then."

"Thank you for the boundaries," Mike said with an increasingly nervous laugh. He thought through the laundry list of questions he had. Day-to-day details. Massive questions about how her powers could even fit into the laws of science. But, as he looked at her, this incredible woman standing in front of him, his first question easily arose. "The nosebleeds. Is that what happens when you lose control? And, is it safe? Are you okay when it happens?"

El looked at him with an air of disbelief. "You get one question about all of this and you're asking about the unhealthy side effects?"

"It just worried me, is all."

El smiled, and, in reply, her shoulders visibly relaxed. "That's really sweet," she murmured, before shaking her head. "No, it's doesn't just happen when I lose control. The nosebleeds are pretty common. I guess you'd call it a side effect."

Mike's brow ruffled in surprise, "Is that… safe?"

"I don't know." The casual nature of her reply was a bit jarring, given the question, "I can't really go to a doctor for it, you know? The doctors and scientists at the lab, they always told me it wasn't a big deal," El's eyes grew a bit dark, "But my safety never really mattered to them. They were just interested in the experiment results, so I never really believed anything they said."

El world that existed behind El's answer hit Mike like a bomb.

"That's so unethical," he said with flat shock.

"What?"

"You never should've been treated that way. That's so - so wrong," a spike of anger shot through him, "Scientists and doctors, they should never treat people like that. It's literally in our code of conduct not to do that. El, I'm so sorry."

El didn't reply. The air around them grew cold as her eyes drifted down and she pulled away from him.

"Sorry," he stuttered, "Did I say something wrong?"

"No, it's not that," El said, looking back up to him. Fresh hesitancy played in her eyes. New anxiety had creeped into her shoulders. She gritted her teeth before she spoke. "Can I ask you a question?"

"Of course."

"Now that you know about this. About me, and what I can do..." her nerves snuck into her tone, "Will it affect your work? As a scientist?"

"Oh." Mike reached for El's hand immediately, "El, no."

She regarded him with a hint of suspicion, "No?"

"No," he repeated firmly, desperately trying to find the words to calm her fear, "Look, I understand the danger you're faced with. Well, no. I mean - I don't understand it exactly. I could never understand it. It's not, um, I didn't experience it so I can't understand it, obviously, but, you know," Mike stopped and took a deep breath, trying to staunch the inadequately scrambling words that were shooting from his mouth. He tried again, "I understand that you're in a dangerous situation. So, screw my work. I will not jeopardize your safety for my work."

A soft smile came to her lips, "Yeah?"

"Yeah," he said decisively, "Listen, I'll admit that what you can do completely blows my mind, but... I won't try to get involved unless you want me to. You know, if I can help or something. That's all I meant the other day. I didn't mean I wanted to experiment on you. I just thought I could maybe help you find answers, if you wanted them."

"I know - "

"But, that's not necessary! Not at all," he said empathically, "I'm not like those… assholes. I would never do that to you. Or anyone, to be honest. That's fucked up. You should never have been put in that position."

El was silent in her reply. Her eyes remained cast down, but her fingers delicately closed around his. "Aren't you afraid of this?" she mumbled quietly, almost as though she didn't want to ask the question. "Not afraid of me, but afraid of them?"

It was a good question, and an important one. And the truth was... Mike hadn't given it a single thought. For days, he had been so focused on El that the true source of what made her life so difficult hadn't entered his calculations whatsoever.

"Should I be afraid?" he asked simply.

"I don't know," she admitted, her words naked and honest.

Mike took a second to think it through, "Well, okay. When was the last time you were truly in danger with those people?"

Something surprised him about her reply.

She had to take a moment to think about it.

"I think about five years ago," she finally said, "And that time it was only a small issue. Before that? I think it's been almost a decade since we had to deal with anything big."

"W-wait," Mike stuttered, honestly surprised, "So, my stupid antics last week were your first scare in five years?"

El nodded weakly, "Yes."

Mike smiled, as he answered her easily. "I think I can work with those odds."

But this time, El didn't smile back. There was no sense of reassurance in her stance. In fact, her anxiety had only seemed to build. Her eyes fell shut once again.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, sorry" she murmured with a slight nod. She met his eyes tentatively. "This is just… scary."

A week prior, Mike would've thought that El Hopper had never felt fear once in her life. But now, he could almost see her fear emanating in the air around her. His fingers tightened on hers and he stood up straight, hoping he could give even an ounce of the comfort that she had so effortlessly given him. "El," he said softly, "You're not any less safe. They didn't have anything to do with last week. I'm the only one who knows."

"Yeah," she whispered, looking away again as she let out a harsh breath, "And that's the scary part. I mean, a month ago I didn't even know you existed. And now? Mike, you know more about me than… well, anyone ever has. Like, you know the real me."

"I want to know the real you," he said without delay.

The words seemed to land. El looked up to him immediately, and while she didn't speak, a hard edge simply dissolved from her expression.

"Plus," Mike added, a deep truth rising to his lips, "I don't really feel like I've only known you for a month. I mean, you've been on my mind for years. Honestly, I've been looking for you."

Her expression turned quizzical, "What?"

"Well, I didn't know I was looking for you, exactly. But, after the accident I couldn't shake it. I knew I'd seen you, and I had to figure it out."

A soft hum fell from El's lips. "Did you remember my face?"

"No, I only saw you for like a split second. But I knew you were there. I kept trying to explain to people what had happened, but everyone, even the doctors, they just kept telling me over and over again that you were some kind of hallucination that I'd had because of the trauma. They made me think I'd gone crazy, that there was like, something really wrong with me."

"I wish I could've told you," she said with a sad smile, "That you weren't crazy."

"Honestly, deep down?" he said, shaking his head, sharing things with her that he hadn't spoken openly about in so long, "I knew I wasn't crazy. I knew I'd seen you. I knew that something had happened. It didn't make sense any other way. There was all this evidence. Like, the way the car was damaged, our minimal injuries. There was no sign of anything at the crash sight. I felt like I was just one step away from figuring it out. But everyone just kept telling me that I was making it up. It made me second guess everything, like I couldn't even trust my own brain."

"Mike," El breathed, deep empathy pouring from her eyes, "I'm so sorry."

"No," Mike said warmly, "You have literally nothing to apologize for."

But she didn't look like she agreed. Tension filled her eyes as she wriggled with discomfort. "I don't know," she said, "It just that… I could've known if I'd wanted to. About you. And about my Dad watching you. I just chose not to. I could've done something about it," she sighed, "Honestly, I've never wanted to know about any of the dangerous things that have happened. I've just always wanted to pretend like none of this bad stuff ever existed. Like, there's a literal lockbox of files on every bad thing that's happened since I escaped, and I've never been able to bring myself to know a single detail. I've just let my dad handle it, but he's telling me now that I need to read them. To learn about. And... I'm scared."

Mike's heart broke for her. "Of course you're scared," he said. He tightened his grasp on her hand, "Well, hey... The good new is after tonight you already know one of the stories in your files," Mike said hopefully, before an offer fell effortlessly from his lips, "And if you want… okay, this may be me overstepping, so ignore me if it is but, I could go through them with you?"

She looked up in surprise. "What?"

"I could do it with you," he said with a shrug, "I mean, for selfish reasons, I can't deny that I'm curious about what your dad has on me in that damn folder. He um… made it sound this morning like it was pretty robust, and it was going to become more so."

El grimaced, "Okay, I promise you he's not going to be doing that anymore."

Mike made a face, "You're gonna stand up to your Dad for me?"

El shot him an incredulous look, "You think I can't stand up to my Dad?"

"Well, he's a very intimidating guy."

She scoffed, "I threw a couch at him once. He knows when to back off."

"Holy shit," Mike said with a laugh, "Okay. You don't need to throw a couch at him for me, but thanks. I would really rather not have your Dad trailing me unexpectedly for the rest of my life."

El rolled her eyes, and a bit of her tension released on a chuckle. And in that sliver of lightness, he repeated his offer, "But, about the rest of them, you don't have to look through those alone. Not if you don't want to. I mean, You've been helping me face my fears since the moment we met. Let me return the favor."

El's expression ignited with grateful warmth. She shook her head in disbelief, "Why are you so kind?"

...And for the second time in one day, Mike was faced with an answer he couldn't quite give. The truth felt too premature. Yet still, the word was sitting on his tongue, bursting from his chest more intensely than he knew was to do with. And looking at her now, with her flushed cheeks, and her small in his, and everything that she was, he found himself breathtakingly sure of the true answer.

But that was much too soon, too fast.

"Because I care about you," he said instead, "And I'm not scared of this. I'm not scared of you, or of anything that comes with being with you -" Mike's tongue froze as the words escaped his lips, his cheeks grew flush as he attempted a sloppy backpedal, "not that I'm with you. We haven't had that conversation... uh... I don't know, if you actually want that, or- "

He didn't get to finish his sentence.

For, with an overwhelmed moan, El launched toward him, catching his face in her hand and kissing him... hard. She pulled almost as quickly as she'd kissed him, nodding to much that her hair escaped her ear and fell back over he face.

"I want that," she said, her smile radiant. "Really bad."

"So do I," Mike said huskily, before kissing her again.

All of the heaviness in their conversation seemed to fade away in deference to a better, and fuller, sense of feeling. It felt... real. Real from the warmth of her body in his arms, the fine hairs tickling his fingers at the nape of her neck, the soft moans she made as his lips trailed from hers and speckled light kisses across her jaw.

It felt… simple.

And God, it felt so good to hold her like this.

Time ebbed and flowed in his dim lit bedroom as he kissed her, at some point coaxing her over to the bed. He wasn't sure how long they stayed like that, communicating softly without words, but eventually she pulled her lips away and relaxed into his body, her head dropping to a pillow with ease. In the shadowed light of his desk lamp, she looked beautifully serene lying in arms. Her breaths began to fall even and steady.

"Are you asleep?" His voice was nothing more than a whisper on her ear.

"No," she breathed, opening her eyes. Their golden honey hue exuded a soft affection. She was so close that he could almost count the curls of her lashes. "It's late, though. I'm falling asleep."

"You should stay the night," he offered, closing his arms tightly around her.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah," he said easily. "Do you need to be anywhere in the morning?"

She shook her head, "No. I don't work until Wednesday."

"I don't either," he said happily, "And I didn't sleep at all last night, so I really want to sleep in."

"I didn't sleep last night either," she said, her voice trailing off as she burrowed into him, "That sounds nice."

"Yeah, it does."

Smiling, Mike tried not to move. She was fading off, and he didn't want to disturb her. Yet, the room was growing cold. He lightly wrestled the comforter out from under his feet, pulling it over them both. He tried to reach for the lamp, but it was just slightly too far away.

Groaning, Mike tried move his arm out from under El's head to get up. She stopped him.

"I got it," she said. She moved in a light twitch.

And, just like the last time, the room descended into instant darkness.

Mike laughed, dumbstruck. "Okay, that part is going to take some getting used to."

"Well, get used to it," she murmured, pulling him down to the pillow and curling deeper into his arms.