A/N: Hello and welcome! This story is a sequel to Tied Together With A Smile and picks up pretty directly after the ending of chapter 25. If you have not read TTWAS, please do that because events from that story will be referenced frequently, and there will be characters you are unfamiliar with if you have not read that story. I'll have some more notes for you guys at the end of this chapter, but let's get on with it! Please remember to leave me a review and let me know what you think. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own Stranger Things or any of its characters.
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It was a warm, sunny Monday morning in West Lafayette, Indiana. The students of Purdue University were beginning to crowd the campus as they headed to their first class of the semester – well, those of them who signed up for early classes. El Hopper and Mike Wheeler had both been lucky enough not to schedule any classes beginning before 10AM. They both knew they would probably never get so lucky again, but they were more than happy to take advantage of getting to sleep in while many of their peers woke up early for classes.
Still, El's body had become accustomed to waking up early after attending high school in Hawkins for the last two years. So it was no surprise to El that she woke up as the first rays of the sun shone through her dorm room window. She looked at the clock which read 8:05AM. Fifty-five minutes before her alarm was scheduled to wake her up, but she was wide awake.
El rolled over and looked at her boyfriend who was sleeping soundly next to her. Mike was laying on his side and facing her, his arm draped loosely over El's waist from when he was spooning her overnight. El laid there for a minute, listening to the sound of him breathing and watching his dark eyelashes flutter every now and then. She knew Mike's classes lasted longer than hers today, and after she leaves for her 10AM class, they would not see each other again until after 6PM.
El reached one hand up to cup his cheek and gently brushed her thumb over Mike's slightly parted lips. She leaned in to kiss him softly. At the first sign of Mike beginning to stir, El slowly moved her hand down from his face, over his bare chest, down his stomach, until she reached the waistband of his boxers. El lightly traced his skin along the waistband of his boxers, and she soon felt him start to harden against her leg. She moved her hand down further to stroke the bulge that had formed in Mike's boxers, and as her hand moved up and down its length, squeezing gently, she heard Mike moan softly as he began to wake up.
She pressed her body against his, guiding Mike to roll onto his back, and then El began kissing his neck. Her kisses trailed down his chest, following the same line down his body that her hand had followed moments before. She pulled his boxers down and gently took his hardening cock in her hand.
El began stroking him, and she looked up to see Mike finally opening his eyes. Through his sleepy, half-lidded eyes, Mike watched as El stuck out her tongue to tease the tip of his cock. She licked around the tip, coating it with her saliva, and used her hand to spread it down his length while she continued to pump him.
Then, El closed her lips around Mike's tip and took him further into her mouth, sliding down his cock until her nose touched his pelvis. She heard Mike sigh when he was all the way in. El began to move her lips back up, gliding her tongue along the underside of his cock while her hand kept its firm grasp at the base.
El began to bob faster on Mike's cock, sucking and licking him while her saliva ran down his balls and onto the bedsheet. Soon, she felt Mike's hand find its place on the back of her head, and the moans that were escaping his throat urged her to keep up her pace.
Mike clenched his fist in El's hair and closed his eyes, trying to keep this from ending as long as he could. He felt El remove her mouth from his shaft, and then one of his balls was in her mouth while she massaged the other with one hand and vigorously jerked him off with the other. Mike moaned loudly and pulled El's hair tighter, and she moved her mouth to his other ball, not slowing the pace she was jerking his cock.
El took him all the way back into her mouth, feeling the tip of his cock hit the back of her throat. With a fistful of El's hair in his hand, Mike watched her lips slide up and down his throbbing erection until she finally pushed him over the edge.
Mike clenched his eyes shut and held El's head in place as he spurted all of his cum down her throat. El swallowed every last drop, and when Mike released his grip on her hair, she gently slid his cock out of her mouth, gingerly kissing the tip of it before she smiled up at him.
"Good morning," she grinned.
"Good morning," Mike chuckled.
El crawled up and laid next to him, resting her head on his chest as he held her against his body. She could feel Mike's heart beating rapidly in his chest, and she squeezed her arm around his waist.
"I hope you don't mind that I woke you up," El smirked.
"You can wake me up like that any time you want," Mike reminded her.
It was something he had told her numerous times in the past. He was never particularly a morning person, but waking up to one of El's blowjobs was always a nice surprise.
"I thought you could use some good luck on your first day of college, and it was a little something to hold you over," El said.
"Well, you know, it's your first day of college, too," Mike murmured, sliding his hand down El's curves and squeezing a handful of her ass. "You want to start your day off on a good note, too."
"Mmm, I think you gave me enough last night to hold me over," she said, but she parted her thighs enough for his hand anyway.
"But you're so wet again already," Mike said, gliding his fingers up and down her slick slit.
He inserted two fingers into El's aching core, and she inhaled sharply, clutching his bicep as she buried her face into his chest. Mike began to curl his fingers inside her while his thumb circled around her sensitive clit. He had made her cum four times last night, so El was sure it would take no time at all, and she was right.
Mike added a third finger and vigorously fingerfucked her until he felt El's walls tighten around his fingers, and she squeezed her fingernails into his bicep she was holding while she cried out against his chest. When Mike felt her pussy stop fluttering, he pulled his hand out of her and rested it on her ass.
"There, now we're even," he grinned.
El laughed and shook her head. That was the fifth time Mike had made her cum in the past twelve hours, and he had only cum twice. El was not sure how that equaled out to 'even' to him, but she was not one to complain. They had always had a lot of sex since they lost their virginities to each other when she and the Byers family moved back to Hawkins, but the last six months since they had gotten back together had been a lot, even for them. Especially the last several days after they had moved into their dorm rooms before classes were scheduled to start.
After she was accepted to college, El had begged Joyce to let her stay in a dorm with a roommate, but Joyce had been adamantly against the idea. Joyce had patiently explained that living with a stranger could open too many possibilities for El's powers to be discovered. El had to admit that Joyce had a point, but she was still upset that she wouldn't have the full college experience which included a college roommate. Joyce had helped El with financial aid, and they had taken out more to cover the cost of the more expensive dorm with single rooms so El could have a room to herself. Any annoyance El had felt about that had quickly disappeared when she and Mike realized the first night how convenient it made things for them.
For the first time since they had started having sex, Mike and El didn't have to sneak around, make sure no one was home, or be quiet so their parents and siblings wouldn't hear them. They could also spend as many nights together as they wanted, as long as they didn't get caught by the resident advisor in El's hall; although, Mike did promise Will that he wouldn't neglect Will by spending every night at El's dorm.
Mike and Will were roommates, and they lived in a dorm that was only a five-minute walk from El's. Mike tried to spend every other night at El's dorm and every other night at his and Will's, but his plan was not perfect. Last night, he was supposed to have gone back to his and Will's room, but he was too wrapped up with El, and by the time they finished, Mike had no desire to walk the five minutes back to his own bed.
"I have to get up soon," El sighed, tightening her arm around Mike, and he smiled at her clinginess.
"I know, but aren't you excited for your first day?" Mike asked.
"Yes," El replied hesitantly, and then she paused. "But I'm also kind of nervous."
"Nervous? What are you nervous about?" Mike asked, stroking his fingers through her hair.
El had spent a couple months during the winter of their senior year of high school really exploring her own interests. She had wanted to be as prepared as possible for the start of college, and she felt like she was. But even with the confidence that she had grown, it was still a whole new world.
"Campus is so much bigger than Hawkins High School," El said.
"Campus is so much bigger than Hawkins in general," Mike chuckled. "But we walked around yesterday and found where all of our classes are. You'll be okay."
"Yeah, but I'm not going to know anyone either," El continued. "This is my first time going to school without knowing anyone in my classes. And it's not like I can see you or any of our friends between classes, either. I won't see you again until this evening, and Max isn't even here."
"No, but Will's here, and he's done with classes today at 3:30," Mike reminded her. "And Mondays are my latest day of the week. The rest of the week, I'll be the one waiting for you to get out of class."
"It's just a big change," El said, hugging him tighter again.
"I know it is, but you adapt to change better than anyone else I know," Mike said. "Look at all the new changes you've experienced in the past six years. You're going to do amazing."
El smiled and leaned up to kiss him.
"Thank you," she said sweetly. "I'd tell you you're going to do amazing too, but I think graduating high school with honors already did that."
Mike chuckled and kissed her forehead.
"Well, hey, why don't you get ready, and I'll walk with you to your first class before going back to my room," he suggested.
El leaned in for another peck on the lips before getting out of bed and getting herself ready for her first day of her freshman year of college.
Once she was ready, she loaded her books for the day into her backpack, and El and Mike left her dorm room to head to her first class. As they walked through campus, El looked all around her, taking in her new reality. There were way more students than there had been in the hallways of their high school, but it didn't seem nearly as crowded as those halls had. Maybe the freedom of walking from class to class outside had something to do with that.
As they passed all sorts of different people, El found herself wondering if she would get to know any of them. Would she make new friends? Certainly, nobody could ever replace the party, but would she have a new group of friends here at college? After all, the party was split across four different schools in the midwest. Nobody knew her here, and she didn't know anyone other than Mike and Will. It was scary but refreshing at the same time.
When they reached the building where El's first class was, Mike stopped and El looked up at him.
"Thanks for walking with me," she said.
"No problem. You're going to do great," Mike replied, and then he leaned down to kiss her. "Good luck. I'll see you tonight."
"Okay, I love you," El said.
"I love you, too," Mike replied.
After parting ways with El at her first class, Mike crossed through campus on his way back to his and Will's dorm. When he got there, he found it empty, as Will had already left for class as well. Mike's first class of the day didn't start until 11AM, so he had plenty of time to shower and get ready.
He grabbed his towel and shower things and a clean set of clothes and walked down the hallway to the shared bathroom on this end of the hall. After he showered and dressed for the day, Mike made sure he had all the books and materials he needed for the day, and then he left to start his first day of college, hoping that he, El, and Will would all have a smooth first day.
On the other side of campus, Will was already in his second class of the day, and he was loving it. Unlike high school where everyone had to take the same classes regardless of interests, Will actually cared about all of the classes on his schedule. He had dreamed of going to college his whole life, but he was not oblivious to his mom's financial struggles. The fact that she worked so hard to ensure that Will had the chance to chase his dreams is something that he would never be able to repay her for, but he was definitely going to try.
Moving in to his dorm with his best friend had been one of the happiest days of his life. There was a sense of freedom in living away from Hawkins, paired with the excitement of starting a brand new chapter in a new place where nobody knew him. Here, he wasn't Zombie Boy. Nobody knew Will's past, and nobody here had bullied and tormented him throughout his childhood. It was refreshing. But, there was also the welcomed familiarity of having Mike with him, his best friend since kindergarten. Will had been disappointed when Mike didn't come back to the room last night like he said he was going to, but Will wasn't too surprised either. He knew that Mike and El would want to take advantage of their new freedoms as well. Will just hoped that they would make an effort not to exclude him, especially when they were the only two people on campus that he knew.
Will loved Mike and El, and he missed Lucas, Dustin, and Max greatly, but he was excited by the idea of making some new friends as well. He thought his classes would be a great place to meet people since they would likely have common interests, and Will was also considering looking through the extracurricular clubs and organizations that the university offered.
His third class of the day was a graphic design course, and Will easily found the building he needed to be in. He had explored campus yesterday with Mike and El, and the three of them had walked each of their schedules so they would know where their classes were. This class was not a far walk from Will's previous class, and he arrived with ten minutes left before the start of class, so he was one of the first ones in the classroom.
Will chose a seat in the second row and pulled out the required textbook for the course. He glanced at the front of the classroom and saw a small table sitting in front of the chalkboard, and on the chalkboard was written the words "Take One" and an arrow pointing downward. Will walked to the front of the room and grabbed a syllabus from the table. At his seat, he was reading through the course syllabus and not paying much attention as his peers filed in around him.
He did look over when he saw from the corner of his eye that someone had sat in the seat next to him. The guy who had filled the seat next to Will had tan skin, dark blonde hair, and bright blue eyes. He had his head down as he read through the syllabus in his hands, and when he felt Will looking his way, he glanced up and offered a polite nod Will's way. Will reciprocated with a smile, and then the guy went back to reading the syllabus.
Will felt a slight pang of disappointment that the guy had not said hello. This was Will's third class of the day, and he had not actually met another person. Maybe if he wanted to make new friends, he had to take the first step.
"Um, hi," Will said, hoping he didn't sound too awkward. "My name's Will."
"I'm Adam," replied the guy next to Will as he laid down the syllabus and looked back up at Will. "Nice to meet you."
"It's nice to meet you, too," Will said.
Adam smiled and looked back down at the syllabus, and Will frowned. What was he supposed to say next to this complete stranger? Things were so much easier in kindergarten when you could just sit next to another kid on a swing and ask to be friends, which is how he and Mike had become friends. Maybe branching out in college would be harder than Will had thought.
Over ninety miles away in Terre Haute, Max was groggily waking up for her first day of classes. It was almost noon, and her first class started at 12:30. Max groaned and flopped her hand around on her nightstand until she found the bottle of aspirin she had been searching for. She popped two of the pills into her hand and swallowed them with a swig of the water bottle that she kept next to her. Her head was killing her. But, what better way to start her first day of college than with a hangover from the last two days of non-stop parties?
On move-in day, Max and her roommate Sarah had clicked immediately, which Max had found bizarre because she mainly hung out with boys her entire life. Other than El and Robin, Max had never been too fond of having many female friends, but Sarah was an immediate exception. Sarah was just as outspoken as Max, and she was coming to college to have a good time. Lucky for Max, Sarah's older sister also attended the university, so Sarah knew where the best move-in weekend parties were happening, and she invited Max along.
It had been a blast. Max had danced and drank and lived up the freedom that she finally had. She wasn't confined to that house with her mom and Neil that was so devoid of love and that had somehow gotten even worse after Billy died and had never gotten better. She wasn't trapped in the halls of Hawkins High with a bunch of people she didn't care about. This was a new start. The only thing that could make it better was if Lucas had joined her.
Max and Lucas had been going strong for months leading up to the start of college. They were in a committed relationship for the first time in the four years of on-again-off-again dating they had been doing, and Max had found that she actually enjoyed the monogamy. Still, going to college had the potential to make or break them. She certainly missed Lucas and wished they had gone to the same school, but she knew they each had their own paths to follow. She hoped their relationship was strong enough to withstand the distance, but after move-in weekend, she was already starting to have her doubts.
It wasn't that Max didn't love Lucas, but she had just experienced a new level of independence, and she was sure there was a lot more to explore. Max knew that Lucas must be experiencing similar things in Columbus.
Suddenly, the phone in her dorm room rang, startling Max, and she reached for it, wondering who it could be.
"Hello?" her hoarse voice said into the phone.
"Max?" came the concerned voice on the other end.
Max cleared her throat to sound more like herself.
"Lucas?" she asked.
"Did you have a rough night already?" Lucas asked, a teasing tone in his voice.
"You only get one first weekend at college," Max chuckled.
"And it sounds like you made it one for the books," Lucas said. "Did I wake you up?"
"No, I was getting up for class anyway," Max replied.
"Wow, I'm actually done with class for the day," Lucas said.
"You're done with classes at noon?" Max exclaimed.
"Just on Mondays and Wednesdays," Lucas replied.
"So what are you going to do the rest of the day?" Max asked.
"I don't know yet, but I was calling to tell you that I thought more about trying out for the football team, and what the hell, I think I'm going to do it," Lucas said.
"That's great!" Max exclaimed. "I know you'll kick ass at it."
Lucas had been talking for weeks about trying out for the football team when he got to college. He didn't play in high school, but they accepted walk-in try-outs, and Lucas had enjoyed playing football with his cousins for as long as he could remember. He figured there was no harm in at least going for it, and if he made the team, great. If not, at least he could say that he tried.
"Thanks, babe. I needed some of that MadMax encouragement for good luck," Lucas said.
"Well if I was there right now, I could give you a lot more than encouragement for good luck," Max said, her voice turning sultry.
"Come on, don't do that to me right now," Lucas groaned. "I'm not even in my room. I'm in the student union."
"Fine," Max sighed. "No good luck phone sex for you."
"Try-outs start in a few days, and if you come visit me next weekend, I'll happily accept congratulatory actual sex," Lucas said.
"And if you don't make the team?" Max asked.
"Consolation sex is also acceptable," Lucas replied.
"But it'll be congratulatory. I know it," Max said.
"Thanks, I hope so," Lucas said. "But I'll let you go so you can get ready."
"Okay. Talk to you later. Let me know how try-outs go," Max said.
"Sure will. Love you," Lucas said.
"Love you too. Bye, Stalker," Max said, ending the call.
Up in Kalamazoo, Michigan, Dustin was running late to his first chemistry course of the semester. He was sprinting through campus, bumping into some of his peers and narrowly missing others. His chemistry course was in a building nearly a fifteen-minute walk from his preceding course, so he would be cutting it close each day. The thought crossed Dustin's mind that he may need to amend his schedule.
"Excuse me!... Sorry!" Dustin called as he pushed his way through his fellow students who were casually walking through campus.
Finally, he reached his chemistry classroom, and Dustin stopped to catch his breath in the hallway before walking inside. When he had regained himself, Dustin walked in, and he was greeted immediately by the professor.
"Name?" he asked.
"Dustin Henderson, sir," Dustin replied.
The professor checked his seating chart and pointed at a lab table off to the left. Dustin nodded at his professor and walked to the empty lab table. His previous classes did not have assigned seats, but Dustin figured this was probably different because the professor had pre-arranged lab partners.
Dustin took one of the two seats at the lab table and began pulling out the required chemistry textbook. He checked the first page of the syllabus and flipped his textbook to the page where the first unit started, and Dustin was skimming through the pages when he saw someone nearing his table out of the corner of his eye. Must be his lab partner. He heard the seat next to him pull out, and Dustin looked up to greet his new lab partner.
His eyes met those of his lab partner, and Dustin's mouth dropped open and his heart nearly stopped pounding. His lab partner froze as well, her eyes doubling in size as she realized who she was about to sit next to.
"Suzie?!" Dustin said.
"Dustin?!" Suzie returned.
"What are you doing here?" Dustin asked, dumbfounded.
"What do you think I'm doing here? I'm furthering my education," Suzie replied with enough sass for Dustin to detect.
"I figured you would've stayed in Utah," Dustin explained.
"Well, you were wrong. No surprise there," Suzie said.
"Does he expect us to be partners?" Dustin asked, narrowing his eyes.
"It looks that way," Suzie replied.
"What was he thinking?!" Dustin groaned.
"I'm guessing he didn't have the complete dating history of all of his students at the ready when pairing up lab partners," Suzie said dryly.
"Well, if he would have, this could have been avoided," Dustin replied, and Suzie rolled her eyes. "I don't exactly want to work with my ex-girlfriend."
"Well, I don't exactly want to work with my ex-boyfriend who doesn't even know Planck's constant," Suzie said. "I can already tell I'll be pulling all the weight on these labs."
"The Planck's constant thing was one time," Dustin argued. "But maybe we should talk to the professor after class and get our lab partners switched."
"Maybe we should," Suzie agreed.
Suzie sat next to him, and soon the class began. It was a good thing that today's class focused a lot on the syllabus and expectations of the course, because Dustin was finding it hard to remain focused. His eyes kept drifting next to him to where Suzie sat, and each time he looked at her, he felt annoyed all over again that he was expected to work with her.
When class ended, Dustin and Suzie gathered their belongings and walked up to the front of the classroom to their professor while their classmates filed out of the room.
"Excuse me, Dr. Collins?" Suzie began politely, and the older gentleman looked at the two of them.
"Yes?" he asked,
"Hi, I'm really looking forward to your class this semester, and I want to do the absolute best that I can," Suzie rambled. "But in order for me to do that, I'm going to need a new lab partner."
"Me too. I can't work with her," Dustin added much less eloquently.
"Lab partners are pre-determined. What's done is done," Dr. Collins said uninterestedly, looking back down at his desk.
"I understand that, sir, but can't an exception be made this once?" Suzie asked.
"If I were to switch you two, that means I'd be disrupting another pair of lab partners who were already acquainted today just for your convenience," Dr. Collins said. "Then if anyone else came to me asking for a partner switch, I would have to comply. At that point, I may as well have not pre-determined the pairings."
"I'm not trying to make things difficult," Suzie said sweetly, and Dustin couldn't hold back a scoff next to her. "But it would be better for us-"
"We know each other. We dated several years ago, and things didn't end the greatest. We aren't going to work well together. Can you please make an exception?" Dustin interjected bluntly, and Suzie glared at him for sharing so much information.
"While I am sorry for your past romantic blunders, I do not concern myself with the personal relationships of my students," Dr. Collins said. "You either need to work together, or one or both of you may drop the course."
Neither Dustin nor Suzie spoke.
"Is that all?" Dr. Collins asked, and both Dustin and Suzie nodded.
Dr. Collins exited the classroom, leaving Dustin and Suzie standing awkwardly alone. Finally, Dustin broke the silence.
"So, are you going to drop the course?" he asked.
"Absolutely not," Suzie said. "Are you?"
"No way. I'm not going to screw with my classes just because you showed up," Dustin replied.
"Well, neither am I," Suzie said.
"So now what do we do?" Dustin asked.
"The only thing we can do," Suzie sighed. "We act like adults and work together."
Dustin grimaced at the proposition, but he knew it was the only solution.
"Fine," he said reluctantly.
He watched as Suzie walked briskly out of the classroom, and Dustin thought to himself that this was going to be a long semester.
Around four o'clock that afternoon, El was finished with her classes for the day, and she was walking toward Mike and Will's dorm room. She knew Mike still wouldn't be finished for the day for a couple hours, but Will should be in his room, and El wanted to see how her adoptive brother's first day went.
She arrived and knocked on the door, and Will soon answered with a smile. El could sense that the smile was a façade. His eyes looked sad.
"Hey," El smiled warmly as she walked inside. "How was your first day of classes?"
"It was okay," Will shrugged.
"Just okay?" El asked as she sat on Mike's bed.
"I mean, the classes themselves were great," Will said, sitting on his own bed and facing her. "I loved the classes, and my professors were all cool. I'm really going to like the courses I'm taking."
"So then what's the problem?" El asked, furrowing her brow.
Will's cheeks blushed slightly as he looked down. He was kind of embarrassed to admit what the problem was. Was he being stupid? It was only his first day, after all.
"Will?" El pressed on.
"Fine," Will sighed. "I want to make new friends… You and Mike are great, but obviously I can't count on hanging out with you all the time-"
"I'm sorry Mike didn't make it back last night," El said. She was sure Will didn't mean to, but the way he had phrased that had stung. "We lost track of time, and we just kind of fell asleep."
"Look, El, you don't have to lie. I know you guys didn't just fall asleep," Will said. "You don't have to tell me details, either, because I don't want to know. But I know that you guys like having all this time to yourselves without having to worry about parents, and I know that you having a single room makes that easier… It's kind of been like this since you guys got back together in February, so I'm not really surprised."
"Wow, Will, I'm sorry-"
"You don't have to apologize," Will said quickly. "Really, I'm so happy for both of you, and I'm happy you got back together. It's just that you two have your own relationship, and with the rest of the party gone, I want to make new friends so I'm not alone all the time when you and Mike are spending time together."
"That makes sense," El admitted.
"But the problem is I have no idea how to do that," Will continued.
"What do you mean?" El asked.
"Making friends when you're a kid is easy. Making friends now?" Will said. "I literally talked to one person all day – if you can call it that. I said hi and told him my name, and then I just didn't know what to say next. Am I that awkward of a person that I don't know how to have a conversation?"
El thought back to the two years that she and the Byers family lived away from Hawkins. She didn't remember Will bringing friends to the house or going over to friends' houses like he did in Hawkins, and he had always seemed more down than normal.
"I know I can't completely relate because I didn't have my first friend until I was twelve, and that happened because Mike found me and explained what a friend was. Then I just kind of had Mike and all of you," El said. "But now, I mean, just be yourself."
"That's the cliché," Will sighed.
"Well there's got to be truth to it," El said. "For someone to really be your friend, you want them to know you and like you for you. The person you talked to today, was there anything you could've used to strike up more of a conversation? Did you like his bag or his shoes or something? You're in the same class, so maybe say something about what you're learning that day."
"I guess," Will sighed. "It was just so hard in Hawkins. I was the nerd, I was Zombie Boy. Here, I feel like I can have a fresh start. I don't want to be a nobody."
"You're not a nobody," El said firmly. "College is new to all of us, and it will take some time for us to fit in and get used to it."
"You're right," Will nodded. "Thanks, El."
"Of course," El smiled.
Will and El spent the rest of the time talking about what they did in their classes, and then Will showed El the syllabus for his graphic design class and started telling her all about what he was already planning for his final project.
A little after six o'clock, Mike came into the dorm room. He sighed and dropped his backpack on his desk chair.
"Hi!" El exclaimed, a smile brightening her face as she reached her arms out in front of her, gesturing for Mike to come join her on his bed.
"Hey, baby, how was your day?" Mike asked as he walked over to her.
He stopped in front of her and took both her hands in his before leaning down to give her a peck on the lips.
"It was great. How was yours?" El asked.
"It was fine, but I'm starving. Can we go eat?" Mike asked.
"Yeah. Will, do you want to come?" El offered.
"No, thanks. I'm really not hungry yet," Will replied.
"Alright, I'll see you in a little while," Mike said to Will as he and El started toward the door.
Mike and El decided to eat on campus in the student union food court. El watched as Mike practically inhaled his food, and he looked up to see her watching him.
"I didn't have a chance to eat between any of my classes," he explained.
"How were your classes?" El asked.
"They were good. We didn't really do much in any of them today, but I think I'm going to like them for the most part," Mike replied. "What about you? Did your nerves calm down any?"
"They did," El replied. "It's still weird not having any of my friends in my classes, but I met a few nice people today."
"Already? That's great," Mike said.
"Yeah. I'm kind of worried about Will," El said.
"Why?" Mike asked, furrowing his brow.
"I think he's afraid that you and I are going to forget about him and he's going to be alone a lot of the time," El replied.
"I knew he would be upset that I stayed with you two nights in a row," Mike muttered.
"He didn't seem really upset or anything, but he wants to make some friends so he has other people when you and I aren't around," El explained.
"Makes sense," Mike shrugged.
"But he's struggling with that," El said.
"Well, Will has always been on the quiet side, and the way he was treated in Hawkins didn't really do much for his self-esteem," Mike said.
"I know," El agreed.
"But he's a great guy. He's one of the best people I know. I'm sure he'll make some friends in no time," Mike said.
"I hope so, but maybe until then we should pay a little more attention and make sure not to leave Will out," El suggested.
"I think you're right," Mike agreed. "How about I walk you back to your dorm and then I go hang out with him and try to make up for bailing on him last night?"
"Okay," El nodded, slightly reluctantly.
When they finished eating, Mike walked El back to her dorm room as the sun was starting to set. Mike leaned down to kiss her and was alarmed by the sad look on her face.
"What's wrong?" he asked.
"I just really like it when you spend the night," El admitted. "I sleep better."
"El, it's only been a few days," Mike said.
"I know. And I've slept better on the nights that you stayed with me overnight," El repeated. "I don't like being alone."
"You know I'd sleep with you every night if I could. But you slept alone at home in Hawkins. What's wrong with it now?" Mike asked.
"At the house, mom and Will were right down the hallway. Here, I'm completely alone when you don't stay with me," El explained.
Mike squeezed her hands reassuringly.
"Do you want me to stay with you?" he asked, and El sighed.
"That would really piss Will off," she said. "Go on back to your dorm. I'll be fine."
"Okay, but you know if you need me you can call my dorm at any time," Mike reminded her.
"I know," El smiled before leaning up to kiss him.
"I'll see you tomorrow though," Mike said, and El nodded.
"I think I might go call Max and see how she's doing at Indiana State," El said.
"Okay. Well, good night. If you need anything, call me," Mike said and leaned down to kiss her again. "I love you."
"I love you, too," El replied.
Mike left and El locked the door behind him. She sighed and looked around her room, wishing again that Joyce had let her have a roommate. Not having a roommate was great on nights when Mike stayed, but not on nights like these when she was alone.
El hopped onto her bed and picked up the phone, dialing the number to Max's dorm room at Indiana State. After a few rings, El heard the familiar voice of her best friend.
"Hello?"
"Max!" El smiled into the phone.
"El! Hey! How are you?" Max asked, just as excited to hear El's voice.
"I'm good. I had my first day of classes today, and it was great," El replied.
"That's good to hear," Max said. "Mine were good, too. Thankfully I had all afternoon classes because I was feeling rough after this weekend."
"Were you sick? What happened?" El asked, furrowing her brow in confusion.
"My roommate Sarah has connections and knew where some good parties were," Max explained. "I had a bit of a hangover today."
"Oh," El said.
She wished again she could have a roommate. Then she found herself wondering how close Max was going to get with this Sarah girl.
"You should come stay with us sometime. You'd like Sarah. I've already told her so much about you," Max suggested.
El smiled; it made her feel better to know that Max was telling her new friend about her.
"I will. You'll have to come here sometime, too," El said.
"Sure, that could be fun," Max agreed. "How are Mike and Will?"
"They're good," El replied, deciding not to spread the conversation she and Will had had.
"I bet Mike loves that you have that room all to yourself," Max teased, and El rolled her eyes.
"Well, yeah, he does," she admitted.
"You two are still doing okay?" Max asked.
"We're way better than okay," El replied. "Our relationship has been amazing ever since we got back together. It was great before, but now it's… I don't know… it's different somehow."
"Because you've been through the ringer and came back together," Max said, and El smiled.
"How are you and Lucas doing?" El returned the question.
"We're good," Max replied, though El could hear the uncertainty in her voice. "He called me earlier today and talked about trying out for the football team."
"Really? That would be awesome," El said.
"Yeah, it would," Max agreed. "But, hey, El, I've got to get off of here. I'll talk to you later, okay? We can plan a weekend for one of us to visit."
"Okay," El said. "Have a good night, and call me any time."
El hung up with Max and laid down on her back, looking up at the ceiling. They were all growing up. She and Mike were stronger than ever. Will was wanting to branch out. Max was partying. Lucas was trying out for football. El furrowed her brow when she realized she didn't know what Dustin was up to. She actually hadn't talked to Lucas or Dustin herself since the night they had the bonfire in her backyard. Things were definitely different; college was different. And El was ready for whatever college had to bring.
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A/N: Truth be told, I am so excited for this story. I have been plotting it out for months (literally, the whole time I was writing Out Of The Woods, I was preparing this story on the side), and I have notebook pages full of timelines for each character because, even though this is primarily a Mileven fic, I want to focus on more development for all the characters that did not necessarily get much development in TTWAS. I plan on this story being very long and having a wild roller coaster of emotions. I have SO MUCH planned for this story, and I really hope you all love it as much as you loved TTWAS. (As a side note, this story will have more smut in it than TTWAS did. It is not a primarily smut story, but there will be rather consistent smut throughout. Mostly Mileven, but I am about 90% sure I will be including some snippets of other ships smut as well, as a heads up). Thank you so much for reading chapter one. Please leave me a review and let me know your thoughts.