Chapter Fourteen: Good Grief.
"What's gonna be left of the world if you're not in it?
What's gonna be left of the world, oh
Every minute of every hour
I miss you, I miss you, I miss you more"
Date: Monday, October 14th, 1985
"Will, where's El?" Mike frantically questioned, breathing heavily from sprinting around the school in search of a specific green eyed-boy with a bowl cut.
"She's really sick so she stayed home," Will explained, "she asked that I tell you that she's sorry for not calling last night and that she is sorry for lashing out at you. It had nothing to do with you and she should have let you help."
Mike relaxed a little since he was made aware that El was okay and that she wasn't mad at him yesterday. The poor boy barely slept at all the night prior because he was so worried, "Alright, thanks. Can I stop by after—"
"No, sorry," Will cut him off, "she's like throwing up and you definitely don't want whatever she has. I'm scared to even go to the third floor for fear of catching it."
Mike's face fell at those words. Oh, how he wanted to comfort his girlfriend so badly. He didn't care at all if he got sick, as long as he could be there and help her with whatever she may need. He missed Eleven so much it almost hurt him.
"Will," the lanky boy begged helplessly, "please let me see her."
Will always had a soft spot when it came to Mike. Seeing him tear up in the middle of the hallway at school was enough to make him cave in, "Fine, but don't come crying to me when you get whatever the hell she's got."
Mike beamed at his best friend, his face practically glowing. He was so happy that he didn't even try stop himself from pulling the much smaller boy into a bone-crushing hug. Will didn't hug back at first, taken by surprise by the taller boy's out-of-character actions, but soon enough he wrapped his arms around him.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you," Mike repeated over and over. His grip did not loosen one bit when the bell rang, causing Will to chuckle.
"Mike, we're gonna be late for class," Will wriggled in attempt to get out of the embrace, though it did absolutely nothing.
"What the—" Lucas stifled a laugh, walking up to the paladin and cleric.
At the sound of his voice, Mike finally released Will from the hug, causing the small boy to fall to the ground. Mike's face flushed red, not expecting the other three party members to show up.
"Do you have something to tell us, Michael?" Max teased.
"Fuck off, Maxine," Mike flipped off the annoying redhead and walked away without another word to his friends. He was not in the mood for Max's taunting at the moment. He felt bad for not acknowledging Dustin or Lucas, but all he could hope for was that Will would fill them in on why he was being so moody.
"Uh, guys?" Will asked from the floor, reaching his hands out for someone to help him up. The other members of the party were already making their way back down the hall and didn't here the small boy calling out for help.
"Wait, guys," He shouted, not even bothered bye the judgmental looks people shot towards him, "I'm still here!"
"Guys?"
It was finally nearing the end of ninth period and Mike could not be any happier. The day seemed to drag on for way longer than it should have. All he wanted to do was see El and hold her close, to make whatever was upsetting her go away. But, he couldn't do that just yet. He couldn't just walk out of the school in the middle of class, though that was extremely tempting.
The moment the bell rang the lanky boy bolted out of the classroom. He didn't even bother to stop at his locker to make sure he had whatever things he might need for homework. Eleven was the only important thing to him right then. Isn't she always though?
Thankfully, the Byers' new house wasn't too far from the school so he arrived in about 8 minutes. He knocked hastily on the door and was greeted by Joyce.
"Oh, uh hi Mike," she was genuinely confused as to why he was there without Will, "what's going on?"
"Can I," he panted, still trying to catch his breath from the insanely fast bike ride, "Can I see El, please?"
"She isn't well at the moment," she spoke hesitantly. Mike opened his mouth to argue but Joyce kept talking, "but I know how much you want to see her so I won't stop you. I advise against any kisses, though."
"Thank you so much, Mrs. Byers," Mike beamed before climbing up the stairs.
"El?" He asked, knocking softly on the door, "Can I come in?"
"Yes," Eleven choked out, her dry throat made it difficult to speak. Mike pushed the door open slowly, not sure what to expect. When his gaze landed on El his heart dropped.
Her gorgeous eyes were watery and bloodshot. There were tear stains on her paled cheeks. Her wavy hair was knotted and obviously not brushed. The bags under her eyes and the way her cheeks were hollowed in made her look almost dead.
"Eleven, are you okay?" He asked as he rushed to her side. His hands cradled her face as he took in her sickly appearance even more. That's when he noticed the bit of dried blood under her nose.
"Why's your nose bleeding?" He didn't get it, she didn't have her powers. How could her nose be bleeding? Yes, she could have just had a random nose bleed but she never got one unless it was tied back to her powers. Well, at least to Mike's knowledge she hadn't.
Eleven started to tear up again, nervous of how Mike would react if she told him she was trying to use her powers again. She feared he would try to stop her from doing so, and that just couldn't be. She needed to find her father, even if it killed her. Eleven was persistent and she would not go down without a fight.
Mike just couldn't know. And that hurt El. It hurt more than her head which was about twenty pounds heavier than usual. The sound of her heartbeat in her ears whenever she moved too quickly and the way her vision would fade in and out were simply nothing compared to keeping secrets from her beautiful boyfriend.
Then she did something that made her extremely guilty.
She lied to Mike.
"It's just a random nosebleed," she averted her eyes, looking down at her hands. Mike didn't believe her one bit, but seeing her so sick and weak was ten times more painful to him than getting lied to. And getting lied to, especially by the one person who was so adamant about telling the truth, hurt like hell.
"O-okay," he took her dainty, pale hand in his own, "is there anything I can do for you?"
El smiled for the first time in what felt like forever. I don't deserve him.
"No, just," the sickly girl inhaled shakily, "just...lay here with me for a bit?"
Mike didn't have to be told twice. He crawled onto the bed and laid down next to his girlfriend, pulling her into a comforting embrace.
Eleven knew that letting Mike stay with her would halt her plans a bit, but she needed him. She wasn't sick with some illness, she was just so anxious about everything and so, so, so drained. And Michael Wheeler was the only person that could calm her nerves. El felt awful for being so cruel to him the day prior and she apologized profusely while he cuddled her and assured her that it was okay.
"You're cute," she murmured out of the blue, eliciting a chuckle from Mike.
"You're cuter," he countered. Eleven shook her head and attempted to fight the smirk playing at the corner of her mouth. She muttered a small, 'no' before snuggling closer to the tall boy.
"Yes," Mike retorted, kissing her forehead lightly.
"Not possible," she locked her eyes with his, forcing him to give up the silly argument.
They stared at each other, lost in each other's eyes. Eleven's usually bright, honey-colored orbs were darker than usual. There was a glint of peace and relaxation, but it was dimmed by dejection and exhaustion. Mike's were blown with adoration and bliss; they always were when he was with his El.
Mike sighed dramatically, "Uuughhh fiiiiiine, if I'm cuter, that means you're beautifuler."
"I may not be very good with words but I know that 'beautifuler' is not a word, Michael," Eleven giggled.
"God, you are such a nerd," Mike playfully rolled his eyes.
El sat up slowly as to not have another dizzy spell, scoffing, "Not as much as you." She poked his chest with her pointer finger and winked at him, her bottom lip between her teeth.
'I'm just gonna pretend that wasn't one of the hottest things I've ever seen,' Mike thought.
"Mike," Eleven snapped him out of his love-struck daze. "I'm tired."
"Well, then go to sleep," he patted the space that she was in a few moment prior. She grinned graciously and fell into Mike's arms, her head on his shoulder as they stared up at the ceiling. He held onto her tightly, worried that this moment would be the last time they would get to do this for a while. "C'mere."
"Mike, I can't sleep on my back," she tried to roll onto her side but Mike's grip was restraining her movement. She groaned, "Miiiiike, let go for a second."
"No," he shifted so they were both lying on their sides, El's back against his chest. Mike begged his mind not to wander to somewhere far from innocent, but that was very, very hard. Eleven smiled as she snuggled into his warm embrace.
"Sleep well, beautiful," Mike whispered, his voice muffled slightly by her hair. "Feel better soon."
Eleven drifted off to sleep within 30 minutes of Mike's arrival. As much as Mike wanted to stay and be with her for the rest of the evening, he knew that his mom would get frustrated with him if he wasn't home on time without any warning. So, he slipped out of El's arms, making sure to not wake her up. He crept over to her desk and wrote a note telling her where he had gone and that he would be by his supercom all night if she wanted to talk. Mike placed the small piece of paper on her bedside table so she would see it before kissing her forehead and then tiptoeing out of her room.