I have never felt this safe. This loved before. I'm curled up in bed with my soulmate. We haven't even kissed again yet. That's how comfortable I feel. We will have forever to kiss. Still, I want a deeper kiss… not yet though, cause I know where that's going to lead.
No sooner did El have that thought, when she felt a hand on her hip.
"No."
Hmm, I might have said that a little harsher than I intended. But we can't have sex tonight… well, I can't.
She knew for sure that it was too harsh, Mike's hand suddenly pulled away, and then he pulled himself away and lay on his back. She felt the cold basement night air at her back now that he wasn't close behind her.
"Um, sorry."
El cringed. He thinks I'm mad at him.
She felt Mike get out of bed. Where's he going?... he's mad at me.
El heard the clacking of a loud keyboard. She smiled to herself briefly. He's using MX-cherry blue keys. I'd know that sound anywhere. It's what I use too.
At first she thought Mike was checking his email, but he was doing a lot of typing. I s he working? Writing on his blog? Or… or is he reading my blog? I hope not. He promised not to!
El checked her watch thinking it had only been a few minutes since he'd gotten out of bed. It had been over an hour.
He's not coming back. I don't know what to do! I have to talk to him.
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Mike felt her presence behind him while he sat at the keyboard.
"Mike?" Her voice was timid. She sounded completely unsure of what to say.
"You ok Eleven?"
"No." It was as different sounding no this time.
"What's wrong?"
"You got out of bed. It doesn't look like you are coming back to it either. Will you tell me why?"
Mike turned around to look at her. The tears rolling down her cheeks made him feel like shit.
"I was moving in to snuggle a little closer, and you said 'no' . You are my first girlfriend El, I wasn't lying when I said that. That no sounded like 'we are done snuggling' and it's kind of a small bed, so not a lot of room for us to stretch out. I figured I'd sleep on the couch and we'd get a new bed as soon as the mall opened."
"You just wanted to snuggle? Closer?"
"Yeah, what did you th… oh… uh, I don't want to have sex the first time in my Mom's basement."
Mike's face burned, but El giggled.
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He just wanted to snuggle closer! The realization that she'd read his actions all wrong made her forget to ask him if he was reading her blog.
They lay back in bed facing each other.
"Mike I'm sorry I barked at you."
"Not a problem El, I didn't-"
"Let me finish."
"When a girl gets a certain age changes happen to her body, monthly messy biology is the norm for us for a long time."
She watched his face turn red again.
He was about to say something, but she put her finger across his lips, and then quickly replaced it with a kiss.
"I don't feel very sexy when I'm in my cycle. You understand?"
El was sure that Mike's face was close to an exploding purple. But he nodded.
He's really embarrassed.
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"Mike! Mom's home."
Mike and El were sitting on the edge of the bed, kissing. They had been kissing for the last hour. They would stop, look into each other's eyes, give off a big sigh and then start kissing again.
"Uh, El, do me a favour and stay down here? Mom isn't very good with new people in the house"
El look confused but nodded.
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"Hi Mom, how did the doctor's appointment go."
"You know, Mike, I might as well shove those pills up my ass for all the good they do."
Ugh, so not well at all, she still has no social filter.
"Oh! Who's that Mike."
Mike turned to see that El and quietly come up beside him.
Shit.
"Um, Mom, I'd like you to meet my girlfriend, Eleven."
"Uneven! What a pretty name. Has he fucked you yet?" She covered her mouth immediately. She knew what she had just blurted out.
"I'm so sorry Elevator… I have a… condition."
Mike gave Holly a look that said " Deal with this."
El put her hand to her mouth, her eyes watering and left quickly for the basement.
Mike held back the urge to yell at his mom but he knew she couldn't help it.
Holly was busy writing in a notebook. Between them they called it the "F" book, but the doctors told them to keep track of her… social inconsistencies, so they did.
Mike went to see if El was ok.
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"El… you really shouldn't have gone upstairs… we've tried to get help, but every form you apply for has a condition box you have to feel out. Doctor's can't tell us what it is, so we can't fill out the forms, so no professional help. Sorry you had to hear that. She didn't mean it. She has a lot of other symptoms."
"I know Mike. I had the same thing. I was much younger, but I had the same thing."
"Uh…"
"I did something I didn't ask your ok for. I called my doctor. He has the… well… cure for it I guess."
"What you saw was just one symptom… there a few others."
"I know Mike. Dr. Owens can help."
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Sam Owens had finished with the injection.
"How long does it take?" Holly asked.
"Blood cycles through the body about every minute." He looked at his watch.
"...and… done."
"She was exposed to something in the lab, if she didn't work there, then she came in contact with someone who did."
"That was probably Ted… my husband… he… left us."
"I see. Well, you won't be experiencing those problems any more."
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"I'm guessing you have some very interesting secrets." Mike said to El.
He gestured upstairs. "That's why I was living in my mom's basement."
"Max's new boyfriend Lucas told me. Even if you hadn't been the guy on the bus, I would have come by with Dr. Owens."
"So, we have the problem of all new couples now."
"We do?"
"Yeah… we have no private place to… to…"
"Screw?" El said, but her face turned red right after.
Mike laughed. "I was going to say be intimate . But that works."
"I have a place. I need to take you to my dad first, I've been talking about you online enough, he wanted to meet you if we ever found each other.. He can drive us there too for that matter."
"We have met, he did some initial investigation when my dad disappeared."
"He hasn't met you as my boyfriend." El winked.
"Yeah, that's different." Hopper was an honest cop, but he was rough around the edges. Mike had no idea how he would react to El being his girlfriend.
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Hopper looked between the two, he glanced briefly at their entwined fingers.
"Hi Mike, I see you've met my daughter… wait! El, this is the bus guy?"
El smiled. "He is."
"Um, Mike, can you give me a minute with El?
"Dad, anything you can say in front of me you can say in front of Mike."
"Sorry, El, I don't want to embarrass him."
"It's Ok, El, uh, chief, is there a private phone I can use? I want to check in with Holly."
"Powell's office. He's off today. Close the door."
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"Ok, dad. What's up?"
I think he's going to cry!
Hopper ran his forearm across his eyes.
"I am so happy for both of you… I didn't want Mike to see… me crying."
El immediately went over to hug his middle.
"I love you, dad."
"I love you too kid… um, Mike's been living with his mom's condition for a little over ten years. I think it's the same thing you had. Didn't realize that till that last time I saw her. I need to ask Owens if he can look at her."
"Already done. She'd had the same injection. I think she's cured."
She saw her dad breathe in a huge sigh of relief.
"He was so dedicated. I never saw him with a girlfriend, very rarely even outside of the house. He's still living in his mom's basement, isn't he?"
"Yes."
"Well, he will have more freedom now… but El. He was really badly bullied as kid. I'm not saying he's had it as bad as you did. I don't think anybody has…."
El watched her dad stop and breathe again, trying to contain his emotions.
"At the quarry, when Mike was twelve or thirteen, some asshole kid had a knife to his throat. I had to shoot him in the leg. Kid had gone psycho or something."
"You shot Mike!"
"No, no, Troy Walsh. Remember him? He's the kid with the limp that assaulted you."
"I remember."
"I didn't see Mike for months after that. His sister Holly said he was terrified of stepping out of the house."
"Poor Mike."
"All I'm saying El… you two are going to be good for each other… uh, I don't think he's quite ready for your online personality."
"Mike promised never to read it."
Hopper raised an eyebrow, "well, don't hold him to that."
"I won't… but I know he won't break a promise to me. I know that, dad."
Hopper looked at the daughter he loved beyond his own life.
"I believe that. I believe that of Mike. I'm a cop El. We have a certain amount of intuition. Makes us good at what we do.
"So… you'll drive us out to the cabin? Mike needs… we need some alone time." El blushed when asked.
"Yes. You have to tell him El. He deserves to know about you."
"I'll tell him while we walk."
"Ok. Don't forget about the tripwire."
El nodded.
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"I'll send you a message when we get inside." El told her dad. She and Mike started to walk.
"Dad told me about you."
"You already know about me, El."
"I didn't know the bullying part."
"Oh, that." Mike looked down. "I think your dad saved my life. Was a long time ago."
"I need to tell you about me."
I hope I'm not making a big mistake.
El, told Mike about the lab. About all the abuses she suffered. He hung his head low as he listened. He didn't once interrupt her with questions or crying.
It wasn't until she got to the part about finally showing herself to her dad on a cold autumn day, snow on the ground, that he burst out crying.
She did the only thing that could be done for that kind of crying. She hugged him. Tightly. She cooed softly in his ear that it was all right.
She did that for a long time... until he his breathing returned to normal
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He was quiet for the rest of the walk.
"Look at that tree."
Mike did.
"See that about six inches from the roots?"
Mike saw the mouse trap… "Uh, is that a tripwire… and a bullet? That would warn anybody who… who…"
Mike broke down crying again.
And El hugged him again. She guided him over the wire.
"I will never hurt you Eleven. Never cheat on you… I p-promise." Mike gave a short laugh.
"If I had a ri… oh, wait I do."
She watched Mike undo the top button of his shirt and reach for something around his neck.
It was a ring.
He got down on one knee in the wet leaves
If he's going to do what I think he's going to do, I may cry forever.
"You said you were mine, you are my soulmate… but… if you would be my wife… I… I…"
El got down on both knees so that they were looking eye to eye.
"Yes Mike." She hugged him again. Just as tightly.
"My grandmother gave this to me, when I was twelve or thirteen. She told me to wear it around my neck, always. She said that way I would always have it, and I would know the exact time when to use it."
"This is it," Mike said through his tears. He slipped it on her finger.
"I love you, girl on the bus."
"I love you, guy on the bus."