JANUARY 19 1985

Mike had a long day at school. When he cuddled with Eleven in her bed after school ended, it was a huge relief. He had to do so much work that he became mentally exhausted. He didn't want to show it to El but it was hard to hide. El noticed he wasn't talkative as usual.

El snuggled into Mike's chest while slowly rubbing his abdomen. Mike had his eyes closed, trying to get some rest.

"Mike."

Mike heard that feminine voice and opened his eyes wide.

"Yeah?"

"Is something… wrong?" El asked.

"No. Just tired," Mike said as he let out a yawn afterwards.

El rubbed his neck while looking up to smile at him. She couldn't stop herself from smiling when she saw Mike's face.

"Tired? Of me?"

"Huh? NO! Definitely not," Mike chuckled as he tapped his finger on El's chin, making her grin.

"No. I'm tired of school. Like, I have so much work and it feels like a bunch of shit to keep me busy. I just…… Never mind, you don't wanna hear me ramble."

"I do," El said, running circles around his chest with her finger.

Mike was surprised she actually wanted to hear his emotions, but he couldn't complain.

"OK….. Well…. To start off, I fucking hate everyone now. I look at someone in school and I wanna punch them if they look at me weird or say something stupid. School is fucking pointless now. It used to be so fun and the teachers were cool, but now I'm just bored and wanna be with you."

"At least you still have your friends, Mike," El said as Mike hesitated to respond.

"Yeah….. Well….. Not really."

"What do you mean?" El wondered as she sat up and looked at him.

"Ever since… everything went down with the whole Upside Down shit, things have changed. We've grown up. I have you, Lucas has Max, and Dustin has his magazines," Mike joked.

"Magazines? What kind of magazines?" El was confused by what he meant.

"Uh, not important. Anyway, what I'm trying to say is that we've all started to mature… in different ways of course. And then there's Will…"

"What's wrong with Will?" El wondered, only asking more and more questions the longer Mike went on.

Mike hated talking about Will like this. Will was his best friend, his longest friend. He wanted to hold the feelings he had about him inside because he knew he would hate himself for saying it out loud.

"Will just seems… stuck in 1983. He's a little behind," Mike glanced up at the ceiling, feeling too awkward to look into her eyes while saying that.

"I don't follow…"

Mike sighed, but he felt like getting his feelings out today.

"Like, for example… We played D and D a couple of weeks ago. We used to play D and D all the time and have crazy ten hour campaigns. But when Will suggested that we start playing it again, it just didn't feel fun... and like… I wasn't into it. To be honest I was thinking about you the entire time and how much better it would be to spend time with you. I felt bad, like, I'm a terrible friend."

El jumped on top of Mike and kissed him on the lips, holding on to his face for dear life as she tried to cheer him up. Mike smooched her back but stopped quickly.

"I'm not finished," Mike said.

"Oh."

El was already awkwardly seated on top of him so she just remained silent with her arms around his neck.

"And like… we played that campaign for two hours, and I felt like calling it quits. I was so bored, I was about to fall asleep. But Will was so into it, I thought I was just going crazy. Then after the game was over I asked Dustin and Lucas if they liked it and they said no. They weren't really interested in it anymore."

Mike got quiet. He thought about what he would say next, feeling the emotions in his body get out of control.

"He's my best friend, El. Always has been since Kindergarten. I can't stop being his best friend, because there's no way I could find a better friend. We have so much history and I really care about him. And I know all the shit he's gone through with The Upside Down has been tough, and like, I should give him a pass because he deserves it. He really deserves a good life. But… I'm just not interested in the stuff he likes anymore. And I feel bad… because I like spending more time with you than him… and… shit… I don't know. I just feel terrible," Mike explained, frustratingly pulling the strands of his hair with his fingers.

El leaned her face into his as she caressed Mike's sad face with both hands. She never heard Mike talk about his friends like this. It hurt her to see him in this state.

"Mike………. You are a good friend," El softly said, barely making a smile appear on his face.

"I don't feel like I am. I used to be able to tell Will everything. I would tell him about how I missed you so much during those 353 days. I told him so much about you. Now I can't even tell him that I think D and D sucks now because I know it might hurt him. He was there for me when I needed him and now I don't feel like being with him as much. It's a shitty feeling."

El smiled, although her eyes were hurt with his current attitude.

El wished she could give him some good advice, but she's the one who was still learning how things worked. She couldn't give him much advice, but she did show him her support as always.

"You are trying your best, Mike."

Mike frustratingly sighed, already too deep in his feelings to stop talking.

"Life in general is pointless. Why should I go to school, have friends, watch TV, play my Atari, and all that stuff when I can just spend it with you?! If I'm being honest with you El, nothing makes me happy anymore that isn't you. There are things that make me sad, like, say, my parents arguing and my sister crying, but nothing makes me happier than you, and it sucks. Because what if one day, you……. You…."

Mike stopped himself from saying that next thought. He was already crying as he thought about El getting killed by some Demogorgon or Demodog. With the tears dripping down his face, he connected his lips to surprised El who also started crying when she saw his tears.

Mike was ferociously attacking her lips, fighting for dominance that he would eventually get.

His arms wrapped around her back, then he moved down to her waist. He couldn't control his urges any longer as he went down even further and grabbed her butt with both hands. El would be shocked by what he was doing, but it felt so good. She was too lost in his lips dominating her, and the way his hands were touching El made her feel amazing. It was hard to ignore how hard he was grabbing her butt.

"Mike," El mumbled, breathing heavily.

"Your hands are on my butt," El said, slightly smirking.

"Yeah. And?" Mike whispered in reply, lightly chuckling.

"Maybe I can… touch yours sometime?" El shyly asked.

Mike's eyes widened with shock. He wouldn't mind being objectified by El. It's probably the hottest thing he's ever thought about… at this point.

"Don't get your hopes up," Mike teased her.

They finished making out soon after and then El fell asleep on his chest with his arms wrapped around her.

Hopper got home about an hour later from work. The cabin door opening woke up El, but Mike was a heavy sleeper. Her hair was messy, and so was Mike's. El shook Mike's body, trying to get him to wake up, but he kept sleeping. El grabbed a pillow and lightly hit his face with it. That seemed to do the trick.

Mike slowly gained consciousness on where he was as he sat up and saw El smiling at him. He rubbed his eyes and gave her a questionable look.

"What?!" Mike said, sounding grumpy.

"Hopp's home."

"Boy, I love hearing that first thing when I wake up," Mike joked, still groggy from the nap.

El giggled and kissed his cheek. Mike stretched afterwards, smiling at how good it felt to feel her lips on his face.

"You gonna kiss me just there?" Mike jokingly asked with a grin.

El leaned in to his face and had a grin of her own.

"I don't know. Where else should I kiss you?"

"I can think of a lot of places," Mike replied, too groggy to understand how dirty he was being.

Mike and El started making out again. Mike officially woke up when she jumped on top of him. She loved overpowering a tired Mike, and Mike loved it even more.

"HEY!" Hopper shouted on the outside of the room as he saw the two teenagers expressing themselves.

Mike and El had a deer in the headlights look. El panicked, closing and locking the door with her powers.

"HEY! OPEN THIS DOOR!" Hopper yelled as he banged on the door with a closed hand.

The two got back in a more innocent position. El fixed her hair as best she could while Mike left his messy. They sat beside each other with space in between them. Mike tried to act casual by crossing his arms together; El didn't know what to do so she followed Mike's lead and crossed her arms.

"OPEN IT UP!!" Hopper yelled, getting impatient.

Mike and El looked and nodded at each other. El unlocked the door and opened it.

Hopper walked in and saw them casually sitting beside each other. Mike had the most punchable face while El was more serious.

"You two need to chill out with that stuff!" Hopper said.

"What stuff?! It sure is a lovely day out, huh?" Mike said, pretending to be innocent.

El busted out laughing and quickly covered her mouth with her hand as she kept laughing.

Hopper had no idea what to do. He couldn't really punish them for kissing but he couldn't act like it was okay to do that when he's there. He gave up and walked to his bed to get a much needed nap.