Hey guys! I'd like to thank everyone who left reviews last chapter, your kinds words are much appreciated. I got this chapter out as quick as I could, and it's entirely Mike and El, so I hope you'll like that. In the meantime, make sure to let me know what you think, the more feedback I get the harder I'll try to get the next chapter out. I already have it planned out.
Ang: I hope you'll like this chapter, then :)
Harley Grove: We have to get some of Will cock-blocking Mike, don't we? haha
El Henderson: Thanks for the compliments! I'm glad you enjoy Lumax too.
grievesforyou: Thank you so much, it means a lot!
Jonathan drove up the driveway toward his house, his brother in the passenger seat beside him. In the backseat sat Mike and El. He noticed that they were holding hands, and they had been since they stepped in the car. He internally sighed, knowing that in due time, they were going to have to tell her that they were leaving from Hawkins, and taking her with them.
"Alright, guys, we're here," he announced, opening the car door and stepping out. The rest of the gang hopped out of the vehicle after him and walked toward the front door. Jonathan opened it without knocking and held the door open for them as they walked into the living room. Their shoes were kicked off and thrown by the door carelessly, in typical teenage fashion.
Joyce greeted them when she walked around the corner. "Hey guys."
"Hi, Mrs. Byers," Mike replied politely. El gave a shy wave and smile, not quite meeting her eyes.
"Hi, El," Joyce said, approaching her slowly. "How are you feeling?"
"Okay, I guess," she said quietly. "Mike helps me."
"I know he does," Joyce replied, smiling at Mike for a brief moment. "Anyway, there's something that I'd like to talk to you guys about. It's really important."
Mike instantly felt a little bit nervous. Joyce probably wanted to talk to them about their current "living arrangements." While he understood that it was not possible for El to live in his basement for the rest of her life, he still was upset that the time for it was coming to an end. He had loved every second of living with her, even the times when she was crying or mad or sad or whatever. He just wanted to be with her. Regardless, he sincerely hoped that whatever Joyce had planned, that it would make El happy.
They all walked to the living area and sat down. Everyone was looking at El, and it was making her slightly uncomfortable. Shifting a little bit in her sitting position, she reached across the couch she was sitting on and grabbed Mike's hand and squeezed it. He squeezed back.
"So, El," Joyce began. "We know that you've been living with Mike for the past few nights."
El nodded. "Yes."
"And how has that been?"
El glanced over at Mike, and then back at Joyce. "It's been good."
Joyce pursed her lips and folded her hands together. "Well, the thing is… you can't live with Mike forever. We have to think about school, and Mike's parents and living situation, and the future for all of us."
El was quiet, still holding her gaze at Joyce. "How would you like living with me and the boys?"
Mike was expecting this question to come up. He knew that it was just a matter of time before Joyce made this gesture. What else would she have done? He knew that there was a place in her heart for El, a place that was made the day she stepped into that kiddie pool and found Will. And now Joyce had the chance to finally give something back to her; a new home. As soon as he found out that Hopper had died he knew that the person next in line to take care of her was Joyce.
"You want me to come live with you and… and Will and Jonathan?"
"Yes, we do," Joyce replied confidently. "Right, guys?"
Will and Jonathan both nodded, but something was wrong. Yes, something seemed off about them, for sure… like they knew something that they didn't. Was Joyce hiding something? And did Will and Jonathan know about it? "Does she even have an alternative?" Mike asked. It wasn't fair for El to not know what all of her choices were.
Joyce was caught off guard, not expecting Mike to be the one to suggest an alternative. This was El's best option by far. "Well… I guess if El really wanted to, we could send her to her Aunt's," she suggested. "Other than that, foster care is really the only alternative, but I don't think I'd let that happen."
"Okay," Mike said. "El, what do you think?"
El thought about the question. She loved the idea of living with Mike, but she understood what Joyce was saying; thinking in terms of the big picture, living in a basement just wasn't in the cards. She and Hopper had been talking about school, and she had been studying for the past six months with Hopper's cabin with his help. The plan was to enroll in school with the rest of the Party when they started grade nine in September. She also knew that having Mike's parents as her parents would not be a good idea at all, for a lot of reasons.
"Yes, I would like that," El smiled, looking around the room at everyone. "Thank you."
Joyce smiled and clapped her hands together. "Awesome. We've already figured out the living arrangements. Jonathan and Will were going to share Will's room, and maybe you could take Jonathan's old room?"
El nodded. The idea of having a larger room than the one in the cabin was appealing to her. A larger bed, larger closet for more clothes (which she had recently taken a liking to, thanks to Max), more space for her things. "Yes please, thank you," she said gratefully.
"We can start moving things from the cabin into the new room tomorrow if you guys want," she suggested. "It will probably have to be a group effort."
"I'm okay with that, I have nothing else to do," Mike said. "And we can have the rest of the party come over as well, and they'd definitely help too."
El smiled, already looking forward to the move. And living with the Byers really excited her; it would never replace Hopper, but having a real family to live with sounded promising.
"Maybe El and I can go over there and sort through some things? So we don't have to waste time tomorrow?" Mike piped up. He was really eager to spend as much time as possible with El before the relocated from his house.
"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea," Joyce smiled at him. "What do you think, El?"
El nodded shyly. Despite the fact that she had returned to the group over half a year ago, she had yet to really develop any real relationship with Joyce. Even with Will she had not really quite connected with yet; Will was nearly as shy and quiet as she was, even with the rest of the party. Maybe that would change in the future. But right now, having a full conversation with Joyce was making her feel slightly uncomfortable. But she knew Joyce well enough and was confident that she would do a great job taking care of her.
"Okay," Mike said. "Me and El can bike there from my house."
"Are you sure? We can give you a ride," Jonathan offered.
Mike looked to El. "Do you want to get a ride?" he asked, to which El gently shook her
head.
"Okay, we'll head out then. Thanks, Mrs. Byers," Mike got up from his seat and started to walk in the door. El followed.
"Wait, hold on," Joyce stood up and took a step toward them, holding a hand up. "When you guys are done, bring El back here. She can sleep in my bed, I'll take the couch."
Mike was about to object, wanting to spend just one more night will the girl he loved, but El beat him to the chase. "Is it okay if I sleep with Mike for one more night?" she questioned timidly, barely meeting Joyce's eyes.
Joyce opened her mouth but didn't speak. She closed it and exhaled. Mike felt a little bit awkward, kind of cringing at El's choice of words. She made it sound like they were having sex or something, and that definitely was NOT what the were doing. And Mike did not want El's new "mother" to get the wrong idea before she even officially adopted her. He needed to make that idea evidently clear for Joyce.
"We aren't actually… like… sleeping, sleeping together, just sleeping. Not sleeping, but, uh-" Mike stuttered.
"Yes, we are sleeping together. On the couch," El said, clearly not understanding the euphemism. Miked turned to Joyce with pleading eyes, begging her to understand that they weren't actually having sex yet, and she seemed to understand.
"Okay, fine, one more night," she caved. "But just remember that you better be careful with Mike's parents. If you guys hadn't already been staying there for five nights, I wouldn't allow this."
El beamed, and it was the first time Joyce had seen El genuinely smile since Starcourt. She had a beautiful smile, and she found it contagious because then she was smiling too. "Alright, you two. Take care."
"Thanks, Mrs. Byers," Mike said, and El waved goodbye and they stepped out the door, closing it behind them.
They had been walking in comfortable silence for about twenty minutes. They were coming close to the cabin where El's old home was, and Mike was feeling very apprehensive about it.
He wanted to come here to help El sort through her things, so she could decide what she wanted to bring back with her to Joyce's house. But he was worried that going into the cabin would be hard for her; she had endured in a lot of trauma that night; they all had. And the last thing that El needed was to get some kind of panic attack at just the sight of the cabin. And with each passing moment, as they drew closer to the old wooden house, he found himself getting more and more anxious for El. What if something happened? A panic attack or something? Was this a good idea?
"How are you feeling?" he asked her, sneaking a glance in her direction.
El hesitated for a few moments. "Okay, I guess," she replied. "Kind of… nervous."
"Why are you nervous?"
"I don't know," she said, confusion written on her face. "What if there is something there?"
"In the cabin?"
"Yes."
"There's nothing in there, El," Mike assured her. He stopped walking and grabbed her hand. "The gate was closed, so that means everything is gone. But if you don't want to come here, we don't have to."
El searched her boyfriend's face and found that as she looked at it, she grew less afraid of going into the cabin. If Mike was with her, it would be okay. She'd be okay.
"No, it's fine. I want to go," she said, nodding her head confidently. "I just want you to be with me."
"I'll be with you the whole time, El," he responded and pulled her in to hug her. El clung onto him as well, her hands rubbing his shoulder blades. His scent comforted her in a way nothing else did. She closed her eyes and sighed deeply.
They parted and continued on the walk, and soon the cabin came into view. El inhaled sharply. "Are you sure about this?" she heard Mike ask for the second time. She smiled, finding his concern for her cute and endearing. After giving a curt nod of her head in reply, she kept going. She heard Mike's footsteps behind her, and knowing that he was following, she kept walking on, head held high.
Before she knew it, she was standing on the rickety porch of the old house. The door was already part of the way open; thank goodness for that, because if it had been locked she would not have been able to use her powers to open it. She put her hand on the door handle and pushed, stepping inside.
Her heart skipped a beat when she looked around. Seeing her home like this was… heartbreaking. The wooden flooring and rugs that had been set down when they moved were covered in bloodstains; from who, she did not know, but she assumed most of it was from her. There was a gaping hole in the ceiling, below which were several splinters of wood and debris that had fallen on the floor. In the walls, there were two more smaller holes that had been bashed in by the Mindflayer's tentacles. The pots and pans and silverware in the kitchen was almost entirely knocked on the floor and shattered. It looked like a bomb had gone off right in the middle of the living room, and it had completely blown up the location where the only good part of her life had taken place.
El felt her emotions start to take over as she walked deeper into the cabin, whilst still processing all the damage that had been done. And with each new detail she took in, each crack in the wall, each shattered window, each broken item, she felt another fissure open up in her heart.
And then suddenly she felt a pair of arms wrap around her waist from behind her. Upon realizing they were Mike's she leaned her back up against him and took a shaky breath in and squeezed her eyes shut. "Do you want to leave?" Mike asked softly in her ear.
She shook her head. "No, I want to see my room."
She unwillingly eased herself out of Mike's embrace and padded her way through the middle of the room and toward the door of her bedroom. This door was closed, but not locked. She put her hand on the doorknob, but could not bring herself to open it.
"We'll go in together, okay?" Mike told her. He grabbed her other hand with his and placed his other hand on the doorknob over hers. "Ready?"
"Ready."
And they turned the doorknob simultaneously and stepped into the room. El breathed a
deep sigh of relief. Despite the condition of the living room, her room remained almost completely unscathed. All of her drawings and photos and books and music and radio were still there, calling to her. Her limited collection of clothes that had recently expanded was hanging in the open closet in the corner. Her bed was messy and the sheets were thrown about. And all of it put together gave her an overwhelming sense of comfort. A sense of home. But she knew beyond the door she had just walked through, things were much different. But for now, she was in her room. Looking at it made her happy. Her eyes fell on the photos on the shelf in front of her.
A smile broke out across her face and she felt tears start to form. She couldn't actually tell if they were tears of sadness from her home being destroyed or tears of joy from the fact that all of her personal belongings had somehow been preserved. Perhaps it was a combination of both.
"El, is everything okay?" Mike asked when he saw her start to cry. She turned around and hugged him tightly, standing on her tiptoes so she could wrap her arms around his neck.
"Yes," she whispered. "I'm happy that all of my things are still here."
Mike grinned deeply. It brought him so much pleasure to know that for the first time in nearly a week, the girl he loved seemed to be genuinely happy. "I'm happy about that too," he murmured, absentmindedly stroking his fingers through her beautiful hair. "Although, I wouldn't have been so upset if that picture of me in the Ghostbusters costume was broken."
"Hey!" El gasped, pulling out of the hug immediately. "That's my second favorite photo of you!"
"Yeah, well, it's my least favorite photo of me," he said laughing. She laughed back at him and went to grab the frame.
"How can you not like it?" she asked incredulously. "Look how cute you were."
Mike faked vomiting. "I look stupid. God, I remember being the only person in school to dress up that Halloween."
"Really? You never told me that," El said.
"Yeah, probably 'cause I was too embarrassed. It was awful."
El smiled playfully, and walked along the rest of her dresser, dragging her fingertips along
the edge of the wooden piece of furniture. She admired the other items on the shelf. Her eyes fell on a photo of the two of them at the snowball, which had been taken by Jonathan. It was beautiful; she was all done up in her makeup and her curly hair had been styled, and she was wearing that beautiful dress. And Mike looked so handsome in that suit, with his hair combed, and he had smelled so good that night.
"This is my first favorite photo, by the way," she said quietly, almost only to herself. Mike walked beside her and eyed the photo.
"Nah, I think this is my favorite one," he said, holding back laughter. He pointed to a piece of paper taped on the wall that was a drawing of him, done by El.
El squealed in embarrassment. "Oh, my God, why do I still have that up?" she cried, covering her eyes with her hands, but she could not hide the smile tugging at her lips.
"You have it up because I like it," Mike replied. "But I'm kidding. That's my favorite photo of you, too."
"Photo of us," she corrected.
"Yeah, photo of us."
They stood beside each other, admiring the framed photograph for a long amount of time. Mike reached over and plucked the mixtape off the desk. "Do you remember when I gave you this?" he asked.
"Of course," she replied. "Valentine's Day."
"I asked Jonathan to help me make it," he said. "I had never really talked to Jonathan one on one before. I wish I had an older brother like him."
"What about Nancy?"
"Eh," Mike scrunched his face. "I love Nancy, you know, but… I still think it would be cooler to have an older brother."
Eh nodded, and took the mix-tape from Mike's hand. "What are you doing?" he asked with a chuckle.
"You'll see," she replied teasingly. She popped open her radio and put the tape in. Her finger pressed the play button, and after a few seconds, the first song started to play out through the room. Never Surrender by Corey Hart.
"I heard this song on the car radio, and I immediately thought of you," Mike explained. He would never tell his friends, but ever since he had El back in his life he found that he really liked this "lovey-dovey" music, as he called it. It made him think of El, and he had decided to put all of his favorite ones together in a mix-tape and give it to her. Turns out, it had been a really good idea.
El sat down on her bed, where the sheets were still rustled and in a mess. "Come here," she instructed.
"Yes, ma'am," Mike replied and did a mock salute. She laughed. Mike's humor, although sometimes strange and a little bit awkward, never failed to amuse her. He took a single step before El got up herself and met him halfway, and tilted her head upward and pulled his head down to hers.
In a moment of pure bliss for both of them, their lips met. Then separated, and quickly met again, repeatedly exchanging quick pecks, and each one grew longer and more passionate until the reached a point where they were no longer separating, but were rather locked together in a passionate bond.
El's hands found Mike's shoulders and pulled him down with her as she lay down in bed, her head connecting with the pillow. Being careful not to crush her, he laid onto his girlfriend, placing some of his weight on his knees and right elbow that was placed just beside her. But El had other ideas, and set her palms flat on his upper back and pulled him in closer so that no part of her body was not being touched by his.
The feeling of being so close to her made Mike's mind foggy, and he started to feel the sensation of arousal growing in his crotch. He was about to pull away, not wanting to confuse of hurt El, but he was pleasantly shocked when El curled her fingers into his hair and started to gently move her hips upward to meet his lower body. Then she lowered them. Then raised them. Lowered them. Raised. Lowered.
The repetition of the movement drove him crazy, and soon he found himself meeting her, their lower bodies connecting over and over again, and with each connection, endorphins exploded from his head and into the rest of his body. He was actually doing this. He was full-on grinding her, and he was loving it.
Meanwhile, El felt like she was in true heaven. To be in this moment with Mike, being so intimate with him without having to worry about being interrupted was something that she only dreamed about. And being here, now, experiencing this with him for the first time was nothing short of glorious.
Her thoughts went to one of the magazines she had read about some of the things people could do together. She had been eager to try some of those things, but now that she found herself in the moment, and despite her mind being clouded by her hormones, she still found herself second-guessing herself. What if she did something wrong? What if Mike didn't like something? What if she didn't like something? She also remembered reading that most of these things were to be done at an older age, and she was still only fourteen. Perhaps those things were better to wait for.
But that didn't mean she couldn't just have a great make-out session with her boyfriend.
She rolled over so that she was now on top of him, and she attacked his neck. She sucked and licked the skin lovingly and thoroughly. All while continuing to rhythmically drive her hips into his over and over again. The moans escaping Mike's lips drove her on, as she slowly moved her lips along his neck, going from the right side, then to the middle under his chin, and his left side.
Her mouth went back onto Mike's, whose lips had parted and allowed her tongue access into his mouth. His tongue snaked out and met hers, and they danced together as one. After a few more minutes, El rolled onto the bed beside Mike, and stared at the ceiling,
"That was nice," she said, almost giddy from what had just transpired.
"Yeah, it was," Mike replied, equally stunned.
El cuddled up beside him, resting her head on his chest, and he placed his arm around
her shoulders. And to the sound of the music playing in the background softly, they lay there together for the rest of the day.
