Hey guys, I'm back. I'm really sorry about the long wait, school has been crazy ever since I posted the last chapter. But I worked really hard to finish all the homework I had yesterday, so I'm focusing on writing for the rest of the weekend. I might be able to get the next chapter out soon. Let me know how badly you want it in the reviews :)

Also, I'd like to give you guys a brief heads-up about this chapter; it's pretty intense and there's a lot of upsetting things going on. One of the things that I realized about the last episode of S3 was how awkward Mike and El were together. Something had happened since Starcourt and when they left, and a whole bunch of people had thought of reasons why. This is my take on why they were awkward, or at least the beginning of it. We're kind of approaching the end of this "part" of the story. After the move, there's a whole new platform for me to work with, which I'm really excited about. As I've said, I plan to be invested in this story for the long run, so make sure to drop a follow!

39CluesStrangerThings-Star: I don't think she is...

Guest: Thank you so much! I'm glad your enjoying it. Let me know what you think of this chapter!

HarleyGrove: Thank you! Yeah, it was pretty out of the blue, wasn't it?

Vader115: Yup :(

Guest: Don't worry, I assure you it will end well for them.

Guest: Let's see...

Luna0605: I guess we will see about when Joyce tells El about the move. I'm still thinking about how I want to play that. I hope you stick around to see it!

Julliak: Yeah... let's see how he does in this chapter!

As soon as El turned away from Mike was already moving toward her even faster than he was before. And then she started to run, quickly putting one foot in front of the other and not looking back. On instinct, like a magnet in his heart was pulling him, he took off as well. He ignored the calls and protests from his friends telling him to stop and leave her alone, or to give her space. No, he wouldn't do that. He had to get to El and tell her what was going on. He had to tell that the lie he told was something that he did for her own good. It was something he did so he wouldn't have to see her in constant pain for the rest of her life, waiting for Hopper to return when he never would.

But he knew that El would not be so reasonable; she was brimming with emotion, he knew that. And he knew that she was fuming at him right now for lying. He also knew that above all, she was a woman. And women operate based on emotions, not logic. But hopefully he could make her see his logic for doing what he did.

El was surprisingly fast, and as they reached the woods, Mike was having a hard time keeping up. But as soon as they reached denser trees, he was proven to be the faster runner. El's still healing leg might have helped, too.

"El!" he called out in desperation as he started to close the distance. "El, wait!" She still didn't stop, and kept trying to maintain the gap in between them. "El, please, wait up!" He finally caught up with her and grabbed her shoulders. She whirled around and did something that he never thought she would ever do in a million years.

She slapped him. Hard.

His heart stung more than the side of his face. Shock spread through his entire body. As he moved his hand up to feel the place where his skin was throbbing, he looked at her face and felt sick to his stomach. Her eyes were red and puffy, and there were tears splashed all over her eyelids and cheeks. Her mouth seemed to be frozen in something between a scowl and an expression that he couldn't even put his finger on; a face of pure sadness and anger and betrayal. It was gut wrenching.

"El, I…"

"Shut up, Mike," she spat at him, and turned around again.

"I can explain, I was just-"

"No!" she screamed at him, turning on her heel to look him dead in the eye. "You always said friends don't lie. But you keep lying!"

"But I only lied because-"

"You lied about your nana in July. You said that you would never lie again. But you did! You lied again!"

"But-"

"I don't care why! You lied! Friends don't lie! Boyfriends don't lie! Girlfriends don't lie! I never lie to you!" Her voice was breaking, she could no longer fight the tears that were streaming down her face. She was gasping for air.

"W-why would you lie about H-H-Hopper? Why would you not tell me that my d-dad could be alive? All this time I thought he was dead!" she yelled, her voice catching in her throat over and over again.

"Because I thought that you would get past him sooner! I didn't want to see you in pain for longer than I had to? Don't you understand? If you had thought he was alive, you'd spend the rest of your life waiting for him to come back when he never will!"

El recoiled like she had struck. He suddenly realized what he had said. He immediately started back pedaling. "El, I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like that.."

"Why would it be so bad if I did spend the rest of my life waiting for him?! Just knowing that he might be alive gives me at least some hope! All I've felt for the whole summer is just a pit in my stomach that no one else can fill!"

"What are you talking about!?" Mike yelled back. He was growing frustrated. Why was El behaving so irrationally? Could she not see the sense in his actions. And she had fucking hit him! What the fuck was wrong with her? "You've been fine!"

"And how the fuck would you know!? All you've been trying to do is have sex with me! At least Hopper cared! At least Hopper didn't lie!"

"He lied to you about everything! He was the one who made me lie to you in the first place!" Mike screamed back, tears clouding his vision and anger fury (with both El and himself) clouding his mind. He felt like he was past the point of getting her to calm down, and right now he was trying to defend himself, because it was clear that she was now being irrational. And the fact that she was saying all these things to him made him feel like there was an icicle being driven straight through his soul. How was he being compared to Hopper right now, after he went out of his way to break them up? Why was she being so mad at him for something as small as a little white lie?

"Maybe he realized what a shitty person you are!" El shrieked in rage. "Maybe he wanted me to spend some time with other people, like Max!"

"Okay, then go spend some more fucking time with Max!" Mike yelled throwing his arms

up in the air. "Just get out of my face!" He was panting, adrenaline firing through his body. He had never been more angry in his life. His throat was burning, having been ripped raw from his shouting. He was sure that every animal in the entire forest was running away from their position.

El stared back at him, her eyes wet and chest heaving equally as hard as Mike's. The look in her eyes was something he had never seen before. If she still had her powers, he was positive that she would have used them to throw him against a tree or something by now. But fortunately, that would not be the case. After staring at him for a few more moments, he she turned around without a word and walked away quickly.

Mike watched her beautiful figure slowly dissipate into the shadows until he could no longer see her. He waited until she was out of immediate earshot, and that's when he let go. The lump in his throat that was so large it felt like he could have vomited finally erupted and he collapsed to his knees. All the pent up anger and helplessness and frustration and sadness was released in an instant with a blood-curdling scream that made it feel like his vocal cords were being shredded. It was a cry of pure pain and rage. Rage at Dustin for getting drunk like some fucking alcoholic and blabbering to El about Hopper; rage at El for being so unreasonable and slapping him and treating him so poorly; and most of all, rage with himself for lying. For not chasing after El, for not trying harder to convince her that it wasn't his fault. And now the girl that he loved more than anything was walking out of his life. Except this time it was not because of Hopper, or anyone else. It was because of him. Because of her.

This truly felt like the end of what they had. And all he felt was just a sinking feeling of despair that incomparable to anything he had ever felt before. He felt the tears run down his cheeks and watched them fall onto the dry summer forest floor. What was he going to do? Was he going to go back to Steve's? Was he going to go home? Was he going to go to the Byers'? He did not know.

With a clenched jaw and bared teeth, he flung himself up from his knees and strided toward a tree. He stared at it, his vision seeming to be flashing red, sirens in his mind wailing. He let out another savage yell and punched the tree as hard as he could. He barely felt a thing. But he felt his skin split open, and he could now feel a warm, sticky wetness trickling in between his fingers and knuckles.

Pacing back and forth, he made up his mind about what to do.

He turned back to the direction that he had come from and started to walk quickly toward Steve's house. He wiped his eyes furiously, he did not want to look like some kind of pussy in front of all the rest of his friends. The only person that he felt comfortable to cry like this in front of was El. And thinking about crying in front of El just made him more angry, and once again his heart started to pound in his ribcage, which seemed to be in sync with the involuntary contractions of his fists.

The Harrington house came into view, the lights on the patio illuminating the edge of the forest. As he got closer, he was able to make out the rest of his friends are still standing by the pool, anxiously looking in his general direction, with arms crossed or over their heads in worry. He pushed his way through some low-hanging branches and made himself visible to the rest of the Party. Steve was the first to notice him, and he immediately started to make his way over to the disheveled looking boy.

Concern flashed across his face when he saw Mike. His eyes were puffy and bloodshot, and his hands were balled into fists so tight his knuckles were turning white. And speaking of knuckles, one of them looked fucked up pretty good; it looked like he was going to need stitches.

"Jesus Christ, Mike, what happened?" Steve asked, his voice laced with worry. This was not how this night was supposed to go. Mike ignored his question and continued his pace toward his target. Steve ignored it and continued talking while walking beside him. "It looks like you might need some ice or something for that hand, yeah? Want me to get you some? I'm gonna go get you some." Without waiting for a reply, he darted back into the house, tripping slightly on his way up the short flight of stars.

As he got closer to the center of the deck, his eyes focused on one thing. The voices of his friends all got drowned out, as if he was hearing them from underwater. His face bent itself into a snarl and without hesitation, he reeled back and swung his closed, bloodied fist right into the face of Dustin.

It was a good punch, he had to admit. There was a lot more give than when he had hit the tree. Except this time he had felt a lot more pain because he had already hit a tree, but he just simply winced and ignored it. He had caught him right in the jaw; he had never been in a fight before, but he knew there was a nerve there that, if hit, would send a person straight to the ground. (He read that in a book his Mom had gotten him when he was younger so that he could defend himself from bullies like Troy.)

And like the book had said, Dustin slumped over and fell to the ground like a sack of potatoes. He fell back and landed on his back looking dazed and nearly unconscious, his head tilting back swaying side to side. Mike was still flaming with anger, and was about to get on top of him and continue, but before he could two pairs of arms were wrapped around his body and were pulling him away from Dustin.

"Mike! Jesus Christ, what the fuck is wrong with you?!"

"That piece of shit told El everything!" Mike screamed with rage, on the verge of delirium. "She fucking slapped me!"

"Okay, fine, but that's not Dustin's fault!" Will yelled, struggling to pin his friend's arm down. Meanwhile, unbeknownst to the rest of them, Dustin was finding his own way off the ground. He lifted his hand to feel his jaw, where there was already a swollen bump and a lot of soreness. He tasted blood in his mouth and realized that he had bitten down on his tongue when he had fallen probably. And then he was on his feet again, having been sobered up from being punched in the fucking face.

He moved toward Mike and his two friends who were still yelling at one another, both of Mike's hands being restrained by the boys. WIthout hesitation, Dustin balled up his right fist and swung it upward right into his opponents sternum. Mike gasped and folded like a piece of paper, his mouth agape but with no air coming in or out. He rolled onto his side, sucking in stuttery and uneven breaths.

Lucas and Will stumbled back after witnessing Mike fall, both of them too stunned to even piece together a sentence. Max had been standing on the sidelines the whole time, observing the situation with wide eyes and thumping heart. It occurred to her that El was probably alone in the woods somewhere, so she took advantage of the ruckus and dashed toward the trees before anyone could see her.

"Dustin, calm the fuck down!" Lucas shouted, moving toward him with his arms raised.

"Piss off, Lucas," Dustin spat, and slapped his hands away only to be met with Will, who was standing in between him and Mike.

"Dustin, back off," he said, trying to sound intimidating. But he was nearly half a foot shorter than Dustin and was probably fifty pounds less, and both of them knew that. But all Dustin could focus on was the taste of coppery blood in his mouth and the pounding in his jaw, and how badly he wanted to give Mike what was coming to him.

Mike had positioned himself in such a way that he was facing away from the kerfuffle, and he still appeared to be balled up in the fetal position. Dustin shoved Will out of the way and he fell down, and he moved toward Mike. But when he got within a few feet, Mike sprang from the ground and plowed into Dustin head on. Between his height and Dustin's extra weight the two were fairly matched, but neither seemed to be able to overpower the other.

Just when it looked like Dustin had a stable hold on Mike's legs and was about to flip him over, Steve and Robin came charging out from the backdoor, yelling and screaming for them to stop. Neither of them paid any attention until Steve was right there and yanked them apart.

"Holy fuck!" Steve screeched, his voice an octave higher than usual. "What the fuck are you guys doing?!"

"He punched me in the fucking face for no fucking reason!" Dustin shouted, pointing an accusing finger at Mike.

"He told El about how I lied and Hopper could be alive, and she broke up with me! For real this time!" he screamed back, trying to hide his tears but failing. He was hoping that it was dark enough so that they wouldn't see, but he was not so lucky.

"What, are you fucking crying now?" Dustin mocked. "Fucking wimp. Are you sad that El isn't going to be able to suck you off anymore, or what?"

"Shut up!" Mike bellowed, and ran into Dustin and tacked him onto the ground like a football player. Then both of them were on the ground again, throwing blind punches and grabbing body parts with little success.

Steve was pushed back his breaking point and, taking advantage of his greateer strength, grabbed Mike by his shoulders and yanked him backward so hard his feet nearly left the ground. He placed himself in between the two panting teens and stretched his arms out to keep them apart.

"Dustin. Get the fuck in the house. Mike stay out here. Lucas, Will, you guys split up. You can go wherever you want." Everyone was silent for a moment, before Dustin spat out another spew of blood onto the deck and walked into the house. Lucas and Will exchanged glances and decided who was going where without speaking. Lucas went in to join Dustin and Steve in the house, and Will stayed back with Mike and Robin.

Mike watched menacingly as Dustin disappeared into the house, followed by Steve and Lucas, who were both talking to one another, but Mike couldn't hear their exact words. As soon as the door closed, he finally let himself go and broke into another round of tears. He collapsed into the chair behind him and put his head in his hands, his shoulders shaking and chest heaving.

After taking a shaky breath in, he rubbed his face hard downward, and looked up to face Will, who was staring at him. "What happened?" he asked, looking worried for his friend.

Mike wiped his swollen eyes again, trying to not look too upset in front of Will, but he knew his efforts would be in vain. He stared at him. "El's mad at me. Really mad," he said. "That you lied? Or what you lied about?"

"Both," he said. "And I said some things that I shouldn't have."

"Like what?"

Mike stared into space, not knowing if he should tell him. "Just some stuff about Hopper," he settled with.

"Damn," he said, not knowing what else to respond with. It occurred to him that in not even twelve more hours he would have to go back to his house, where El would most certainly be. That would put him in awkward situation. His best friend had just been probably heart broken by some girl that was now living with him. He had never really considered the long term results of living with El; sure, he liked her (as a friend, of course) and was grateful for her doing everything that she had done for her friend group. But if the day that her and Mike ever broke up would one day come, what would he do? Just continue to live with the girl that Mike would undoubtedly hate? I'll think about it when the time comes, he thought.

"Look, I'm sure you guys will figure stuff out, Mike," he reasoned. "You did last time. She's just angry. Once she's cooled off, you guys will make up."

"Will, you don't understand," Mike cried out in despair. "She fucking slapped me. She slapped me in the fucking face!" he screamed. "She doesn't want anything to do with me anymore!"

"Mike that's bullcrap, and you know that. You guys are in love!"

"You don't know that," Mike huffed, burying his face back into his sweaty palms. Mike did love El. He knew that he did. But he had never been sure if El had loved him; he was too nervous to ask, and to worried to tell her that he loved her for fear of her not saying it back. But he was sure that she didn't, or never would, love him now.

"Not anymore," Mike said, and got out of his chair. He started to walk toward the front of the house.

"Where are you going?" Will asked exasperatedly, throwing his arms out and letting them fall at his sides. "It's fucking dark, Mike. You can't walk home." He was growing frustrated, Mike was acting like an idiot.

"I'm not planning on going home. I just need to get out of here," he sighed, zipping up his hoodie up a little bit tighter.

"So you're just gonna walk around on the road?"

"Yeah. And don't try to stop me."

Will stared at him, upset and frustrated. But he knew that no matter how hard he tried, Mike was not going to budge. He knew him well; he was stubborn, bordering on arrogant at times, and if he wanted to do this then that was what he was going to do.

"Fine," he muttered. "Just… try to stay safe, okay?"

"Uh-huh," he mumbled, and turned to walk toward the front walk.

Mike found himself walking along the dirt road by Mirkwood. He was getting hit with waves of flash, but not the good kind. This was the exact place Will had disappeared over a year ago. This was the place where him, Lucas, and Dustin had ventured out to find their friend. They were just twelve years back then. Now it had been two years, and so much had changed. But was it for the better or for the worse?

He had met El; the most important person in his life. The girl who he had fallen in love with within less than a week, the girl that he had waited for for nearly a year to come back, the girl that he made spent hours making out with every day for the last seven months. That was good. There was also no doubt that the experience had certainly brought him and the rest of the guys closer together, but at what cost? A large one, clearly.

Hopper was dead; the town's chief of police was no longer around. Billy was dead. Bob was dead. Barbara and other kids from last year were dead. So many people had died. The town had been touched with tragedy. Twice. The mall was burned down. His life for a year and a half had felt like a dream that he would never wake up from.

He inhaled deeply and tried to collect his thoughts. What was he going to do with El? Maybe he should just back off for a little bit. It wouldn't help for him to go running at her now, he would just get slapped. His best chance would be for him to wait for at least a day, and then go back to her. If he explained everything again, with more detail, when they were both more calm, she would understand, right? There was no reason for her not too. And for all he knew, perhaps she had already thought about it and realized that he was right.

Now that she knew about Hopper, she would be waiting for him to come back for the rest of her life. And she had lost her powers, so there was no way for her to go into the void to find him. If she had had her powers, than that would have been the first thing to do. But no; they didn't have that option.

So she would be stuck in a pit, a pit of hope that she would never get out of. And all because of fucking Dustin. Fuck. He felt his blood start pumping harder as soon as he thought of him. God damn it. Everything was going fine. Him and El probably could have been having sex in the bedroom by this time. They had been drunk and happy, and that time they had been having before the fireworks started happening had been… magical. There bare skin pressed against each other, moving and grinding together, being able to feel and see her naked front had been… fucking beautiful.

And now he wasn't sure if he wasn't sure if he was ever going to experience that again. Would he ever hear her laugh or see her smile? Would he ever get to answer any of her questions about the world? Would he ever get to hug her and breath in her smell and run his hands through her hair? Would they ever make out, or even exchange little pecks on the lips when they said hi or good-bye? Would they ever more forward in their relationship?

He didn't know.

And that's it. I hope you guys didn't find it too upsetting, but I assure you, things end well for them. (As you saw in the show.) But just know that there is a bumpy road ahead. As always drop a review, they encourage me a lot and let me know that you guys are liking what you see! Take it easy guys, love you all 3

PS. I apologize for any typos, didn't want to reread everything again. Just wanted to get this as soon as possible XD