Hey chillen! I decided that I wanted to do a second chapter today because I can and I'm bored so here ya are! (Make sure to R&R because i need validation lol)

After she had gotten home that evening, she had called Max, and Max had spent the better part of an hour trying to convince her that Mike wasn't that bad, a conversation which had so far been had a total of 312 times and, surprise, surprise, El still wasn't buying it- because, Max insists- she's a petty child. "How can you say he's nice, he goes out of his way to make my life miserable," El yelled angrily into the phone.

"It's not like you're a saint El!" Max argued. "You literally just fed his Science homework to Dustin's cat YESTERDAY." "That," El replied stubbornly, "was payback for when he stole my diary and threw it in the bin." Max sighed exasperatedly. " Which was payback for when you pushed him into the pool fully clothed at the barbecue the other day, El! Remember?"

El paused for a second, lost in thought. She grinned fondly, recalling how cute he looked with his eyes sparkling and his hair all curly and- she cleared her throat. "Um yeah, I remember," she said, embarrassed.

"Good." Max sighed tiredly. "Are we done then, El?" she asked hopefully. "Yeah... see you tomorrow M," El replied. As soon as she hit the end call button, Max sighed in relief. "Ugh," she groaned.

Suddenly, an idea struck her and a mischievous smile crept it's way across her face. Grabbing her phone, she sent a group text to Will, Lucas and Dustin. She had the perfect plan to stop Mike being a wishy-washy asshole with his feelings and El from being so annoyed all the time.

Will and Dustin texted back immediately. "I'm in." Dustin texted. "Operation: Get Mike and El to Confess Their Feelings is a go!" Will texted back and Lucas merely texted, "Thank god." Max smiled and got to work.

It was Saturday night, and D&D was already set up on the table, as usual, with the players huddled around, pizza boxes surrounding them, and packets of every type of snack imaginable scattered over the floor.

Mike was reading, as he was the best (they had held a vote, and it was unanimous, even El, albeit grudgingly) but even she had her full focus on Mike now as he told the story, her eyes wide and hair in a messy bun (Max had taught her) while she listened, her knees pulled up to her chest and she was so focused her pencil, which was on the desk, was hovering several centimeters off of the table.

Everyone else was in a similar state of interest and intense concentration, and it was attention Mike greatly relished, as he described the gory way the monster tore into his newest meal, a huge, fat goat. El's eyes were the size of dinner plates now, he noted with satisfaction, and he decided there would be no harm in a little fun between frenemies.

Mike, going off-script, stood up from the table, everyone's eyes transfixed on his every move. He and El were sitting next to one another for an unknown reason, so he had to go counter-clockwise around the table, pausing behind each player to whisper something in their ears to make them shudder with fear.

El's POV

El couldn't tell what he was saying to them, her impatience growing as he approached her. Now behind her, he leaned down, his mouth next to her ear, soft breath tickling the back of her ear and sending a shiver through her completely unrelated to the game currently being played.

She tried to tamp down these (not unfamiliar) feelings flooding her system, with minimal success. Trying to ignore them, she closed her eyes, anticipating the fear inducing sentence that would shock her to the depths of her soul coming.

Instead, as he got closer, his mouth practically on her neck now, all he did was tilt his head slightly, take her earlobe into his mouth and bite down gently. Forgetting the fact everyone was watching, wide eyed and expectant now, she let out a tiny gasp, feeling embarrassed but also very attracted to hi- wait, what is she saying? Nope, nope, nope, that is SO not happening.

Standing up suddenly, her face all blotchy and feeling heat everywhere, she turned to Mike incredulously, as he smirked at Lucas, who was barely stifling a laugh.

"What. The. FUCK, Mike?" She said furiously, a jab of her finger to his chest punctuating each word, anger pervading her senses and- THANK god- overriding the intense attraction.

He had the grace, at least, to act slightly sheepishly. "Sorry," he said half-nervously, "I just wanted to see how you'd react."

"Just wanted to see how I'd react?! Seriously, Mike?" She said self-consciously, only vaguely aware of the hot tears running down her cheeks, wiping them away angrily. She turned to leave, gathering her stuff and running up the stairs, storming out of the door to the basement in a huff. Mike swore loudly and ran after her, not even pausing to grab his coat.

Lucas, Max, Dustin and Will now sat in silence, not awkwardly, just not having any words. Lucas signed heavily and buried his face in his hands, muttering about 'blind idiots who are really just quite stupid' and Dustin leaned back, muttering, "Looks like Putting them next to each other was a bust."

But Max, with a strange glint in her eye, smiled strangely and said, "Don't be so sure, guys, I've got a good feeling about this."

Ok, cool! Next chapter will be the stand-off, aka. Mike and El in the rain after she storms out. Reviews = motivation & love. Ok, have fun surviving corona! Also, make sure to check out my other stories (more recnt ones, the old ones are pretty shite, ngl. Byeeeeeeeee!