III. REALITY IN MOTION

Trying to be patient, I'm feeling ancient
Trying to control but the wave that I'm facing
Suppose that I didn't care anymore

"I can't stop picturing her sitting on the freaking toilet and bawling her eyes out," Eleven said with a hiccup, "all alone in that big, expensive fucking house".

She took a gulp of the drink (a vodka shot) she was currently holding.

"And he will act as if he doesn't even notice," she continued.

Tears were running down her face.

Her and Max's college friends shared nervous glances amongst themselves: their usually carefree friend was acting a lot unlike herself. Nobody but Max had the slightest clue about who or what Eleven was even talking about.

"El? Ellie, come on. Let's go to the bathroom for a moment," the redhead said as she all but pulled her heartbroken friend towards the big, empty bathroom of the luxurious flat they were currently in.

"She's really, really drunk, guys. I'm so sorry, we had some drinks before coming here," she continued apologetically, trying to make up an excuse to ease a bit the uncomfortable atmosphere amongst their friends, who were gathered on the living room.

Truth was, the only thing El had had to drink before the vodka shot was a single bottle of beer… and she'd had it half an hour ago, when Max and her had first arrived to their friend's flat. On the other hand, if Max had learned something from the countless parties and underage drinking the both of them had done over their high school years, it was that Eleven could really hold her liquor.

The redhead knew for a fact that, right now, her best friend was not drunk at all. However, she had never seen El acting like this before – either drunk or sober.

As soon as Max managed to successfully push her brunette friend into a sitting position on top of the closed toilet and close the door, Eleven began sobbing.

"It's going to be okay," Max muttered comfortingly as she folded some toilet paper and handed it to her friend, "it will be alright tomorrow."

"NO IT WON'T! NOTHING WILL BE OKAY TOMORROW," El screamed in irritation as she waved her friend's hands away.

"You know what will happen tomorrow, Max?" she let out a hysterical giggle, "tomorrow I will have an excuse not to think about any of it and you know what? I won't. I won't think about it and I'll pretend to have this happy, carefree life because I'm just a fucking coward who couldn't even protect her own moth-"

"–Ellie, you don't have to think about it today either, we can have fun like we always do on shitty days like this and you can forget all about that," Max interrupted, trying to soothe her agitated best friend.

"No, Max. This time… thi-it was different, she was… she's not doing ok," the brunette said with a trembling, sad voice.

Eleven thought about the faraway look on her mother's brown eyes and the haggard look of her face, it spoke of the kind of suffering that not even makeup could quite cover. She remembered the look of distaste and annoyance on her stepfather's face when he looked and talked about her mother.

"You didn't see her," El finally stated.

She thought about that sinking feeling of absolute dread she'd felt throughout that video call with her mother and Brenner.

Everything was terrible.

And she could do absolutely nothing about it.

"Is there anything at all we can do to help her right now?" the redhead asked.

The brunette looked up feeling hopeless.

"N-no," Eleven answered in defeat, knowing it all too well.

"We have tried so many times, so many times," Max said.

Eleven knew her friend was right.

"I'm not saying we give up, Ellie, but at least we would have to think of a different approach to the literally thousands of ones we have already been unsuccessfully trying for the past ten fucking years."

El sniffled and, with trembling hands, tried to wipe her wet face and eyes with the toilet paper her friend had handed her and then left on the corner of the sink.

"Today, when we are feeling desperate and depressed and angry, is not the best time to come up with something," the redhead continued matter-of-factly.

Ever since sophomore year, when Max had officially assumed responsibility over her fearless and passionate friend, she had become the voice of reason. It had almost been as if rebellious Max had matured from one day to the next.

"So what do we do now?"

"We try to have fun," Max answered simply as she helped her friend clean up her ruined makeup.

-…-…-…-

There's no one else around you
Not that I was waiting, vision ever fading
Heading for the deep end
Soon as I remember, baby, I surrender

"WHAT THE FUCK YOU GUYS, I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR HOURS!" Lucas bellowed from the front door, tapping his foot impatiently.

Despite each of them being in their own bedrooms, the guys could clearly hear their friend's annoyed voice.

"Mike?" Will asked, unexpectedly poking his head around the door to his tall friend's bedroom, "Let's go?"

"Yeah," Mike answered with a sigh as he carelessly shoved his black wallet in his jean's pocket.

As he made his way out to the front door, he mindlessly caught a glimpse of his reflection on the medium-sized mirror in the hallway. He looked tired but clean – he'd made sure to wear the shirt and jean pants he'd gotten from the laundry a couple of days ago. Nevertheless, it would be pretty obvious to anyone that, other than that, he hadn't put much thought or effort in his outfit or appearance.

Dustin was already in the hallway, standing next to Will. The stocky boy was currently preoccupied in fixing his messy light brown curls underneath his favorite blue, red and white hat.

"They won't believe you're over twenty one Dustin," Lucas said as he glanced at his friend's feeble attempts of fixing his unruly hair.

"Again," added Mike with a laugh.

Dustin shot both of his friends a dirty look.

"It's not my fault you nerds don't know how fashion works," the stocky boy replied with a dramatic huff.

The four of them finally headed out, facing the windy night with expressions varying from excitement (Dustin, though he tried to hide it), to confidence (Lucas), to mild amusement (Will) to resignation (Mike).

"Are you ok dude?" Dustin asked after noticing the deep frown on his friend's pale and freckled face.

"I bet it won't be nearly as bad as the last time," Will piped in with a reassuring smile.

"Yeah, brighten up Mike, at least we'll get wasted," Lucas said as he patted his tall friend in the back.

It really wasn't as if Mike was a party pooper all the time. It was just that this time, he didn't have it in himself to be cheery and want to celebrate. There was not much to be happy about, after all. A couple of days ago, his older sister, Nancy, had texted him saying that their parents had finally decided to get a divorce. Ever since, he couldn't stop thinking about how poor Holly must be holding up, all alone back at home and seemingly always caught in the middle of Ted and Karen's fights.

His friends still knew nothing about the divorce thing. Truth was, Mike couldn't even think about how to bring that sort of stuff up in a casual conversation ("Hey guys, do you want to have another Star Wars marathon soon? Oh, by the way, my parents are getting a divorce and I'm worried sick about my little sister"). In fact, the only thing that had been keeping him from going crazy due to overthinking the whole shitty divorce thing had been daydreaming about the mysterious girl he had met on the beach area all those days ago.

Blocking preoccupying thoughts with flashes of her pretty face, radiant smile or sparkling eyes was becoming almost a routine for him. She actually made him happy without even being there, which was something embarrassing to admit. Nevertheless, Mike was aware that this girl – who probably hadn't even given a single thought to him after their chance meeting at the beach – had pretty much become his life saver.

How was it possible that someone could leave such an important mark on someone else's life after such a short time?

-…-…-…-

Fate can decide, I can ignore
I'll just pretend that I always knew
That I had the chance to

"Never have I ever been stranded on the side of the road."

After Max and El came out of the bathroom about an hour ago, the group of friends had been playing the drinking game.

Two of the six people in the group drank from their blue plastic cups.

Everyone looked expectantly at Max and Eleven, who were the only ones who had been in such a situation.

"My stepbrother was supposed to drive us to a concert-" Max began.

"–The Killers, and Max was insulting his slutty girlfriend for three hours straight. Nonstop," El interrupted with a giggle, remembering just how red Billy's ears had gotten at her friend's taunts.

"Yeah, and you weren't helping either, replaying MMMbop on a loop the whole fucking ride," Max said, rolling her eyes affectionately.

Their four friends watched the exchange with amusement.

"That song is so catchy and the lyrics are not bad!" Eleven replied.

"Oh, please. You had an unhealthy obsession with the Hanson brothers!" the redhead said with a laugh and soon the others joined when they noticed El's guilty blush.

"Anyway, the douchebag got sick of us and ditched us somewhere in the middle of the interstate," Max continued, after they all caught their breaths.

"But did you make it to the concert?" one of their friends, Elena, asked.

"We did," Eleven said, sharing a look with Max and smiling cryptically. That was a story for another time and place.

The group continued playing for a while, listening to everything from embarrassing stories, to cute anecdotes, to a couple of confessions about felonies. However, it was a Saturday night and it didn't take long for some of them to get restless as the effects of the alcohol they were drinking truly kicked in.

"I want to party!" the usually reserved Annie exclaimed all of a sudden, interrupting Elena midsentence.

"I heard someone say there's a place downtown where they give free drinks," a friend of theirs, Nick, said with a knowing smile.

"Why aren't we there already?!" Eleven exclaimed loudly as she got up from her place in the couch.

-…-…-…-

I just need to breathe out
Decisions are approaching…

Despite the fact that the movement in the city was pretty much never-ending, Saturday nights definitely seemed like the busiest ones. Especially downtown, where young people crowded every establishment.

Laughing, tipsy people made their way through the streets, carelessly bumping into strangers and apologizing with huge, goofy grins. A pretty redhead girl stood out from her group of friends because she was laughing obnoxiously loud on the other side of the street. The guys noticed Lucas stopping dead on his tracks to openly gaze at her. Dustin had also stopped in the middle of the street, his mouth was hanging slightly open.

Mike elbowed Dustin teasingly and Will waved a hand in front of Lucas' star struck face.

"Quit ogling the poor girl," Will said with a smile.

"Sh-" Lucas began.

"–she's perfect," Dustin interrupted.

Will and Mike smiled at that.

"Come on, you haven't even talked to her," pointed out Will.

"And her laugh is annoying," added Mike.

"Let's just go to the party," Lucas said, trying to act nonchalant as Dustin continued to stare at the girl.

The four guys walked to the end of the street and then turned left. Lucas guided them into a discreet-looking establishment.

The "best rave of the fucking year" turned out to be a normal-looking party at a (thankfully) not so crowed club. Apparently, the place had just opened a few days ago and, since not many people knew about it, were offering free drinks until midnight.

As they looked around the place, Dustin, Mike and Will had to admit it was nothing like they had imagined.

"Told'ya you guys would like it," Lucas said as he headed to the mostly empty bar, "let's get something to drink".

The bartender was pouring a mysterious white liquid into several shot cups.

"What's this?" asked Dusting, eyeing the drink suspiciously.

"Vodka," said Lucas as he grabbed one of the shots and promptly gulped it down.

"Not vodka," the tall boy said once he finished his drink, sounding quite surprised, "I have no idea what this is, but it tastes a lot better than any other shot I've tried."

Mike took a cautious sip of the drink.

While it was true that the drink didn't taste as strongly as vodka (since it was sweeter), the tall boy could still definitely feel the deep burn of the alcohol in it. Will seemed to perceive the same thing, as he coughed a bit after finishing his shot. Meanwhile, Dustin was already on his third one.

-…-…-…-

I'm edging closer, shivers all over
It's way too real, I'm way too sober
Usually they've got you covered all over
Lack of composure, I'm walking over

What will I do?
I never had a chance to

Eleven looked at the club skeptically. She was a lot more used to partying in super crowded places with loud music vibrating through the walls and psychedelic lights making you feel a lot more inebriated than you actually were.

This, however, was new.

The dancing floor was big enough but it wasn't bursting with people and there was actually some room to dance comfortably. The lights were dim but there were no flickering colored lights bombarding you from all sides. The music was loud but not stridently so. You could probably be heard without screaming your lungs out. Hell, it could even be possible to have an actual conversation here!

While she leaned against a nearby wall, El saw her friends make a beeline for the bar. They probably wanted to make the most of the free drinks while they were still available (they had about forty minutes before midnight).

Eleven remained where she was, she didn't really want to get wasted tonight. She knew she'd wake up feeling like crap tomorrow anyways and having a hangover on top of that probably wouldn't help things at all. The thumping music was catchy and she could recognize one of the modern songs they constantly played on the radio, she began moving her head and tapping her foot along to the tune.

A bit after the catchy son ended, El met Max's blue eyes from across the room. "Bathroom", the brunette girl mouthed as she pointed to a secluded corner of the locale and her friend smiled understandingly all the way from the bar. A blonde guy started talking to the redhead, taking her attention off her friend.

Unlike the rest of the club, the bathroom was overly crowded. There was a long line of young women waiting to use the toilet. El sighed as she began scrolling through her phone in an attempt to kill some time.

When she finally made it out of the bathroom, Eleven began scanning the place for her friends. Luckily, she was immediately able to see Max's tangled red hair moving wildly somewhere in the middle of the dance floor. The minute she turned around, however, the wide smile was frozen on her pretty face.

An all-too familiar pale face and black, rebellious hair stood out to her despite the semi-darkness of the club. The angular profile and worried expression called to her from the other side of the room.

Bicycle Guy.

Her mouth suddenly felt dry, too dry.

El felt the familiar tingle begin in her feet and palms.

She could feel her inner voice telling her to run. But it was different this time.

Run to him.

Run from him.

She stood frozen.

Two parts of her were warring. How could a total stranger elicit such a strong inner turmoil within her? How could someone make a chance appearance in her life and completely unbalance it?

What made this pale, lanky guy so different?

Maybe tonight it's time to find out, she thought.

Her feet ultimately took the decision for her.

Fuck it all.

-…-…-…-

There's no one else around you
I've done all this waiting, vision ever fading
Making such a promise
Only leads to heartache, closer to an earthquake
Talk about it highly
Try to stay in motion

He was alone at the bar.

Well, alone meaning that his three friends had left the drinking area not so long ago, leaving him and his awkwardness behind. The bar however, was buzzing with people and the bartender seemed to be busier than ever, refilling over and over again the tiny shot glasses on the wide wooden countertop.

There were still four minutes left until midnight.

Lucas was somewhere on the middle of the dance floor, probably showing off his amazing dance moves and grinning widely. Dustin was also on the dance floor, dancing with a girl he met at the bar who didn't stop throwing her head back and laughing at everything he said. On the other hand, Will had disappeared half an hour ago, which could be something to worry about if it wasn't a usual thing Will did.

"It's pisco, from South America," he vaguely heard the bartender's hoarse voice say somewhere to his right.

"Doesn't seem too strong," a female voice answered.

"I wouldn't bet on that, pretty one," the bartender answered with a loud laugh.

For reasons Mike couldn't explain and before even fully processing anything, he felt his head snap to his right.

And there she was, leaning casually against the wooden counter and delicately holding one of the shot glasses, looking prettier than he remembered (if that could be even possible) in a sleeveless, loose sequined silver dress.

Mike couldn't believe it.

There she was, the mysterious girl he couldn't seem to stop thinking about, smiling her cute dimpled smile and looking almost ethereal to him. Unlike himself, she didn't seem surprised to see him at all. In fact, she was looking right at him as if she had been expecting him to turn around all along.

"Hey Bicycle Guy," she said lifting an amused eyebrow (probably finding his stupid awestruck face funny).

"Hi-hey!" he stuttered, forcing his brain to come up with words to say to her, "I didn't expect to see you here- Not that I'm not happy to see you."

She delicately tilted her head backwards and drank a sip of her shot.

I'm such an idiot, Mike thought as he mentally slapped himself for being so awkward when life was giving him another chance.

However, she merely smiled at his nervousness.

"You'll have to pay for that, pretty one," the bartender said just as she was finishing the drink, "it's 12:01."

"Party pooper," she said rolling her eyes.

She grabbed her tiny black purse and tried to find some money.

"I'll pay for it," Mike suddenly said, placing some bucks on the counter before she could even get her wallet open.

"Thanks," she smiled and looked at him intensely (so much so that he felt forced to look away), "it seems that I now owe you a dance."

"Oh, no, it's ok really, you don't have t-," he rambled.

She rolled her eyes, grabbed his left arm and headed for the dance floor, unceremoniously dragging the tall boy behind her.

Once they were surrounded by dancing couples, she finally stopped her advance through the dance floor and turned to him.

"Dance with me?"

Her big, brown eyes were doing that thing again. That captivating thing in which they brightened up and, at the same time, darkened as they seem to peer deep into his soul, to see him better than anyone else. The air seemed to be caught in his throat as he continued to look at the beautiful girl standing before him.

What had she asked?

Mike swallowed, feeling helpless ad his brain had gone completely blank in the span of a few seconds. The dim light of the club was reflecting off her sparkly dress, making her positively glow.

Stop getting distracted and say something!

"Sure."

-…-…-…-

It made my heart run in circles and overflow
And I was closer than ever to letting go
It made my heart run in circles in overdrive
And I was closer than ever to feeling alive

The music was louder than ever, or maybe she was just imagining things.

She moved her hips and shoulders to the rhythm of Camila Cabello's catchy new song, all the while laughing at Bicycle Guy's lame-ass attempts at doing a coordinated dance move. A few minutes into their dancing had been enough for El to become convinced that the tall guy was just hopeless at it. He tried spinning around, but his move had been so sudden that he almost lost his footing and ended comically flailing his long arms around.

It had come to the point that the lanky guy seemed no longer mortified about his clumsiness and instead exaggerated it just for fun (and to make her laugh, but she didn't know it).

As she gazed at his attractive angular face, El couldn't help thinking about how politely and respectfully he had behaved all night long. She thought about the way he constantly offered his hand for her to twirl around, about how he hadn't leered down at her like so many men often did in these sort of situations. Eleven thought about Bicycle Guy's genuine joyful smile throughout the night and how being with him made her grin so much her cheeks were starting to really hurt.

She couldn't deny that this was the most comfortable she'd ever felt with someone that wasn't Max.

As the catchy pop tune neared its final chorus, the smiling boy took her hand for her to twirl around. Just as she did so, she bumped into someone – or someone bumped into her? – really, really hard. She would have most likely lost her footing if it weren't for a pair of steady arms catching her.

El suddenly found herself pressed against Bicycle Guy's chest. His long and surprisingly strong arms were still holding her, despite the fact that she had already managed to regain her footing. One of his hands was holding her wrist delicately and she suddenly felt his thumb softly running over – caressing, really – the tender skin over her tattoo. Somehow, it felt more intimate than anything she had ever done.

She couldn't suppress a shiver that made her quiver from the point where his skin met hers to the very depths of her. Eleven licked her lips slowly, drawing his dark eyes to her mouth. It was easy to read that he was in the same mindset as her. Their labored breaths were now mingling together, wordlessly conveying the intense feelings that had agitated them so. Instinctively, she leaned a bit closer, pressing herself closer to him.

El wanted him.

Without a warning, her eyelids fluttered shut as she desperately waited for him to finally make the move.

But nothing happened.

She opened her eyes to face him and met his dark gaze. It seemed to only be conveying a question, an obvious one.

Eleven smiled and rolled her eyes, it was evident that Bicycle Guy was one of the good, respectful ones that wouldn't kiss her without being one hundred percent sure that it was what she wanted too.

He was nice.

Nice, unlike any of the fuckboys she had hung out with in the past who never cared to ask for permission or gave any importance to what she wanted.

Nice, in a way that made her doubt that he would ever try to hurt her.

No! Cut the crap, she chastised herself.

Having those sort of thoughts was dangerous, very dangerous. Because if there was something she had learned for sure, it was that everyone always wanted something out of you. Everyone would, sooner or later, hurt you – which is why her approach to relationships had always been "use them before they use you".

She was completely convinced that this was almost like a scientific or physical law (like gravity or something).

Still, as the minutes seemed to blend together while they embraced in the middle of the slightly crowded dance floor, Eleven couldn't bring herself to care about the worrying thoughts buzzing in her mind. There was something much more powerful and urgent demanding her attention and overtaking her thoughts.

Eleven bit her lip. Hard.

At that moment, the almost nonexistent gap between her and Bicycle Guy's faces (that small amount of space that seemed to mock her) seemed smaller and bigger than ever.

Fuck it all.

She leaned forward and closed it.

-…-…-…-

Let's not think about it
Put your arms around me, I can sense you doubt me
You don't need to promise
That only leads to heartache, closer to an earthquake
Talk about it highly
All that's left to do, all that's left to do

Her arms were thrown around his neck as his hands rested on her small waist. They were kissing passionately on the middle of the dance floor. A hunger Mike had never felt before controlled him now. Her delicate fingers moved up to pull at his wavy hair and she let out a small, almost imperceptible moan.

Every thought Mike had escaped his mind as he pulled her closer to him, his long fingers roaming her lower back desperately.

She pulled back for air and stared at him with undecipherable, hooded eyes.

Oh God, she's so perfect, Mike thought dizzily as he swayed slightly on the spot.

A small laugh escaped her at his dazed look.

She lifted a hand to fix her messy brown hair and he noticed something dark on the soft inner part of her wrist. Gently, Mike grabbed her hand to examine it and saw the number "011" tattooed on blunt, black ink.

The tall boy looked at her questioningly.

"It's my nickname. Eleven," she explained as she quickly drew her hand away.

After those few blissful minutes, reality was starting to hit her now.

Don't let him in. Don't let him in. Don't let him in. Don't let him in. Don't let him in.

"Oh, I'm Michael, Mike for short," he said, oblivious to her sudden discomfort, waiting for her to introduce herself as well.

She wasn't about to tell him that. Tonight was a night for forgetting, after all.

"I'm just El," she answered with (what she hoped was) a mysterious smile.

Use them before they use you.

"Do you want to get out of here Mike?" she asked, lifting an eyebrow.

He liked how her name sounded on her lips.

"Yeah, sure, let's get out of here," Mike said, not thinking about it twice.

They headed out of the bar, the cold night air making goosebumps appear on the skin of their arms. The tall boy glanced at the pretty girl walking beside him, thinking that she was probably chilling to death in that loose, sleeveless dress. He regretted so much not bringing a jacket with him tonight.

There goes your chance to be courteous, he thought.

"So, um, what do you want to do El?" he asked after a while.

She leaned closer to him, her smell hitting him immediately, and stood on the balls of her feet to make herself a couple of inches taller. Mike's breath was catching.

"Mike," she whispered into his ear seductively.

The tall boy visibly swallowed.

"I haven't had lunch or dinner, I'm starved," Eleven continued and then eased herself down.

Once again, she laughed at his reaction to her and he could only blush in response. Was he that obvious? Was it bad?

"Do you feel like getting a burger?" Mike asked, ignoring her smirk and trying to play cool, "I know the best place."

Benny's Dinner was about to be closed for the night but, luckily, the owner knew Mike pretty well.

"Hey Benny!"

"Night Mike," the gruff man answered with a sincere smile, "what can I get you?"

"Two burgers to g-"

"–and fries," Eleven piped in.

Soon enough, they sitting on a deserted park, munching on their meal.

Mike was doing all the talking. He had always had a habit of talking nonstop, only slightly less than Dustin.

Now, however, he wasn't just rambling about whatever came to mind. There was something about El that made him feel listened. She was easy to talk to, she seemed to understand – or make a pretty good job of trying to.

He told her about his family problems, about his absent older sister and about how worried he was about his little sister Holly. She cut in occasionally, to make some remarks and give advice. From those rare interventions, Mike gathered that she probably had had a rough family life as well. A silence fell over them after he finished talking about a particularly grim memory of his parents fighting each other during his senior year of high school.

The last thing he wanted was to make her feel uncomfortable and he immediately launched himself into a funny middle-school anecdote.

"Did you know me and my friends won the science fair every year in middle school?" he asked rhetorically, focusing on El's interested gaze, "at least we were supposed to…"

Soon, both of them were giggling so much their jaws hurt.

"This is the first time I ever told that to an-," Mike laughed incredulously.

He cut himself short, however, when he noticed she wasn't laughing anymore. Instead, Eleven was looking at him with those piercing brown eyes of hers, her enigmatic gaze making him forget his next words.

"Mike, take me home," she said.

A/N: Next chapter will probably be M rated, so be warned if you're not into that sort of stuff. As always, I'm happy to read what you think about the story!