A/N: Welcome to the third installment! I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season and that your 2020 is off to a good start. Please enjoy!

Jenicakrung: I've never watched that, so I will check it out and see what I can do!

39CluesStrangerThingsFan-Star: Glad you liked it : )

Guest: Thank you, I'm glad you liked it. I would've loved to see more in the show about their relationship between the Snow Ball and the start of season 3.

Disneyprincess315: I completely agree! I wish we could've seen that progression on the show too. I'm glad you're enjoying it, hope you like this one!

Guest: Thank you! I appreciate that.

Guest: I'm glad you like it!

Song: "Nothing's Gonna Change My Love for You" by George Benson

Setting: Hawkins, Indiana, December 1986. A little over one year after the Byers moved away. Our gang is 15 years old, and Will and El are in town for winter break.

Disclaimer: I do not own Stranger Things, any of its original characters, or the song "Nothing's Gonna Change My Love for You."

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The basement door closed, and the footsteps jogging down the stairs signified that all six of them were there now. They greeted Dustin when he reached the bottom step and took a seat on the end of the couch.

"I got here as soon as I could. Had to dig the car out so Mom could give me a ride," Dustin explained. "So what's up?"

"Yeah, Stalker, what is so important that we all had to meet up at ten in the morning the first day of Christmas break?" Max asked.

Lucas's five friends all looked at him, awaiting an explanation. El and Will had just gotten into town last night, and the six of them were going to hang out later in the day anyway, but Lucas couldn't wait. He looked over at Mike who was sitting on the couch next to Eleven, her arm loosely intertwined with his as her head rested on his shoulder. She was probably still tired from the four hour drive the night before. When Lucas had called his friends on the supercom that morning, he could hear in Mike's voice when he replied that he was annoyed about cutting into his alone time with El, but sitting here now, Lucas could see the concern growing on Mike's face the longer Lucas was silent.

"There's no easy way to say this," Lucas sighed. "My parents… my parents are getting a divorce. They told me and Erica this morning."

"What?! Aw, man, I'm sorry," Mike offered.

"Yeah, I'm sorry, too. That's rough," Dustin added sympathetically.

El saw the concern and sadness on each of her friends' faces, and she watched as Max immediately took Lucas's hand and squeezed it to comfort him.

"Thanks," Lucas mumbled. "Looking back now, I guess the signs were there… but I just thought it was a rough patch. I didn't expect this."

"Well, if you need anything at all, even just to vent, I'm here for you. I know what you're going through," Will said gently, and Lucas thanked him with a sad smile.

The party stayed all afternoon, but the conversation soon changed from the topic of Lucas's parents. They took turns playing each other on the Atari, and Mrs. Wheeler ordered them pizza for lunch. Even though they spent the afternoon doing things they would normally be doing, El felt something different about the atmosphere in the air. She couldn't quite place it, but the boys and Max were acting different. It was almost like they were favoring Lucas for some reason. Lucas got to play first, and if it was a round he wasn't playing, he always got to play the winner. He ended up playing the Atari twice as much as anyone else. And when Mrs. Wheeler asked what toppings they wanted on the pizza, Mike told her to add sausage to it. El knew Mike didn't like sausage on pizza, but she also knew it was Lucas's favorite.

A few hours later, Dustin announced that he needed to get ready to go because his mom would be there in five minutes to pick him up.

"I should get going too," Max added. She pulled El into a tight hug. "It's great to have you back for a while. I'll see you tomorrow."

Max then pulled Lucas into a long embrace, and El saw her whispering into the boy's ear while rubbing his back. Lucas nodded at whatever Max said and kissed her cheek before Max pulled back, waved her friends goodbye, and left through the basement door.

"You know, you don't have to leave… You're welcome to stay here as long as you want," Mike said to Lucas who was putting his shoes on and reaching for his coat.

"I appreciate that, but… I've got to go home sometime," Lucas replied sadly.

Mike nodded and reminded Lucas that he could come over any time he wanted. Lucas hugged Mike, Will, and El before leaving for the evening.

"Mike," El said softly much later that night from Nancy's bed. Since Nancy and Jonathan had their own apartment in Indianapolis where they were going to college, her bedroom was available for El to use while she visited.

"Yeah?" Mike asked as he turned to face her. He had just kissed her good night and was almost to the door when he heard her say his name.

"What is… di-vorce?" El asked softly.

The realization hit Mike that El had never heard that word before. He gaped for a moment before pursing his lips, thinking of how best to explain it to her. Slowly, he walked back to the side of Nancy's bed and sat on the edge next to El, linking her fingers with his own.

"It's like… well, you know how Will's parents don't live together anymore? And Max's parents?" Mike started. He thought about mentioning Hopper and his ex-wife but decided against it.

"Yes," El nodded.

"That's because they got a divorce. It means they were married, but they're not anymore… A divorce is like a big breakup," Mike explained.

"A big breakup," El repeated.

"Yeah. There's a lot of legal stuff involved, and it usually involves splitting everything they own in half, and sometimes people lose their house or their kids… It can be really messy," Mike continued.

He was silent while El processed the new information. El had always known that Will's mom and dad didn't live together and that Max's mom and dad didn't live together, and even that Max's mom was married to a man that wasn't her dad. But El had never questioned any of it until now.

"If it's so… messy… then why would people get a divorce?" she asked, scrunching her brow over her wide brown eyes.

"People never really plan to get a divorce. When you're married, you think you'll be together forever… but sometimes people fall out of love with each other, and that's when a divorce happens," Mike said.

"Fall out of love?" El repeated.

She knew she had fallen in love with Mike… but out of love? El tried to imagine not getting butterflies in her stomach at the sight of Mike's smile… not feeling sparks fly at the touch of his soft skin… his voice not melting her heart when he says her name or tells her he loves her. El couldn't fathom the idea of falling out of love with him.

"How does someone fall out of love?" El asked.

"I don't know," Mike shrugged. "I'm sure it happens gradually, like over time."

El nodded slowly, still trying to wrap her head around the concept. Mike leaned forward to kiss her again, his soft lips pressed against hers while he cupped the side of her face and gingerly stroked her hair.

"I'm sure Lucas will be okay once he's had time to process everything," Mike said reassuringly.

"Yeah," El whispered.

"We need to go to sleep. I'll be next door if you need anything," Mike said and squeezed her hand. He kissed her again, letting his lips linger on hers a little longer this time. "I love you."

"I love you too," El replied.

She watched as Mike closed the door behind him, leaving her alone in the dark with only the glow from the streetlights peeking through the blinds on Nancy's windows. El tried to fall asleep, but she just found herself tossing and turning, unable to get Mike's words out of her mind.

Sometimes people fall out of love with each other… It happens gradually… Over time…

El laid on her back staring up at the ceiling, wide awake. She looked toward the closed door leading into the hallway and knew that Mr. and Mrs. Wheeler were sleeping just a few feet away. Still, she had to risk it. El pushed back her blankets and tiptoed to Nancy's bedroom door, turning the doorknob and slowly pulling it toward herself to open it. When it was open wide enough for her body to slip out, El snuck through into the hallway and quietly made her way down the hall to Mike's room.

Gingerly, El took the doorknob in her hand and pushed forward, opening Mike's door just enough to slip inside. She closed the door behind herself and looked toward Mike's bed. She could see the dark form of her boyfriend sleeping. El watched as he subtly rose and fell with each breath. She slowly padded her way to the side of his bed and saw that he was sleeping on his side, facing away from her. El gently lifted the covers and slid underneath them, scooting closer to Mike on her side and snuggling right up behind him, slipping an arm around his waist.

El knew that she was taking on the role that Mike normally did when they cuddled, and he didn't fit perfectly into her body the way she did into his because he was so much longer than her when they laid next to each other. But El wrapped one leg around Mike's and squeezed her arm around his waist while nuzzling her face into the crook of his neck and sighing contentedly. At this, she felt Mike begin to stir, and he jerked slightly when he felt someone wrapped around himself.

"Shh, it's just me," El whispered.

"El?" Mike whispered groggily, turning his head to look at her over his shoulder. "What are you doing in here? Did you have a bad dream?"

She loosened her hold on him so he could turn around to his other side and face her, but once he was facing her she quickly wrapped her arm around his waist again, not wanting to be without contact.

"No bad dreams. I just wanted to be close to you," El replied so lowly that it was barely audible.

"I always want to be close to you, El, but my parents would freak if they found us like this. I don't want them to make you go home early," Mike said before leaning forward to kiss her forehead.

"I don't want to go home at all. I just want to stay with you," El said.

"I would love that, but this is how it has to be right now. In a few years, things will be different, and we can be together all the time and sleep together every night," Mike promised, squeezing her against himself.

"In a few years… you could fall out of love with me," El whispered, refusing to make eye contact with him as she said it.

"What?! El, that could never happen," Mike insisted.

"You don't know that, Mike," El countered. "You said it yourself… sometimes it just happens. Gradually."

"Yeah, I did say that, but I wasn't talking about us," Mike said. "That will never happen to us."

"You said… no one thinks it will happen to them. But it does," El reminded him.

Mike sighed and cursed himself for how he had explained all of this to El a few hours ago. He used one hand to gently lift her chin so El was finally looking at him, and Mike saw fear staring back at him in El's tear-filled eyes.

"El, I'm sorry I didn't do a better job explaining it," he whispered. "I know it won't happen to us because I know we can make it through anything. Look how much we've already made it through together."

"But I live so far away… What if you meet somebody else-"

"I don't want to meet anybody else," Mike said definitively. "I know things aren't always easy for us. The distance sucks. But it makes our time together so much better, El. And in a few years, we won't have distance between us anymore. We've overcome the bad men, the Upside Down, losing Hopper, you moving away… there's already been so much that's happened, and I've never loved you more. We can make it through anything, El. Anything."

"B-but… there are other girls, Mike. Other girls who are prettier and smarter than me," El sniffled.

"You're so smart, El. You don't give yourself enough credit for how smart you are. And prettier than you? That's not possible," Mike said, cupping El's face. "You are all I want in life. I can't imagine being without you, okay? I love you, El. I love you so much."

"I love you too, Mike," El whispered. She bit her bottom lip, and Mike could tell she was still hesitant about the idea of falling out of love.

"Listen, you're right. I can't see the future. But I can promise that I'll always be here for you. The best part of my day will always be getting to talk to you. I'm always going to do anything I can to make this relationship work and keep you feeling loved and happy," Mike promised. "I can't imagine ever falling out of love with you, El. You're my whole world."

El placed her hand on the back of Mike's head and pulled his lips to meet hers. Their lips moved perfectly in unison, and El felt Mike's grip on her waist tighten as she was pulled firmly against his body.

"I love you, Mike. You mean everything to me."

Mike smiled and kissed her forehead, and El snuggled against him, burying her face in his chest and breathing in his scent. She was careful not to fall asleep, knowing she still had to go back to Nancy's room to avoid getting herself and Mike in trouble with his parents, but she wanted to be wrapped up in his arms for as long as she could before going back to bed. She rubbed his back, feeling almost silly that she had gotten so worked up over the words Mike had used when explaining Lucas's parents' situation. No one could ever see the future, but El was confident in knowing that Mike felt just as strongly for her and she did for him, and nothing could ever change that.

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A/N: I hoped you liked this one. Thanks for being patient in between updates. Leave me a review and let me know what you think!