Ch. 5

Mike POV

Mike pulled up to the Byers house on his bike, not seeing Hopper's truck. 'Huh, that's weird,' he thought, 'I thought she would have got here first.' He walked into the house and was greeted by Mrs. Byers.

"Oh! Mike, hello there!" Mrs. Byers said when she saw Mike. "Come in, come in! Are you hungry? I offered food to El, but she said she wasn't hungry."

"Wait, El's here?" Mike asked Mrs. Byers.

"Yes, Hopper's working, so she biked here from Max's house. Max has been so stressed out lately what with that terrible threat that got painted on Lucas's lawn this morning in animal blood. It seems that someone doesn't want Lucas and Max to see each other. Terrible business, that." Joyce said to Mike. "But that's not why we're here, is it? We're here to get you and El back on track. Don't you say you don't need any help, Mike! The fact you showed up is telling enough. It shows you recognize that you and El need some help. That's the first step. Now, let's get started."

20 minutes later,

(All constructive conversation has degraded into a shouting match by now)

"If you think that I'm going to just sit here, and let you say shit like that, you can shove your head RIGHT up your ass."

"Shut the FUCK up!" "No!" "Yes, or I'll shut it for you!" "I'd like to see you try!"

"Both of you, quiet!" * BOTH CONTINUE YELLING WITHOUT EVEN MISSING A BEAT* "QUIET!" *Mrs. Byers blows an air horn* (Mike and El fall quiet and cover their ears) Sorry about that, but you need to listen, both to me AND each other. Mike, El thinks that you just care about appearances more than her, and El, Mike thinks that you don't care about anyone more than yourself. And you know what? You're both half-right. Mike, you need to be there for El. She's not making good choices, but that's not your decision. Your job is to support her and care for her, no matter what. El, you need to stop lashing out at everyone. Hopper is working so much for you, El. He wants to keep you safe. Mike is trying to help you out of the hole he can see you digging. You need to stop biting the hand he is reaching out to you. Eventually, he will stop offering the hand, because someone else will have taken it." Joyce said to Mike and El.

"That won't happen. I'll always be here for you. El. Until the very end!" Mike promised, squeezing El's hand.

"I know both of you think that, and there are couples like that, but you two are young. You haven't really been out of Hawkins too much. Trust me, all it takes is ONE moment of upheaval in a relationship when the wrong person is around, and I've seen it happen to countless couples. I'm NOT saying EITHER of you would be unfaithful to the other, but even if you don't attempt infidelity, your guys' commitment to your relationship gets REALLY shaken."

"Oh, I don't know, Mrs. Byers, I'm starting to feel that I don't know A DAMN THING for sure about El. Not even the fact that she'd NEVER cheat on me." Mike interjected, prompting an explosion of outrage from El.

"WELL, FUCK YOU THEN, Mike!"

"CHILDREN! SILENCE! NOW! THANK YOU!" Joyce screamed before things could degenerate any further. "Do I LOOK like I need your help, Eleven?" Joyce said in a cool, almost cold, tone.

"No." El mumbled.

"WHAT was that, El? I couldn't hear you!" Joyce said to El.

"NO, MA'AM!" El shouted.

"BETTER," Joyce said.

Then, Mike snickered and was rounded on by Joyce. "Mike, is this FUNNY TO YOU?" Joyce said loudly.

"No," Mike said.

"No, I think it is! You know, you are a REAL ASSHOLE sometimes, you know that, Mike?" "Your girlfriend is having HUGE self-esteem and trust issues and instead of supporting her, YOU act the victim!" Joyce said to Mike.

"I'M a selfish asshole? I fucking saved up for a $150 dinner reservation for over a year, so that you could see just how much effort I was willing to go to for you, El." Mike said to El and Joyce.

"Why? You had to know I didn't want to dress up or eat fancy just to go to some stupid restaurant full of snooty rich assholes and get snickered at the whole damn night." El replied.

"Yeah, the gesture was more for the effort required at first, but then I figured you'd love to dress in your 'bitchin' outfit and go laugh at a bunch of fancy-dressed snooty rich people for a night. Then we'd have gone to eat at McDonalds. After that, we'd have probably driven back home." Mike responded.

"Sorry about messing it up. That sounds fucking awesome." El said to Mike (A/N: This is the first time El has apologized to him in over a year)

"Sorry about going off on you like that yesterday. That was uncalled for." Mike replied, making El tear up (A/N first time he's apologized in 6 months).

Joyce opened her mouth to say something but was cut off by a knock on the front door. "Oh! Who's that? Hold on, sorry guys, I'll be right back." She returned around a minute later with Hopper in tow.

"What's wrong?" Mike asked Hopper.

"Nothing, kid. Everything's fine. Awesome, actually. So, Joyce tells me you two had something planned for today, that right, Mike?" Hopper asked, "Yes, why?" Mike replied, a little confused. "Against my better judgment, Joyce has convinced me to temporarily release El from being grounded so you two can have a nice date. However, a few rules. One, NO mind-altering substances. Two, absolutely NO hanky panky. Three, you are home by 12 am at the LATEST. No exceptions, plan for traffic. Break any rules and El's grounding extends another month, and Mike forfeits his male-specific anatomy. Am I CLEAR?" Hopper asked. "Uh-huh," Mike and El said in unison.

1 hour later,

Mike's house,

(Mike walks out in blue jeans, with a black t-shirt with a black/navy blue zippable hoodie on, he looks like he does in S3. El is sitting in her car, a 1983 Ford pickup, with her hair and makeup styled as shown at the Snowball in S2, but wearing the rest of the 'bitchin' outfit as shown in S2)

"You ready to go make fun of some rich people?" Mike asked El as he climbed in the passenger side.

"Yep. By the way, do your parents know you're out on a date with me?" El asked Mike, who replied,

"What do you think? No, they think I'm staying at Dustin's house for the night."

El gasped dramatically, "FOR THE NIGHT?" "I HOPE you aren't IMPLYING anything less than completely chaste and chivalrous behavior, Mike!"

"I wouldn't DARE." Mike deadpanned.

"So, we are totally 'breaking down' on some 'deserted backroad' that's really a motel room, though, right?" "I assumed you already booked one, correct?" El asked Mike.

He replied, somewhat flustered, "Well, possibly…."

El laughed as they left Hawkins. "Jesus, Mike! No need to look so embarrassed! I came prepared as well. Hopper doesn't notice if a couple boxes of 'date supplies' go missing from his room."

Mike choked out a strangled "Wait, WHAT!" "I was thinking we'd make out for a hit, then head home. The motel room WAS supposed to be for our first time, but I changed my mind this week. With all the trouble we've got between us, it's just not a good idea to add sex to the mix. I DO want you, El. You have no idea how beautiful and sexy you are. But, I don't want to hurt you. If we aren't able to fix our relationship, I don't want to make the breakup even worse for you. Plus, I know what you're planning. You're trying to fake an intimacy that isn't there, and hoping it magically heals our relationship. One, that's not a healthy relationship. Two, I want to do this when you're not feeling pressured. Three, I'M not ready for that kind of intimacy yet. When we're not BOTH hurting from actions and words that should have never happened, THEN I'll say yes. Until then, sorry."

El's face reddens, and she opens her mouth to say something, before closing it. "FINE," She says before stopping the car, getting her .44 from the glove box, and getting out of the car. She goes to shoot some trees to blow off steam.

End Ch.5

NEW PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT/AN: THE WEED THAT EL SMOKES IS 80'S WEED. THAT HAD WAY LESS THC, SO WHILE IT WAS STILL BAD FOR YOU, IT WAS SIGNIFICANTLY LESS SO. NOW WEED WILL MESS YOU THE HELL UP. DONT DO IT. Also, I can hear you saying, "But if it was still bad for you, and El claims to get extremely high every day, how is she not getting messed up?" The answer is that she smokes in public, never in private. She only does it to provoke Hopper. When she doesn't want to do that, she doesn't get high. She was EXTREMELY exaggerating her drug usage there to make Mike look bad. Also, some characters, (not main ones) will use some harder drugs. Honestly, that will probably only be ecstasy. THAT IS A DEADLY AND EXTREMELY ILLEGAL DRUG. EL ONLY PRODUCES IT BECAUSE SHE IS BEING THREATENED WITH SERIOUS PHYSICAL HARM. THE CHEMICAL PROCESSES THAT PRODUCE THIS DRUG ARE JUST AS OR MORE DANGEROUS AS THE USAGE OF THIS DRUG. IT IS FOR SURE MORE ILLEGAL THAN THE USAGE OF IT. LIKE, DEA BLACK-OPS UNITS WITH MACHINE GUNS KICKING DOWN YOUR DOOR IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT ILLEGAL. Simply put, don't use or produce any illegal drugs, and I KNOW you know not to, but just DON'T, okay? Ok, I'll step off my soapbox now. That was mainly for legal reasons. I DO NOT ASSUME ANY LEGAL RESPONSIBILITY FOR ANY CONSEQUENCES ARISING FROM YOUR PRODUCTION OR USE OF ANY ILLEGAL SUBSTANCES.