A/N: Welcome back, and thank you all for being so patient. I'm not going to get into the specifics, but this year is just kicking my ass, and we're only seven months in. The good news is, I am alive and well, and I am back with another chapter. I hope you guys like it. Thanks for reading, and please enjoy!
NoDownSide: Mike and El's personal stories and histories will come out in due time! And more on Dani and Jason and all the other side characters soon too : )
Shrike176: I'm glad that you are enjoying seeing the Mileven relationship form and get to know each other. There is a lot more of that with this chapter. As for El's backstory, that is certainly coming!
Stranger Records: We will see! I will say there will be several returns to the woods, so things are bound to happen.
JayneFawn: I'm glad you are enjoying both Mike and El, and Suzie and Dustin. I hope you enjoy this chapter!
Jbg: Sorry for disappearing. I know I was reliably posting there for a while. I hope to be able to return to that. Yes, bad relationships can definitely be hard on teenagers! And when it stops being day-by-day, I will absolutely keep the important things : )
Jean Sumnerland: The other counselors will definitely play a role! I'll be interested to see how your opinion on them stays/changes throughout the story.
Young Wether: Thank you!
Disneyprincess315: I'm so glad you're enjoying seeing Mike and El explore the beginnings of their relationship. I hope you like this chapter!
Exploding Helmets: Yes! Communication is key!
IgNighted: Wasn't that cute?!
UnoPeso22: Mike and El are definitely moving along in terms of connecting and getting to know each other, and on a physical level. I'm glad you are also enjoying the original characters. I hope you like this one!
Nighting Ryder: Thank you! Yes, so far, so good. Let's see how that goes!
Jane Eleanor Wheeler: Thank you. Yes, lots of feels coming.
Grievesforyou: I'm glad you have enjoyed it so far, and I hope you like this one!
Wonderwall: It should be fun! It is coming soon!
Mike and El: They definitely have a connection unlike any other.
LovelyinLavender: Thank you! I'm glad you like the premise. And thank you for reading my other stories as well! I would love to hear your thoughts on those.
Disclaimer: I do not own Stranger Things or any of its characters.
0-0-0
The next morning, El was laying on her back waiting for her turn in the shower. She was scrolling through Instagram slowly, as it took extra time to refresh the feed. When it finally refreshed, El saw that she had a notification, and she rolled her eyes when it was just Instagram giving her follow recommendations. Then, an idea crossed her mind.
El clicked on Instagram's recommended people and started scrolling through the list of her phone contacts who were on Instagram that she didn't follow. Sure enough, she stopped when she saw his name. Mike Wheeler.
Should she look at his Instagram? Would that be creepy? She has only known him for a few days, and she was really enjoying getting to know him. El didn't want to be that girl who creeps on a guy's social media accounts as soon as she becomes interested in him… but at the same time, it was just so alluring. She decided to click on Mike's name just to see. There probably wouldn't be much there anyway… Guys don't really use Instagram like girls do… And maybe his privacy settings wouldn't even allow-
His Instagram was set to public. But there were not a lot of posts. Just over one hundred. El scrolled down and saw that nearly all of his posts were of Mike with a blonde girl that El assumed was Stephanie. She clicked on the most recent one and saw that it was posted over two months ago.
El scrolled through the photos, noting how happy they both looked together. There were cute, everyday-type of photos, but there was also a post on their two-year anniversary about how much he loved her, a photo of the two of them standing in front of a Christmas tree with their arms around each other, one wishing her a happy birthday. There was one that Stephanie took in the "Ellen selfie" style, and El recognized Dustin in the group and assumed the others were the rest of the "party." There were pictures from homecoming and from a wedding, which the caption told El was Mike's sister's wedding.
She scrolled back up to the top, passing over two years' worth of happy moments from Mike and Stephanie's relationship. El clicked on one of the pictures and saw that Stephanie was still tagged in it. Out of curiosity, El clicked on Stephanie's name and was redirected to Stephanie's Instagram, which was also a public profile.
Like many girls their age, Stephanie's Instagram had a bunch of posts. Over six hundred, in fact. El scrolled down and saw that most of the photos were selfies, though some showed Stephanie in her cheerleading uniform, some had other girls in the photos who El assumed were Stephanie's friends, and some were pictures of sunsets and nature. One of the most recent posts was just posted within the past week, and it showed Stephanie with some football-player-type guy. The caption told El that this guy's name was Troy and that Troy and Stephanie had recently celebrated one month of dating…
It clicked in El's head. Stephanie had left Mike for this guy, who El could only assume was a lot like Jason. El looked at the bright smile on Stephanie's face, her perfectly-done makeup bringing out her sharp blue eyes (no doubt with help from an Instagram filter), in the arms of this Troy guy who was kissing her cheek.
"What a bitch," El muttered under her breath as she closed out of the app.
By then, one of the three showers in the large bathroom had shut off, so El got up and gathered her clothes and headed toward the shower to get ready for the day.
Their training sessions went smoothly, though the afternoon seemed to drag on for El. She enjoyed the little break between lessons two and three when everyone would wash up after dissection, and El once again used this opportunity to chat with Mike at the sink. Of course, he told her how pretty she looked today, and El blushed as she thanked him.
"So, were you serious about wanting to find a place to sneak out to in the woods?" Mike asked quietly.
"I thought it could be fun," El replied casually. "What would summer camp be without a little bit of adventure?"
"Okay," Mike chuckled. "Do you want to go explore after dinner tonight?"
"Yeah!" El exclaimed, happy that he was on board. And so it was settled.
Late that afternoon, as they were all finishing their dinner, Suzie suggested that the four of them go for a swim or hang out by the lake. A sly grin crossed Dustin's face when he noticed the look that Mike and El shared when they did not immediately agree to hang out together.
"I'm sorry, did you two have other plans?" Dustin teased, and Mike shot him a glare.
"Yeah, we thought it might be fun to kind of explore the woods a bit," El explained with a shrug.
"But why would you want to-" the realization struck Suzie, "-oooh. I get it."
El felt her cheeks heating up at the amused smile that had covered Suzie's face.
"Well, you two do all the exploring you want," Dustin goaded. "Might I suggest exploring the equipment shed off the path leading toward the lake? There's also a small clearing halfway between the cafeteria and classrooms C and D that Suzie and I have explored once or twice."
Suzie swatted Dustin's leg under the table, and her own cheeks turned a light shade of pink as Mike cleared his throat uncomfortably.
"Thanks for the, uh, suggestions," Mike said.
After they had finished eating and clearing their trays, Dustin and Suzie left hand-in-hand to let Mike and El carry on their plans for the evening.
They decided to check out the clearing that Dustin had recommended, and as Mike and El walked from the cafeteria and ventured off the path and into the woods, El found it nearly impossible to keep her eyes off Mike. The breeze blew his dark curls, and El imagined how soft they felt when she caressed her hands through them. When he looked over and smiled at her – a genuine smile that lit up his deep, dark eyes – El could feel her heart literally warming inside her chest. And when she reached out to take his hand, El almost giggled when she saw Mike's cheeks blush still. Faintly, Stephanie's smiling face from those Instagram posts that El saw this morning came into her mind, and El wondered how any girl could have been stupid enough to let Mike go. El had only known him for less than a week, and she could not believe the way he was making her feel.
A short time later, Mike and El arrived at a small clearing. They were welcomed by a grassy area with wildflowers interspersed throughout, and Mike led her into the middle of the clearing.
"This must be it," he observed, and El nodded, looking around.
"It looks like Dustin knew what he was talking about," she grinned, and Mike chuckled.
"Yeah, he does every once in a while," he said.
"I know he teases us, but I just feel like he means well. He seems like a good friend," El said.
"He is," Mike nodded sincerely.
El smiled and knelt down to the ground, picking a wildflower from next to her feet. Mike sat down on his knees, facing her, and watched while she spun the flower in between her fingers. God, she was beautiful.
"What about the others?" El asked suddenly.
"Others?" Mike repeated, furrowing his brow.
"You said you have, like, four best friends," El reminded him with a grin. "What are they like?"
"Oh," Mike exhaled, stretching his legs out in front of him. "You want to know about my friends?"
"Of course," El replied, leaning comfortably to the side and supporting herself with one arm while still twirling the wildflower in her other hand.
"Okay, um, well you know Dustin," Mike started. "There's Will. He has been my best friend since kindergarten. He's pretty shy around people he doesn't know, and he's really in to art… really good at it, too."
"What kind of art?" El asked, and Mike noticed her eyebrows raise in genuine curiosity.
"Drawing. He's so good at it," Mike replied. "It puts anything I could ever try to shame."
"You? I'm lucky if you can tell if the stick figures I draw are boys or girls," El laughed.
"I'm sure it isn't that bad," Mike smiled.
"Oh, no, it is," El insisted. "But when I was a kid, no one told me how bad at drawing I was. I used to draw these pictures for Mama all the time about things I wished we could do together-"
El stopped abruptly as if something had caught in her throat. Mike was about to ask if she ever got to do those things that she drew, but something about the look in El's eyes stopped him.
"I'm sure she loved them," he said instead.
A sad smile crossed El's lips, and the tears brimming her eyelids twinkled. She gave Mike's hand an appreciatory squeeze before inhaling and exhaling a deep breath.
"So, Will's your best friend. He's shy and artsy," El recapped, and Mike chuckled at the simplicity with which she described his best friend. "What about the other two?"
Mike decided to go along with her abrupt change in subject, reverting back to their discussion of his friends. Clearly, the talk about her mom had started to get too deep, and the last thing Mike wanted to do was make her uncomfortable.
"Lucas is really chill most of the time, but he likes to tell it like it is, and he can be pretty blunt," Mike continued. "Of course, that can get him in to trouble sometimes with his girlfriend Max."
"Ah, the party's only girl," El observed teasingly, and Mike's cheeks blushed, though he knew she was not actually making fun of him and his friends.
"Max and I didn't get along the greatest in the beginning, but we're cool now," Mike said and then hesitated. "She, uh, she was actually really supportive after Stephanie broke up with me. I don't know why, but it made me appreciate her more."
Hearing Stephanie's name caused the blonde girl's face to flash in El's mind.
"Why didn't you like Max at first?" El asked, and Mike shrugged.
"I don't know, it was stupid, really," he said. "She was just annoying, and Lucas was super into her, so I was kind of worried that him bringing a girl around all the time would be the start of the party falling apart."
El smiled sympathetically like she understood.
"But Dustin and Will liked her right away, too. I got used to her being around, but she and I clashed a lot," Mike continued. "Then a year later I started dating Stephanie, and Max and Steph were not the biggest fans of each other."
"Really?" El asked, her eyes widening.
"God, no," Mike laughed. "Maybe that's why Max was so much nicer to me after Stephanie dumped me. She wouldn't have to see her around anymore."
"Or maybe Max saw all along that there was something not right with you and Stephanie," El suggested carefully. "Maybe Max was happy because she knew you were better off."
"You think Max could've seen something over the last two years that I didn't see?" Mike asked skeptically.
"It's possible," El shrugged. "Girls are pretty perceptive when it comes to other girls."
"Hmm," Mike hummed quietly. He had never thought of that before.
"But regardless, I'm glad that you and Max are friends now. She sounds cool. They all do," El said.
"They're the best," Mike nodded.
He watched as El tossed the wildflower she had been twirling off to the side and laid down on her back, looking up at the sky between the trees.
"You're lucky that you have such a close group of friends," she said, and Mike felt a pang in his chest for her as he remembered that El does not have many friends.
"I am," Mike agreed as he positioned himself to lay on his back next to her. "But you don't need a lot of friends if you have one or two you can really trust."
"That's true," El sighed. She was silent for a moment before continuing. "I used to have more friends, but… Well, sometimes breakups cost you more than just the person you were dating, you know?"
Mike didn't know. He had never considered any of Stephanie's friends his own friends. But he heard the pain in El's voice and glanced over at her as her hazel eyes remained fixed on the sky above.
"My last boyfriend Aaron and I had been friends since middle school, so when we finally started dating, we had a lot of mutual friends," El said. "And then his friends became my friends, and my friends became his. Well, the breakup was messy, but private… But then he told his side to everyone before I had the chance, and… you know how high school is."
Mike felt El shrug her shoulders next to him.
"So most of them took his side," she finished. "I was left with a couple people who will still talk to me at school, and then of course my best friend Brandon."
Another pang, this time in Mike's stomach. Her best friend is a guy? Mike didn't know what to think about that.
What's there to think about? Her friends are her friends.
But he's a guy… What if he is secretly in love with her?
Don't be stupid. Guys and girls can be just friends. Look at you and Max.
That's completely different. Besides, El is gorgeous… How could he NOT be secretly in love with her?
"I swear I wouldn't survive at that school without Brandon. He really got me through that breakup… well, he and his boyfriend Ethan," El added.
Mike's head snapped to face El.
"So – wait – Brandon… y-your best friend – he's gay?" he asked.
El turned to see relief in Mike's eyes, and her lips curled into an amused smile as she propped herself up on one elbow and turned her body to face him.
"Would it have mattered if he wasn't?" she asked.
Mike's mouth dropped open and his eyebrows raised.
"No! No, of course not," he said immediately. "I mean, you can obviously be friends with whoever you want-"
He cut off his rambling when El started laughing, and he soon chuckled and laid back down, able to relax.
"Have I told you you're cute when you get nervous?" El teased as she laid back down as well, this time resting her head on Mike's chest.
Mike chuckled but said nothing, just wrapped his arm around her to hold her close against himself.
"But yes, Brandon is gay. You have nothing to worry about… not that you would've anyway," El said.
Mike squeezed his arm around her, and then the two of them laid silently, looking up at the sky that had changed from blue to orange with the setting sun. He breathed in the aroma of grass, flowers, trees, and El's shampoo, which was the sweetest scent of all. Mike closed his eyes and listened to her breathing and focused on the feel of her fingers drawing circles on his chest.
When El glanced up to see Mike's eyes closed, she couldn't help but smile at how peaceful he looked. She shimmied her way up so that her face was in line with his, and she softly dipped her head down to connect her lips with his.
Mike had been in that serene state between being awake and being asleep when he felt El's soft lips land on his. He was quick to kiss her back, his lips moving as she parted hers and he tasted the fruity chapstick she was wearing. Mike raised his hand into El's soft, chestnut waves and tangled his fingers in them, while El's hand traced up his chest and cupped the side of his face.
They shifted so they were both laying on their sides, never breaking their kiss. Mike's one hand remained in El's hair while the other traced down the side of her body and gently caressed the small of her back.
When their lips finally separated, El rested her forehead against Mike's and let out a contented sigh against his lips. Mike brushed the hair out of her face and kissed the tip of her nose, and El looked up at him, her hazel eyes shining in the growing darkness. He still couldn't believe this was happening for him. It felt just like yesterday that his heart was broken, and now, here he was holding this beautiful girl in his arms who was starting to put it back together.
"What?" El whispered when Mike had stared at her for several moments without speaking.
"You're just… so incredible," Mike whispered.
"So are you," El smiled and leaned in for another kiss.
She pulled back again, and Mike rolled onto his back, allowing El to rest her head on his chest again. El watched as Mike reached into his pocket, pulled out his phone, and lit up the screen. She groaned when she saw it was 8:40pm.
"I don't want to go," she pouted comically.
"I know," Mike sighed. "But at least we found our spot."
"You think so?" El asked, sitting up.
"Don't you?" Mike asked as he sat up as well. "It's perfect. It's so quiet here, and no one came anywhere near us."
El nodded her agreement. Mike was right; they were left completely alone all evening. Certainly, the same would be true during the night as well.
They stood up and began walking in the direction of the female counselors' cabin. When they got there, it was ten minutes until nine o'clock. The moon was visible above the trees, and the dusk was starting to turn to darkness. El turned to face Mike, still holding his hand, next to the stairs leading up to the cabin.
"Tonight was fun," she smiled.
"Yeah it was," Mike agreed with a smile just as big. "So, when do you want to, you know…"
"Sneak out?" El finished for him amusedly.
"Yeah," Mike chuckled.
"Hmm… How about Saturday night?" El suggested. "We could wait until everyone is asleep and plan for, like, 1am?"
"Saturday night sounds perfect," Mike agreed.
"Awesome! Oh – and, wear a swimsuit. I think it would be fun to go down to the lake at night," El said excitedly.
Mike couldn't help but melt from the excitement on her face, so he nodded.
"Sure," he said.
"Well, you should get going," El pointed out, and Mike nodded. "Text me when you get back to your cabin."
"I will. Good night, El," Mike said and leaned down to kiss her forehead.
"Good night, Mike," El replied and offered him another small smile before he turned to head back toward the woods.
She let out a deep sigh and entered the cabin, unable to wipe the smile from her face, which the other girls couldn't help but notice. El changed clothes and climbed into bed, thinking that Saturday could not come soon enough.
0-0-0
A/N: This was a pretty calm chapter, but we are starting to chip away at both Mike and El's issues. There is still a lot to be uncovered here. I have mapped out through chapter nine, and I'm think there will probably be around 15 chapters total, but that is subject to change. I hope you enjoyed this one. Please remember to leave me a review, and I'll do my best to not disappear for so long again. Stay safe, everyone!