A/N: Welcome back! I hope you all had a great weekend and are ready for another chapter. Please remember to review at the end and let me know what you're thinking. Enjoy, and thank you for reading!
NoDownSide: Ooh, I'm sorry if you felt TTWAS pain again. It is definitely up to Mike to trust El, or acknowledge the issues and fix them with her. I hope you like this chapter.
Guest: It is safe to say that all of my stories will be Mileven endgame. I hope you like it anyway!
Alisea: Hi! It's great to hear from you! I'm glad you've liked the story so far, from them falling in love to, you know, what happened last chapter lol. El and Mike have definitely been fun to write in this, with it being an AU. I'm glad you've enjoyed them. I hope you like this chapter too.
Jbg: Yeah, definitely a marathon backwards, sadly. I hope you like this chapter!
Longislandgirl88: I'm sorry :-(
Ejbeckmann: Thanks! Sorry for the oof.
FavStarngerthings: Extreme sadness. I understand.
IgNighted: It was :-/
Shrike176: Very, very good point. Life doesn't have absolutes. We'll have to see if Mike comes to terms with that. I hope you enjoy this chapter.
KentClarkson02: Thank you, I'm glad you liked it. This story is only focused on them while they're at camp, so the story will end at the end of camp. I do hope you enjoy the rest of it!
Wolfgp: Thank you. What can I say, I do enjoy angst.
Betazoid4: I agree. At the point they were at, there was nothing else that could have happened. Trust is fragile, and even if El meant well, Mike still got hurt. And don't worry, I don't see either of them as the "bad guy" in this story. I just see them as teenagers who are both hurting. I hope you like how it plays out.
Nighting Ryder: I'm glad you liked it!
Disclaimer: I do not own Stranger Things or any of its characters.
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Monday morning, Dustin and Suzie were sitting in the cafeteria for breakfast. They were starting to get used to it being just the two of them – or the two of them plus Kayla and Tom – when eating, as Mike and El had not joined them for a meal since their breakup. Occasionally, one of them would come in and grab some food in a to-go container, but neither of them would stay, for fear of running into the other.
"I love you, but this is getting really depressing," Suzie sighed, looking at the empty chairs around their table.
"I know. I feel the same way," Dustin agreed. "I've never seen Mike this depressed before. All he does is mope around; he won't talk to me about it. He didn't leave the cabin at all this weekend; I'm not even convinced he got out of bed."
"El's the same way," Suzie said. "She's heartbroken over this."
"I kind of feel bad, too. I could tell something was off, and I asked Mike about him and El that morning, literally hours before shit hit the fan," Dustin recalled. "He told me everything was great, and then he texted me that we could talk later. We never got the chance to."
"Do you really think you could've done anything to stop it?" Suzie asked, and Dustin shrugged.
"I don't know, but maybe if he would've talked about what was going on, I could've given him some advice to help him keep his head on straight and things wouldn't have happened the way they did," Dustin said.
"What do you think you would've said?" Suzie asked, furrowing her brow.
"I don't know; you're putting me on the spot. Something like, 'Mike, what Stephanie did to you sucks, but that ended almost two months ago at this point, and it's time to let it go. El is a different person, and she has done nothing to make you believe that she would treat you that way. You barely even know Dani, so maybe you should get El's side of the story before believing the worst-case scenario. You and El are great together, so get your head out of your ass and talk to her and stop pushing her away before you get to a point where you can't fix it.' Probably something like that," Dustin replied.
"That's not bad for making it up on the spot," Suzie grinned. "How do you think he would've taken it?"
"He would've let out a big sigh and been like 'I know, but she's just so pretty, and there's no way she could fall for me long-term.' This is where I would remind him that you are gorgeous and love me, despite my nerdiness which surpasses that of his own," Dustin began. "To which, Mike would continue with 'Well, yeah, but in a couple weeks El will be back in Chicago and I'll be back in Hawkins.' At which point, I would interrupt him to remind him that I also live in Hawkins and you live all the way in god-damn Utah, but we still make it work. He would not fully acknowledge this and would say something like 'But how do I know guys in Chicago won't try something with her? There are so many guys in Chicago she could have.' I'd say 'Yeah, Mike, but she wants you.' Then he'd say 'She says that now, but how do I know she won't fall for a guy back home?' And I would have to be blunt and tell him 'You don't. You never know what's going to happen. This is where you have to take a leap of faith and trust your girlfriend because you know how you feel about her and how she makes you feel.' Think I made a good point?"
Suzie nodded, an amused grin on her face.
"Yeah, so do I. But this is the part where Mike comes full-circle, and we're back to 'But she's just so pretty.'" Dustin rolled his eyes. "I swear, talking to him is like talking in circles sometimes."
"Well, you did your best," Suzie said through her smile, rubbing his shoulder sympathetically.
"Don't mock me," Dustin chuckled. "That is exactly how that conversation would have gone."
"So, do you realistically think things would have gone any different if you had gotten the chance to talk to him beforehand?" Suzie asked, and Dustin sighed.
"I guess probably not," he admitted. "But I like to think that maybe I could've encouraged him to at least not believe Dani's story right away and try to listen to El's side of things with an open mind."
"Maybe he'll come around after a few days," Suzie said hopefully.
"Time is running out. We're only here this week and next week," Dustin pointed out. "Do you think there is anything we could do to help them fix this? To make them talk to each other and figure things out?"
"I don't think you and I meddling in this would be a good idea," Suzie said.
"We meddled in getting them together in the first place, why not round two?" Dustin chuckled.
Just then, Mike appeared at their table and pulled out a chair. He sank down into it, his face expressionless other than the pain that filled his eyes. Dustin noticed Mike's eyes just barely still had a red tint around them and the swelling from early that morning had mostly gone away. At least he was trying to hide the fact that he had spent a good portion of the weekend crying.
"Hey, I wasn't expecting to see you at breakfast," Dustin said in a much softer tone.
"Yeah, well," Mike sighed. "Tom left… It was just me and that asshole… Didn't want to be around him."
Dustin nodded understandingly and picked up an untouched piece of toast from his plate and held it across the table to Mike.
"Since you're here, why don't you eat something," Dustin offered. "You barely ate all weekend."
Mike shook his head.
"I'm not hungry," he mumbled.
"Come on, just eat the toast," Dustin insisted.
"Dustin-"
"Mike, do you really think I want to explain to your mom that after talking you in to coming to camp with me for six weeks, I let you starve yourself to death?" Dustin interrupted.
"I'm not starving myself. I'm just… not hungry," Mike mumbled.
It was true. He hadn't felt hungry ever since his breakup with El. He also hadn't felt happy, excited, or even tired. Falling asleep was hard, even though all Mike felt like doing was laying in bed. He spent most of the time staring up at the bottom of Dustin's bed, replaying his fight with El over and over in his head. Oftentimes, the good times they had together would pop into his head, interrupting the breakup fight. His mind would go from that heart-shattering look on El's face when he told her it was best to end things, to them tangled up together in the woods or him pointing out the constellations in the sky for her while they laid under the stars or them pressed closely together under the moonlight while they kissed alone in the lake.
Mike felt the tears begin to well up in his eyes as those memories flashed through his head. He sniffed and blinked the tears away, looking down at the table in front of him.
"Come on, man, you've got to take care of yourself," Dustin said gently.
After another moment, Mike sighed and reached for the piece of toast Dustin was offering him. He took a bite of it, and just like everything else he had tried to force himself to eat over the weekend, it was bland. His jaw didn't want to chew, his stomach had no interest in what was coming its way. But Mike went through the motions and forced himself to eat it anyway.
"Are you feeling any better?" Suzie asked gently when Mike had finished the piece of toast.
"Not yet," Mike shrugged. "But I'll be fine… I got through this once, I can do it again."
"It's been a few days now," Dustin began carefully. "Have you considered talking to El?"
"There's no need," Mike said sadly, staring at the table again. "I knew all along it was too good to be true… She was too good to be true."
Dustin found himself at a loss for words. Just minutes ago, he had bluntly told Suzie the advice he would have given Mike, but now seeing his best friend looking so defeated and fragile, the right words were harder to find.
"I really think that maybe you guys should try to talk," Dustin started carefully, and Mike's eyes glazed over as he tuned his friend out. "You were so good together… I know how much you still care about her."
Mike did not answer; he continued to stare blankly ahead. He could vaguely feel Dustin and Suzie's eyes on him, and he did not want to look up and see their pitiful expressions. He had never felt so low before, and there did not appear to be an end in sight any time soon.
"Umm," he heard Suzie softly hum while she nudged Dustin's shoulder.
Mike looked up in time to see Suzie nodding her head in the direction over Mike's shoulder. He turned around and saw that El had entered the cafeteria. She looked as beautiful as ever, walking in wearing denim shorts and a t-shirt with her hair loosely hanging over her shoulders. Mike watched as El grabbed a banana and turned toward their table. Their eyes met briefly, and Mike swore he felt his heart stop as he looked into her hazel eyes for the first time in days. He broke eye contact first and turned back to Dustin and Suzie.
"I'm gonna go… Get to class early and get it ready before Kayla gets there," he said before standing.
Mike walked across the floor and out the cafeteria door, using all of his strength to not look in El's direction again, though he could feel her watching him as he passed her.
When Mike was gone, El made her way over to where Dustin and Suzie were sitting. She forced a small smile and sat down in the chair that Mike had occupied moments before.
"Glad to see you're eating," Suzie said, nodding at the banana that El was peeling.
"I just didn't care for dinner last night," El shrugged with an excuse as to why she had barely eaten.
"Are you feeling okay?" Suzie asked, and El shrugged again.
"I don't really have a choice, do I? I have a job to do, and I have to start trying to get over everything," El replied.
"I know, but-"
"I mean, maybe he had a point, you know?" El interjected, and Suzie remained quiet, hoping El would finally open up a bit more about how she was feeling. "Long distance. It would've been hard. I know it works for you guys, but… No, it just would've been too much."
Suzie smiled sympathetically as El tried to convince herself that Mike was right about their long-distance relationship being too difficult. In reality, Suzie knew that El and Mike had made plans to keep in regular contact and to visit each other regularly. Suzie knew how excited El had been to show Mike around her favorite places in Chicago and how much she was looking forward to seeing his life in Hawkins.
"El, it's okay to be upset-"
"I'll be fine," El said firmly. "I will. I just… I don't want to talk about it anymore, okay?"
"Okay," Suzie nodded.
El finished her banana in silence, doing her best to maintain a look on her face that concealed how broken she was actually feeling. As she was finishing her banana, Tom walked in and over to their table.
"Hey, El, I'm going to grab some breakfast to go, and then do you want to head over to our classroom?" he asked.
"Sure, thanks," El smiled up at him.
As Tom went to get some breakfast, El tossed her banana peel into a nearby trashcan and then sighed, looking back at Dustin and Suzie.
"I appreciate you guys being concerned. I really do," El said. "But I'll be fine. It may just take me some time to get there… I just hope that the three of us can still be friends."
"Of course," Suzie said immediately, and Dustin nodded.
"Great," El sighed. "Well, I'd better go. It looks like Tom is almost ready."
Dustin and Suzie watched as El met up with Tom and walked out of the cafeteria to head toward their classroom.
"She seems to be holding herself together well," Dustin said when El had gone.
"I think she's just better at hiding it in public than Mike is," Suzie said.
They stood up and discarded their trash, and as they walked out of the cafeteria, they stopped to say goodbye before parting ways.
"Have a good day, Suzie-poo," Dustin said, leaning down to peck her lips.
"Oh, I will," Suzie said, and Dustin furrowed his brow at her response. "I'm working with Eric this week, and I intend to find out what the hell his problem is."
"What happened to not meddling?" Dustin chuckled.
"Maybe I can allow some minor meddling," Suzie grinned.
She leaned up to kiss Dustin one more time before they parted ways to start their day.
Suzie and Eric worked rather well together; so well that none of the students were able to tell that Suzie was seething every time she looked at him. Just as El had been, Suzie was surprised to see how good Eric was with the kids, and Suzie momentarily wondered how such a smart and seemingly nice guy could really be such an asshole. Luckily, she had every intention of asking him.
The students finished their earthworm dissections and cleaned up their stations. Once the campers were dismissed and had left the classroom, Suzie grabbed Eric's attention before he had the chance to leave.
"So, you worked with El last week, right?" she asked casually while readjusting the stack of lesson three packets.
"That's right," Eric nodded. "Why?"
"Well, I was surprised when she told me, but she was right. You are really good with the campers," Suzie said.
"Oh, thanks," Eric smiled, but Suzie noticed how he had furrowed his brow in surprise.
"Were you expecting me to say something else?" she asked.
"Like what?" Eric asked.
"Like that you're a really nice guy, and we had you misjudged because you were hanging out with Jason," Suzie offered innocently.
"Well, that's true," Eric said.
"Is it? How about the fact that you let Dani and Mike believe that you and El were making out when you were partners last week?" Suzie asked, crossing her arms over her chest.
"It was time for things to end between me and Dani anyway," Eric shrugged. "And I don't talk to Mike. I have no control over what he believes."
"You're not stupid. You knew Dani would go back and tell him," Suzie said. "I just don't understand why. What do you gain from ruining Mike and El's relationship?"
"I didn't ruin anything. If he took the word of some girl who he barely even knows over the word of his own girlfriend, then that's on him, not me," Eric said.
"I think you were jealous that El actually liked Mike when she rejected you from the very beginning," Suzie said. "Your ego couldn't take being turned down, so you decided you couldn't let her be happy. They were doing great-"
"Were they?" Eric interjected. "Because I casually asked Mike if he was still seeing El, and he got extremely defensive about it. I'm thinking your pal Mike has some deeper issues here, and again, that's not on me."
Suzie pursed her lips. She was not about to discuss any of Mike's issues with Eric.
"So was that your plan? Get inside Mike's head and make him paranoid that El would leave him for you? Then move in on El?" Suzie asked. "And when El didn't take you up on it, you just made Mike believe she did? Did you think with Mike out of the picture, she would change her mind about wanting you?"
"You are thinking about this way too hard," Eric said through an amused smile. "I didn't have some elaborate plan to do anything. I just don't care. I'm never going to see these people again; they're not my friends. Yeah, El's hot. I tried to hook up with her, and she turned me down. Dani confronted me all emotional and whiny, so I let her believe whatever she believed. Things were ending anyway; it didn't matter if she thought I kissed someone else. Then El came at me all smug about it the next day. Why should I care if she and Mike work out or not?"
"You're crazy," Suzie said, shaking her head.
"That's fine," Eric shrugged, clearly checked out of the conversation. "But if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go get some lunch now that you've wasted the first ten minutes."
Suzie watched him leave, dumbfounded by the conversation they had just had. Was he telling the truth? Did he really just let people believe what they believed because he didn't care enough to correct them? Suzie wasn't fully convinced that Eric wasn't motivated by jealousy and spite from El's rejection. She sighed as she accepted that she would probably never know for sure.
At lunch, Dustin was eager to hear if Suzie had gotten anything out of Eric.
"Nothing," Suzie said. "He is either a jealous asshole or a sociopath. I don't know which."
"Is there a rule stating that he can't be both?" Dustin asked, and Suzie chuckled while shaking her head.
"So much for my minor meddling being of any assistance," she muttered.
"If it's any consolation, my week with Dani is going to be just as unproductive," Dustin said. "She's still heartbroken over Eric using her the way he did. Only now, she's also feeling guilty about kissing Mike."
"What a mess," Suzie sighed.
"You're telling me," Dustin agreed. "I say we opt for plan B."
"What's plan B?" Suzie asked, furrowing her brow.
"Lock Mike and El in the utility shed until they get back together," Dustin smirked.
"Like that episode of How I Met Your Mother when Marshall and Lily lock Barney and Robin in the bedroom until they talk about their relationship?" Suzie asked.
"Just like that! It worked for them," Dustin said.
"Well, this isn't a sitcom. These are people's lives. No more meddling unless it becomes absolutely necessary," Suzie said.
"So, what? Plan B is to just sit back and hope things get better?" Dustin asked.
"Yes," Suzie replied.
Dustin leaned back in his chair and huffed.
"Fine. But when that plan fails, like, tomorrow, the utility shed is plan C," he said.
Unfortunately, things did not start to get better on their own. In the male counselors' cabin, Mike simply pretended that Eric did not exist. They had rarely talked anyway, but now it was as if Eric was invisible. Then again, Mike hardly talked to anyone anymore. Dustin was convinced Mike only got out of bed for classes because he was obligated to. Other than that, it seemed like Mike was simply going through the motions, waiting for camp to be over so he could go home.
Tuesday night, Mike was laying in his bed scrolling through his and El's older text messages, something that he had recently started doing. Reading the sweet words they used to exchange helped trick his mind into feeling a brief moment of happiness, but that quickly went away when he reached the bottom. They hadn't spoken in days.
"Look, Suzie would kill me for meddling, but I hate seeing you like this," Dustin said, resting his hands on his own top bunk as he stood next to Mike, looking down at his sad friend.
"Trust me, I hate feeling like this," Mike mumbled.
"Then please just talk to her," Dustin said.
"What's the use?" Mike sighed. "We haven't spoken since… I'm sure she's either moved on or hates me now."
"I don't think she could do either of those things if she tried," Dustin replied.
Mike said nothing, only let out another sigh and shook his head.
"All I'm saying is you love this girl. Remember? You never told her, but you told me," Dustin said. "Maybe that's something that she should get to know."
"I broke up with her. I told her I can't trust her not to cheat me on, and I told her a long-distance relationship would be too hard. This all happened after I made plans with her for a long-distance relationship," Mike said. "I think telling her that I love her now would be too little too late."
"Well, maybe don't lead with it," Dustin chuckled. "But seriously, we leave in a week and a half. If you don't want El out of your life forever, you should really, really consider talking to her."
Mike rolled over onto his side, facing the wall and ignoring Dustin. Dustin sighed in frustration and climbed up to his bed, wondering if Suzie was sticking to her "no meddling" policy.
"El…" Suzie said sympathetically as she stood over El's shoulder.
El immediately locked her phone and dropped it onto her chest, but she knew she had been busted. Suzie had walked up while El was scrolling through her camera roll, looking at the photos that she and Mike had taken together over the past few weeks. Her chest grew tighter with each picture, seeing how happy they looked and remembering each moment as if it had just happened.
"I don't want to talk about it," El said.
"I probably shouldn't get involved… Dustin would kill me… But El, Mike is miserable without you," Suzie said.
"Mike chose to be without me," El said quietly.
"You've got to know that's not what he really wants," Suzie said.
"He said he meant it," El recalled softly.
"He let his emotions and fears speak for him," Suzie said.
"Maybe… But I can't force him to trust me. I can't fix this, Suzie," El said.
"I thought you loved him," Suzie reminded her.
"I do," El replied softly, looking down at her hands in her lap.
"Then show him that. Don't let him push you away. Don't let him go back to Hawkins without things being right between you two," Suzie said.
El sighed and shook her head. She did wish it were that simple. She wished she could wave a magic wand and take away all of Mike's fears and make him trust her. She wished she could erase the image of Mike and Dani kissing from her mind. But she couldn't. Things weren't as easy to fix as Suzie wanted them to be. El pulled her covers up to her chin and turned away from Suzie, closing her eyes and praying for a dreamless sleep.
The next morning, Kayla skipped out on breakfast and went to her classroom early, hoping to find that Mike would show up early again too as he did the previous day. When she arrived, she was glad to see that Mike was already seated up front, a blank expression on his face as he waited for the day to begin. She walked up front to join him, and he did not look up at her.
"Hey," Kayla said, and she settled for the grunt that Mike responded with. At least he acknowledged that she was there. "You're here early."
"What else am I gonna do?" Mike sighed. "I can't go to the cafeteria and see…"
"Mike, do you want to talk about it?" Kayla asked.
Mike finally looked up at her. Her blue eyes were filled with sympathy, and Mike felt his walls come down just a bit. Dustin meant well, but Mike thought there just might be something comforting about talking to someone who didn't already know every insecurity and heartbreak he had ever had.
"I fell for El the moment I saw her on move-in day," he said softly. "I tried to fight it, but I knew. She was breathtaking and so sweet… God, I just completely fell in lo – I fell for her… hard."
"When did you find out that she felt the same way?" Kayla asked, not pointing out what he had almost slipped up and said.
"It didn't take long," Mike admitted. "We were always together. We talked about our friends, our families, our exes. I felt like we really had something rare… But I also knew it was happening too fast. Things don't work like that. Relationships aren't that easy and flawless. I knew all along it was too good to be true, and I was finally proven right… God, I was so stupid to fall so hard so fast."
Kayla was silent for a moment, waiting to see if Mike was going to add anything else. She let his words sink in, and she bit her tongue briefly, wondering if it was her place to say what was on her mind.
"I don't want to cross the line or anything, but what if you didn't fall so fast because you were being stupid, but you fell so fast because you were supposed to? You met the person that you were supposed to be with, and that's why everything seemed so easy," Kayla began carefully.
"Based on how things ended, I don't think that was the case," Mike said.
"You said you told yourself all along that it was too good to be true," Kayla said. "What if you were subconsciously looking for that thing that would prove you right?"
Mike didn't speak. Could he have been doing that? Looking for that one thing that would prove that El was too good to be true? Trying to find it now rather than later to try and minimize the pain? No. El still kept secrets from him about Eric. He didn't make that up.
When Mike still remained silent, Kayla decided to add one more thing.
"I know you're worried about El being around other guys when she goes back to Chicago," Kayla said gently. "But she has been around other guys her whole life, and she was around other guys here at camp. The only person I've ever heard El talk about is you. She has never talked about Eric or any other guy. The person she talked about every night before falling asleep, every morning when she was getting ready for the day; the person who brought a smile to her face just from mentioning their name, the person she would blush when asked about… It was always you. And El has been completely miserable ever since the breakup."
Mike repeated Kayla's words in his head. Was it possible that he could have jumped to conclusions with the Eric situation? Maybe. But, El still didn't tell him the whole truth. That was a fact that Mike just could not shake.
Suddenly, the campers began to file into the classroom. Mike did his best to push the thoughts of him and El out of his mind. With a small smile of appreciation to Kayla for talking with him, Mike stood up, ready to start the day.
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A/N: I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Please remember to leave me a review and let me know what you think!