"Hey, guys!" Lucas claimed the small crowd's attention as he was standing where a four-pound cake rested lazily on a fancy table, nicely decorated.

Max was standing beside Lucas, hand in hand with him, while her head was resting on his shoulder. Dustin and Will were standing next to each other just beside Lucas. And Ashlyn was standing next to them, feeling completely left out without her boyfriend.

The weird thing that was bugging her for the past hour was that Eleanor and Mike, both, were missing. Realizing this, she couldn't help but be a little insecure. And scared. Of course, she knew that after coming to Hawkins, there would be no chance that Eleanor wouldn't try to make make a move on Mike. But she wasn't expecting her to do that here, right where his girlfriend was breathing the same air as her.

Her eyes once again, for the millionth time, searched through the crowd and finally spotted Mike who was already making his way towards them. She immediately waved her hand at him, signaling him to come and join them. Mike nodded and stood beside her as he reached, immediately lacing his hand with hers. The blonde narrowed her eyes at him but he didn't spare a glance toward her side, instead, immediately put on a smile on his lips. She huffed and turned her head again.

Not now, but she'll definitely ask it him later.

"It's finally the moment you've all been waiting for," Lucas announced to the crowd and they all cheered. He then glanced at the small group of members who were standing beside him and asked, "So if everyone's here, may I finally blow the candles?" The small crowd nodded and some of them cheered too, signaling him to go ahead. And as Lucas got everybody's yes, he slightly bent down towards the cake.

But just before he could blow out the candles, the redhead beside him spoke up.

"Wait a minute." Everybody looked at her with furrowed eyebrows and a few people from the crowd also sighed in annoyance at the interruption.

With confusion painted on her face, she looked around. "Where's El?"

As the two words blew past her lips, the three friends immediately turned their heads, trying to spot her around. However, Ashlyn stood there with a neutral face and Mike just rolled his eyes before crossing his arms over his chest.

Here starts the drama.

"She went to the kitchen to get some water but she never came back..."

Dustin's and Will's eyes were almost about to pop out of their eye sockets and Lucas had a horrified expression on his face. "WHAT? What do you mean she never came back?!" Lucas shouted. No way this was happening again. He had assured El that no matter what, nothing would go wrong as long as he was there with her. No. He can't fail his promise to her. Never.

Max was now on the verge of tears, "I-I don't know. She just- told me that she was going to get water but then she never returned..." Lucas rubbed his temples with two of his fingers while the crowd was in very much confusion, gossiping and whispering.

Will read that the whole room was filled with tension so he decided to take the mic in his hands and turned towards them before announcing, "Um- we're so sorry for this... but this party ends here only." All of them were gasping at the sudden announcement. Dustin came beside his friend and nudged his arm, "What are you doing?" Will ignored him and continued, "Y'all heard correct. We're sorry for ending the party like this but- yeah." There was a long stop before he continued. "Thanks very much for all the wishes and gifts once again." The crowd murmured incoherent words and left.

Now there were only 6 of them standing there.

Max was dialing El's number continuously, biting her nails and foot tapping on the floor, anxiously. "She isn't picking up." Her voice cracked and she was vaguely aware that some tears were threatening to spill from her eyes.

"Did anyone see her last time before she went to the kitchen?" Lucas asked the group.

Max, Dustin, and Will shook their heads. "The last time I saw her was when she was dancing with Max," Will replied, fidgeting with his fingers.

"What about you?" Lucas quirked an eyebrow at Dustin who was gulping nervously. Will answered for him, "What are you asking him? He was so busy chit-chatting with Paul's girlfriend." He finished with a sharp glance at the curly-haired boy.

"And what about you, Ashlyn? Have you seen her around?" Lucas asked the blonde. The blonde huffed, "Why would I?"

Now, the redhead fumed. God, that blonde really chose to spit out her sarcastic remarks in this situation. She stepped forward towards Ashlyn, still clutching the phone tightly in her hand and so close to slapping that bitchy face of hers, "Look, all I'm asking is have you seen El around or not?! Spit the truth out or just fuck off from here!"

Now, this was the time Mike reacted. He stepped forward, "Wo, wo, wo, wo. Stop right fucking there. She doesn't know about where she is and who's she fucking." He stopped for a moment before he tilted his head toward the four worried friends. "And... why do y'all care anyway? Let her where she is and stop her from ruining our happiness- for god's sake."

Lucas inhaled sharply, "Mike, it's really not the time for arguing. If you've seen her around then please tell us." Mike looked at his best friend's pleading look."Please."

He scoffed and rolled his eyes before responding, "I saw her in the kitchen before I came here."

All of them sighed in relief, well except for Ashlyn and Mike, of course. They all dragged themselves to the small lobby, where the kitchen was, and the redhead immediately entered inside to look around for her best friend.

"El? El, are you here?!" She looked here and there for a moment before she finally caught the glance of her best friend behind the kitchen counter. And her eyes immediately went wide. "EL?! Oh my god, are you okay? What happened?!"

El was sobbing, knees pulled up tight, clad to her chest. Her hands were gripping the skin of her legs so tightly that her knuckles turned white. Her eyes were shut and her head ducked down as if she wanted nobody to see her face. No sound of sobs was escaping from her throat as it looked like she was choking on her tears. Her whole body was shaking slightly and Max could hear her muttering some words, that she couldn't bring herself to focus on.

"Holy mother of god," Dustin muttered, as three boys also came up to the scene, eyes wide.

"What is happening to her?" Ashlyn laid out her question as she dragged Mike to the scene. Talking about Mike? He had his lips parted and irises widened. He had never seen this side of El. Never in his whole life.

And it was somehow paining him to see her like that, knowing he, himself, was the reason behind this condition of her. Well, he expected her to maybe cry, yes, but he definitely didn't expect this. "What is happening to her?" He redirected his girlfriend's words because surely, he don't have a single idea of what was going on.

"She's having a panic attack again."

Mike's eyebrows lifted upward. Panic attack? Again? Did she have them more than once?

"El, can you listen to me? Hey, please look at me. Please, El. Come on." Max shook the brunette's shoulders slightly as she was kneeling beside her, tears escaping from her irises. God. What best friend she was to El? After promising her the best, how could she let this happen to her? Such a disgrace, she was.

El, however, who realized that she finally heard someone, shook her head no, still lowing her head in her lap. Her sobs weren't slowing, instead, they grew clearer, as the choking of her voice stopped.

Max, who finally saw El respond to her, tried one more time. "El, you have to look at me. Tell us what happened. We all are here for you. Please tell us what happened. Please..."

"N-no." She responded between her sniffles.

Max turned her head to the boys and gave them a look, asking for help. To which, Lucas immediately nodded and knelt beside the two girls. "El, Max is right. We all are here for you. Tell us what happened. Please."

Ashlyn, who was standing right next to Mike, decided to whisper in his ear. "She's so dramatic, I swear." Hearing this, Mike immediately snapped, "Shut up." The blonde opened her mouth to fight back but she got a sharp glare from his side, on which she immediately shut her mouth again before turning her head back.

"S-should we call an ambulance?" Mike offered, still scared from the scene that took place in front of his eyes. Will shook his head, "No, it will take too much time. We have to solve this now."

"El, if you don't want to tell us what happened then it's okay. But please just talk to us, we'll help you out," Lucas said. El, who maybe finally heard her friends' pleas, managed to say out, her chest heaving for air. "I c-ant br-eathe."

"Okay, okay," Max said placing her hands on her best friend's shoulders, "no one would pressure you to say something out. You just take deep breaths and concentrate on your breathing. Alright?"

El nodded, head still bent down in her lap.

"Take a deep breath in... and then release it out."

El tried to follow the redhead's voice but somehow her ears were still ringing with Mike's voice."YOU CLAIMED YOU WERE GOING TO THE WASHROOM BUT YOU WERE FUCKING DANIEL, EL!"

El shut her eyes hard as more tears spilled down on her dress. Then she heard Max's voice again, "Again, take a deep breath... release it out."

Again, Mike's screaming voice rang in her ears. "AND THIS TIME, TOO, YOU HAVE LIED TO SOMEONE AND PRACTICALLY PLANNED TO FUCK SOMEONE ELSE!"

The brunette's head was pounding, now, spinning like she was going to pass out right then and there. The alcohol from before and the dark memories in her system were doing nothing for her. She wanted to run away, from everything. For at least right now.

So, she decided to do what her mind rationally thought right now.

She lifted her head in an instant, revealing her puffy eyes, tear-stained cheeks, and reddened cheeks. She stood up, eyeing the concerned eyes of all of the people who were standing in front of her.

Lucas and Max beside her, who were finally relieved that her panicking has stopped. Dustin and Will, who stood just behind the couple, having worrisome looks painted on their faces, and then... there stood Mike. Who had his lips parted and eyes wide open, eyebrows lifted upwards. She didn't want to look at him, no, not even in the slightest, but when she did, a sob instantly escaped her throat.

But before she had any time to get embarrassed, she decided to run from there. She took fast steps outside the kitchen, ignoring all the voices and steps of her friends that followed her. She didn't care about anything right now. All she wanted to do was run far away from there, away from every single memory that haunted her mind, body, and soul.

She knew that was impossible but just for right now, she wanted to leave that heavy atmosphere and go somewhere where she could breathe freely and will be able to calm herself down.

And she knew where exactly she will go.

Idk how many parts this topic would cover but I hope that I cover it in the next chapter. Do not mind if it's going to be long, 'cause I'm seriously desperate to finish this topic so that I could go on with the other plots that I've planned for this.

Hope you enjoyed. Lmk your thoughts.

-lils