A/N: Okay! Since we're officially halfway through Stranger Thursdays, here's the fourth and final installment of This Town! I hope you all really enjoy this epilogue, cause I've had a lot of fun working on this story and am pretty happy with the way it all finally turned out.
Thank you once again to ThisisMel for your amazing and uplifting review, and I am so grateful to everyone who read this little fic of mine.
Enjoy!
You still make me nervous when you walk in the room
December 14, 1996
El Wheeler gripped her husband's hand as they exited the church, and when she glanced up at him, she saw that the wide grin on his lips matched her own ecstatic expression. They had waited for each other for so long, and there had even been times when she thought that they wouldn't make it this far, but in the end, all of their struggles and battles made this moment—the moment when she walked out of a church into the cold December air, the wife of Mike Wheeler—so much sweeter.
"It's snowing," she whispered happily, tilting her face upwards, her eyes closed, to let the light flakes dust her face. Mike squeezed her hand affectionately, and dropping a sweet kiss onto her forehead. Only the slight click of a camera's shutter broke through the couple's bubble, and the two looked at Jonathan, sheepish looks on all three of their faces.
"Sorry," he muttered, staring down at his feet and fiddling with the strap on his camera, "it was too good a moment to pass up."
"It's fine, Jonathan," El assured her big brother, and had opened her mouth to say more, when the "official" photographer for their wedding interrupted.
"It's actually given me an idea," the balding Mr. Adams, said. "If it's all right with the two of you, we could get some shots out here of the bride and groom, and whomever else they want. The natural light's not too horrendous, and it seems like a wasted opportunity not to use this snow falling as a backdrop. In fact, I even saw some places where…" As the photographer trailed off, babbling about where to take the pictures, Mike and El waved over all of the bridesmaids, best men, and their immediate families.
"I hope you guys don't mind staying out in the cold for a little longer," Mike joked, but cried out when Lucas and Dustin pulled him into a headlock. "What the hell is this for!"
"Come on, man!" Dustin crowed, beating his chest as if he was King Kong for some reason. "You're the first of us to get married! Mike married El," he started chanting in a sing-song voice, which Lucas, Will, Max, and Holly immediately picked up on, much to the irritation of the couple and their parents.
"Boys!" Mrs. Wheeler finally hissed, at the same time as El's mom said, "El, honey, I think the photographer's ready."
"Ah, yes. Now, if I could have the bride and groom over here," Adams started positioning nearly everyone in attendance around Mike and El, leading into the first round of what would be nearly two hours of picture-taking.
Adams managed to get the sweet yet traditional pictures of Mike and El in a variety of poses, along with nearly every conceivable combination of everyone in attendance—El with Hopper, her mom, Will, and Jonathan; Mike with his family; the original party of four; Jennifer, Max, and El; the list went on and on. And in between all of the official photographs, Jonathan was there to capture all of the in-between moments, showing the joy of the aftermath of a wedding. El playfully squished in between her brothers as her mom and Hop looked at each other in exasperation; Nancy putting her brother in yet another headlock, as his mom hid her face, Holly cheered on her older sister, and Mr. Wheeler just looked lost; Will jumping onto Lucas's back, as Dustin and Mike laughed; a huge three-way hug between the girls, all of their faces alight with joy and reminiscent of their teenage years.
Before long, many lips had turned blue, and the two moms urged their children to take their antics down a notch so they could go to the reception. El simply nodded sympathetically, feeling still rather comfortable in the chilly weather, but noticed how Mike was fast approaching the point where a dark red would become the permanent coloring of his face.
She curled up next to him in the limo, laying her head on his shoulder, and intertwining their hands, as they made their way to their reception. El tuned out most of the exuberant chatter of their friends and family, silently observing them. Their interactions, body language, expressions, anything that gave clues to their mindset at that moment.
The parents seemed to be happy enough making pleasant small talk to each other, Hopper's arm was resting around her mom's shoulders, and Mr. and Mrs. Wheeler were holding hands happily. Lucas, Dustin and Mike were arguing loudly about something probably unimportant, but Max quickly shut it down by pulling her boyfriend back into his seat, a worried look on her face. Will and Jonathan were talking to the latter's girlfriend, Mel, a tall brunette with dyed blonde tips, a quiet voice, but a wide smile. Jennifer, Holly, and Nancy were all gushing over some funny picture Steve had taken of their kids during the ceremony.
Everyone is so happy, El realized, wondering when the last time all of them were so incredibly delighted all at the same time. It probably had never happened before.
They finally reached the hotel where the reception was held, and Mike and El were quickly escorted off to the side, to await their grand entrance. After all the buzz from the limo ride and the photo shoot, the quietness that came with being separated from the group was an odd, but welcome break.
"You ready?" Mike asked, staring at the big doors in front of them, the hand not holding El's tapped against his leg in a random pattern.
"No," El replied honestly, feeling the first flutters of butterfly wings in her stomach and a tight feeling form in her chest. "Nervous. You?"
"Super nervous," Mike admitted, flashing her a wavering grin. "But we'll get through it together."
El nodded, as they heard their cue, and pushed the doors open. Cheers echoed throughout the hall, as the newlyweds made their way to the dance floor, quickly taking their positions. Max ran up and grabbed the bouquet once more, so El could place both of her hands on Mike's shoulders, locking her fingers behind his neck. She smiled up at her husband, starting to sway in time with the music. It wasn't any song she could sing along to, but soft and slow, and lyrical in a way that let all of her fears and nervousness melt away to reveal a young woman hopelessly in love with her new husband.
"I finally took you to the Snow Ball," Mike whispered, his hands resting on El's waist, his forehead only an inch or so from hers.
"You've been saying that for years," she quipped, a smirk tugging at her lips. "There was the one in eighth grade, and the one you created for me when we decided to dance in the snow with no shoes."
"Yeah, I guess. But this is the one I've always wanted to give you." He tilted his head for her to look at the winter wonderland embellishments that adorned the room, and the fog swirling around their ankles. "The one that means you're finally, an official part of my family. You're finally home safe."
El cocked her head, a little confused by his statement. I've been home for years, she thought, her hazel eyes boring into his dark ones to try and find his meaning. "I am home," she stated simply. "Home is Hawkins, and you."
Mike smiled, bending down to kiss her softly right as the music stopped. El closed her eyes and felt her lips turn up at his touch, taking his hand once more after they broke apart. "I love you," he whispered, still seemingly unaware that their first dance was over.
"I love you too," El replied immediately, kissing his cheek one more time, before leading her husband over to their table, smiling as she looked around at her family all together, all safe and content, and when she looked at Mike with love in her eyes, she was glad all of her nervousness had disappeared like butterflies in the wind.
Them butterflies—they come alive when I'm next to you
December 14, 1996
Some poppy dance song that El didn't know the name of was blasting through the speakers as she danced, her dress's white skirt flared out around her legs, at the center of the circle of her friends and the rest of the guests. She threw her head back and laughed, so filled with joy that she could think of no other way to express it than through her laughter and dancing.
A pale finger tapped her shoulder, and she glanced over her shoulder, her brows furrowing when she saw Max looking at her with an unreadable look on her face. The simply redhead motioned for El to follow her. Jennifer sent the two of them a concerned look, but Max just shook her head, mouthing I'll tell you later. The blonde nodded, turning back to the party, as El picked her dress up and out of the way of her heels in order to follow Max. She dropped a kiss on Mike's nose as she passed him, relishing in the simple fact that she could, but also as a reassurance that she would be back soon.
The two young women stopped in an empty hallway just outside the reception hall, and the muffled music still echoed throughout the corridor, unintentionally insuring that the duo wouldn't be overheard.
"What's wrong?" El asked, her large eyes unwaveringly focused on her friend, who was currently staring at the hem of her dress.
"I didn't want to tell you this and ruin your day," Max started, rambling on in a way that was very unlike her; she had always been one to get right to the point. "And I already told Dustin, but he didn't really want to tell Mike or Lucas or any of them either, yet. But I couldn't really keep this from you either, because I'm just so scared and I have no idea what we're going to do."
"Max!" El interrupted forcefully, her voice cutting through her friend's breakdown and forcing green eyes to meet hazel ones. "What's wrong?"
"I'm pregnant," Max blurted out, her cheeks turning only a few shades lighter than her hair. "Dustin's the father obviously, but…"
Before she could finish, El wrapped her up in a tight hug, much to the chagrin of her friend. "I'm so happy for you," she whispered through a bright smile. El wasn't one to care about her "day" being overshadowed by someone else's happiness, in fact, she was overjoyed that her friend was reaching a different, but just as important milestone on the same day she herself reached one.
"Thank you," Max replied, wiping tears from her eyes when she thought El couldn't see. Giving her friend a quick squeeze, before stepping back from the hug, she tossed her head as if to say that everything was normal. "Now come on! Your fiancé, no your husband, will be worried about if you're not back in time for cake."
"Why?" She asked, but turning towards the doors. Why would eating cake be so important? El thought, trying to remember if anything significant had happened during dessert at Nancy and Steve's wedding, or at her mom and Hopper's small reception.
Once they re-entered the reception, El smiled to herself when she saw all of the work that her mom, and Mrs. Wheeler, and herself had done had paid off, to make sure that the space was transformed into a Winter Wonderland, but not so overdone that looked tacky. All of the stress and the nerves and fears she'd had about all the things that could go wrong, had thankfully been unnecessary, and she couldn't imagine the wedding going any more perfectly.
Max quickly said goodbye as she sprinted off as fast as she could—which was pretty surprisingly fast given her three-inch heels—to go find Dustin. El looked around the room, her eyes finally alighting on a strange pairing: Lucas and Jennifer. It wasn't strange because they had never hung out, just strange in the way that El couldn't recall a time when they'd hung out, just the two of them, there was always a buffer of herself, or one of their other friends. She shimmied her way through the crowd of people separating them, incredibly tempted to use her powers to clear a path, but decided she didn't want to worry about staining her dress with blood.
"Hey El!" Jennifer threw her arms around the brunette, who was slightly peeved at the fact that she was still several inches shorter than her friend, despite her higher heels. "How are you? Are you having fun?"
"Yes," she replied simply, returning the nineteenth hug from her friend. Noticing the questioning glances her two friends were sending each other, she asked, "What were you guys talking about?"
"Oh," Jennifer waved her hand in a flippant motion, but El could tell something was troubling her. "It's nothing really. I'm just being stupid."
El just turned to Lucas, and raised one eyebrow, looking subtly down at her white dress, an expectant expression on her face.
"Jennifer wants to get back together, or maybe just get together—were you two ever actually together?—with Will," Lucas spilled, talking quickly and clearly stringing several thoughts together, a mischievous smile splitting his dark face with blindingly white teeth.
"That's not…" Jennifer protested weakly, her hands on her hips. "That's not what I said! And no, we were never 'officially' a couple, alright? We went out a few times in high school, and went to prom, but never really dated." Her words and body language made it sound like she was merely listing facts she could care less about, but her tone betrayed her disappointment at the words coming out of her own mouth.
El's grin soon matched Lucas's as she too started thinking of excuses to push together her brother, and the girl who he had liked for decades, who was not only pretty and rich, but liked him back just as much. But as her wheels were spinning, Jennifer interrupted, quickly turning the conversation back to El.
"So, what'd you think of all the speeches? Max's was perfect, of course, and yours," she nodded to Lucas, "and Will's were sweet, but Dustin's was…"
"Nearly incoherent?" Lucas supplied, nodding in agreement with his own statement. Her curly haired friend had basically gotten up in front of both of their families and all their friends, to tell seemingly every embarrassing story about Mike as a kid, or whenever the two of them were "grossly ruining the very concept of romance for the rest of us." It seemed like a self-imposed contest to see if he could get Mike's face to permanently turn red.
"Yeah, he nearly told everyone that I'm—" El quickly cut herself off, before she revealed her secret to Jennifer. Because although the two had been friends for years, the subject of her "powers" never came up often, and she was always so careful to not use them frequently.
"Telekinetic?" The blonde finished, smirking at the shell-shocked faces of her friends. "Come on," she laughed, "you guys didn't think I would figure it out? I've known for a while, but I wanted you to trust me enough to tell me."
"I do trust you enough," El quickly replied, shaking her head emphatically. "It just never seemed like a good time to mention it." As if to prove she wasn't lying about trusting her, she stared at the crystals in Jennifer's braid and made them crawl up and down the blonde strands.
"Awesome," Jennifer breathed, snagging a napkin from a nearby table for El to wipe away the tiny bead of blood.
As if called to the use of her powers, Mike soon pushed his way over to the trio, wrapping an arm around his wife's shoulder when he arrived. "What's going on here?"
"Oh, just letting Jennifer in on our D&D secret," Lucas replied, quickly settling back into the stupid code the boys had come up with in the years after her return to discuss her powers around lots of other people. "You know, the proud princess's powers?"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Mike looked from El to Jennifer, a slightly concerned and protective look on his face. "Wha-what for?"
"Calm down, Mike," Jennifer said, "I was just saying how I've known for a while about El's abilities. I mean, a kid comes back to life after I went to his funeral and after all the shit that went down the following Halloween, with the same group of people at the center of it, like I'm not going to think something freaky is up. I still remember you making Troy Harrington wet his pants in seventh grade," Jennifer looked at El with awe and respect in her eyes. "Oh, and don't worry, I won't tell a soul."
"Okay then," Mike drew out the words, clearly becoming more relaxed in the blonde's presence. "What were you talking about before that?"
"How Jennifer's going to win Will back with some big, showy statement tonight," Lucas teased, laughing when he saw the terrified look on Jennifer's face, and the confusion on Mike and El's.
"We never, we never talked about making a statement," Jennifer groaned, hiding her blushing face in her hands. "I just wanted to talk to him, maybe go for a drink some time."
"You should ask the band to play Should I Stay or Should I Go," El suggested, receiving a hopeful glance from her friend, and sad but reassuring smiles from the guys. "It's his favorite song. Ask him to dance to it."
Mike whipped his head around, shouting something incomprehensible to his mom, before turning back to the group. "That's a great idea, El, but it's going to have to wait until after cake," he started tugging her towards the main table, where a simple three-tier cake, decorated with small snowflakes and white flowers was waiting.
"What is so important about cake?" She asked, still not understanding why this was a big deal to everyone.
"Dustin would say because it's delicious," Mike started, smiling as he wrapped his hand around El's as they cut into the bottom section together. "But it's really this tradition, of well…" He trailed off as he went to offer her the piece of cake on his fork, before changing direction at the last minute, and smudging it onto her nose. He laughed at the startled expression on her face, as similarly good-hearted chuckles spread through the gathered crowd, but his face quickly turned apprehensive when he saw her concentrated stare.
Once Will had helped Mike clean off his cheek and neck from where the cake was launched at him—due to El's "flailing arm"—El smiled as he gingerly wiped the icing off her nose, slyly mopping up the blood about to drop from her nostril in the same motion.
The night progressed fairly smoothly from then on, only hitting a bit of a rocky patch when Holly caught the bouquet, and one of Mike's college friends, and previous tormentor, James caught the garter. He looked murderous at having his little sister put in that position, but El saw the way the two were—what was it Jennifer said—making eyes out of each other?
"They're just flirting," she whispered, as another dance song came on, drowning out her words to all but Mike.
"Exactly," he grumbled, but eventually perked up when El shot him a warning glance. "Okay, okay, I get it. But if he tries anything…" He trailed off, as if to let the threat hang in the air, but it was more likely that he couldn't come up with a suitable measure of punishment for his friend if he were to get too handsy with Mike's sister.
She gave him a quick kiss, before pulling him onto the dance floor, groaning and dragging his feet, but Mike quickly gave in, and the two danced for the rest of the night together. When Should I Stay came on, they giggled at Will's dumbfounded expression, right before Jennifer Hayes grabbed his hands and spun around, and when a bright smile spread across his face—one that grew even brighter when she responded to his kiss on her cheek with a kiss on his lips. Lucas danced with Nancy and Steve's kids, picking up their littlest boy and putting him on his shoulders, only grinning when the boy's pudgy hands tugged at his short hair. Hopper and her mom each grabbed one of her hands and one of Will's, and they danced in a circle for a few songs, before the parents got too tired. Jonathan's girlfriend, Mel—who was now officially deemed cool according to all of the boys—taught her the Macarena, a smile never leaving either woman's face, as Jonathan stopped snapping away on his camera to look at the two with adoration. Max and Dustin pushed their way to the center, performing a ludicrous dance routine, that El was frankly surprised the redhead agreed to.
As people started getting tired, and saying their goodbyes, even after both sets of parents had sat down to get some rest, the core party—Mike and El, Max and Dustin, Will and Jennifer, Lucas, Nancy, Steve, Jonathan, and even Mel—were losing themselves in the beat of the music and the joy of the occasion. El looked around, a smile plastered on her face, and felt her heart beat a little faster and fill up a little bit more with the love she held for those who surrounded her.
Over and over the only truth
Everything comes back to you
Everything comes back to you
December 14, 1996
The night air was cold, as it was nearly midnight, as Mike and El finally left the reception thru a corridor of their barely awake friends. Max was leaning against the wall for support, and Dustin and Will looked ready to fall asleep at any moment. As the couple was leaving, Nancy gave her brother a hug, and rubbed his head affectionately before going back into the hotel to find her husband and children.
"Oh, it was an amazing wedding," Jennifer gushed, somehow finding it in herself to be cheerful, much to the bewilderment of El. As the brunette, wrapped her arms around her friends' suit-clad shoulders, she took a quick count of those waiting outside, and noticed that Will was missing his jacket. She gave her friend a knowing smile, before going to hug both her brothers tightly.
"Thank you," she said, looking at each of them in turn. Will looked confused as to why she was thanking them, while Jonathan just looked tired but proud.
"For what?" Will asked, ducking his head and rubbing the toe of his shoe across the step, like he always used to do in school when he was embarrassed.
"For being my brothers," came her simple reply.
With a quick wave to the rest of her friends, El took Mike's outstretched hand and let herself be led into the waiting car. The couple exchanged smiles as he started driving towards his old house, where they would pick up their bags, before heading to the airport to catch their flight to their honeymoon in California.
"Did you have fun?" Mike asked, managing to sound awkward yet breaking the odd silence that had settled between the two of them. He fiddled with the cuffs on his tuxedo's jacket, glancing over at El every so often, but keeping his eyes fixed on the road ahead.
"Of course," she smiled, placing her hand lightly on top of his arm, a move that immediately seemed to still some of his nervous energy. "I'm ready for our adventures."
And Eleven Byers and Mike Wheeler would have so many adventures, big and small.
She would giggle at the way he insisted on carrying her around, whether it was piggyback or bridal-style on their honeymoon, and into the first few months after they got back. And he would always say that it was because he wanted her to be treated like the princess she was—to which El would merely roll her eyes—but he would wait almost a year to tell her that it was because he was making up for the way he regretted not carrying her through the halls of Hawkins Middle School in November of 1983—to which El would also roll her eyes and insist that it was not something worth regretting.
El would cheer when she got the invitation to Max's baby shower, running around the apartment, before she would show Mike, who would then call Dustin and angrily interrogate him as to why this was the first time he was hearing that the couple was having a child. She would wipe the tears from Max's face when she worried that she wasn't fit to be a mom to little Ridley, or that there wasn't enough money in owning the arcade to support the three of them, but El would insist that the baby girl was going to have two doting parents and aunts and uncles that spoiled her rotten. She would hold Ridley in her arms when the girl was not even one and would know right then that she wanted a child of her own.
Mike and she would try for years to have children, as they both wanted them desperately, but their attempts always seemed to fall a little short. It would lead to tense conversations, and slammed doors—both telekinetically shut and by hand—between the two, but by the time the sun rose the next morning, they would realize that what mattered was the two of them, going through their lives together, and that sometimes that meant taking some harsh losses. But when Terri Wheeler would arrive in 1999, the two would kiss, ignoring El's sweaty forehead and hospital gown, and marvel at the way their family had grown to three.
She would walk with her husband down the aisle again, although this time as Will's best man and Jennifer's matron of honor, only a year and a half after the two finally gotten together at Mike and El's own wedding reception. El would wipe tears from her eyes and wonder at how far the two had come, and she would forever be grateful to Jennifer for making Will as happy as Mike made her. The two would move to New York so Will could work on finding more illustration jobs and for Jennifer to expand her perfume company, and El would cry on the day they left, but Mike would pull her in close and remind her that her brother and his wife were going to be just fine, and, more importantly, they were going to be happy.
The roles would be reversed when Lucas finally completed basic training, and Mike broke down, thinking that he was going to lose one of his closest friends. But tears of fear would soon be turned to tears of joy when he found out that Lucas would be working in Chicago, writing software codes for the military's server's protection. When he left, the party would be down two of its original members, but El would be the fiercest advocate of keeping in touch, and would make sure she talked to her brother and Lucas at least once a week, and to go see them every few months. And there would be one memorable trip when her and Mike went to visit a few months after Lucas had moved there, when the two would get off at the wrong subway stop, and would walk around the city for hours, talking to Lucas every couple hours through a pay phone, trying to find their way to his apartment.
When El would lay awake, whether she had just woken from the odd nightmare about the Upside-Down, or simply couldn't sleep, she would thank her lucky stars that she had found friendship and love, in the form of an ever-growing party of friends—one that had only three members when she got there, but quickly grew to six, and then seven, and then more once the next generation started to arrive. She would organize playdates between Ridley and Terri, and then to include Jennifer and Will's twins, Jackson and Luke, and Max and Dustin's next child, a boy named Danny. And she would beam as she wrapped her arms around her husband, as their house would be filled with the laughter and chatter of old friends, and their old friends' kids.
She would cherish the photo album her oldest brother gave her, from the moment he gave it to her on her and Mike's first anniversary. It would be filled with pictures from that day, both many candids of the friends enjoying themselves, and the posed pictures. El would always love the one pictures Jonathan had taken of her laughing at something Mike had said, while all of their friends stood on either side of the two smiling, or giggling, or in Dustin's case, making a ridiculous face, because it showed her that their group had not changed much since that day, in fact, the bonds between them only becoming even stronger as time passed.
Eleven Byers and Mike Wheeler would have so many adventures, but the one thing that would never need to be tested is their love for each other. It would show in the way she always grabbed his hand when they were walking, and in the way she would often pretend to not see the way he looked at her with awe in his eyes, when he thought she wasn't looking. Small ventures out to the movies or the grocery store would become epic quests, only to be completed by the true of heart. And when Mike's first book was released—with illustrations by Will Byers—she would sob at the way the proud princess fell in love with the lowly knight, even after the princess had saved herself, with the help of a brave party of heroes. Their romance would inspire the kids who would visit her at the library, and would baffle the middle-aged desk drones who would work with Mike.
But none of that would happen just quite yet, and as El sat in the car in a white dress, twisting her wedding band and engagement rings around her finger, she only hoped that such a future would come to pass.
"We are going to have adventures, aren't we, Mike?" She asked quietly, staring at his freckled cheek, until it creased into a smile and her hazel eyes locked onto his.
"Of course we are El. We're going to have so many adventures, just you wait," he replied, leaning over to quickly press his lips to hers, before opening the door and rushing around to the passenger side, and carry her, bridal-style into the old Wheeler house. She rested her head on his shoulder, a smile on her face and only one question on her lips.
"Promise?"
"Promise."
A/N: So there you go! I hope you liked the ending (I'm always a sucker for a happy ending), and although I don't have any immediate plans for a sequel or addition in the same universe, I would keep an eye out because I'm sure Season 2 will strike some cord of inspiration in me! Please review or comment about what you thought of the story as I am always so grateful for all my readers!