Happier With You
Author's Note: Thank you everyone for your amazing reviews and for favouriting and following this story :-) Your words of encouragement are amazing and I love how much people are getting into the story!
I didn't get home until late, but I wanted to try and get this chapter out for you all. It is super long so I apologise in advance! It was originally going to be spilt into two chapters, but it made more sense to me like this, so that I'm ready for chapter 9.
I hope you enjoy! Please let me know what you think :-)
Chapter 8 – Boys Will Be Boys
Summer 1990
El shut the front door firmly and lay her head against the cold wood, getting her breath back from the intensity of her talk with Mike.
She couldn't help but feel more confused than ever. El hadn't realised how truly hurt and upset she had been over Mike having sex with Jennifer Hayes, until her emotions had spilled out.
El knew that Hunter had tried to close the wound for her, but the deep cut had ripped open and her anger had been let loose on Mike.
She had drank at past parties with the group but she couldn't even imagine being drunk enough to do something like that.
She wasn't stupid, she knew she had broken Mike the day she left. She had seen it in his eyes, in his sobbing and shaking when Kali had driven them away.
El tried to reason with herself that she and Mike weren't together. She herself had set him free, but she had always hoped and prayed that when she finally got back, she'd be back to him like nothing had ever happened.
But things had happened. He had slept with someone else and she had kissed Hunter.
El huffed to herself angrily as she walked to her room. Kissing someone else and having sex with someone else was very different.
The only problem was that El knew there hadn't been feelings involved with what Mike had done, but there had been feelings involved when Hunter kissed her.
She hated the idea that she was leading him on. He was such a good man and he didn't deserve to sit around waiting for her.
El closed her bedroom door and chucked her duffle bag on the bed, unpacking it properly for the first time.
She carefully took the clothes out and placed them in the laundry basket, each piece of clothing holding a memory.
She reached to the bottom of the bag and slowly pulled out Mike's jacket, the one she had worn when she left him to go with her fellow subjects.
El felt a sharp pain in her chest and she had to sit down, staring at the jacket, holding it tightly in her grasp.
She closed her eyes and within an instance found memories playing in her mind. Memories of Mike wearing the jacket, them laughing as he gave her a piggy back because she had made the stupid mistake of wearing heels to Benny's and her feet were killing her.
The memory of her throwing the jacket off Mike's shoulders in the heat of passion, him giving her the jacket to keep her warm whilst they watched the stars and then finally her putting on the jacket for comfort when she knew she had to leave him and her family behind.
El wearily placed the jacket to the side, it landed onto her pillow as she looked back into the bag.
She sighed to herself as she pulled out the photos and notes that had once lived on her collage board.
El looked at the images with a sad smile, she had looked over these photos more times than she could count whilst on the run. Her fingers brushed delicately over the picture of her and Mike kissing.
She looked down at the notes, reading a few of them. "I love you so much El Hopper!" "You are looking incredibly gorgeous in that dress babe!" "I can't wait until the day I can call you Mrs Wheeler"
El groaned in frustration, "damn you Mike Wheeler!" she shouted out. This situation would be a hell of a lot easier if she didn't love him.
"El did you say something?" came a knock and the sound of her step brother Will.
She almost jumped at his voice. "Er…nothing. I didn't realise you were home. Come in." El said before putting the photos and notes under her pillow quickly.
Will walked in and gave her a warm smile.
"I was just unpacking." El explained looking down at the now empty duffle bag.
"Well it's about time, I think mom was itching to unpack those clothes." Will said laughing as he took a seat next to her on the bed.
El smiled slightly but didn't say anything. A comfortable silence fell between them for a minute.
"How are you doing El? I know it couldn't have been easy coming back…" Will asked calmly, giving his sister his full attention.
She shrugged and looked down at the floor, "It's definitely good to be back. I missed you all so much…but it's not been easy."
"Because of Mike?"
El sighed, "well yes. I just feel like…eurgh one minute I hate him and the next I love him!" She collapsed her head into her hands in frustration.
Will rubbed her back sympathetically. "I know what he did El…and I'm not condoning it…but I know that no one hates him more than he hates himself over it."
El said nothing so Will continued in his calming tone. "I know he's genuinely sorry El."
She frowned and took her head out of her hands, looking at Will. "What was he like when I left?" She bit her lip hesitantly, not knowing why she was even asking but desperately wanting the answer.
Will turned quite pale, a similar expression on his face when he told them memories of the upside down.
"I have never seen him so destroyed. He wasn't eating, wasn't sleeping, was crying even in front of Max. Thankfully she felt enough sympathy not to comment on it. Hopper blamed him and Max blamed him too. They both thought he above anyone could have gotten you to stay."
El felt a sharp winch of pain at Will's words. "Believe me I never wanted to leave him. I never wanted to leave any of you. I had no choice. But he wasn't to blame for not being able to stop me Will. I used my powers on him." She said her voice starting to shake as the look on Mike's face that day came swimming back into her mind.
Will smiled sadly, "I know he's not to blame and neither are you. It's just that fucking thing we have to call life."
El looked at her brother in surprise, a small grin on her face. "Will you never swear."
He shrugged side smiling. "there's certain times when only a swear word will do." He said joking making El's heart feel a little lighter.
She exhaled and leaned her head against his shoulder. "What the hell do I do know?"
"Well that's completely up to you sis. Did you talk to Mike earlier?"
"Yeah we talked…well more I shouted and we both cried." El said grimacing at the anger she had felt in the moment. "I told him I needed some time." She added.
Will nodded, "yeah maybe that's for the best. You don't want to make any rash decisions."
El sighed exhausted, "you really do live up to being Will the wise you know."
Will laughed, "I'm glad to hear it!"
When Mike got home, he headed straight for the basement. Wanting some alone time as he tried to calm down his over active mind.
He lay in the fort he and El had recreated when they were 14. Mike could barely fit into it now, but he just accepted that his legs hung out the over side of it.
He shut his eyes and thought to the many fun, romantic and intimate moments they had in this fort. His memories seemed to taunt him with what he had had and no longer did.
Mike wiped at his tears in frustration. He was so sick of being an emotional wreck, but the idea of losing El completely was just horrific.
He tried to think of how he could make it up to her. Nothing seemed good enough. Mike immediately wished he had his own super power, the ability to turn back time.
He would have never let El go without him and he would never let any other girl near him. How desperately he wished he could erase the memory away from that night, not just for him but for El too.
Mike couldn't imagine what she had felt when she watched them, it made him sick to the stomach. He would have died on the spot seeing El in a similar situation.
He frowned when he thought about Hunter and the possibility of seeing him becoming El's boyfriend. Sure El had said she didn't want to be with him, but feelings changed, she could change her mind.
Mike felt like in a way El and Hunter had more in common. They had both been through the lab together and had 2 years on the run together and battled by each other's side.
And Mike? Well he was just a nerd. A nerd who had found a beautiful girl in the woods and tried to care for her, not realising how quickly that care had become true love. The most powerful emotion he had ever felt in his life.
Sometimes his feelings for her had been so overwhelming he would write her letters and little notes just to express himself.
Mike's eyebrows raised quickly as an idea came to him. He crawled out of the fort and went over to the old D&D table.
He grabbed coloured paper card off one of the overflowing shelves and a pot of coloured pens and pencils.
Mike got to work making a multi-page book for El that he called "100 Reasons Why I Love You".
He wasn't the greatest artist but got to work doing little sketches of them, on his bike, in the fort, eating eggos.
He bit his lip in concentration as he started to write the reasons why he loved her.
1. You are the bravest and strongest person I have ever met.
2. The way you walk, talk, smile and laugh makes my heart melt.
3. When I look in your beautiful eyes I fall in love every time.
4. You complete me.
5. You make everyone you speak to feel so special.
6. You are the most caring person in the world.
7. You make me happier than I ever thought I could be.
8. Your Eggo addiction is the cutest thing in the world.
9. You never laugh at me when I get all nervous around you.
10. I love the way you treat our friends.
11. You actually love Star Wars too!
Before Mike could write the next reason, the basement door bounded open making him jump.
He looked over to see Lucas and Dustin walking in unannounced. Mike rolled his eyes, not knowing why he even expected his friends to knock.
"How did mission one go buddy?" Dustin asked immediately as he and Lucas walked over.
Mike tried to hide the book he was making with his elbow.
"If you mean the talk me and El had, then it went pretty bad." He mumbled and sighed in frustration.
"Why bad?" Lucas asked leaning against one of the four chairs around the table.
"Well just bad in the sense that she was understandably very upset and so was I." Mike said quietly, still feeling incredibly guilt ridden.
"Ah so you told her about Jennifer Hayes then?" Dustin said sympathetically.
"She already knew…" Mike muttered painfully.
"What?!" Dustin and Lucas asked in unison.
"Look I don't want to get into it okay? I just want to try and work on getting her back." Mike said seriously.
Lucas eyed the paper, "what's all this?"
Mike's cheeks reddened and he kept his eyes on the table. "Er…I'm just working on something for her."
"100 reasons why I love you. Aw cute!" Dustin said over his shoulder as Mike failed to shield the card.
Mike glared at his friends, "listen I'm busy okay? I don't have time for whatever this is."
Lucas sighed, "dude we're just trying to help you. Don't you think we all want you back with El too? You two have been nauseatingly in love since we were kids."
"Well she wants some time to think…" Mike said quietly. He hated to imagine her thinking of him and deciding that he wasn't worth it.
"Some time to think whilst Hunter's in the next room?" Dustin scoffed.
Mike glowered with jealousy and frustration. "Do you think I'm happy that he's over there! Of course I'm not! And whilst I would rather have my eyeballs taken out then have them be alone together, she doesn't owe me anything."
The boys went quiet for the moment, an uncomfortable tension laying in the room which was finally broken by Dustin.
"Hey, I've got an idea for mission two! We invite El and Hunter to the lake tomorrow."
Mike turned to look at Dustin like he had just grown two heads. "You really think it'd be a good idea?" he asked incredulously.
"No Dustin might have a good point…if we extended the olive branch to Hunter and you're nice to him and stuff, it'd show that you're the good guy and El should be with you." Lucas said eagerly.
"Plus we could suss Hunter out. See what kind of guy he is, see what El sees in him." Dustin said smiling like this was the best plan in history.
Mike however felt like this was a really bad idea. "You really want me to stand next to him in my swim trunks?"
Lucas rolled his eyes, "Mike's it's not all about muscles."
"Yeah you've got that whole dark crazy hair and brooding look thing going on." Dustin said cheerfully.
Mike raised his eyebrow, "gee thanks…" he said not convinced that he had any physical appeal compared to Hunter.
He sighed, "look guys…I'm really not comfortable with this. I don't think it's a good idea."
Dustin sighed and looked at Mike, "do you really want him hanging out alone with her whilst we're all out of sight?"
There was only one simple answer to that question, "no."
It was getting on dinner time when Hopper and Hunter arrived back at the house. Joyce was busy cooking some spaghetti and meat balls and El and Will had been hanging out on the couch together watching soap operas.
"How did it go?" El asked immediately. Her hazel eyes went from Hunter to her dad eagerly.
"Sam thinks he'll have my documents sorted in three days." Hunter said positively beaming.
El jumped up from the couch and gave him a hug. "That's amazing! I'm so happy for you!"
Hunter smiled bashfully when she pulled away. "Thank you. Seriously thank you."
She blushed with embarrassment but thankfully her dad saved her with one of his sarcastic comments. "Oh and I didn't help at all with driving you all the way there and back and getting you in touch with Sam."
Hunter laughed and smiled at Hopper, "thank you. This means so much to me. You have no idea."
Her dad grinned slightly and patted Hunter on the shoulder, "it's okay kid. You deserve a life just as much as El does. What you kids have been through…"
Hopper shook his head, his features haunted for a moment with the ghost of what he had seen in the labs. The small prison like rooms, no creature comforts and no love.
"Dinner!" Joyce called and they all thankfully went to the table, needing a distraction.
"Want to go for a walk?" El asked Hunter the moment they had finished washing the dishes.
"Yeah sure." He replied smiling at her. His smile made her feel instantly guilty as she knew what she needed to discuss with him.
They walked out towards the woods and El hovered by some of the larger oak trees feeling immediately nervous.
She turned to look at Hunter, he was already watching her.
"I…spoke to Mike this morning." El said carefully.
"Oh?"
She exhaled before speaking, "and he says he still loves me. That…that he wants me back."
Hunter nodded slowly and looked down at the dark ground. "And what do you want?"
El sighed in frustration. What she wanted was very different from reality. She wanted to have never have been taken away from Mike in the first place. She wanted for him to have never slept with Jennifer Hayes.
"I…I want time to process what he told me. I want time to get over my anger. To see if I can move past it." She finally admitted.
El looked up at Hunter and he was staring at her with his piercing blue eyes, his emotions unreadable.
"You mean a lot to me Hunter. We went through hell and back together. And sometimes it felt like you were my only friend. When even Kali got frustrated that I couldn't bring down the wall, you never did. I…I really care about you."
"But?" Hunter asked in a quiet voice, a sad smiling playing on his lips.
El took a shuddering breath, "but I just want us to stay friends. We haven't been blessed with many things in our lives Hunter, but your friendship is something I cherish."
She watched him looking solemn and it made her feel terrible. "Please don't be mad at me. I'm sorry." She gasped, feeling more emotional than she had expected.
Hunter sighed and held onto one of her hands, giving it a gentle squeeze. "I'm not mad at you. I'm just…annoyed that he gets you and I don't." he said honestly.
"Trust me, Mike isn't getting off easy…" El muttered feeling annoyed as she thought about the stunning beautiful Michael Wheeler.
Hunter smirked, "would it help getting revenge on him? I'm more than happy to oblige."
They both burst out laughing and the awkwardness in the air seemed to lift.
El grinned at him, "you're a great friend…but I'm pretty sure that wouldn't help matters."
"It was worth a shot," Hunter teased.
El beamed and linked arms with him and they started walking back to the house.
"So what are your plans once you get your ID?" She asked him with excitement. El was so happy for Hunter, he finally had a world of possibilities.
He seemed to ponder her words for a moment. "Well I think I'll stick with my original plans…I wanna go back to West Virginia. That's my home."
El smiled, "once you're all set up, maybe me and my family can come and visit you?" she asked eagerly.
Hunter nodded with enthusiasm, "yeah that'd be great! I can show you lot the beauty that is West Virginia. Ever heard the song Country Roads?"
El laughed knowing exactly the song he was talking about. They both started singing it into the darkening sky as they made their way into the house.
Will was on the phone and looked shiftily at them when they entered the house.
"Er…yeah she's here." Will tried to whisper but it passed El's ears.
"Who is it?" she asked him curiously.
Will sighed and put the phone to his chest to cover the speaker. "It's Mike El. He wants to know if you've had enough time to think." He said cringing.
El couldn't help but roll her eyes in amusement at his eagerness. "Tell him no."
Will nodded and went back to the phone. "She says no Mike. What? Really?! Okay…erm I'll ask."
He turned back to El looking incredibly awkward. "Er…Mike, Dustin and Lucas want to know if you and Hunter want to come to the lake tomorrow?"
El feeling surprised turned to Hunter who looked equally as stunned. He shrugged and she turned back to her brother. "Er…I guess that's okay." It would be nice to hang out at the lake with her friends like old times.
Will sighed and put the phone to his ear as if praying there wouldn't be any more questions. "She said yes. Yeah both of them. Okay. Okay, bye Mike."
Mike pulled up by the lake with Dustin, Lucas and Max in tow. As he looked out to see El, Hunter and Will had already arrived, he decided there and then that this was the worst idea he had ever agreed to.
He watched on as Max, who had got out the car first, ran to meet El in a hug. Mike took a breath and slowly got out of the car, trying to ignore Lucas and Dustin whispering at him to "be cool" and "be nice".
Mike wanted to be nice to Hunter, he wanted to show El that he was mature, but all he could think about was how close the douche bag was standing to the love of his life.
El looked stunning in a white sundress and he groaned internally seeing the blue tie at the back of her neck meaning she was wearing a bikini underneath. He was screwed.
He watched nervously as everyone greeted one another until it was just him left.
Mike tried to muster every bit of strength within himself to plaster a smile on his face and move towards his arch nemesis.
"I don't think we've been formally introduced yet. I'm Mike…and you must be Hunter?"
He tried to keep his voice impassive as he held out his hand.
Hunter looked at him rather shrewdly and shook his hand. "Yeah, I know who you are."
Mike couldn't tell if the words were meant to be intimating but that was how it felt. He cleared his throat, determined to act cool in front of El.
She was watching the two of them closely and he didn't want to give her any cause for concern.
Mike slowly turned his eyes on her and felt a blush immediately creep up his cheeks. "You look beautiful." He said quietly, hoping no one else would hear.
El bit her lip anxiously, "thank you," she said softly. Mike smiled at her slightly, scared of grinning too widely in case it freaked her out.
He averted his eyes and was thankful when Dustin said, "well what are we waiting for! Let's get in there!"
Mike had never worried about taking off his t-shirt in front of his friends before, but when Hunter whipped his off, Mike felt immediately self-conscious.
He tried to remind himself that despite his worries about being too thin, El had never particularly minded. In fact she had seemed to like his body, really like it.
Mike tried desperately not to think about those times when she was all his and he urged himself to just be brave. He took his t-shirt off and put it on the pile with the others. He tried desperately not to look at Hunter in case he was smirking or something.
Max, Lucas, and Dustin were already running off into the water, all of them shouting and laughing from the sudden temperature change.
"Coming?" Will asked Mike. He looked at his best friend and then dared to look at El who was still in her dress and rooting in Will's car for something. Hunter was hesitantly waiting for her, but eventually decided to get into the water.
"You go ahead, I've just got to do something." Mike said feebly to Will, who rolled his eyes in amusement and made for the water.
Mike nervously reached into his bag for the book he had spent all night making for El. God it was embarrassing.
El popped out from the car with a beach bag and was walking back to the shore when she realised they were alone.
She stopped and stared at Mike, making him want to melt into a puddle under her gaze. She had no idea the power she held over him with just one look.
Mike tried to swallow down the ball of anxiety that was attacking his voice. "Hi," he croaked out.
El looked at him wearily for a moment. "Hi…" she said in response, her voice not giving anything away.
He took a deep breath and walked closer to her, but tried to give her some space. His hand grasped around the book.
"I…er made something for you. But don't open it until you get home okay?" he said nervously.
El seemed curious and her eyes drifted down to the book and then back to his dark eyes. "Okay…"
Mike handed the book over tentatively, hoping she wasn't going to rip it up in his face.
She took it and placed it delicately into her beach bag. When she looked back up, Mike felt the tension begin to build again.
"H-how are you?" he couldn't help but ask.
"I'm fine. You?"
"Er…yeah I'm good." He lied. He wasn't good at all. He was miserable without her. His life didn't make sense, he felt lost and empty.
They continued to look at each other and Mike wondered if she could see the want in his eyes, the yearning he felt for her.
"Will you guys hurry up! We want to play Marco Polo!" Dustin's voice boomed, breaking up their intense eye contact.
"Coming!" Mike shouted feeling highly annoyed at the interruption. He gave El a hesitant smile and then turned to the water, wondering how quickly he could look back at her without seeming like a stalker.
He gave it a good 5 seconds and then turned his head back. His eyes widened immediately as he caught El throw her dress off and over her body.
Mike had no idea how he was still walking because he was completely mesmerised. It had been over 2 years since he had seen her body like this and he felt starved of her. A dominant and needy hunger rushed into his blood and he struggled to wrench his head away from her.
This just wasn't fair. There El was, toned stomach, long lean legs, gorgeous breasts all within a blue bikini looking stunning, beautiful, gorgeous and damn right sexy in her swimwear.
Mike guessed this was part of his punishment. He could look…to a point where he didn't look like a pervert, but he couldn't touch anymore. He breathed a heavy breath, this was going to be torture.
The group played Marco Polo for a good 30 minutes and even Mike would agree that it did help with the awkward tension. They all laughed and splashed each other, enjoying the beaming rays of sun over their water soaked bodies.
Everything was going quite well until Lucas suggested they played chicken.
There were immediate problems of course. In all the years they had played, El had always gone on Mike's shoulders, Max on Lucas's and Will on Dustin's.
But now there was Hunter and the fact that Mike doubted El wouldn't want to come anywhere near him or his shoulders.
His thoughts were proved correct when El said immediately, "I want to go with Max."
"Yeah why not." Max said happily to Lucas's dismay.
"Who am I meant to go with?!"
Max shrugged, "whoever you want. But I'm going with El."
To try and make things a little more comfortable, El went on Max's shoulders and Lucas went on Dustin's shoulders whilst Mike, Hunter and Will watched on.
Mike was only thinking about how he was going to try his best to beat Hunter when something happened that changed everything.
Lucas and El were laughing as they tried to push the other one into the water. Their play fighting became quite intense to the point that Luca's pushing hand slipped and he knocked El hard in the abdomen.
She gasped and fell straight into the water, Mike's eyes widened in horror, knowing something was wrong immediately.
El felt the air be completely knocked out of her before she even hit the water. She couldn't breathe, the sudden force to her abdomen making her diaphragm spasm in revolt.
She crashed into the water and started to sink, unable to breathe properly, her brain rushing into panic mood.
Before she could do more than try and thrash her arms, she felt movement in the water and two firm hands grasp her waist and lift her immediately out of the water until she hit the surface.
She coughed desperate for air, her diaphragm still chocking her breath.
"El! El what's wrong?" Came Mike's terrified voice as El realised immediately that he had of course been the one to save her.
"Get out of the way Mike!" She heard Hunter say aggravated. El could feel Mike be pushed to the side but he somehow still managed to grasp onto her waist as if he was worried she'd go back under.
"I'm so sorry!" She could hear Lucas shouting desperately, but all El could focus on was the fact she couldn't breathe properly.
There seemed to be a struggle between Hunter and Mike, before Hunter's hand reached El's solar plexus. Through her panicked breathing she could feel the warmth of his healing touch.
El slowly felt the pressure in her diaphragm leave and she began to breathe more calmly, getting her breath back and feeling exhausted.
"El are you okay?" Mike asked concerned, his eyes roaming over her desperately trying to make sure she was all in one piece.
Her nod was unregistered when Hunter glowered at Mike, "if you'd moved off her, I could have healed her even quicker. It's not like you could do any healing."
"Stop.." El said weakly, trying to get her thoughts together.
Mike suddenly exploded at Hunter, "You don't know anything about her!"
"I lived with her for two years!" Hunter scoffed.
"Yeah two years! She's been the love of my life for six years!" Mike shouted back.
"Stop…" El repeated, getting her senses back as she slowly looked up at the men in front of her in the water.
The boys seemed too infuriated to even notice her protests.
Hunter glared at Mike and smirked, "oh you really treated her like the love of your life didn't you. Especially with what you did with that other girl."
The atmosphere immediately changed and before Dustin and Lucas could shout "no!" Mike and Hunter were fighting in the water.
El glowered with rage, she was sick and tired of their ridiculous fight. "Enough!" her voice boomed in a deadly echo across the lake and both Hunter and Mike were immediately blown away from each other.
She stared at them both with anger and disgust, wiping at her bleeding nose before swimming quickly to the shore.
"Nice going idiots!" El heard Max call out in irritation, before the sound of the water told her that her best friend was getting out of the water too.
El walked away from the shore with Max at her side, both girls highly annoyed at the boys immature behaviour.
"And that is why girls are the superior race. Boys only brain is in their pants." Max said huffing. "You'd think you were a toy they were fighting over!"
El sighed as they started walking down a path that cut into the forest. "They were being so…childish."
"Yep. I guess it was bound to happen though…" Max said shaking her head in exasperation at the situation.
"What do you mean?" El asked frowning.
Max laughed, "oh come on El. They're fighting over you because they both want to be with you!"
El looked confused at her best friend and stopped walking now that they were in the shade and cover of the forest. "But I've told Hunter I just want to be friends."
"Yeah and feelings don't go away just like that do they. He was probably feeling bitter towards Mike. And Mike is just…well Mike."
El said nothing to Max's words, thinking about the retaliation of the boys.
"So you told Hunter you just want to be friends? What does that mean for you and Wheeler?" Max asked, taking a seat on a broken trunk.
El sighed and sat down next to her best friend, knowing that she couldn't lie to her. "I think I want to get back together with him. But I'm just scared of like…being intimate."
Max looked at El in bewilderment. "I don't understand…it's not like you and Mike haven't had sex before. You used to practically bone each other just with your eyes!"
El blushed and looked down at her hands. "That was when all we'd ever experienced was each other." She mumbled.
"Are you seriously trying to tell me you are scared that Jennifer Hayes was better than you?!" Max asked in shock.
El couldn't look at her. She knew it was stupid, ridiculously stupid to think that Mike's one time with Jennifer had been anything like her many times with Mike. But she couldn't help but feel insecure about it all.
Max took her silence as an admittance. "Oh El! First of all, he is ridiculously head over heels in love with you, just your breathing pleases him, let alone anything intimate! And second of all, he was insanely drunk when he did that and so was she from what I've heard, so they were probably as crap as each other."
"I just hate the fact that's she been with him. He's like mine you know?" El said cringing slightly at her words.
Max smirked, "I get it. He's like your property in a way and she's tried to move in."
El nodded still cringing. "I don't want to be possessive over him or anything but he kind of belongs to me." She said before erupting into a small smile.
"Well just make sure he knows he's yours the next time you are intimate." Max said winking.
El laughed and then threw her head into her hands. "Urgh this is all so frustrating! One minute I hate him and now I'm talking about having sex with him?!"
Max grinned and shrugged, "don't they say there's a thin line between love and hate?"
"A very thin line." El sighed, getting up from the trunk and helping Max up. The girls headed back to the boys.
El was thankful to see that the boys were out of the lake when they returned and distracted by making a fire. Dustin and Lucas were arguing over the best method to making fire with sticks whilst Will and Hunter watched on curiously.
Mike was stood away from the group and was doing his nervous pacing that El knew extremely well. The moment he saw her, his eyes widened and he rushed over.
"I'll take my cue," Max mumbled to El before disappearing.
"El I'm so sorry for what happened before. I know it was completely stupid for us to fight and I'm just embarrassed and sorry." Mike said anxiously. His heavy breathing frantic.
El looked at him, taking in how handsome he was. Eurgh why was he so good looking?! She was so attracted to him that it hurt. She just wanted to jump into his arms and wrap her legs right around his waist, kissing him senselessly.
"It's okay Mike." She said calmly, watching him in quiet contemplation, thinking back to how she had been winded before hitting the water.
In that moment she thought about his strong yet delicate hands holding her like his life depended on it as he pulled her up to the surface of the water.
El bit her lip nervously and slowly looked up his face, his dark eyes bringing her in like a magnet. "Thank you for saving me Mike."
He went bright red and averted his eyes, "oh it was nothing. I know you'd do the same for me…or at least I think you would." He said cringing.
She rolled her eyes in amusement. "Of course I would, you mouth breather."
Mike looked up at her, a big smile and hopeful eyes, it made her melt.
"Yes! Son of a bitch I got the fire going!" Dustin said gleefully. El and Mike turned to the group, both of them feeling embarrassed and awkward.
They parted ways quickly, El sitting with Hunter and Max, Mike sitting with Will, Lucas and Dustin. Despite their distance, it didn't stop them from looking over at each other every few minutes. And when they caught each other's gazes they quickly looked away, small smiles playing on their lips.
That night El lay in bed feeling exhausted but oddly whole for the first time in a long time. She reached down to her bag and pulled out the book Mike had made her.
She stared at it in wonder, taking in the love hearts, the drawings, the random eggos drawn here and there. "100 reasons why I love you" she whispered to herself.
El opened the book and started to read, her eyes welling up over certain sentences. A big smile on erupted onto her face, one that she couldn't wipe off if she wanted to.
When she finished reading number 100, El collapsed back onto her pillow and let out a sigh. "Damn you Mike Wheeler." She said playfully, before falling asleep with that same smile on her face, the book clutched to her hands.