"You put the boom boom into my heart, you set my soul sky-high when your lovin starts" Dustin was singing and swirling El around, making her laugh.
They were getting her started on music, since she hadn't ever heard anything except old music that Hopper hardly listened to.
Max rolled her eyes at Dustin's movements, while the others all snickered at the boy and Eleven's embarrassment: she had never listened to music nor danced before, so she was hesitant in all her moves.
As the song ended, the girl tried to escape from Dustin's enthusiasm, but not even Mike looked like he was going to stop his friend; she was pulled right back to the center of the room as another song started.
"Her name was Lola, she was a showgirl" the boy danced around her, clapping his hands at the rhythm of the music. At some point, El just shrugged thinking what the hell, why not, so she grabbed Dustin's hands; plus, she already knew the song.
"She would merengue and do the cha-cha and while she tried to be a star Tony always tended bar across the crowded floor, they worked from eight til four" everyone stopped laughing as they heard El's surprisingly harmonic singing voice but she was too caught up dancing and singing to notice people staring.
Dustin looked startled for a moment, too, before guiding her movements to dance and she swayed her hips at the rhythm of the music, laughing between the singing.
When the song ended, everyone was mouth agape "What?"
El's cheeks tinged pink: had she done something weird?
"You have such nice voice" Max smiled at her, and El gave her an uncertain smile in return: Will had assured her that the redhead and Lucas were going to go serious about their relationship and that she shouldn't worry about Mike, so she was trying to befriend her too.
It was just different than with the boys, to who she had connected instantly in a time in which she was desperate for safety.
As another song rolled around, Max joined El in her singing; she was starting to learn some songs due to the radio always being on in her car rides.
"I know something about love" Max started singing, smiling to her friend as they danced around in Mike's room "you gotta want it bad, if that guy's got into your blood, reach out and get him".
The boys just watched the two move together and laugh uncontrollably as they jumped on the couch; Max got down and continued the lyrics "I know something about love you've gotta show him and make him see the moon up above, go out and get him!"
She winked at El and she blushed; it was true that she didn't get most of what the songs said, but Nancy had explained the meaning of this particular song when she had heard her hum it.
The boys seemed to understand Max's intentions as they started clapping and singing, shoving Mike forward "If you want him to be, always by your side, if you want him to, only think of you tell him that you're never gonna leave him!"
At that point, both El and Mike were blushing hard, but the girl kept dancing through it all, caught up in the song.
She inched closer to Mike, smiling at him and mouthing 'dance!'
His eyes widened as she took his hands and started swirling them around, and eventually accepted the fact that if El ever said 'jump off of the very tall building' he'd do it.
As the song finished, everyone collapsed onto the bed, breathing heavily and still chuckling.
El was the first to catch her breath and she started peeking around Mike's things; it was just a habit she had taken in the past week, and it didn't bother the boy, so she always fidgeted with the action figures scattered around the room.
"What's this?" she asked, lifting his guitar's case with her mind.
Typical of Eleven: she could get pretty lazy sometimes and she'd randomly lift things up. Max was still startled whenever she did this, but it didn't bother the other girl: she knew it wasn't a 'look at that weirdo' kinda look.
"Uhm..." Mike seemed hesitant.
"Man" Dustin beat him to it "didn't you tell her? He plays the guitar!"
"Guitar?" she was still new to many things.
"An instrument" Mike quickly explained "with which you make music".
El's eyes lit up as Lucas added "He can sing pretty well, too".
"Please don't ask" Mike whispered, looking at her with pleading eyes, but she didn't listen anyways.
"Please play something?"
When Mike groaned and shook his head she knelt in front of him showing off her best puppy eyes – she had been using that a lot with Hopper – "Please play for me?"
The boy was refusing to look at her, instead he was looking up the ceiling. When she whined a little and tugged at his shirt, Mike huffed a little trying not to smile "Okay, but later, when we're alone".
El held up her fist in victory, quickly pecking him on the cheek in a new, spontaneous gesture; she had never done that before and it startled her too, as she stood for a few seconds still, her head tilted to the side.
Mike blushed and couldn't suppress his smile anymore.

At some point the boys had started playing video games sitting on the floor, while Eleven and Max were sitting on the bed behind them, watching from time to time but mostly talking between themselves.
"So you and Lucas...?" Eleven trailed out with a whisper, smiling.
"Ugh" Max rolled her eyes, smiling "he's impossible sometimes, but yes, we're together now. Like, together together".
Eleven smiled softly at her nodding "I think you're cute together, and he doesn't fight much with Dustin when you're around".
"Well thank you, I'll take that as a compliment" they both laughed loudly, earning some pointed stares from the guys – 'what are they talking about?' 'I don't know were you listening?' – but they didn't care.
It was nice, having a girl friend.
"Have you got any plans for this Saturday?" Max blurted out after a few seconds of thinking.
"Uhm...no, I mean I just go out with you guys" the other one shrugged, tilting her head to the side.
"What do you say you crash at my house?"
"Crash?"
"A sleepover!"
"Shhhh!" Mike exclaimed "We're playing".
Max rolled her eyes, but Eleven smiled wickedly at her and mouthed 'watch'.
She tangled her hands into Mike's soft locks, tilting his head upwards to meet her eyes "Don't shush us, Mike".
The boy's cheeks lit up as he gulped, and Max noticed how his eyes shifted every once in a while to the girl's lips.
"I-I..."
Eleven stuck her bottom lip out, frowning and repeating the word – it was one of the first she had learned and she loved the sound of it – "do you want me to shush you?"
She had meant nothing by it, Mike knew it, but his eyes widened at the thought of her lips crashing on his to shush him.
Eleven laughed at his expression and pressed her forehead against his for a second before pulling away "I'm joking".
The boy let out a breath as she let go of her grip on him, aware of her hands still tangled in his hair; she loved it, it was soft and smelled nice.
She slowly leaned on him, her chin in his hair as she curled her fingers in his black locks, tracing invisible patterns.
She wasn't comfortable with touch – she hugged the others occasionally, but that was it –, yet she was so touchy with him, he felt special.
"Eggos!" Karen called from upstairs, and Eleven was up before everyone could even register what had happened. She opened the door with a flick of her hand and disappeared down the stairs.

"You still haven't told me what's a sleepover" Eleven had her mouth full of Eggos, but she didn't care; she was feeling so food-happy in that moment.
"Uhm" Max wiped at her mouth before answering "it's when you sleep at someone else's house".
"But why? I have a house".
"Because" the redhead gave her a wicked grin "it's fun! We can talk about stuff without the boys hearing, we can do girl things..."
"Why, do you know what girl things even are?" Lucas laughed and she rolled her eyes.
"Don't mind him" she said, "can you like make him fall on his ass or something? Pull the chair from under him, you choose".
Eleven laughed and shook her head, moving her wrist in a very subtle and quick movement and a waffle flied right into Lucas' face. Everyone joined her in her laughter, while Lucas muttered something about being too nice to her now.
"So? Do you wanna come?" Max asked, turning her attention to the girl.
El nodded smiling "I'll have to ask Hop, though".
"Let me know what he says when you get home!" Max said, clapping her hands together "so we're gonna write down a list of what you need!"
'I'll help you' Mike mouthed, catching her panicked stare. She blushed and nodded slightly, giving him her half smile.

As usual, Mike and Eleven were left alone after a while.
"So you're gonna go to Max's house on Saturday?" he asked, plopping down onto the bed.
El nodded, sitting near him and smiling down at him "I think so, but I'll have to see what Hopper says".
"No El for me on Saturday?" he asked, frowning playfully at her.
"Stop!" she said blushing and giggling "I'll go to her house, after staying with you".
Mike smiled and stuck his tongue out "I already knew that, I was just teasing you".
"Teasing?"
"Messing around, joking" he explained, propping himself up on an elbow "what do you want to do today? We still have a lot of spare time".
"Play for me?" she reminded him, extending her hand and bringing the guitar case next to him with her mind, making it fall on the bed.
"I thought you had forgot" he sighed, shaking his head "but okay".
Eleven watched him carefully as he adjusted the chords and cleared his voice, then he started playing for her and it was as if she had been hypnotized for the whole duration of the song: his voice was so clear and pacifying she found it almost impossibile to tear her gaze away from him.
As the song ended, Mike looked up at her and she smiled one of her Mike-smiles, as Dustin called them, her eyes big; the boy could never get used to that look she only gave him, as if he was her one true hero.
"You are so good at this!" she practically yelled, bouncing up and down on the bed "another one? Pleeease?"
"You really don't have to beg everytime" Mike chuckled, thinking for a few seconds and then starting another song. This time, Eleven crawled closer to him, and he gulped aware of her stare on him.
She observed the way he scrunched up his lips when he was concentrating on playing, the way he softly whispered some of the words, the way his hands moved without hesitation on the chords – it gave her a strange feeling, watching Mike. She felt as though something tugged at her heart, sending a funny feeling to her stomach.

After another song, Mike laughed and closed the guitar in the case "Okay, promise I'll play for you another time if you let me free now".
Eleven tilted her head to the side, watching him as he put the guitar back to its place. She then plopped down on her stomach on the bed, rolling around "What do we do now?"
Mike had the urge to just kiss her right then and there, but as usual something held him back. It was El's first kiss – well, if he wasn't counting the one they had shared almost two years ago... – and he wanted it to be special, like she was.
Eleven stood up while she thought about what she wanted to do, slipping her hands in her pockets. Mike watched her like she put some sort of spell on him; her onesie made her look so adorable.
"I wanna go for a ride!" she decided happily, turning to him and catching him staring. She tilted her head to the side: she didn't quite get all that friends-more than friends stuff, but Mike definitely looked at her differently than he looked at Max.
"Okay" he nodded, linking their fingers – he never did that with Max or with the boys – "maybe we can stop by the park, if you want".

And so they did.
Mike parked his bike right outside the green fences, grabbing her hand again. He just loved the feeling.
"So" Mike began to talk, suddenly feeling nervous "I wanted to ask you something".
El felt her heart begin to race as she nodded eagerly, wanting to know what he had to ask her; maybe he wanted to be more than friend? Maybe he wanted to go to another park?
They sat on a bench nearby, "I was just wondering if you wanted to go to the lake with me, on Sunday?"
Eleven smiled at him "I'd like to go".
"Sure?" he asked again, his eyes wide "I meant, just the two of us, you know".
She just frowned, not getting what he wanted to say. It was just the two of them in that moment, too, so what was the difference?
Mike, on the other hand, was freaking out; he asked her out to the lake and she had said yes. They would be alone, in a very romantic place.
"I like just the two of us" she shrugged, swinging her legs as her feet didn't touch the ground "don't you?"
"Yes" he answered quickly, nodding "I like the two of us".
She hummed lightly as she closed her eyes and let the sun kiss her skin, inhaling the perfect scent of freshly cut grass; the sounds around them didn't disturb her, they just made her feel at ease. Children laughing, people running, dogs barking. She liked hearing people after being alone for so long.
At some point Mike had left to go buy ice-cream, telling her to stay there and don't move for any reason at all. Eleven had nodded at him, feeling just the tiniest bit anxious as she was left alone.

"Hi" a boy sat next to her, too close for her liking.
And suddenly it felt like back when she had known the boys, when she could barley say yes and no; it was different, talking with someone when her friends were around.
"H-hi" she stuttered, inching a little bit away from the guy.
He extended his hand "My name's Toby. Why are you here all alone?"
El looked at his hand skeptically: she only held Mike's. So she just told him "I'm El. I'm waiting for Mike".
"Is he your boyfriend?" the boy asked as his face fell a little.
El didn't know what a boyfriend was, so she just shook her head a little, looking at him; he had brown hair and blue eyes – he sure looked kind, but she didn't trust just anyone after what she had been through.
Toby's face rose when she shook her head, though she didn't get why "I came here looking for a friend, but I can't find him. You wanna help me? I can let you try my skateboard".
She didn't know what a skateboard was, but when he pointed at the little table with wheels she remembered about Max's. The boy rose from his seat and extended his hand again, waiting for her to follow him; he didn't seem bad, he just looked like he wanted to be friends.
"Hey" Mike's voice mad her jump a little "everything okay?"
He was looking the boy in a not so friendly way, eyes narrowed.
He handed Eleven her ice-cream, sitting next to her again.
"Everything okay, Mike" she smiled at him, linking their hands again.
"But you told me-" Toby was about to ask again if he was her boyfriend or not, but stopped at the look Mike gave him and just shook his head.
"See you around, El" the boy said, going away with his skateboard.

Mike was shaken from his thought when El hummed in delight: that was the most delicious ice-cream she had ever tasted! Instead of her usual cone, Mike had gotten her some vanilla squeezed between two waffles.
"Oh I love this" she yelled, taking another bite "this is the best thing I have eaten!"
Mike laughed at her enthusiasm – she was always like this when it was about ice-cream, but that day, she was ecstatic.
As she finished eating, they stood and began to walk hand in hand.
"If you want, we can get more on the way ba-" not even letting him finish, she flung her arms around his neck and buried her face in the crook of his neck. He was starting getting taller than her.
Mike thought she was just particularly happy, but after a few seconds he noticed she was crying by the wetness she left on his shirt.
"El?" he said, concerned "El what's up? Did I say something wrong?"
She just tightened her grip, not that there were people stopping by watching her.
"El please" he said, hugging her back "please, tell me what I did".
After a while she pulled back, looking at him with such gratefulness in her eyes he couldn't believe it "Thank you".
"For what?" he asked, wiping her tears away with his thumbs.
"You take care of me. You stay with me. You don't hurt me".
"I spoil you" he said, trying to make her laugh and he succeeded.
He hugged her again, securing his hands around her waist tightly
"El, I would never, ever hurt you. Okay? Never, because..."
He hesitated: he didn't know if it was the right time to tell her. Or maybe he was just being stupid and needed to grow a pair and just spit it out.
Just as he was about to complete his sentence, Hopper's voice made them jump "Wheeler, hands off!"
Eleven wiped away the tears she had left, afraid Hopper would kill Mike if he saw her crying. Looking at the car and then again at Mike, she bit her lip: she didn't want to go, but she had to.
"It's okay, El, we'll see each other tomorrow" he said, smiling "keep your walkie talkie on".
She nodded, smiling again at him and giving him a brief kiss on the cheek – and by the way, he could feel the Chief's stare burning on him – before unlatching their linked fingers and running towards Hopper's car.

While she was riding home, she kinda tuned his voice out thinking about the way Mike made her feel: tingly, happy, safe.
She didn't know why, but she only felt that with him.
With Hopper it was a different kind of safe. It was like...
"Dad" she whispered, looking outside the window of the car.
Hopper almost shot out of the driveway – she had called him dad. After that long silence, she kind of looked hesitant "Is 'dad' okay?"
"Of course, kiddo, of course" the man was almost in tears, "it's more than okay".
She nodded "Can I ask something?"
"Sure, go ahead"
"What is it called when your stomach is tingly? And you feel warm and...happy?" she asked, with an innocence that made Hopper's heart clench.
That Wheeler boy...if he caught him alone, they needed to have a few words.
"I think you should go to someone else for that..."
"Why? Why not you? You know things"
"Shit – okay, listen. When you feel like that, it's called love. It's when you...when you really really like someone and you think they're your soul mate".
"Soul mate?"
"Your other half. The person that somehow completes you".
She nodded slowly.
"Hey" he called for her, frowning "no funny business with the Wheeler boy, remember".
She nodded again, leaning against the car seat.
Maybe Mike was her other half.

Oh my Mileven feels. They make me happy, and maybe I'm crazy, but that's okay.
I just wanted to thank everyone that followed/put the story in the favorites and left a review. Every comment is appreciated, and if you have any suggestions or things to point out do so, even PM me it's okay. :3
See you soon!