You Belong With Me

AN: Hello everyone!
After reading fanfiction for years, I have finally decided to publish my first story. I have started this one beginning of this year after experiencing a personal trauma and trying to find some distraction and peace of mind through writing. While listening to the song "You Belong With Me" by Taylor Swift, I came up with the idea for this storyline and you will find the inspiration drawn from this song, throughout the chapters (not word by word, but a certain parallel is there). The whole story is planned out and a large part of it is written already. I just need to find the time to type it and upload it here.
It starts off a bit differently but be reassured that this is a Mileven story. I have been thinking, that in a universe where El and Mike are best friends and know each other their entire life, they wouldn't fall in love at first sight, as they did in the show. And some may need longer than others to catch up…
On a personal note, please be informed that I'm not a native speaker, but I have done my best to eliminate any spelling or grammar mistakes. In case you still find any, please do not be too harsh on me. But still, I love to get your honest opinion on either the language, characters, or the story itself. I hope you enjoy this little journey with me.

Disclaimer: I do not own any characters or storylines of the Stranger Things universe.

Chapter 1

17. September 1987

She heard him grumble, head bowed, a hand rested against the wall, while the other one clutched the phone. "Please babe, it was a silly misunderstanding.", Mike pleaded. "We were just fooling around. I didn't mean to hurt you in any way."

El sat on the old couch by her own, legs crossed and listening to Mike's apology. His voice filling the open space between them, full of sincerity and regret.
She tore her gaze from the black-haired boy and let it travel over her surroundings. The room around her was the usual chaos of sorted out furniture, boxes for the flea market, laundry, books, movies, broken electronics and lots of games and toys, but still it had this cosy atmosphere, that El couldn't really describe.
She usually felt comfortable in the chaotic surrounding of the Wheeler's basement. But this afternoon, she fidgeted with her hands nervously, her thoughts running over the incident that had transpired this afternoon, which had been the cause for the current situation.

They had been standing at the bike racks, waiting for their missing friends before they wanted to head home. School had ended a few minutes ago and as always, they all met outside the building to enjoy some minutes as a group of friends, before everyone parted in the direction of their homes. But today some of them were still missing and they were later than usual.

El stood in a half circle with Dustin, Lucas, and Max, listening in on the bickering that took place between Dustin and Max. The two regularly drove each other crazy, about almost everything, and they had decided to use the waiting time for another one of their arguments.
This time the topic of their discussion was running around High School sports.

Max, who had joined the ladies Basketball team last year, was on the pro side of the argumentation. She relished most sport activities, and her general fitness condition was working in her favour.
Whereas the boys, especially Dustin, reacted allergic to anything that came just close to the word "sports". Lucas at least had given it a try, joining the men Basketball team last year himself, but he had dropped it after spending the year on the bench and realizing he wasn't into it with his whole heart.
The only sportive activity the rest of the boys ever did was riding their bikes, an activity that they loved dearly.
So, naturally her two friends were on opposite sides, when it came to the topic of High School sports and they went back and forth about it, arguing with one another.

El and Lucas stood right and left to the other two but kept their heads out of the debate. They knew better than to get involved, if Dustin, who was the most talkative and quick-witted of their group, and the fiery tempered Max started one of their heated discussions. Even though Max was the only other girl in their group next to El, everyone knew not to provoke her. Only Dustin dared to challenge her regularly.

While Dustin and Max continued their argument, Lucas held Max's hand and stared at her in awe. One of the things he loved most about her was her temper and, in that moment, it was on full display.
Ever since they had started dating a few months back, El often-observed Lucas' loving gaze at her only female friend. She thought it was super cute how obvious he was about his feelings for Max, and she often indulged in the hopeful dream, that there would ever be some guy, who would look at her so lovingly… No, not just some guy, a certain one to be precisely…

El tore her gaze away from the pair, to stop her thoughts from running into dangerous territory. Instead, she stared up the sky, closing her eyes and letting the sun rays of the late September warm her face. A soft wind went through her curly shoulder-length hair, tickling her neck slightly.
She truly loved autumn with all its colours and that it was still reasonably warm, but not as hot as in the summer months. So as for example on this day she was still able to wear a loose berry-coloured T-Shirt that was tucked into her paperbag jeans. The hem was folded multiple times showing off her white Chucks. Her jacket lay already on the back of her bike, as the warm breeze of this afternoon made it not necessary to wear one.

As she enjoyed herself standing in the sun, accompanied by the constant bickering of two of her friends in the background, she heard footsteps quickly approaching their little group. She opened her eyes to see her remaining friends heading over to them in a rush.

First one reaching them was Will, an annoyed look plastering his usual calm face. "Sorry, that we're late. Old Mr. Wilson kept us ten minutes longer, as he thought the whole class was not paying him the necessary attention this afternoon.", he started. "But it's not like you could blame anyone for drifting off to sleep, when you have to listen to these constant ramblings in this tiresome voice of his." Will shook his head in disbelief. Being of a rather shy and kind nature, they didn't hear him often speak badly about anyone, but obviously this time even he had gotten angry by the teacher's actions.

During Will's explanation the last member of their group reached them, too. Mike and Will were both in Mr. Wilson's History class together, resulting in both being late this afternoon.
But what caught El's attention was not the arrival of her two friends, but the third person, that accompanied them. Clutching Mikes hand, as if her life depended on it, was a brown-haired girl, that El didn't consider as a member of their party, but whom she still had to endure way too often for her liking.
Trish McDowell was in their year, but until a few months ago, El had never interacted much with the girl, and she therefore did not hold any grudges against her back then. That had changed when Mike had brought her around.

El stared at their intertwined hands and saw Mikes thumb stroking the back of Trish's hand. As always, she felt the short but painful sting in her heart that she was so used to by now.
This happened ever since her best friend Mike, whom she knew since they were toddlers and who was something like the super nerd of their High School, had started to date Trish, the gorgeous Cheerleader captain, at the end of last school year.
El still couldn't wrap her head around how this had come about. Trish was considered a social leader and trendsetter at their school, though El personally thought she was rather plain and superficial, and that she was always more concerned about a perfect look, than having a good time. And then there was Mike, president of the AV club, Dungeon & Dragon Paladin, Star Wars lover and just a nerd through and through. But most importantly he was El's best friend, the one that made her laugh like no one else could, the one that knew her best and been with her through all ups and downs. He was the kindest person she knew, loyal to his friends, always honest, and just utterly brave. A smart mind, who simultaneously was witty and understanding. There was just no one like Mike Wheeler. So how had this unlikely pair ended up dating?

Apparently, it had only needed a school project last year, to bring them together. They had been assigned to team up and after weeks of studying together, and who knows what else, they had started dating.
And El couldn't deny that Trish was super pretty, something she underlined by dressing in clothes that boys apparently considered as hot, like the mini skirt she was currently wearing. Ever since they had hit puberty, she often observed her male friends looking at any pretty girl that passed their way and ogling after any girl that was willing to show more than necessary.
So, she shouldn't have been too surprised discovering that Mike had fallen in love with a girl like Trish, even though she had always thought that inner beauty would be more important to him than looks. According to him, Trish was beautiful on the outside and inside, but El failed to see those inner traits of her.

And apart from his side, El had never thought it was possible that someone like Trish could be interested in a boy like Mike. She had always assumed that these girls would pair up with the High School Basketball star, but she had to learn the hard way that these were stupid cliches she had willingly believed in.
As it turned out, Trish was into the nerdy type of guy and she often liked to declare to anyone who would be listening, that she loved that Mike was "super smart", his "dorky talk was funny" and he had the "sweetest smile". And even though El still struggled to understand the whole situation, she couldn't fight this argumentation, because his smile was just one of a kind.

"Hey, what's up?" Mikes question shook El out of her stupor and she withdraw her gaze from the intertwined hands.

"Max and I were just discussing the necessity of High School sport, or as I would rather put it, a nastiness to encourage social injustice and enlarge the distance between the cool kids and more unpopular ones, between the ones with sporty genes and the clumsier fellows, between muscular and…", Dustin set off heatedly before being interrupted by Max.

"Oh, come on Henderson, you're completely exaggerating. Sports are fun activities and just because you don't like it, doesn't mean others cannot enjoy it. There is no conspiracy or whatsoever that tries to put you on the lower social outline by using High School sports. Look at me, I'm on the Basketball team, but still not popular or something like that."

"That's because you like to be the outsider, as you don't like most people. You could be popular if you wanted to.", Dustin replied.

Before Max could retort, Will piped up, "I think sport can be fun, even though I'm not the best myself. But it's nice to have some activity at school, rather than sitting around all the time."
El smiled at him. With his kind personality, Will was always trying to set the peace in their group.

But unfortunately, Dustin was not ready to drop the subject, yet. "I just think it's a waste of time, which could be better spent in science class or something similar. And everyone who thinks wasting their time is fun, is a stupid wasteoid." Dustin exclaimed. Max only rolled her eyes in response at his overacting.

Sensing, he was losing this argumentation, Dustin tried a new strategy. "Back me up, Mike.", he pleaded and looked over to the lanky boy in question.

Mike was surprised by the sudden demand of his opinion. He had only half listened, being rather occupied with the caressing of his girlfriends' fingers. Masking the embarrassment that crept up in him, he stuttered, "I think… uhm, I mean… In a way you're right. Wasting your time like this, is kind of stupid. Sorry Max, no offense."

"None taken.", the red-haired girl replied shruggingly. El hoped that this was the end to this stupid discussion, but she was proven wrong by a very sharp intake of breath and El drew her head from Max to the unlikely pair, just in time to see Trish withdrawing her hand from Mike's grip.

The girl folded her arms in front of her well-build chest, turning her full body to completely face her boyfriend. "So, you think I'm just wasting all my free time at Cheerleader training, do you? You think that I'm stupid for being interested in it?", she shrieked.

Taken by surprise a second time for being addressed, Mike stared at her in disbelief. After a few seconds where he tried to gather the situation, he turned to the others, searching for help. But when he didn't find any and no one was stepping in in his defence, he gave in to answering her question himself. "Uhm babe, see I kind of… I personally cannot relate to… It doesn't mean others can't have fun… you're not stupid or anything.", he tried helplessly, not making much sense. He took a few deep breaths to sort his thoughts and tried again. "You see, this is just not my thing. But you're great at what you're doing. You shouldn't take it so personally…." Mike smiled kindly at his girlfriend, hoping he had cleared the air and moved his hand forward to grab hers, but she took a step back, glaring up at him.

"So now I'm the one overreacting here by taking it personally?", she snapped. Mike looked stunned, not knowing what exactly he had done wrong in the first place and becoming more lost by the minute. He tried to find the words to respond to that, but didn't come up with anything, just opening and closing his mouth several times.
As the seconds passed by, where Mike struggled to find the right words, Trish expression became angrier with every passing moment. Without waiting for a response any longer, Trish turned on her heal and started to walk off.

"Trish where are you going?", Mike called after her, finally finding his voice again.

"Meeting the girls for training and just do other stupid stuff like that.", she yelled back.

Mike was about to run after her, but Lucas held him back. "Leave it man. She must cool off first.", he said knowingly and glancing sideway at his own girlfriend. He was well employed in how to deal with an angered girl.

Mike's shoulders slummed down, and he muttered something to himself. He looked devasted and El felt immediately sorry for him, even though she couldn't deny that she was happy that Trish was gone.
She stepped forward and placed one hand on Mikes shoulder, trying to ignore the tickling feeling that went through her arm.

"Are you okay, Mike?", she asked worriedly.

"Yeah, it's okay.", he replied, head still hanging down and not looking at El.

"Sorry man.", Dusting stepped in. "I didn't mean to cause any trouble."

"I know.", Mike sighed.

Max made an annoyed sound, and everyone turned to her. "Oh please, she totally overreacted, didn't she?", Max started. "I could be offended, too, but I'm not. Doesn't she realize that we were just teasing each other? Or is she just too stupid and superficial to understand a friendly banter?!"

Mikes brows furrowed angrily, while his cheeks went slightly red. El sensing Mike's anger and humiliation, quickly stepped in. "Max, she doesn't know our way of arguing and picking on each other. We know that it means no harm, but anyone from outside might consider this as rude, you know."

Mike smiled grateful at her, causing El's heartbeat to speed up again. But Max wasn't taking any of it and shot back, "YOU are defending her of all people?"

The implication of this sentence caught El off guard. She felt her face reddening and gave Max a pointed look, telling her friend wordlessly to stop talking immediately. She didn't want to discuss any of her feelings towards Trish in their big group and most importantly not the reason, why exactly she disliked this girl more than anyone else. Max raised one eyebrow, smiled mischievously, and challenging her to speak up. El only shook her head in response.
The boys looked curiously back and forth between the two girls, but luckily, Mike seemed to be oblivious to the silent interaction.

"We should get going.", El hastily tried to get rid of the unwanted attention. She grabbed her bike and to her great relief the boys followed her example, dropping the subject.
They sat on their bikes, while Max jumped on her skateboard, that she carried around permanently, and they finally left the school grounds to head home.

The group talked and laughed during the journey with only Mike trailing a little bit behind the others. El looked back at him every now and then, feeling the urge to comfort him. But she didn't want to draw any more unnecessary attention to the topic, so she bit her lip and restrained from approaching Mike now. This had to wait until later.

After about ten minutes they reached a crossroad and Dustin and Will bid their goodbyes to their friends and turned right, in the direction of their homes.
The others continued to follow the main road, until they reached the suburban area where they all lived. A few minutes later, also Max and Lucas said goodbye and turned into the street of Max's home. This left just Mike and El and they drove wordlessly the remaining minutes until they reached Maple Street.

Mike and El were practically neighbours, their houses standing on opposite sides of the same road, just slightly diagonal to each other. Both lived here since they were born and so they knew each other for as long. Being the same age they bonded early when they played together on the street. Latest by the time they went to kindergarten, they were best friends and it had never changed since then.
There was no memory El had without Mike in her life. He had always been there and witnessed every milestone of her life, the good and the bad ones.

They stopped in front of the Wheeler house and tossed the bikes to the side. Mike led the way and opened the front door for them; El followed in routine.
Ever since the divorce of her parents Terry and Jim Hopper, the Wheeler household became her refuge.
Whenever her parents had one of their fights, El sneaked out of the house and went over to Mikes', where she spent hours on end. She did so over years, until her parents had ended their marriage at last. Her dad had moved out to the outskirts of town, into a small cabin, where El spent most of her weekends to see her dad.
Her mother had taken her maiden name again, while El remained a Hopper, and they stayed in their house, but being a single mum now, her mother worked a lot more than before. Even though her dad assisted them financially and insisted that they kept the house to their own, without any pay off to him, so El could stay in her known surroundings, her mum had to work extra shifts at the local pharmacy very often, to make it through the month.
That's why El kept spending a lot of afternoons at the Wheelers, instead of being alone at her house. After school she went mostly home with Mike and his mum Karen cooked lunch for them. Next, they would do their homework together or if there was not much to do for school, they would play games, watch movies, or just talk for hours. El loved this routine and the Wheeler's house had become her second home and safe place.

This afternoon, they were greeted by Karen and the fully set up table. Due to the delay of Mike's and Will's History class, El and Mike arrived fifteen minutes later than usual, and Karen was eagerly waiting for them.
They enjoyed their lunch in silence and excused themselves afterwards, to spend the rest of the day in the basement.
When they got downstairs, El made herself comfortable on the couch and expected Mike to join her, but he remained standing and paced up and down, like a caged animal.

"El, what am I supposed to do?", he suddenly groaned, while tousling his hair with both hands.

El had suspected that he would start to pick up the topic as soon as they would be alone. She just knew Mike and knew that his thoughts had been running around that question since the incident with Trish had happened.
But still, she had no idea what to respond, even though she had expected the question. What was she supposed to tell him? That she silently agreed with what Max had said earlier? That his girlfriend had been overreacting and that she thought that he was better off without her? That she silently pleaded every day that he would wake up one day and realize that Trish was not the right girl for him? No- she couldn't say any of that. But she also didn't want to give him any relationship advice, on how to sort out his issues with his girlfriend. But she knew that this was what a best friend should be doing.

While still struggling with her inner conflict, Mike spoke up again. "I do not understand what I did wrong. Obviously, I was not intending to hurt her, but somehow, I did exactly that. And now she's mad at me for offending her, which I did not… or did I? I mean, just because I personally do not do any sports, it doesn't mean anyone else can't do it. It's that I prefer to spend my time differently, but if others like to sweat and feel exhausted, they shall go for it. I had not even really paid attention to what Dustin said and just agreed with him in general but was not specifically referring to Trish. She is gorgeous and I like everything about her. She can spend her time in whichever way she prefers, I don't mind. So, why did she take it so personally…", he rambled on in full speed, that El had troubles to follow his train of thoughts. She decided to stop him, as she knew from experience, that he could go on like that forever.

"Mike…", she said and when he kept going, she tried again a bit louder. "Mike! Stop it!" He came to a stillstand and looked at her guiltily, knowing that he had gotten carried away with his ramblings.

"Mike, listen…", El started. She took a deep breath and sorted her thoughts. "You obviously offended her, if it was an overreaction or not on her part is another story, but what matters is that you hurt her feelings." El paused again, to prepare herself for what she was about to say next. Seeing Mike so worked up about the issue, made her heart clench. Even though she didn't like Trish, she couldn't watch Mike suffering in any way. He needed a friend right now, so she was determined to be a good friend to him. "You should try to talk to her and apologize for the misunderstanding. Explain to her that you didn't mean to hurt her, but that you realized that you did it anyway and that you are sorry for it. I'm sure if you explain it to her, she will forgive you."

"You're sure?", he asked timidly.

"Yes, I am. She had time to cool off a bit and I'm sure, she will be happy if you approach her now and apologize." El tried to put on an encouraging smile, but she was not sure if she managed it properly.

Still Mike nodded after thinking about her statement for a few seconds. "I guess, you are right. I will try it immediately. She should be home from the training by now."

And so that's how she ended up sitting on the couch in the Wheeler's basement and listening to Mike apologizing to his girlfriend over the phone.

"I understand Trish. See, I will make it up to you." A short pause followed, where Trish obviously said something on the other end of the phone. "Yes sure, whatever you want babe.", Mike hastily replied.

El couldn't stop her eyes from rolling. All this calling Trish "his babe" really annoyed El to no end. Especially, as this was totally not Mike. He was just not the type for cheesy nicknames and overexaggerated display of affection in public, particularly if these were not spontaneous causes of the moment, but more for the purpose to constantly prove their love to others.
Mike was more the type for quiet forms of showing affection like loving glances or stolen kisses in a private moment.
Thinking of that, El let her mind drift away, to a place where she no longer sat alone on the couch of the Wheeler's basement, but she was snuggled up to the black-haired boy, playing absentmindedly with their intertwined fingers, instead of fidgeting with her own. He was seated against the side of the couch, while she lay back against his torso, her head resting against his shoulder, his arms were slung around her body, and meeting her hands in the front. Her small figure perfectly embedded by his tall stature, and Mike moved his head down slowly to El's right side and whispered huskily into her ear "El…".

"El… El, are you there?" El was abruptly taken out of her dreamy daze and saw Mike standing in front of her. She was surprised by his sudden appearance and had to shake her head to fully remove the prior thoughts from her mind. She slightly reddened from the embarrassment to be caught daydreaming about her best friend.
Obviously, Mike had ended the phone call with Trish, and El hastily tried to gain composure, so she responded "Uh yeah, I'm here... Did Trish accept your apology?"

"Yes, kind of. I will take her out to make it up to her.", Mike responded.

"That's nice.", El commented as a dutiful friend, even though she rather felt like screaming. "So, all's good between the two of you?"

"Yes, I think so. She just misunderstood the situation and took it too personal. Trish is so strong minded and passionate about everything. I really love that about her."

El couldn't agree any less with his perception of Trish's personality, which she personally regarded as bitchy. But she kept quiet about her opinion and only nodded silently. It was not her part to tell any of this to Mike. He seemed to love her and telling him her honest opinion about his girlfriend most likely just sounded as she was jealous. And the last thing she wanted was to raise Mike's attention to the possibility that she could be jealous of Trish. Because she was not jealous, at least not about her seemingly perfect life, appearance, or personality.
The only thing that got a painful knot into her stomach and she wished for herself, were Trish's perfectly manicured fingers that got caressed by Mike's strong hands, her lip gloss covered mouth that got to lock with Mike's soft lips, or her crystal blue eyes which met his loving brown ones and were allowed to stare into them unlimitedly, without having to drop her gaze ashamed when she got caught starring.

Meanwhile, Mike had rambled on about his girlfriend, not noticing that El had zoned out again. She had nodded here and there encouragingly, a gesture she had perfected over the past months.

"You are such a good listener, El. I could never discuss these topics with the guys. They would just make fun of me.", he addressed her. "What would I do without you? You are the best."

By saying this he looked directly at her and met her eyes. El gulped, trying to ignore the fluttering feeling in her stomach. "Thanks. I'm always here to listen.", she replied in a husky voice.

"So shall we get started on today's homework?", Mike broke the moment.

"Yes, sure. Let's get this over with." El replied, grabbing her books that lay untouched on the coffee table so far.

The rest of the afternoon flew by, spent with homework, and only interrupted from time to time by them discussing a certain question or by friendly chatting and laughter.
In a few quiet moments El stole glances of her best friend, who sat next to her on the couch, deeply absorbed by the task in front of him. She couldn't stop herself from admiring his high cheekbones that were sprinkled with freckles, his forehead wrinkled as he concentrated on solving a tricky equation. Her heart ached in these moments to erase any troubles from his mind.
She hated to constantly put herself in pain and letting her mind wonder about things that just were not meant to be. But she couldn't help it, Mike and she knew each other by heart and for her it was obvious how well they functioned together. Why couldn't he see it?
"I'm sitting right here.", she thought. "Why can't you see that I'm the perfect girl for you? Listening to all your problems, understanding all your fears, joking around with you, the one you can laugh with like no one else and who's loving you unconditionally without changing one bit about you.", she screamed in her head, willing him to hear it. But he always remained still in his place not hearing her silent calls.

"Welcome to El Hopper's life.", she thought bitterly. "Plain, little El, considered as one of the guys, messy hair, wearing jeans and flats, instead of mini skirt and high heels, the Chief's daughter, slightly studious, but not being talented in anything… And worst of all, being utterly and hopelessly in love with my best friend."

Lyrics:
You're on the phone with your girlfriend, she's upset
She's going off about something that you said
'Cause she doesn't get your humour like I do