AN: Hi everyone!
I'm happy to tell you that my baby was born last month, and now I'm finally back to writing. During pregnancy I did a bit of writing here and there, but I often felt too tired to really get into it. Now I feel a lot better, and though being a mum also takes up a lot of my time, my brain functions enough again to go back to this story.

So here is the new chapter and the next part of this journey of El and Mike. I would say prepare yourself for some tension and more teenage drama (they are just too stubborn for their own good) …

As always, I'm happy to hear what you think, so leave me a comment here or via Instagram if you like. I hope you enjoy reading.

Chapter 9

31. October 1987

For the boys there was no day like Halloween. The entire week leading up to the event was filled with a childlike excitement and it was the only topic any of them were talking about. They discussed any aspect of it or relished in the memory of their past adventures.
They always had been trick or treating and the costumes had been planned weeks in advance, coordinated among them according to a specific topic, depending on their age, starting with Cowboy, Knights, and Wizards, over to Star Wars, X-Men and Superheroes, to name just a few. El had participated in every year and had always coordinated her costume with the ones of the boys, being the Indians to their Cowboys, the Princess to their Knights or the Mage to their Wizards.
This routine had first been interrupted by Max, who wasn't willing to subordinate her own ideas to those of the party and influenced by her also El had broken out of that chain. And this year another routine would be broken because it would be the first time that they would neither go trick or treating, nor would they dress up for the event. But still he boys' excitement was unbroken, and they planned everything to the last bit, going as far that El and Max had to intervene at some point to stop them from going on and on about the same topic constantly.
Nonetheless, also the girls couldn't deny that they were looking forward to a night spent with their group of friends. Apart from their Friday night D&D gatherings in the Wheeler's basement, they hadn't spent a whole evening with just the six of them in ages, and for El it was something else entirely, if the boys were entranced by their game, while Max and she made themselves comfortable on the couch, compared to a night in which all of them would actually do something together.

The excitement within their group was also the main reason, El had decided to let the situation with Mike rest for the moment. Well, this and his resolution to avoid her…
After crying for hours on Thursday, she had fallen into a restless sleep filled with weird dreams of Mike, telling her he loved her but couldn't be with her repeatedly (apparently one time wasn't enough, and her subconsciousness deemed it necessary to relive the moment countless times). When she had awoken on Friday morning El felt utterly exhausted and her eyes had been itching from the tears, she had shed the prior night and during her sleep.
However, she had been determined to talk to Mike, apart from her heartache and the exhaustion she had felt. For the first time, she could say for sure, that he felt something for her, something that went further than their friendship bond, and that he wished to be with her, though his own weird assumptions were holding him back. So, now that she had gotten that confirmation, she had felt an unknown confidence to open up to him, to make him see that he was worrying about the wrong things, and that there was no need to hold back his feelings for her sake.
She hadn't been able to voice out these things the prior night, when the shock over his confession and him letting her down, had rendered her speechless and she had fallen into a hole of sorrow and pain. But with the fresh beginning of a new day, she had been determined to make up for her mistake of the prior night and talk to him at the first convenience that would present itself to her.

Therefore, she had stood up, had put on fresh clothes, and had tried to cover up her puffy cheeks and eye bags with some make up. El had eaten her breakfast with her mum and then had exited the house to pick up her bike and ride to school with Mike, as they did every morning.
Though a bike ride was not ideal for their talk, El had made up her mind to use the time given to her and immediately pick up the conversation with Mike. But she never got the chance…
After waiting for almost 15 minutes, she had gone over to the Wheeler's house to ring. Shortly after, Karen had opened the door and after a quick chat with her, she had learned that Mike had left around half an hour ago.

From that moment on an uneasiness had settled over her initial determination and it only became more intensified as the day progressed.
She had often seen Mike from afar in the halls, but he always magically disappeared in the crowd, whenever she had turned his direction and tried to approach him. At lunchtime he hadn't shown up at all and Lucas had half-heartedly told some story about Mike needing to get something in the library, which sounded a lot like an excuse to El.
After that she had put her hope into the afternoon, that she usually would spend alone with him until the weekly D&D night would start, but Mike had interfered with that plan by inviting the boys over right after school ended, claiming they had a particular challenging campaign lying ahead of them.
Latest by then, the uneasy feeling had turned into certainty, that he was avoiding her, and he had continued to do so over the entire weekend, always finding some excuse to not be alone with her. And with it, El's determination had faded away making place for anxiety, frustration, annoyance and finally resignation. All these emotions had constantly changed from one moment to the next, leaving her on edge all the time, which lead to her being snippy with her mum and dad, who had to endure her mood switches on Saturday and Sunday.

With the start of the new week, El had been so fed up with her own behaviour, but also Mikes', that she decided to let the matter pass for the moment. There was Halloween approaching and everyone around her was so excited, that she didn't want to spoil the mood with hers and Mike's tension. And in the end, she knew he couldn't hide from her forever; at some point he had to face her again and then she would certainly talk to him. Maybe the passing time would help him to see the nonsense he was putting them through.
Though he hadn't openly said it, his weird speech spoke of the desire to be with her, but some misplaced self-sacrifice and chivalry was holding him back, claiming he wasn't good enough for her. She knew she had fallen in love with a paladin, but this behaviour was just ridiculous, even for him.
However, there was a never dying hope within her, that they would figure it out together as soon as she got the chance to properly talk to him.

The only thing that confused her and contradicted with the spark of hope she was feeling, was the fact that Trish was still in the picture. She understood his fears to be with her (though they were unfounded) and to change their relationship status from best friends to lovers, but why did he not end things with Trish?
She had thought that his newly discovered feelings for her would not allow him to date another girl any longer. But for whatever reason he postponed the matter, day after day passing without any change.
Although El had observed that she rarely saw them together these days; Mike spent all his time at school with the boys, and the few times Trish had caught him in the hallways, El had witnessed that Mike had rejoined the group within minutes, whereas in the past he had vanished regularly for an entire break.
In the afternoons he was suddenly very busy with helping his mum in the house, watching Holly, or he spent time with Lucas and Will at the Arcade (Dustin was out with Becky), which meant he had neither time for his girlfriend nor his best friend.
He very obviously tried to avoid both of them, but why he didn't just call things off with Trish was a whole mystery to her, and the longer she observed it, the more a nagging thought was haunting her; did he still have feelings for Trish?

In order to get her mind off all these questions and to pass the time until Halloween was over, she spent her free time with Max these days. El had told her friend everything about the conversation with Mike the day after, which had caused the redhead to rant on for half an hour straight about Mike's behaviour. It had cost El a lot of energy to get her friend to calm down and not walk straight over to the boy in question and confront him with his actions.
For that reason, she had decided not to bring up the topic again after that, and luckily Max went along with that decision, though El could feel her friend's constant watchful eyes on her, as if she waited for her to explode any second.

All in all, El was happy when the week was finally approaching its end and the Halloween night was near. She wanted to get that night over with for her friends' sake and afterwards find a good opportunity to sort out this mess with Mike.
Falling on a Saturday, everything was perfectly working in their favour for their movie marathon and sleepover plans. El had again moved the day with her dad to Friday, like she had done on the Homecoming weekend, so she wouldn't miss out on the precious time with him. As usual, she had spent the night and Hopper had drove her back home after breakfast.

And that's where she was now, in her room, standing in front of her closet and unnecessarily panicking over the question of what to wear. It was absolutely stupid, as Mike saw her every day at school and had seen her on her best and on her worst days. Further, this was just a night spent as a group of friends, not a date, not even close. But as she had still a few hours to kill before meeting the others at Mike's place, her mind had enough time to overthink every little aspect of it, resulting in her rummaging through all her clothes in a desperate attempt to gain some control over the situation.

What does someone wear to a Halloween gathering with your friends, of which one is the boy of your dreams that you have been in love with for ages, and who might be in love with you, too, though he's still dating another girl for some mysterious reason; who has been flirting with you, but still keeps his distance; who told you in a twisted way that he can't be with you, because you are too good for him anyway, though you don't give a fuck about his stupid argumentation; and you want to show him desperately, that he is all you every wanted, and that you are willing to take the risk? – So which outfit transports that message?
Apparently none, cause El had put on dozens of variations, and discarded every single one of them, while the panic rose within her chest.

"Don't be so stupid about this!", she hissed lowly to herself, "It's just a night with your friends and it's not like he hasn't seen you in everything already."
She let her gaze travel over the chaos, she had created the past hour. There were piles of clothes on her bed, on the chair in front of the desk, and on the floor, while her closet was unusually empty. As her eyes took in the masses of fabrics and patterns, they were suddenly drawn in by some reddish colour, that broke through one of the piles. With quick fingers she reached for it and pulled out a magenta red pullover, which was only vaguely familiar to her. She had definitely seen it before, but it was one of those pieces that you buy one day and that afterwards vanishes in the depth of your wardrobe, almost forgotten. If she recalled it correctly, she had bought that one quite a while ago with Max and had only worn it one or two times since then.
She quickly pulled it over her head on top of the thin cotton shirt she was wearing and moved in front of the mirror. With astonishment she observed that the piece of garment was nicely fitted, and the colour was in favour of her olive skin; she surely hadn't had it in such good memory.
Excited she rummaged through the piles in search of one of her favourite jeans and once she found the grey-coloured trouser, she somehow satisfied took in the final look.
This was it - casual chic, which spoke of comfort, but simultaneously outlined her great figure.

With her issue of the past hours solved, El sighed in relief, before her eyes fell on the clock telling her that she had only 15 minutes left. In a rush she hastily applied some light make-up and unsuccessfully tried to sort her hair. Lastly, she added some earrings, grabbed her weekend bag, that she had luckily packed already beforehand, and rushed down the stairs to put on her shoes.
Her mum wasn't home yet from her weekend shift, but she knew about El's Halloween plans, so she didn't bother to leave a note. With some minutes delay she walked out of the house and crossed the road.
As she knew they were going to spend the night in the basement and her friends were likely gathered down there, she rounded the Wheeler's house and headed straight for the back door.

El knocked and only seconds later the door was enthusiastically thrown open and she was met by a widely grinning Lucas. "How come you only have a thirty second walk over here and you still manage to be the last one El?", he asked mockingly.

"I lost track of time.", El replied sheepishly before she moved past the boy in front of her.

Entering the basement, she was immediately welcomed by her friends, who were busy setting up the room for the night; Will was inflating an air mattress, while Dustin spread out cushions and blankets on the growing area of cozy seatings around the couch, and Max piled up a dozen of video tapes next to the television; however, Mike was nowhere to be seen.

"Hi, El!", the girl exclaimed excitedly from the other side of the room, "What do you say, shall we start the movie marathon with Poltergeist or A Nightmare on Elm Street?"

El shrugged her shoulders, "I don't know, but I'm sure you will choose a good one."

"Don't give her permission to choose it all by her own. That will end badly for us!", Lucas hissed, while he closed the door behind her.

"You have no voting rights, stalker!", Max brushed him off.

"She's right.", Dustin exclaimed loudly, "If you can't value the quality of a good horror movie, you have nothing to say on the matter."

Lucas moved past El in direction of their friends. "Who asked you?", he shot towards Dustin, while El turned away from her bickering friends and approached Will.

"Hey, El.", Will greeted her and with a roll of his eyes directed at the others, he added jokingly, "I'm glad finally someone normal is with me. They are like this since I got here."

Not doubting his statement in the slightest, El laughed whole heartedly. "You need some help with that?", she asked pointing at the air mattress, that was half inflated, while she dropped her weekender bag in a corner next to the ones of the others.

"No, it's fine.", he replied, "This is the last one. I'll just catch some breath and then I will finish this up."
With a quick glance around the room, he observed that their friends were still distracted by their argument, and stepping closer towards El, he added, "So, you're okay?"

"Yeah, all good.", she answered shrugging nonchalantly.

Doing another step towards her, Will observed her closely. "You're sure? You know, it's not like I haven't felt the tension between you and…"

Before he could say any more, El cut him off and hissed, "No, it's fine!"
She had spent the entire week with shutting down the turmoil inside herself to get over today, and the last thing that she needed now, was to open pandora's box.
However, not convinced in the slightest, Will eyed her up, and she could feel the doubt dripping from every fibre of his being, so she added, "Seriously, everything is fine." And as if to prove her point she asked in what she hoped to be a casual tone, "So, where's Mike?"

"He's upstairs and prepares the food and drinks.", Will answered, still watching her carefully.

El nodded and walked over to her bag to retrieve the sweets that she had bought for the occasion. Determined to show everyone (and herself) that she was perfectly fine with the situation, she picked up the colourful packages and walked towards the stairs. She heard Will sigh her name, but she didn't pay it any attention, and continued her way up to the ground floor.
As she reached the top stair step, she inhaled deeply to calm her pounding heart, and opened the door, that led to the Wheeler's kitchen.

Her eyes immediately fell on the lean stature of Mike, who stood with his back towards her at the kitchen counter. She took a few seconds to observe him, while he hadn't noticed her presence, yet; she hadn't been this close to him in over a week, although she had sat next to him in classes or sometimes he had joined the group at lunchtime, but he had built up that insurmountable wall between them, which made it feel like he had been miles away from her the entire week.

So now that he didn't knew she was there, and he was in the comfortable surroundings of his home, all his defences were down and he acted like this was just an ordinary moment, on an ordinary day – One they had experienced countless times, where El would walk up to him and greet him like the childhood friend that he was, with a big smile on her lips and a teasing phrase on the tip of her tongue. And he would respond to her in kind, with a lopsided smile directed towards her, acting like nothing could bring them down.
However, she couldn't stand there and pretend forever that this was the way they acted these days, and so she pulled herself together and inhaled deeply to prepare herself for the tension to come crushing back in.

"Hi.", she breathed out, almost not audible, but it was enough to catch his attention; his whole body tensed visibly, and his head shot up, though he didn't turn around immediately. He stood standstill for a few seconds, as if he needed to prepare himself for the sight before he turned around to face her.

"Hi.", he replied in a similar low tone.

Both stared at each other, lost in the other one's eyes, and as the seconds dragged along, El tried to remember, why she had come here in the first place. With all the power she could muster, she pulled her eyes away from him and searched the surroundings for an answer. They fell on the bowls behind him, that were filled with sweets of different kinds, and with it she suddenly remembered that her arms were carrying a few packages, too.

With another deep inhale of breath, she reminded herself that she had decided to act normal this day, and so she said in the most casual way possible, "I have brought some with me as well."

As if he was torn away from some deep thoughts, Mike winced slightly and mumbled questioningly, "What?"

"I have some more sweets.", she said weakly and stepped further into the kitchen.

"Oh, uhm… great… yeah, great.", he stuttered, as he caught up to the situation.

El walked up to him and dropped everything she was carrying onto the counter. "Can I help you with something?"

For a few heartbeats Mike seemed to contemplate his options, but eventually he nodded and replied, "S-sure. You can grab some drinks... They are in the fridge.", he turned into the direction and pointed at the device, "Over… over there."

"I know…", she mumbled and threw him a final glance before she went over to the fridge. With the back turned towards him, she heard Mike say bashfully, "Of course you do. Sorry."

Opening the door, El let the cold hit her face for moment. She closed her eyes and pressed her lips together, to keep the scream inside, that was threatening to escape her; her entire body was in pain from the awkwardness, that surrounded them.
Just one day… she had to get over this single day for the sake of the party and next week she would get him to openly talk to her, and if she needed to lock him up to do that, so be it. This was becoming ridiculous, and it needed to end, no matter how much Mike tried to avoid her.
Breathing in another whiff of the cool air, she grabbed some soft drinks and turned to face him again.

The boy stood there motionless, starring somewhere into space, the packages of sweets lying untouched on the surface. She walked up to him and set the drinks aside on the way, while her gaze went over the assortment of different chocolates, nougats, and bonbons. "Looks like we have something of everything.", she noted, in a weak attempt to ease the tension, but she couldn't blame him, when he only nodded absentmindedly.

Suddenly her eyes fell on a small brownish coloured pack and a smile broke out on her face, "M&Ms!", she exclaimed happily.

He looked up and a hesitant smile broke out on his face. "Yeah, I saw these and couldn't resist to buy them. What would be a Halloween night without some good old M&Ms, right?"

"Right.", El answered, thinking back to the night when he had used these particular sweets to apologize to her after the one big fight, that they ever had.

"So, does your species still like M&Ms?", he asked, copying his words from back then.

El's smile turned into a grin, "Yes, of course!"
Eagerly her hand moved forward to reach for the package, but Mike had a similar intention, because her way was stopped, when her fingers hit his. It was as if she had an electrical shock, when her skin got in touch with his, setting her entire body on fire. She quickly pulled her hand back, an action, that he mirrored likewise, and her breath got stuck in her throat, while her heart hammered rapidly.

As quick as the uneasiness had been pushed to the side, while they momentarily had lived in the nostalgia of past memories, the heavy silence took over again and filled the atmosphere around them. She had thought for a moment, that they might be able to act normal for this one night, but upon their touch, the tension came crushing back in full force.

Not knowing what to do or say, both stood there silently for some dreadful seconds, before a sudden sound of the doorbell startled them, as if they were caught in an inappropriate action. Mike cleared his throat awkwardly and moved past her, carefully trying not to touch her in the process, and walked out of the kitchen to check, who was waiting on the other side of the door.
El assumed it to be kids, that were going trick or treating in the neighbourhood. Expecting Mike to be back shortly, she busied herself with preparing their snacks and drinks, and she was just about to put it all on a tray, when she froze in her actions from Mike's words, that carried over from the hallway.

"Trish!", he exclaimed in astonishment, while El gasped in shock upon hearing the name, "What are you doing here?"

"I came here to spend time with my boyfriend.", Trish replied in the snappy tone, that was so typically her, "You have been so busy these past few weeks. I haven't really seen you since the Homecoming dance and so I thought I come over here to fix that."

El stood motionless, the hands clutching the bowl, that she was currently carrying. Her mind came up with a hundred thoughts, but none was staying for more than a few seconds. She had prepared herself a lot for this day, in order to get over the few hours, that she dreaded to act like nothing had ever happened between her and Mike, but not in her wildest dreams she had thought of the scenario she was confronted with now.

Apparently, Mike was at a loss for words either because he only stuttered, "I... you know, I… I have been busy with, you know, helping my mum... and all."

"And that's exactly why I'm here. So will you let me in, or shall I stand in this cold forever?"

That was when El's brain started to kick in again; he wasn't going to let her in, was he? There was no way, that Trish was going to spend Halloween with them…

"I have told you my friends are here tonight.", Mike replied and El was internally cheering, that he seemed to have come back to his senses and was going to send his girlfriend away.

But Trish wasn't having any of this, "So? I don't see any reason why I can't join you?!"

"We… I… it's our tradition.", Mike said weakly and El could feel his determination tremble.

"Then it's time for some new ones.", Trish noted with utter self-confidence, "They better get used to me being around. In the end they are just your friends, but I am your girlfriend!"

El couldn't believe the audacity of that girl; "just your friends"? What was she thinking?!
They had been there long before Trish had even known Mike existed and they surely would still be there long after she was history… At least El hoped so with all her heart because there was no way Mike would put up with her forever, wouldn't he? And he surely would put her in her place any minute…

"You are…", he sighed lowly, that El could barely hear it in the next room, followed by some shuffling and then she heard how the front door was closed. Still glued to the ground, she stared towards the hallway, hoping she had misheard, that Mike had not just let her in, but had closed the door right into her face. He couldn't be really expecting them all to celebrate Halloween with her.
However, she was proven wrong another time, because just moments later Trish walked into the kitchen, followed by Mike trailing behind her.

"El!", she greeted her with a sweet sing sang voice, that clearly lacked sincerity, "How nice to see you."

The girl was a sight as always, with her long brown hair that fell silk-like down her back and the bright blue eyes that were strangely captivating. El's gaze travelled up and down her perfectly shaped body, that she had highlighted with a blacked-grey checked skirt and a red pullover - a magenta red one.
A gasp escaped her as she realized that Trish was wearing the exact same pullover as she did; just that she looked hundred times more gorgeous in it, than El ever could make herself to be.
She quickly scanned her own appearance with the boring grey jeans and the well-worn Chucks, and with another fright she saw that she was still clutching the bowl of sweets, which in combination with her wide-open mouth, must be a ridiculous sight to Trish and Mike.

To gain some control over the messed-up situation, El set the bowl aside, and with a steadying inhale of breath she replied with as much calmness as she could muster, "Hi, Trish."

"Mike was so kind to invite me to your little Halloween party.", she exclaimed without hesitance and touched him with both hands on his upper arm to lean into the boy standing next to her, who was eagerly trying to look anywhere but the two girls staring at each other in his mum's kitchen.

"Always the gentleman.", El noted, while she tried to search Mike's eyes to gain some answers on what the hell was happening right now, but he kept avoiding her gaze.

"He is the sweetest of all.", Trish purred, squeezing his arm affectionately.

A silence fell over them, which was filled with so much tension, that El had the feeling they would all blow up the second one of them dared to speak. The uneasiness was creeping into each cell of her body and the longer it went on the more she had the urge to run away, to flee the scenery. She had carefully prepared herself for this day, but nothing had come close to this turn of events; how was she supposed to spend this night with Trish? How was she supposed to watch her all over Mike for the next hours? And how was she supposed to understand that he still was with her, though he had admitted having feelings for El, too?
All the questions were slowly causing her a headache and the more she tried to gain Mike's attention while he kept avoiding her, the more the frustration rose inside herself.

With a clearance of his throat, Mike eventually freed himself from Trish's touch saying, "I guess I will quickly inform the others.", and without waiting for any reply, he was on his way towards the basement.

Now on her own with the other girl, El felt even more awkward than before, and not knowing what else to do, she resumed to her earlier task of putting all the items on a tray to bring them downstairs.
However, just some moments later, Trish addressed her and El noted in surprise, that she was much closer now, "Now that we are alone, let me tell you the following: Don't even try, honey. You do not stand a chance anyway."

Her tone had lost all the sweetness from before and a shudder ran over El's back from the hatred in Trish's voice. "What? I don't know what y …"

"Don't play dumb with me. I'm not stupid and I can easily tell how you pine over Mike.", she responded and took another step forward so that she was close enough for El to hear the threateningly whispered words, "In fact, half the school knows how you swoon over him for years by now. Don't you think he would have made a move a long time ago, if he was interested in you? As we both know, he hasn't done so over the past weeks of summer, and he is also not gonna do it now. And not even your little dance on Homecoming is going to change that!"

A gasp escaped El's lips; how had she learned about the Homecoming dance?
Noticing her discomfort, a smile broke out on Trish's face, "You thought, that no one will notice, right? But I have my eyes and ears everywhere in that school, and some have observed the little stunt that you have pulled off. Nice try though, but look who's still his girlfriend…", the smile on her face grew even wider, "…that's me!"

Her words were like a punch into El's gut and fed right into the insecurities; she was pointing out all the things that were nagging at the back of her head of the past days, weeks, and months, and it left a bitter taste in her mouth. She felt so helpless in her situation with Mike, but also in this moment, that she was attacked by the girl in front of her, and she had nothing to retort. Because in the end she was right; no matter what was happening these days between her and Mike, it didn't change the fact that he was still with Trish.
She felt powerless, ridiculed, and embarrassed, causing tears to spring to her eyes. Not to show her weakness, she quickly turned away, so that Trish wouldn't see, but the girl still sensed her uneasiness.

"I see we understand each other!", she sniggered triumphantly and without another word she turned towards the basement door to follow her boyfriend downstairs.

El was left behind speechless, biting her lips to not let the tears fall. The last thing she wanted was to lose her control in the Wheeler's kitchen, though she could hardly keep her emotions in check. This month's events were slowly draining all energy out of her, and Trish had easily torn down all her carefully built defence walls with just a few sentences. She felt exposed and all the hope she had clung to had evaporated with her words; she was no step further to being with Mike than ever, and from an objective point of view he seemed not to be willing to change the current situation.
And as all the doubts crept back in and she was left alone with all the shame, she felt an unknown rage building inside herself. Trish was anyway only causing bad feelings in her, ever since she had to deal with the girl since last summer, but now there was an additional feeling of betrayal towards Mike. Why did he put her in this situation, when he claimed that all he cared about was her happiness? But all this caused was the exact contrary; she seldomly had felt shittier in her entire life.
All she had done was to be the most understanding of his situation and to give him the time to adjust. She had cared for his feelings, as to not overwhelm him, and to keep their friendship unharmed, but what had it brought her? She was left drained and humiliated, and Mike and she couldn't even have a proper conversation with each other anymore. It even went so far, that he purposely avoided her, just to run from whatever it was that was blossoming between them.
She had enough; she was done with trying to put everyone's wishes before her own. She had done so the entire past weeks and it had only caused her pain and heartache. And girls like Trish, who just took what they wanted, kept winning; they didn't stop and ask if anyone was harmed by their actions, they just did as they pleased, and so Trish was right now downstairs with her boyfriend, intervening into their friend's Halloween party, while El was left behind alone- No, she was done with that!

With a newfound stoic attitude, El swiped over her eyes to remove any wetness and inhaled deeply before she grabbed the snacks and beverages and walked over to the basement. Just as she was about to reach it, the door was pushed open, and Max almost ran her over.

"Oh fuck!", Max exclaimed, as she tried to steady herself from the shock of nearly crashing into El, "Fuck, sorry, El."

"It's okay, no harm done.", El replied, as she balanced the tray in her hands. Luckily, she hadn't had as much speed as her friend, so she had no problem in keeping the equipoise.

"Still, I'm sorry. I was just rushing up here to see how you are doing, as soon as I saw that this bimbo is apparently gonna join us tonight.", she started off as soon as she overcame the first shock. "Wheeler is out of his mind, if he thinks, that we will tolerate that without protest."

"It's okay…", El tried to interfere, but her friend was not even listening.

"Inviting her to our Halloween night… What for? So, that they can pretend to be all lovely-couple-ly during the horror movie marathon. He hasn't cared about her for the past weeks, but now he wants to bring back the peace in paradise. What is wrong with him?"

"Max, I…"

"I bet she doesn't even stand a single movie. That brainless bitch will piss her pants, I assure you that. But if she thinks that we're gonna call off our night of horror, she can immediately walk right out of that door again, because that's not gonna happen.", she ranted on full speed. "I'm so mad right now, I can hardly control myself. Wheeler can consider himself lucky, that I didn't punch him right in his face, when he told us a few minutes ago. Seriously, I was so close to doing it if Lucas hadn't hold me back. Just because he can't sort out his love life and is too much of a coward to dump that bimbo, we must endure her tonight?!"

"Max…"

"And what about you? He's pining over you for the past weeks, but now he wants you to spend a night with his girlfriend?! And then all this talk about your happiness, being the most important to him, blah blah blah. He can shove his little talk right up his ass…"

"MAX!", El almost screamed to get through to Max.

The redhead looked at her in astonishment, as if she had forgotten that El stood right in front of her, "What?"

"I don't care.", she simply stated. It was not like that this was true, but she wasn't in the mood to discuss any of this with Max. She was probably as furious as Max in the inside, but she was way past the point to just talk about it; she wanted revenge.

"You. Don't. Care?", the girl in front of her asked, emphasizing each word as if she was talking to a maniac.

El shrug her shoulders in response, "Yes! They can do whatever they want because I'm going to do the same from now on."

Max studied her with her eyes closed to slits and her forehead wrinkled, trying to see through her words.
Not waiting for any further comment, El smiled confidently and moved past her friend to open the door and proceed down the stairs, leaving a speechless Max behind.

As she reached the basement, she first saw Will and Dustin, who were sitting on the newly set up mattress landscape in front of the couch, where Trish had made herself comfortable, and tried to make civil conversation with her. Next, her gaze fell on the other end of the room, where Mike and Lucas were standing closely and were absorbed in a hushed discussion.
When the others noticed her presence, a heavy silence fell over the room and everyone was looking at her with different facial expressions, as if they expected some kind of reaction from her. But El purposely ignored everyone's stare and moved further into the room, to place the things in her hands on the nearby coffee table.
In her back she heard Max following her down the stairs, and without turning around, she knew, that the girl was having a silent conversation with Lucas.
Before this could become any more awkward, El turned around with a fake smile plastered on her face, "So, shall we get started with the first movie?"

Still confused by her seemingly indifference, Max and the guys continued to stare at her, with exception of Mike, who still did not to look at her at all, and Trish, who was rather relishing in the turbulence she had caused with a satisfied expression on her face.
Luckily, Dustin was the first to overcome his surprise and he decided to go along with El's calm ease, "Sounds great. Now that we finally have something to eat and drink, I would say let's get started."

With his words the others woke up from their spell and quickly assured their agreement. Everyone busied themselves with distributing sweets, drinks, and cushions, to make themselves comfortable. Out of the corner of her eyes she saw how Trish signalled Mike to take a seat next to her, which he obliged to. Meanwhile, Max went to the television to start whatever movie they had agreed on, while El had been upstairs.

With an unknown confidence, that was fuelled by her anger, El grabbed a Coke and one of the bowls of sweets and walked over to the couch.
"May I?", she asked and without waiting for any response, she sat down on the remaining seat next to Mike. With satisfaction she noticed that he had left some space between him and Trish, which caused the third place to be just a small one between him and the armrest. He had obviously not expected anyone to join them on the sofa, and now that El claimed the place, she was squeezed in right next to him.

In surprise, he looked up at her and met her eyes for the first time ever since Trish had come around. She could practically hear him silently screaming, what she was doing, but she didn't care. He wanted to pretend that they were nothing more than friends, that he wasn't affected by her presence?! So be it, but she was no longer going along with that; the new El was going to take what she wanted.
Ignoring his silent pleas and the deadly stare from the girl on his other side, she held the bowl of sweets towards him, as if to signal him that there was nothing unusual about the situation.

"El, what…?", he whispered, but she interrupted him with pointing at the TV, "Psst, the movie is starting."

Ignoring his stare and the ones of Max and the other boys, she let herself fall further into the cushions and enjoyed the warmth that spread through her body from where she was pressed up against Mike. Usually, this situation would cause her heart to hammer uncontrollably and her breath to get caught in her throat, but now it left her with a feeling of satisfaction and power, which only grew as she realized that he didn't move away. She could feel how tense he was, but still he decided to remain by her side.
El closed her eyes, enjoying his presence next to her, and inhaled his scent that was surrounding her now that she was so close to him.
Over the past week she had missed him greatly; their time together, their easy talks, his laughter, but also him physically. How long it had been that he had taken her in his arms without thinking, while they had washed his parent's car; how long it had been that he had pulled her close to him in the shimmering light of the gym; how long it had been that he had touched her hand unintentionally in the little café; it all felt like in another lifetime. And now that she could feel him next to her, it was like she was brought back to live, like someone lost in the desert, close to dying of thirst, and finally receiving the lifesaving water. She felt complete and at ease, because this was where she belonged, next to him, her home.

The movie kept playing, but El didn't pay it any attention; she couldn't even tell which one it was, that Max had put on. She heard some screams coming from the television and the sharp inhale of breaths from her friends, whenever there was a scary scene, but it all was just a faraway background noise. Her focus was more on Mike's breathing which was in line with her own, as they drifted further into their own little world.

After a while, she dared to open her eyes and carefully looked over to Mike, only to find that he had closed his own. He had pressed his lips together, as if he was fully concentrating on something, that happened behind his closed eyelids, and he breathed heavily through his nose. El's blood started to boil inside herself, causing her to feel all dizzy and hyped up over the effect she was seemingly having on him.
As her gaze went further, El had to suppress a spiteful laugh from escaping her lips, as she saw Trish crouched up with her hands in front of her face, as to shield herself from whatever it was, that was happening on the screen.
A sense of victory spread through her; it didn't matter how much Trish tried to make her feel small, it was El right now, who was pressed up to Mike and who had captured his full attention.

Feeling even bolder than before, she reached forward and grabbed his hand, which was the closest to her. She had this overwhelming desire to be even closer to him and at the same time she wanted to get her payback for the other's girl earlier words. It all mingled inside herself into an intoxicating cocktail of emotions and adrenaline, that controlled her actions.
The second her hand touched his, his eyes shot open, staring right into hers. It was the well-known pull over the abyss, that just erased all sense of time and place, leaving her hanging, almost weightless. It was like they were right back on the dance floor, forgetting everything else around them, and leaving them just in the moment.
They sat there on the couch, their sides touching, his left hand resting on his thigh, her right hand on top, while their heads were turned towards each other, staring at the other one and getting lost in the endless expanses of their feels.
This was what she wanted, just him and she, no complications, no doubts, no fears. And now that she finally claimed what was hers, she was rewarded with his attention all on her.

Could it be that easy? Was that the secret of girls like Trish; that they just took what they considered theirs, and kept winning?
Right now, it seemed to work at least and El couldn't deny that it was beguiling. She felt so powerful, almost untouchable, and it was a refreshing change to all the insecurities that usually clouded her mind. And with that she didn't even second guess herself, when her thumb started to move and draw little circles on the back of his hand.

His reaction was immediate, as he gasped from the caring motion and his pupils widened. It was like a silent motivation for her to keep going, and so her thumb kept drawing patterns on his skin, increasing the pressure here and there, before she boldly moved over the edge onto his thigh. She rested her hand there for a moment, waiting for some kind of protest, that never came, and then continued her ministrations. With each stroke of her fingers over his leg, his breath became shallower, and his eyes darkened until they were almost black. They kept staring at her with an intensity, that left her feeling all exposed, but also more desired, than she had ever felt in her entire life. It was like he could see it all, her best and her worst, and everything in-between, and she was ready to give it to him all.

Time became irrelevant, as they sat there in their own little bubble, in which there was just space for the two of them. El got lost in him; his body next to her, which warmed her from where they touched, his eyes staring back at her, electrifying her entire being, his scent engulfing her, washing away any coherent thought, and her fingers touching him, exciting her in an unknown way.
Their interaction washed away all the obstacles between them, and all that was left was their feelings for each other. They could have stayed like that forever, El wouldn't have cared, because this was all she ever wanted and needed; this was what made her happy and in this single moment, he seemed to understand.

"Hah, that was strike number 1!", Max exclaimed excitedly from her position on one of the mattresses, where she laid with her head resting in Lucas' lap.

"I swear, I'm scared for life!", the boy by her side groaned.

Next to them Dustin added in a muffled voice, with his mouth full of some nougat, "Don't be such a pussy."

"I heard you scream just as much.", Lucas fought back.

"That was pure excitement.", the curly haired boy noted, while he rose from the floor to stretch his sore limbs. "Anyway, how about we order some pizzas before we start the second round of spookiness?"

The easy banter of their friends tore Mike and El back to reality, like if someone had poured ice-cold water over their heads. They blinked multiple times to adjust their eyes to the sight, that was the rest of the basement. They had been so lost in each other, that they had completely forgotten about everything around them.
How was it possible that the first movie was over already? El hadn't even registered which one was playing, and now they were already talking about a second one. Had she been that mesmerized by Mike's presence, that she had fallen into their own world for more than hour? It almost scared her a little, what an impact he had on her, but she couldn't find it in herself to regret any of it, not when she was the happiest girl when she was near him.

Also coming back to his senses, Mike quickly jumped up from the couch, untangling himself from El's touch in the process, and with a few big strides, he brought some space between himself and the couch, where the two girls were seated: El still a little dizzy from the events of the past hour, and Trish at the verge of screaming, glaring at El with outright hatred written on her face.

"I'll take the pizza orders.", Mike hastily spoke up, as if he was gratefully jumping on the excuse to flee the situation. "What does everyone want?", he added, speaking to no one in particular.

All wishes and orders were quickly taken, and soon Mike rushed upstairs to get it done. He could have easily called the pizza delivery service from the phone in the basement, but he chose to do it from the ground floor. El could have been offended by his eagerness to obviously run from the situation, but she was still on a high from what had happened between them, and it wasn't like she had expected any other reaction from Mike. If the past weeks had proven anything, it was that he preferred to run from his feelings, instead of facing them. But her new self, would no longer allow him to do that; he could take a break, but she was nowhere near to dropping the topic tonight.

During all that Trish kept glaring at El, but with so many witnesses around she didn't dare to speak up. El on her part chose to ignore the other girl and not give her the satisfaction of any response. Instead, she rose up and walked over to Max, who was busying herself with choosing the second movie.
For a while, she listened to her friend talking about some pros and cons of the different movies, but she wasn't really hearing the words. El just nodded and murmured enough, to keep the pretence up, but her thoughts were with the boy, who was currently upstairs.

As the minutes ticked by, she started to wonder, what took Mike that long. Placing the order was surely long done, but he didn't come back down so far. Was he hiding, so that he didn't have to face El again? She couldn't believe that this was what he was doing, because he had to know, that they still had an entire evening ahead of them, and that hiding from her now would not gain him anything.
Thinking of an excuse to go upstairs herself, she came up with the story of getting more drinks from the fridge. She told Max so and turned around towards the staircase.
With surprise El discovered that Trish was no longer in the room either. She had purposely ignored the girl sitting on the couch before and had not paid any attention to what she had been doing, but now that she looked around, she was nowhere to be seen.

However, as soon as El reached the top of the stairs, she could tell where she had disappeared to, because she heard the notorious voice speaking, "So, you're saying that I am supposed to watch more of these awful movies?"

With hearing her voice, El froze on the top level and remained hidden behind the door, which was open for only about a few inches; her curiosity was getting the better of her and made her listen in to what seemed to be an argument taking place between Trish and Mike.

"It's a Halloween movie night, what else are we supposed to watch?", Mike retorted, annoyance clear in his voice.

"Anything, but that crap.", the girl shot back.

Mike sighed exasperated, "Well, I'm sorry, but this is what we have agreed upon, and I'm not gonna call that off."

For a few moments there was silence, before Trish picked up the discussion again sounding sulky, "You could have at least comforted me, instead of leaving me alone during that."

"Trish, are you serious? You were not invited to this in the first place, so you can't expect me to drop everything else to look after you."

"But you can look after El?!", she spat out, her voice gradually becoming louder.

For a few moments there was silence again, and El could literally picture Mike's confused facial expression. She almost stopped breathing out of fear to miss any part of the conversation, but their voices had risen so much by now, that there was no chance to miss any of it.

"What is that supposed to mean?", Mike replied after a while.

"That means, that I may have covered my eyes to not watch that horrible movie, but I still saw how she practically threw herself at you."

"She didn't throw herself at me…"

Trish snorted in response, that was adding a cynical tone to her accusing words, "So, you consider it normal, how she squeezed into that little space next to you? She was basically sitting in your lap!"

"She wasn't sitting in my lap…"

"I beg to differ.", she screeched, "She just looks for any excuse to be close to you."

"That's because we are… friends.", Mike countered unnerved, before he added, "…Best friends. And we have been close our entire life. I have told you so a million times."

The atmosphere between them was charged by now, and though El couldn't see anything, she could feel the vibe behind the ajar door.
"And I have told you equally as often, that you might have to resort your priorities. I'm your girlfriend and not HER!", Trish snapped, with venom dripping off her words, as she spoke about El. "But you know what? Do whatever you want!", she added without waiting for Mike to speak again. "I have enough of this for today; I'm out of here."

"Trish…", Mike sighed weakly, but he wasn't sincerely trying to hold her back.

"Don't!", she spat out and El was surprised to hear that her voice was heavy, as if she had to fight some tears. "I hope you soon remember again, who your girlfriend is." And with that, she turned on her heels and left the room.

A few seconds later El heard the front door shut, followed by a heavy silence. There was no sound coming from Mike and she assumed, that he was still standing, where Trish had left him, processing what had happened moments before. On top of the stairs, El did the exact same; the argument between Mike and Trish was replaying in her head, and she felt how some evil part within herself was cheering. And though he had labelled her as his best friend, she felt glorious, as if her side had won the battle between them.
Again, a feeling of boldness was rushing through her, that had already controlled her actions earlier this evening, and she was eager to walk up to him. She wasn't sure what she planned to do as soon as she would see him, but she had let her instincts take control today and so far, it had worked perfectly; and her instincts were telling her to pick right back up where they had left off…

She let some more time pass, to disguise the fact, that she had been eavesdropping. With a last deep inhale of breath, she opened the door and entered the kitchen, as if she was casually walking by.
Mike was standing in the middle of the room, shoulders slumped, and his forehead wrinkled deep in thought. With El's entrance his head shot up and he looked at her with a mix of emotions written on his face; somehow, she had expected him to smile at her, delighted to see her again, but instead she noted exhaustion, anxiety, and anger. Without any warning, he immediately hit out, "What have you been thinking?!"

Taken aback, El froze right at the spot, looking at him with confusion, "What do you mean?"

"Don't act all innocent, El! You perfectly know what you have been doing!", he shot back.

She stared at him in shock; was he seriously attacking her now?
She understood that he might be a little tense given the events of the evening, but it was not like that he was innocent himself. In fact, he was the one, who had brought them into this situation with his behaviour in the first place, and she definitely was not giving in to him now. Maybe this moment was as good as any other to confront him with it. So instead of calming the situation, like she usually would have done, she pushed the matter further, "And what is it that I have been doing?", she asked provokingly.

This time it was Mike's turn to be surprised, clearly not expecting such a response from El. Forced to further elaborate, his cheeks coloured in embarrassment, and he stuttered, "You know… the way you…" He searched the room with his eyes, as if he could find some assistance to speak the words, but as there was none, he finally whispered hardly audible, "…touched me."

Fuelled by her annoyance, El crossed the arms in front of her chest and replied in a sassy tone, "What's the matter with that? I didn't see you complain earlier!"

"Fuck, El!", Mike groaned and ran with his fingers through his hair, leaving it in a dishevelled mess. "You can't do THAT!"
As an answer she only stared at him with an eyebrow raised, as if to challenge his words. Another groan escaped his lips and he started to walk up and down, like a caged animal, "Can't you see how wrong this is? You're jeopardizing our friendship."

"JEOPARDIZING our friendship?!", she screamed, as the annoyance turned into anger upon his words. "So, you want to keep pretending, that we are just friends?!"

Taken aback by her risen voice and her direct confrontation, he stopped his movements and outright stared at her. "El…", he sighed pleadingly, as if to get her to stop talking, but she was done with their constant back and forth.

"No, Mike! I'm sick of this!", she continued screaming, not caring if their friends could hear them downstairs. "Did you just think one second how I feel about this hot and cold game you are playing? You say that all you want is that I'm HAPPY, but this is far from making me happy! This is slowly driving me insane!"

"El, I'm just trying to do what's best for you…", he tried to reason.

"What's BEST FOR ME?! You seriously think that this is best for me?", she countered in disbelief, "One second you look at me like you're about to kiss me and the next you pretend that nothing ever happened. What am I supposed to do with that?"

With her words his expression turned somewhat sad. "Shit, you're right. I… I'm sorry… Believe me, I'm trying…", he whispered.

She looked at him, his pleading eyes staring back at her, his hair all messy, his shoulders slumped, and a feeling of sadness was washing over herself. She felt like she had taken her heart and exposed it all to him, but he was refusing to take it. "Maybe I want you to stop trying…", she whispered back.

Mike kept looking at her, but no answer came from him. El silently begged him to say something, to do something, but as the seconds ticked by, she felt more and more sick to her stomach. Her boldness from earlier had evaporated into thin air and now all that was left was resignation. No matter how hard she tried to convince him, how much she wished for him to finally be truthful with himself, it was to no avail. She couldn't force him, if he refused to face the truth and kept hiding in this hideous relationship with Trish. But she was done with playing along and she was sick of this situation; she had tried to just take what she considered hers, and it had given her some blissful moments of euphoria earlier, but now the return to reality hurt more than it ever did before, leaving her drained of all energy.

She did a final attempt in silently pleading him to say something, but as nothing came, she said in resignation, "I can't do this anymore." And with that, she turned to leave like his girlfriend had done several minutes ago.

However, unlike before with Trish, he followed her and grabbed her hand, "El, please don't do that…"

Again, she waited for him to say some more, but he fell back into silence, and so she pulled her hand out of his grip. She turned once more, heading for the front door and this time he didn't stop her.
Not looking back, El pushed the handle down and stepped out into the October night.

Lyrics:
Standing by and waiting at your backdoor
All this time how could you not know, baby?
You belong with me
You belong with me