#since there were brown ass weed bricks. that you had to tear apart and pick out the decent stuff

[saturnaous]

hey you guys suck(not actually) so I have to ask

I'm adding. the actual answer of what it is under the cut.

since I keep seeing people be like 'rOlLeD a. BLuNt tOdAyy pAsS tHe BlUnT' and shit will obviously be a joint. I think you guys just really really like the term blunt. you are wrong

So a fucking BLUNT. Is a weed cigar. It's rolled with Cigar paper. and then a JOINT is a weed cigarette. it's rolled with Cigarette paper. Okay? The difference is the type of PAPER. okay? okay?

[anonil88]

Free (thundergrace fic)

Thundergrace (Anissa and Grace)

Rated: Explicit/Mature

Anissa and Grace have high sex aka i needed to practice writing smut as i worked on Bailentine’s Part 3.

AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18490330

Anissa lit the blunt sitting on her lips and pulled in burning clouds hard. Tossing the multi colored bic lighter in the night stand next to the ashtray. The smoke settling in her throat before she exhaled. It had been years since she smoked anything and years as in since pre med undergrad parties. So, she was surprised she didn't cough. Then again maybe she shouldn't be because her lungs were quite capable these days. Managing her control to not become a dense brick wall everytime she got upset and maintaining her poise. Grace let her spark first she said it was, “in case she didn't wanna do this they could stop at anytime.” But she assured Grace it was something she wanted, no needed just for tonight. She flicked and ashed cinders into the ashtray on Grace's night stand to her left before pulling in once more, longer and slower. Her hips rolled as she exhaled causing a low fuck to escape her lips. The smoke leaving her lips sooner than expected as her concentration broke.

The end of the brown blunt glowed red as the embers withered at its existence. Grace's fingers reached up and met Anissa’s own that were holding the rolled burning paper and herb in the air. Her fingers grazing Anissa’s as she pulled the blunt away. Ashing the blunt in the tray before pulling in a drag of her own. Grace was impressed that Anissa took two hits without as much as a flinch. Slow and heavy letting the smoke sit before she ghosted the hit. Swallowing heavy on the moisture left in her throat.

Anissa was on a Blueberry Kush clouded paradise and she could feel her eyes heavy as she watched Grace blow out perfectly formed o's. Her eyes fluttered as she ground down further on to the light blue toy. Resting her hands onto Grace's shoulders while rotating her hips slowly onto the strap. She felt her body tense up and then relax as she slid her hands down Grace's chest. Palms sliding over hardened nipples that cause her to lick her lips. Grace's eyes were fixated on her as she teased them under her thumbs. Anissa watched her eyes flit from her eye's to her lips as she dragged her tongue across them. She started rolling her hips loosely which created a new sensation that had her breath shaky. Her eyes snapped shut and she let the feeling take over.

When Anissa suggested they smoke together Grace was shocked. Sure Anissa knows she has smoked her fair share of cannabis but Anissa wanting to smoke was odd. Not odd in a maybe i need to call your parents way but an out of character odd. That was something she never thought nor really fantasized she'd hear from her girlfriend. From any sides of her girl it was strange specially the soon to be medical physician side. Maybe that's why she asked before they started tearing clothes off if Anissa had been body smatched. She understood though the reasons when things were worsening in Freeland, things were miserable in the Pierce home, and Anissa left her apartment dressed as a certain vigilante more and more at night.

One night Anissa fought with her dad and was so angry she called Grace fuming. Grace tried to calm her down but the bar was too busy for a real conversation. Anissa left the phone call abruptly telling her she needed to let go of some steam. Grace knew that meant riding her ATV around Freeland stopping as many criminals as she could with little restraint on them or her body. All Grace could do was pray that no news outlet would show up on the TV saying Blackbird or Thunder was dead. She showed up at Grace's door as soon as her late bartending shift ended. The sight when she cracked open the door to a faint knock was bad. Anissa stumbled in the apartment barely being able to mumble apologies.

Eyes frenzied while gripping Grace as she failed to suppress a heavy cough leaving red droplets on Grace's white button up. Her hand was coated in a dark red from holding together a gash on her side. Grace had to help Anissa undress and then stand in the shower as her body healed slowly. Assuring her girlfriend that it was okay and that she could stop apologizing. The shower water ran from bright red to a pinkish hue all with Grace holding Anissa close to her. Besides that she knew her girl was far so far from a good girl. Whether it was a new position at night, the light choking, or the hickies she’d found on her own body after nights Anissa was the one in control. Weed just never was an Anissa thing, It was always a conversation that led to something about Grace and Jen rotting their brain cells. Anissa was in her own words, “tired of walking on eggshells.”

Grace kept smoking feeling her body sinking further into her mattress with the added weight of Anissa. This new strain she picked up was also adding to her body feeling heavier but her brain was spit firing like a lit firecracker. Her skin was tingling with anticipation and her ears rang watching Anissa ride her with a different disposition. Usually with her on top Grace’s brain was staticky and hungry but, now Anissa looked seamless and un-tethered. Grace could tell from the deep moans escaping Anissa’s mouth and the control she wielded as her hips rocked that this was something different. Her body was not precise and flexible in its movements as usual it was chaotic. The way she moved reminded Grace of a grand rapids river winding and clashing, with Grace fixed inside of her.

Grace pulled in long and hard on the blunt before putting it out in the tray. Exhaling she felt her skin skitter and her eyes twitch as the smoke curled into the air. Her vision glazing over the sheen forming across Anissa’s skin that was forming. She shuddered and let her own head fall back feeling the friction of the harness against her hitting in the right spot. She sucked in hard feeling Anissa drop down into her lap with more veracity repeatedly.  Her free hand blindly met the top of the soft skinned hip above to steady the movements. Still Anissa kept her pace. “Just like that baby, don't stop.” Grace heard her own voice gravelly murmur.

Correcting her gaze Grace watched Anissa ride her with a head cocked back, hips grinding deeply, fingers clenching her sides, and abs spasming while moans escaped her mouth. Grace felt the intensity and her meta instincts rumbled in her throat. Maybe it was the weed but Grace felt everything causing her heart to pound in her chest. The burnt end of the blunt fell onto her chest creating a sting but it didn't bother her in the slightest. Flicking the blunt in the tray she pulled in from the shortened paper one last time. A long drag to savor the weed and the taste.

A sharp moan came from above and Grace looked away from Anissa's bouncing show to her face. She was nodding watching Grace hold the smoke in her lungs.

Grace's eyebrow rose.

“That's kind of hot in a way,” Anissa slowed her hip movements slightly her voice breathy and syrupy. “I'm close but, i want you to do it.”

Grace stayed silent ghosting the large thick cloud of smoke and lightly coughing to the side. She pulled om last time from the dying roach before killing it in the ashtray. Her hand gripped Anissa's hip before she was sitting up straight. Getting close to Anissa's mouth she ghosted a kiss with a closed grin. Waiting for Anissa to get the idea which was delayed. When she did Grace exhaled the smoke into the open waiting tongue before teasing it with her own. Sucking the tip of Anissa's tongue before laying back she smiled soaking in the image of Anissa looking free and wild.

“Please babe,” Anissa moaned thrashing her hips.

Grace swung her open hand onto the bare skin of Anissa's thigh.

“Baby i need you,” Anissa's voice trembled.

“But, you are doing so great without me.” Grace snickered her high laugh kicking in.

“Choi i swear,” Grace slammed into her, “...fuck.” Grace placed both hands on Anissa's hips making sure to cup her ass as well. Thrusting upwards into Anissa slowly.

“Fuck what,” Grace groaned sternly the friction still there and building.

“Me,” Anissa moaned loudly.

Anissa felt Grace adjust to roll the dildo further in her and her throat clenched. The stimulation her body felt as Grace started dragging her nails across Anissa's thighs was much more intense than usual. Anissa looked down and moaned Grace's name out somewhat quietly at first before grinding entirely onto her. The fullness of the girth in her made her toes curl. Her body felt on cloud 9.

Grace took control quickly sliding into Anissa from below. There was that same sound from before and when she looked at Grace hazel eyes hungrily gazed back. Anissa moaned louder this time feeling Grace rock into her while supporting her own movements. Anissa threw Grace's hands off her hips to rotate her body backwards so Grace could get a visual of the toy slipping in and out of her. Fingers were trailing her back before landing back on her hips. Falling back onto the strap wasn't new but the noises were. An unfamiliar sound was coming from Grace. It wasn't a whine or a moan but a growl that threw all Anissa's caution out the window.

Speeding up she looked back while pleasing herself on the strap to catch Grace's jaw slack. Grace was biting her bottom lip, cussing no doubt under her breath with her pupils blown.A low growl was emanating from Grace as she gripped tighter and matched Anissa's rhythm. A slew of you like that baby, i know you wanna moan, moan for me left Anissa as she coaxed her girlfriend towards the edge. Anissa knew she was close but looking back she realized Grace was close too. Clenching as she rocked she felt her vocal chords burn and her thighs start to tremble.

“Let go Nissa i got you, I'm right here with you.” Grace moaned watching her girlfriend scream out her name while goosebumps scattered across her back. Grace's own orgasm hitting as well when she began to pull Anissa back against her chest. Her arms wrapped around her girlfriend with her head tucked into the crook of the toned shoulder. She growled slightly with her normal moans into Anissa's ear quietly as they both settled into one another shuddering.

Things went still save for the sound of their breathing. Grace's hand was stroking Anissa's thigh in lazy blissed aftercare.

“You growl now hmm,” Anissa grinned staring dark strand of hair hanging across her shoulder.

“And you seem free.” Grace mumbled kissing the middle of Anissa's spine.

“I am.”

[michael-hearteyes-wheeler]

Growing Strange

[1]

Chapter 2: The Beginning Of The End

(AO3)  (FF.net)

High School.

A virtual battlefield of gossip, and social tyranny. More peers, bigger classrooms, sadistic teachers, nastier bullies, stricter hierarchy, and somehow even worse school lunches.

The party readied themselves with their best weapons at the forefront: El and Max. El could kick anyone's ass, she proved that well enough, and Max could talk her way out of any situation.

They were as excited as they were fearful. Being another year older meant more freedom. They were closer to driving, to getting jobs, to becoming adults and achieving their goals. More rigorous classes meant that studying might actually be a challenge, one they were eager to take on. More elective options meant Will could take ceramics and drawing, and that Dustin could finally be the light tech for theater. Mike was pleased to learn the AV club needed a new president, and Lucas was considering trying out for baseball. Max was just stoked that the schools quad had great curbs and hills for skating on, and El was glad she shared almost all of her classes with her friends.

Puberty hit the group like a brick wall, especially the boys. Dustin's chubby cheeks were replaced with slightly more angular ones, and all of his teeth had come in beautiful and straight. Will was more or less still pretty shrimpy, but his deep and wide set eyes, and finally outgrowing his bowl cut made him strikingly handsome.

Probably the most noticeable differences had been in Lucas and Mike. Lucas was no longer gangly and baby faced. He had become muscular over the long summer months of lawn mowing and hedge trimming. It earned him a lot of attention from other girls at school, but Max could scare them away with a well placed scowl. Max herself had developed a beautiful rosy tan, and her hair was brighter than ever. They were a gorgeous couple, unafraid to stand up for each other, and not even slightly concerned about hiding their public displays of affection.

As for Mike, he had spouted like a weed. By the time Winter of 85' rolled around he was pushing 6' and still growing. It got the point where El had to stand on her tiptoes to kiss him (not that she cared). His rounded face had become chiseled, and his fluffy hair had become erratically curly. The only thing that never really changed where the sprinkling of freckles on his cheeks that El would trace whenever they held each other.

El herself was earning more attention from others in school. El was beautiful, painfully so. She always had been, but now that she was older, and her baby-face had faded, it was ridiculous. El never really seemed to care or even notice, but Mike sure as hell did. He would see the way boys gawked at her, and wrap his arm a little tighter around her waist in the halls. Or whenever someone would be leering over her at her locker, he would run up from behind and surprise her with a kiss.

He got picked on. People would ask him how he ever got someone like El, and in truth, he didn't even know. She was just so perfect. So funny, and nice. So thoughtful and insightful. So compassionate, and intelligent. It made his head spin to think that he was the one that got to hold her hand, and walk her home, and love her.

But whenever he would start to doubt himself, she was always there. To reassure him, and let him know exactly how she felt. To her it just made sense. Mike, The Party, all of them. They were the perfect friends, and it was painful to even to imagine something splitting them apart.

It just seemed to unfathomable.

One huge upside to being in highschool, is the freedom that comes with being old enough to get a real job, and drive a real car.

Lucas and Max both monopolized the lawn mowing industry. All of the old and lazy people in Hawkins had sharp, grassy yards, and meticulously groomed gardens thanks to them. When Max turned fifteen she got a handed down car from her step dad that meant way more adventures. The little orange hatchback broke down a lot, and most of her money went right back into it. But man, did she look cool driving up to school with El by her side.

Will took a part time job working with his mom at Melvald's. He enjoyed greeting customers and was one of the friendliest cashiers the store had ever had. Plus his mother was over the moon that they got to carpool and she could see him more. He spent most of his money on sketchbooks and the hottest new thing in the music technology: CD's.

El and Dustin worked part time at the library. Which mostly consisted of them hiding in less frequented sections to read returned books rather than actually putting the books away. It also meant Dustin could finally buy the big 1970's VW van he had wanted since he was little. It made for a lot of great camping trips and long drives to the city.

Mike worked at the local movie theater some days, and at the Radio Shack other days. He famously spread himself too thin, but he couldn't pass up the perks of getting free movie tickets and access to the latest technological advancements. When he turned fifteen his parents got him a sensible car that made for a lot of date nights and long talks with El out on romantic scenic overlooks.

Jobs aren't always fun, but when the benefit is making out in you new car after being able to pay for a real dinner, it's hard to complain.

As they got older, and time wore on, that obliviousness to pain faded. It seemed like one by one, they all had their demons to face.

Like when Max's step brother got kicked out during her sophomore year.

She had gone home with Lucas one afternoon in late fall. Hand in hand, and laughing with each other without a care in the world, they walked in on utter chaos that left the red-head reeling for months afterwards.

Billy and Neil, practically tearing the house apart in the fight to end all fights. Plates smashed, the TV broken. Her mother crying in the bathroom. They had turned to leave, when Billy turned on her. Or rather, on Lucas. He pinned him against the wall and screamed that Lucas was the one tearing their family apart, and that he was getting Max into trouble. It was baseless, of course, but in Billy's mind, Lucas was who he needed to take his anger out on.

Max watched from the sidelines and screamed and slapped at Billy's arms and shoulder, begging him to let Lucas go. He did, but not until Lucas had a black eye and a busted lip.

Billy got kicked out, and Neil forbid Max from seeing Lucas anymore, as if that would solve whatever demented issues he had. With Billy gone, Neil's aggression shifted towards Max's mother, and even worse, sometimes to Max herself.

She never let her families backwards view of her relationship affect the way she left about Lucas. Hiding their love from her parents just made everything more exciting. It meant sneaking out, it meant Lucas hiding in her closet or under her bed when her mother checked on her while he was at her house late at night. It meant long car rides out of town and into the hills where no one could see or cared that they loved each other.

Will's demons came for him too. All his life he had this secret burning inside of him. A secret he could only tell El, and eventually Max because he knew they wouldn't care. It ate him up inside. Feeling like there was something wrong with him, or that the people he loved wouldnt understand, or would leave him once they found out. He became distant, detached, vacant, and haunted. Filling more and more sketchbooks with eery looking images of his own internal struggle.

His mother tried to get it out of him, tried to let him know that she would love him no matter what secret he might be hiding, but Will was too scared. He would sit in silence in class and look out the window, and try to push his feelings aside. The feelings of warmth and infatuation with the boy who sat in front of him in History. The one with the silky brown hair and the charming smile. The one who laughed whenever Will would make a joke under his breath that he thought no one could hear. The one who was dating a pretty girl, the way Will thought he was supposed to.

El and Max pleaded with him, begged him to open up. That his friends would understand, that nothing could change. All he could do was promise he would think about, and wait for the right moment.

That moment never came. Not until it had festered inside of him and grown until it was bigger than he was, and he was bursting at the seems.

They were all sitting in Mike's basement. Mike and El on the couch, sharing a blanket and bowl of popcorn, Lucas, Max and Dustin lounging on the floor in a heated debate about Multi-universe theory, and Will, sitting alone at the table trying to draw and feeling like he was falling into a hole.

"I have something to tell you!" He blurted, face red and voice trembling.

Everyone stopped dead in their tracks, and turned to face their anxious friend. Max and El shared a knowing glance and smiled at him reassuringly.

"You have to promise that you won't hate me after I tell you. You have to swear." Will's voice was intent.

"Of course we promise, Will, we could never hate you." Mike gave him the same assured smile that El had.

"Okay..." Will took a deep shaky breath and closed his eyes. "I... I like boys... The way i'm supposed to like girls... Im gay. And I want to be able to share this part of myself with all of you because I don't think I can keep fighting it anymore."

No one said anything. Will kept his gaze at the ground, terrified to make eye contact. Terrified to see whatever expressions of disgust splayed across the faces of his best friends. A beat passed, and Will felt like he was going to burst in tears when Dustin of all people finally piped up.

"I'm proud of you Will." His voice was soft, not a common occurrence for him, and his eyes were kind. Will looked up to meet his gaze with a look of surprise.

"You... you're proud of me?"

"I know that cannot be an easy thing to open up about, but i'm happy you finally did." Dustin smiled back at him.

"Wait... finally?"

"We have... Kind of all known for awhile." Lucas added with a small voice.

"You did!?" Will shot El and Max accusing glances but they shrugged.

"We always figured I guess, but we wanted to let you come to us with it whenever you were ready." Mike beamed at his smaller friend.

"So you don't hate me?" Will's voice was thick with tears.

"We could never hate you, Will." Mike leaned forward to place an reassuring hand on Will's knee.

That night marked one of the biggest admissions in The Parties history. Another notch in the belt (so to speak) tying them together, binding them with faith and trust and unwavering love for each other. Will never worried about hiding things from his friends. None of them worried about hiding things, actually. Not anymore.

As the years progressed, and sophomore year turned into Junior, and another blissful summer turned into fall, that love never failed to grow. Sometimes strange, and sometimes crooked, but they grew.

Mike and El often seemed like the culmination of that devotion. A pair of best friends who read each other with mere wordless glances. Blissfully supportive and loving of each other no matter what circumstances they found themselves in.

Childlike admission of liking, and blushing at hands and gentle kisses turned into deep fiery love. Promises to stay together forever, whispered in the dark at night, in the passenger seats of cars, in each others rooms when they should be home sleeping. Innocent daydreams about being friends for the rest of their lives become a daunting and even frightening realization. Playing games and messing around became study, and planning a future as it sprawled out before them.

Kissing became routine. Loving each other became a given. Being in love became... difficult to understand.

That was when the final blow struck. The one that cut deep into their hearts. The one that seemed like they could never fix it, not even as a group, not even as lovers, because it was bigger than they were, and it meant more than they knew how to cope with.

It was the Summer of 88'. The summer before senior year. The last summer they would ever have that didn't have strings attached.

It was the summer of 88', when the fires started.

It had been small at first. Just a brush fire that got a little carried away when a farmer further up the river was burning what was left from his crops the months before. Just a standard burning, the kind he had done a thousand time before. The kind that every farmer does every season when it's time to clear out the fields before winter. It would have been fine. It should have been fine, but it wasn't.

It was an exceptionally dry summer, and one of the warmest on record. Couple that, with just the right wind speed, blowing in just the right direction, and within hours the entire forest surrounding the eastern side of his property was engulfed in hot orange flames.

You could smell the smoke for miles. El woke up out of her midday nap, curled up in Mike's arms on the couch in his basement to the smell. Together they ran through the house, checking every inch to make sure it wasn't them that was burning. When El finally looked outside, she saw the flickering of ash falling just out the window. Like snow. Like the most ominous, and heart-wrenchingly terrifying snow on a hot summer's day.

Mike flipped on the kitchen radio and listened in on the reports, that the fire was spreading fast, that firefighters were already on sight, that it was moving too quickly. El called Lucas, who had Max and Dustin at his house. Dustin called Will, and the Party convened at Mike's house less than 15 minutes later. It was like some strange unspoken plan passed between their eyes as they watched the ash fall, and Dustin choked on the smoke, and it burned Max's eyes.

They all wordlessly hopped in Mikes car, and drove west, towards the woods. The streets were mostly empty, save for the handful of other people standing on their lawns, shielding their eyes from the sun and staring into the sky. Mike stopped the car at the end of a long forgotten logging road deep in the wood, about 2 miles from where the fire was currently ravaging.

They got out of the car, all still in the suspended silence, and crossed through the woods the way they had a million times before. Following the same deer trails, stepping over the same mossy logs, and around the same boulders. The smoke was worse in the woods, and it was hard to imagine that every piece of ground they touched might soon succumb to the same fate as the woods further east.

They reached the same small bend in the river, where it was shallow and narrow, where they used the same log to cross that they had since they were children. The moss was word down slick from years and years of use by The Party, and other teens in the area. It had once been a place where El and Max would sit and swing their legs, while their boyfriends splashed around bellow. It had once been a place where Will laughed so hard that he fell from atop it, and sprained his wrist. It had once been a place where it felt like nothing could ever go wrong.

Once on the other side, it was a 10 minute walk to the top of a cliff that overlooked the entire town. Trudging silently, moving quickly, just short of running to the perch. El was the first to reach the peak. Just as suddenly as she stepped out of the tree line, the entire valley came into view, as well as the river that tore through it. Her voice caught in her throat when she saw the flames burning on the other side.

Lucas climbed into a tree with his binoculars. Max and Dustin sat on a tall boulder, watching the fire helicopters dropping water and extinguisher across the landscape. Will, Mike and El stood on the edge of the hills slope, looking down at the chaos bellow. Even miles away you could feel the heat. You could smell the smoke. You could choke on it.

There were tears in their eyes as they watched the fire burn away the memories they had made in those woods. The one they had all played in growing up. The one that sheltered them on rainy hikes. The one that served at a meeting point for sneak outs. The one that held them when they camped. The one El and Mike shared their first kiss in.

It was hard to tell through the smoke, but El made out the clearing that the tree was in. Their tree. The one with the initials and the physical representation of their bond. She could see the fire dance dangerously close to those trees. They sat in silence, waiting and watching, holding each other and pacing. It felt like the end of the world. It felt like the apocalypse. As they saw birds fleeing, and small groups of deer bounding into the water.

Eventually, the clearing, and their tree, were consumed.

Once the fire reached the river, it was easier to keep in from spreading. The wind shifted in their favor, pushing the flames into the water. Helicopters continued their downpour, sirens could still be heard in the distance. It seemed small, once it was all almost said and done with, and the sun began to set off to their right, and the smoke had cleared enough that you could actually take in the sight of the damage.

Everything was blackened, the air felt hot, but it was mostly over. So why did it feel so painful? It was just a tree, and they would love each other without it, so why did it scare each of them so badly? Why did it feel like the beginning of some ending? Like their story was coming to a close?

Because symbols are powerful things. And you put a lot of faith in them even when you don't mean too. Because losing the forest they had grown up in, felt like losing a friend.

There was a somber energy that blanketed the town after the fire. Two volunteers were in the hospital, and a firefighter from the next town over died when he walked to far into the woods. The landscape for miles were blackened on the outskirts of town. 1280 acres of farmland and forest demolished. Four barns and a historic farmhouse gone.

Nothing in the party changed directly. They still saw each other everyday, and hung out every weekend, but it was becoming clear that their childhood was over.

There was a day, right before school started, that that fact became all too clear for El.

Sitting in Mike's basement, reading lazily as she lounged on the floor, her head resting in his lap as he studied. She moved her book to look at him and smiled. He often bit his lips when he focused. She saw the crease in his forehead as he hastily erased another equation he couldn't quite figure out. He had taken summer courses, something Max referred to as 'Top tier nerd behavior', but El was proud of him. Mike has determined to always push himself, to always learn and grow.

He groaned and erased something, and flipped back through his textbook.

"Hey, why don't you take a break. We can go get ice cream or something and you can clear your head." She reached up and twisted her finger around one of his messy curls.

He smiled back at her, but it didn't reach his eyes. "I can't El, I have to finish this right now or it will be late."

"It's not due until tomorrow at like... noon. You can take a little break." She poked her favorite freckle on his cheek but he was already looking back at his paper, only grumbling in reply. "Come ooon, Mike, summer is almost over, you have worked so hard, lets go goof off for a little bit."

He was ignoring her at this point, but she wasn't going to give up. She rolled off of him and sat up, wrapping her arms and legs around him from behind like a koala (as he so often called it). She rested her chin on his shoulder and looked over his messy notes. It made her head spin just from looking at it. She was always more of a literature buff, and his crazy mathematical physics always blew her mind.

"Miikkee" She drug his name out. "Michael." She hugged him harder and poked his sides. "Mike Wheeler if you don't stop looking at that paper I will tickle torture you until you pee your pants like that one time."

Finally he dropped his pen and pinched the bridge of his nose. "First of all, we were ten. Second of all, I really need to study and you are being super distracting and its making me mad."

"You usually like it when I distract you." El teased, thinking fondly on all the times she had saved a stressed out Mike from his own frustration.

"Okay well now isn't one of those times. Can you please get off of me?" His voice was uncharacteristically cold.

El scooted away from him and shifted to sit across from him on the floor. "Why are you being so rude? It's literally just homework. For a class you didn't even have to take."

"Because I want to get into a good college and extra classes like this look good on college applications." Mike had fully shoved his papers away from his lap and was looking at her with the exasperation usually only reserved for Lucas and Dustin.

"Mike, you are the smartest person I know. You don't need to stress yourself out so badly over one stupid class. You will get into a great school with or without going and taking a break with me. Besides, that's an entire year away." El felt her own temper start to come out. She wasn't exactly the post patient person in the world, and Mike was almost worse than she was.

"El, we can't all live at our parents house forever."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"It means, that im stressing about this because I want to get out of here as fast as I can. I just want to be able to go to a school that I love, and leave this shit town behind. I'm sorry you can't understand that."

Her jaw dropped. Sure things in Hawkins weren't the best. And sure his parents made him feel suffocated and isolated all at the same time, but it wasn't that bad was it? Not enough for him to be blowing up and fuming over this.

"Whatever Mike. i'm going home. Get the stick out of your ass and call me when you realize you are being ridiculous." And with that El grabbed her bag and walked out of the basement door.

She waited at the edge of his yard for a few minutes, despite the heat and humidity. Usually whenever they got into arguments like this, Mike just needed a second to realize he was being hurtful and would come apologize. But he never came out. She stared down the hill at the closed basement door and felt her blood boil until she turned on her heels and stomped home.

It was just a little argument. Maybe they had both said some things that were uncalled for. El tried to rationalize it until she was blue in the face. But he never called, and she went to bed feeling like something had broken.

She realized they were not kids anymore. That maybe Mike was right, and she really just didn't understand. It felt like something was changing. Like the beginning of the end.

Tagging: @el-themage @mileventwentyfourseven @claudia-henderson