#will is convinced mike loved el and is forcing their hand because he somehow thinks hes helping

[starsarefire824]

rewatching season 1 and its confirming my bi mike truth. for real.

• he goes out of his way for her

•he speaks to her with the same Will Voice™️ in a lot of the scenes.

• he tried to kiss her unprompted in the bathroom. (she has literally no idea what he’s doing)

• when he says she’s pretty especially the second time, he really means it. I read his confused face more as I can’t believe I said that kind of thing and not a ew gross kind of thing

•his speech at the end is definitely him trying and failing to say that he likes her romantically (as romantic as a 12 year old romance can be anyway)

Now, she’s very androgynous and sure that can he explained as he prefers her when she looks like a boy (like Will), but that’s a moot point in my opinion cause bi people have very differing tastes usually when it comes to different genders. (Something he would be totally unaware of at that age and also is something that evolves/changes)

I think watching season one and two combined has really confirmed this for me. Season 1 is El and his feelings for her. Season 2 switches to Will and his feelings for him. Season 3 is when they are all finally thrown together and how he can’t balance them in his life because the feelings for both are romantic. (I don’t think he’s self-aware enough there to realize that though in regards to Will). I think that there is a lot of what actors’ and creators’ have said going on there. Mike is trying to be this picture in his head of what “normal” looks like.

Then season 4 imo is the fallout of that struggle (which i also think continues in a more adult/direct way but it sort of is really putting even more pressure on both of his relationships). He’s a bit older and the two most important people in his life are thousands of miles away. Like he said himself, “his other friends are great, but they aren’t Will). I think that hug scene was the culmination of him realizing how much he’s missed Will isn’t “normal”. I think he’s realizing that those feelings are equal (or imo overpower) what he feels for El. I think maybe, painfully slowly, he’s realizing that he’s attracted/wants to be with Will in a way that isn’t “normal”. I don’t think he’s thinking romance per se (yet), but I think he’s thinking “why the hell am i jealous?” “why is it weird to touch him?” “why am i so upset he never called me?” why do i want that painting so badly?” “why can’t i tell my girlfriend i thought i loved the three words she begged me to say?” To me, that is a very queer experience, but specifically a bi person who hasn’t quite realized that they’re bi yet. The confusion can be astounding at times, and emotions and reactions to things tend to be intense in a way that leaves you reeling. Or floundering in Mike’s case.

Idk these are just a lot of random thoughts, but I firmly believe that season 5 will address whatever is happening in Mike Wheeler’s brain regarding his true feelings for Will and El.

I also think that El already had an inkling of “why” Mike couldn’t say I love you. (And no it’s not because his parents didn’t show him how 🙄) And she’s slowly realizing in season 4 that “why” is her step-brother. I think that was made very obvious with the thought bubble imagery and how she was responding, or lack thereof to Mike in the monologue and back in Hawkins.

Miscellaneous thoughts about season 1: people must be thick in the head about Will if they think him being gay came out of nowhere. There are at least 10 instances of characters referencing that in conversations. And damn, if that Ted Wheeler comment, “you see Michael, you see what happens” wasn’t insinuating something. Mike misses it cause he’s too little, but any adult can see he’s saying, “you see what happens to queer kids?”

Then season 2 they spent the whole season building up how different and strong Mike and Will’s relationship was, and how Mike was there for Will no matter what. He was so unwavering in his love and support for Will. And in season 3, I think is when Will actively realized just how different he was and what his love for Mike actually meant, like he was looking it dead in the face in that season in a real, grown up way. And the person he realizes he loves is pushing him away and just not understanding him and what do you do when the person, that you’ve been told your whole life is unnatural, not “normal” to love, is constantly choosing another person over you. That they aren’t even able to make a friendship work let alone something you might daydream about. I’m probably repeating myself but the writers have made it very plain that Mike cannot for the life of him balance his time, attention or emotional availability between Will and El. And if season 3 didn’t make it painfully obvious that Will was having complicated feelings about Mike. Like yeah, they didn’t spell it out directly, but the fact that some people were like wow this whole Mike love thing for Will came out of nowhere??? Like are we watching the same show? I could see that on a first watch years ago.

[strangeswift]

I made a deal with the devil (@nancysglock) and now I an contractually obligated to post this...

Snippet from my S4 Mike POV WIP:

The list of people Mike is angry with is long, and it’s also short.

He’s angry with his mother for caring, and with his father for not caring.

He’s angry with El because their relationship is a painful reminder of how he will never be normal. He’s angry with Joyce for taking El away and forcing him to sit alone with his own thoughts long enough to realize he doesn’t love her the way he’s supposed to. 

He's furious with Will, for being Will. For being somehow, despite everything, perfect. For making him feel these feelings that terrify and disgust him.

But really, deep down, he knows that it’s only himself he’s angry with.

What’s happening to him is nobody’s fault but his own. He’s the freak.

He lays on his bed, staring at the ceiling, and feels his eyes well up with tears, so he roughly wipes them away with the palms of his hands. 

He refuses to cry, so he does what he does every time he starts feeling this way; he writes a letter to his girlfriend.

It’s a shame really, that he has perverted their relationship into just a shield to make himself feel normal, and to convince his worthless father that he is, in fact, interested in girls.

El doesn’t deserve to be used. She doesn’t deserve someone who is just pretending. But he can’t let her go, because then he will have nobody to pour himself into, and the thoughts and feelings he’s been pushing away will consume him. 

He really does love her, even if it isn't in the way he is supposed to love her, or the way she wants to be loved. He thinks that maybe he feels about her the way he should feel about Will. A best friend. 

He begins to write.

[yurtletheturtlehenderson]

COSMIC - S1:E6; Chapter Six, The Monster - [Pt. 1]

A Will Byers x Male!Reader Series

𝘞𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘌𝘭𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘨𝘰𝘯𝘦, 𝘠/𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘋𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘨𝘨𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘺 𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳. 𝘌𝘭𝘴𝘦𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦, 𝘏𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘑𝘰𝘺𝘤𝘦 𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘣’𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴.

|| 𝟑𝐫𝐝 𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐏𝐎𝐕 ||

Joyce and Hopper sat opposite one another at the kitchen table of the Byers' home. The house was cold and hardly lit, copies of newspaper clippings scattered all around the house. One of the only light sources was a dusty chandelier that hung from the kitchen ceiling above the table and their heads, illuminating the several papers.

"Look, we gotta go through this again." Joyce insisted.

"I told you everything that I saw."

"Oh, gosh," she sighs into her hands. "Tell me again."

"Upstairs or downstairs?" Hopper asked.

"Upstairs."

"There was a laboratory. It was where they must do experiments or something, and then there was... well you see, like I said, I got turned around."

Hopper was currently sharing all he had encountered on his rogue mission at Hawkins National Laboratory. Joyce, all the while was hanging on his every word.

"I told you, it was like, I don't know, it wasn't supposed to exist. That whole area, it was abandoned and... forgotten, like it was all some big mistake. Once I found my way back, I saw that... kid's room. That other kid's room, I mean. Like it was actually used, but it didn't even look like a kid's room, neither of them did. It looked like a prison."

Hopper sighed and rubbed the bottom of his palms into his eyes tiredly, is fingers held the lit cigarette inches away from his face as he did so. "If that even makes sense,"

"Well," Joyce began, trying to get to the bottom of this never ending mystery. "So why would you think it was a kid's room, then?"

"Because, I told you, the size of the bed, there was a drawing, there was a stuffed animal--"

Joyce interrupted the man quickly. "Y-You didn't say there was a drawing."

"Yeah, there was a drawing of a... an adult and a child. It said 'Eleven' on it."

"Was it good?" Joyce pressed.

"It was a kid's drawing, Joyce. It was stick figures."

Joyce had a knowing look on her face as she stood up with a sigh, retrieving a piece of crinkled line paper and slammed it down on the table for Hopper to see.

She pointed to the detailed drawing as she sat back down.

"Wasn't Will." She stated confidently, shakily bringing the cigarette back up to her lips.

Hopper examined the drawing and everything seemed to click. He returned his gaze to the anxious mother. Hopper quickly put out his cigarette in the ashtray and made a beeline for the coffee table.

"Earl..." he muttered, as he made his way into the living room. Joyce, who had abandoned her cigarette, was right on his heels.

"The night that Benny died, Earl said he saw some kid with a shaved head with Benny," Hopper and Joyce took a seat beside one another on the living room couch, Hopper's eyes fixed on the several news clippings splayed along the wooden coffee table. "Now, I pressed him, he said it might be Will, but maybe..."

The man began shifting through the papers, and Joyce spoke up.

"Wait... Maybe, it wasn't?"

Hopper pulled the article he had been looking for and pointed to the fuzzy photograph of the woman in the article.

"Look... this woman, Terry Ives, she claims to have lost her daughter, Jane. She sued Brenner, she sued the government... Now, the claims came to nothing, but what if... I mean, what if this whole time I've been... I've been looking for Will... I've been chasing after some other kid?"

|| 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞��'𝐬 𝐏𝐎𝐕 ||

Everything is a mess.

Will is still missing, the party is falling apart, Mike and Lucas are still angsty messes that won't speak to one another, and now, El left us. She probably thinks I hate her.

'But I don't! I was just scared'

(Ok but like,,,, who else ships El and reader cause damn I've been giving myself feels lately, dang)

'We need to fix this'

I sigh and sit up from my bed and make my my way to Dustin's room.

⊹ ⊹ ⊹

"I just... I can't believe she didn't come back." Mike sighed.

Dustin and I agreed we needed to talk some sense into the rest of the party. So we got our bikes and made our way to Mike's. Dustin was standing opposite Mike while I currently occupied one of the D&D chairs I had pulled up. Mike was worriedly pacing the floor in front of us.

"She's gotta be close." Dustin offered.

"She said it wasn't safe. She just messed up the compasses because she wanted to protect us. She didn't betray us."

"Mike, calm down."

Mike only ignored Dustin and kept talking, more to himself than anybody it seemed.

"I shouldn't have yelled at her. I never should've done that."

"Mike, this isn't your fault." Dustin said.

"Yeah, it's Lucas'."

"It wasn't his fault, either." Dustin countered softly.

For the first time in what felt like ages, Mike stopped in his tracks. He looked at my brother dumbfounded and took a few steps in his direction. "It wasn't his fault?"

"No."

"So you're saying he wasn't way out of line?"

"Totally, but so were you!"

"What?"

"And so was Eleven."

"That's ridiculous! Y/n, tell him he's being ridiculous!"

Very calmly, I stood up with my arms crossed and stood next to my brother, and sighed, eyes fixed on Mike. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but Dustin is absolutely right."

Mike seemed even more furious. "Oh, give me a break!"

Dustin snapped at these words and stormed up to Mike. "No, Mike, you give me a break! All three of you were being a bunch of little assholes! Y/n and I were the only reasonable ones! But the bottom line is... you pushed first. And you know the rules. You draw first blood..."

"No! No way! I'm not shaking his hand."

"You're shaking his hand." I press, stepping forward.

He was sure to make eye contact with me over Dustin's shoulder as he spoke. "No, I'm not."

So I strode toward him and gave him a slight glare.

"This isn't a discussion. This is the rule of law. Obey or be banished from the party. Do you wanna be banished?" I asked firmly.

Mike crossed his arms and pouted before speaking up meekly. "No."

"Good!" I chirp, my face beaming as if we hadn't just been fighting which seem to only terrify him more.

I all but skipped over to the chair grabbing my coat, Dustin following my actions.

"Where are we going?" Mike asked with a hint of frustration.

"Where do you think?" Dustin asked as he put his arms through the sleeves of his coat.

"We're going to get Lucas." I finished, straightening my jacket then looked back to Mike.

My face softened and I tilted my head slightly. "And then we're gonna find Eleven."

⊹ ⊹ ⊹

The three of us stood on Lucas's porch and I rang the doorbell. We stood waiting until the door swung open and Lucas stood there glaring at all three of us, but mostly Mike.

"What do you want?" He spit, resting his hands in his pockets.

There was brief silence which was then interrupted by a muffled smack of Dustin hitting Mike in the arm.

Mike sighed softly and looked to Lucas, clearly hating every second of this.

"I drew first blood, so..." he extended his hand for Lucas to shake but Lucas didn't move.

Great. Of course nobody was going to make anything easy. Why would they?

⊹ ⊹ ⊹

Somehow I had convinced Lucas to let us all in and now, we all stood in the middle of his living room as he paced silently across the floor considering Mike's offer. He finally stopped and stared at the three of us.

"Okay, I'll shake."

Mike sighed what I barely made out to be a "finally" as he extended his arm out once more. Dustin and I perked up, that was until Lucas continued.

"On one condition. We forget the weirdo and go straight to the gate." He finished, arms crossed defiant.

"Then the deal's off." Mike barked.

"Fine!"

"Fine!"

"No, no, not fine! Guys seriously?" Dustin yelled, as I threw my head back frustrated.

Dustin forced Mike to face him as he spoke. "Do you even remember what happened on the Bloodstone Pass?"

Lucas and Mike shared a confused glance.

Dustin seemed shocked and offended that they had no recollection and continued.

"We couldn't agree on what path to take, so we all split up the party and those trolls took us out one by one. And it all went to shit. And we were all disabled! So we stick together, no matter what!"

"Yeah, I agree. But this is the party, right here in this room."

"El is one of us now."

"Um, no, she's not. Not even close! Never will be. She's a liar, a traitor--"

"She was just trying to keep us safe! She didn't mean to hurt you. It was an accident!"

"An accident?"

"All right, accident or not... admit it, it was a little awesome." Dustin said.

"Awesome?"

"Yeah, she threw you in the air with her mind!"

"I could have been killed!"

"Would everybody just shut up for one second, please!" I snap.

Everybody looks to me, a shocked expression on their faces.

I step forward and begin my long awaited  rant.

"I am sick of your attitude." I point at Lucas. "I am sick of your whining." I point to Mike. "I am sick of all three of you bickering," I gesture to all of them. "I love you guys and I can't thank you enough for taking me in and including me, know that, but GOD I am tired of being stuck listening to you boys argue about every little thing!"

I myself began pacing, my voice continuously rising. "I'm sick of putting up with all your petty arguing when we should be looking for Will only to come home at the end of the day, having found NOTHING and crying my eyes out because the only person who never gave a shit about who started what is missing and probably dead!"

I stopped pacing and looked to the boys who were all silent. I sighed and lowered my voice. "Lucas, you're right. You could have been killed. Which is exactly why we need her. She is more powerful than all of us combined."

"Y/n's right. Do you seriously wanna fight the Demogorgon with your wrist rocket?" Mike said, anger still in his voice. "That's like R2-D2 going to fight Darth Vader. We're no use to Will if we're dead."

Lucas looked torn for a moment, but then he shook his head and pointed at the three of us. There was disappointment in his voice. "If you three wanna waste your time looking for a traitor, go ahead, 'cause I'm not spending my time on her anymore. No way!"

I sighed, putting my face in my hands. Lucas continued.

"I'm going to the gate. I'm going to find Will."

Lucas shoved the boys aside and stormed off, leaving the three of us alone in more ways than one.

[darling-i-read-it]

Advice

Steve Harrington x reader

Word Count: 1.3k 

Warnings: nothing I don’t think!

Author’s Note: Man do I love Steve. I can’t believe it’s coming up in the one year anniversary of season 3...scoops ahoy steve was a whole other level wasn’t he. I hope you enjoy this love!

Requested; by anon, hi queen!! could i request smthg w steve harrington? like maybe working at scoops w him and robin and u kinda think he likes her cuz they’re always tg but rlly hes just tryna get advice on how to talk to u🥰🥰 im just so soft for nervous steve🥺❤️ (i love ur writing by the way!! ur so talented🤩)

Summary: the request 

Genre: good ol’ fluff

I don’t own these characters. They belong to author/director 

(not my gif)

It was Steve who had actually told you to get a job at Scoops with him. You would have rather been anywhere else if you were completely honest but that summer in Hawkins was going on record as one of the hottest and if you couldn’t spend it in a pool you may as well spend it with ice cream and Steve. 

You and Steve had been best friends all through high school, even when he was a proper asshole. You and Nancy Wheeler got him straight somehow and now you were closer than ever and Nancy Wheeler was no longer a concern. 

“Can I have the rocky road?” the little girl in front of you asked. You nodded, a small smile forced onto your face. You were nearing the end of your shift which meant you had just caught Robin walking into the back. You liked Robin, in the sense you thought she was pretty cool. You disliked Robin in the sense that you were pretty sure that Steve had a crush on her. Of course, you could never hold his actions against her but still, you held a little grudge. 

“Here you go.” You handed the girl her ice cream and she threw you some cash. She was gone before you could even give her change but in the end you just threw it in the cash register. You turned around to see Steve standing in the back room with Robin, talking in hushed voices.

You tried to suppress the major crush you had on your best friend. You didn’t want it to ruin your relationship at all and you surely didn’t want to embarrass yourself. As the next customer came up you tried to convince yourself that your feelings for him weren’t there.

Steve and Robin came through the door and you turned around, eager to get home. You had to stop by JCPenny to get Max and Eleven and give them a ride home.

“Hey, you still picking up the girls?” Steve asked. You nodded, taking off your hat and giving it to him. He took it but ended up just tossing it aside. He hated those hats. Robin took the next customer. “You wanna bring them some ice cream?” You nodded but he was already scooping. 

“Hey the boys said they were coming to see the new movie coming out next week so whichever one of us is here-”

“Of course.” Steve handed you two cones and your bag which he had brought from the back.

“God, we sound like their parents.” He shrugged.

“You remember what Max’s mom is like? Not to mention Mike’s. We could be their parents for all those women know.” You laughed and shrugged. 

“Dingus, come scoop ice cream for actual customers.” Steve nodded and turned away from you. You swallowed hard and then left for the store. It was a short walk and the girls were already waiting for you. You handed them the cones which they took happily.

“So has Steve asked you out yet?” Max asked, liking the side of the cone. You shook your head, gesturing for them to get up. You started your walk out to your car.

“No, I told you, I’m pretty sure he’s in love with Robin.” El scoffed.

“He looked at you…” she trailed off, trying to find the words, “..like you’re the stars.” You couldn’t help but flush at that.

“But he’s always with Robin. When we’re working, when we aren’t working. I mean, c’mon.” Max stopped in front of you. Her sunglasses fell onto her eyes but it made her strikingly menacing for a teen girl.

“Steve has loved you since the second I moved here. Everyone can see it, why can’t you? Come on, tomorrow when you get off work tell him. If you don’t tell him now you may never really, truly know.” You looked at this girl, this young girl and couldn’t help but smile in admiration.

“Max, Lucas is a lucky boy.” She shrugged and licked her ice cream.

“I know.” 

After work the next day you prepared yourself. You had told Steve that you needed a ride home cause you lent your car to Jonathan which was actually true. But now that you were walking to his car together you couldn’t help but feel worried that he may not feel the same way. You had been extra sensitive to him talking to Robin when she came in for a few hours. They seemed to sneak away and talk in soft voices so that you didn’t hear. The more they did it the more you worried you had truly missed any chance you may have had with Steve Harrington.

As you approached his car you took a deep breath.

“Hey Steve?” He hummed.

“Yeah?” 

“I don’t really know how to say this so I’ll just say it.” You paused, taking in his features before you told him. Face laced with worry, hair still matted down from the cap he had to wear. “I don’t really know if you’re with Robin or not but I needed to tell you that I love you.” 

It seemed too simple once you sait it. Three words, so much meaning behind them with little lead up. You couldn’t help but let out a sigh of relief that was quickly replaced with fear at his reaction.

He was surprised. Very surprised. It showed on his face.

“If you don’t feel the same way I comple-”

“I love you too. What would make you think that I was with Robin?” “Well you two are always together and whispering and-” you paused a goofy smile on your face, “-you love me too?” 

He smiled.

“Well of course! Man I’m so glad you said that first I never thought I’d get the guts.” You laughed dryly and leaned against the back of his car.

“Man. What do we do now then?” He laughed and gestured to your lips.

“May I?”

“The great Steve Harrington, king of high school is asking me if he can kiss me? Why I must alert the medi-”

He didn’t let you finish because he was already kissing you. You were amazed at his skill but even more amazed at the fact that it was really Steve, your Steve, that was kissing you.  You leaned back and smiled, running a hand through his hair to add some volume to it.

“I was talking to Robin cause I wasn’t sure how to talk to you. Or approach you. Or really get through to your romantic side,” he said shyly. You grinned. That made you feel a lot better. 

“Did she give you good advice?” He kissed you gently and slowly again.

“I think she did.”

[willelbyers]

Rupture (fault lines and rifts)

Chapter 1

_____

June 28, 1985

Hey, Will?

Will rolls over, discarding his sketchbook onto his nightstand and sticking his pencil behind his ear. Yeah?

El’s voice is frustrated, and in his mind’s eye he can see the way her nose is crinkled at the paper in front of her as she chews on her pen. What’s the word for when someone is really smart? Not intelligent. The other one.

Will ponders this for a second, tucking a hand between his head and his pillow. Knowledgeable? he suggests, and he feels her whoop of joy in his chest.

Thanks! Have fun at the movies!

The movies—

“Shit!” He scrambles to his feet, dragging his blanket to the floor with him, and shoves his shoes on. His mother is in the kitchen as he bolts outside, and he says something along the lines of iamsolateforthemoviesihavetomeetmikeokayloveyoumombye! as the door slams shut behind him.

_____

“You, good sir, are late,” Max greets him as he pedals to a stop, the neon lights turning her hair green and purple.

“Sorry,” he pants, hoisting his bike into the rack. “I lost track of time.”

Lucas shrugs. “Well, you’re not as late as Mike, anyway.”

Will frowns, casting an eye over the row of bicycles. “Isn’t that his right there?”

Before either of them can turn to examine it too closely, the mall’s doors open and Mike rushes out.

“What the hell were you doing in there?” Max asks, doing a double take as Mike approaches from the opposite of the expected direction.

“I got here early, figured I’d look around inside for a present for El,” Mike says. “Lost track of time.”

Will frowns again, because he and El have been talking a lot and El has some… opinions about all this. “I thought she didn’t—”

“It doesn’t matter,” Lucas interrupts, glaring at Mike. “The point is, we gotta hurry.”

“But—”

No one hears him; Mike is already back inside, and Lucas has Max by the hand and is pulling her along as well. He sighs and chases after, narrowly dodging a few mall-goers. A steady stream of sorrys escape Will and Lucas as the four of them make a mad dash up the escalators, and Will barely manages to pull Max out of the way of a stray elbow.

“Thanks,” she says, offering him a small smile once they get to the landing. Immediately, that smile turns to an accusatory glare. “We wouldn’t have to rush to the movie if Mike wasn’t so hung up on El.”

“I am not hung up on her!” Mike insists, turning to Lucas for support.

Lucas doesn’t give it. “Hey, man, it’s been like this all summer. Oh, how can I convince El to date me? What can I get her so she’ll love me more? I should spend all my time doing that and ignoring all my friends!”

Max snorts and Mike sticks his tongue out. “I don’t sound like that. And I’m not ignoring you!”

“You’re sure trying,” Lucas jabs back. “And it doesn’t even matter, because El likes you, she’s just not gonna date you until everything’s normal.”

Mike folds his arms, and Will has a sudden flashback of about ten years of Mike pouting the exact same way. “Doesn’t mean I can’t try.” He swivels on his heel and into Scoops Ahoy, where Robin is at the counter.

“Hey, dingus!” she calls over her shoulder once she spots them. “Your children are here!”

The partition slides open and Steve peers out, already looking resigned. “Again? Seriously?” Mike just obnoxiously rings the bell on the counter a couple times before Steve lets them behind the counter.

“Hi, Robin,” Will says softly as he passes, and she grins at him.

“Hey, kid. Don’t get too scared at the movies, I hear it’s a creepy one,” she teases, handing him a spoon with cookie dough ice cream on it.

He jokingly glares at her. “I won’t. And I’m not a kid.” He follows Mike out the back door into the service passage, tossing the used spoon into the trash.

“Just remember,” Steve preaches for the fifty thousandth time. “If you get me caught—”

“—we’re dead,” they all chorus back, already halfway down the hall.

Lucas giggles. “We know.”

By the time they get into the theater, the lights have already gone down, but the movie hasn’t started yet. Lucas and Max, hands still joined, pick their way down to the fourth row, and Mike appears to spot an open space. He grabs Will by the wrist and tugs him over the the fifth row, a couple seats down from the other two, and Will sinks down into the cushy seat.

“Here,” Mike whispers, tugging a package of gummy worms from his pocket and handing them to Will. “I know you like these.”

Will can’t help but smile in the dark as he takes them. “Thanks.” Out of his bag, he digs out a couple soda bottles and other snacks, passing some over to Lucas and Max.

The booming movie voice has been droning on this whole time, but Will hasn’t been paying much attention—and as soon as he looks up at the screen, everything goes black.

A few people gasp, taken aback by the sudden darkness.

“Did the power go out?” Mike says lowly, and Will opens his mouth to respond when something like lightning hits him full force.

He knows, suddenly, that the lights are out everywhere. Everywhere. The mall, the town, every house for miles. He knows it the same way he knows that Mike’s hand is on his wrist.

And of course, as soon as he thinks it, the warmth of Mike’s fingers disappears and Will’s next breath is acidic. The worried murmuring of movie watchers fades out, and he only hears static.

“No,” he says, only it catches in his throat before he can really utter anything. The seat he’s in turns slimy and rough, and he stumbles to his feet. Everything is buzzing, like there’s electricity in his very bones. It’s not real, he thinks. Just relax, it’s not real. But then chills creep up his neck and he swears he can hear someone (something) creeping up behind him, and he thinks, fuck this, I’m out.

He feels so numb, but he somehow forces his feet to move, and he runs. Out of the theater and into the atrium, where the lights should be shining; but when he looks up all he sees is gaping blackness through the windows. Even out of the dark room, the walls seem to be closing in on him, and he moves forward once more. He’s sluggish, tripping and sliding over slimy vines, but he manages to reach the escalator—unmoving, of course—and launches himself down. He slips on the bottom step and tumbles onto his knees, catching himself with his hands, and when that sharp pain snaps through him it almost jolts him back to reason.

It’s not real, he reminds himself. El closed the gate. I watched her do it. This isn’t real.

He remembers, suddenly, something Mike told him once. He had been curled up on the floor of Mike’s basement, his knees tucked beneath his chin, and Mike had knelt beside him and whispered something until he came to his senses.

“Find what is real.”

So Will closes his eyes, because nothing he sees here can be real. But the floor beneath his feet—that’s real. The feeling of a steady, albeit fast, heartbeat in his chest—that’s real. The hand on his shoulder—

“Will!”

His eyes snap open, and Mike’s worried face fills his vision. Glancing around, he notes that the lights are back on and people are milling around as if nothing happened. A few are staring at him curiously.

“What happened?” Mike asks, even though Will knows he already knows the answer. “Can you still see it?”

Will swallows, his throat raw. “No. No, I’m good.” He shrugs Mike’s hand off his shoulder, feeling instantly remorseful at the hurt look on his face. “I… I think the lights just freaked me out. I’m okay.”

“Are you sure?” Mike presses. “Honestly, we can just leave Lucas and Max, have some ice cream and go home—”

“I’m fine, Mike,” Will insists, because while a chill lingers on his neck, he doesn’t see any flicker of the Upside Down. And if he’s honest, he’s a little embarrassed. “Let’s just go back to the movie, okay?”

Mike looks dubious, but he nods. “Okay.” He slings an arm around Will’s shoulder, and though the contact makes him shudder he won’t push him off again.

As Mike leads himl back to the escalator, a voice barges into Will’s head.

Will, what happened? I felt your… fear. And…

The power went out, I panicked.

I know, it went out here too. But I thought—

El, Will interrupts her, because he’s scared to hear what she’ll say. I’ll call you when I get home. Okay? I’m with Mike. I don’t want him to worry.

Okay, she says after a beat. Be safe.

_____

The house is quiet when he slips inside. Jonathan’s shoes are tossed near the front door, but the light in his room is off—he’s probably sleeping. His mother isn’t in the living room, either, and her own door is shut, but there’s a note on the table with her scrawl across it telling Will that there’s leftovers in the fridge if he’s hungry.

He isn’t.

It’s nights like this that he misses the way things were. Jonathan is working all the time, now. Dustin is at camp, which leaves Will hanging around Lucas and Max, who are annoyingly joined at the hip—although they’re still well-grounded and include him, which is nice—and Mike, who has been trying all summer to convince El to go out with him. It’s a tricky thing, because El has been pouring all her time into studying, so she can join the Party at school the upcoming year. Not to mention, Hopper has been very strict about who comes and goes in the cabin. Will is allowed more than the others, but it’s still not often. He’s pretty sure Hopper has racked up a fairly high phone bill.

Speaking of phone bills.

“Sorry if I kept you up,” he says into the receiver. It’s easier to call than to have a full silent conversation—Will isn’t exactly eager to turn his nose into Niagara Falls again.

“It’s fine, of course,” El says, as easily as ever despite the fact that the clock says it’s ten minutes to midnight. “I just… I thought I felt something. Something that wasn’t just you.”

And, shit, he’d hoped she wouldn’t say that. “Me, too.” He sighs. “I was hoping I was just imagining things.”

“But I don’t understand,” El continues. “We closed the gate. We saw it. What could this be?”

“I don’t know.” He rubs a hand over his face. “Maybe it’s the scientists they haven’t found yet. Maybe… maybe it’s another sibling of yours. I mean, we both could feel it when Kali made a big move in January.”

“Yeah, but we haven’t heard anything since then.”

Will sighs. “I know. But that could just mean she’s been laying low for a while. My point is, we just don’t know what caused this.”

“Right.”

“We’ll just have to be careful,” Will says. “Keep an eye out. Hopefully this won’t happen again.”

“Okay.”

“Oh. And…” he hesitates. “Can we not tell Mike? Until we know anything for sure. You know how he gets.”

For the first time, she sounds amused. “Yes, I know. That’s fine.”

After her little laugh, her voice trails off, and Will listens to her breathe for a moment. Their heartbeats are perfectly synched, and Will can feel where El’s finger stings from a paper cut.

“Will? You there?”

“Yeah.” He clears his throat. “I’m gonna sleep, okay?”

“Okay. Me, too.”

Will grins, just slightly. “Actually do sleep, please, El. I know you like to check the In Between, but… just rest. We’re gonna be fine. Sleep.”

She huffs playfully. “Only because I know you’ll annoy me in my head if I don’t.”

“Goodnight, El,” he laughs. “See you tomorrow.”

“See you tomorrow, Will.”

The line clicks.

_____

Subscribe to the story on my ao3, EmeraldTulip.

[bylerly]

alright everyone. after my rush of emotions after that season, i’ve had time to decompress, and make an actually cohesive list of my thoughts about the season. as you could probably guess - MAJOR SPOILERS UNDER THE CUT!

first, let’s get the (much) shorter list out of the way. here’s what I enjoyed:

the acting. i want to mention how good millie was, because she was fantastic, but i almost feel like i shouldn’t, bc el took SO MUCH screen and plot time, that millie was given every opportunity to be good. she doesn’t really need any more special mention. otherwise - noah (with the little he was given) and sadie were particularly great. so were winona & david, but that goes without saying.

the elmax friendship. these two deserved it. and max bringing el out of her shell, showing her how to become her own person.... incredible. 10/10 i love them both

alexei. feels weird saying this, but he was probably the new addition I enjoyed watching the most. it would have been kind of cool to see him live past season 3.

an lgbt+ confirmed character. this one is a little.... tricky for me. as happy as I am that there is a queer woman written into the show... I feel like it’s a cop out to not have to confirm will’s sexuality. robin confirms her sexuality in less than a season, but after three with will, we still only get ~subtext~? still, this is a positive portion, so.... I guess that was something I was happy with

el moving in with the byers at the end. finally. this is one of the only things that is keeping me excited for s4. i guess i can only hope for there to FINALLY be some good willel interactions next season, but if this season has taught me anything, it’s not to get my hopes too high :-)

jancy ending s3 on a good note. parts of their storyline were fantastic, some were disappointing. but i really dug their dynamic, and the realistic struggle between the two of them, with nancy not really understanding jonathan’s class struggles, and jonathan not grasping the weight of the misogyny being thrown at nancy. their final moments at the empty byers house at the end were especially lovely.

el no longer being OP, and not being undefeatable. i love el. i really, genuinely do. i love her character, i love her traits, i lover her power. but the duffers were relying too heavily on her to constantly save the day with her powers, and it was happening too often. one of the faults of s2 was the constant thought of how easily el could’ve fought off all these threats if she was just there. i think it’s incredibly interesting to not only see her get completely worn out, but totally lose her powers. like mike said, i’m sure they’ll come back, but i want so badly for el to not just be defined by her powers.

a platonic m/f friendship. yes, one of them is confirmed queer, and they would’ve probably been romantically linked if she was straight. but i’ll take what i can get when it comes to this. platonic opposite sex relationships?? r i s e

now for the meat of my thoughts ~ what I didn’t like:

mike’s characterization. the writers completely made him into a dick this season. i get it, he’s a teenager, so he’s going to be an asshole sometimes. hell, in a recent post, I defended that, saying it’s good writing. but I underestimated just how awful he’d be, completely blowing off his friends for any chance for a second alone with el. I understand that he loves his girlfriend of course, but s1-2 mike loved his friends just as much. he was so utterly unlikable this season, that it seemed like he was a different character.

lucas as comic relief. this is so lazy, and i’m so angry for both the character and caleb, both of whom deserve so much better. he really had nothing to do if it wasn’t related to max, and the writers further reduced him down to a one-dimensional, kind of dumb, mediocre boyfriend, and that is not the highly intelligent, brave, kind lucas that i know and love.

will’s sidelining. god, this made absolutely no sense. noah fucking shined last season. he stole pretty much the entire thing. every critic, even those who disliked the season, had nothing but good things to say about his performance. furthermore, will has so much potential in so many different directions in so many aspects of his character. however, once he revealed to his friends that he was feeling the upside down/MF’s presence... they may as well have written out his character. he was sidelined almost to the point of background character. they gave him very little to do emotionally after that castle byers scene, and even fewer lines.

total lack of willel scenes. phew, if this wasn’t a bummer. will spoke a single line to el, and maybe one or two throwaway lines about her. if there is one thing most of the fans can agree on, it’s that will and el have the biggest connection to the upside down, the biggest unspoken connection, the most parallels, and the most intriguing potential relationship... and they really just said “fuck it” and didn’t have them interact at all. (that’s poor writing folks!) they better make up for this now that they’re living together.

amount of eleven scenes. i love her so dearly. i really do. and i’m so happy she grew into her own, not through mike or hopper. but the amount of el plot and screen time this season was actually difficult to watch. every other scene centered around her. so many characters and so much of the story went undeveloped, while she got way, way more than was necessary. additionally, take any kid’s plot (other than dustin), and guaranteed, it revolved around el. people were starting to catch on that the show was favoring her character more than even most shows’ mains.... and this season took it to a level i actual didn’t think it would.

the comedy. it was so awkwardly written. so much of it threw off the pace of the show. it seemed forced, and just... not very stranger things-esque, where the comedy was typically well-written and blended into dialogue.

the baddies. this was a huge letdown, too. i understand that the monster was large, but it was far less menacing to me than, say, the MF’s physical form. it had gore points, sure. it felt incredibly boring and predictable. in the same vein, i thought the ‘zombie’ style storyline of heather & co. would be deeper than that, but that was literally all it was. again... not interesting to me. billy was a rehash as well. the russians definitely had potential, but even that plot wound up being incredibly one-dimensional.

billy’s screentime. this was one of the things i was absolutely furious about. he got more screentime than the party (minus el) combined. they wanted for us so badly to empathize with him, to humanize him... i’m sorry, but you wrote a character that almost killed a boy for being black, that abuses his sister, and is a misogynistic asshole. abuse doesn’t excuse that, and it’s insulting to abuse survivors to say that billy inevitably became this way because of his dad, and that he deserves our uwus for it... and actually got el’s. he took screen time away from characters who desperately needed it, and that’s something i will never look at the duffers the same way for.

the scoops troop. I wanted to love erica... but i feel so indifferent to her. she was way too much this season. and robin. again, i love that she’s confirmed queer. and i dug her character more. but even then... i don’t know. i would have rather never had her introduced, and allowed established characters to have been better developed. and as a whole, the whole storyline of the troop was just what I feared: underwhelming and awkwardly placed.

high steve & robin. won’t elaborate on this too much, bc there’s not much to elaborate on. it just felt so wildly out of place and unnecessary.

that dustin/suzie number. what the hell was that? what could have been a 20 second joke was stretched out WAY too long and was bizarrely placed. just because you have an actor from broadway, doesn’t mean he needs to sing. and even if he does sing... you couldn’t have found a better time or situation? i literally was just staring at my screen in disbelief as that whole thing happened. entirely unneeded.

the amount of flashbacks. i understand most casual viewers wouldn’t remember certain things because of how long it’s been. but they literally put a recap at the beginning of the season. that’s what it’s for. and there were also plenty from like.... the episode before??? the amount they included took away so much time, that it almost just seemed like they didn’t have enough footage, and they had to fill their time stamp somehow. at some point, it just becomes insulting to the audience’s intelligence.

the overall tone. this season did not feel like stranger things in the slightest. off the top of my head, the castle byers scene and the byeler scene in mike’s garage were the exceptions. the first few episodes did have some moments. but overall... it kind of felt like some weird, high budget commercial or something. the charm, distinct aesthetic, and nuance of seasons 1 and 2 was non-existent.

the post-credit scene. there was some last-minute hype up in the reviews for this. was that supposed to be shocking in some way? i suppose this is more the fault of the reviewers who hyped it, but... really? a demodog? we’ve seen that before... i guess more the point was to show that the russians officially have some kind of technology for this. but still, an underwhelming reveal. more intriguing to me, was if hopper was the american in the cell he mentioned at the start of it. or maybe brenner?

the neutral:

that ending. on one hand, it was incredibly predictable. they literally placed an obvious shot of it in the trailer (easy to deduce that the byers had moved out, and that it was fall, so it was an epilogue scene). i was convinced that there would be a twist element they weren’t showing us, but nope. on the other hand, i thought some things were done beautifully (which wasn’t exactly a trend this season). as i mentioned, i loved the jancy moments. i really did like the hopper voiceover, although it was a little trope-y and heavy-handed... i still got a little emo, ngl. those goodbye hugs were somethin’. and, as i said before... el! moving in! with the byers! gimme

so uh... that’s it, i guess. no one really asked, but i needed to get my thoughts out. what did you guys think of the season?

[runningwitches]

Loved

Summary: The reader is sad because they feel useless. Steve makes sure they know that’s not true and the party cheers them the heck up.

Request?: Nah M8 I’m just sad as heck

Word Count: 1819

A/N: i mean, seasonal depression and a neverending fear that nobody will ever love me and that I will die alone drove me to binge read a shit ton of steve harrington x reader fics and cry despite the fact that i havent finished season two of stranger things but im gonna write this anyways.

i guess this is steve x reader but thats not the main point of the story

idfk i just want to be loved

(umm, henderson! reader who is loved by everyone, i do not give a shit if this follows the exact storyline, ok? i just wanna be happy again) (also i do not look anything like a henderson! so reader can be adopted or some shit? maybe a cousin?  who tf knoes? not me, thats for sure !!

Warnings: Probably Season Two Spoilers, No Editing, Probably super OOC and all that because I started this at almost three in the morning and now its four and I’m exhausted but I cant sleep because I’m sad. Anyways I’m just trying to say that it’s bad but I’ll love you if you read it anyways.

I was curled up in my bed, isolating myself from everyone as per usual. After the events with the mind flayer and demodogs and upside down, I realized something pretty depressing. Nobody needed me. I mean like? Sure I was Dustin’s sister. And sure, I was kinda helpful in saving Steve’s ass from the demodogs and Billy, but it just feels as if I weren’t there, nobody would even notice. As if my presence had no positive value to anyone in The Party™.

So instead of socializing with them while they all played DnD and joked around, I sat myself in my room, wrapped in a blanket burrito, holding back tears. I had my music on in the background as I mindlessly flipped through one of the magazines my mom had bought for me. Everyone was downstairs as it was Dustin’s turn to host the DnD night, and everyone was over. I mean, Dustin, Mike, Lucas, Will, El, Max, Steve, Nancy, and Jonathan, and I definitely wouldn’t be surprised if I walked downstairs to find Joyce and Hopper there too. Every once in awhile I would hear some loud laughter come up from the group, signifying how happy they were without me there. It definitely wasn’t easy for me to sit there by myself staring blankly at the pictures of celebrities I didn’t even care about, but I continued to tell myself that they would be happier without me, attempting to drown out the sounds of their joy with the mixtape I had made for myself a little while back.

As I closed my eyes, focusing on my breathing, trying to force the tears that had started to pool back into my eyes, I heard someone knocking on my door. I quickly wiped my eyes to ensure there weren’t any stray tears, pulled the blanket tighter around my body, and attempted to look miserable. But miserable in a sick way and not in a sad way. If it were anybody except Dustin or Steve, I knew I was going to be able to pull off the “I’m not feeling very well” charade, so my chances were pretty good (though odds were rarely skewed in my favor).

Of course with my luck my little brother came bursting through the door.

“(Y/N)! Why aren’t you down there playing DnD with us?!” he asked, voice booming loud enough for the entire neighborhood to hear. As I prepared to try my excuse with him to see if my acting skills had gotten any better, I noticed someone else walking through the door. Looking up, my watery eyes met the concerned look on Steve’s face.

“Hey shithead, stop screaming. You don’t need to tell everyone in Hawkins about your sister’s lack of participation in game night,” he said to Dustin, ruffling his hair and then muttering for him to go back downstairs. Dustin looked angrily at Steve for a moment before looking between us for a second, muttered something to himself, and then left the room, surprisingly closing my door as he left.

“What’s up with you lately? It’s not like you to miss game night, but you haven’t been to a single one these past few weeks.”

“I’m just not feeling well, Steve, don’t worry about it,” I told him, looking down at the magazine in my lap and trying to will the tears away.

“Don’t try that bullshit with me, (Y/N). I know you better than that, do you really think I’d believe that crap?”

“There’s no bullshit to be had Steve, just go back downstairs, I’ll be fine,” I told him, yet I still refused to make eye contact. So when he sat down on the edge of my bed, put two fingers under my chin, and lifted my head up in order for me to make eye contact, I saw his face immediately soften.

“I’m not gonna go back downstairs until I figure out what’s wrong with my favorite girl.”

It took all of the resolve in the world for me to not break down at those two words, and it still didn’t even work. “Favorite girl?” I repeated, but only in my own head. “There’s no way I’m his favorite girl, he’s lying to me. Everyone always lies to me” I told myself. And in that second it was like the dam was broken. The tears started to fall freely from my face. I curled myself into more of a ball than I already was, which was a surprising feat of human flexibility, if I’m being completely honest. Steve’s arms immediately went around me, pulling us closer to each other, and practically pulling me into his lap.

I didn’t say a word as he stroked my hair and shushed me softly, I simply let out a series of what I would consider disgusting sobs.

He continued whispering to me, little things telling me that I’d be okay, or that he was there for me, or that everything was gonna be fine. As my breathing finally evened out, he hadn’t asked me what was wrong like I had expected, so I knew I had to speak up.

“Why are you even here, Harrington?” I asked him bitterly.

“What do you mean?” he replied, exasperated.

“Why do you even care about me?” I reiterated with a sniffle.

“Why do I care about you? (Y/N) what are you on about? It would take me ages to list all of that back to you.” I didn’t respond, but I allowed myself to relax a bit, leaning now onto his chest instead of holding myself as far away as I could while somehow still being in his lap. “(Y/N) you’re wonderful. You care so much about all of the kids, sometimes I think you out-mom even their own mom’s.” That was greeted with a sharp exhale from my nose which was (correctly) interpreted as a laugh. “You’re fucking badass. You can use a gun, a bat, a hockey stick, and pretty much anything else you can get your hands on to slay monsters, like real life monsters.” He checked my face after this comment, and was lucky he did, because he almost missed the slight curl of my lips. “You never let anybody get in the way of doing what needs to be done. Not even racist douchebags that show up and kick my ass. And you certainly don’t take shit from anyone.” A few more tears fell from my eyes, but he grabbed my face and used his thumbs to wipe them away, looking into my eyes. “And you’ve got a whole group of teenagers sitting down there worried sick about you because you mean so much to all of them.”

I sniffled again and threw my arms around his neck, whispering an almost inaudible, “Thank you.”

“Of course, sweetheart. Now let’s go get you cleaned up so we can finish that game of DnD.” I almost blushed at the pet name he gave me, if he didn’t sweep me up into his arms and carry me to the bathroom so I could rinse my face off. He made sure to grab my blanket from my bed and grabbed my hand to lead me down the stairs.

“Wow, it’s so nice of you to join us,” Dustin said the second we were down the stairs, his voice dripping with sarcasm. Steve shot him a look that said, “shut up or I’ll kill you,” while I just gave him a small smile. Before I even got settled on the couch I was smothered by two bear hugs.

“I missed you (Y/N),” El told me, gripping me in probably the tightest hug I’ve ever had. “You were gone for three weeks!”

“Yeah dude! Don’t leave us alone with these losers for that long ever again!” Max exclaimed, hugging me almost as tight as El was.

I smiled down at both of them, hugging them back just as fiercely. Looking up, I saw the smile Steve had on, but I ignored it in favor of the smiles on my girls’ faces. Ruffling their hair, I removed myself from their grips and went to sit on the couch between Steve and Nancy.

“It’s a good thing you came back (Y/N). I almost killed your brother, and not in the campaign, in real life. I’m pretty sure you’d be the only one who could stop me.” I chuckled to myself and then smiled at Lucas.

“It’s a good thing that I’m back then, huh?”

Will looked up at me this time, “Definitely! I was waiting for you to come down so I could show you this drawing!” I smiled down at him, glancing briefly at Jonathan, only enough to recognize the immense pride on his face at the fact that Will was genuinely happy and smiley. He brought it up to show me a picture that he had drawn of me fighting a monster, a cute little label that pertained to my name at the top. “Steve said you fought a monster and won! And I didn’t even get to see it. So I thought I’d draw it out for you.”

“I love it Will!” I exclaimed, pulling him into a hug and looking at the drawing again. It wasn’t until this second look that I noticed a label by the monster’s head as well. It simply read, “Billy” with a little arrow to indicate that the monster I was beating up was named Billy. I laughed at the naming of the monster and pulled Will into another hug, pressing a light kiss to the top of his head. He grabbed the drawing and placed himself back into his spot.

“(Y/N), you want to hop in on this campaign? We’ve still got a while left to go and we’re in a pretty good spot to add another character?” Mike offered, as he was playing Dungeon Master.

“Yeah, come on (Y/N)! You haven’t actually played in forever!” Dustin added.

The rest of the group added their own chorus of “Yeah”s to try and convince you to join.

“Okay, I guess. But only if I get to be a healer! I’m tired of killing the monsters,” I joked, earning a laugh from everyone in the room.

“Okay, okay, so the group walks up to the tavern in town, hoping for a nice evening away from the fighting for once. But the open the door and see, A MOM, not just A mom, it’s their mom!”

“What?” El asked.

“Mike what are you on about?” Lucas added.

“OH MY GOD, (Y/N)’S GONNA BE LIKE OUR TEAM’S MOM!” Max shouted in realization. The whole group looked at Mike in anticipation. “Well obviously, how else would I have gone about this? It’s perfect, and the perfect position to make her the healer.”

“I mean, technically she’s my sister,” Dustin announced, implying that you couldn’t be his mom.

“See (Y/N), I told you I was gonna kill him.”

[whatliesabove-blog1]

small, quiet room

Chapter six | ao3

Hawkins, present day

Six weeks have passed since that thing was exercised from Will's body, since El closed the gate, since Bob's horrific death. The scenes replay in her nightmares and sometimes they’re worse than the reality, if that’s even possible. Sometimes they don’t get that shadow thing out of Will’s body in time, before the demodogs threaten to attack Hopper and El and the gate has to be closed. She loses him, and his limp body sags beneath her despite her best efforts to pull him into her chest, to beg him to wake up.

Sometimes it’s Bob’s death, which can’t get much more horrible, but it just replays in her mind when she closes her eyes. Sometimes it’s Hopper in Bob’s place, his body devoured by those monsters while he reaches out for her, and she jolts awake in a cold sweat, her heart racing. That's not something she chooses to analyze right now.

She hasn’t told anyone about the nightmares. Hopper's gone through his own hell, has his own stuff to worry about, and she won't burden him with her lingering problems. Will’s finally beginning to feel normal again, as per his words, and she couldn't be more thrilled.

He’s losing his demons, she’ll work on her own.

Jonathan will catch her in the kitchen some mornings, too early, when she can’t sleep and he’s trying to sneak off to a morning shift. She’d chastise him but she’s too tired and she knows he'll keep working anyway. He doesn’t ask her why she’s sitting at the table with a cigarette at 5:00 in the morning, dark circles beneath her eyes, and so she simply sends him off with a soft hug and whispered be careful.

It’s sporadic, but sometimes it feels like they're still back there. In the upside down. In that same constant state of anxiety. The edges of darkness still linger, weigh upon her body and mind, but she really is working towards letting it all go.

She's not naive enough to think it's truly over, that nothing will ever come of this weird two year experience, but for now her boy is safe. If she doesn’t wind herself down soon she's not sure what'll happen. Her body will inevitably give out on her; she's put it through hell lately, both literally and figuratively.

She’ll short-circuit or something.

Since Will's doing better he's also been opening up. It’s little by little, and though she’d love to hear all of his thoughts and know exactly how he’s feeling, she’s content to wait him out. Against her better judgement she's been getting better too, been giving him some more of the freedom he requests.

As much as she wants to hover, to keep him in her line of sight and make sure he's okay at all times, she knows she can't.

He's getting older, and if he can muster up the courage to go out on his own after everything that's happened, she should be able to follow his lead.

Jonathan's... well, he’s still her quiet, pensive, sweet Jonathan.

This thing he has going with Nancy Wheeler is still going strong, to the best of her knowledge, and she’s coming to terms with whatever it is they're doing when he's gone nearly all hours. She was a teenager once too, though, and she knows exactly what they’re doing. A smirk curls at the corners of her lips as she remembers just how much she knows, but then it slowly disappears.

She does know what happens. Jonathan is what happens. They're smart kids, and she hopes they're being smart about it.

Senior year's not even half over yet but he'll be going off to college in no time. The thought makes her exceedingly proud and profoundly terrified at the same time. Her boy, leaving the nest and going off on his own. In a big city, New York no less, with nearly a full scholarship. Not quite, but she's been putting money away for years for the boys' college funds. This is exactly what it's there for, to pick up the slack.

But she has time to worry about those details later.

Moving from the kitchen Joyce wipes her wet hands onto her jeans to dry them. "Will?" she calls out when she doesn't find him in the living room.

"In here," she hears, and follows the sound of his voice into his bedroom. When she pushes the door open, he's sitting on the bed. "What's up?"

"I have to go into work for a few hours," Joyce says with a sigh. She was supposed to be off for a few days for Christmas break, what with the holiday coming up in about a week, but Donald called and asked if she could come in for a little bit. It's extra money, which they could use, so she can't really say no. "Jonathan's still at the Wheeler's, but I could drop you off..."

"I'll be okay here, Mom."

She picks at her nails. "Are you sure, baby? Because I can just bring you over before I head in."

"I'm sure," Will smiles. "Besides, Mike's house is in the opposite direction. You don't have to do that."

That's true, but she'd gladly take him over anyway if it meant she'd know he was safe and with other people.

"I don't mind, sweetie."

"I know," he promises with a nod, putting down his crayon. "But I'll be okay. I'll just be drawing or something anyway."

With a small exhale, she takes a step forward. She's still not entirely convinced, but this is what she's trying to be better at. Give him room.

"Okay," she relents, offering him a smile. "You have the number for the store if anything happens, and if no one answers you call Jonathan and he'll come—"

"I know, Mom," Will cuts her off gently. "I'll be fine, promise."

He can't promise that, she knows, but she appreciates the effort. Leaning down, she ruffles his hair and presses a kiss to his temple.

"Okay. I'll only be a few hours."

"Have fun at work," he says brightly, smiling at her as she backs out of the room to grab her bag.

Pushing back the budding anxiety at the prospect of leaving him home alone, she forces herself out the door and into her car.

After two hours she wonders why Donald even called her in. It's no busier than it is on a normal day, and if at all possible it might even be slower. She knows she shouldn't complain; she's getting overtime for this, but the store most certainly would've gotten along just fine without her.

The phone rings a while later and she jumps, the shrill sound cutting harshly into the silence of the store. She scrambles to answer it, almost knocking it off the desk in the process.

"Melvald’s,” she greets, and the second she hears the voice in her ear her heart leaps into her throat. “Will? What's wrong? Are you okay?"

Her son laughs on the other end and the tension dissipates. "Nothing's wrong, Mom, sorry."

Joyce exhales, chuckles to herself. Breathe. "It's okay, baby. Did you need something?"

"No, not really." There's a pause. "Can Jonathan and I go shopping with the Chief?"

She blinks, wonders if she's heard him correctly. "Hopper?"

"Yeah, he came looking for you, but you're not here. Obviously."

"Why didn't he just call?"

"I don't know," Will says. There's a grumble in the background she can't quite make out, but knows it's Hop. “He says you weren't supposed to work today, so he figured you’d be here.”

She doesn’t question why Hopper somehow knew she wasn’t supposed to work today.

Joyce nods, cradles the phone to her ear. "Right. So what's this about shopping?"

"Jonathan and I still have to do some Christmas shopping," her boy explains. "Hopper said he's going shopping and I kind of asked if we could tag along. He said it's okay though!"

She laughs, imagining her son stumbling through the question and immediately getting flustered. She only wishes she could've seen Hop's face.

"Oh," she says. "Wait, did you say Jonathan? I thought he was with Nancy." There's silence on his end. "If you're shaking your head I can't see it, sweetheart."

Will gives a small gasp. "Oh, sorry. He got back right before Hopper showed up. So can we go?"

"I—yeah, I guess, sure. As long as Hop's sure it's okay."

She hears (muffled, meaning Will's holding the phone against his shoulder) him ask once more if it's okay, and it's followed by another one of Hop's mumbled responses.

"He says yes," Will returns, and she smiles.

"Okay, then go ahead. I'll be home by the time you guys get back probably, so we'll have dinner then."

"Okay! Thanks Mom!"

When they hang up she holds the phone against her chest for a moment longer, worries her bottom lip between her teeth. Hopper's never actually gone anywhere with her boys alone. She's not worried, no; she trusts him with her sons, knows he wouldn't let anything happen to them. It's just... new.

With a small smile she finally puts the phone back onto its receiver. It'll be good for them, Jonathan and Will, getting to bond with Hopper a little. She's glad for it.

She only wishes she could be a fly on the wall while they’re shopping. Talk about entertainment.  

An older gentleman comes through the doors a few moments later, marking the fourth customer to enter the store since she’s arrived. Joyce greets him with a smile, but gets nothing more than a half nod and a grumble in response as he scurries past her and into whatever aisle he needs.

Ah, the holiday season. Such a lovely time for customer service workers.

Joyce makes it back before the boys, but she knew she would. If there’s one thing she knows about her sons it’s that they take an almost unbelievable amount of time in stores. She doesn’t know what it is, but Jonathan spends 10 minutes picking out a single item and Will’s so indecisive he’ll bounce back and forth a few times before making a choice.

Slipping her shoes off, she leaves them on the mat by the front door and shimmies out of her coat on her way to the kitchen. It’s tossed over one of the chairs in the process, draped across the back.

She grabs the chicken she had defrosting while she was at work and puts it onto the counter, and then moves to find the side dish she’d planned on.

With everything cooking in their appropriate kitchen appliances, Joyce wanders into her bedroom. There’s nothing she wants more than to get out of her uniform.

The shirt gets thrown onto her bed to be hung up later, and she pulls a soft pink sweater over her head. She doesn’t wear it often, doesn’t really know why, but it’s fuzzy and warm and she curls her arms into her chest the second it comes into contact with her skin.

When she goes back into the living room, she hovers for a moment. She looks around, lips twisted to the side.

She has nothing to do.

For the first time in longer than she can even remember, there’s not a single thing she needs to be doing or worrying about. The food is cooking, she’s not working, and the boys are with Hopper.  There's no unseen force of evil working against her right now, nothing lurking inside her walls. No darkened world waiting just below the surface of her wallpaper with her boy trapped inside.

It feels... well, weird. She doesn’t know what to do with free time anymore.

Fingers tapping at her lips, the corners of her mouth curl into a small smile. It’s weird, but it feels nice.

She peers in at the chicken quickly, makes sure it’s cooking nicely, and then reaches up on her tiptoes to grab a bottle of wine from a high cabinet. It’s not something she does often—not something she has the time for often—but she pours herself a glass and puts the bottle back.

Padding into the living room once more, she settles herself into the couch. Her back rests against the arm and she stretches her legs in front of her, curls her toes into the cushions.

She’ll have to get up eventually to get dinner completed, and the boys will return soon, but for now she allows the knots in her shoulders to loosen.

Joyce takes a sip and lets her eyes fall closed. She forgot what relaxation felt like.

[fifiliphaser]

A Taste Of Freedom

[Ao3 Version]

Relationships: Eleven/Mike Wheeler

Characters: Eleven/Jane Hopper, Mike Wheeler

Words: 2113

Summary: Who would have thought that the spring of 1985 would come round so quickly and liven Hawkins up so much, the whole town and its surroundings exploding with colours. It could have not come to be had it not been for the successful outcome of their fight against the Mind Flayer last November. Mike hardly believed almost five months had passed since that fateful night when everything in his life—turned upside down in the autumn of 1983—had pieced together once again. And all it took was for her to be back.

—A short and fluffy one-shot, focusing on that sweet little thing between Mike and El.

Beware! There might be minor spoilers for Season 2!

It’s my first fanfic to Stranger Things and I hope everyone is in character. This one I have a mixed feelings about. I really wanted to post it, because I’m really proud of a second half of it, but a first half… not so much. But it’s here anyway. And I hope you’ll like that shameless fluff with those lovable kids being kids and figuring love out. Enjoy!

Who would have thought that the spring of 1985 would come round so quickly and liven Hawkins up so much, the whole town and its surroundings exploding with colours. It could have not come to be had it not been for the successful outcome of their fight against the Mind Flayer last November. Mike hardly believed almost five months had passed since that fateful night when everything in his life—turned upside down in the autumn of 1983—had pieced together once again. And all it took was for her to be back.

He still caught himself smiling at the memory of seeing her for the first time in nearly a year, of how different she had looked, and yet so strikingly familiar. Of hearing her calling his name with her voice cracking, sheer emotions visible on her face. Of how great and soothing it had felt to have her in his arms once again. Of his tears soaking into her jacket, while he had been trying to swallow his sobs.

Even in his wildest dreams, he hadn’t dared to expect her to come back at that time. He’d been far from losing hope, but the idea of her return actually happening had become more and more surreal with every passing day. And then she had showed up, saving their lives and saving Hawkins all over again. This time, however, she had been still here at the end. Just like she had promised.

A thought that the spring came round in its fullest just for El to admire it crossed Mike’s mind several times, as he couldn’t help himself but realise that it was her first spring she could experience as an actually free person. Although she still couldn’t wander too far away from the cabin or roam Hawkins on her own, Hopper let her meet with her friends from time to time and she was spending a lot of time at the Byers’. In consequence, the party’s meeting point was moved from the Wheeler’s basement to the Byers’ living room.

Of course, Mike would rather have El come over to him, but for now Chief insisted on keeping her presence low-key, and, as much as Mike hated it, he had to agree. Luckily, his willingness to compromise provided him with a chance to spend some time with her on their own once in awhile. Hopper wasn’t a big fan of their “dates”, but he wasn’t naïve either. Well-aware that those kids would always find a way to see each other, he preferred to know about it, so he could keep an eye on them.

Mike remembered the first time they had gotten a chance to spend some time alone after her return. It had been quite a fun little stroll in the woods, as they hadn’t been allowed to walk too far away from the cabin. He had still been processing all of this, trying to wrap his mind around a journey she had just told him about.

“So, your real name is Jane,” he had made sure, getting a nod from her as a response. His eyes had been locked on the trees before them. He had swallowed a lump in his throat, as a wave of guilt had flooded his heart. “Would you like me to call you Jane?,” he’d asked, the name sounding strange to his ears. Before she had had a chance to answer, he had continued: “I guess now that you know your real name, calling you Eleven is… wrong, and I’m sorry for that.” He had winced, his hands fidgeting.

He had felt her gaze on him, and then she had grabbed his hand, squeezing it reassuringly. “Mike, you did nothing wrong,” she had insisted, smiling affectionately. “And I really like when you call me El,” she had admitted softly, coming to a stop.

He had looked at her, unable to keep a tender smile from lightening up his face. “El it is then,” he had affirmed, his eyes locked on her.

For a moment he could swear a weird energy had started to surround them, pulling them towards each other. However, before any of them could have even slightly moved, they had heard Hopper’s voice calling them in the distance. That had been the end of their first “date”, but it had marked the beginning of something exciting Mike had thought he would never get to experience.

Every time they had hung out afterwards, Mike had tried to come up with a different activity they could engage in. From watching movies (Mike was even more than willing to show El the ones he liked the most, so that she could better understand the references he or their friends sometimes made), through listening to music, reading comics (he couldn’t wait to show her the X-Men, even though not one of them was as amazing as her), playing games, to teaching her how to ride a bike, they were enjoying every moment they spent together.

And today, with the sky almost cloudless and the temperature quite high, he decided to have a little picnic by the lake that was located nearby Chief’s old trailer. It was Hopper who had proposed the spot, and Mike reluctantly agreed, forced to admit that a place actually seemed pretty nice.

He brought a small basket with him, filled with Eggos, candies, fruits, and cookies that his mother had baked a day before, one of the blankets that had created a rooftop of the fort tucked underneath his shoulder. El was already waiting for him by the shore, watching as wind created small creases on the surface of the lake. With light reflecting in them, the view must have mesmerised her, because she didn’t even seem to notice his presence.

Mike himself hardly paid any attention to the lake, though. He was surprised to see El dressed in a long-sleeved blue dress that reached her knees, revealing a pair of light pink socks and white sneakers. He hadn’t seen her wearing a dress in quite a while, and it didn’t fit a bit more punk style she preferred lately. Although she tried many new clothes that she was getting either from Nancy or Will’s mom, she didn’t pick any dresses, at least until now.

Placing the basket carefully on the ground, Mike took a deep breath, trying to stop painful memories from filling his mind. Despite the a different colour of the dress, similarities in her appearance made him recall that fateful night in November of 1983. He shook his head, convincing himself that it was all a distant past now, not worthy of his time.

Mike cleared his throat, unwilling to startle her. “El,” he greeted her happily, as she turned around.

“Mike.” She smiled lightly, and quickly approached him in a few steps.

“I brought some things you might like,” he said light-heartedly, reaching for the blanket.

She helped him to spread it out on the grass, and soon they found themselves laying beside each other, delicate, humid breeze grazing their feet. El insisted that she hadn’t been hungry yet, preferring to just lay down for a while and watch the world around them. It didn’t cease to amaze him how she could find even such an ordinary activity so enjoyable.

“I like the feeling, Mike,” she confined casually after a few minutes of companionable silence, her starry eyes locked on a cloudless blue sky.

“The feeling?,” he echoed, trying to figure out what she meant.

“Freedom,” she breathed lightly, clearly tasting the word on her tongue. And then an incredibly broad smile brightened up her face.

All that Mike felt was a pure joy mixed with a childlike wonder, radiating from the girl lying just inches away from him. He couldn’t help but think about opening up presents on the Christmas Day, and how her expression now had to mirror the one of every child on that magical morning. And somehow that association turned out to be even more fitting, as he had never seen her smile like that. Granted, it happened more often now than ever before, but if genuine, her smiles were frequently shy and restrained, giving him the impression that she still struggled with showing her emotions.

Now, however, was completely different. The smile—a grin, actually—not only reached her eyes, adorning their corners with adorable little wrinkles, but it also seemed not to be repressed at all. A sense of serenity accompanied it, as she let the corners of her mouth lift as much as it was only possible, her eyes almost closed.

Mike had no way of expecting to get to see such a wonderfully delightful showcase of emotions, coming from the very same girl, who, with just her presence, seemed to lighten up his every day. And seeing her so happy—so  carefree —only made his heart flutter.

He couldn’t look away from that wonder of a girl, and soon a murmur escaped his now dry mouth. “I love it when you smile. You look so pretty.” And then he stiffened, mortification filling all of his body, as he watched in horror her head slowly turning in his direction. Had he really said something so stupidly cheesy out loud?

For a moment he hoped she hadn’t heard his words, but his worry seemed to vanish entirely, as tender brown eyes locked with his. “You think?,” she whispered, her smile slowly disappearing, and he had to do something to stop it, a sight too extraordinary to be gone so quickly.

“Yes,” he answered, simply and surely. It took him a second to realise that what he had just said sounded very Eleven-like. It seemed that she had already rubbed off on him more than he was ready to admit.

However, it turned out that just that one word was all she needed to hear. And then that wonderful smile once again appeared on her face.

Mike was quite sure that if he hadn’t already been lying on the ground, he would’ve certainly found himself on it now, swept of his feet. Moments before, he couldn’t see much but a half of that beautiful smile, directed at the sky above them. And now that smile was all for him to marvel at.

He gulped, feeling a weird, slow shift in the air around them. Although he couldn’t put his finger on what was an exact cause of that, he found himself being drawn closer to Elle, even though their hands had already been almost touching. Maybe she was a really strong magnet after all? That would explain a lot.

Unfortunately, his thoughts got all messy and tangled as if on cue with her turning on her side. Mike followed suit, slowly reaching out a hand in her direction. His fingertips brushed her cheek gently, only to trace her lips as her smile grew even more. Mike’s fingers were slightly trembling, yet he didn’t withdraw his hand.

With a heart furiously thumping in his chest, he leaned in closer, so that their foreheads were almost touching. El didn’t stiffen nor flinch away, apparently relaxed and comfortable even with him being so close to her. Instead, she held his gaze, and he could swear that in such a close proximity her eyes looked even more mesmerising. “You are so pretty,” he whispered, his breath surrounding both of their faces with warm. “And incredible. And kind. And amazing,” he quickly listed, feeling his cheeks reddening. “And I’m so happy you’re here.” He mirrored her smile, retracting his hand, only to have it grasped between cool, delicate fingers.

“I am too,” she agreed and then softly admitted: “I am happy that you found me back then.” She cast her eyes down, looking at their intertwined hands. “Thank you,” she managed after a moment, her voice small and more emotional than ever before, but Mike could see a smile playing in the corners of her lips.

He squeezed her hand reassuringly. “Hey, I couldn’t just leave you there,” he affirmed delicately. “You always help a friend in need.”

“A friend…” She furrowed her eyebrows slightly. “You are my most great friend, Mike.”

“Greatest,” he corrected her warm-heartedly.

“Yes.” She nodded and looked into his eyes once again, as if pleading for him to say something more.

“You’re my most great friend, too, El,” he echoed her choice of words, with a light-hearted smile. “And you will always be.”

That weird energy seemed to be all around them once again, and he could tell that she felt it too. “Promise?” Her voice was barely above the whisper.

“Promise,” he murmured softly, just before their lips met in a gentle kiss.

I feel like El would say some things incorrectly sometimes, since, you know, she’s still learning. And that’s why I came up with that “my most greatest friend” (I just hope it’s not stupid).

[words-are-my-medium]

Post-S2 ST Headcanons

This started out as headcanons I was writing down and then it just got so out of hand it turned into a semi-fic? It’s long and probably not great writing I’m sorry but I wanted to keep track of it here for myself at least so here (please don’t take this as an example of my actual writing quality because I would format this so much better if it wasn’t just a heacanon dump)

El-centric, pre-Byler/Byeler, Byers-Hopper family feels and headcanons galore, (probably overuse of commas galore too), kind-of a fic?

-So El is like… super not into studying. I mean she had a dictionary in her house for almost a year and she didn’t know the word “compromise”; girl’s been watching TV all day and learning words slowly and not entirely accurately through context. After the Snow Ball Hopper starts cracking down–she needs to start school (high school no less) in the fall of ‘85 and she’s got a lot of catching up to do.

-She HATES it, and the Party quickly realizes this, so they try to study with her and help whenever possible. Unfortunately they don’t succeed much: whenever Mike’s over El never wants to study; Lucas gets too impatient with her; Dustin makes a valiant effort to introduce her to the joy of curiosity voyages but it doesn’t work. Max, after being unfairly given the cold shoulder for quite a while, finally becomes friends with El and then becomes a HUGE distraction; El’s only friend who’s a girl (even if she’s not into pretty things like playing with makeup), why study when you can have special girls only friend time?

-So the Party’s pretty stuck, when surprisingly Will steps up and like magic, El tries super hard to be attentive and they start making progress! Mike is pretty sure there is some kind of guilt on El’s part regarding Will that’s contributing, but hey, whatever works. Will is actually a pretty good tutor it turns out, he’s really patient and intuitive, observant to what seems to work and what doesn’t, if not particularly gifted at teaching, and while El will probably never be an amazing student, she starts getting the hang of the basic subjects. (Except math, which she is shockingly good at–Max is convinced that her brain is actually a calculator, but El explains that math was easy because it was so exact: no complicated answers, just right or wrong, not a lot of words to get in the way. She’d quietly admitted to Mike once with a wry smile that numbers just made sense to her.)

-Hopper takes Will out for his birthday because Lonnie sucks and the kid loves his mother obviously and hey, Hopper doesn’t care if he’s sensitive or different or something else, he’s Joyce’s boy and a good kid, but it wouldn’t hurt to spend some time with a positive male figure again after Bob. In early May Joyce and Hopper start… not quite dating but everyone knows it’s just a matter of time. Jonathan and Will have already discussed what it might be like having El for a sister someday. They’re not sure if/when that might become official, but to the brothers she’s already joined their family and they’re both happy. (Jonathan immediately had a fondness for El, she’d saved Will and her “papa” was super shitty too, and his protectiveness and compassion kicked in and he was able to start bonding with her pretty quickly, to his surprise.)

The weekend after the 4th of July they are all hanging out at the cabin, trying to cram in as much as possible as the fall and upcoming school year draw nearer. They’re eating leftover watermelon and Max is teaching them her patented seed-spitting technique, though Will is still helping El finish the part of the lesson they’re on and he loves that he can help, but he wants to kinda hang out too and El realizes this, of course.

El leans in to kiss him on the cheek and thank him because she genuinely appreciates his patience with her so much and she knows it’s taking time away from other stuff he could be doing to tutor her, he’s such a good friend and a sweet person and El is so happy having him in her life, in her family even, but at that exact moment Dustin nails Will in the side of the head with a watermelon seed and Will whips around to face his attacker, and El ends up planting it right on his mouth.

Everyone gasps and freezes and El breathes in sharply and tenses, but Will just kinda sits there wide-eyed for a minute before bursting out laughing. El’s face is a mix of fear and shame and she’s turning red, and everyone else is kind-of hesitantly looking at Mike. He isn’t sure how to react because yeah, his… girlfriend(?) just kissed his oldest friend but it was completely an accident, obviously not intended, and rather than being mad he’s kind of having a sudden anxious realization that wow, okay, that was not something he ever expected to see but uh, it wasn’t… wasn’t bad because El is pretty and Will is cute and he–um, okay yes he did just think Will is cute?! He’s having a violent bi awakening panic attack and omg why is Will laughing this is so awkward Mike’s turning into a tomato to match El why–

“Will, is… are you okay?” Dustin asks carefully, afraid he’s just set into motion a chain of events that made his friend go insane, because Will is practically rolling on the floor by now, and Will manages to stop just enough to gasp “I’m going to have to tell everyone who ever asks for the rest of my life that my first kiss was with my sister,” and Lucas spits his drink out all over Dustin and Max and then there’s an uproar of laughter and yelling and El is apologizing frantically and Will is wiping tears of laughter from his eyes and Mike is just standing there frozen and beet red and kind-of?? more than a little upset that El kinda just stole Will’s first kiss?!

-When everyone finally goes home Will and El stay (because Joyce and Hopper were out somewhere together so she’s picking him up when they get back), and they both kinda sit for a while comfortably in silence until Will knowingly asks if she’s okay and El admits she’s sad because Max explained that apparently first kisses are important and El’s sorry she ruined Will’s. Will assures her instantly she didn’t, it was an accident anyway and then goes quiet for a moment before “I’ll tell you a secret, El, don’t tell anyone else, but I don’t wanna kiss girls anyway, so it doesn’t count, it was only a technical first kiss, my official first kiss has to be with a boy so you didn’t ruin it at all.”

And El is so relieved because she never talks about it to anyone but she knows, knows everything bad that happened to Will is her fault, but now he’s her brother and her friend and she loves him and her new family and though she hates it, the truth is she wouldn’t take it all back, opening the gate, even if she somehow was able to, so she just has to try her hardest to make sure he’s happy and safe from now on.

-This is how Will Byers comes out (because confirming with Jonathan what Jonathan has always kinda known doesn’t count, he’s never had to hide who he is from Jonathan so it’s not “coming out”, he was never “in” when it comes to his brother). El is the perfect person because she doesn’t know how to hate, not for reasons like this; she accepts him immediately and that’s what he’s been so worried about, after everything Lonnie and the kids at school have ever said he’s been too scared to even tell his mother, let alone the boy he likes. And suddenly Will’s crying in her arms and El’s become a sympathetic crier so then they’re both crying and El starts crying harder because maybe she was wrong again and it’s not okay, obviously, if Will’s still sad? And that’s how Hopper and Joyce find them, hugging and crying their eyes out and the adults are so bewildered.

-The Byers get in the car to go home after they finally calm down (and Will assures El everything’s fine several times with hugs), and Joyce doesn’t even have to ask, she just gives him a concerned look and Will looks out the window to hide his face and takes a deep breath before he quietly admits, “I was crying because I told Jane I’m gay and she didn’t bat an eyelash, she just accepted me.”

-Joyce immediately pulls the car over and unbuckles her seat belt and leans over and hugs Will so tight, and he screws his eyes shut so he doesn’t see her face but he can hear her murmur “Sweetie, I have been waiting for you to accept yourself,” and suddenly a weight he didn’t even realize he’d been carrying is gone.

The remainder of the summer Will and El become closer than ever, while Mike strangely becomes frequently absent to Party events. One day in mid-August Mike visits El alone while the others are out seeing Back to the Future for the second time (because Dustin and Lucas started an argument about time travel mechanics after the first time and forced Will and Max to come again while they rewatch for research) and he’s only there 15 minutes before she quietly asks “Are you mad I kissed Will because I’m supposed to kiss you?”

Mike shakes his head furiously like a wet dog and assures her of course he isn’t, it was an accident and he’s over it, it’s been over a month, El, “I practically forgot about it already”, but she just looks at him thoughtfully and then her eyes widen the tiniest bit and she asks again, “Are you mad I kissed Will because you wanted to kiss Will?” and Mike’s face drains of color so fast it’s like he’s in a cartoon.

“What?! No, I–” he starts unconvincingly, his voice raising into a panicked shrillness, but interrupts himself, “Steve told you, didn’t he, or I mean he told Dustin who told you, or something, whatever, somehow it was that douchebag, wasn’t it? I knew I shouldn’t have trusted him, ‘master of romantic advice’ my ass!”

El is very confused but lets Mike rant about Steve Harrington being an untrustworthy jerk for a full five minutes before finally grabbing his hand and shaking her head. “Nobody told me anything. You seemed mad. So if you’re not mad about me then it’s about Will, right?”

And then Mike is very embarrassed because obviously Steve wouldn’t have said anything, he’s practically Dustin’s older brother now, but he can feel the “friends don’t lie” coming so he’s screwed anyway.

“Okay, fine, maybe I might have thought about it a little but… it’s because I think I might like boys too.”

“Like? Like you want to kiss?” El’s mental gears are turning and Mike nods, “Yeah, I still want to kiss girls but maybe boys too, Steve said it’s… that I don’t have to pick only one. Some people like both.” (Bisexual is much too complicated a term and Mike’s still not entirely convinced Steve didn’t make it up.)

-A light bulb goes off in El’s brain and she thinks hard for a minute before she says, “If you want, we don’t have to kiss anymore so you can try to kiss a boy,” and Mike’s eyebrows almost shoot clean off his head, but he looks at her carefully and sees she’s sincere and not upset, and for the first time he sees her solely as the girl she’s become, not the Eleven he first met nearly two years before, so quietly he just says “If that’s what you want, El.”

She nods but then narrows her eyes at him, “You’ll still like me as a friend?” and he smiles warmly and nods, “I’ll always like you as a friend, El, no matter what, even if it’s not the kissing kind of like,” and El’s heart jumps because maybe it is possible, maybe she’s really this lucky, she can keep all the good things she’s gained and still make Will happy too.

“But don’t tell anybody else I like boys, okay El?” Mike adds suddenly, and El nods, a smile creeping onto her face. El keeps her promises and tells nobody anything, but for the few weeks remaining in the summer, she occasionally wears a satisfied little smile, the cause of which even Max can’t get out of her.

-In the fall of ‘85 the kids all start high school, El a little nervous but feeling prepared thanks her friends and family (especially Will), and Will finally confident, at least a little, because he’s accepted himself and he’s got the best family ever and if anyone gives him shit, his future step-dad is the chief of police and his sister can break arms (and worse) with her mind and they all accept him too and love him no matter what. (He’s pretty sure the rest of his friends will too, but he promised himself that he wouldn’t tell them he’s gay until he told Mike first, because Will’s realized that’s been a long time coming and now’s as good a time as any since El told him vaguely about their “breakup”; Will knows he’s single and hasn’t had a chance to develop a crush on anyone else yet. He owes it to his best friend to be honest, and well, if Mike breaks his heart, [which he’s mostly expecting, tbh] Will believes at least he’ll still be his friend, and he’ll move on. Eventually.)

El is so happy when the complete Party meets for the first time in front of the school on the first day, finally all together in the open, and she doesn’t miss how her two closest friends look at each other. This will be a good year, El thinks.

[serendipitousrambles]

It's just this once, I swear (pt 3/?)

Ao3

Dustin and Max had carefully planned out their every move for the "date" on Saturday. Max had asked El and Mike for some input so she and Dustin could seem as authentic as possible.  Dustin had insisted on picking Max up, despite her protests. When he knocked on the door, he almost didn't recognise her. "What?" She patted down her skirt.  "I've just uh, never seen you in a dress before." Dustin didn't care what she wore, as long as she was comfortable, but it was strange to see her in a dress. A girl so used to wearing jeans and shorts that it felt like a different person. "Does it look bad?" She nervously played with her hair. "No, it's just... different." He said with a smile. "I could say the same thing about you. No hat tonight?" She ruffled his hatless hair. "Hey, I'm trying to make a good impression." He laughed. "Let's just get this over with." She made her way to his car.

Things had been going well. They met Tracy and Craig at the restaurant, walking in hand in hand to seem believable. Dustin was charming throughout dinner, making jokes and occasionally touched Max's hand. She was surprised, he was actually really convincing, Craig and his girlfriend were none the wiser.

"So how did you two meet?" Craig suddenly asked Max and she froze. They hadn't thought about that.

"Ah, well..."

"We met in middle school." Dustin cut in, this time he was the one rescuing her from the unprecedented questions. "I remember she came into the class and I couldn't help but stare. Here was this cool, carefree looking girl, with hair so bright, it was nothing like the other girls."

He intertwined their fingers where their hands rested on the table.

"I uh, on the first day didn't exactly give the best impression. I said some things and quite rightly she kicked my ass. But, I knew right then that this girl was something, I guess you could say I had a massive crush on her after that." Dustin laughed.

For some reason, his words almost made Max tear up. It was true, she had kicked his ass because he was being rude, but then they'd became friends. A small part of her wanted to believe the entire story but she knew he must have made up the whole having a crush on her thing.

"Thing is, I didn't have the guts to ask her out for years." Dustin took a sip of his drink. Craig and Tracy were really invested in his story. "I just spent years with this crush."

"No? That's rough man." Craig leaned forward, he seemed genuinely interested.

"Yeah, but last year, I managed to finally convince her to go out with me. And boy am I glad she took pity on me." He laughed and wrapped an arm around Max.

She couldn't help herself thinking how natural it felt. With other guys, everything felt forced but somehow it felt like Dustin's arm was a perfect fit. His hands fit perfectly with hers. She shook her head trying to remove those thoughts. It was a fake date for crying out loud, that's why he's acting like this. She needs to pull herself together.

"Well I had a really great time, it was nice to meet you both." Tracy shook Max's hand. She was nice, dammit. Max had been hoping she was awful so she'd have a good reason to dislike her but she was just as perfect as Craig.

"We should do this again some time." Dustin smiled and Max gently elbowed him in the stomach. Why was he trying to prolong this? They were supposed to"break up" soon.

"Sure man, love to." Craig said as he guided his girlfriend to his car.

Max and Dustin drove the entire way back in silence. It wasn't awkward but neither really knew what to say. They had been holding hands the entire night almost but now it was like the reality of what they'd done had sunk in. And they didn't know what to say.

"I uh, wanted to say thank you Dustin. For tonight." Max smiled when he pulled up outside her house.

"Hey, what are friends for." He shrugged.

"You were a pretty good fake boyfriend. How did you come up with that story of how we met?" She was genuinely curious as to whether he'd made it up or not.

"Ah, well..." He shifted in his seat and looked down. "It wasn't entirely a lie...see, I had this huge crush on you back in middle school."

"Oh, I never realised..." Max looked down, feeling awkward that she'd brought it up.

"But I got over it when we got to high school, don't worry." He laughed awkwardly.

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be. It's in the past and to be honest, I'm glad it never happened because I wouldn't be friends with you now. And you're pretty awesome." He smiled, she liked his smile. It was goofy but left you with a warm feeling.

"Well, I better get going. Thank you Dustin. I mean it." She gave him a light punch on the shoulder, her way of showing friendly affection and ran up towards her house, not daring to look back.

"So how did it go?" Max had phoned El as soon as she got back.

"Good actually. They believed we were a real couple." She felt herself smiling at the thought. What was happening to her?

"You're not in love with him now are you?" El joked but Max felt her heart speed up.

"No, why would you say that? Does it sound like I am? It was a fake date." She said quickly.

"I was joking Max, don't get too defensive. Are you alright?" El sounded concerned.

"Yeah I'm fine. I guess I'm just tired. It was a lot of work pretending to be in a relationship. How do you and Mike do it?" She leaned against the wall where the phone was hung up.

"I guess it just feels right. You know? Like...it's so natural that it doesn't even feel like you have to try."

"One things for sure, me and Dustin are most definitely friends. And we won't have to keep up this fake dating scheme anymore."

[yurtletheturtlehenderson]

COSMIC - S1:E6; Chapter Six, The Monster - [Pt. 1]

A Will Byers x Gender Neutral!Reader Series

𝘞𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘌𝘭𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘨𝘰𝘯𝘦, 𝘠/𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘋𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘨𝘨𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘺 𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳. 𝘌𝘭𝘴𝘦𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦, 𝘏𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘑𝘰𝘺𝘤𝘦 𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘣’𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴.

||𝟑𝐑𝐃 𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐒𝐎𝐍 𝐏𝐎𝐕||

Joyce and Hopper sat opposite one another at the kitchen table of the Byers' home. The house was cold and hardly lit, copies of newspaper clippings scattered all around the house. One of the only light sources was a dusty chandelier that hung from the kitchen ceiling above the table and their heads, illuminating the several papers.

"Look, we gotta go through this again." Joyce insisted.

"I told you everything that I saw."

"Oh, gosh," she sighs into her hands. "Tell me again."

"Upstairs or downstairs?" Hopper asked.

"Upstairs."

"There was a laboratory. It was where they must do experiments or something, and then there was... well you see, like I said, I got turned around."

Hopper was currently sharing all he had encountered on his rogue mission at Hawkins National Laboratory. Joyce, all the while was hanging on his every word.

"I told you, it was like, I don't know, it wasn't supposed to exist. That whole area, it was abandoned and... forgotten, like it was all some big mistake. Once I found my way back, I saw that... kid's room. That other kid's room, I mean. Like it was actually used, but it didn't even look like a kid's room, neither of them did. It looked like a prison."

Hopper sighed and rubbed the bottom of his palms into his eyes tiredly, is fingers held the lit cigarette inches away from his face as he did so. "If that even makes sense,"

"Well," Joyce began, trying to get to the bottom of this never ending mystery. "So why would you think it was a kid's room, then?"

"Because, I told you, the size of the bed, there was a drawing, there was a stuffed animal--"

Joyce interrupted the man quickly. "Y-You didn't say there was a drawing."

"Yeah, there was a drawing of a... an adult and a child. It said 'Eleven' on it."

"Was it good?" Joyce pressed.

"It was a kid's drawing, Joyce. It was stick figures."

Joyce had a knowing look on her face as she stood up with a sigh, retrieving a piece of crinkled line paper and slammed it down on the table for Hopper to see.

She pointed to the detailed drawing as she sat back down.

"Wasn't Will." She stated confidently, shakily bringing the cigarette back up to her lips.

Hopper examined the drawing and everything seemed to click. He returned his gaze to the anxious mother. Hopper quickly put out his cigarette in the ashtray and made a beeline for the coffee table.

"Earl..." he muttered, as he made his way into the living room. Joyce, who had abandoned her cigarette, was right on his heels.

"The night that Benny died, Earl said he saw some kid with a shaved head with Benny," Hopper and Joyce took a seat beside one another on the living room couch, Hopper's eyes fixed on the several news clippings splayed along the wooden coffee table. "Now, I pressed him, he said it might be Will, but maybe..."

The man began shifting through the papers, and Joyce spoke up.

"Wait... Maybe, it wasn't?"

Hopper pulled the article he had been looking for and pointed to the fuzzy photograph of the woman in the article.

"Look... this woman, Terry Ives, she claims to have lost her daughter, Jane. She sued Brenner, she sued the government... Now, the claims came to nothing, but what if... I mean, what if this whole time I've been... I've been looking for Will... I've been chasing after some other kid?"

||𝐑𝐄𝐀����𝐄𝐑'𝐒 𝐏𝐎𝐕||

Everything is a mess.

Will is still missing, the party is falling apart, Mike and Lucas are still angsty messes that won't speak to one another, and now, El left us. She probably thinks I hate her.

'But I don't! I was just scared'

(Ok but like,,,, who else ships El and reader cause damn I've been giving myself feels lately, dang)

'We need to fix this'

I sigh and sit up from my bed and make my my way to Dustin's room.

⊹ ⊹ ⊹

"I just... I can't believe she didn't come back." Mike sighed.

Dustin and I agreed we needed to talk some sense into the rest of the party. So we got our bikes and made our way to Mike's. Dustin was standing opposite Mike while I currently occupied one of the D&D chairs I had pulled up. Mike was worriedly pacing the floor in front of us.

"She's gotta be close." Dustin offered.

"She said it wasn't safe. She just messed up the compasses because she wanted to protect us. She didn't betray us."

"Mike, calm down."

Mike only ignored Dustin and kept talking, more to himself than anybody it seemed.

"I shouldn't have yelled at her. I never should've done that."

"Mike, this isn't your fault." Dustin said.

"Yeah, it's Lucas'."

"It wasn't his fault, either." Dustin countered softly.

For the first time in what felt like ages, Mike stopped in his tracks. He looked at my brother dumbfounded and took a few steps in his direction. "It wasn't his fault?"

"No."

"So you're saying he wasn't way out of line?"

"Totally, but so were you!"

"What?"

"And so was Eleven."

"That's ridiculous! Y/n, tell him he's being ridiculous!"

Very calmly, I stood up with my arms crossed and stood next to my brother, and sighed, eyes fixed on Mike. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but Dustin is absolutely right."

Mike seemed even more furious. "Oh, give me a break!"

Dustin snapped at these words and stormed up to Mike. "No, Mike, you give me a break! All three of you were being a bunch of little assholes! Y/n and I were the only reasonable ones! But the bottom line is... you pushed first. And you know the rules. You draw first blood..."

"No! No way! I'm not shaking his hand."

"You're shaking his hand." I press, stepping forward.

He was sure to make eye contact with me over Dustin's shoulder as he spoke. "No, I'm not."

So I strode toward him and gave him a slight glare.

"This isn't a discussion. This is the rule of law. Obey or be banished from the party. Do you wanna be banished?" I asked firmly.

Mike crossed his arms and pouted before speaking up meekly. "No."

"Good!" I chirp, my face beaming as if we hadn't just been fighting which seem to only terrify him more.

I all but skipped over to the chair grabbing my coat, Dustin following my actions.

"Where are we going?" Mike asked with a hint of frustration.

"Where do you think?" Dustin asked as he put his arms through the sleeves of his coat.

"We're going to get Lucas." I finished, straightening my jacket then looked back to Mike.

My face softened and I tilted my head slightly. "And then we're gonna find Eleven."

⊹ ⊹ ⊹

The three of us stood on Lucas's porch and I rang the doorbell. We stood waiting until the door swung open and Lucas stood there glaring at all three of us, but mostly Mike.

"What do you want?" He spit, resting his hands in his pockets.

There was brief silence which was then interrupted by a muffled smack of Dustin hitting Mike in the arm.

Mike sighed softly and looked to Lucas, clearly hating every second of this.

"I drew first blood, so..." he extended his hand for Lucas to shake but Lucas didn't move.

Great. Of course nobody was going to make anything easy. Why would they?

⊹ ⊹ ⊹

Somehow I had convinced Lucas to let us all in and now, we all stood in the middle of his living room as he paced silently across the floor considering Mike's offer. He finally stopped and stared at the three of us.

"Okay, I'll shake."

Mike sighed what I barely made out to be a "finally" as he extended his arm out once more. Dustin and I perked up, that was until Lucas continued.

"On one condition. We forget the weirdo and go straight to the gate." He finished, arms crossed defiant.

"Then the deal's off." Mike barked.

"Fine!"

"Fine!"

"No, no, not fine! Guys seriously?" Dustin yelled, as I threw my head back frustrated.

Dustin forced Mike to face him as he spoke. "Do you even remember what happened on the Bloodstone Pass?"

Lucas and Mike shared a confused glance.

Dustin seemed shocked and offended that they had no recollection and continued.

"We couldn't agree on what path to take, so we all split up the party and those trolls took us out one by one. And it all went to shit. And we were all disabled! So we stick together, no matter what!"

"Yeah, I agree. But this is the party, right here in this room."

"El is one of us now."

"Um, no, she's not. Not even close! Never will be. She's a liar, a traitor--"

"She was just trying to keep us safe! She didn't mean to hurt you. It was an accident!"

"An accident?"

"All right, accident or not... admit it, it was a little awesome." Dustin said.

"Awesome?"

"Yeah, she threw you in the air with her mind!"

"I could have been killed!"

"Would everybody just shut up for one second, please!" I snap.

Everybody looks to me, a shocked expression on their faces.

I step forward and begin my long awaited  rant.

"I am sick of your attitude." I point at Lucas. "I am sick of your whining." I point to Mike. "I am sick of all three of you bickering," I gesture to all of them. "I love you guys and I can't thank you enough for taking me in and including me, know that, but GOD I am tired of being stuck listening to you boys argue about every little thing!"

I myself began pacing, my voice continuously rising. "I'm sick of putting up with all your petty arguing when we should be looking for Will only to come home at the end of the day, having found NOTHING and crying my eyes out because the only person who never gave a shit about who started what is missing and probably dead!"

I stopped pacing and looked to the boys who were all silent. I sighed and lowered my voice. "Lucas, you're right. You could have been killed. Which is exactly why we need her. She is more powerful than all of us combined."

"Y/n's right. Do you seriously wanna fight the Demogorgon with your wrist rocket?" Mike said, anger still in his voice. "That's like R2-D2 going to fight Darth Vader. We're no use to Will if we're dead."

Lucas looked torn for a moment, but then he shook his head and pointed at the three of us. There was disappointment in his voice. "If you three wanna waste your time looking for a traitor, go ahead, 'cause I'm not spending my time on her anymore. No way!"

I sighed, putting my face in my hands. Lucas continued.

"I'm going to the gate. I'm going to find Will."

Lucas shoved the boys aside and stormed off, leaving the three of us alone in more ways than one.

[yurtletheturtlehenderson]

S.T REWRITE -S1:E6; Chapter Six, The Monster - [Pt. 1]

A Will Byers x Reader Series

With Eleven gone, Y/n and Dustin struggle to keep the party together. Elsewhere, Hopper and Joyce uncover the truth about the lab’s many experiments.

||3rd Person POV||

Joyce and Hopper sat opposite one another at the kitchen table of the Byers' home. The house was cold and hardly lit, copies of newspaper clippings scattered all around the house. One of the only light sources was a dusty light that hung from the kitchen ceiling above the table and their heads, illuminating the several papers.

"Look, we gotta go through this again." Joyce insisted.

"I told you everything that I saw."

"Oh, gosh. Tell me again."

"Upstairs or downstairs?" Hopper asked.

"Upstairs."

"There was a laboratory. It was where they must do experiments or something, and then there was... well you see like I said, I got turned around."

Hopper was currently sharing all he had encountered on his rogue mission at Hawkins National Laboratory. Joyce, all the while was hanging on his every word.

"I told you, it was like, I don't know, it wasn't supposed to exist. That whole area, it was abandoned and... forgotten, like it was all some big mistake. Once I found my way back, I saw that... kid's room. That other kid's room, I mean. Like it was actually used, but it didn't even look like a kid's room, neither of them, it looked like a prison."

Hopper sighed and rubbed the bottom of his palms into his eyes tiredly, is fingers held the lit cigarette inches away from his face as he did so. "If that even makes sense,"

"Well," Joyce began, trying to get to the bottom of this never ending mystery. "So why would you think it was a kid's room, then?"

"Because, I told you, the size of the bed, there was a drawing, there was a stuffed animal--"

Joyce interrupted the man quickly. "Y-You didn't say there was a drawing."

"Yeah, there was a drawing of a... an adult and a child. It said 'Eleven' on it."

"Was it good?" Joyce pressed.

"It was a kid's drawing, Joyce. It was stick figures."

Joyce had a knowing look on her face as she stood up with a sigh, retrieving a piece of crinkled line paper and slammed it down on the table for Hopper to see.

She pointed to the detailed drawing as she sat back down.

"Wasn't Will." She stated confidently, shakily bringing the cigarette back up to her lips.

Hopper examined the drawing and everything seemed to click. He returned his gaze to the anxious mother. Hopper quickly put out his cigarette in the ashtray and made a beeline for the coffee table.

"Earl..." he muttered, as he made his way into the living room. Joyce, who had abandoned her cigarette, was right on his heels.

"The night that Benny died, Earl said he saw some kid with a shaved head with Benny," Hopper and Joyce took a seat beside one another on the living room couch, Hopper's eyes fixed on the several news clippings splayed along the wooden coffee table. "Now, I pressed him, he said it might be Will, but maybe..."

The man began sifting through the papers, and Joyce spoke up.

"Wait... Maybe, it wasn't?"

Hopper pulled the article he had been looking for and pointed to the fuzzy photograph of the woman in the article.

"Look... this woman, Terry Ives, she claims to have lost her daughter, Jane. She sued Brenner, she sued the government... Now, the claims came to nothing, but what if... I mean, what if this whole time I've been... I've been looking for Will... I've been chasing after some other kid?"

||Reader's POV||

Everything is a mess.

Will is still missing, the party is falling apart, Mike and Lucas are still angsty messes that won't speak to one another, and now, El left us. She probably thinks I hate her.

'But I don't! I was just scared'

(Ok but like,,,, who else ships El and reader cause damn I've been giving myself feels lately, dang)

'We need to fix this'

I sigh and sit up from my bed and make my way to Dustin's room.

+++

"I just... I can't believe she didn't come back." Mike sighed.

Dustin and I agreed we needed to talk some sense into the boys. So we got our bikes and made our way to Mike's. Dustin was standing opposite Mike while I currently occupied one of the DnD chairs I had pulled up. Mike was worriedly pacing the floor in front of us.

"She's gotta be close." Dustin offered.

"She said it wasn't safe. She just messed up the compasses because she wanted to protect us. She didn't betray us."

"Mike, calm down."

Mike only ignored Dustin and kept talking, more to himself than anybody it seemed.

"I shouldn't have yelled at her. I never should've done that."

"Mike, this isn't your fault." Dustin said.

"Yeah, it's Lucas'."

"It wasn't his fault, either." Dustin replied softly.

For the first time in what felt like ages, Mike stopped in his tracks. He looked at my brother dumbfounded and took a few steps in his direction. "It wasn't his fault?"

"No."

"So you're saying he wasn't way out of line?"

"Totally, but so were you!"

"What?"

"And so was Eleven."

"That's ridiculous! [Y/N], tell him he's being ridiculous!"

Very calmly, I stood up with my arms crossed and stood next to my brother, and sighed, eyes fixed on Mike. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but Dustin is absolutely right."

Mike seemed even more furious. "Oh, give me a break!"

Dustin snapped at these words and stormed up to Mike. "No, Mike, you give me a break! All three of you were being a bunch of little assholes! [Y/N] and I were the only reasonable ones! But the bottom line is... you pushed first. And you know the rules. You draw first blood..."

"No! No way! I'm not shaking his hand."

"You're shaking his hand." I press stepping forward.

He was sure to make eye contact with me over Dustin shoulder as he spoke. "No, I'm not."

So I strode toward him and gave him a slight glare.

"This isn't a discussion. This is the rule of law. Obey or be banished from the party. Do you wanna be banished?" I asked firmly.

Mike crossed his arms and pouted before speaking up meekly. "No."

"Good!" I chirp, my face beaming as if we hadn't just been fighting which seem to only terrify him more.

I all but skipped over to the chair grabbing my coat, Dustin following my actions.

"Where are we going?" Mike asked with a hint of frustration.

"Where do you think?" Dustin asked as he put his arms through the sleeves of his coat.

"We're going to get Lucas." I finished straightening my jacket then looked back to Mike.

My face softened and I tilted my head slightly. "And then we're gonna find Eleven."

+++

The three of us stood on Lucas's porch and I rang the doorbell. We stood waiting until the door swung open and Lucas stood there glaring at all three of us, but mostly Mike.

"What do you want?" He spits, resting his hands in his pockets.

There was brief silence which was then interrupted by a muffled smack of Dustin hitting Mike in the arm.

Mike sighed softly and looked to Lucas, clearly hating every second of this.

"I drew first blood, so..." he extended his hand for Lucas to shake but Lucas didn't move.

Somehow I had convinced Lucas to let us all in and now, we all stood in the middle of his living room as he paced silently across the floor considering Mike's offer. He finally stopped and stared at the three of us.

"Okay, I'll shake."

Mike sighed what I barely made out to be a "finally" as he extended his arm out once more. Dustin and I perked up, that was until Lucas continued.

"On one condition. We forget the weirdo and go straight to the gate." He finished, arms crossed defiantly.

"Then the deal's off." Mike barked.

"Fine!"

"Fine!"

"No, no, not fine! Guys seriously?" Dustin yelled as I threw my head back frustrated.

Dustin forced Mike to face him as he spoke. "Do you even remember what happened on the Bloodstone Pass?"

Lucas and Mike shared a confused glance.

Dustin seemed shocked and offended that they had no recollection and continued.

"We couldn't agree on what path to take, so we all split up the party and those trolls took us out one by one. And it all went to shit. And we were all disabled! So we stick together, no matter what!"

"Yeah, I agree. But this is the party, right here in this room."

"El is one of us now."

"Um, no, she's not. Not even close! Never will be. She's a liar, a traitor--"

"She was just trying to keep us safe! She didn't mean to hurt you. It was an accident!"

"An accident?"

"All right, accident or not... admit it, it was a little awesome." Dustin said.

"Awesome?"

"Yeah, she threw you in the air with her mind!"

"I could have been killed!"

"Would everybody just shut up for one second please!" I snap.

Everybody looks to me, a worried and shocked expression on their faces.

I step forward and begin ranting to the boys.

"I am sick of your attitude." I point at Lucas. "I am sick of your whining." I point to Mike. "I am sick of all three of you bickering," I gesture to all of them. "I love you guys and I can't thank you enough for taking me in and including me, know that, but GOD I am getting tired of being stuck listening to you boys argue about every little thing!"

I myself began pacing, my voice continuously rising. "I'm sick of putting up with all your petty arguing when we should be looking for Will only to come home at the end of the day, having found NOTHING and crying my eyes out because the only person who never gave a shit about who started what is missing and probably dead!"

I stopped pacing and looked to the boys who were all silent. I sighed and lowered my voice. "Lucas, you're right. You could have been killed. Which is exactly why we need her. She is more powerful than all of us combined."

"[Y/N]'s right. Do you seriously wanna fight the Demogorgon with your wrist rocket?" Mike said, anger still in his voice. "That's like R2-D2 going to fight Darth Vader. We're no use to Will if we're dead."

Lucas looked torn for a moment, but then he shook his head and pointed at the three of us. There was disappointment in his voice. "If you three wanna waste your time looking for a traitor, go ahead, 'cause I'm not spending my time on her anymore. No way!"

I sighed, putting my face in my hands. Lucas continued.

"I'm going to the gate. I'm going to find Will."

Lucas shoved the boys aside and stormed off, leaving the three of us alone in more ways than one.

+++++

(apologies the tag list was not posted originally. It slipped my mind. Sorry lovelies! <3)

Tag List: @fuckwaad @aimee-lucass

DM me if you want to be added!