~Arcade ❄︎ Lucas Sinclair~

THE VISITORS

In the doorway stood a figure they (excluding Max) knew too well.

Eleven.

With slicked back hair, messy black eyeshadow wearing all black. Mike was the first person to say something to her.

"Eleven." Mike said, in a longing voice.

"Mike." El replied.

"I never gave up on you. I called you every night for-" Mike started.

"Three hundred and fifty three days. I heard." El said, with a visible smile on her face.

"Why didn't you tell me where you were there? That you were okay?" Mike asked his crush.

"Because I wouldn't let her. The hell is this? Where have you been?" Hopper asked in a stern voice,

"Where have you been?" Eleven retorted, lightly pushing Hopper in the chest.

Instead of scolding her, he pulled her in for a dad-like hug.

"You've been hiding her! You've been hiding her this whole time!" Mike yelled, shoving Hopper.

"Hey! Let's talk. Alone." Hopper said.

Dustin and Lucas and brought their friend into a hug.

"We missed you." Lucas told her.

"I missed you too." El told the boys.

"We talked about you pretty much everyday." Dustin said.

El grabbed his head and looked at his mouth.

"Teeth." El said, with her eyebrows furrowed.

"What?" Dustin asked confused.

"You have teeth." El stated.

"Oh." Dustin smirked. "You like these pearls?" Dustin did his growl thing which scared El.

She turned away from the boys and turned towards the twins, who were just standing there awkwardly watching the scene unfold. Kate was the first of the two to speak up.

"Uhm. Hi Eleven. I don't know if you remember me but-" Kate was cut off by the girl pulling her into a hug. It was awkward at first but Kate got over her initial shock and hugged her back.

Once they pulled apart El looked at the girl and said, "Hi. friends?".

Kate gave the girl a smile and replied, "Friends".

El turned towards Kate's doppelganger and glared, remembering how her and Mike looked cozied up in the gym, when she went looking for him.

"Eleven? Hey... uhm I'm Max. I've heard so much about you." Max said, breaking the tension.

She held her hand out for El to shake it, but all the girl did was look at it and walk away. Kate walked over to her sister and brought her towards the couch.

"Hey. It's ok. She'll warm up to you eventually." Kate said, trying to cheer her sister up.

"Easy for you to say. She took one good look at you, hugged you, and declared you guys' friends. She looked at me like I was shit. How do you even know her anyway?" Max asked, still sad about the rejection.

"I met her when we were looking for Dart. She was looking for Mike and I helped her find him. I guess she was happy about that and decided to like me." Kate said, with a slight shrug.

They tuned in to hear the ending of Joyce's and El's conversation.

"You opened this gate before, right?" Joyce asked.