Wherever We Go- stranger things book

Chapter 4

James showed the teens to the available rooms and they all put their belongings in the room they each decided on. Dustin and Will's room were in one hallway and the couple's rooms were down a hallway opposite to them. He then proceeded to give the group a tour of the mansion. "I'll give you some time to get settled in. Dinner will be ready downstairs in about an hour." The group nodded and smiled, Will thanked James for letting them stay. James smiled "No problem, it is my pleasure." After he left the room, the group talked among themselves. "Well, guys we should decide as to whether or not we are going to stay one or two nights." Lucas said "Well I want to stay two nights I need a break from being in that car" Dustin informed The rest of the group agreed. Soon the hour had passed, and they headed to get some dinner.  They had a nice big dinner and they all decided that they wanted to go to bed early tonight. They thanked James for dinner and headed up to their rooms.

The group said goodnight to each other, and they all went into their bedrooms. Will was excited that he could spread out and have all the sheets to himself. He claimed that Dustin was a bed hog, so he knew he would enjoy his own bed. Dustin headed into his room after he snuck some extra snacks from the pantry. On his way back he noticed a bar and a lot of alcohol, and he developed a plan that wouldn't be revealed until later.

Mike and El had just changed into their pajamas. Mike was still worried about El he felt like something was off with her but, when he asked, she would just say everything was fine. He could see the red marks forming on her wrist from her pinching. Mike decided to stop asking her about it for now and he would ask again later, maybe she would want to talk about it then.

They curled up in bed next to each other and after a few lazy make-out sessions El curled up in Mike's arms as he played with her hair which was extra wavy since she had just taken out the braids that Max had done for her. Mike shut off the lamp on the bedside table and whispered: "I love you more than anything else in this world" into El's ear. El smiled lazily and said "Right back at you Wheeler" Mike chuckled and she said, "But Mike, I seriously don't know what I would do without you." Mike kissed her cheek and said "Good thing we won't find out cause this is for life" he said motioning between the two of them. She smiled and they drifted off to sleep.

It was around 2 am when Mike heard it.

El's scream. She shot out of the bed and screamed for him as tears were rushing down her face as she continued to cry. Mike sat up only to notice that she couldn't see him there. "Mike? Where are you? Mike, I need you! Mike!" El continued to sob. Mike jumped out of bed and turned on the light and ran back over to El. "El I'm right here, everything is okay, you're safe, I'm here." As reality slowly sunk in El looked around and her eyes met with Mikes as she held back the tears that threatened to spill from her eyes. "It's okay baby, I'm right here," Mike reassured. That is when El let out all her tears. Mike knew what was happening, every few months El would often have night terrors. The last time she had one, Hopper had to call Mike so he could come over and calm her down.

As El sobbed the tiniest bit of blood dripped down from her nose. Another side effect of her night terrors. Mike was angry at himself for not realizing this is what had been bothering her. El always could tell if she was going to experience a night terror that was probably why she was acting so off.  As El continued to sob, The blood from her nose started to drip down onto her t-shirt. While technically it was Mike's shirt, and she was wearing it as a nightgown. Mike reached over and grabbed a tissue from the nightstand and wiped away the blood. Mike pulled her in close as she rested her head in the crook of his neck as she continued to weep.

Then the door opened and in peered a concerned Lucas and Max. El had not seen them yet, but Mike had "is everything okay?" Lucas asked. El's head shot up from Mike's shoulder and when she realized they weren't alone she clung to him like a koala and continued to sob, acting as though they were going to take her away. "Sorry to wake you guys, El is having a night terror" Mike explained. They slowly nodded "Is she okay?" Max asked concern growing in her eyes. "she will be." Mike replied as he slowly rubbed her back. "okay well we will leave you guys alone. We just wanted to make sure everything was okay." Lucas said "goodnight," Mike said as they closed the door and headed back to their room.

Some time passed and El had started to calm down, the sobbing had stopped and had now faded to sniffles. Mike was sitting up, El still in his lap. Her arms wrapped around his neck and her head rested on his chest as she listened to his heartbeat. Mike looked down at the girl in his arms. Her eyes were swollen from crying and her tear-stained cheeks. El looked up and their eyes met. "I'm sorry," El said her voice cracking "Sorry? What are you sorry for? I'm sorry for not knowing this was going to happen." Mike said, "I should have just told you what was wrong and maybe this wouldn't have happened" El continued on. "El it's not your fault we just have to get better at talking about these things" Mike comforted.

El nodded in agreement and said, "I'm so embarrassed that I woke up Max and Lucas." El said holding back another cry. "El it's okay, they were just worried about you," Mike said, "I know but they have never seen me like that, and I hate when this happens," El explained. "I'm sure that they won't make it a big deal El, they love you." Mike smiled.

"Do you want to talk about your dream?" Mike asked. El nodded "It was the same as last time. I was back in the lab and Papa said that if I didn't listen, he would hurt you, and Mike I promise I tried but my powers weren't strong enough, Papa got mad and took you away from me an-and" El ranted but couldn't finish her sentence as a sob racked through her body. "shhh its okay El, I'm right here no one took me away. We are both together and we are safe. The bad men are gone" Mike comforted. Tears started to pour down El's cheeks once again. "are you sure I'm-"El was cut off by Mike's lips connecting with hers.

  Once they pulled apart El said "I love you" "I love you more El hopper" Mike replied. "Well, I love you most" el stated back "Well I love you more than most," Mike said "Not possible" El claimed. Mike made a face-of shock that caused El to let out a giggle. Mike smiled "There's that little laugh I love." El kissed his cheek in response and they crawled back under the covers. El fell asleep with her head on Mike's chest and slept peacefully until they woke up the next morning.

Max and Lucas were still worried about what happened with El last night. So, Max decided to go check on her before they went downstairs to get some breakfast. She knocked on the door and Mike answered. "Hey Max," Mike said "Hey can I come in I want to see El," Max said. "Sure she is just in the bathroom getting ready for the day, also she is really embarrassed about last night so she might not want to talk about it" Mike explained. "Okay," Max said as she walked into the room. Mike walked over to the bathroom door and knocked "Hey El, Max is here." El opened the bathroom door. "I'm going to go downstairs to get down breakfast if you need me," Mike told her as he kissed her forehead. "Okay," El smiled. Mike smiled and left the room leaving the two girls to talk.

It was silent for only a moment until El said "I'm really sorry I woke you and Lucas up last night" "El you don't have to be sorry. You can't control these types of things" Max smiled "I know but I still feel bad I mean this is the first night in a while that we have all actually got to sleep in beds that weren't crappy" El said explained further. "Well, I mean if it makes you feel better, you should know that Me and Lucas weren't even Sleeping" Max Smirked. El's eyes went wide and then she let out a giggle "Oh really?" El said "Yep, we took advantage of the non-crappy bed" Max continued. El let out a laugh. Max and El continued on the conversation with Max giving some details on her night.