more than you know • mileven

eleven.

"morning, stormy," el murmurs as storm licks her awake.

wait storm?

how did she get home? slowly, el sits up and rubs her head as she looks around her room. the memories come back to her slowly and she pieces it all together.

crap.

oh my god, she did not just get drunk on the school roof and almost jumped in front of mike.

"you awake in there?" hopper asks as she hums, "mhm."

he walks in and she gives him a tired smile before opening her arms to ask for a hug, "i'm sorry." she whispers as he goes to hug her, "you okay?" he kisses her hair as she nods, "fine."

"mike brought me back?" she whispers as he nods, "yeah.."

"dad," she pulls back, "i'm really really sorry. i'm sorry for the things i said and the things i did."

"it's okay, kid—"

"it's not okay, dad." she cuts him off, "i shouldn't have said it and i'm sorry." she whispers and pulls on her sheets as he nods, "i know, kid and it's alright." he holds her shoulder, "now what do you want for breakfast? i assume you're not going to school?"

she nods slowly, "toast.. please."

"that's it?" he asks as she nods, "yes." she forces a smile, "i'm not that hungry."

he knew that wasn't the truth. he could tell but he also knew if he pushed her too much, she would run away because that what happens if she can't think things through and is too pressured.

it wasn't the first time but he hoped it was the last.

"okay kiddo, be down soon then." he smiles, taking storm into his arms before exiting her room.

sighing, she reaches over to the nightstand to grab her phone but when she sees nothing, she remembers she dropped it seven stories down.

"crap.." she mumbles to herself.

she was saving up to buy ella a phone and now that is definitely pushed back.

of course el knew it was not ideal for a 8 year old to have a phone but it would easier for them to call each other if something happened and not borrow phones everywhere.

she throws her head back with a quiet groan then stands up to her bathroom to get ready for the day.

as she grabs her brush and start to brush through her brown hair in the mirror, she frowns once she sees her now obvious cheekbones and jawline.

her eyes were dark from her lack of proper rest and she looks half dead.

at that, she slowly looks down at her brush and see her hair falling out a bit more than yesterday and bites down on her bottom lip to stop herself from breaking down.

"i'm okay.." she whispers to herself as she takes a deep breath and blinks, "i'm okay."

she was not.

she drops the brush and quickly washes her face and teeth before she slowly walked out to go join hopper for dinner. her walking was slow, everything to her was slow but she just felt so damn weak.

as the doorbell rings and startles her, she holds onto the railings and then gulps before walking over to open it.

she opens the door slowly, making sure to hide behind it just in case and then smiles weakly seeing it was mike.

but her smile drops when she remembers what she was wearing so she hides more till all he could see was her head.

"hi." she starts as he smiles back, "hey.."