HIDDEN !¡ MIKE WHEELER

16. ✰

THE GROUP OF four made it safely back to Mike's house, in the basement like they always were. Mike and Mabel were in the small bathroom, the boy dragging her in there and trying his best to help her twisted ankle. They sat on the floor together as Mike firmly held an icepack to the girl's ankle. Mabel decided to break the silence first. "Don't ever scare me like that again, Michael," she stifled a laugh. "What?" he furrowed his eyebrows, locking eyes with her. "Jump off a freaking cliff. My heart literally sank. You're so lucky El was there," she smiled. "Why... did your heart sink?" he asked her.

Mabel froze, gawking at the boy like he was the dumbest thing to exist. "Are you kidding me? I already lost El. I would've died if something bad happened to you," she playfully shoved his shoulder. "Yeah... I guess so," he smiled, staring back down at his hands on her ankle.
"I— I'm glad that you escaped from the lab and came to Hawkins Middle. If you didn't, I wouldn't have met you. I feel like my life really changed from seeing you on your first day," he slowly admitted to the girl. Mabel giggled as her cheeks turned pink. "Really? You mean it?" she smiled, biting her lip and trying to ignore the butterflies that filled her stomach.

"Of course I do. I don't know what I would do if I didn't meet you, or where I would be right now. You and your sister really helped us in finding Will and I really appreciate it. A lot," he met her eyes again. Mabel's palms started to sweat as the two kids got quiet again, lost in each other's eyes. Mike broke eye contact, staring at the girl's plumped, pink lips, suddenly beginning to lean in towards her. Mabel's heart jolted as his face came closer to hers. Her mind was screaming as he leaned in even closer, their noses almost brushing—

The bathroom door abruptly opened, making the two kids jump apart. Dustin was panting heavily with El behind him. "Guys! It's Lucas! I think he's in trouble," Dustin told them, his eyes switching between the both of them. Mike got up and held out his hand to help the redhead girl up, running out of the bathroom. "You remember how he said he was looking for the gate?" Dustin asked Mike, picking up the staticky walkie-talkie from the table. "Yeah," Mike mumbled. "What if he found it?" Dustin looked up at Mike. The raven-haired boy wasted no time in grabbing the walkie-talkie from Dustin as Lucas' voice was heard screaming from the other end.

"What's he saying?" Mike asks. "I don't know, he's way out of range," Dustin sighs. "...son of a bitch!" the kids were able to make out Lucas swearing before Mike spoke into it. "Lucas, if you can hear us, slow down. We can't understand you," Mike told him calmly. "...Eleven and Mabel... mad hen... coming!" he yelled, the walkie-talkie cutting in and out and the static overpowering his voice. "Mad hen? Does that mean anything to you? Like a code name or something?" Dustin asked. "The bad men are coming!" Lucas shouted. Mabel gasped as she looked at Eleven. Papa's workers, Mabel closed her eyes and telepathically shot signals to Eleven.

"Bad men. Bad men!" Mike repeated to Dustin. "Both of you. Stay here," Mike told El and Mabel while he and Dustin ran up the stairs. "Bad men?" Eleven mumbled to her sister. "Bad men..." Mabel mumbled, her heart beating faster than it ever has before. They needed to leave. Immediately. The boys were upstairs for five minutes before they ran back down, rushing around the basement to get their jackets. "Let's go now!" Mike yells at the girls.

The sisters rush out of their seats, following the boys upstairs and out of the back door. The boys pick up their bikes and Mike stops. "We can't ride these yet until we get on the top of the hill. Mabel, can you run?" he asks the redhead. "Wha— I—" she stutters. "Can you run?!" Dustin repeats, yelling at her. "I can try!" she screams back. "Go, now!" Dustin yells as they take off running.

They got to the top of the hill and Mike stopped, helping Mabel on the back of his bike. They all turned at the same time, watching several men walk up to them. As soon as Mabel locked eyes with Papa, her heart dropped. She felt her eyes getting glossy and sniffled. "Go," she demanded as Mike quickly rode off. "Go, go, go, go, go!" Dustin yelled as he hurried to catch up with them. Mabel and El watched as all the men rushed to get back into their vans, chasing after the kids. "Oh, my god. Oh, my god. Oh, my god. Oh, my god. Oh, my god," Dustin repeated himself, panicking. "Shut up!" Mabel shouted.