Always Be There For You ~ Dustin Henderson x Reader

Chapter 6: The Monster

TW: forced stripping.

Mike paced back and forth in his basement while Dustin and I sat on his couch. He was fuming, he had no idea where El was and he had just gotten into a fight with one of his best friends.

"I just... I can't believe she didn't come back!" Mike disappointedly shouted at us.

"She's gotta be close," Dustin told him.

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

"Mike calm down," Dustin said.

"I shouldn't have yelled at her I should never have done that," Mike continued to wallow.

"Mike, this isn't your fault," I reassured him.

"Yeah, it's Lucas's!" Mike exclaimed.

"It wasn't his fault either," I insisted.

"It wasn't his fault?" Mike repeated questioningly.

"No," I replied.

"So, you're saying he wasn't totally out of line?" Mike angrily asked.

"Totally, but so were you," I answered.

"What?!" Mike questioned.

"And so was Eleven," I added.

"Give me a break!" Mike yelled.

"No, Mike, you give us a break. All three of you were being a bunch of little assholes and Y/n and I were the only reasonable ones," Dustin defended, "The bottom line is... you pushed first."

"You know the rule, you draw first blood..." I said.

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

"You're shaking his hand," I insisted.

"This isn't a discussion, this is the rule of law. Obey or be banished from the party. Do you wanna be banished?" Dustin inquired, looking over at Mike as though he was a child.

"No," Mike meekly answered.

"Good," I responded, picking up my things alongside Dustin. Dustin and I began to leave the basement when Mike asked, "Where are we going?"

"Where do you think?" I sarcastically questioned, "We're gonna go get Lucas."
"And then we're gonna find Eleven," Dustin added. Dustin and I left the basement and walked out to our bikes, leaving Mike to grab his stuff alone. I smiled at Dustin, proud of what we had just accomplished, and offered him a high five. He enthusiastically accepted it, and once Mike got there we rode off to Lucas's house.

We tossed our bikes in Lucas's driveway and stood by his door. Mike didn't move a muscle, so I pressed the doorbell for him. Lucas's face dropped when he answered the door and saw Mike standing before him.

"What do you want?" Lucas spat. Mike didn't say anything, so I smacked him on the shoulder to get him to speak.

"I drew first blood, so..." Mike held out his hand. Lucas opened the door, we stepped inside, and headed towards his living room. After a few moments of just standing in the middle of his living room, watching Lucas contemplate, he let out a "hmm" noise.

"Okay, I'll shake. On one condition," Lucas said, "We forget the weirdo and go straight to the gate."

"The deal's off!" Mike bitterly replied.

"Fine!" Lucas shouted.

"Fine!" Mike repeated.

"No, not fine! Guys, seriously?" I disappointedly asked, "Do you even remember what happened on the Bloodstone Pass?" Lucas and Mike shook their heads, and Dustin sighed.