Ao3 story (Why would you ever kiss me)

Part 11

El was halfway through the forest when it started to rain. It was an immediate torrential downpour that hit hard enough to feel like small rocks on her back. She trudged on, thankful that she'd put shoes on before leaving. She usually liked the rain, but it only seemed to make things more difficult to find Will. If circumstances were different she'd sit down and let the monotonous static of the rain lull her into a mindscape where she could actually find him. Hear him. Know that he was okay.

Monster.

El shook the thoughts out of her head and continued down the trail dodging puddles of mud as she went. She didn't really even know where to start to look for him. She hadn't known him very well when they both lived in Hawkins, so now she could only guess which places that he would choose to hide.

The rain was relentless and she could hardly see five feet in front of her. What if this was the doing of 001 somehow? No, 001 could do many things, but weather manipulation wasn't one of them. This was just bad luck.

Every part of El wanted to stop, the beginnings of a headache were swirling around in her brain. The pain, peculiarly, only seemed to grow in magnitude with every passing second. She tried to ignore it, but eventually the unbearable pain brought her to her knees. It felt like someone had taken a chisel to her skull. Like someone was trying to invade her thoughts. Her mind.

She heard a voice then, as if it were speaking directly into her ear:

"I know you're trying to keep me out. To hide. You won't be able to for much longer..."

El cried out in pain. Blood gushed out of her nose and dripped onto her shirt. She wanted to give up. To surrender to the violent attack on her mind.

It's not your mind that he wants.

El's eyes narrowed. 001 was still trying to get to Will. But their plan was working. 001 actually believed that she was Will. Will would be safe as long as she kept him out. El pushed against the force, unwilling to let it crack the armor around her thoughts.

After what could've been hours of pushing back, the force disappeared, along with the pain that it brought with it. El stood up on wobbly knees that were now soaked in mud. She wanted to sleep, but she knew that would be the wrong move. Her mind was vulnerable now more than ever. No more sleeping. She had to find Will anyways. She had to.

——

The rain was now a drizzle, almost a mist as it came down. Mike looked over at El, who had passed out at some point while they were waiting for the rain to stop. Something about the way she'd been acting recently was almost suspicious. For example: she was too shy to kiss him today.

He just couldn't wrap his head around that.

And it almost seemed like they were finally speaking the same language, too. It had always been difficult to talk to her about certain things. But now he felt like she could understand anything that he threw at her. She wouldn't just listen to him anymore, but she could empathize. It felt like she knew him. Really knew him.

At what point had that happened? He ran the events of the week over and over in his head, trying to pick out the moment where everything had changed. He remembered spring break. Wait. That didn't make sense. Why didn't that make sense?

Mike narrowed his eyes at the girl who barely made a sound as she slept, his head full of limitless questions. He looked at her like she would whisper the answer in her sleep. And to his surprise he noticed that she was actually mumbling things. He leaned closer to hear, only to realize every little thing she was saying was inaudible.

And as he inched unconsciously closer, it was like she could sense his invasion of her space. El's eyes bolted open and she jolted up, shaking the entire bus with her.