Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
chapter thirty-nine , Face your fears
a/n : content warning! Implied Racism
━━━━━━━━━━
Mike and Eleven greet each other with a tight embrace. Gus smiles softly at the two. Sofía raises her brows in awe of the girl. She's heard so many stories about Eleven. Her powers, her bravery, her protectiveness. It was all something Sofía admired. Fallon kept her brows knitted together. "Hold on..." she lessens her grip on the axe.
Gus looks at Fallon, who had confusion written all over her face. Fallon points at Eleven and looks at Gus. "I thought she was...you know." The curly-haired girl closes her eyes and sticks her tongue out, signifying death. Gus raises her brows and slightly opens her mouth. Shit. She and Hopper had to explain that they knew Eleven was alive this entire time.
"I never gave up on you." Tears brim Mike's eyes. "I called you every night. Every night for—"
"353 days." Eleven finishes. "I heard."
Mike slightly shakes his head. "Why didn't you tell me you were there? That you were okay?"
"Because I wouldn't let her," Hopper speaks up. He walks toward Eleven. "The hell is this? Where you been?"
"Where have you been?" Eleven questions back, the same way Gus did earlier.
Hopper then pulls Eleven into a hug and she hugs him back. Gus walks toward the two, "Would now be a bad time to ask about who's watching Hedwig?"
Eleven looks at Gus and tears fill her eyes. She bites her lower lip and wraps her arms around Gus' waist, not caring about the tears that were now staining her clothes. Gus stumbles back from the eager hug but she touches Eleven's back, hugging her as well. After, Eleven got mad at Gus for not taking a side during her and Hopper's argument; she had been ignoring Gus. But after she had just met Kali, Eleven was even more grateful for Gus. Gus kept Eleven grounded, and she tried her best to help Eleven feel like a normal kid. That just made Eleven miss Gus more than ever.
Eleven pulls away from the hug and wipes her eyes. "I put a lot of food and water in Hedwig's cage before I left." She sniffles.
Gus bites the inside of her cheek, "I bet you he's having a field day with that." She touches the top of Eleven's head and chuckles.
Mike keeps his eyes on Hopper, "You've been hiding her." His upper lip curls with rage. "You've been hiding her this whole time!" He shoves Hopper.
