brutal ━ mike wheeler

seven. change

SEVEN━━━━
CHANGE

stranger things;
season 3    ep 5

AFTER THE WHOLE SAUNA ordeal, the group of teens had returned to Mike's house, residing in the basement like they usually do. They had all gotten a good night's sleep to ensure that their energy was replenished. El sat in the middle of all of them with a bandana around her eyes because they had all decided they wanted to tell some adults, but it turns out they had no idea where they were. Blood dripped down her nose as she concentrated, her eyebrows knit together. "Woods." She suddenly stated, her fingers wrapping around each other nervously. Adrian brought his hand up to his mouth, biting the skin around his nails. He wasn't completely sure how he was sitting up right now, even if he had managed to get some sleep.

"Woods?" Lucas repeated to make sure that they had heard her right, looking at the girl in confusion. El nodded with a small hum. "He's with. . . Will's mom. And two other guys." She explained. "My—my mom?" Will leaned forward, raising his eyebrows as he moved a bit closer. "What are they doing?" Max the brunette.

"Ill. . . annoy. They're going to Ill-annoy." El answered. A sudden knock on the door caused Adrian to turn his head to look at the door. "Mike! Breakfast!" Adrian heard Mike's mom shout from where she stood behind the door.

"Not now, Mom!" Mike shouted back, turning back towards El. Adrian turned to look at him with a pointed glare, not understanding how he could talk to his mother like that. "Illinois? Illinois, like the state? The state of Illinois?" El shrugged in response, chewing on her lip. "Ill-annoy." She stammered out, not knowing what to say. Adrian couldn't help but feel bad for her.

"Alright. Thanks, El." Max stood up as El took the bandana off of her eyes. Max gently grabbed both Frankie and El by their wrists and started to drag them into the bathroom. Adrian got up as well but only moved a few feet to sit on the stairs, letting his head rest on the railing. "Why is Hopper all of a sudden hiking with Will's mom to Illinois? And Dustin's MIA, too? I mean, this can't be a coincidence." Adrian turned his head just barely to look at Mike, who was pacing around the room as he tried to piece things together. "What does it matter? The bottom line is, they're not here. It's up to us." Lucas told him, pointing at the four boys in the room.

"Up to us to do what exactly?" Mike stopped, looking at him like he was crazy. "Find Billy and stop him." Adrian shook his head with a scoff, but he stayed silent, turning away from the other boys. "That's a very nice sentiment, but even if El could find him again, and that's a pretty big if, then what?" Mike asked him, and Adrian just knew that he had his arms crossed over his chest.

"We burn the shit out of him and make sure he doesn't escape this time." Adrian could only pinch the bridge of his nose. "Okay, then what?" Mike asked the boy who was sitting on the couch. "Then we win." Lucas pointed out. "Lucas, I love the idea of all this, but if we did get to that point I don't think we would win. I mean, you guys have been going through this for three years at this point." Adrian spoke up finally, although his voice was softer than usual.

"Maybe El knows how to beat him." Will pointed out, causing all four of them to look at the bathroom door. "What are they still doing in there?" Lucas asked, holding his box of cocoa puffs. "Chatting, most likely," Adrian told him, being completely honest.

"Why do girls talk in bathrooms?" Mike asked from where he stood, an eyebrow raised as he rubbed the back of his neck. "It's a place they can be alone," Adrian answered. He found himself hiding in the bathroom stalls at school more often than he would like to admit only because it was quiet.