Tell Me Something Good

07

AN: This chapter is dedicated to @LittleBlondie_13 and @DaMysticOreo for leaving me supportive comments and giving me feedback! *disclaimer* I know the kids are supposed to be in school, but I didn't specify that they're on winter break for two weeks. At some point, they will be going to school, just not yet.

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Mike lays wide awake in his bed. He likes to think about different scenarios and scenes before he goes to sleep. He lays flat on his back with his arms folded neatly across his chest. He plays with his fingers while he thinks. Like, what if Troy had hurt Eleven? Mike wouldn't be able to live with himself. Eleven could have easily killed Troy, but she didn't. This scared Mike, but also captivated him. Eleven could kill him, his family, his friends. But he knows she won't, because she chose him. Mike thinks it's like having a pet tiger; if you gain its trust and treat it right, nothing will happen. It's still a loaded weapon. But Mike worries about the day something could go wrong. She's still learning, and could make a mistake in the future. But Eleven isn't a tiger, she knows right from wrong; she's not an animal. This makes Mike feel like he's "living dangerously." Sometimes Mike forgets she even has powers, which is probably what El wants. She's just longing to be normal, and Mike treats her that way. He takes a sharp breath and decides he can't sleep. He shuffles the covers and hoists himself out of bed. With one hand, he runs his hand through his dark hair, and the other grips the railing. He places himself in the living room and turns on the tv. He turns the volume low so no one would wake up. But he begins to hear faint noises, like whispering? No, crying. He turns the tv off completely and listens carefully. At first he thinks it's Nancy, but then he realizes the source is from the basement. Mike opens the door in a panic, and as soon as he reaches to bottom of the stairs Eleven stands up and runs to him. He embraces her in a tight hug and sways her a little, just to calm her down. She cries harder into Mikes shoulder.

"Shh..hey what's wrong? What happened?" Mike says with a dove-like tone. Eleven is now in hysterics and the only thing Mike can do is just sway her and 'shush' her.

"I...had another," she says this staggering, with sniffles in between. "Another nightmare." She finishes with a huff and only a few more tears. Mike peels her away to look at her. His eyes are sweet tempered and hers are glossy and scared. As soon as he looks at her she stops crying; like he healed her.

"Remember what I told you? They aren't real. I'm right here." He grabbed her face gently with one hand. She looked at his hand and wiped her eye.

"In this one," her voice is still shaky. "I lost you Mike. I couldn't find you. I thought you were gone." Mike rubbed his thumb on her soft, tear stained cheek.

"Eleven, I'm right here. I'm not going anywhere. You aren't going to lose me." She smiled at him and her bottom lip quivered.

"Thank you." She barely makes out. He pulls her in to hug her more. He holds her tightly. Her arms aren't wrapped around him, they're pushed up against his body vertically, putting space between his chest and hers. He just wants her to feel safe. He lets go of her and he takes her hand to lead her upstairs. They don't say a single word as they go upstairs. He places her on the couch and he turns on the tv. He sits at the very end of the couch, and Eleven lays down, placing her head in his lap. But she isn't facing the tv. She's looking up at Mike. He plays with her hair, not knowing she's looking at him.

"I love you Mike." He looks down at her. She sits up and places an arm across his lap, leaning on the arm of the sofa, Still facing each other. They kiss, and boy was Mike excited. This time was more...touchy. Mike ran a hand up Elevens bare leg and she shivered. He stopped at the back of her thigh. Eleven grabs a fistful of Mikes hair and she makes a little noise. Mike leans in and Eleven is confused when his lips don't touch hers, but instead they're on her neck. He kissed her supple neck gently, and she enjoyed this. She gripped the back of Mikes shirt and tilted her head just a little. They stopped abruptly when they saw the hall light turn on. They looked at each other, and Eleven flung her body onto the rest of the couch to pretend to be asleep. Mike fell to the floor in an attempt to look like he wasn't just eating Eleven alive. He sits against the couch and pretends to watch tv. Nancy rubs her eyes and looks at the couch, then Mike. She just shakes her head and smiles.

"Idiots." She says before going back upstairs. Mike hears Eleven begin to stir up laughter and all of a sudden she's cracking up. Mike shushes her with a laugh in between. They both begin to giggle quietly. Eleven holds her gut and exhales loudly. She slaps a hand on her forehead and wipes her face.

"I really don't know what goes on in your head." Mike states simply. Eleven chuckles one last time.

"Things you won't understand."

Elevens POV

Me and Nancy sit on her bed like usual and just talk. I tell her stories and she tells me stories too. Like how when Mike was younger, the whole family went to go play tennis and instead of actually playing, Nancy just kept pegging the balls at Mike. Nancy got grounded and Mike had a concussion. I turned my head a little to look out the window. I heard Nancy gasp a little and I snapped my head back to her.

"What?" I question her. She yanks me out of her room and we run down both flights of stairs to get to the basement. Mike is setting up for a campaign later.

"Mike," Nancy says through her teeth. "What is this?" She moves my hair away from my neck and points. I don't really know what she's pointing at but Mike looks scared. He just exposes his teeth, like a nervous smile. I escape Nancy's strong grip on my arm and make my way to the bathroom. I lean close to the mirror and examine my neck. I'm horrified at what I see: a spot. A purple spot and its big. It's almost like a bruise, but I don't remember getting hurt. Mike stands in the door way and I see him in the mirror.

"Mike what is this? What did you do to me?"I'm getting scared. Am I sick? Do I need to go to the hospital?

"El you're ok! Just...don't worry about it. It will go away." I look in the mirror more. I touch it and it hurts. I really don't remember getting hurt, so what could this possibly be?

Mike told me to sit out during this campaign. I don't know why. I've been in Nancy's room for over two hours...I think. I'm starting to get antsy, and I'm tired of looking through Nancy's stuff. She left a while ago to hang out with Jonathan. She offered for me to go, but I could tell she didn't mean it. I make my way downstairs and Mikes eyes go wide when he sees me.

"Uh hey El, did you get bored" I nodded. I sat between Dustin and Mike, and right away Mikes eyes meet mine. He looks terrified, and I could have sworn I saw him sweat. They continue their game, until Lucas stops everyone. He looks at me with his mouth open. Now everyone's staring at me. My eyes dart around for a second and I tuck hair behind my ear. Mike cuts into the silence.

"Well uh let's continue shall w-" Lucas puts a hand out telling Mike to be quiet. Dustin looks over at me and I only move my eyes, not my head. Dustin jumps out of his chair and screams into his hands. He was sorta laughing, and will had covered his mouth to stifle his laughter. Lucas looked at Mike blankly.

"Really Mike? You gave her a hickey?" Dustin snorted and Will laughed louder. Mike slammed his head on the table again but it was harder this time. I covered the spot on my neck with my hand.

"What's a hickey?" I say quietly. The boys look at me, and all at once,

"Oh my god" they say in unison. except Mike. Mikes head is still on the table. Dustin snorts again,

"Mike I didn't know you were such a ladies man" everyone laughed.

"Yeah Mike," Lucas is now laughing "Eleven, don't let him get too frisky." The three boys are now in hysterics. Mike raises his head suddenly and he looks angry.

"Ok can we please continue we don't have time for this!" Everyone goes silent, and Mike begins to read from his binder again. The boys all duck their heads to where Mike couldn't see them and they giggled quietly. Every time they looked at each other they either smiled or tried to hold in laughter. I don't understand; what is a hickey, and why is it so funny?!