Stranger Things One Shots

02-N-Scars

AN: This is part two of The Snowball. Hope you enjoy!

Mike and Eleven walked back into the gym hand in hand, just as Barb struck the last note of My Heart Will Go On. Mike led Eleven onto the dance floor, both of their smiles so wide their eyes crinkled at the corners. Barb began singing I Wanna Dance With Somebody next, and Mike and Eleven continued to dance their hearts out. That is, until someone else barreled into Eleven. "HEY-" began Mike, until he realized Eleven was laughing. He saw the curly mop of hair on the 'attacker' and let out a laugh at his own protectiveness. It was just Dustin.

"Eleven!!! You're back!!!!" He exclaimed, while helping her up. "I didn't mean to hit into you that hard, I was just so excited to see you and I had to give you a hug and-"

Eleven smiled softly and said, "I missed you." Dustin smiled as wide as humanly possible.

"Wait, I thought you and Lucas weren't coming?" Mike interrupted their moment.

"Well, Will happened to have his walkie talkie in his bag, and as soon as he saw you walk in with her he ditched his date to inform us. Lucas was asleep on the couch, so here I am," replied Dustin. "Now, come on! Let's dance!"

•

After the Snowball was over, they rode their bikes home, Eleven in her usual spot on the back of Mike's bike. Dustin waved goodbye when he saw his street, and then it was just Eleven and Mike.

Mike didn't want to push her to tell him anything, and he knew she would tell him when the time was right, but he was just so curious. Where was she? What happened to her? Are there monsters like the demogorgon still out there?

Eleven disrupted Mike's thoughts when she said, "Home." Mike looked ahead and sure enough, his house was visible. He felt a wave of just pure feeling sweep over him, making his eyes water and his heart physically hurt. He had just missed her so, so much. "Yeah. You're home," he replied.

•

Mike had gone into his house first to check if his parents were still awake. After all, they still didn't know about anything that had happened. Mike honestly couldn't believe how oblivious they were. He had talked to Nancy about it, about how they may be suspicious, and she just scoffed. They had no idea what was going on, and in order for it to stay that way, Eleven would have to stay in the basement until they found a better place for her.

Mike can back outsiders retrieve El, as the coast was clear. "Come on El, all your blankets are still downstairs just like you left them, okay?" He smiled at her, and she softly grabbed his hand in response. Mike's cheeks turned pink as they walked back inside, and he was relishing the feeling of her hand in his. It had just been so long...

They tiptoed down the stairs, avoiding the one step that always creaks, and Mike turned on the light. "Okay El, I guess you can sleep in the same spot as you used to, right? Is that okay?" Eleven didn't respond as she approached her old fort of blankets Mike had made for her. She went inside, and Mike was about to pull down the blanket in front when she grabbed his wrist.

"No."

Mike was confused. She had always let him block out the light with the blanket in the front. "No, what? I thought this was okay?" Eleven shook her head again, and her eyes looked kind of... shiny. Wait. Was she crying?

Sure enough, Mike saw a tear finally escape from her eye, and he felt his chest tighten to the point where it was painful. What had done this to her? Why was she so... vulnerable?

Mike didn't know what to do so he just put his arms around her on instinct. He was regretting doing so when she wasn't responding after a few seconds, and he was about to pull away when her arms flew around his neck. He felt a weight lift off of him, one that had been there for months.

"Don't leave," she whispered. Mike, tucking her head under his chin, responded with, "I won't."

"Promise?"

"Promise."