𝐋𝐎𝐂𝐊𝐄𝐃 𝐀𝐖𝐀𝐘

Useless Experiment

•Eleven POV•
I hopped on the back of Mike's bike and wrapped my arms around his waist. The boys were already waiting there for us. I hopped off the back and Lucas and Dustin starting drawing little hearts in the air with their fingers. Will looked at me nervously, about last night. "El..." he pointed to a black car parked across from the school. I gulped and reached for Mike's hand. "They can't get to you. I won't let them." He whispered and a small smile appeared on my face. We followed the rest of the boys into the school trailing close behind.

•Dustin POV•
That day at lunch Lucas, Will, and I waited for Mike and El, who walked in holding hands everyday. We all snickered but Mike was serious today. "Guys, that car from the government could be coming for us." Mike started. "Those people from last year? Who made those weapons and stuff?" Lucas added as Mike nodded and El looked down. She looked extremely uncomfortable. We all exchanged glances. "And El is one of those weapons." She nodded choking back tears as we all realized how bad those people made her feel. "You're more than that." Mike said making her look up at him and smile. We took a different route to Mike's house after school to avoid running into Hawkins lab vans and luckily we didn't. As soon as we walked in the door, El ran over to Mrs. Wheeler and began to sob into her shoulder. "Mom those people from the lab, they've been following us." Mike said. Her eyes widened and she looked down to El and said "Tomorrow I'm going to Hopper and telling him I want legal documents to show my custody of you." El looked up at her with a tear stained face and repeated the word "custody?". Mrs. Wheeler nodded. "It means that you will be a part of our family and it would be illegal to take you away from us." El smiled and looked to Mrs. Wheeler. "Thank you."

•Lucas POV•
We all made our way downstairs and waited for Mrs. Wheeler to call Hopper. Mike was pacing and El was sitting on the couch, attempting to calm herself down. "Guys what if Hopper can't do anything about the car following us?" Mike rambled on about all the things that could go wrong only making El freak out even more. "Mike calm down!" Dustin shouted to get his attention. The whole room went silent when we heard some quiet yelling coming from the kitchen. "They won't be able to take her back if I have custody, right?..... but that doesn't make sense........ please we need this...... so there's no way around it?.... well just please try!" We heard the phone click back into its place on the wall and a stressed Mrs. Wheeler pacing in the kitchen. "Boys! El! Could you please come up here!" We paused to look at each other before stampeding towards the top of the stairs. The 5 of us squished awkwardly onto the couch while Mrs. Wheeler continued to pace around the living room. I heard her sigh desperately as she looked at all of us. "He said even if we do get custody of her, they might still be able to take her back. Since she is.... government property." At that Eleven sharply inhaled and looked to Mike. "He's gonna try though. Right?" Mike asked, clenching his fists. "Yes, but that doesn't mean it will happen." We all sat in silence before El bolted up the stairs. She slammed her door and began to cry so loudly we could hear her all the way in the living room. "She just wanted a normal life." We all turned to Mike who sat looking at his feet. "Just wait until she stops crying then try and help her." Mrs. Wheeler commanded before leaving the room.

•Mike POV•
We waited outside El's door, leaning against the wall. We held our knees and sat in silence, looking at each other when the crying got louder. Eventually when the crying stopped, we could hear slight mumbles coming from inside the room. "What is she saying?" Dustin asked. We cracked the door open slowly so that she wouldn't notice. She was sitting on her bed, looking at her wrist where the 011 was printed  and slightly shaking. "Experiment....useless experiment..." she continued repeating the words to herself until she broke down crying again. I couldn't take it. I pushed through the door and ran over to the bed. "Mike I-" she started before I cut her off by kissing her. I heard the boys gasp behind me but I didn't care. I just needed her to be happy. "You aren't, nor will you ever be useless." I said before pulling her in and hugging her. We stood and the boys came and surrounded us in a massive embrace. I needed to keep my promise. I needed to keep her safe.

*PLEASE READ A/N*

1. Omg I'm sooo sorry! I've been so inactive and this chapter is so short. I've just been trying to figure out what direction I want to take this book cause there are so many ways it could end. But be ready for major plot twist!
2. 1K OMG TYSM ALSO ILY ALL FOR BEING SO ACTIVE! THIS IS GREAT
3. I'm planning a sequel to this book! And after the sequel I will be starting a new Mileven fanfic so I will be writing a lot of Mileven trash in the future so yay!!
-Ava