A life less ordinary ||~~Elax/Elmax~~||

While you were sleeping part 1

A/N  2nd update of the day, there will be one more...and then no more until next week. I hope it isn't dragging too much, I wanted to try and have a semi-decent plot too but I waffle on far too much sometimes, so apologies...stay awesome, folks xx

"The quakes are getting worse, more frequent" Hopper said, fiddling with the cigarette in his hand, fighting the urge to light one for the first time in over a year.

"I know, they've actually started to cause significant damage, people are starting to get scared, especially after all the...the 'weirdness' that happened a few years ago" said Joyce. "You really think it has something to do with El?" she asked, trying to hide the concern and fear for El in her voice.

Hopper ran his hand through his hair and sighed loudly, "I don't know, but, come on, how can we ignore the possibility? Karen, Ted, what do you guys think?"

As usual Ted was staring vacantly out the window, Karen rolled her eyes at him and turned to Hopper and Joyce, "I don't want to say it...but yes, I think the earthquakes and El are linked somehow. They mainly happen late at night or first thing in the morning, when she's sleeping, so I started keeping a closer eye on her; I watched when she napped during the day, she still gets quite tired sometimes" she explained.

"And? What did you see?" probed Hopper, he and Joyce leaning forward in anticipation.

Karen mirrored their action and also leaned closer, "I watched her sleeping, on more than one occasion, at the same time the tremors start she'll start having a nightmare, and as soon as she wakes up, they stop...I hate to even think it, but, I don't know, we need to look into it more."

"How about a sleep study at the hospital?" suggested Joyce, piquing their interest, "when Will was still...poorly...he went in a couple of times. He was fine with it, they're really good."

Karen and Hopper nodded, "that sounds like a good idea, Karen?"

"Chief...before you ask me to suggest it to El, I think we all need to be there, the rest of the gang included. I think El will be scared, more than you realize, the idea that she could potentially hurt people without even knowing it will freak her out, and I don't want her to think we're forcing her by ganging up on her" stated Karen adamantly.

*~~~~~~~~~~~~*

El walked towards the dining room and stopped just outside, out of sight, Karen had asked everyone to meet there at 3 o'clock and one by one El heard them arrive. She had an uneasy feeling in her stomach and didn't want to go in. "El?" she heard Max's voice say.

Blinking a few times, realizing she'd been miles away thinking, she nodded "yeah?"

"Your mom sent me to find you...are you ok? Do you know what this is about?"

"Uh, yeah and no, I don't know..." she said quietly, still not wanting to move.

"Come on" Max said, grabbing her hand, "the sooner we go in, the sooner we can leave" she said reassuringly.

El couldn't help but look down at their hands intertwined, then back up at Max, her mind automatically going back to her thoughts from the other night. Giving her a small smile she nodded and followed her into the dining room, whereupon everyone stopped talking and looked at her.

"El, sit down honey, we need to talk to you about something" said Joyce calmly, not wanting to freak her out and failing miserably.

"Guys, cut the crap, what's this about?" asked Lucas seriously, "can't you see you're freaking her out?"

Hopper sighed loudly, "ok kid, you're right. We're here to discuss the earthquakes, tremors, whatever, that have been happening recently" he stated.

El just stood there, not quite understanding what they were trying to say.

Looking around at the rest of the gang, Mike frowned and asked "do you think it has something to do with El?"

Hopper looked at Karen and exchanged an uncomfortable look, him nodding at her almost imperceptibly. Taking a deep breath, as if to gather courage, she looked at El and said "when the first few small earthquakes happened, I found it odd that you never knew about them, and I realized that they always happened when you were asleep." Rubbing her hand nervously over her mouth, she continued, "I...watched you while you were sleeping..." she admitted guiltily, "and I realized that the quakes, they coincided with...they occur, at the same time you have a nightmare."

El sat down shakily, if only to stop herself from falling down, with her mouth slightly open in shock. She glanced up and saw that everyone was looking at her, everyone except Max who was glaring at them all threateningly to stop them staring.

"Well that's all well and good" said Dustin, "but what do you want to do about it?"

"Yeah" Will piped up, "right now it's just a coincidence, you said it yourself."

"You're right" replied Joyce, "but the sooner we can say for sure, one way or another, the better for El. Will, you remember when you were ill, the sleep study you had?" He nodded, the idea becoming clear immediately to everyone else too.

"El, we think it would be a good idea for you to undergo a sleep study at the hospital" Hopper said, "Will did the same a couple of years ago, all that happens is they watch you sleep, take some readings, and then we can go from there. How does that sound?"

El looked around at all their faces, scared, not wanting to let anyone down, she nodded, "ok" she said quietly.

"Great, I'll phone them, we might be able to do it this evening so go and pack an overnight bag" Hopper said.

El nodded slowly, standing, she turned and left the room without another word. "Max, can you see if she's ok?" asked Karen, worried about El's subdued reaction. She nodded and followed El upstairs, knocking softly on her bedroom door Max walked in and found El sitting on the edge of her bed gazing out of the window.

"El?" she softly, "talk to me."

El looked down, "I'm scared" she whispered.

Max closed her eyes, not being able to stand El so upset. She sat next to her and took El's hand in her own, lacing their fingers. El took a deep breath, "will you stay with me?" she asked turning to Max, a pleading look on her face.

"Of course I will" Max said, squeezing El's hand, "let me just ring my mom, ok?" El gave a sigh of relief, and nodded.

*~~~~~~~~~~~~*