Iɴ Tʜᴇ Eɴᴅ Iᴛs Hɪᴍ & I | Mɪʟᴇᴠᴇɴ Oɴᴇsʜᴏᴛs (Sᴛʀᴀɴɢᴇʀ Tʜɪɴɢs)

The Middle

{After closing the gate, Hopper keeps El locked up in the house, only letting her see her friends twice a month. But El doesn't like to follow the rules; Hopper should know that El will do whatever she can to see Mike, even if that means sneaking out}

Age 14

"Kid, go get ready for bed..." Hopper said as he set his empty beer can on the table.

"Do I have to?" El pouted. "Please, can I stay up longer?"

It was only 9:11pm and El didn't want to go to bed until Hopper was ready to. Ever since she had closed the gate, Hopper made her stay locked up in the house like before; only now she was able to see Mike and her friends twice a month. But it wasn't enough. She loved Mike; being away from him for 2 weeks at a time made her heart hurt.

Little did Hopper know that his "goody-two-shoes daughter"" snuck out constantly to meet Mike. They had been meeting eachother for 3 weeks now; Hopper had no idea about what happened every night after he tucked El in and went to sleep.

"Fine, you can stay up a little bit longer..." Hopper said, opening another can of beer. El grinned at sat next to him and looked at the TV.

"When can I stop hiding...?" She asked suddenly, her eyes not leaving the screen.

"What?"

"When can I stop hiding in here? When can I be a normal kid? When can I see Mike everyday?" Her voice cracked when she said the last sentence.

Hopper sighed. "Soon kid... just hold on a little bit longer... Everything will be normal soon... i promise kid..."

El looked down sadly. "I-I'll be in my room..." She stood up and walked into her bedroom, using her powers to turn up the TV volume so Hopper wouldnt be able to hear what she was about to do.

El reached under her bed, pulling out the supercom Mike had gotten for her. "M-Mike? Are you there?"

A minute later, his voice came through. "Yeah I'm here. Over."

She lowered her voice and said, "Meet in 15 minutes? Hopper might go to sleep soon..."

"Yeah sure... Should we meet at our usual place, the lake?" The lake was halfway between El's house and Mike's house, and that was the easiest place for them to meet, the middle.

"Yes.." She replied, a smile flickered across her lips. "Meet me in the middle, like aways..."

"Okay.. I'll see you soon... Um, love you..." He said softly.

El blushed a bit and whispered. "Love you too Mike."

Just recently, Mike had said the "L" word to her, so the sentence "I love you" was still pretty new. But El had understood the meaning and instantly said it back to him. They were both in love.

El quickly placed the supercom under her bed just as she heard Hopper walking down the hallway. She layed down on her bed subtly as he opened the door. She calmly looked at him as he leaned against the doorframe.

"Uh Kid, I'm going to sleep... so goodnight, and go to sleep in 10 minutes..." And with that he left the room, closing the door behind him.

El smirked and she quickly looked in the mirror and fixed her hair. Being locked up in a house for so long had made El sneaky and deceptive... and had also given her the ability to think quickly on the spot.

She positioned her pillows under the blanket just in case Hopper walked into her room while she was out with Mike. El opened her bedroom window and climbed out of it. She quickly jogged away from the house until she was out of sight, then began walking normally.

The air was warm and she rolled up her sleeves and continued to walk through the dark streets of Hawkins. Eventually she reached the lake and sat down near the water, waiting for Mike to show up. 

A few minutes later she heard movement behind her. El turned around only to see Mike placing his bike against a tree. She released the breathe she was holding and a smile flickered across her lips as their eyes met.

"Hey El..." Mike said softly, walking over to her. He knelt down and hugged her from behind. She relaxed against him and closed her eyes as Mike pressed a soft kiss against her head. "I missed you..."

"I missed you too Mike..." El said, even though she had seen him yesterday night. He sat next to her and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her into his chest. She took a deep breathe and closed her eyes, enjoying his warmth. "Has anyone said anything about me?"

"Well, everyone misses having you around..." Mike said softly. "Will's been wanting to thank you for saving him still... Dustin, Lucas and Will always talk about you... And Max... Well, she's..  I dont know... Shes kinda distant... I dont know how to explain it..."

El nodded, looking up at him, and got lost in his dark eyes. A smile flashed across his lips, right before their lips met. His arms wrapped around her waist softly as her hand rested on his chest. Their lips lingered for a moment before they pulled away.

"I love you Mike... I love you more... Than Eggos and anyone else in the world..." She whispered as her cheeks turned red.

"El, you dont know how  much i love you... I-I literally lost it when you went missing... I need you..." His eyes flashed with tears as he thought about the 353 days without El... The nights he had called her, hoping she was still out there; then finding out Hopper had been hiding her.

"Mike." El said sternly. "Im here now. Im not going to leave again. I promise... And girlfriends dont lie." She put her hand on his jaw and smiled slightly.

He smiled back and pulled her close and wrapped his arms around her in a tight hug. El closed her eyes and buried her face in his chest.

"El... When will you be able to... Hang out with us normally...?"

"Soon... I hope... I um, have to wait a little bit longer..."

"I hate not having you around all day... Every day..."

"I know Mike... Soon everything will be normal... Ill hang out with you and the party... Maybe go to school... And be normal... But at least, right now, I have you..." She looked up at him. "If i didnt have you... And if we didnt meet every night... I would lose my mind... I-I-"

"Its okay El... I understand... Im glad we can see eachother like this... Every night..." Mike pressed a soft kiss against her lips. "I love you El... I always have... I always will..."

"I love you too... Thank you for not giving up on me..."

AWWWWW I GOT EM' MILEVEN FEELS RIGHT NOW...