Together Again

Chapter 6 - The Letter (part 2)

Steve ran back to the living room where Max and Lucas were waiting. "He's gone." Steve breathed, fighting back tears. He was king Steve, he could not let these kids see him cry.

Lucas held up a hat. Attached to the hat was a headset. It was Dustin's. "We can't even radio him." Lucas cried, throwing his arms down in frustration.

"Maybe he is somewhere else." Max added, trying to lighten the mood. They raced back to the car. Behind the car was a beautiful array of colours. Pink, orange, yellow, blue. The sun dipped lower into the sky.

Nancy and Jonathan had gotten out of the car. Steve hollered at them to get back in but Jonathan held up a hand.

They formed a circle and lowered their voices, not wanting the others to hear. "We should leave a couple people here, in case he comes back. I was thinking Max and El." Jonathan whispered. The other two looked confused, why those two? "Look at El. She looks exhausted." She had dark circles under her mouth and dried blood above her lips. She had barely slept the last two nights because of Hopper, and the two days ago had just started school. A lot had happened today and she needed a break.

Nancy spoke up. "When we were cloud hunting, Max looked terrified. I think the whole thing has her a little shaken up. I know she puts on a brave face and everything, but when you almost die, your perspective can change. If we do have a run-in with the cloud again, I think it's best to leave her out of it." The group agreed that was best. The boys still looked like they were doing fine, they would be the strongest if anything happened.

Steve told the kids the plan. There was plenty of arguing. "Hey! Listen here. That is the plan and you s***heads aren't going to change it. No buts. Now you two, out." He pointed to Max and El. Max got out of the car quickly. She was actually glad. She had been trying to get El to come around to her, she had no idea why she hated her. Maybe this was her chance.

El got out hesitantly. She looked at Mike with a worried look in her eyes. She started to mumble something but the words weren't coming out like she wanted.

Mike shushed her, stroking her hair. "It's going to be just fine."

"But...what if...you need me? What if the cloud..." she trailed off.

"We are just going to find Dustin. We'll be okay."

A tear trickled down her face. Mike lifted a hand and brushed it away with his thumb. He placed his hands on her jawbone. He leaned his head foreword and placed his lips on her forehead. He held them there for a few seconds. The warmth of his lips on her forehead calmed her. She took a deep breath, breathing in the faint smell of cologne. She exhaled as his lips slowly fell away from his forehead. In this moment it was just the two of them, they had forgotten about the other 6 of them and didn't notice them watching.

Now was the time, mike thought. He opened his mouth and began speaking. "El...I...I...I think...I'm—" he was cut off.

Beep! The car horn went. They looked over to see Steve in the passenger seat with his hand reached across to the horn. "Sorry lovebirds, but we gotta go!" Steve hollered, ruining the moment.

El leaned foreword and pulled him in for a quick embrace, feeling his warmth one last time, before she turned and ran towards the house. Goodbye Mike. She though as her feet hit the ground with every step.

Mike watched her run off, so elegant, so smooth. A tear now escaped is eye. As he tried to blink back the rest. El disappeared inside the door and Mike turned and scrambled inside the car, next to Nancy. In his head, he finished his sentence, falling in love with you.

Now there was almost room for everyone in the car, Nancy sat in the backseat between Will and Mike, and it was fairly squishy in the back, but much better than before. She had gotten to know Will fairly well in the past year, when she was dating Jonathan, he was like a little brother to her now. But he could never take the place of Mike.

She glanced over to Mike and noticed he was trying to hide the tears welling in his eyes. She lifted her arm and put it around him, resting her head on his shoulder. Slowly, his hand reached up and fell on top of hers, on his shoulder. He leaned his head on top of hers and rested it. Neither of them needed to say anything, just knowing that they had each other was enough. They both needed each other equally. Although Mike didn't know it, his presence was helping Nancy. She was grieving over this breakup, and had not had time to work through it on her own. Nancy's head resting on his shoulder assured Mike that she would be there for him. No matter what happened, he could turn to her for help. Nancy closed her eyes and began to drift off. Soon her breathing became even. Mike glanced down at her and smiled. He leaned his head back on hers and they sat like that for a long while.

Hey everyone!! This is probably one of the best chapters I've written. I thought I would add in a few sweet moments between Mileven romance and some warm hearted sibling moments.

Sorry this part took so long for me to get out. I had it mostly written, then decided to go back and add something and I ended up changing the entire chapter, but this one turned out waaaay better than what I had written before.

I think that this is my favourite part so far, let me know what you think in the comments!!