𝐂𝐀𝐋𝐋 𝐈𝐓 𝐃𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐆

10-"i promise"

About a week had passed since Mike and Holly were welcomed into what they would now call home. Holly and Beatrice had grown closer over the few days they had known eachother, and they were inseparable. Mike, on the other hand, felt more isolated than he had in years.

He missed home. Not the home with his asshole parents, he missed his friends. He missed El. Not to mention he felt like crap for walking out on her like that after being apart for 353 days the year before.

Mike was in a funk, and everyone could tell. They didn't blame him, however. Dottie and Axel actually felt empathy for the boy, leaving home was not necessarily a piece of cake.

Sunday's were pretty chilled out for the Chicago gang. The kids liked to take walks when the weather was nice, and sometimes they would even eat at their favorite pizza place down the road, if Kali would let them of course.

That morning, Mike had woken up to the sounds of high pitched begging from outside the thin wooden door.

"Pleeeeeaasseeeee." He heard Posie right outside his bedroom.

"Alright, fine. Why don't you ask Mike to come, Holly?" Kali said. And with that, Holly barged into the room, followed by Beatrice and Posie who practically jumped over Holly to get to the edge of the bed. Light flooded into his room making him squint, the small girls giggling contently at his expression.

"Mike! Get up, Posie and Bee wanna take us out to have fun!" Holly squeeked, stepping forward to shake her brother to life. He groaned as he sat up, not having the energy to face the wrath of his five year old sister if he were to say no. And honestly, he had no real reason to say no. Besides the fact that he had a horrible dream the night before and was not up to facing the public feeling how he did. But, for Holly, he capitulated.

He engulfed his feelings and shooed the three girls out of his room, rapidly changing into some clean clothes Kali had lent him. They smelled of cigarettes and laundry detergent, a scent that resembled Hopper's cabin in his mind. He glanced at himself in the mirror, recognizing the utter dejection in his countenance. It was normal, but worse today since all his mind could produce was images of El. He changed into a muted red t-shirt and entered the main room where Holly, Posie, and Bee were impatiently awaiting him.

"Come on!" Posie squealed, running ahead to the front door followed by Holly who was laughing uncontrollably. Bee stayed behind the two, walking alongside Mike. He noticed she was dressed in the same yellow color once more, except this time she wore a white blouse with a yellow collar and her blonde locks had been pulled tightly into 2 dutch braids. Her and Mike lagged behind the other two, her maturity clearly present which contrasted her childish appearance. It was almost as if she were a 20 year old woman in a preschoolers body.

They left the hideout, making their way to the main streets slowly as they absorbed the beaming sunlight. Holly and Posie were preoccupied with an I-Spy game about 10 feet ahead when Beatrice began to speak, not turning to Mike.

"You thinking about her?" She asked as if it were the most casual question in the world. Mike looked down at her, noticing the tiny white converse that covered her feet as they patted along the hot sidewalk. He choked, the question catching him off guard. She met his gaze and raised an eyebrow, as if she already knew the answer. She was just waiting for him to concede it.

"Huh?" He uttered, his voice wavering as he averted his gaze. He could feel his emotions resurfacing, like stomach acid moving up your esophagus so much it gives you heartburn. He was ready to spit up the emotions, all he wanted was for them to erupt out of him in this moment. Just to get it over with, but he couldn't.

"It's so obvious. You're allowed to miss her, you know." Bee said, her hand bumping Mike in the leg as she tripped suddenly, catching herself and looking down to find an untied shoelace. Mike waited for her, shifting his weight from foot to foot while he kept his eye on Holly and Posie up ahead.

He missed El, a lot. He missed the way her smile lit up a dark room, how her laugh made him smile even when he was down. The way her hair tickled his nose when they hugged. He missed being able to hold her, and talk to her, and-

"What was her name?" Bee said, standing up and continuing to walk. Her maturity confused Mike. How could such a young kid be so intelligent? So... adult-like? It was like talking to Kali, just coming from a really tiny person.

"El. Her name's El." He said, smiling fondly as the name slid off his tongue like it had been waiting to be spit out. Bee smiled, picking up the pace and grabbing for Mike's hand as they caught up to Posie and Holly. They approached where the two had been sitting on the cement step in front of the pizza place, except it was more like a big block rather than a step. Bee squeezed his hand to grab his attention, looking up at him with a sympathetic smile.

"It'll be ok," she whispered. Mike smiled, shrugging and turning his gaze to Holly and Posie who were talking about something that had to do with the pizza and how "yummy" it was.

"I promise."

Mike stopped, his smile dropping as Bee spoke that word. The word that had meant so much to him and how she said it like she knew. Mike could feel his heart sinking into his stomach like it had stopped, but also pounding in his chest aggressively. It was a feeling he had become very acquiescent to ever since those 353 days that she was gone. Any time someone spoke her name he felt as though he were a corpse that was being electrecuted to life. Like she was the piece of him missing.

He looked down at Bee and she smiled, winking quickly before walking towards Posie, getting on hee tippy toes to whisper something in Posies ear. Posie stood back, her mouth curling upwards as she nodded to Bee.

"Good idea! Come on guys!"