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

One Night Only

(Age 14/15)

3. That's how many times El had woken up screaming and crying that week. Her nightmares had begun to get worse and worse and there seemed to be nothing that Hopper could do to let the young girl have a nightmare-less sleep.

"I need another day off!" Hopper argued with Flo on the phone. "I have something to do."

"Hop, you haven't come in at all this week." Flo replied. "There are 4 cases you need to look at, including another case about owls attacking people again."

"Just get someone else to look at the cases, Flo," Hopper sighed, "I'm busy."

"You need to come in tomorrow afternoon, and that is that." Flo said before hanging up.

"God damnit," Hopper groaned and opened a can of beer.

"A-are you going to work tomorrow?" El asked softly as she walked out from her bedroom, her blanket across her shoulders.

Hopper sighed, "Yeah, I'm sorry kid. Will you be okay?"

El nodded, "I think so." She gave him a smile in an attempt to convince him that she was okay.

"Kid, I'll figure something out. Now try to get some sleep and if something happens, wake me up."

El nodded slowly, "Goodnight." She went into her room and laid down. She pulled the blanket up to her chin and silently prayed for no nightmares.

An hour later...

El jumped up and looked around her bedroom. Her heart pounded in her chest and her breathing flowed rapidly. El could hear Hopper snoring from the other bedroom and she wasn't wanting to walk through the dark hallway to his room.

El turned her head slightly, noticing a familier object on her dresser. Her supercom. The one Mike had given to her when she had come home before the snowball. She glanced at the clock 1-0-3-9. 10:39pm.

El tilted her head and the supercom moved from its place on her dresser and into her hand. She pressed the button and began to speak.

"M-Mike? Mike are you there?" She asked softly, her voice wavering.

"El, i'm here," Mike replied instantly, "Is everything okay?"

"I had a nightmare," El confessed. "And I'm too scared to wake up Hopper so I called you." Her voice broke as she pulled the blanket up to her chin again.

"Aw El, I wish I was with you right now," He sighed, "I'm sorry you had a nightmare, Love."

"I miss you." El said as she closed her eyes.

"I miss you more than you even know El. I'll try to see you tomorrow or something, okay?"

"Okay. Mike, can you keep talking to me for a while? Just until I feel tired?"

"Of course El." Mike replied, "Let me tell you about school today. So basically..."

They talked for hours until El finally fell asleep with a smile on her face and supercom in hand.

The next morning...

Hopper and El sat together at the table eating eggos. For the first time that week, El had a genuine, happy smile on her face after talking to Mike the night before.

"Kid, did you sleep good last night?" Hopper asked.

El nodded, "No nightmares."

"What were you doing that night?" He asked suspiciously.