𝐦𝐚𝐲𝐛𝐞~𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧

Chapter 52: I Think I Can Handle It, Dad

El's POV

Tears. A lot of them.

I hadn't cried that much since I first saw Mike and Max together.

And now I was sobbing again.

Barely letting a small "hello" out with my head down so Hopper couldn't see my wet face, I collapsed in my room in a huddled mess on my bed.

My stomach was swirling with a feeling I didn't even know how to describe. I'd felt them once before, when I hid the gate from the boys.

I hated that feeling.

But I couldn't escape it. I was practically drowning in it, my breath coming out in unsteady cries.

Shoving my knuckles in my mouth to muffle the weeping, I curled up in a tight ball under the covers, shaking like with a fever.

Was it always going to be this hard? Would I always feel this terrible?

And one horrible thought came to my mind which made me break down once again, my body spasming with tears.

Does Mike hate me?

Starting to wail, I heard a small knock on the door.

"Hey kid..? You okay in there?" My adopted father said softly, his voice helping calm my pounding heart.

Without waiting for me to answer, he came in hesitantly, his face concerned.

He took one look at my tear stained face and proceeded to wrap me up in his arms.

I whimpered into his shoulder, my crying become less with every second hugging him, his scent so loving and comforting to me.

"Oh El."

And we sat for what felt like hours, him rocking my shaky body back and forth in his embrace, and me drying my tears in the fabric of his police uniform.

Mike's POV

"You fucking idiot!" I screamed at my reflection, hitting the mirror hard enough to hurt my hand. Luckily it didn't break.

The door opened quickly, Nancy's alarmed face coming into view, hiding behind the door, "Mike what in hell is going on in here?!"

"It's nothing," I turned to her, moving past her body and out of my bedroom with supercom in hand.

"Mike! Don't walk away from me!" She snagged my arm and tugged me back towards her.

"Nance, let me go. I'm not in the mood to talk."

"Well you're going to! What's going on? You've been pissed off since you got home from the pool, you didn't eat dinner-"

"I'm fine, okay!" I sprinted down the stairs and to the front door, slamming it hard with Nancy still yelling at me to come back.

I pressed hard on the button to my radio, "Will? You there? Over."

"What'd you need Mike? Over."

"I...Can you meet me at the Field. Over."

There was a pause before he answered with a knowing tone to his voice, "Yea. Over and Out."

I put a hand through my hair and ruffled it, "Man I screwed up."

Hopper's POV

I put the homemade waffles on the table with a small smile to my little girl who sat with a blanket tucked around her.

I was proud to say that she had grown to like the waffles I made her more than eggos.

El started to eat them, wiping her nose on her baby blue comforter which enveloped her body.

"Those good?"

The short haired girl looked up at me and gave a tiny smile.

I loved that little smile.

"I think you had low blood sugar. Maybe that's partly why you got so upset. You were at the pool for a long time."

Eleven shrugged and continued to eat the breakfast food in front of her.

"Do you wanna talk about what happened?" I didn't wanted to push her too much to talk. I didn't really get how teenage girls worked and I was a little worried at what she was gonna tell me was wrong.

El met my eyes, nodding slightly and pushing the plate of waffles to the side and adjusting her sitting position.

"Was it something with the pool? Did you get hurt?"

"No."

"Was it something with your friends?"

She shook her head which I took as another "no".

Sighing, I said the only thing this could possibly be about, "Was it something that happened with Mike?"

El looked sheepish as I said his name, "Yes."

Anger started to boil in my chest, my fists clenching slightly under the table, "Do you wanna tell me or am I gonna keep having to guess?" I chuckled at her, a smirk appearing on her lips.

El took a deep breath, "Don't be mad...I used my powers..."

"El, honey, you can't use your powers outside of this cabin! Someone could've seen you."

She rolled her brown eyes, "I know. But it wasn't that."

"What was it? El," I put my hands out and held hers in mine, "you were really upset. You can tell me what's going on."

"We played a game. Max was winning. I wanted to win. I had to win..." she trailed off, a small frown on her smooth forehead.

"I used my powers. I wanted to...to hurt her," she looked up at me with guilt in her eyes, "Mike...Mike...very angry," tears welled in her eyes again and she bit her lip to keep them from spilling over.

"I thought...I thought he..."she started crying again before she could even finish her sentence.

She reached for me and I held her once again, "You thought that Mike likes Max and not you."

I felt her nod into my chest.

I sighed. It was way too early for boy problems.

But it hurt me to see her in so much pain. Suddenly I was overcome with anger at Wheeler, he made her cry. And that was not okay with me.

"I can go rough him up if you need me to."

She looked worried for a moment but she smirked, "I think I can handle it, Dad."

"Of course you can. You're a lot stronger than me. But you'll always be my girl. And I need to protect you, even from Mike."

She nodded, "I'm going to talk to him...Sorry."

"I don't think you need to apologize to Mike."

She looked kind of worried, "But...she scares me."

"You're scared of that little sassy redhead? Ah, El, she's just like you, just with a tougher face."
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I AM SO SORRY. It take me foreverrrrr to update. I've been so busy! I'm sorry. I'll try to finish this book really soon so I can start working on some of my other books.