teenage nightmare [ stranger things ] discontinued.

chapter twenty one.

TEENAGE NIGHTMARE
CHAPTER TWENTY ONE — PART ONE.
THE CIRCLE SEPARATES.

Mike stood staring at the girl for a second before he whispered, " El? "

A small smile appeared on her face as she responded, " Mike. "

The dark haired boy ran forward and crushed her in a hug, making the others relax as they realized they were safe, for now. Max didn't take her eyes off of the two embracing as she quietly asked, " Is that. . "

Lucas nodded wordlessly, and Mike pulled away from Eleven with tears running down his face as he told her, " I never gave up on you. I called you, every night for— "

" 353 days. " She finished forward him, blinking back her owns tears as her smile grew, nodding softly, " I heard. "

The girl turned her head to look at the rest of the group, walking towards them with a friendly smile as her eyes landed on the rest of the party. Charlie felt relieved to see that she was alive and well, and he was even more glad because her presence would make Mike in a ten times better mood than he had been since she left a year ago. Mike still stood in his place, but he wore a confused expression as he asked, " Why didn't you tell me you were there? That you were okay? "

" Because I wouldn't let her. " Hopper revealed, making the boy turn to look at him with furrowed eyebrows. He didn't spare him a glance as he stepped towards Eleven, Charlie witnessing classic 'dad mode' activate; every father had the same look when it came to that. " The hell is this? Where have you been? "

" Where have you been? " She fired back, but any animosity between them faded as she threw her arms around him. Hopper wrapped his arm around her, keeping the hand with the pistol away from her before he pressed a kiss to the top of her head. When Charlie heard Mike storm over to them, he turned his head to see a newfound anger lit within him.

" You knew!? You've been hiding her this whole time?! " He yelled as the father-daughter duo parted, allowing him to shove at Hopper, who barely moved.

" Hey, hey, hey! " Hopper shouted back, taking hold of Mike's forearm as he went to hit him again; he leaned forward and grabbed the back of Mike's shirt, insisting, " Let's talk. Alone. "

Mike grumbled under his breath but allowed Hopper to direct him down the hall, the door to one of the bedrooms slamming shut. The group could hear Mike's muffled shouts, but they became occupied with their reunion with Eleven to distract themselves from it. Eleven walked towards Dustin and Lucas, throwing her arms around them both and hugging them tightly.