𝐩𝐚𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐮𝐭

xvi. ARGUMENT

    

     The group met up the next day, on the Fourth. Charles was tired and felt like not being there but he stuck through it. They were now at Hopper's cabin where El was in her room, trying to find the only people they know that are flayed.

Will and Charles sat on stools side by side as Jonathan and Nancy called the same companies and small businesses in town that they called before. "Is there anything I can help with, Jonathan?" Charles whispered and Jonathan just shook his head. "It's okay, Charles." He smiled faintly.

Will looks at Charles and smiled as he reached out and took his hand. Charles leans closer, his fingers interlocking with Will's. He glanced over to the lounging area where Lucas and Max were sitting as Mike is pacing outside El's door.

      Mike started, "it can't be good for her to be in there for this long." He says. "Mike, you need to relax." Max said and Charles just looks away, looking down at his hand in Will's.

       "What if she gets brain damage or something?"

      Charles rolls his eyes. "Oh, shit. Is that, like, a real thing?" Lucas asked, worried as he glanced from Max to Mike. "No, it's not. He made it up. Mike doesn't know what the hell he's talking about." She says as she glanced back at Mike.

     "Oh, and you do?"

     Charles just ignored them and looked at Nancy who finally got in contact with the shop she was calling. "Uh, yes, from The Hawkins Post. I-I called a couple days ago about the—" Nancy paused for a moment. "Yes, yes, um... I was just... following up to see if anything else had gone missing, or if... Okay. Uh, sorry to bother—" she cuts herself off, pulling the phone away in disbelief.

     She got hung up on, she puts the phone back and walks over to them. "Who's next?" She asked as Will and Charles both lean over, Jonathan crossing out the the picture. "There is no next. Unless you want to start calling random people's homes." He says before looking up at his girlfriend.

      She sets the notepad down, "it doesn't make sense." She says and Charles glanced at them then at Will. "What part of any of this makes sense?" Jonathan said and he had a point. "There's a pattern, okay? A consistency to their behavior. They've been feeding on these chemicals since this started, and—and what, they just stop, out of the blue?" She said and Charles just looks down.

      "Maybe they have all the chemicals they need. Maybe they've all turned into those.. things." Will says and Charles thinks about it. "But what about the source? I mean, did the Mind Flayer just suddenly stop infecting people? And even if the flayed are monsters now, why can't El find them?" She asked and Charles glanced up.

      "Okay, can you guys settle an argument for us?" Max asked as she walked over with Mike following right behind. "Who do you think should decide El's limits? Mike? Or Eleven?" She asked and Charles furrows his brows, confused.

      "The way you frame that is such bullshit." Mike says as he looks at her. "It's not bullshit, Mike. This is your whole problem. And it's also precisely the reason why she dumped your ass." Max says and Nancy gave a shocked look. "El dumped you?" She asked. "Yeah, because she is conspiring against me." He said as he gestured to Max.

"I don't think that's what's happening, Mike," Charles says, strongly believing that Max wasn't against him and Mike looks at him. "She's corrupting her." He explained. "No, enlightening her." Max says as she looked at Mike.

Charles glanced at Will who just looks back at him. "The fact is, she's not yours. She's her own person, fully capable of making her own decisions." She says and Charles glanced between the two. "She's risking her life for no reason." He says.

"For no reason? Mike, the flayed are out there doing God knows what." Nancy says. "Killing, flaying.." Lucas said from beside Charles. "Transforming into monsters." Will says. "And El's not stupid." Nancy tells him. "She knows her abilities better than any of us." She added.

"Exactly, thank you." Max says, nodding her head. "And you know, I've said this many times, Mike, and I will say it again because you apparently don't understand women, they are equal people to us, males. And you have to stop being so misogynistic. I've yelled at you twice so far. And you still don't get it. You set yourself up to get broken up with by El, lying to her and continuing to do so even when she caught you." Charles says.

"Yes, thank you for having my back, that's why you're my favourite." Max said then looked at Mike. "El has saved the world twice, and Mike still doesn't trust her." She says. "You wanna talk about trust, really? After you made Eleven spy on us?" Mike exclaimed at her in disbelief.

"Wait, what?" Lucas asked as he pushed himself off from leaning on the table. "Oh, she didn't tell you this?" Mike asked, turned to her. "No." Lucas says. "Your girlfriend used El's powers to spy on us." He said loudly. "No, no, no, I did not make her. It was her idea." Max tells him.

     "And why are we even talking about this, seriously?" Max asked them next. "Yeah, who cares?" Will asked them. "I care," Lucas gestured to himself. "Yeah, I guess girlfriends don't lie, they spy." Mike says, turning back to Max.

     "We were just joking around."

      "Wouldn't it have been so funny if I was taking a massive shit or something?" Mike says. "You weren't." Max argued back. "But what if I was?" Mike exclaimed. "Then, gross!"

     "Seriously, Mike?"

     "I'm just trying to demonstrate how careless Max is with Eleven's powers. In fact, how careless all of you are. You're treating her like some kind of machine when she's not a machine, and I don't want her to die looking for the flayed when they've obviously vanished off the face of the Earth. So can we please just come up with a new plan because I love her and I can't lose her again." He says and all of them stayed quiet, Max's eyes widening.

    Jonathan and Nancy look at him in shock as Lucas smiled. Charles and Will share a look, both smiling. El's door opens after and she walks out, Mike looking over right away. "What's going on?" She says with her brows slightly furrowed.

     "Nothing. Nothing."

     "Just a family discussion." Lucas said, smiling at her and Charles glances at him. "Oh.." El says and stepped back slightly. "I found him." She then says. "Found who?" Nancy asked.

  

  

  

  

  

  

   

   

authors note mike: I LOVE HER AND I CANT LOSE HER AGAIN 😡
max: 😳
nancy and jonathan: 😐😐
lucas: 😊
will: 🙂