Season Three Inspired Oneshots~

~25~

Over the summer of 1986, Will and El went back to Hawkins. Will stayed with Lucas and El stayed with Max.

Mike and Lucas had gotten jobs at the pool, after learning more of the procedures that came with helping people they were becoming lifeguards.

At times, they were the lifeguards, when the other guards were too lazy or too busy sucking face somewhere Lucas and Mike took the wheel.

Was Mike strong? No, not at all. Lucas was fairly strong, but Mike handled a lot more of the younger, smaller children while Lucas solved problems that came with older kids rushing around like idiots.

The perks of having friends at the pool was that the rest of the party could get into the pool whenever, for free.

I mean, sure, Lucas had to give Erica the rights to get in, and she was a pain. But for the most part, it was a pro.

On a particularly hot day, the party had chosen to go to the pool, to cool down and hang with everyone else.

"Max, I don't want to get in the water!" El squealed while Max splashed the cold water around her.

The brunette was frightened, she'd been fully in the water once before and during that she had Mike with her. He was focused on a job at the moment, meaning she didn't want to get in.

She instead dipped her feet in, kicking them in circles, creating little waves. She was fine on the sidelines, she didn't feel like getting irritated eyes from the water anyways.

"Oh c'mon!" Max had resorted to tugging on her arm. She got close to pulling her in each and every time, before giving up.

She sat beside her, as a decoy. When she was calm, looking up at the sky, Max shoved her into the water.

"Max!" she screamed, falling into the water.

It was 12 feet deep in the deep end. El had gone down to the very bottom someway or somehow. And lab flashbacks overwhelmed her.

More or less, flashbacks of the void. Memories she tried to suppress forever ago. They hurt her too much.

"And now it's time. We are going to end you, and when you are gone," Billy's voice echoed through the cabin, El backed away from him slowly.

"We are going to end your friends. And then, we are going to end, everyone."

She felt more scared over that than the Demogorgon at the lab, because he threatened her friends.

She screamed out, but it was practically silent under water. Her hair blocked her view, she was emersed in darkness; her brown hair acting like a veil covering her eyes.

It weighed her down.

The night had been fun. Max and El hanging around, talking about boys and listening to the latest pop.

They were looking for someone to spy on, and Billy wasn't necessarily the greatest person to spy on, but the most necessary.

When El could tell Billy knew she was there, when she saw him with Heather, everything was frightening. It was worse than anything she'd ever gone through. The danger levels had increased.

She didn't want to die right then and there, but as her eyes stung with chlorine, she fell in and out of consciousness, in and out of the void. Seeing the surface as she rose inch by inch, but being absorbed back into the void.

Eventually she didn't go through the states of consciousness, and fell into the black void.

Max rushed quickly to where the others were, Dustin and Will were talking to Mike and Lucas, and Max explained frantically.

It took a angered glare and a moment of realization for Mike's eyes to widen in fear.

He practically ran along side Max, seeing as El was rising slowly, losing buoyancy in her body.

He dove. Sure, he was weak, but for that girl, he'd do anything. He latched onto her, pulling her up by the arms and getting Max to help pull her out of the water.

Her face had grown pale, but they could hear her heart beating. She was still alive.

Her eyes moved back and forth behind her eyelids. Max asked repeatedly what was happening, and to be honest, Mike didn't know what was going on either.

"El?" he asked, looking at Max for an ounce of guidance as the pool cleared of people, all crowded around them.

"What the hell happened?" Lucas asked, squeezing through the crowd of people, his eyes blown wide.

"Please, please wake up." he pleaded. Several times he pleaded. Please. Please wake up.

El was waking up slowly, hearing muffled voices all around her, chatter of a lot of people, and a few distinct voices.

She coughed, gasping for air, shooting straight up, sitting upright. She grabbed onto Mike, clinging onto him, grasping his hair in her hands as an anchor. Grounding herself in the reality that she was safe.

Her breath hitched as people cleared away, and the joyous laughter of swimmers resumed.

"El, I'm sorry. I didn't think that'd happen." Max frowned, speaking guiltily.

She simply rolled her eyes. "Max it's fine. I'm okay now." she said sincerely, but something about the way Mike mumbled quietly meant that it was certainly not fine.

Mike pulled away from her, kissing her on the forehead before helping her up. Even Lucas and the others had cleared away, and Max joined them.

Mike didn't look her in the eyes, until she forced him to. She sat down with him, at one of the picnic tables covered by an umbrella on the outside of the pool.

"I'm sorry El. I should've... I should've paid more attention. I should've known that could happen." he sighed.

"Mike it's okay. I'm okay, you're okay. We're all okay. Don't worry." she tapped on his freckled nose, giggling.

He couldn't help but break out into a laugh, and soon they were just laughing, sat together in the shade, in their own little bubble.

Until the bubble was broken by everyone else, that was.

"HEY LOVEBIRDS! WHY DON'T WE GO FOR ICE CREAM?!" Dustin exclaimed, making the pair jump.

The others burst out into laughter, before all of them agreed to go for ice cream. Lucas and Max teasing them with nursery rhymes.

"Mike and El sitting in a tree," they paused, as a sign to get the others to join.

"K-I-S-S-I-N-G!" Dustin, Lucas, Will, and Max yelled together.

They couldn't help but laugh, because everything was just good enough that they could laugh and joke freely.

hi I'm here! sorry, it's been a while. life has been nuts lately, but I promise more updates are on the way!

I'm hoping to base new updates around holidays, like Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. (Thanksgiving comes before Halloween where I'm from lmao)

Hope you enjoyed!

~Bella