𝑺𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒎 𝒄𝒍𝒐𝒖𝒅𝒔 • 𝑩𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝑯𝒂𝒓𝒈𝒓𝒐𝒗𝒆 [2]

21•

I sat on the floor beside Max in Mike's basement and watched as El sat on the couch and searched the void for Hopper.

"I found him."

"Where is he?" Max spoke.

"Woods."

"Woods?" Lucas frowned. What was he doing in the woods?

"He's with...Will's mom." She elaborated.

"My mom?" Will questioned as he leant forward in his seat. God I hope they were expressing their undying love for each other or something, I've wanted Joyce and Hop to become a thing for ages.

"What are they doing?" Max  urged.

"I'll-annoy," El stammered, "they're going to Ill-annoy."

Suddenly, Mrs. Wheeler knocked on the door, causing me to jump. "Mike, breakfast."

"Not now Mom!" Mike yelled and I let out a small chuckle as he turned back around. "Ill-annoy, Illanois like the state? The state of Illanois?"

El took off the blindfold and I could see confusion in her eyes as she shrugged. "Ill-annoy."

"Well they're not much use to us in Illanois," I sighed as I got to my feet, "come on, let's clean you up." I extended my arm and took El's hand, pulling her up from the couch before motioning for Max to follow us.

Once we had squeezed into the small bathroom, I closed the door and handed Max a rag. She rinsed it under the sink and started to dab at El's nose while I took the opportunity to examine my neck in the mirror. A perfect hand shaped bruise had quickly formed, resembling the colour of wine. Great.

"Does it still hurt?" Max frowned as she set the rag down.

"Yeah," I sighed as I looked at the two of them. El's eyes were fixed on the floor and I could see guilt written all over her face. "but only when I talk." I added in an attempt to make her feel better.

"Well it's a good thing you're not Mike then, you'd be in constant pain." Max smirked as she nudged El. "Blah blah blah blah blah." A smile broke onto my face as the three of us chuckled.

Once we had quietened down, I hoisted myself up onto the ledge of the sink and began fiddling with my laces. Max started fixing El's hair and my mind wandered back to last night. No matter how many times I told myself that it wasn't really him, I couldn't get the image of his face out of my mind.

"Wait guys, listen," Max suddenly spoke, "the guys are talking."

I pulled myself away from my thoughts and started focusing on the voices of the three boys. "Are they arguing?" I pondered aloud.

"... We're just taking a break."

"She said she dumped your ass." Will's voice filled our ears, "that doesn't sound like a break."

"It wasn't!" Max promptly intergected. "You guys do realise that we can still hear everything you're saying, right?" I covered my mouth in an attempt to stifle my sniggering.

A few seconds later, Mrs. Wheeler knocked on the basement door again. "Not now Mom!" Mike screamed again. I just shook my head in amusement and hopped off the sink.

"Mike, open the door." A different voice floated down the stairs and I looked at the two girls before opening the bathroom door and stepping out. We walked over to the guys and a frown made its way onto my face as the two figures made their way down the stairs.

"Nancy, Jonathan." I greeted while holding my arms out. "Wlecome to the party."