Complicated • Stranger Things

16 - The Gate Part 1

Mike walked up to Eleven and pulled her into a hug. I looked over at my dad to see his eyes fixed on El.

"I never gave up on you," Mike said as he pulled away. "I called you every night. Every night for—"

"353 days." El finished his sentence. "I heard."

"Why didn't you tell me you were there?" Mike asked. "That you were okay?"

"Because I wouldn't let her." My dad spoke up and started walking towards El. "The hell is this? Where have you been?"

I assumed he was referring to her appearance. Her hair was slicked back, she had dark make-up around her eyes, and she was wearing dark clothes. Wherever she was, it definitely wasn't at home.

"Where have you been?" El asked. My dad just pulled her into a hug. I ran up to the two and wrapped my arms around El, and my dad put his other arm around my shoulders.

"You've been hiding her," Mike stated and everyone seemed shocked at the realization. "You've been hiding her this whole time!" Mike walked up to my dad and hit him.

"Hey!" My dad turned around and stopped Mike. "Let's talk. Alone."

My dad took Mike into another room and I could already hear Mike raising his voice.

"You knew about this?" Dustin asked me and I nodded, one of my arms still around El.

"I felt terrible about not telling you guys, though. But you know how my dad is." I told him. Dustin reluctantly nodded, knowing that it wasn't my fault.

Lucas and Dustin stepped towards El and I let go of the girl so she could hug her friends.

"We talked about you pretty much every day," Dustin said as they pulled away from the hug. El looked at Dustin like she was studying his features. She then reached out and touched his mouth.

"Teeth." She said.

"What?" Dustin asked. He seemed confused at the unexpected gesture, and honestly, so was I.

"You have teeth." El elaborated. Once he realized what she meant he laughed.

"Oh. You like these pearls?" Dustin asked before purring. I shook my head and smiled.

I looked over at Steve, and he had a small smile on his face too. I didn't realize I was staring until he looked over at me, then I quickly looked away.

"Eleven?" Max stepped forward and approached El. "Hey. Um, I'm Max." She held out her hand to El. "I've heard a lot about you."

El just walked past Max and headed to Joyce, who pulled her into a hug.

What was that about?

"Can I see him?" El asked once they pulled out of the hug. I figured she meant Will.

Joyce hesitantly led El into Will's room while the rest of us waited. About a minute later, Joyce brought El back out and brought her to the kitchen to show her the message from Will. We all slowly made our way to the kitchen.

"Do you think if we got you back there, that you could close it?" Joyce asked. El just looked over at her before looking forward again. She could do it.

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"It's not like it was before. It's grown." My dad said. We were all crowded around the kitchen table as we tried to come up with a plan. "A lot. And, I mean, that's considering we can get in there. The place is crawling with those dogs."

"Demo-dogs." Dustin corrected.

"I'm sorry, what?" My dad looked at Dustin.

"I said, uh, demo-dogs. Like demogorgon and dogs. You put them together, it sounds pretty badass—"