Chapter Text
Mike Wheeler was on cloud nine.
This was without a doubt the best day of his life. The sun was shining, the birds were chirping, and he was sitting in a booth across from the most beautiful girl in the world sharing a triple scoop sundae at Scoops Ahoy.
Oh, and the best part? That beautiful girl, El Hopper – his girlfriend (once again) – loved him. Him! Mike Wheeler, super-nerd and all-around average 14-year old boy! It had been really hard, he reflected, to suppress the urge to jump for joy as they had made their way to the Starcourt Mall. As it was, Mike thought his face would probably hurt the next morning from the constant smiling he was doing today.
Normally he’d have been a little embarrassed at how dopey he must have appeared, but Mike couldn’t bring himself to care all too much. Not when everything was so utterly perfect, he thought happily.
At that moment, he raised his head and peered over the (now severely diminished) mountain of ice cream to stare fondly at El who – predictably – was already staring right back at Mike, a similar expression of adoration on her face.
In order to make up for the near disaster that was the day before, Mike had had the brilliant idea to suggest to El that they go for a date at Scoops Ahoy. As it turned out, while $3.50 wasn’t nearly enough to afford fancy jewelry, it was more than enough to buy a big ice cream sundae to share between the two of them.
Besides, Mike thought ruefully. He had needed to do something to distract El from her rage towards Hopper. While he himself had been in a complete state of bliss as they left the cabin, it had taken El more than a few minutes to cool off after the heated confrontation they had had with the Chief earlier.
Just as he reached across the table to squeeze El’s hand in affection, Steve Harrington called out to the couple from behind the front counter.
“Hey lovebirds! Do you guys need anything else over there? Or are you just going to stare at each other until the rest of the sundae melts?” He asked, smirking.
“Shut up, Steve!” Mike retorted, whipping his head around to scowl at him.
“Hey now, just trying to do my job!” Steve replied mockingly, throwing his hands up in defense. Rolling his eyes, he conceded as he turned to head into the back room. “I’ll leave you to it, brats. Just make sure to clear out in half an hour, okay? We’ve got other customers to serve so we’ll need that table back eventually!”
Mike blushed and glared at the back of Steve’s head. Grumbling, he hurriedly turned back to face El. Gazing upon her once more, he couldn’t help but reminisce on what she had said in Hopper’s cabin that morning.
Specifically, the part where she had confessed to loving him. Just that thought made a warm and fuzzy feeling bubble up within Mike. However, it felt as if a bucket of ice water had been poured over him when he realized in horror that he hadn’t yet told El that he reciprocated her feelings.
“H-hey, El?” He said, nerves appearing out of nowhere.
“Yes, Mike?” She replied curiously, her lips quirking up into a small smile.
Impossibly, Mike could feel himself redden even further and glanced down, self-conscious. Get it together! He told himself frustratedly. She already told you she loves you! There’s absolutely nothing left to lose!
“Just so you know…” He started haltingly. “About what you said, back in the cabin. A-about, you know, that you…love me.” Mike paused here, forcing his gaze back onto El to stare into her warm brown eyes.
“Yes?” Now it was El’s turn to blush. But she was defiant. Of course she loved Mike. How could she not?
El’s exuding confidence seemed to give Mike the burst of courage he needed to go on. “I just want you to know,” he said smiling at her affectionately now, nerves calmed. “That I…-I love you, too.” He exhaled in relief. Finally, he had said it.
El beamed, a wide grin taking over her face. “Mike.” She replied happily, infusing all of her feelings of happiness and joy into his name. Scooting across the booth to sit next to her boyfriend, she reached out and touched his cheek lovingly.
Bringing their foreheads together, Mike grinned back at El before leaning down and giving her a soft kiss.
El looped her arms around Mike’s neck and kissed him back contentedly. However, an obnoxious voice soon brought them out of their reverie.
“Wheeler! Hopper! None of that in here! If you wanna make-out, go somewhere else.” Steve said loudly, glaring at them with barely contained revulsion.
Detaching herself from Mike, El turned to stare at Steve nonplussed.
“Fine, we’re going already!” Mike huffed. Grabbing El’s hand, he nudged her gently. “Hey, do you want to go to the arcade or something?”
“Sure.” She agreed. Together they slid out of the booth, Mike swinging his backpack onto his shoulders and waving to Steve on the way out. He was actually surprised he and El hadn’t bumped into Dustin while they were here at Scoops Ahoy. He knew his curly-haired friend would undoubtedly be hanging out with Steve at some point. Shrugging it off, he focused on steering El in the right direction towards the Time-Out Arcade on the upper level of the mall.
As they were going up the escalator, a sudden thought occurred to Mike. “Hey, did Max take you to the arcade yesterday?”
“No. Why?” El frowned. She and Max had done a pretty thorough tour of all the clothing stores at Starcourt, along with the food court for lunch. But at no point had Max suggested the arcade…
“Oh. It’s just that she’s pretty good at video games, you know?” Mike said, albeit a little begrudgingly.
“Really?”
“Yeah, she even beat Dustin’s high scores on Centipede and Dig Dug at the Palace Arcade last year.” He wouldn’t be surprised if 'MADMAX' remained unbeaten, even now.
“Huh. Cool.” El hummed. “Maybe…we can all play some time.” She suggested hopefully.
“Yeah! That would be fun!” Mike enthused. Max might not have been his favourite person to hang out with one on one, but for El, he would do anything.
“You know…I-I’m glad you and Max are friends.” He went on determinedly. Despite his own reservations with Max, Mike could admit to himself that it would be good for El to have another friend who was a girl to hang out with.
“Yeah?” El asked in amusement. She turned to watch her boyfriend squirm a little with the declaration he just made.
“Yeah!” Mike insisted. “I know Max and I…have our differences sometimes – okay, a lot of the time,” he added sheepishly at El’s raised eyebrow. “But honestly, she’s kind of…cool. I mean, definitely not as cool as you are though, obviously.” He smirked.
Stopping just in front of the entrance to the arcade, El stared up at Mike contemplatively. “Last year...I thought you and Max were...together.”
“What?!” Her boyfriend blurted out, his eyes widening comically. He was sure he was more shocked now than when he first discovered El had powers or that the Upside Down existed. “What could have possibly given you that idea?” He exclaimed with incredulity. “Max and I hated each other last year.”
El blushed. Looking down in shame, she started speaking more quietly so that Mike had to lean down to hear her better amongst the conversations of their fellow mallgoers.
“I…saw you two – at school.” She mumbled.
“School?” Mike said in confusion. “Do you mean you saw us through the Void?” But even so, he thought. There couldn’t have possibly been any scenario last year where he and Max had appeared even a shade more than civil towards one another – far less boyfriend and girlfriend! His nose wrinkled in disgust at the notion of them being romantic with one another.
Strangely to Mike, El seemed to stiffen up and grow even more awkward at this line of questioning.
“No. I…was there. At school.” She confessed, peering up at him guiltily.
“B-but how? When would you have…-?” Mike sputtered, thinking frantically. Eleven had snuck into Hawkins Middle, apparently watched him and Max long enough to think they liked each other - and he hadn’t had a clue the whole time that she was even there?
“I was still…in hiding with Hop. But, I wanted…to see you. You said you needed me.” El said solemnly. Throwing her arms around him, she hugged him tight. “And…I missed you.” She added, burying her face into his chest.
Mike hugged her back immediately, pressing himself to her in desperation. He was shocked to find that a couple tears were now rolling down his face. Swiping at his eyes quickly with one hand and using the other to grip El’s waist, he took a moment to swallow past the lump in his throat.
“Oh, El…” He whispered hoarsely into her hair. “I’m sorry I didn’t see you that day. I wish – I really, really wish I did. It would’ve been…I would have been so-…so relieved to see you. You know that you’re the only person I could ever-”
“I know, Mike.” El sniffled quietly, nuzzling deeper into him. “I’m sorry I didn’t…tell you.”
After a few minutes, Mike leaned away from her slightly to press his forehead to hers. “Hey, it’s okay…” he said soothingly. “I love you.”
“Me…too.” She replied looking up at him for a moment before going up on her tiptoes to kiss his cheek tenderly. Even if Hopper insisted on “boundaries” between her and Mike in the future, El swore that she would never allow him to separate them like last year, ever again.
Just then, a muffled crackling noise sounded from Mike’s backpack interrupting their moment. Pulling away from El reluctantly, Mike unzipped his bag to find his Supercom alive with chatter.
“Mike! Mike come in, this is a code red. I repeat, a code red!” Came Lucas’ voice through the walkie.
Jumping slightly, Mike shared a concerned glance with El before pressing the button on his Supercom to reply back. “Hey Lucas, this is Mike – I copy. What’s the problem?”
“Mike!” Lucas exclaimed. “It’s Will. He says he thinks the Mind Flayer is back. And Max says Billy’s acting really weird – even for him. It might mean something. We need to meet up, right now. Where are you?”
“Shit!” Mike shouted, causing a group of Jazzercise-bound suburban housewives to turn and glare at him reproachfully. “Okay, I’m at the mall with El. Let’s all regroup in my basement in 20 minutes.”
“Copy! See you soon.” Lucas replied in the affirmative before the line went quiet.
El anxiously clasped her hand in Mike’s and together, the two teens started racing back towards the Starcourt Mall entrance.
Looks like El probably wouldn’t be home tonight to see Hopper, after all…