Chapter Text
MIKE
"On the road again, I can't wait to get on the road again."
"El, if I have to hear that song one more time I'm going to jump out of this car." Max said as she was banging her head against the back window. With a sigh El turned the radio off and everyone seemed to sigh as well in unison to be released from the loop of that song, the first time it played hell even the 5th time it played it was funny but by the time we were nearing the 17th play of the song, as the radio was picking up different towers as we drove it was as if every county we passed was playing the song, most of the occupants of the car were ready to commit a crime to get the music to stop.
Dustin who was too immersed in his maps to care suddenly spoke up. "Mike," He tapped me on the shoulder. "There's a rest stop before we leave Ohio, I read somewhere that they have a radio tower right next to it for truckers to communicate."
I pushed his hand off my shoulder trying to focus on the road. "Okay?"
"Well I was wanting to tap into it to see if we can pick up on anything gate related, it'll only take me 20 minutes." I looked at him through the review mirror as he put his hands together in a silent plea. "C'mon Mike, I haven't had anything to go off of since Cerebros been stolen."
"Stolen?" Lucas spoke up, he had been resting his head against the window and I had assumed he fell asleep. "Murray said you gave him Cerebro to help keep an eye on the Russians?"
Dustin gave him a deadpanned look. "Now why would I do that, Lucas? Cerebro was my baby and you just think I'd give it away??! To Murray of all people?" Dustin then started frantically shaking my shoulder. "Mike we have to stop now, that son of a bitch stole Cerebro."
"Alright! Alright! We'll make a stop there just quit touching me unless you want to die!" I reached back with one arm and punched his shin making the car swerve a bit.
It only took another hour and a half to reach the destination after refueling, El and Max got out for the bathrooms and I was going to follow but Dustin grabbed my shirt and tugged me towards the back of the car he popped the hood open to reveal a ham radio that would typically be in the dashboard of a semi. "I tricked it out." And when he meant by that is he connected it to a small power source ran by battery.
Lucas made his way over to the back to look at it as well. "Do you even remember what station Cerebro is at?"
Dustin scoffed in response. "Pft, it's easy it's 73.9 MPT1327." He tapped on his temple. "All up here."
We were parked by a lot of other cars so when Dustin flipped the switch to turn it on and a loud Doppler noise came out of it quite a few people turned their heads but Dustin was changing through channels quickly before it could be a nuisance to anyone.
"Breaker breaker this is Muddog-"
"Heading south on 1-135 towards Emporia-"
"And you know what she said after that? That I'm fat-"
"Hey, give me clearance or lose your tailgate jackass-"
All these voices were emitting from it before being met with a quiet static noise. "Alright," Dustin looked at me and Lucas with a smile, "this should be it."
"So, is he going to pick up or do we wait?" Lucas asked.
"I made Cerebro with the capability of being able to save as much data as all three Star Wars movies as long as the floppy disks are replaced which I hope to hell that Murray is smart enough to get more disks then whatever we say should just be saved." He nodded.
"Alright then take it away." I gestured for him to get a move on and he grabbed the radio talkie smiling to the both of us.
"Murray you son of a bitch!" Dustin yelled into the receiver making everyone with in the lot look back towards us again and Lucas and I both sprang forward to take the receiver out of his hand but he held on. "I can't believe this whole time that I thought the government stole Cerebro, my property, that it was just you this whole time you maniacal asshole!" I was literally on his back trying to grab the talkie as Lucas was circling us trying to find a good way to get it from him.
"Dustin give me the radio!" I grunted. In the middle of all this the girls had just arrived back from the bathrooms and Max immediately butted in.
"What the hell-"
"Murray we have a lead!" I yelled. "Ignore Dustin he's just mad!"
"We're in Ohio on our way to New York!" Lucas added wincing in pain as Dustin accidentally stepped on his foot and in response he slapped his arm, making Dustin slap him in return and next thing I know they're slap boxing while I'm still on Dustins back and Max is walking closer to do some real damage.
"We found familiar activity around NYU and we're going to check it out!" Dustin knocked me off his back and I landed to the ground with a groan. "What is your issue?" Max then stepped in and successfully got the talkie from Dustin and shoved him away.
"Murray, Hopper is alive. He's alive but he might not have much time, meet us in Time Square in the next 72 hours and we'll tell you more then... Please hurry." She clicked it off and chucked it back into the trunk, putting her hands on her hips to look at me and the boys disapprovingly and El's posture mirrored hers.
"Now, before I kick all of your asses can we please stop behaving like amateurs?"
"Dustin for that you're driving." I grunted from the ground and tossed him the keys.
Getting back into the car I was now sat between Max and Lucas while El sat up front with Dustins map in her lap.
"Move your bony butt Bigbird." Max pushed me over into Lucas making his head hit the window and he looked over me to Max with a sigh. And next thing I knew I was in the middle of Lucas and Max's little shoving match except they weren't shoving each other, they were just shoving me into the other person.
"Okay, this isn't working!" I yelled, pushing my hands out I shoved Max and Lucas' faces against their own windows and they seemed to both come to the realization of what they were doing. El looked back at all of us with a glare and I immediately put my hands down.
"Cut it out." Was all she said before turning back to look at the road.
It was dead silent again in the car and out of the corner of my eyes I could see both Max and Lucas putting their hands over their mouths struggling with trying not to laugh and I then too found myself holding back my laughter.
And to our surprise Dustin was the one who bursted out in hysterics before all of us followed in suit, and I could see from the side mirror that El was fighting to keep a smile off of her face before giving up and laughing with us. She made eye contact with me through the mirror as she was laughing and I puckered my lips towards her making her laugh even more.
Even when we're riding to war, even when we're fighting, even when we're laughing, there was always love.
Even as we kept driving into the great unknown, we knew that this friendship always had love.
***
NANCY
"Do you think they're already past Columbus?" I asked Steve. We had gotten on the road around midnight, Joyce was in the backseat with wills head in her lap, while Murray sat with Wills feet in his lap so he could rest properly.
"Well they probably have a shitty car knowing them, and they're probably arguing the entire way which could set them back a couple hours. I'd say they're nearing Canton." He pointed to Canton on the map on my lap, they were probably closer to Pennsylvania than Indiana by now.
Murray and Joyce had both nodded off probably three hours into the drive and I felt anxious having to be alone with Steve. I didn't want to talk about anything heavy.
"So... Are you going to call Johnathan about any of this?" Steve asked as he was tapping the steering wheels with his fingers.
"I need to." Was all I could bring myself to say.
"But are you going to is the question." He quipped and I sighed.
"He must be so busy with work right now. And it would be to sudden for him to just drop everything. I wouldn't want to bother him if we have it under control." I gulped. "He should just focus on NYU and his future. He owes himself that much." My voice waivers as my lip wobbled. "He's finally able to do things for himself now without having to constantly worry about his mother or Will. It took me months of reassuring him that they were okay and that he didn't just abandon them. And I- I really couldn't bare the thought of having to tell him that I was wrong and that things aren't okay."
"I'll call." He said and I was already shaking my head in protest. "No really, I'll call and I'll let him know what's going on and I'll even give him the option to come or stay and if he's coming then that means one more brawn for the battle and if he doesn't then we'll fight like hell." He shrugged with a smile and I wiped the tears from my eyes.
"Thank you."
"Anytime Nance."
***
MIKE
We had gotten to Canton around 1am and decided to pull into a motel. The man at the desk didn't seem to care that we were a bunch of children so when El gave him the money for the room he handed her the key with no questions asked.
It was a shabby room with only one bed and a couch. Max did the liberty of bringing an ice cooler full of snacks and drinks and she brought it into the room so we could have an impromptu dinner. We were all so exhausted we chewed in tired silence.
"So me and El in the bed the rest of you on the floor?" I joked and El pushed my arm with the roll of her eyes.
"We could probably all fit horizontally if we tried." Dustin shrugged.
"I'm not sleeping in any bed with you." Max laughed. "I'm gonna take the couch, I can pretty much sleep curled up so whoever wants to sleep on the other end of it can join."
"Mike and El should get the bed since they're paying for all this." Lucas surprised me by saying. "I-If you don't mind I'll sleep on the other side of the couch." He offered and Max's eyebrows shot up in surprise.
"Well uh, sure..." She then had a look of annoyance. "But if your feet touch mine in kicking your ass."
"Heard." Was all he said in response as he took one of the pillows from the bed and tossed it on the couch.
"Room for one more?" Dustin asked El who turned to me for an answer.
"It'd be weird." Dustin flicked my elbow in response making El laugh.
"Cmon Mike are you really going to be the guy that tells the kid with cleidocranial dysplasia to sleep on the floor?" The whole room went silent waiting for my answer.
"You know what I will be that guy." El laughed even more but slapped the back of my head.
"Dustin it's fine."
"I'm a good cuddle buddy El." He wiggled his eyebrows at her and Lucas and Max groaned while I threw my pillow at him.
"You stay away from her, if you're cuddling anybody it's going to be me, I'm sleeping in the middle." I threw myself down on the bed and Dustin plopped down beside me. El went to go turn out the lights and returned to the bed, I lifted the covers so she could get in.
"Goodnight guys." El said quietly and everyone responded in kind. I was exhausted.
***
I found myself getting lulled to sleep quickly as El went about running her fingers through my scalp. I was wrapped around her with my ear pressed against her chest listening to the steady, strong beating of her heart. I could feel Dustins back pressed up against my own and in my hazy thoughts I was overcome with happiness at how safe I felt.
I was overcome with a sense of belonging.
It went on for a couple more minutes and I was about to fall asleep until I heard someone go. "Pst, are you awake?"
My eyes opened slightly to see Max sitting up and El responded. "Yeah?" She whispered, she probably thought I was already asleep with how quiet she was being.
"I-I—," Max started looking down at her hands nervously. "I still very much need to apologize." She sat up fully.
"I'm not mad anymore." El sighed, her movements on my head kept going. "There's just a lot going on and drama is the last thing on my mind, you know? I'm not saying I wasn't hurt. I was crushed Max."
"I know."
"Then why did you do it?" El asked. The silence brought me even further out of my sleepy state and I was now wide awake and apart of a conversation I wasn't supposed to be in. "You know what he means to me, you know what I mean to him, you know how much we've been through just to be together... I just don't get it."
"I've been very confused." She was fidgeting again. "It's not an excuse but a reason, but my head hasn't been the same since Billy. Every corner I turn I see him getting destroyed by the mind flayer, every time I'm home I can still hear his loud music or the clanging of his weights. When I'm skating home I get paranoid I hear his mustang speeding behind me. He's gone, I know he's gone but it's like he's still here and I'm just reliving the moment he died over and over and over again... Until I'm with Mike."
El's fingers halted their movements in my hair.
"When I'm with him, we're listening to music or joking around or arguing and I forget about it. He's become one of my best friends and I guess I got caught up in everything at your house. I was upset because I overheard you two talking about me and you were worried about me and him before it was even a thought in my head and after you said it I couldn't stop thinking about it, that maybe I did feel something more towards him. It all kinda came crashing down all at once before I could even think about it he was in the bathroom with me trying to reassure me that I wasn't as bad as people want to make me out to be. But maybe I am. I was bad enough to go and kiss him like an idiot."
"I'm sorry for what I said, I was just being paranoid. I know you and him grew closer I didn't know how to handle that."
"I'm the one apologizing, please." Max held her hand up to stop El from speaking further. "It was all one big stupid lapse in judgement. I don't like him anymore than I can throw him. Days after that kiss I was practically kicking myself in the head with how dumb I was getting caught up in this notion that it could've been something more... It can't because the more I thought about him romantically... it felt icky."
El bubbled with laughter and put a hand over her mouth to keep quiet, her giggles were shaking the bed, if Max's whispering hadn't made me stay awake El's laughter would've done it.
"Like sorry I know he's like the love of your life but how do you put up with him?" She joked again and I almost felt like speaking up in that moment to put a stop to the slander but I know it'd put me in a lot of trouble.
"No but seriously, I really am sorry. It was dumb and I didn't mean to hurt you by not thinking about what the hell I was doing. And it was against his will too, so please don't blame him. I'm the one that asked him not to tell you until I left because I was scared so please just make up with him because I can't handle seeing him so upset all because he was trying to be a good friend to me... even though I really didn't deserve it."
"It's not because of you that I haven't made up with him, I mean yeah it was the start of why I haven't." El began running her fingers through my hair again. "Like I said before. I lost trust with all of you. And most of you have lost trust with each other, today was a big step in the right direction and it almost felt like we were whole again but... Dustin still holds a lot of resentment. Lucas harbors all his emotions and doesn't let us know he's struggling. You pretend like you're okay and you're not and Mike try's to be strong to protect me, he doesn't trust that I can handle taking his burden. But that's what I want. I want him to tell me about his parents and his home life. I want you to tell me about your home life. I want Lucas to explain how he feels, I want him to invite me to his games. I want Dustin to stop covering up how he feels with lewd words and jokes."
"You're kidding me right?" A voice spoke up and my heart dropped to see Lucas turning on the lamp beside him.
"Lucas." Max gasped aloud.
"So you want all this truth and trust to start commencing only when it'd benefit you, right El?" Lucas scoffed. "You kissed Mike? My best friend?"
"You were eavesdropping." Was all Max was able to say in response.
"So all this talk about being truthful and it didn't once cross your mind to maybe mention something to me? Huh?"
"I didn't think you'd care, we're not dating."
"MAX I STILL LOVE YOU!" He shouted and before I even thought I sat up from El and I felt Dustin moving behind me.
"Oh so you guys were all just awake listening to our conversation?" Max threw her hands up in frustration and Dustin sat on the edge of the bed.
"I especially liked the part where you said you felt icky about Mike." He joked and I shoved his arm.
"Wait what did you just say?" Max turned to Lucas just then and he seemed to backtrack.
"Nothing, it was off the topic."
"No I don't care about the topic. So you still love me? You still loved me when you were trash talking me to Cindy Hale-,"
"It was a joke, for the last time, it was a joke and if you had been around to hear the rest of what I said instead of blowing me off and being cruel without reason then maybe we'd still be together! Yes I said you were a bitch as a joke, and then I told Cindy if she ever said anything about you again I would be sure to let you know what she was saying. I gave her a warning because I knew if you knew of anything she had said she'd be dead meat." He sighed. "You didn't trust me, Max. You didn't trust that I love you enough to defend you. But I trusted and loved you enough to know you didn't need me to defend you."
It was stock still silent, I felt my eyes stinging and I could hear Dustin sniffling beside me and I saw El wipe at her cheek to get rid of any fallen tears. It hurt to see their pain. They did love each other and it hurt to know it all fell apart with one misunderstanding.
"I'm sorry I- I didn't know, I-I'm sorry." Max put her hand up to her forehead in stress.
"Well, you know it now." He said. "I'm ready to move past it all if you are." Max quickly nodded and went towards him and hugged him before the sobs racked through her body. Lucas then looked towards me and I sighed.
"Here we go." I said. "She kissed me and it's my fault right?" I said to him without thinking which is becoming a theme in my life thus far.
Lucas removed Max's arms from around his neck and made his way towards me and El got in between us to stop him while Max was reaching for his arm but he brushed her off.
Dustin then stepped in front of El moving her to the side so she wasn't in the middle of it. "Cmon Lucas, you just said you were wanting to put everything behind."
"Yeah with her, but my own best friend who I've known since diapers was going to keep all this a secret?" He pointed a finger in my chest and I swatted his hand away.
"You know what yeah, because I didn't want you to get hurt, it was fucking out of no where and the last thing I wanted was to drag more people into it." He and I were now practically chest to chest. Lucas and I have fought and argued many times throughout our childhood but never about girls and relationships.
"Yeah, Mike's been really torn up about everything he didn't want to hurt you." Dustin spoke up.
I closed my eyes with a sigh. Fuck me. I thought and before I know it both El and Lucas were yelling combined phrases of 'You told him?!?'
"Oh shit, you guys didn't know?" Dustin put his hand over his mouth and El rolled her eyes in disbelief.
"So both of my best friends didn't tell me, what does Will know?" Lucas asked and El looked to me for the answer.
"No I didn't tell him because I knew he'd tell El right away." I sighed and El shook her head in disappointment.
"I didn't know I could get angry all over again, this is exactly what I mean about all of our trust being lost because we keep having all these secrets to keep from each other and it's sad. Friends don't lie." El said our mantra again and it settled over all of us like a heavy thick conflict blanket. El turned on more of the lights making the whole room illuminated and I looked at the clock on the nightstand to see it was 3am. She sat on the floor then and patted a spot next to her.
"We are all going to sit here in a circle and just tell each other the truth, about everything." The rest of us all looked amongst each other apprehensively. "I mean it, I won't be able to go on knowing this is what we've come to, we need to get everything out in the open so we can move on and regain trust to focus on saving Hopper and putting an end to all of this."
Dustin was the first one to sit beside El he looked at the rest of us with a shrug I could just read his thoughts across his face saying I've got nothing to lose.
Max then followed just sitting on the ground right where she was stood which was right across from El. Then with a roll of his eyes and a sigh Lucas then sat between Max and Dustin.
The whole group was looking at me in expectation and I felt my heart pounding in my chest. I knew that I'd have to tell them about my mom leaving. I'd have to tell them about my dad and how he belittles me, I'd have to tell them that leaving Holly behind with him was probably one of the worst things I've ever done in my life and that I desperately wanted to go back just to make sure she was okay.
My palms were slick with sweat and I just felt like running, but once I made eye contact with El I felt my feet moving forward and I sat between El and Max in the circle. El reached for my hand then Dustin's. Dustin reached for Lucas without hesitation and Lucas reached for Max timidly while Max hesitated to reach for my hand, but after a nudge from El I reached for hers.
"Since I asked, I'll start." El said quietly.
And for the rest of that evening we talked, we laughed and we cried until the sun was just barely peeking through.
And that night we regained trust, because friendship means nothing with our trust. And friends don't lie.