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“Just let me see her,” Mike whispered.
“Kid, I’m working on it okay? You’ll be able to see her again soon,” Hopper said.
Mike rolled his eyes and sat at the chair in front of Hopper’s desk with a huff of annoyance.
“How long is ‘soon’?” Mike asked. Once again, Hopper noticed a mannerism that Mike and Eleven have in common. It’s little things like their stubbornness and impatience. And then there’s the way they both roll their eyes when they’re annoyed.
Hopper would have thought being apart for a year would have lessened their similarities, but these two seemed to have a connection that was beyond just being in each other’s presence.
“‘Soon’ is whenever I get the clear from Dr. Owens.”
Mike didn’t seem to like this answer either, if his eyes once again rolling were a clue.
“It’s not like anyone is gonna know. You could take me. It’d be completely safe,” Mike argued.
Hopper sighed. Truth be told, he really didn’t like how much of a teenager his daughter was becoming, and Mike seeing her makes that even more complicated.
“Fine. But you will not speak of this to anyone okay? Meet me outside in an hour.”
“Yes sir,” Mike grinned for the first time in forever. Really it had only been two days since the gate closed, but he missed El too much. There was still so much he had to say.
One of those things, of course, was to ask her to the Snowball (again).
He’d made a promise. And he was bound determined not to break it.
An hour later, Mike was in the passenger seat of the cruiser, trying to hold in his excitement. (And totally failing).
“Listen kid. There’s gotta be some ground rules about you coming over...” Hopper began. “Rule number one: never go alone. You could be followed. I don’t think either of us want that. Number two: You’re not to be there alone with her. If you follow rule number one, this one should be pretty easy to follow. Three: I get that you two are more than friends, and I’m fine with that. Just... I don’t want to see proof of it. Got it?”
“Yeah. Got it.” Mike went a little pink, but it could’ve been worse and he was grateful that it wasn’t.
Mike’s eyes widened as they drove down the path that led to the cabin. Because for an entire year, El had been so close to him. And he had been so afraid she was dead, even with the chilling feeling he got with every nightly call.
The cruiser came to a stop in the middle of the woods, causing Mike to look at Hopper in confusion.
“We have to walk the rest of the way,” he explained.
They got out and began walking. It didn’t take long before Mike could see a small puff of smoke in the air, coming from the cabin.
Just as he was about to bolt for the door, Hopper reached an arm out, blocking him.
“Trip wire,” Hopper said, stepping over it. Mike followed suit.
Then they were at the front door. Hopper knocked a secret code, Mike paid close attention just in case he needed to know it too.
The door unlocked quickly, and Mike felt excited knowing that El had done that with her mind. Her powers never failed to amaze him, even when it was just little things like this.
And finally, there she was. She was sitting on the couch, eyes fixed on some soap opera on the TV. Her hair was curly and she wore overalls and a sweatshirt, so much different from the last time he saw her.
“Hey kid, I brought someone home for ya,” Hopper said.
El looked up and her reaction was immediate.
She jumped off the couch and ran into Mike’s open arms, knocking the wind out of him a bit.
Hopper began making himself busy in the kitchen to give them what little privacy they could have in the tiny cabin.
“I missed you,” she whispered into Mike’s neck.
“I missed you too,” he answered.
El grabbed his hand and pulled him into her bedroom. He looked around at the homey little room, taking notice of the stuffed animals and books that laid around. There wasn’t much there, though, and he made a mental note to get her some more stuff to make it her own.
For the next couple of hours, they talked about everything as they sat on the floor of El’s room, door open per Hopper’s request.
They talked about things El had learned since she’d been living with Hopper. Things that Mike had wanted to tell her. Things that made them both a little emotional to think about, but needed to be said otherwise.
Being so close, happy, made them both feel like they could breathe again. They hadn’t even realized that they were drowning, but now they had a breath of fresh air.
For an entire year, they had been ghosts in an alive world. Now, they could be humans again. Maybe, even better ones than they had been before.
“El?” Mike was sitting with his back to her bed, her head was on his shoulder.
“Yeah?”
“I was wondering... hoping... that maybe we could finally go to the Snowball together. It’s in about a month. I promised you we’d go before... I don’t wanna break my promise. I don’t break my promises.”
“I’d love to go to the Snowball with you, Mike.” El grinned at him.
Mike leaned in first, but El met him in the middle, as they shared a soft kiss for the first time that afternoon.
The only part about that day that made Mike unhappy was that El couldn’t leave and he had to keep her existence a secret from the world, from his parents. Someday, Karen Wheeler would know everything about El’s time before she met Mike, but for now, they had to hide in her tiny bedroom with her father in the next room where she’d be safe.
Mike could live with that.
When Hopper got back to the cabin after taking Mike back home later on, El asked him about going to the Snowball.
Hopper sighed and said, “I’ll try, kid. I’ll really try.”
And he did.
Thank God for fulfilled promises.