It was a beautiful spring day in the town of Hawkins, Indiana. The flowers were beginning to bloom, and a light breeze filtered throughout the area as the sun shone down on the buildings and fields. It was the perfect temperature, and bright puffy clouds hung in the blue sky. Cars sped around the town as citizens went about their daily errands, content with their lives. It was a normal day in the small town for all but a few families scattered around Hawkins.

In a small house with a mailbox outside that read Hopper-Byers, a girl was sitting in the bathroom with her mother as she got ready for her wedding. She had shoulder length hair that was normally curly, but for now had been straightened and put up in an exquisite and fancy bun on the top of her head. While she wore a bathrobe for now, her dress was on a hanger in the other room. It was a simple floor length gown with no lace or ruffles, but had small sleeves that covered her shoulders. Along with it was an equally simple veil and a bouquet of white roses.

She had never fully gotten the hang of putting on makeup, as her soon-to-be husband always insisted she looked fine without it, so her mom was currently sitting in a chair opposite her while she put on her makeup. A simple reddish lipstick and some eyeshadow and blush would suffice, so it went by quickly. Outside, she could her her dad and brothers, along with their friends, setting up the tent and chairs for the ceremony and reception later in the day.

"Dammit! I can't get my end to stay up!" she heard her older brother yell to someone else outside.

"Kid, just try until I get my side up, and then I can help you!" That was her father, and she smirked at his tone he used. "Then we can worry about helping your brother and his friends with the chairs!"

"Alright sweetie, now close your eyes while I finish up," he mom said sitting across from her. She obliged and shut her eyes to the world. Joyce was sitting across from her, dressed in a simple maroon and black dress that was about knee-length. She had her hair down naturally, although she had a few bobby pins here and there to help hold it back.

"Hey Dad! Where are the rest of the chairs?" she heard her younger brother ask.

"In the house in the living room!" he responded, and she heard several sets of feet run up the back porch steps and into the house.

"Found them!" she heard Dustin yell, and soon she could hear all of them march back outside with the stacks of chairs.

"Alright sweetie, you can open your eyes now," Joyce said, touching her shoulder. El did as she said and gasped as she looked in the mirror above the sink. Joyce had worked her magic once more and had done her makeup beautifully.

"Pretty?" she asked.

"Yes, of course dear. Very pretty."
A knock sounded on the door, and Joyce opened it after El had tightened her robe. It was Will.

"Hey mom," he began, stopping when he saw Eleven. "Wow sis, you're gonna give Mike a heart attack at the altar," he joked, getting a laugh out of his sister and mom.

"What do you need hun?" Joyce asked, reminding him he had been about to ask a question before he had seen his sister.

"Oh yeah. Dad wants you to come outside and make sure you like how everything is all set up. We have the rows of chairs all ready to go and the tent is mostly set up. Dusin is helping Jonathan with his side right now."

"Okay, I'll be out in a minute. El, Max is going to be here in about five minutes right?" her mom asked, and El looked at her watch and nodded.

"Yeah, and Mike is with Lucas right now at his house. They'll be over soon. Get ready sis! In less than 3 hours you'll be Eleven Jane Wheeler!" he said excitedly, running back outside. Everyone had known Mike and Eleven would get married someday, but that didn't mean they were no less excited for the actual day.

Joyce left her to go outside and make sure the boys hadn't screwed anything up, and El sat in the bathroom to wait for the arrival of her best friend and maid of honor. She thought about all of the adventures, good and bad, she and Mike had gone on throughout their 11 years of being together. Him finding her in the woods, them fighting off the Mind Flayer, all of her firsts she had shared with him, such as her first lake trip, or first birthday. She smiled and remembered their first time they had been intimate with each other.

And then, just eight months ago, he had taken her on the trip of a lifetime. They had driven back to Lake Michigan, but just the two of them this time. They had spent a romantic weekend situated on a gorgeous section of the lake, where they had went to dinner and stargazed, one of her favorite activities. The next morning she had woken up and gone out onto the small balcony, as she had done every morning since, as she loved the first rays of sunshine hitting her body and the breeze that blew in her face. As she looked down, she noticed on the beach in seashells was the message "El, will you marry me?". It had taken her a few seconds to comprehend the message in front of her, but as it registered in her mind what she was ready, her eyes grew teary and her hand flew to her mouth. She turned around and there he was, kneeling right behind her with a small box in his hand.

"So? Will you?" he asked hopefully.

She had just nodded tearfully, at a complete loss for words. He had smiled at her and then she tackled him to the ground, hugging and kissing him. What had followed, well, had been a morning she would never forget.

She was broken out of her thoughts by a knock on the bathroom door. "El! Open up! It's Max and I'm here to get ready for your wedding!" her best friend yelled through the closed door. El smiled and unlocked it with her mind.

Max came waltzing in and gasped when she saw her hair and makeup. "Damn girl. I thought straightening my hair would be enough! You look amazing!"

El laughed at her friend's reaction. "Well you better not look better than me, I am the bride while you are just a measly maid of honor!""

Max put her hand to her chest in feigned shock. "Wow, you have wounded me so badly I don't know if I can do this wedding today!" she exclaimed, and El pouted at her until they both broke into laughter.

"Come on and sit down. We only have around 2 hours now to finish getting ready, and you need some makeup and we both need our dresses!" she said, and Max shut the door again so they could get ready in private.

Wheeler Residence

Mike paced back and forth in the basement. Even though it had been five years since he had lived here full time, not much had changed. The D&D table had moved slightly to the left, and the chairs and bean changed out, but it was still more or less the same. El's fort was still up, as whenever they were on break from college she still loved to sit in it. After they had finally explained to his parents where and who El was, his mother had understood why it was so important for it to stay up. The small TV sat in the corner still, where they had watched countless movies at sleepovers. It was if nothing had changed at all.

Besides their ages of course. Lucas sat on the couch and watched with an amused expression as his friend paced around the basement, going off on one of his tangents he had sometimes.

"God, what if something goes wrong Lucas? What if Hopper stops the wedding? What if it rains? Oh Jesus, what if she decides she doesn't want to marry me?"

He had seen enough, so Lucas got up and grabbed Mike's shoulders, stopping him in his tracks and turning him to look him in the eye. "You need to calm down man. Hopper can't legally stop you, you're both adults. If it rains, we'll go inside. And El is so excited about this. Hell, ever since your proposed it's all she's been able to talk about. I mean seriously, we could be talking about Star Wars and she could bring it back to this wedding. Chill man, everything will be fine," he said, and grinned at his friend when he saw his face calm a bit.

"You're right, I know you're right," he said, and they both sat down on the couch. He hadn't been able to decide who to make his best man, so they had all agreed as a party to be best men together. They had all taken different "best man tasks" to handle during the event.

"It's all good man. I know I'll be the same way when I propose to Max," Lucas said, thinking about the ring he had had now for several months. "I still can't believe you proposed to El a week before I was going to!"

"Hey man, I told you me and her didn't mind if you purposed as well," Mike said in

retaliation.

"Yeah I know, but I didn't want to steal your thunder."

They sat in silence a few moments before Lucas checked his watch and jumped up from the couch. "Holy shit Mike! The wedding was supposed to start 15 minutes ago!"

Mike jumped up as well and began running around the room looking for his tie and shoes. His mind had completely forgotten the fact that he had checked his watch not five minutes ago and had seen they still had 2 hours before the wedding. He stopped when he heard his friend laughing, and looked over at him to see him doubled over with his laughter.

"Oh man the look on your face!"

Mike glanced at his watch and saw it was only 1:55. They still had two hours to go. "Go to hell you asshole!" he yelled at his friend, but that only made him laugh harder, and soon Mike started to laugh too.

After they had both calmed down, they did decide to head on over to the Byers and help the rest of their friends set up. They hopped in Mike's car and drove over, and in about 10 minutes they had reached the house. The mailbox had balloons tied on it and a sign in the yard announced that the wedding was here for any guests unfamiliar with the area. Not that anyone they had invited should be all that unfamiliar with the area, as it was as small guest list.

They walked around back and saw Steve, Jonathan, Will, Dustin, Hopper, and Joyce all setting out the plates, utensils, and centerpieces at the tables. Will saw them first and announced their arrival to the others, and soon Mike was trapped in a congratulatory back-slapping circle.

"Mike! Today's the day man!" Will said, slapping his back as he hugged him.

"Never thought I'd live to see my baby grow up!" Steve joked, also slapping his back.

"I'm proud of you kid," Hopper said in a gruff voice, also hitting his back, which was starting to hurt. Before anyone else could slap his back, he managed to escape and went over to hug Joyce.

"How are you feeling dear?" she asked.

He smiled at her, the woman who had been a second mother to him all his life. "Nervous, but very excited. Where's El?" he asked, wanting to see his bride-to-be.

She scoffed. "Now now, you know you can't see the bride before the ceremony. Now help us finish setting up, guests will be arriving around three!"

They all began to finalize the preparations for the reception. Multiple places from the town were providing a buffet of all kinds of different foods, and for dessert there was a candy bar with all of El's favorites, the wedding cake, and an Eggo bar stocked with several toasters, dozens of Eggos, and multiple kinds of toppings.

The groomsmen helped seat people while Mike went over some last minutes things with Hopper and the priest that would be marrying the two. He was making sure everything would be good to go when the time came for them to be married.

Soon it was approaching four, and all of the guests were seated and Mike and his 4 groomsmen were lined up at the altar. Jonathan was ready with his camcorder and best camera he had for pictures. The piano started up and Mike gasped and began to tear up at the sight behind the doors that had just opened.

Eleven had her arm around Hopper's as he led her down the aisle, walking softly on the petals that Holly has strewn around just a minute earlier. She had tears in her eyes as well, but was being careful to not let them fall just yet, as she didn't want to ruin the makeup Joyce had put so much work into. They reached Mike and Hopper embraced her and gave her a kiss on the cheek before giving her off to Mike. She stood a foot away from him and they both smiled happily at them. Behind them, Max, Nancy, and Holly all gave knowing expressions and eye rolls to Dustin, Will, Lucas, and Steve, as the couple in front of them were acting like they were the only two beings left on the planet.

Hopper took his seat next to Joyce as the priest began his part of the ceremony, welcoming everyone to it and beginning his spiel he had to do. Joyce glanced over at her husband and saw him wipe a few tears away.

She took his hand and leaned over to whisper into his ear. "Is this wedding making big bad Jim Hopper sad?" she said playfully, as she knew she had tears in her eyes as well. Her daughter was getting married for christ's sake.

"Oh shut it. You're one to talk," he said, referencing her own tears. She giggled softly and rested her head on his shoulder.

Both Mike and El had opted for a shorter ceremony, so they were about to read their vows already. Mike was to go first.

"El, I don't even know where to begin. I tried to plan this out, but there were just so many things to say, so I decided to just wing it and talk for awhile. Ever since I met you 11 years ago, I knew you would play a big part in my life," he said, and everyone that knew about the events that had occured in 1983 and 84 laughed a little, knowing the double meaning behind his words. "You never fail to make me smile and laugh and feel loved, and I hope I do the same for you. I love trying new things with you, and leaning new things together. You are such a brilliant and beautiful person, and nothing in the world makes me happier than just being with you. And that is why I love you El," he finished, and although they would all heavily deny it later, all of the boys, including Steve and Jonathan, were crying.

Eleven was strong, managing to hold back her tears so she could read her own vows. She pulled out a small folded piece of paper from her bouquet that she had stashed in between the roses. "Mike, you found me 11 years ago and saved me and gave me Eggos. You taught me new things, and showed me how to love and trust. I don't love anything else in this world more than you, besides Eggos," and she was done. The Eggo comment elicited a laugh from the crowd, as everyone in Hawkins knew about that obsession from all of the times they had seen her at the store with Hopper or Mike buying boxes upon boxes of Eggos. Her vows were short and sweet, because even though her vocabulary had been expanded upon, she still spoke in a very blunt and to the pont way.

"Well then, with the power vested in me by the state of Indiana, I now pronounce you Mr. and Mrs. Wheeler! You may now kiss-" he was cut off by El throwing her bouquet at Max and pouncing on Mike, grabbing his suit and pulling him forward to meet her lips as she kissed him deeply. All of their friends were roaring with laughter as they clapped from the newly married couple. They separated and smiled happily at their gathered friends and family, and then began to run over towards the tent for the reception, the adults stayed and walked slowly, but the party all raced to their seats at the head table.

Once everyone was seated, Dustin stood up and tapped his glass to get everyone's attention. "Well, seeing as you have four best men, these speeches could take awhile, so I figured it best to get started right away. Mike, El, literally no one in the party thought you two would ever not get married. In fact, I remember betting 5 dollars to each party member back in 1985 that you two would get married in less than 10 years, and here we are in 1994, so here you go guys," he said, handing a five dollar bill each to Will, Max, Lucas, and Steve. Everyone chuckled at his story, and Lucas stood up next to give his speech.

"I gotta say, five dollars seemed like a lot more when we were 14," he began with, getting another laugh from everyone. "Anyway, I'd just like to say, when we first met El, I hated her. I was jealous that she was taking my best friend away from us. But then I realized he could like a girl and still be out friend, and me and El got over our differences and are great friends now. I'm happy for you guys!" he said, and everyone clapped.

"Well, Mike, we've been friends from kindergarten, and El, you've saved me several times since we met, and I'm grateful to you both for everything you've done for me. Here's to many more happy years for you both!" Will said, making his speech short.

Steve stood up last. "Well, I can't say how many times I caught you two making out when you were supposed to be studying while I was looking after you all," he began with, making the two of them blush and Hopper playfully glare at the two of them. "But anyways, I could always tell you two had a special connection most adults don't have, and I'm happy for you two!"

Mike and El stood up after the clapping had died down. "Thank you all for the speeches, now, let's eat!" he said, and everyone got up to get in line. They had gotten pizza from their favorite restaurant, and both of them got a few slices with some sides before sitting back down to eat. The party laughed and joked and ate at the head table while everyone else milled around the tent talking to each other. After they had finished, Mike and El went down and talked among everyone. Mike introduced people to El and one another, since there were a few people from out of Hawkins. After about 20 minutes, Steve, who was co-DJ with Jonathan, announced it was time for the first dance.

Mike took El to the middle of the dance floor and put his arms around her as they assumed the position. "Every Breath you take," by the Police came over the speakers, and El squealed with delight. "Mike! It's our song!' she said, and he nodded happily. Since it had been the first song they had slow danced to, El had declared it "their song".

They began to sway together as they lyrics began.

Every breath you take,

every move you make,

every bond you break,

every step you take,

I'll be watching you.

"I can't believe we're finally married," she said, looking into his eyes.

Every single day,

every word you say,

every game you play,

every night you stay,

I'll be watching you.

"I would've married you at 16 if Hopper hadn't been around," he said back, making her giggle.

Oh can't you see,

you belong to me,

my poor heart aches,

with every step you take

"Oh come on, he didn't dislike you that much," she said back. He twirled her around and she sighed happily as they resumed swaying, her head on his shoulder.

Every move you make,

every vow you break,

every smile you fake,

every claim you stake,

I'll be watching you

"Yeah, but I still doubt he would have been thrilled if I had asked out his 16 year old daughter."

Since you've gone I been lost without a trace,

I dream at night I can only see your face,

I look around but it's you I can't replace,

I feel so cold and I long for your embrace, I keep crying baby, baby, please.

"Yeah, you're probably right," she giggled out, overcome with happiness.

Oh can't you see

You belong to me

My poor heart aches

With every step you take

"Not that it matters now, because now we're married, and we have an apartment to share, and we'll be together forever," he responded, happy tears filling his eyes.

Every move you make

Every vow you break

Every smile you fake

Every claim you stake

I'll be watching you

Every move you make

Every step you take

I'll be watching you

"Together forever," she responded, kissing him.

I'll be watching you

(Every breath you take, every move you make, every bond you break, every step you take)

I'll be watching you

(Every single day, every word you say, every game you play, every night you stay)

I'll be watching you

(Every move you make, every vow you break, every smile you fake, every claim you stake)

I'll be watching you

(Every single day, every word you say, every game you play, every night you stay)

I'll be watching you

(Every breath you take, every move you make, every bond you break, every step you take)

I'll be watching you

(Every single day, every word you say, every game you play, every night you stay)

I'll be watching you

The song ended and they separated while everyone else clapped. She kissed him once more as all of their friends joined them on the dance floor while Jonathan put on something fast and exciting to dance spent the night eating, talking, dancing, and just enjoying each other's company. Jonathan made sure to take as many pictures as he possibly could so they would all remember the night. As fun as it all was, around 11 PM Mike and El hugged everyone goodbye and promised to call them all soon. They hopped into his car and began to drive to their new apartment. They drove in silence with the radio on in the background, just enjoying the fact they were now married. She put her hand over his and he smiled.

Together forever

The End.

Thank you all so much for reviewing and following and favoriting my story. I posted it on here in the hopes it would get maybe a few views and favorites, but never in my mind did I think it would get this many. It makes me so happy and I am so grateful for you all. I hope you enjoyed the Epilogue, and I hope you enjoyed the entire story. I will be writing something new and hopefully that will be posted in a few days, so look out for that. Again, thank you all so much for reading.