JANUARY 1 1985

El had spent multiple weeks trying to convince Hopper to let Mike visit her. She knew it wasn't safe for her to roam around in public but it couldn't hurt for Mike to visit her every now and then. Hopper was terrified of the idea, thinking about all the things they could be doing in her room…

But Hopper couldn't deny her what she wanted after weeks of constant annoyance and begging. Hopper didn't want them to be doing relationship stuff in his cabin, but he couldn't live with himself by rejecting El and seeing her sad and lonely. As a father, he had to grant her this one request.

However, he decided to sit down with El and gave her the talk… no… not that one…

He said that El is to leave the door open at least three inches when the teenage couple are in her room.

El immediately agreed, knowing she already fought a long battle just to see Mike; she was content enough with this one rule.

Today was the day. New years. Mike wouldn't go back to school for three days. Mike still didn't like Hopper for not telling him about secretly housing El. Mike went into a deep depression and cared little about things he used to love doing for almost a year. But seeing El again and kissing her at the Snowball gave him a different attitude. He was no longer a depressed Mike; he became Bad Boy Mike.

Bad Boy Mike had started weeks ago when El cried to Mike about how Hopper wouldn't allow him to visit El. El communicated with Mike through a walkie talkie that he gave her at the end of the Snowball.

Mike went on a tangent to El about how Hopp's "an angry old man who hates people finding happiness with each other because he has none." He went on to call Hopper a piece of shit while constantly trying to convince El to sneak out of the cabin and meet him at the arcade. El was too pure to disrespect Hopper like that. She knew the consequences of going out in public was too risky at the moment.

But today was a good day for the couple. It was cloudy, but Mike couldn't tell the difference between cloudy and sunny. All his mind could think about was seeing El and talking to her….. maybe even fool around with her just to get back at Hopper.

Mike got off his bike and walked up the steps of the cabin in a hurry. He knocked on the door loudly just because he wanted to see the pissed look on Hopper's face. Hopper opened the door with the exact look that Mike had hoped to see.

"Mike," Hopper said with little enthusiasm while dressed up in a black coat and blue jeans.

"Hopper," Mike replied with same enthusiasm.

It seemed like they were about to have a western cowboy duel with the way they were intensely staring at each other.

"Well, hurry up. She's been waiting for you all day," Hopper broke the silence and stepped aside so he could give Mike room to enter the cabin.

Mike slowly entered the cabin, never breaking eye contact with Hopper. Hopper slowly closed the door while still eyeing Mike. Mike walked around and saw Eleven standing up in her room with a heart warming smile on her face. Mike stepped inside her room and shut the door, already breaking the rule. He rushed over to El and hugged her. He had a strong grip around her waist, never wanting this hug to end.

"El…"

"Mike…."

They could hear loud footsteps nearby. Already upset, Hopper opened the door and sighed.

"Three inch minimum, Mike. You see. Like this. If this door isn't at least opened this far, you've broken the rule," Hopper explains, showing Mike how open the door should be.

El told Mike about the rule beforehand, but Mike didn't care.

"Whatever," Mike replied nonchalantly.

"Whatever?" Hopper said, shocked at the balls Mike had in order to talk to him like that.

"Mike will follow the rule. Right Mike?" El said, trying to keep the tension from escalating into an all out argument.

She grabbed Mike's hand and smiled at him.

"Yeah… I will," Mike said with a grin on his face.

Hopper stared at both of them before closing the door to the appropriate length.

El and Mike held each other's hands while both taking a seat on the edge of the bed. Mike turned to her and vice versa as they both couldn't stop grinning at each other.

"El… I've missed you…"

"I've missed you too, Mike…"

As both of them stared deep into one another's eyes, it seemed like they were sharing thoughts and emotions. Mike thought she was using her powers at first.

"What...uh...What do you… like, wanna do?" Mike asked.

"I wanna be with you," El simply replied, making Mike blush.

"Here I am!" Mike jokingly raised his hand.

El would do whatever Mike wanted. Mike had returned to his usual nerdy self when he saw El's face, so now he had no idea what to do.

"I… guess we could just cuddle," Mike suggested.

"cuddling is nice," El innocently replied.

Mike laid down on his back with his head resting on her pillow. El maneuvered around Mike to get in the right position. She rested her head on his chest along with her hand. He had his arm around her. He was her protector.

They didn't talk. They didn't look at each other. They were resting, completely conscious, just enjoying the moment together. After all the bullshit they went through, they finally had peace together.

Minutes would go by. By ten minutes, El needed to talk to Mike.

"Mike…"

"Yeah?"

"You should be nice to Hopper."

"Fuck him," Mike shook his head no.

"But why?" El wondered as she looked up at him, making him look down into her eyes.

"Because, he's treating you like an inside dog. His own special pet. You deserve better," Mike said with anger.

"Inside dog?" El replied with confusion on her face.

"You know… a dog who isn't allowed to go outside? You know what a dog is, right?" Mike asked, being completely serious.

"I'm not that stupid, Mike!" El giggled and lightly slapped his chest.

Mike giggled back.

"Sorry. It's just that… we've never really had time to ourselves… besides the Snowball."

It was true. They never had time to learn more about each other, either being on the run or separated.

El could smell something weird on his body. It wasn't Mike's usual smell. She sniffed his chest, giving Mike weird feelings as his eyes widened.

"Why do you smell… magical?" El asked.

Mike chuckled at El's unique description.

"Oh….. I decided to put on perfume. It's supposed to make you smell better. You don't like it?" Mike sounded disappointed.

"I… I like you. I wanna smell you just as you are. I want you to be yourself… be…natural,"

El explained while playing with his hair.

It was obvious that El had a limited vocabulary. Hopper bought her books to get better at language. Learning basic words like natural were crucial if she was going to school this September.

"I am myself, but… I think you deserve better than me… and Hopper. You deserve a normal life."

El would cry if she couldn't get over how beautiful Mike was.

"With you, my life is perfect," El said.

"Maybe… but Hopper doesn't want you to be with me. He'd rather you sit in your room all day and do nothing. He's terrible, El. You can't stay in this cabin forever."

El was saddened by Mike's comments.

"He's doing his best… He's trying to protect me from exposing myself. He said that I can maybe go to school with you this year…"

"It's all bullshit, El."

"No!" El raised her voice, shocking Mike.

"He wouldn't lie to me. If Friends don't lie, Dads definitely don't lie!" El added on.

"OK, let's say he's not lying. He said maybe. Maybe can mean anything, El."

"Can you try not to treat Hopper bad? Just try… so we can keep seeing each other…"

Mike sighed and nodded his head yes.

"Just because you don't like it, I'll try to get better when it comes to Hopper."

El started to rub Mike's chest.

"I… don't not like it… if that makes sense. I just… don't like seeing either of you mad…… But," El sounded too shy and embarrassed to continue on.

"But what?" Mike wondered.

El shook her head, not wanting to say anything further.

"Come on. Tell me. Friend's don't lie, but they also don't keep secrets," Mike explained, trying to persuade her.

El felt forced to confess.

"When you get mad at Hopper and are bad, I… I get this weird tingly feeling. I like it for some reason. I like seeing you angry. I'm a terrible person…!" El shamefully said.

Mike started laughing. El felt like he was mocking her.

"It's not funny, Mike!"

"It's not bad, El! I mean, I guess you're confirming the stereotype that good girls like bad guys. You're just so adorable and pure, that's why I was laughing," Mike explained while twirling her hair around his finger.

"Oh. It's just that… I don't think I should be happy to see you in a bad mood. I like you in a good mood, but when you're in a bad mood, it's just different…"

"El, you're fine! I can't teach you what to feel and not feel, but like… when people like us like each other… we'll like weird things about each other.

"You're cute, but I feel like you're something more when you get that bad attitude. What's the right word?" El asked herself.

Mike wanted to help her, knowing she had language difficulties.

"I think the word you're looking for is HOT," Mike said, having a grin.

"Yes! Hot! You're hot when you're mad!" El shouted, forgetting the door was open.

Mike leaned in closer to her face. He brushed her hair back and giggled.

"And you're hot when you learn new words," Mike said.

El shook her head, not believing he was being truthful.

"No. I'm not hot like you. I'm just pretty…"

"Yeah, you're pretty, pretty hot!" Mike said, making El laugh and blush at the same time.

"No! Stop lying!" El replied, still laughing.

When she stopped laughing, the silence made them aware of how close their faces were to one another.

"I'm gonna show you how hot you are, El," Mike said, oozing with confidence.

El gulped, knowing she was too weak to even comprehend a normal response to Mike.

Mike saw this moment as the right opportunity to start kissing her. It was a long kiss, like at the snowball, but longer. They eventually broke it off but it didn't take Mike long to start kissing her again. He started doing quick smooches to her lips. El was a fast learner so she began to do the same.

They kept smooching, over and over, refusing to stop as it got more and more sloppy. Mike was amazed at the sounds their mouths were making, and El was too entranced to realize Hopper wouldn't like this. But even El had to give her mouth a break from Mike's.

They opened their eyes and it all started to sink in. They just had their first make-out session. El heard about 'making out' and even saw kids doing it at the Snowball, but she was a good girl. She didn't want to keep doing this around Hopper.

Mike closed his eyes and leaned in to continue making out with El but El leaned back. Mike's eyes opened and he had a look of disappointment when he saw El shaking her head.

"What's wrong? Am I bad at it?" Mike asked, hoping that wasn't the case.

"No."

"Then what is it?"

El pointed at the door, causing Mike to roll his eyes.

"Who cares?"

"I do, Mike. There's a reason he wants the door open. It's too keep us from doing things like this?"

Mike shook his head and started to get angry again.

"Did you like doing it though?" Mike asked.

"Well… yes… but we have to listen to Hopper. He's an adult!" El said, acting a little too innocent for Mike's taste.

"Trust me, all we're doing is kissing. If he thinks that's wrong, that's his problem."

Mike leaned in to kiss her again. She thought about it and ended up fighting the urge. She leaned away again.

"Mike… I just… don't think this is right. I like kissing you, but Hopper said no kissing and no doing any other naughty things!"

Mike thought about listening to her; he thought about accepting defeat on this, but he couldn't. He had too much love building up in his body and he simply couldn't back down.

"El, I like you… a lot. I called you for 353 days. We nearly died going through the shit we did. No disres- actually, you know what, fuck it. Disrespect intended, I'm not letting anyone tell me what I can and cannot do with you. I don't give a shit if they're an adult or one of my friends."

El started to get that tingly feeling again as she gulped.

"So here's what we're gonna do. We're gonna do whatever we want when we're together. It doesn't matter if we're cuddling or kissing or making out or awkwardly playing with each others hair like we seem to do for some reason."

El chuckled at how he went from being super confident to witty fast.

"Because dammit, El, I missed you. I don't want you to leave me again. We're doing this! And if Hopper catches us, oh well, we're just kids so it's not like he can actually do anything to me. Do we have a deal?" Mike asked.

El had never seen Mike this confident and commanding. She felt so many weird things. She wanted to say no and be a good girl for Hopper, but El knew she was ultimately Mike's girl. She couldn't say no to him, and this new attitude made him absolutely unstoppable.

"D-D-Deal," El stuttered, knowing she was about to intentionally disobey Hopper.

"Now come here, you hot telepathic girl," Mike said as he set up El on top of him.

They started making out again, each kiss getting more sloppy than the next. El had her hands on his shoulders to keep her in place. Mike had one hand resting on her back and another rubbing her leg.

El had to choose a side, and although she loved Hopper, Mike was her entire world. And she would do anything to make him happy.

The fear of being caught only made her feel more tingly and weird. Hopper was right to be hesitant about Mike visiting, because now they wouldn't be able to go a day without each other.