It's just polyester •byler

Chapter 6: Just give him a chance to grow

I think we should break up"

For a moment, the only thing that could be heard was the crackle of the phone.

"What? Why?"

"Because you don't talk to me" El's voice was firm

"El, We talk every day. I call you every day"

"Yes, so you can ask me about Will or talk about Nick." She pauses "You now call two times a day, sometimes three, and it always goes back to the same thing. You don't tell me how you are when I can tell there is something wrong. Mike, you care about those things. You don't- "

"El, I don't care about Will's stupid boyfriend"

"Nick's not stupid" El retorts, her voice sharp

- "It's not my fault you don't like girls" -

Mike goes cold. Stop, he tells himself, just stop. He thinks of that day, he thinks of Will's face and curiously he thinks of that day at the arcade and the conversation with Max that followed ( "You do know what happened there don't you?") He thinks back to ripping up that old receipt until not one part of it remained. He thinks about all the many phone calls he'd made to The Byers to assure himself El that everything was ok.

"...for Will. Why can't you just give him a chance?"

El's voice pulls him back and he doesn't know what to say to her. This feels different from before, when it had been El discovering herself, because eventually she'd found her way back to him. This time it felt final, and he didn't know what she expected him to say. He notices that the phone is shaking. He stays quiet, taking hold of his right wrist to try and stop the tremors.

Eventually, El breaks the silence again.

"Mike?"

" What ?" he can hear the harshness in his tone, but he only feels slightly guilty

"Talk to me"

" Apparently all I've got to talk about is Nick"

El sighs.

"I don't know what you want me to say, El"

"You cannot tell me you're not surprised"

She's right , he thinks. He's quiet again. His left arm falls limp at his side.

"I've wanted to break up, too" She admits after a moment

"Isn't that what you're doing?" he at least tries to hide the bitterness in his voice this time.

"No. Before" El clarifies "I love you-"

"Then what's the problem, El?- "

"But like I love all our friends. And I think you do as well. You love me like you love Lucas, like you love Dustin, like you love Max"

"El-"

"It's okay" She says, her voice the softest it had been the entire conversation. The type of voice you'd use if trying not to spook an animal, or to keep a baby from crying. "I think we will be happier this way"

"I'm sorry, El"

Before she can answer, Mike hears the sound of keys, rattling at the front door, pulling his attention

"Mike? Where are you?"

Nancy. Her voice echoing throughout the house. The basement door opens and she appears at the top of the stairs, her arms folded against her chest.

"Nice job babysitting Mike," She starts, "Just an hour, that's all it was- are you ok?"

He looks up at her, dumbfounded.