Love Is A Battlefield (A Stranger Things/Steve Harrington Fanfiction)

Chapter Sixty-Nine: Bullcrap

~~~SPOILER ALERT!!! SEASON 4 STARTS NOW~~~

Dear Riley,

Today is day 185. It feels more like ten years. Joyce says time is funny like that. Emotions can make it speed up or slow down. We are all time travelers if you think about it. For example, this week is going very fast. I think because I am so busy. I have to make something called a visual aid. We have to do a presentation about our hero, but I chose two.

 I'm doing mine about you and Dad, so I made a diorama of the cabin. I hope Mrs. Gracey will give me an A, and I hope you will get to see it one day. Some exciting news, Joyce got an amazing new job. She gets to work at home. She says she loves the 'freedom'. Will is painting a lot, but he won't show me what he's working on. Maybe it is for a girl. I think there is someone he likes, because he has been acting...weird.

Jonathan is acting weird also. I think he is just nervous about college. He is still waiting for his big letter. I hope he and Nancy get to go together. But I don't know how he'll ever get to college, because his car is still broken. He tried those maintenance tricks you told him about, but they didn't work. I don't think he is as good at fixing cars as you are. His funny friend, Argyle, has been taking us to school. His hair is longer than mine.

He and Jonathan like to smoke smelly plants together. Jonathan says the plants are super safe because they come from the earth, but to not tell Joyce. Me? I am twice as happy now. You and Mike were right. It just takes time. I think I have finally adapted. At first, I missed all the spring flowers, like the ones you used to pick for me on your way home. But now I find it pretty here too. I think they use flowers in weddings, so we should pick you some Hawkins spring flowers when you and Steve finally get married. 

 I even like school now. I am still best at Math, but my grammar is getting good now also. It helps that everyone is so nice here. I have made lots of friends. Even so, I am ready for spring break, mostly because I get to see Mike. I am so excited to see him, it is hard to breathe. I think he will love it here, like me. I think we will have the best spring break ever. 

I still miss you a lot. I wish you were coming with Mike over Spring Break, but I know that you have to work so that you and Steve can pay for your apartment. You're officially an adult now, which is really cool. I am hoping that Joyce will let me come and stay with you over the summer. Every time I ask, she says we'll see, which Will and Jonathan say means no, but I'm holding onto hope.

I hope my spelling was better this time. I love you. Tell Steve I said hello.

Love, El.

I smiled, folding the letter, which was written neatly on paper with little rainbows at the bottom, before slipping it back into its envelope and walking into the living room. I pulled a shoe box off of my bookshelf, putting El's letter with all of the others that she'd written me over the last several months. We talked on the phone sometimes, but I think she likes seeing her new grammatical skills written out on paper, so we've been exchanging letters instead. Plus, it means we both have something tangible, that the other person has touched, so it feels like we're still together, even though we're not. 

"Hey Steve!" I called, putting the box back and walking over to poke my head in our bedroom door. Steve was still laying in bed, shirtless as always, drooling on his pillow. I laughed at this, grabbing my polaroid camera from my nightstand and putting it close to his face before snapping a picture.

The flash caused him to wake up with a start, which I laughed at as I stood up on the bed and took the photo out of the slot, shaking it so that it would develop.