"Eleven," Mike says.
The two hug one another.
"Mike," Eleven says.
I can see they both have tears in their eyes.
"Is that..." Max starts.
Lucas and Dustin both nod.
"I never gave up on you," Mike tells Eleven. "I called you every
night. Every night for..."
"353 days," Eleven says. "I heard."
"Why didn't you tell me you were there?" Mike asks. "That you were, okay?"
"Because I wouldn't let her," Hopper tells him. He steps closer to Eleven. "The hell is this? Where you been?"
"Where have you been?" Eleven asks.
Hopper pulls her into a hug.
"You've been hiding her," Mike says. "You've been hiding her this whole time!" Mike pushes Hopper.
Hopper grabs him by the collar. "Hey! Let's talk. Alone."
Everyone welcomes Eleven back with open arms. Dustin and Lucas both hug Eleven.
"We missed you," Lucas tells her.
"I missed you, too," Eleven assures.
"We talked about you pretty much every day," Dustin tells her.
Eleven grabs at Dustin's mouth. "Teeth."
"What?" Dustin asks.
"You have teeth," Eleven says.
Dustin smiles. "Oh. You like these pearls?" He purrs like a cat.
"Eleven?" Max asks. "Hey. Um, I'm Max. I've heard a lot about you."
Eleven ignores her and walks towards Joyce. Joyce wraps her into a tight hug.
"Hey. Hey, sweetheart. Hey," Joyce greets.
"Can I see him?" Eleven asks.
After seeing Will Joyce and Eleven come back out into the kitchen.
"You opened this gate before, right?" Joyce asks.
"Yes," Eleven tells her.
"Do you think if we got you back there, that you could close it?" Joyce asks.
"It's not like it was before. It's grown. A lot. And, I mean, that's considering we can get in there. The place is crawling with those dogs," Hopper says.
"Demo-dogs," Dustin says.
Hopper sighs. "I'm sorry, what?"
"I said, uh, Demo-dogs," Dustin tells him. "Like Demogorgon and dogs. You put them together, it sounds pretty badass..."
"How is this important right now?" Hopper asks.
"It's not. I'm sorry," Dustin tells him.
"I can do it," Eleven says.
Hopper shakes his head. "You're not hearing me."
"I'm hearing you. I can do it," Eleven insists.
"Even if El can, there's still another problem. If the brain dies, the body dies," Mike says.
"I thought that was the whole point," Max says.
"It is, but if we're really right about this... I mean, if El closes the gate and kills the mind flayer's army..." Mike starts.
YOU ARE READING
slay 'em dead//Steve Harrington
Fanfiction"It's a school night," I remind him. "Shouldn't you be inside?" Steve asks. "But it's so nice out here," I tell him. "I mean I am pretty nice to look at," Steve remarks.
