𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝐻𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑡 － 𝘓𝘶𝘤𝘢𝘴 𝘚𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘳

CHAPTER THREE.2

CHAPTER THREE
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THE POLLYWOG

                      You silently gawk at the sight of Eleven and Hopper dining on diabetic waffles. There in front of you is a plate of strawberries with a single waffle that had a decent amount of syrup on it.

"I don't see how you animals eat this" you joke and bite into a strawberry. Hopper freezes and frowns, mouth full of half of the 8,000 calories but Eleven says nothing. She barely looks away from her plate as she eats her waffle off of her fork.

Her silence is a worry to you.
"Hey.. you alright?"

She shrugs and picks up a blueberry from her plate. Hopper is just as clueless as you are, looking at you for some type of answer. You almost shrug at him but you remember that Eleven was pretty upset after the encounter with Mike some days ago.

Some things just slip from your mind nowadays. Maybe that's why Eleven really never came to you— fearing that you'd throw her worries over your shoulder. The two of you used to move as a team but now, it seems that all you do is read and hang out by yourself.

Even last night when Eleven was crying, Six only tried talking her into calming down. Though you cared about her troubles, you merely gave her words of encouragement and did your own thing, following Hopper out into the living room to watch scary films.

At times, you wondered if she felt betrayed by your behavior. Yes, you're aware that you're slightly distant but it's not to intentionally hurt her... you just wanted to try feeling things on your own for once.

Hopper is quick to catch on to the tense aura when he sees the wire coming out of your room. "You guys visit them last night?" he sniffs, not really upset that you did indeed visit Mike.

"Just Mike" you chirp
He nods and pokes his waffle, eyes darting to Eleven every other second.

"He says he needs me" she frames.
"Want me to check on him?"

Eleven shakes her head.
"Look... Six, you listen too" he says, voice now loud and bold "I know you guys miss them, alright? But it's dangerous" you nod, understanding.

"Eleven, you're the last thing he needs right now. And Six, stop beating yourself up about it, okay?" he says as if he just revealed a secret that had been held for a year.

And he kind of did.

"What?" you challenge, now sitting up at full attention. What did he know about you? Nothing and you weren't going to let him pretend to understand you in the slightest.

"You are strange acting now" Eleven accuses, sending you back further. A scoff comes out of your mouth as you shake your head and put a dismissing hand up.

"I don't act weird. And you're one to be talking, Eleven" your defense comes out harsher than you intended it to and it causes Eleven squints to you.

"What does that mean?"
"It means to mind your own!" you slam your fist on the table, knocking Hopper's tower of waffles down in the process.