Triple Trouble - Stranger Things

The Nina Project

[Dani]

     I woke up with Lucas' arm around me, the two of us laying up against the couch where Eli was sleeping. At least I thought she was. I looked there to see she was gone. I panicked and slipped from underneath Lucas to look for her.

"Eli?!" I called rushing up the stairs.

"In here." I heard. I made my way over to the kitchen and entered to see the Wheelers there, Eli at the table with Mikes younger sister Holly. I let out a shaky sigh and approached the table, taking a seat next to my sister.

"You feeling alright?" I asked.

"A little shaky...but for the most part yeah." I nodded. "What about you?"

"What?" I questioned, a little bit of surprise in my voice.

"Are you okay?"

"Don't worry about me Eli-"

"No." She stopped me, putting her hand over mine. "You're dealing with just as much as I am. Like I said, you saw things. I wanna know if you're okay." I inhaled and looked at the bandages peeking from her sleeves. "You can't keep hiding your own feelings by using other peoples. And I know you may not notice it, but that's exactly what you're doing Dani." I looked down, swallowing hard. "Hey." Eli squeezed my hand. I looked back at her, meeting eyes. "But it's not your fault. You're simply trying to cope, that's it. But y'know, some methods just aren't the heathiest. I'm no psychologist but I know that there better ways to do it. And I'm not saying you have to stop caring about others, I'm simply saying that you need to put yourself first sometimes." I nodded slowly.

     I jumped feeling Eli put her head against mine. It felt odd. It wasn't normal behavior for her. It was almost shocking. "You know I love you right." I chuckled.

"Yeah. I love you too."

     We sat like that for a good minute until we heard two pairs of hurried footsteps tread up the stairs. We turned back to see Nancy and Dustin rush into the kitchen, the two of them looking at us like they saw ghosts.

"Morning guys." Mrs. Wheeler said, finishing another batch of pancakes. "Everything okay?" She asked them.

"Yeah." Nancy answered, breathing deep. "Yeah, everything's okay."

"I think it's so sweet that you guys are sticking together like this." Poor Mrs. Wheeler. Poor, innocent Mrs. Wheeler.

"Could try sticking together at a different house for a change." Mr. Wheeler snarked. Sometimes I wonder how Mrs. Wheeler could've married him. She doesn't deserve that.

     I heard Eli scoff from next to me, she slipped her headphones on and went back to what she had been doing before.

"You're all welcome anytime." Mrs. Wheeler said.

"Totally, you guys are like family." Dustin chirped. "May I?" He asked, motioning to the pancakes.

"Absolutely." Mrs. Wheeler smiled. Handing Dustin a plate.

"Yeah, why not? Take us for all we're worth." Mr. Wheeler grumbled.

"Okay." Dustin said, taking plenty of pancakes without hesitation. Mr. Wheeler watched as if his dog just got hit by a car.

     Nancy came over and took a seat next to Eli, giving her a moment to slip her headphones back off.

"Hey." Eli said.

"Hey. You okay?" Nancy asked.

"Just couldn't sleep. People keep blasting music in my ears for some reason." Eli joked, Nancy chucked a bit. I looked down at the table where a ton of papers sat, sprawled out, everything was red.