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Chapter 13

Right before I started writing this chapter, I saw a post on Instagram that literally almost made me cry. It was when Hopper hugged Mike after Mike yelled at him and it said "This scene becomes even more emotional when you realize Hopper probably hugged Mike tighter than Ted Wheeler ever has."

Honestly, it does make it more emotional because of how much of a piece of shit Ted is and the fact that he literally acts like he doesn't care. I hope in season three that he'll change somewhat and actually interact more with Karen and their kids. The post was from the_upside_down11.

So far, Mike hasn't been all that happy since El came back into his life, but I promise, it'll eventually change, but just a little heads up, it gets worse before it gets better. There'll be lot's of sad, moody, pissy Mike (Emo Mike) when it comes to his dad, and there's also a big plot twist in this chapter, and a lot of drama. It won't last the entire story, Mike will be happy again (for a while, at least)! I promise he will!

At one point, Mike managed to spot Nancy and Jonathan in the crowd and with a little convincing, they took Holly to go look at toys or something, he couldn't remember. He grabbed a hold of El's hand again, and the group of teens walked around the square, looking at the different games or mini-rides.

"What's that?" El asked, pointing at a bouncy house.

"It's a bouncy house." Mike explained. She raised an eyebrow.

"It's kinda like a trampoline. You can jump around in it." Lucas told her.

"Tramp-o-line?"

"Why don't we go and show her?" Max asked. They all nodded. Since there were no little kids in there now, the person who was sitting at the opening let them all go in. They took their shoes off, which confused El, but she did anyway. They got in and started jumping. Surprised, she fell over and was bouncing all over the place on the floor. It felt weird to her, but it was fun. Mike, laughing, stopped jumping and helped her up. He held her hands and gestured for her to jump with him. She did and she grinned.

"I asked my mom for a trampoline for Christmas so hopefully I'll get it!" Dustin said loudly.

"I hope so. I love trampolines." Will said, jumping higher than everyone else.

"This is fun." El told Mike, who nodded in agreement. Mike then slipped, and took El with him. She fell on top of him, the two giggling. When they realized that El was on top of him, they blushed and managed to get up without falling back down. After about ten minutes of jumping and attempting to do tricks, they got out so other kids could get in. While they were putting their shoes on, Dustin said,

"Hey Mike?"

"What?"

"Isn't that your dad over there?"

"Huh?" Dustin pointed towards the funnel cake stand, and standing next to it talking to someone, was Ted Wheeler. He looked at the others, who looked just as confused as him. He stood up from tying his shoes and walked towards his dad. As he got closer, he noticed he had picked a little kid up, and for a second, he figured it was Holly, but it wasn't. He was holding the kid in one arm, and had his other wrapped around some woman, and there was a little boy standing between them. Apparently, they were getting their picture taken.

"What the hell?" Mike exclaimed, when he knew Ted could hear him. The woman gave him a look but he ignored her. "Who the hell is this? And what are you even doing here?"

"This is, uh, uh-"

"I'm his fiance. What's it to you, kid?" The lady asked. The look on Mike's face went from annoyed, confused, and then to anger as he realized what was happening.

"You sorry piece of shit!" Ted put the kid in his apparent fiance's arms and turned to Mike.

"Listen, Michael-"

"Don't you dare, listen, Michael me. I get it now. You never cared about us, never!" He pushed him. "You're nothing but a sorry piece of shit, and that's all you'll ever be. You're a great roll model, did you know that, dad?" He asked sarcastically. "You're a damn good example of a father."

"Mike-" Will tried to pull him away but Mike shrugged him off. People were crowding around them now, wondering what was going on.

"All these excuses as to why you never do anything with us is because you have another damn family." He turned to the woman. "I hope you understand the shit you're getting into. He'll do the exact same damn thing to you. He doesn't love you, or your kids. Hell, he's probably screwing around on you already."

"I'll have you know-" She started.

"Did I ask for your damn opinion? No, I didn't." Mike hissed. Her eyes widened and she huffed, taking the little boys hand and walking away.

"For a 12 year old, you sure do have a potty mouth on you." That one sentence is what pissed Mike off the most.

"I'm. Not. Twelve." He growled. "I'm almost fourteen, dumbass. Screw you and your new family. You, as far as I'm concerned, are not my dad. Not anymore. I hope you rot in hell, you son of a bitch." Mike was way too calm as he said this, and then walked away. Dustin looked at Ted and said,

"You really are a son of a bitch, you know that?" The group of teens followed Mike. Mike didn't know where he was going, he was too pissed to see straight.

"Hey kid?" He heard Hopper say. He looked to his right and saw Hopper, Joyce, and his mom standing outside the cafe. They'd come out to see what was going on and witnessed the whole thing. Mike saw his mom in tears, and he knew. He knew that she's known about it for a while, just by the look on her face.

"Mike, sweetie, come here." She said gently, walking closer to him. Hopper looked at the other teens and gestured for them to go inside with Joyce. El argued with him but eventually went when he told her,

"He and his mom need to talk, in private for a few minutes." When she went inside, he went to go have a talk with Ted. Mike wouldn't look at his mom.

"Mike..." She put her hands on his shoulders.

"Mom, I...I'm sorry."

"Sorry for what? Don't apologize for anything, you did nothing wrong. I heard everything you said, and I hate to say it, but it's true." She squeezed his shoulders lightly. "I'm the one that should be sorry. I should have told you and Nancy. I shouldn't have kept this from you, or stayed with him. I just didn't want you guys to look at him differently. I know he hasn't been a good dad but I didn't want you to hate him. And if you hate me for not telling you, I understand-"

"Mom, don't say that." He shook his head. "I don't hate you. Nancy won't either. I wish I didn't find out that way but I did."

"I know. Come here." She held her arms out and he hugged her. She hugged him back tightly, running her fingers through his hair. "I know it's going to be hard, but do you think you can try and forget everything that's going on? Well, I know you can't forget it, but don't let it get to you. Try and have fun. At least until after the Christmas tree lighting, okay?" He nodded. "We'll talk more later, and I will talk to Nancy, I promise." He nodded again and pulled away from her, wiping his eyes with his sleeves.

"I'm gonna try and block it out. For you, Nancy, and Holly. And El, it's her first Christmas tree lighting and I don't want to ruin it even more." He said and gave her a small smile. She smiled back. His eyes widened for a second and said, "You know what El asked me?"

"What?" She pushed some of his hair out of his eyes.

"She asked me to be her boyfriend." He said, blushing.

"She did? That's awesome! It's about time!" She joked. He chuckled and nodded.

"I was gonna ask her...eventually." She smiled.

"I know you were."