✔︎Chocolate Ice Cream || Dustin Henderson

Chapter 13

Molly

I couldn't believe it El was back! She's really here. I turned to see Hopper lower his gun, and Mike walking towards her. They both looked like they were on the verge of tears.

"Mike," El said, hugging the poor boy.

"El," Mike replied hugging her so tightly. "You're here, you're really here."

"I missed you," El said. "353 days."

"You could hear me?" Mike asked incredulous.

"I tried to get to you," El breathed. "Too weak, couldn't do it."

"It's okay, you're here now," Mike said smiling and crying at the same time. Lucas, Dustin, and I ran over to El after we let the adorable couple have their moment.

"El!" we all yelled hugging her.

"You're back!" I said, still not believing that she was here.

"We missed you," Dustin told the girl.

"Mike was a mess without you. He wouldn't do anything for awhile," Lucas said hugging the girl he previously hated. 

"Molly," El said to me. "I missed you. We need to hang out later."

"I missed you too El. You're vocabulary has gotten better. I can teach you some more words when this is over," I replied hugging the girl. She smiled at me. She turned to Dustin.

"Teeth," El said. Dustin looked confused. "You have teeth." A look of realization crossed Dustin's face.

"Yeah, you like these pearls?" he asked making the purring sound that I loved so much. El looked confused, and turned to Lucas.

"You got taller," El pointed out.

"Yeah," Lucas replied rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. Max walked up to El, and stuck out her hand.

"Hi. You must be Eleven. I'm Max. I've heard a lot about you," Max said smiling at the girl. El glared at the girl, and walked right past her. She must have seen what happened when we were looking for Dart when he first escaped, and Will was possessed.

"El, wait," I ran after the edgy girl.

"I don't like Max," El protested, and I could see she was jealous.

"You should. She's really cool. Mike hates her though. When you left, he stopped talking to everyone. He wouldn't talk to us, and we didn't play as much D&D. Without you, I was the only girl in the group. I tried to reach out to Max, but Mike was being a whiny baby, and didn't like her. Lucas has a crush on her though. You'll like her though, she won't steal Mike from you don't worry," I told her. She smiled slightly, and held my hand.

"Thanks for looking after him," El said.

"No problem. Now go talk to your boyfriend," I replied, pushing her towards a very angry looking Mike. He probably argued with Hopper about something. He's gaze softened when he saw El though.

I walked back to Max, Lucas, and Dustin. Max looked crestfallen, and Lucas had his arm around her.

"Don't worry Max. El can be stubborn, but she's really sweet. She was just worried about Mike. She doesn't like it when girls she doesn't know talk to him," I explained. She looked a bit happier.

"Yeah," Dustin chimed it. "Her and Mike are a thing, but don't want to admit it. They're very protective of each other."

"Besides, I told her not to worry about you stealing Mike because you have Lucas," I exclaimed. Lucas blushed and removed his hand from around Max.

"Yeah, Lumax is totally a thing," Dustin added. The two looked confused, but just ignored what Dustin had said.

"Okay," Max drawled out, and we watched as Mike hugged Eleven before she went to close the gate.

"Stay safe, promise?" Mike asked.

"Promise," El said firmly. She pecked him on the cheek, and the boy blushed, despite being in love with El. We all laughed at Mike's red face, and he turned even redder.

"Solanum Lycopersicum," Dustin whispered to me, and I giggled.

"You're cute when you laugh," he told me, and I turned bright red, hiding my red face in his chest.

"Dusty," I whined, using the nickname his mother uses. He laughed at me, and I punched him in the arm.

"Hey!" he said, feigning injury.

"You're such an idiot Dustin Henderson," I told him, and he smiled.

"Guys! I've got an idea!" Mike yelled, and he rushed over to one of Will's drawings that covered the house.

"Here's the center of whatever is controlling Will. It doesn't like heat, so if we burn this, the rest of hive mind dies!"

"Um yep, that's a no," Steve said.

"But we need to help somehow," I protested.

"Yeah, but I promised that I would keep you kids safe, and that's what I'm going to do. We're on the bench, there's nothing we can do in this game," Steve replied, tossing a towel over his shoulder.

"Dope Mama Steve, I don't mean to be rude, but you're trying to explain the analogy of a sport to a bunch of antisocial nerds, who try to skip P.E," I told the idiotic high schooler.

"Well, we can do something," Dustin pointed out.

"Molly's right. This isn't just some sports game. This is life or death," Mike argued.

"All the more reason to stay here. We're not going out there. I need a yes," Steve ordered us.

"Yes, Momma Steve," we replied in unison.

"Good!" Steve told us, but before he could say anything else, we heard a car pull up outside.