you're my safe place ~ MILEVEN ONE SHOTS~

You Need To Work This Out

(vaguely inspired by the new poster we got today and the release date as well as the idea of the Starcourt Mall, OMG I SCREAMED) 

Hopper didn't expect to come home to the pair arguing. He usually opened the cabin door to find them curled up on the sofa watching soaps or with Mike reading to her. El's head would be resting under Mike's chin and she would be smiling at whatever nerdy thing he was rambling on about. He would roll his eyes and get ready to drive the kid home, promising him that he would see her soon when they both pouted like babies. 

But when he opened the door, he heard shouting and Mike had an extremely red face. He looked between the pair as Mike clenched his fists, waving his arms about to exaggerate his points while El was glaring at him, tears rolling down her face. 

Hopper stood in front of the pair, confused and slightly concerned. "What the hell is going on?" 

"Mike is being stupid!" El sobbed and Mike scoffed, stepping forward slightly. 

"I am not being stupid! You are! I am tutoring her, not asking her to marry me!" Mike yelled back and El sniffed back her tears, looking away sharply. 

"I don't like it" she defended. 

"You don't have to like it" Mike shrugged and then glared at her. "But you need to trust me. We have been through this a million times, you need to quit this stupid jealousy thing."

"It is not stupid" El cried. "She likes you!"

"I was assigned to tutor her, I didn't ask to" Mike groaned, running his hands through his dark hair. "What do you expect me to do? Tell them I can't do it and get into trouble just because my girlfriend is jealous! Grow up, Jane!"

El glared back at him, clenching her fists as anger rose within her. "Stop calling me that! You call me that whenever you're mad at me and I hate it!"

"Stop accusing me of stupid things! Just because I get assigned her through the tutor program, it suddenly means we like each other? Huh?" Mike retorted. 

"She asked to have you as a tutor because she thinks you're cute! I heard her say it, I told you I heard her say it" El insisted and Mike rolled his eyes. 

"The thing is, I just don't believe you" Mike spat. "You are just lying because you don't like me sitting next to girls let alone talking to one! Don't make up bullshit!"

"I'm not!" El sobbed. "You're being mean and I hate it!"

Hopper rubbed his hand over his face, tired of all the yelling. "Right, stop yelling both of you. You are both being ridiculous, just stop arguing. El, go to bed...I'll take Mike home."

Mike stormed over to the couch, grabbing his bag angrily before leaving the house. Hopper sighed, watching as El burst into tears before slamming her door shut with her powers. He groaned, heading to his car to drive the boy home, wishing that they could both stop being so dramatic. 

Hopper got in the car and rolled his eyes at how Mike was staring out of the window with a frown on his face, ignoring him completely. Hopper cleared his throat. "You know you were too harsh, right?"

Mike rolled his eyes and grumbled under his breath, "I don't remember asking for your opinion."

Hopper scoffed. "Too bad, kid. She's my daughter now and that means I have to deal with you as well. I deal with the mushy shit and I don't want to deal with the arguments as well. You both need to apologize."

Mike turned around and scoffed. "You're telling me that she wasn't being ridiculous?"

"Of course she was" Hopper explained. "You know she gets jealous and says things that she doesn't mean. But you also need to remember that she has no experience with this sort of thing, and she doesn't know how to trust very well. She thinks you will immediately leave her and find some other girl. I'm not saying she had a reason to be angry, but you need to remember who she is. She didn't exactly grow up with the best example of how to love someone, did she?"