strangers. mileven au.

eighteen.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN:
RUINED PLANS.
*one week later*

"hey hey, i'm right here. i'm not hanging up. he's going to be fine. i promise." mike's soft voice echoed through her phone.

it was a wednesday night, just a few days before thanksgiving break. joyce, will and eleanor were all situated in the living room watching a movie when they got the news.

her father had responded to a call at a local bar. apparently there was some huge college night event going on there and a fight had broken out between two teenagers. let's just say things really didn't end well for anyone but thankfully her father ended up on the luckier side. the only major thing he needed was stitches in his hand from a bottle being thrown at him. however he was still bruised up pretty bad.

so there eleanor sat, on a small bench located right outside her father's hospital room.

she had called mike almost immediately after they arrived. the two had been... different since their first facetime call. they had been talking to one another more than usual, calling and facetiming every night despite having school the next day most of the time.

eleanor had stopped asking for help on her homework from will. she realized that getting help from mike benefited her more. not only did it give her an excuse to just listen to him talk but he had a way of explaining things to her that genuinely made her do better in school.

the two had especially been talking to each other a lot more considering their upcoming plans.

will and joyce always planned a trip back to hawkins during the week of thanksgiving, given the fact that will's grandparents still lived there. it was only a few days away at this point and of course, as promised to the party eleanor would be joining them.

well... that was until this happened.

"i - i know he is. the doctor said he should probably rest for the next week and take things easy. i don't think i'll -" her voice cracked as she thought about the next words to come out of her mouth. she had been looking forward to going to hawkins so much ever since it had been brought up. everyday her and mike would talk about the places he would show her... the things they would do.

it was all ruined now.

"shhh... don't beat yourself up about it. i understand. we have plenty of time to figure things out. take care of your dad this week." he comforted her. he'd be lying if he said that this whole situation didn't completely put a huge sword through his heart but he knew that the small girl definitely wouldn't want to leave her father alone like this.

"i just miss you mike..." she whispered into the phone.

"i know... i miss you too, sweet. it's all going to work out. i'll make sure it does okay?" he whispered back, trying not to let his emotions get the best of him. he didn't want the brunette to question staying back or not.

"el?" the calm voice of her step mother interrupted, making the short haired brunette jump in response.

eleanor quickly scooted over on the bench, giving joyce room to sit next to her. she politely ended her call with mike before leaning over to rest her head on her mother's shoulder, joyce reaching up to brush the left over strands of hair away from her face.

"who were you just talking to sweetheart?" her mother questioned softly.

honestly, joyce knew nothing about mike yet. will obviously knew that the two were texting and calling. it wasn't hard for him to figure things out considering she was glued to her phone ever since he forced her to make the first move. her father had even picked up on her radiating happiness over the past few weeks. he figured it had to be something to do with the raven haired boy.

however, joyce? she had no clue.

"it was just... mike." she admitted shyly, trying to sound casual about it.

"mike? mike wheeler? will's best friend from hawkins?" joyce stuttered as she processed this new found information.

eleanor couldn't help but to giggle at her mother's reaction. if it wasn't for the predicament they were in, she would have probably come up with some smart remark to mess with her but she decided on just giving her a simple nod.

"wha - when did you guys start talking? does will know? is he okay with it? mike is such a sweet boy, i should have known..." she started to ramble but was interrupted by her daughter sitting up to try to calm her down.

"he gave me his number right before he left. will was actually the one that made me finally text him. he's perfectly fine with it. i actually think he's happy about it." she explained to her, giving her a heart warming smile.

"you kids are growing up too fast. will going on his first date and now you and mike. no wonder you were so excited to come to hawkins with us. i thought it was all because of max." her mother laughed to herself, trying to sound positive about the situation.

eleanor sighed, trying not to think too much about her plans going down the drain. "yea... it's okay though. dad needs me here, it's only a few days anyway." the small girl looked down, trying not to show the disappointment in her face.

"oh honey... i can stay back and watch him if you really want to go -" joyce started to suggest, however eleanor shook her head in response.

"i - i don't want to take away from the real reason you guys are going. i want to stay here... with him." she said confidently, joyce nodding in return. over the years she had gotten used to her husband's strong relationship with his daughter, neither of them ever leaving each others side in times of need.

"okay... but don't doubt that boy. i'm sure he'd drive down here in a heartbeat if you really needed him to." her mother informed seriously, only to send both of them into a fit of laughter.

joyce slowly got up and smiled sweetly at her daughter, motioning her to stand up. "come on... let's go check up on him. they should be letting him out soon."

eleanor nodded before following her step mother back into the small room.

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a/n: thanks so much for reading!!