Dark Phoenix: Into The Stranger Verse (Stranger Things)

CHAPTER 7

Chapter 7: The Home Visit

THE June summer break was here. And with it came Mike's incessant need to come over to the cabin everyday, early morning and leave late at night.

With the fact that Jean shared a room with El, it was no secret that the redhead was cramping their style. So she did her best to get out of their hair as much as possible; only spending her time in the living room, sometimes watching TV or playing boardgames with Hop, and by going out to hang with Steve.

Just like today.

"A date?" Eleven's out of nowhere question brought Jean at a stop as she finished getting dressed and about to drape a bag on her shoulder.

"Wait, what?" Jean slightly gasped, incredibility fluttering in her tone. "What makes you say that?"

Eleven coiled back a bit, feeling like she said something wrong. "Mike said it was."

At the small farewell party they'd held for Dustin, who was leaving for summer camp, the topic of the two older teens came up. Dustin insisted that they were just friends- albeit, it was because he developed a small crush on Jean- while Mike said that there was definitely something going on between the two.

Raising her hand and placing it gently on Eleven's shoulder, Jean asserted, "Well you shouldn't believe everything a boy tells you."

She wasn't going to lie, after spending more time with him over the past two weeks, Jean had some thoughts of what it would be like to date Steve. He was handsome, sweet and funny. That almost kiss that happened weeks prior definitely helped plant those ideas.

But she didn't know who she was, literally. So she wasn't about to be a part of two when she wasn't even a whole one. It may sound silly, but it wouldn't have been fair to her or to him.

Plus, Steve never actually said anything about liking her.

He was her friend. The only person her own age that she actually hung out with, and from what she gathered, the same could be said for him.

"Steve and I are just friends. He's a good guy." Jean continued.

Eleven silently agreed to the latter statement. Mike Wheeler had told her of that fateful night she closed the gate; Steve protected them as they made their way to the hub, doused the entire area in gasoline and set it ablaze. He entirely put himself at risk for the group of kids.

And Dustin wouldn't shut up about how cool he was.

Seeing Jean finish styling her fiery hair into a side braid, Eleven smiled softly. "Pretty."

"Thanks." Jean awed. "You're beautiful, too. You know that, right?" She cooed, looking over to the brown haired girl.

"I am?" El said, unsure of her statement.

"Of course!" Jean gushed. As El looked down to her own oversized clothes, she understood where that insecurity was stemming from.

"How about we go shopping sometime? I hear the mall has really cool outfits we could buy." She suggested. A smile rose to El's lips but quickly faded as a cautious look came up on her face instead.

"Too many people, too dangerous."

Jean scoffed, playfully rolling her eyes. "I'll be with you, so don't worry about it. It'll be our little secret." She whispered the last part, prompting El to smile brightly.

~~~

Jean 'borrowed' Mike's bicycle to get to Steve's place. Since he was going to be spending the entire day in El's bedroom, she was sure he wouldn't even notice. She didn't want to bother Steve by asking to pick her up, because he'd been doing so a lot lately. And with Jim's police work, she didn't want him to be late. Jean didn't want to be a burden.