Finally (Mileven)

Chapter 12

They dressed in comfortable silence, occasionally passing an article of clothing to the other. El's hand brushed against Mike's when she handed him his belt, and he grabbed it, and pulled her to him, kissing her knuckles. She smiled at him and ran her thumb along his lower lip, then leaned up and kissed him. He lingered for a moment, then reluctantly let her go, chuckling.

"What?" El asked.

"It's-nothing. Just....if we don't stop, we'll never get dressed, and, eventually, Hopper's gonna come back and he'll catch us and he'll probably kill me," Mike answered, adjusting and tightening his belt. "Yeah, hard pass on that."

El giggled. "He's not going to kill you," she said, pulling on her shoes and lacing them up. "Why do you think he left all of a sudden? He wasn't called in. He was giving us some privacy."

Mike's eyebrows rose as he processed what she said. Makes sense, I guess, he thought. He's been gone this entire time, never showing back up, unannounced. He smirked. "Well, in that case, thank you, Chief Hopper!"

"Yeah, in that case," she agreed, smiling.

"Wanna call him, let him know we're heading back to Lucas'?" Mike asked.

"Yeah," she said, excitedly. "I can't wait to see them again."

They clasped hands and headed to the kitchen, to call Hopper, and a cab.

The boys had gotten back from lunch and were sitting around the table, talking. There had been some beer in the fridge, so they all grabbed a few and headed outside, the day having been mild, and the back patio was shrouded in trees, making it a very comfortable place to hang out, even mid-day in July.

Dustin was on his third beer, Will barely into his first, and Lucas was almost done with his second. He swirled the amber liquid around, holding loosely to the bottle's neck, thinking. His earlier conversation with Mike had been on his mind all day, and though he'd told them about the weird phone call and the cop coming and picking up Mike, he hadn't said anything about their conversation before that. Now, he was really thinking that he had to bounce what was running around in his head off of Dustin and Will. He needed perspective. And another beer.

Lucas downed what was left in the bottle, then reached for another, twisting the cap off and taking a long swig. Placing the bottle on the table, he leaned forward and folded his arms beside it.

"Guys, can I ask you something?" he asked, looking between Will and Dustin.

"Sure."

"Yeah."

"I was talking to Mike this morning, before he left. He, um, he asked me if I thought Jane looked familiar. I kind of brushed him off, but he was insistent, saying that ever since he met her on the plane, he just had a feeling about her. That he knew her. From before." He looked between Will and Dustin, seeing if they understood what he was saying, and when they just looked back at him, he rolled his eyes at their total obliviousness and said, "Guys, I think he thinks that...that she's Eleven."

Will somehow choked on the sip he'd taken of his beer, and Dustin dramatically spit his all over the patio. Without even wiping his mouth, he said "What?!" Will's eyes just bugged out of his head.

"Yeah," Lucas said. "I think he's convinced himself. And I'm beginning to think he could be onto something. You remember that police chief's name, from Hawkins? Chief Hopper?" When they both nodded slowly, Lucas said, "That's Jane's dad's name. Hopper."

Dustin said, "Chief Hopper is here? In New York?"

Will said, "I thought I heard his daughter died. Of, like cancer, or something. When she was like, 7."