It Gets Stranger [Stranger Things x Reader]

forty two

"it can't be good for her to be in there for this long." mike says, pacing around the room.

eleven had been sitting in her room for almost an hour now, trying to see where all of the flayed people had gone.

"mike, you need to calm down." i say.

"yeah, you're being too loud." max rolls her eyes.

"what if she gets brain damage or something?" mike ignores us.

"oh shit. is that, like, a real thing?" lucas asks.

"no, it's not. he made it up." i scoff. "mike doesn't know what the hell he's talking about."

"oh, and you do?" he stops pacing.

"i never said i did!" i curl my lip. "that's the difference between us. you're always trying to start some shit with someone if they're not in the same boat as you."

"oh give me a break," mike rolls his eyes. "you're just mad because i'm worried about eleven right now."

i snap my head towards him. "are you kidding me?! that's all you fucking think about! the world doesn't revolve around you, michael! i'm not constantly thinking of how badly i want to be with you or how jealous i am of eleven or how i wish you loved me as much as you love her!"

he's taken aback by the words coming out of my mouth and a hush falls over the room. except for nancy, who's continuing her phone call.

"is all of that true though?" mike asks.

i groan, rolling my eyes. "my god, you're hopeless. there's bigger things to worry about right now. this is precisely why el dumped your ass."

"el dumped you?!" i hear nancy say.

"yeah, because they," mike motions towards max and i, "are constantly conspiring against me. they're corrupting her. or really, max is corrupting y/n and el."

"no, enlightening them." max says. "the fact is, neither of them are yours. they're their own people, fully capable of making their own decisions."

"el's risking her life for no reason!" mike argues.

"for no reason?" nancy joins in. "mike, the flayed are out there doing god knows what."

"killing, flaying..." lucas says.

"transforming into monsters." will says.

"and el's not stupid." nancy adds. "she knows her abilities better than any of us."

mike makes an annoyed face and rolls his eyes. he knew he was wrong.

"exactly, thank you." max nods towards nancy.

"and she is her own person." nancy continues. "with her own free will."

"exactly." max agrees. "el has saved the world twice and mike still doesn't trust her."

"you wanna talk about trust? really?! after you both made eleven spy on us?" mike yells.

"wait, what?" lucas says.

"oh, she didn't tell you this?"

"no."

"your girlfriend used el's powers to spy on us."

"no, no, no, i did not make her." max corrects him. "it was her idea. and why are we even talking about this, seriously?"

"yeah, who cares?" will agrees.

"i care!" lucas yells.

"yeah! i guess girlfriends don't lie, they spy." mike says.

"we were just joking around." i say.

"wouldn't it've been so funny if i was taking a massive shit or something?!" mike yells at me.

"you weren't!" i yell back.

"but what if i was?"

"then that would've been fucking disgusting!"

"seriously, mike?" nancy says.

"i'm just trying to demonstrate how careless max and y/n are with eleven's powers." mike looks around. "in fact, how careless all of you are. you're treating her like some kind of machine when she's not a machine, and i don't want her to die looking for the flayed when they've obviously vanished off the face of the earth. so can we please just come up with a new plan because i love her and i can't lose her again."

max looks over at me, her eyes wide. a smile creeps onto lucas' lips as he sits back and will leans against the wall, looking down.

eleven's bedroom door opens and she walks out slowly. she looks around at all of us, confused.

"what's going on?" she asks.

"nothing. nothing." mike says, quickly.

"just a family discussion." lucas says, still smiling.

"oh." eleven says. she pauses. "i found him."

"found who?" nancy asks.

"billy."

—

eleven starts breathing harder and harder until eventually, she pulls her blindfold off and gasps.

she pants, looking back at us.

"what's he doing now?" max asks.

"he was just...in his room." eleven says.

max gives her a confused look.

eleven stands up and goes into the kitchen, pouring herself a cup of water.

"and that's not normal, right?" nancy asks.

"billy staying in his room on the fourth of july? no, that's not normal." max says.

"he wants us to find him." will says.

"yeah, that's what i'm afraid of." nancy starts walking around the room. "if we go to billy, then the rest of the flayed know where we are."

"it's a trap, i agree. we'll be ambushed." mike says.

"we won't be surprised." lucas stands up. "we'll know that they're coming, and we will kick their flayed butts."

"you mean el will kick their butts." i say.

"it's too risky." mike shakes his head.

"yeah, and unnecessary." nancy agrees. "killing the flayed won't stop the mind flayer. we have to find out where it's spreading from. we have to find the source."

"billy knows it." eleven says, slowly walking over to us. "billy's been there. to the source."

"yeah, but-" mike starts but eleven interrupts him.

"it's a trap, i know. we can't go to billy, but i think there's another way. a way for me to see where he's been."