[ 𝙿𝚎𝚝𝚊𝚕𝚜 & 𝚃𝚑𝚘𝚛𝚗𝚜 ] ~ 𝚂𝚝𝚎𝚟𝚎 𝙷𝚊𝚛𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚝𝚘𝚗 𝚡 𝙾𝙲

VIII - Billy

"Eleven." Mike smiled, walking over to the strange girl and engulfing her in a hug. 

Russell leaned into Steve, looking up at him as she tuned the kids out. "She's the one with superpowers?" 

He looked down, meeting her eyes. Their noses were practically brushing. "Yeah, the one with superpowers." Russell saw how his gaze drifted across her face and snapped her head to look away from him. Mike wasn't hugging the girl anymore, now just looking at her as he spoke instead. 

"I called you every night. Every night for-" Mike was staring straight into the girl's eyes.

"Three hundred fifty three days." Eleven cut him off. "I heard."

"Why didn't you tell me you were there? That you were okay?"

"Because I wouldn't let her." Hopper responded, stepping forward toward the two. "The hell is this? Where you been?" He asked, now pointing his attention at the girl.

"Where have you been?" She shot back, getting pulled into a hug by the police chief.

"You've been hiding her." Mike gaped, anger pooling his eyes.

"Come on Mike, I'm sure there-" Lucy started, stepping forward.

"No!" The Wheeler yelled back, snapping at Lucy. She flinched, taking a small step back so she was in line with Dustin. Russell saw the way she slipped her right hand under her left sleeve. 

"Hey! Don't you yell at her! It was me, okay? She did nothing wrong." Hopper yelled at Mike, his tone raising and agitation seeping in.

"You've been hiding her this whole time!" Mike shouted, shoving at the Chief's chest.

"Hey! Let's talk." He grabbed Mike's jacket collar. "Alone." Hopper took Mike down the hall before a door shut.

"El!" Lucy cheered, laughing and running over. She practically jumped on her friend, grabbing her in the tightest embrace she could muster. Lucy whispered something into the girl's shoulder that Russell couldn't quite make out. 

"I missed you too, Luce."

Lucas and Dustin walked over, smushing Lucy against Eleven's chest. The brunette let out a slight 'umph' at the impact before she started to giggle. 

"We missed you." Lucas told her.

"I missed you, too."

"We talked about you pretty much every day." Dustin added. The two boys pulled away, finally letting Lucy get free and breathe.

Eleven looked at Dustin funny for a second, lifting her hand and sticking her thumb in his mouth. "Teeth."

"What?" He responded, not quite getting it.

"You have teeth." Eleven said again.

Dustin smiled, looking over at Lucas for a second. "Oh, you like these pearls?" He purred.

"Dust!" Lucy giggled, "I already told you it's not cute when you do that, you just look like a dork!" Dustin gave her a dopey smile, clearly not caring what she claimed.

"Eleven?" Max spoke up before walking forward toward the group of friends. Lucy stumbled out of her way, tripping over her feet and falling against Dustin. He wrapped his arms around her, stopping her from toppling over. Russell's heart melted a little bit at the two, they were too cute. "Hey. Um, I'm Max." She held out a hand for Eleven to shake. "I've heard a lot about you."

Eleven walked past the extended hand, going over to hug Joyce instead. "Hey. Hey, sweetheart. Hey." Joyce gave her a sad smile.

"Can I see him?" Eleven asked. Joyce sighed, taking her down the hall to see Will.