Healing ||mileven||

Thank you

"El? Are you ready? We have to go now" yelled Joyce from the kitchen.

"I'm here" said El, from the couch.

Joyce jumped in surprise, "oh my goodness, I thought you were still in your room" she said chuckling.

El smiled in return, she rarely laughed. "Can I help, Mrs Byers?" she asked politely.

"I told you, El, you can call me Joyce, ok?"

"Ok" said El, but not really meaning it. She been brought up to call all the adults around her by their official names, Dr this, Dr that, the only exception being Papa. She'd never called any adult by their first names, and it was a hard habit to break. At the lab, she'd instinctively known that to do so would have earned her a night in the room, and she couldn't get over that feeling, not yet.

"Yes, could you grab that dish there? I'll bring the rest". El grabbed the dish Joyce pointed at and made her way to the car, putting it carefully in the trunk so it wouldn't tip or slide. "Will and Jonathan'll meet us there, I sent them to get some drinks" said Joyce, as she joined El outside. El just nodded. "Right, let's go" she said, satisfied everything they needed was in the car

The care ride would only take about 20 minutes. A few minutes into the ride Joyce noticed how quiet El was being, usually she'd be excited to be taken to Mike's house, especially now that he was at school most of the day and they couldn't see each other as much. "El, honey, are you alright?" she asked in a concerned voice. El stared ahead and shrugged her shoulders, not saying a word but starting to fiddle with her hands. Joyce frowned slightly, she knew that El usually betrayed her feelings with her hands, when she was nervous, worried, or upset it was the first thing she started to do. Joyce pulled the car over to the side of the road and stopped, making El look up at her. "What is it, El?" she asked kindly.

"I don't know...I just...feel..." she trailed off, looking lost.

"You can tell me, El, I won't judge you, I'm just here for you ok?" At this El turned to her, Joyce saw the tears start to form in her eyes as she tried to find the right words. Joyce pulled her into a tight hug, "El, it's ok, don't cry. What is it?"

"I don't know" she cried into Joyce's shoulder, "I don't know why I feel like this, I don't know what this is".

They stayed there for a good 10 minutes until El's crying subsided. "Do you want me to cancel with the Wheeler's? They'll understand".

"No" said El quickly, knowing that seeing Mike would probably be the one thing that would actually make her feel better, "no, let's go...sorry" she added quietly, embarrassed.

"Never apologise for telling me how you feel El, promise me that".

"Promise" she whispered, smiling slightly at Joyce.

...........................

They reached the Wheeler's just as Max and her family were arriving. Lucas, Dustin and their families were already there as they lived so much closer and didn't have to drive.

"El!" shouted Max, when she saw their car pull up. As soon as El exited the car she was almost knocked down by Max's hug. "Hey, how are..." she stopped when she saw El's red, slightly swollen eyes. She grabbed her hand and pulled her away from the adults and boys, taking her to the grassy patch behind the Wheeler's house. Joyce saw and was glad, knowing that El had Max to talk to, maybe she'd be able to help El work out what was wrong. "El, what's the matter? You've been crying".

"Is it that obvious?" asked El, rubbing her eyes and looking down self-consciously.

"Well, yeah, kinda. What's up?"