BOOK 1 in the 'NINETEEN' series.
"
"hello?"
nineteen flinches and turns around quickly.
will's standing there, a baby blue shirt on. he doesn't even closely resemble the boy that had been on the ground, suffering. he looks healthy, but also...
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eleven and mike fall into each other, having not seen one another for a year. nineteen watches them softly from the back of the room, knowing it was harder to see someone you had known after a long time over not knowing them in the first place.
they grip one another carefully, almost as if they would both break. nineteen hears max ask if that's eleven. mike pulls back.
"i never gave up on you. i called you every night. every night for-"
"353 days." eleven finishes. mike lets out a little gasp.
"i heard."
mike sounds hurt. "why didn't you tell me you were there? that you were okay?" he asks.
"because i wouldn't let her."
mike turns around quickly as hopper walks in front of him. he makes his way over to eleven. "the hell is this? where you been?"
"where have you been?" eleven asks back. hopper sets his hand on her back and pulls her in close. she rubs her face on his stomach comfortingly.
"you've been hiding her." mike states in disbelief. "you've been hiding her this whole time!" he slams his hands on hopper's back. the man turns around, taking a fist-full of mike's collar.
"hey, hey! let's talk. alone." hopper says firmly. eleven lets out a sigh as the walk away, but her arms are only empty for a couple of seconds before she turns to her right. she hears a little cry.
nineteen and eleven make eye contact as the long haired girl makes her way to eleven quickly. eleven's eyes flood with tears again, and they collide together. both of the girls start crying into one another's shoulders.
"what's going on?" steve whispers.
"they know each other." lucas says. "way longer than any of us." max stares at the two girls, curious.
they pull away and look at each other. "i can't believe it." nineteen sobs. eleven shakes her head, trying not to cry louder.
"are you okay?" she asks. nineteen nods, going back in for another hug. eleven lets out a teary laugh, gripping her sister's shoulders.
dustin and lucas start to step forwards. nineteen wipes the blood and tears from her cheeks and steps back for them. eleven wraps her arms around both of them.
"we missed you." lucas tells her. she smiles. "i missed you, too."
"we talked about you pretty much every day." they pull back, smiling. eleven glances at dustin, but her gaze stays on him. she leans forward to get a better look. she suddenly reaches forward, sticking her thumb in his mouth. he moves his head away, making a noise of discomfort. "teeth." she says.
