Byler one shots

32

It had been nearly two years immersed in a society that treated her like a human being, rather than an experiment, and Eleven still struggled with her expanding vocabulary. She wasn’t illiterate of course, but living in a laboratory and then society required two different sets of language. Mike was typically the one teaching her new words, considering he was always the one bringing her around town. Hopper also did his fair share, adding flash cards to every piece of furniture in the house and making her his personal time-teller.

One night, when Will was biking Eleven home, he taught her a new word. He accidentally started rambling about Mike, his language getting more enamored as they got farther from the house. She rested her chin on Will’s shoulder and listened to him, nodding along. Her eyebrows were furrowed, but she seemed pleased by the conversation topic.

“Not brother.” She said eventually, hopping off the spokes of Will’s bike. “Snow Ball.”

“What?” Will asked, cocking his head. “Mike’s not my brother.” He hoped that wasn’t the assumption she had prior to the conversation; he’d have to backtrack and re-explain everything.

“No. You don’t go to Snow Ball with sisters. Or brothers.” She continued, tucking a strand behind her ear. “Mike said so.”

“Yeah… I think he means ‘like’.” Will said, laughing softly. “You go with someone you like.”

“Like.” Eleven repeated, mulling the word over.

“Yeah, it’s when you really want to be really good friends with someone. Hold their hands and stuff.”

“Lips?” She asked, reaching out and touching Will’s lips were her fingers. “Lips too?”

“Kissing?” Will laughed, pushing her hand away. “Yeah, sometimes kissing too. But they have to like you back to do that.”

“Like.” She repeated again. “You like Mike.”

“Yeah.” Will admitted, blushing. “I do.” He felt his face warming and turning red as Eleven grinned at him, knowing that the admission wasn’t just a vocabulary lesson. She touched his arm before saying good night and going inside.

Eleven was the first person Will ever told and it went far better than he ever expected; she didn’t question why it was a boy, just what his words meant. She accepted Will, letting him feel safe in their moment and his entire bike ride home.

One mistake Will made though, was omitting that when people like other people, it typically is something they hide. He wasn’t used to teaching her things and left a huge gap in her understanding. One that would catch up to Will the following week as the three of them were in Mike’s basement, waiting for Will’s mother to get them.

“You should have seen it El, oh my god.” Mike sighed, rolling his eyes. “The book report was ridiculous!”

“It was the second week of school.” Will added, shaking his head.

“Yeah! And when our teacher handed out the instructions, the stack was like, a full foot off the table.” Mike exclaimed. Eleven’s face furrowed, biting her lip as she concentrated. “Foot.” Mike said. “It’s a measurement. It’s like, this big.” He held his hands up for her, illustrating his point.