season 3 had me FUCKED UP. so here's me trying to put my pain into writing, but it also has fluff bc i needed fluff after s3 but no one provided it :(
⚠️ SPOILERS FOR SEASON 3 ⚠️
**
"El!" Mike yells, rushing to her, wrapping his arms around her trembling form. The battle was over. The monster had been killed, though, it took Billy's life as well.
They were all okay, and the kids could now reunite with their families.
Except El.
"Are you okay?" He whispered into her hair, as she weakly wrapped her arms around his torso, blood and tears drenching her face.
"D-Dad..." She mumbles, clutching him tightly.
"Hopper? What about Hopper?" He asks, pulling away to look at her face. Her face is wet with new tears that spill out of her bloodshot eyes. Half of her head was bloodied, though covered in bandages.
"Gone." She whispers, and soon her knees can't hold her body up anymore. She falls, taking Mike with her.
He doesn't say anything, but instead wraps his arms around her shaking figure. He silently cries, for the loss of Hopper, and for El.
"It's going to be okay, El." He whispers, petting her hair gently, as she cries into his shoulder.
"You're going to be okay." He chants here words, trying to drill them into her head. She had to know that it would be okay.
***
A week had passed, and time had only gone by more painfully for El.
It was now the day of Hopper's funeral. His body was turned to dust in his final moments, so they held a funeral without remains of him.
El had never attended a funeral, but the kindness of Joyce helped her to know what to wear, how to act, what to do, and so on.
Joyce had taken El under the Byers' wings after the death of her father. She was now like a sibling to Jonathan and Will. While any other day, she would have been ecstatic about having a new family, the cause of it continued to stab at her heart.
El felt like her whole life was crashing down in front of her own eyes.
Hopper was gone, she lost her powers, she was moving away from her friends, her boyfriend. She was leaving her family.
"You ready, sweetheart?" Joyce asked gently, leaning against the doorframe in a black tight dress, her hair in a curly bun.
"I guess." El responded, brushing her hair off her shoulder.
"You look beautiful, El. He's watching down on you, surely smiling." Joyce offers a sad smile, and El can only purse her lips in reply, creating what she thought would look like a smile.
El's hair was put into a bun, some of her curly hair had fallen out of the bun, framing her face. She wore a light layer of makeup, courtesy of Joyce. She wore a black dress, a color she tried to avoid in fear of the painful memories. She hated having to wear the outfit.
"I just really miss him." El whispers, blinking back tears that began to gloss her chocolate eyes.
"I know, honey. I miss him too, but he wouldn't want us to be in pain." Joyce says, pulling El into a tight hug.
"Mom, El?" Will walks in, looking out of place in a suit. His big eyes glanced at the two, eyes glazing in pity.
"Yeah, baby?" Joyce replies, pulling away slowly from El.
"A-Are we going to this now?" Will asks, and Joyce looks at El.
"Yes."
***
"You look amazing, El." Mike smiles, eyes tracing over her body. She smiles tightly back at him, tucking one of the loose strands of hair behind her ear.
"Thank you Mike." She whispers, wrapping her arms around his neck, as his arms awkwardly go to her waist.
"Hopper would kill me right now for even being this close to you." He attempts a joke, earning a giggle from El.
"Yeah, he probably would. I don't mind it though."
"Are you doing okay?" He asks, swaying to the light music in the background.
"I'm fine. It hurts, but I know he died to save us. There's no better way for my father to have died." El rests her forehead against his, a light smile rising in her face.
"I'm going to miss you." He whispers, and El drops her gaze to her feet.
"I'll miss you too. I can see if we can come back up here for holidays?"
He smiles, placing a soft kiss on her lips, the music moving their bodies in sync.
"I'd really like that."
"Yeah I would too. I'll call you as much as I can." El places a kiss once more on his lips.
"I love you." He whispers, as her head gets tucked under his chin.
She closes her eyes against his chest.
"I love you too." She inaudible whispers into his suit.
***
alexei, billy, hopper, joyce, will, el, and max deserved better omfg
still depressed? me too. don't worry tho, i got ur back. fluff will be coming, fillie + mileven.
(who else watched s3 as SOON as it came out - aka 2 am for me - and i binged it for 7 hours)
word count: 786
