Caught In The Loop | Steve Harrington X Reader

~16~ This Is Eleven

And a girl. With white shoes and blue pants takes the first step inside the room with a pound. Two more steps. Hopper lowers his gun. Mike's eyes widen.

The girl wears a black shirt. with a black jumper. A bloody nose with brown eyes and slicked-back hair. This is the girl the man always talked so fondly about. I recognize her. He showed me what she looked like.

And we only met once.

Everyone stares in shock with the figure that walked into the room.
Everyone stares in wonder with the girl that this is.
Everyone stares in awe from her sudden appearance.
Everyone stares at Eleven or Jane.

Mike's eyes widen, his heart dropped as he steps forward. His eyes beginning to become red. Filled with sorrow. She stares at Mike. And only Mike. The two stare at each other.

They had something. I know it. I can see it.

The atmosphere lifts, the tense beginning to lower. The girl that shows her face. Everyone is silent with the epic feeling of her arrival.

A sad, broken smile begins to form on her face.
A sad, lost and searching is over smile spreads across his own.

The two of them smile. They've gotten to see each other once again through the terror of this drama.

This is Eleven.

"Eleven?" His breath shakes as the two of them walk up to each other.

"Mike." She gasps.

He pulls her in for a hug before she can say anything more. They hug tightly like they haven't seen each other in years. So close. So tight. So strong. So broken. So lost. So loving.

My heart pounds as I back up slightly. My eyes widen and I look up, accidentally backing up into Steve. He shrugs it off with a smile and I turn back to these two.

"Is that?" Max asks.

Lucas nods silently. Yes. It's El.

"I never gave up on you." He says pulling away.

"I called you every night. Every night for-"

"Three hundred and fifty-three days." El finishes. His eyes widen.

"I heard." She whispers.

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

"Because I wouldn't let her." I hear Hopper say.

Hold up...

He turns to Hopper and a sad expression overcomes El. She notices me. There's a glint in her eyes. And then her eyes shift to my wrist.

Six and Eleven. I look up to her. She still remembers me from the only four hours of Hell we had together.

"The hell is this?" He growls. "Where you been?"

"Where have you been?" El growls back.

Did he...take her in a house for around a year!? And never let HER OUT!?

Hopper pulls El in and wraps an arm around her. Hug.

"You've been hiding her."

There's a new look in Mike's eyes. One I wish to share.

Angry and Wild.

"You've been hiding her this whole time!" Mike shoves Hopper a little bit which catches him off guard. "Hey!"

He grabs Mike's shirt and I swat Hopper's hand away from him. He darts his eyes between me and Mike.

"Mike. Let's talk. Alone."

I watch as Mike and Hopper walk off down the hall to another room, Eleven stares at me for a moment.

"Y-"

I quickly wrap my arms around her, holding her tightly. My hand on the back of her head like a caring mother as El wraps her arms around me.

"Hold on, do you two know each other?" Steve asks me.

We pull away and look at him.

"Yes." I say softly.

We pull away completely and leave him dumbfounded. I look to her.

It's good to see you again.

She silently smiles at me. She knows what I'm thinking. And I believe she feels the same way. We hear from a distance as Mike and Hopper argue in another room. El sighs, her breath shaking. She shuts her eyes and I put my hand on her shoulder.

Lucas and Dustin both walk up to her. They go and hug her and she wraps both of her arms around them as their heads are in her shoulders from their three group hug,

"We missed you." Lucas says softly.

"I missed you too."

"We talked about you pretty much every day." I hear Dustin say.

The three pull away from the hug, El looking at Dustin as both boys look at her. Dustin gets confused as she puts her hand up to his jaw.

"Teeth."

"What?"

"You have teeth."

He breathes a sigh and both boys grin.

"Oh. You like these pearls?" He purrs, which makes me cringe a little.

And damn...

El is confused and Lucas frowns in disapproval.

"Eleven?"

Max walks up to her with a warm gentle smile. El stares at her. I suddenly get a flashback to when she stood at the door of the gym, as Max skated around Mike.

Is El gonna misinterpret Max?

"Hey, um. I'm Max." She lends her hand out to El. "I've heard a lot about you."

El doesn't say a word and pushes past Max. I shiver.

God, she got the wrong idea. Oh boy. I might have to talk to her on that one.

El goes right up to Joyce and Joyce wraps her arms around her.

"Hey. Hey, sweetheart."

The both of them sniffle and cry a little. I guess they have some sort of friendship.

Joyce smiles weakly and puts her hands on both of El's cheeks lovingly.

"Hey."

"Can I see him?" El asks. Joyce sighs, and leads El to Will. I turn back to Max. She frowns.

"Hey." She looks up at me.

"It'll be okay. I know El. I'll talk to her. I promise."

Max gives me a thankful smile and the both of us give each other a quick tight warm loving hug,

Moments after, Joyce and El walk back to the table. We all walk up to them slowly as we hear Joyce and Eleven talk about closing the gate.

My head turns to Max. I suddenly have a worrying feeling in my chest.

We've been out all day and have not returned home.
Billy won't find us, right?