𝑺𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒎 𝒄𝒍𝒐𝒖𝒅𝒔 • 𝑩𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝑯𝒂𝒓𝒈𝒓𝒐𝒗𝒆 [2]

25•

I laid beside Lucas on the couch, my legs dangling over the edge as I stared at the ceiling.

"It can't be good for her to be in there for this long." Mike stressed. I lazily rolled my eyes as I turned my head to the side to look at the door of El's room.

"Mike you need to relax." Max sighed.

"What if she gets brain damage or something." He continued to grumble.

"Oh shit," Lucas frowned, "is that like, a real thing?"

"No its not, he made it up. Mike doesn't know what the hell he's talking about."

"Oh and you do?"

"Guys, shut the fuck up." I sighed as I sat up. "They're her powers, she knows her own limits."

"Thank you Evie." Max nodded as she folded her arms.

"Oh come on, that's total bullshit." Mike scoffed.

"Mike has anyone ever told you," I stood up from the couch and walked over to him, "that you've got a really punchable face." I mockingly pinched his cheek and let out a small laugh as he hit my hand away.

"Screw you Evie. Just because you guys don't care what happens to El, doesn't mean I don't."

"Excuse me?" Max and I both said in unison. "Alright, listen here you little shit." I squinted my eyes as I stepped closer to Mike. "I don't know how that stick got shoved so far up your ass to make you think that we don't care about El, but we do. And if you want a public announcement from me, then yeah, I care about all of you, and I would die for each and every one of you. No matter how undeserving some of you might be."

Mike stepped away from me and Max grabbed his arm and dragged him over to Nancy and the others. "Okay can you guys settle an argument for us before Evie kills Mike."

I quickly walked over and leant against the wall by the phone, my arms folded over my chest.

"Who do you think should decide El's limits. Mike or Eleven?"

"The way that you're saying that is such bullshit." Mike whined.

"It's not bullshit Mike, this is your whole problem and it's also precisely the reason why she dumped your ass." Max shot back.

"El dumped you?" Nancy asked, eyes wide.

"Yeah because they are conspiring against me, corrupting her." He waved his arm at me and Max and I couldn't help but roll my eyes.

"Enlightening her." Max corrected. "The fact is she's not yours. She's her own person who is fully capable of making her own decisions."

"She's risking her life for no reason."

"No reason?" Nancy butted in. "Mike, the flayed are out there doing god knows what."

"Killing, flying..." Lucas listed.

"Transforming into monsters." Will added.

"And El's not stupid, she knows her abilities better than any of us." Nancy reiterated what I had said earlier, and I nodded my head in agreement.

"Exactly, thank you." Max agreed.

"...And she is her own person, with her own free will." Nancy continued.

"Exactly, El has saved the world twice and Mike still doesn't trust her."

"Oh you want to talk about trust, really. After you made Eleven spy on us." At Mike's words I let out a little snort, causing Mike to glare at me.

"Wait, what?" Lucas frowned.

"Oh she didn't tell you this?"

"No." Lucas looked so confused and I couldn't help but let a small smile cross my features.

"Your girlfriend used El's powers to spy on us."

"No, no, no, " Max shook her head, "I did not make her, it was her idea. And why are we even talking about this, seriously."

"Yeah, who cares." Will shook his head.

"I care." Lucas voiced.

"Guys, it happened. It doesn't matter now." I sighed. Alright, yes, it could be seen as a bad thing to do, but we couldn't exactly take it back.

"Shut up Evie, you were in on it too," Mike frowned, "I guess girlfriends don't lie, they spy."

"We were just joking around." Max stated as she glanced at me.

"Oh wouldn't it have been so funny if I had of been taking a massive shit or something."

"But you weren't." Max and I both said in unison.

"But what if I was." Mike waved his arms.

"Then gross." Max rolled her eyes.

"Seriously Mike." Nancy reprimanded him.

"I'm just trying to demonstrate how careless they are with Eleven's powers." He began. "In fact, how careless all of you are. You're treating her like some kind of machine when she's not a machine, and I don't want her to die looking for the flayed when they've obviously vanished off the face of the earth. So can we please just come up with a new plan because I love her and I can't lose her again." Mike was breathing heavy as I glanced at the others, their eyes as wide as mine.

Suddenly El exited her room and stood just outside the door. "What's going on?"

"Nothing!" Mike practically shouted, causing a small smile to grace my lips.

"Just family discussion." Lucas said casually.

"Oh." El glanced down before looking to Nancy. "I found him."

"Found who?"