A Little Deal

The Blizzard

El and Hopper stayed for dinner, but Will wasn't sure how to feel about. Ever since his mom and Hopper started spending more time together – dating, he guessed he should call it – he saw less of his mom, and when he did see her, she didn't seem bothered about Will's whereabouts. Whether that had anything to do with Hopper, he had no idea, but he was both thankful and strangely unnerved by it. He knew Jonathan wasn't too fond of their mom going out with Hopper. He'd been that way with Bob as well, but knowing Hopper like they did, it felt a bit odd. He kept catching Jonathan eyeing Hopper from across the table as they ate, a frown on his face. When Jonathan noticed Will staring at him, he threw a brussels sprout at his plate.

After dinner, Hopper and Joyce were cleaning the dishes while Will, El, and Jonathan played cards in the living room. El and Hopper were supposed to leave in a few minutes, but the wind was blowing in gusts against the house, howling like some undead creature. Will and El peered out the window. All they could see was white.

Jonathan looked over their heads from behind them. "Doesn't look like you'll be leaving for awhile."

Joyce came out of the kitchen and looked out the front door. "It's a blizzard out there." She called to Hopper, "Maybe you should stay over until it clears up."

"I can make some hot cocoa," Jonathan suggested, going into the kitchen and turning on the stove.

Joyce gestured to the VHS tapes by the television. "Will and El, why don't you two pick out a movie to watch?"

They got up from the couch and sifted through the movies. There wasn't much. After a good ten minutes of looking around, they stuck The Outsiders in the VCR and gathered on the couch. Jonathan joined them soon after, giving them each a mug of hot cocoa.

Once the movie ended, they continued to play cards until they got too bored with it and started surfing channels on the television. The wind was still howling, louder than previously, and nothing could be seen out the window but snow.

It was nearing one in the morning. Hopper and Joyce had already gone off to bed, and Will, Jonathan, and El – all of them bundled up in blankets – were watching Rudolph's Shiny New Year on the television. El rested her head on Will's shoulder while he rested his cheek on the top of her head. His eyelids were growing heavy, and he knew he was about to fall asleep any second now, his mind weaving in and out of consciousness.

He jolted up when someone began knocking on the front door. El tensed on his shoulder. The knocking stopped for a second before starting up again even louder. Jonathan hopped off the couch, went over to the door, and threw it open. He paused a moment, then uttered, "Mike?"

Will and El both sat up and peered towards the doorway. They couldn't see Mike from where they were sitting, but they heard his voice. "Hi, I was looking for-" He came into view as he peaked his head through the doorway and spotted Will and El on the couch. "Um, yeah. Can I come in?"

Jonathan closed the door behind Mike. Mike stood in the middle of the room, looking out of place, shivering and rubbing his gloved hands together. His face was bright red and snow covered him from head to toe.

"What are you doing here?" Will asked, getting up off the couch and approaching him cautiously.

"I was looking for-" He glanced between the two of them, then gestured to El. "You weren't home, so I figured I'd stop by here."

El furrowed her eyebrows.

"It's a literal blizzard out there, Mike," Will said.

Footsteps sounded from the hall, and Joyce came into the room. "Mike? What on earth are you doing here? Did you come here by yourself?"