Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Science, check. History, check. Math- El doesn't even need help with Math, they just do it 'cause it's more fun to do it together. Dustin had made the sorry mistake of saving the best for last, proudly announcing that it was time to go over Mrs. Cooke's latest assignment in their English I class, only for El respond by dramatically scattering her other papers across the table.

"The book, El," Dustin says, trying not to laugh. "Where's your copy of Frankenstein?"

El pouts, pulling it out from a stack of books at the end of the table. "I do not like this book. It makes me sad."

She doesn't say the quiet part out loud- last time Dustin had looked through her copy of the book, he noted tear stains on the final pages of Chapter 5, when Victor flees in horror at the very thing he'd sought to create.

"Yeah, it'll do that to any person with a conscience," Dustin nods. "Got your list?"

El hands over a small notebook, where Dustin had instructed her to write down any words she didn't understand so he could define them for her. And they must've been doing something right, because with every chapter they covered, the lists were getting smaller and smaller.

She'd never tell Dustin, but El had started keeping one of Joyce's big dictionaries from her old telemarketer job at her desk, using it to read on her own- she loved getting Dustin's help, sure, but the more she understood, the less time they had to spend going over it and the more time they could just…hang out. Like friends.

"Let's see…" Dustin inspects the words in El's handwriting, getting better and better every day, and inspects the words she's selected. "A hovel is like…a really shitty house. Or- not even a house at all, just a really bad place to live. A makeshift house."

"Like the cabin," El laughs. "Before we fixed it. And then again after I shattered all the windows. And then again…you get it."

Dustin points at the book. "Right, so the one he's talking about was literally just a few planks of wood built up together. It might've been a pig shelter, actually."

El points to the next word on her list.

"Oh, 'genial'! That's just like- really happy, you know? Like- being friendly to someone."

"But that's when it is a person- you are genial to me all the time," El smiles. "But how can a place be friendly?"

She points to the book. Indeed, the word is used to describe the temperature of spring, not a person's demeanor.

Dustin pauses. "Um…I guess it means the same thing. If- if you use it to describe a person, then it's them being friendly, but if it's about a place then it's- it's like it's good, inviting weather, like, friendly, but if it was the general…world…and not…a person…"

El bursts into laughter.

"You wound me."

"You are funny," El says. "Very genial. And by that I mean friendly, not warm. Well-"

She places a hand on Dustin's forehead, laughing at how he leers back to make sure she doesn't crush his curls.

"Careful!"

Dustin fights back, ruffling El's loose curls and kickstarting a ridiculous cat fight that ends with Dustin's hat on the floor, his chair threatening to go with it.

"C'mon, let's finish before your dad gets back. Maybe he'll be impressed enough that he'll let us to go the movies."

Lighting up at the idea, El excitedly scrambles to grab her notebook.

"Princess Bride, by the way."

"Again?" Dustin asks. They'd seen it last week with the rest of the party, and it quickly became the only thing El wanted to talk about. She nods enthusiastically. "As you wish."

El claps. "Yes! Okay, okay- my last word."

"Chivalry? Well- in the context of Chapter 13, it means the actual code of conduct that knights used to follow that was about being, like, courageous and loyal and stuff," Dustin glances over at El, listening with rapt attention. "But it was mainly an informal ideology, adopted as a mindset but never actually written out as law of the land. That's why it's been able to evolve so much. Even the rules in our party, we base those off of chivalric code."

El nods. "So when we say "friends don't lie" and "draw blood and shake hands", that's our code?"

"Yeah! Cause chivalry today kind of means when you're super respectful and do kind gestures for people. Courtesy towards women when you're dating and stuff. Holding the door, paying for dates, lending a jacket, giving her flowers."

"But…you do all that stuff for me." El remarks. She looks over at the flowers from Dustin's mom's garden that were decorated all around with wildflowers from the hill the Party went to to watch sunsets in the summer.

"Uh- yeah, I mean- it doesn't always have to be like that- but it could- it's also just a nice thing…"

El beams at Dustin's face going red through his stammering. He doesn't need to explain himself. He never has. El will like Dustin no matter what way he likes her. El knows which way she likes Dustin- but it's, like, totally okay if he doesn't like her that way. It's not like she's laid awake in bed thinking about it nearly every night since they started this whole tutoring thing.

Whenever she kissed Mike it always felt like just that- kissing. El likes the feeling of kissing, which is why she kept doing it. But it wasn't often that there was feeling behind it. El knows the feeling, the butterflies in her stomach, the feeling that there was actual desire and love behind an action. She had a few kisses with Mike that felt that way. Not nearly enough.

She had asked Max once, when they were hanging out without the boys, what it felt like. If she still got the light and airy feeling when she kissed Lucas. Max had said yes, most of the time. No matter what kind of kiss it was, there was always some kind of feeling behind it. Never, Max said, did she feel like there was a void of feeling, good or bad. El had been disheartened to realize she couldn't say the same.

But that was long ago. Nearly two years had passed since her last relationship, her last kiss, and there had been much more important things to focus on in the meantime- so El had pushed her preconceptions of romance down into a barrel and focused on saving the world and maybe entering society proper.

But now, sitting with Dustin, laughing as he drops silly one-liners about Victor Frankenstein solely to make El laugh, she has to wonder- why can't she have both? There's nothing wrong with loving someone else when you're still learning yourself. She can be El Hopper, spunky, smart, passionate, and also be El Hopper, daughter, sister, girlfriend.

Or, she's just really, really thinking too hard and Dustin's lips just happen to be right there. Where they always are. Because he's the one who wanted to tutor El. To spend his time with her. To give up his afternoons to make sure she was learning at the same pace everyone else was. To play video games and go to movies with her to give her a break from the endless monotony of homework.

"Earth to El? You listening?"

El shakes herself out of her trance and turns her attention back to the matter at hand.

"You have any other questions about the book?"

"…Is there anyone who likes the monster?" El asks. "In the book, I mean. I do not believe that there is no one just as strange as him."

Dustin smiles. "Oh yeah?"

El nods. "And it will make me sad to think there never will be. I do not want to keep reading if it is going to make me sad."

"Maybe we just have to write our own version," Dustin laughs. "Where three boys find the creature and hide him in the basement and give him Eggos."

El makes a face.

"I caught your metaphor."

"Allegory."

"Well, it would be-" Dustin starts stammering again. "Well, goddamn, I guess you're right. I'm gonna be out of a job here if you start getting better at English than me, Hopper."

"I mean…"

Dustin looks over at El. "What? You don't want me to come around anymore?"

"No! No, the- the opposite, actually…" El trails off. "I would like you to be here more, just…maybe for different reasons."

"So…you really don't wanna talk about Frankenstein anymore?"

El shakes her head. They're both smiling ear to ear.

"W-what would you wanna do?"

Dustin can think of a million things he'd like to do with El. Read together, play Atari, watch movies…among other things. El is nice, and they get along really, really well- El actually wants to learn about the things Dustin is always gushing about, and Dustin is always up for whatever new adventure El has up her sleeve. They fit together in a way that Dustin hadn't considered before and this whole tutoring business was only forcing him to consider it more and more all the time.

"Um…"

Before she can second guess herself, El leans forward and presses a kiss to Dustin's lips. She pulls away just as quickly, excitement giving way to panic when he doesn't respond immediately. They're both a little wide-eyed. El starts to fidget with the hairband on her wrist.

"I-I'm sorry-"

Dustin shakes his head. "Don't be."

This time, when Dustin kisses her, their hands gently pull their faces closer and they know, in that moment, that poor Mary Shelley isn't getting looked at for the rest of the night.

When they release themselves from each other, El smiles up with what might as well be glitter in her eyes. "I am very happy I did that."

Dustin nods. "Me too."

As if on queue, the two hear booming footsteps coming up the driveway. Hopper.

El steals one more kiss right as they hear keys clinking into the lock.

When Hopper enters, El and Dustin are peering over a math worksheet. If he looked a little closer he'd see that it was already covered in their markings because it was the first thing they did that night, but luckily, he doesn't.

"Hey Dad," El perks up. "We just finished. Can we go to the movies tonight?"

"Again?" Hop asks, opening the fridge for a drink. "Didn't you go last week?"

"I'm buying!" Dustin chimes in. "Celebrating, you know. Youth. All that."

El beams. "How chivalrous of you."

The two share a laugh while Hopper looks between them. Then, he shrugs. "Alright, sounds good to me. Be back by 10, okay?"

El's curfew had gotten later and later with each passing year. No more Henry, no more Department of Energy, no more "back before sundown". Now that Dustin was in the picture, well, El would have to see where they stood on the three-inches rule.

As the two scramble to leave with calls of "thank you" and "goodbye", Hopper swears he sees them clasp hands as they exit. It hits him as the foot on his recliner goes up that forgot to ask if the other kids were gonna be there.

Ah, shit.

Outside, El smiles as Dustin opens the passenger side door to his car. The beat up old Honda was not a pretty sight, but it was Dustin's. El loved it, too. It smelled a little funny and was terrible on the backroads the party zoomed down during their "summer joyride" phase, so much so that they stopped for Mike to puke twice before deciding that wasn't such a good idea anymore. But still, it was admittedly a lot better than biking after each other at the elderly age of sixteen.

She tried not to think about how the backseat might be the perfect solution to the three-inches problem.

"…So that all happened very fast."

El nods. "I know. I wanted to talk…without my dad. He is an eavesdropper."

"Yeah, I picked up on that." Dustin says with a lilt of laughter in his voice.

As he starts the car and gets moving down the road, he shoots little glances over at El, who smiles just as widely back.

"Are you for sure about paying?" El asks, remembering how much this car cost.

Dustin nods. "Of course. The gentleman always pays for the first date, right?"

"Right…date." El says slowly.

"This- you wanted this to be a date, right? I didn't think you would kiss me and then nevermind me, but I've been wrong before, so-"

"Dustin."

He looks over. "Yeah?"

"Yes, it's a date. That is fine," El says reassuringly. "That is better than fine, actually."

"Perfect."

"Yes, perfect."

Chapter Text

Peace and quiet is notoriously hard to come by in the Hopper-Byers house, so Will takes advantage of it when he can. The stereo he'd inherited from Jonathan croons a rare alternative to Will's usual rock mixes, instead airing a slick jazz tape he'd found buried in Hopper's collection. Considering the fact that the cartridge still had plastic wrap on it, Will figured his stepdad wouldn't mind if it migrated to his room. It was a nice change of pace from the 8-bit tunes and high-pitched screaming that usually filled his afternoons.

Will and Max had picked up jobs at the Palace shortly after the town's grand reopening. Now, they spent their afternoons counting quarters , cleaning up spilled snacks, and spending far too much of their already meager paychecks on cigarettes to smoke out back. Sometimes Robin comes out back from the Family Video next door and joins them, much to Steve's disappointment, but he wouldn't be caught dead snitching.

He runs through the day's events in his head and adjusts his bedside lamp to illuminate the pages of his novel. Mike and Lucas had a milk chugging contest at lunch and nearly vomited all over the place. He ran the mile faster than anyone else in PE and got to shower alone. Some kid broke the joystick off the Frogger machine, because of course. Max had handed Will the drill and wished him good luck, which annoyed him at first, but come to think of it Max probably wasn't very trustworthy around a bunch of kids with a drill in her hand.

So yeah, the peace was necessary at this point. With his mom at work, Hop quietly watching TV in the living room, El out God knows where (she was quite the adventurer these days after earning her freedom), Will was able to read himself to sleep with no outside intervention.

Car lights flashed outside, interrupting the stream of pale moonlight coming in through Will's window. Probably just his mom getting back. He curls up and presses on.

It was quite the dynamic novel, really. A woman under a curse, a grumpy wizard learning to love as he aids her reluctantly. It was saccharine and mysterious, just up Will's alley. The action was just starting to get good when-

Knock knock. Knock knock. Knock knock. Knock knock. Knock knock. Knock.

Oh. That's who it is.

Will raps on the door a single time and fishes in his blankets for his bookmark, expecting he won't be reading for as long as this conversation's about to take.

What he isn't expecting is for his sister to dive onto his bed in a giddy leap, a hand thrust behind her to close the door. She excitedly kicks her feet up in the air and smiles up at Will.

"Hi!" El beams, face flushed and chest heaving.

"Where have you been?" Will asks. He notices flecks of her favorite glittery lip gloss have migrated across her face, smeared just a little bit. "I thought you had tutoring with Dustin today."

"I did have tutoring today. And then…I had a date."

"A date? With- with wh-"

The jazz tape ends.

Will puts two and two together when the faint scent of Farrah Fawcett hairspray hits him. To his own surprise, he's not shocked or bewildered, or even jealous like he used to be. He just breaks out into a big smile.

"How was it? What did you guys do?" Will drops his book on the bedside table and invites El to sit up next to him. He points to El's chin. "Did Dustin- did you guys kiss?"

El's hand hits her mouth in terror as she frantically wipes her face off. She and Will burst into giggles.

"I mean…yeah, we did. I kissed him first, actually. While we were here," El explains. "And then Hop came home."

Will brings a hand to his mouth. "Oh..oh no."

"Yeah," El continues. "So he took me to the movies and then we got slushies and then he drove me home and kissed me goodnight…and I got the butterflies again."

"…Butterflies? Oh, like, butterflies in your stomach?"

El nods.

"That's great, El. That's really great. I honestly think Dustin's really good for you. And you're really good for him, too. He- I think-" Will laughs. "I don't know what I'm talking about. But good for you guys."

The two laugh, ignoring the clattering from the next room, settling into the comfortable peace yet again.

"We're going to have another movie marathon, soon," El says. "Dustin says he has important ones to show me. But we have other ideas, too. I am going to write them down. Then maybe you could use it too, one day, if you need date ideas."

Will scoffs at that. "Who am I going to be dating any time soon?"

El shrugs. "I can think of one person."

Right. That. El knows about that now. Well, Will had come out to her via a shaky conversation a month or so ago, avoiding the urge to cry as she told him she loved him and they hugged and stayed up late talking and listening to music until Joyce calmly knocked and asked them to turn it off for the night.

It took approximately two more days for El to clock the Mike Wheeler of it all. Sometimes he curses her emotional intelligence.

Even if Mike was her ex, that seemed to be the last thing on El's mind now, as party hangouts contained a lot more funny looks between the siblings as El made moves so Will and Mike could sit next to each other…funnily enough, Will had never noticed how she always seemed to end up next to Dustin after these maneuvers.

"I can't do that, El," Will says with a sigh. "You know that. This- this isn't about me, anyway! We were talking about you and Dustin. Did you tell Hop?"

El shakes her head.

"Oof, he's not gonna like that." Will says with a funny little laugh.

"And I wouldn't like him threatening to beat Dustin up," El rolls her eyes and folds her arms. "You're allowed to do whatever you want, you just don't. Why is it different for me?"

Will shrugs. There's a lot of reasons, ones Will isn't smart enough to explain. He'll ask Nancy to bring home some of those fancy scholarly articles she researches when she and Jonathan come home for Christmas.

"Well, they've gotta understand that we're older now, right?" Will says. "Mom's better about that now. I'm sure you could tell her. Then she could get Hopper off your back."

Eleven nods. She's sure that if Joyce had been home when she got back, she'd have told her first.

"But more importantly," El sits up suddenly. "I have to go tell Max!"

She scrambles out of the room just as quickly as she came in, courteous enough to make sure the door is closed behind her. Will laughs to himself. It's easy to be happy when your other half is that happy.

Another flash of car lights in the driveway. This time it's definitely Joyce. With a flick of his hand and a tiny droplet of blood from his nose, the orange curtains of Will's bedroom window shut themselves as he retrieves his book from the nightside stand.

A few minutes later, the squealing talking from his shared wall with El's room dies down as the tell-tale click of her pink cassette player (a joint-effort birthday gift from Will and Jonathan) bleeds into the folksy guitar of El's favorite song of the past month or so. Will doesn't think too hard about the timeline.

Help me, I think I'm fallin' in love again
When I get that crazy feelin', I know I'm in trouble again
I'm in trouble 'cause you're a rambler and a gambler
And a sweet talkin' ladies man
And you love your lovin'
Not like you love your freedom

"Alright, who is it?" Steve asks as soon as Dustin brings the VHS tapes up to the counter.

Dustin frowns. "Already with the cryptic shit? It's Saturday morning, dude."

Steve lays out the three tapes, pointing to each one for emphasis. "Sixteen Candles, Little Shop of Horrors, and Breakfast at Tiffany's. The first movies you've rented in four months that weren't Spaceballs or Soylent Green. C'mon, Henderson. I know there's a girl involved."

Rolling his eyes, Dustin glances around the video store, grateful it's not full of people yet. "I hate when you're right."

"I know."

"I went out with El last night."

"Like, out out?" Steve asks. "On a date?"

Dustin nods.

Robin interjects. "With El Hopper? Like, daughter of Captain Buzzkill Jim Hopper?"

Dustin nods.

"How the hell did you get away with that?" Steve asks.

"Well, it's not like he knows," Dustin says. "I'm sure we'll have that talk eventually."

"What're you gonna tell him?" Robin says, resuming her restocking of the action shelves. "Beg him not to break your shins?"

"Like I said, we'll cross that bridge when we get to it," Dustin reiterates. "It's been one date, guys."

"And a second one planned," Steve reminds him, the VHS tapes bagged up and slid back across the counter. "You be safe, okay?"

"…Excuse me?"

Steve shrugs. "Look, when I was sixteen, 'movie marathons' with a girl meant something else entirely-"

"Ignore him, Dustin, he's a sex pest." Robin comments offhandedly.

"A reformed sex pest." Steve calls out after her. He turns to Dustin. "I'm not just talking about that, though. I am, of course, cause it's- it's important, but, like, I really mean…protect your heart, you know?"

"You just mean don't fall in love too fast," Dustin says. "You kind of suck at giving advice, you know?"

"Yeah, yeah, I know, 'actions louder than words' or whatever the fuck." Steve says offhandedly. "But seriously, I don't want you to get hurt."

Dustin shrugs. "I won't, if I'm honest with her and we take things at a pace that's comfortable for both of us."

"Yeah, that sounds healthy." Steve says. "Perfectly normal, responsible. I've taught you well."

"You didn't teach me shit!" Dustin laughs, Steve joining in with a crack-up at his own joke. "If anybody in this goddamn town was normal or responsible we wouldn't have half the problems we ended up with."

"We- wait, you think the Upside Down was like- a metaphor for depression, or something?"

They're joking now, but…he's not far off. In a way.

"It could be. I think. I told you, that cognitive behavior therapy stuff is pretty cool, I think it makes a lot of sense." Dustin says.

Steve scoffs. "Yeah, I know, you wanted to get me a- a shrink who can get me on a near-lethal dose of downers like Wheeler?"

Dustin rolls his eyes. This was Steve's high horse. Mike had landed himself in the hospital a few months after Henry's defeat and came out with a bunch of fancy sounding diagnoses and prescriptions to go with them- Steve had been convinced they were useless and Mike just needed to "man up", but Dustin was pretty happy to see his friend back in control of himself instead of being constantly reminded of the 12-year-old who tried to throw himself into Sattler's Quarry.

Thus started the ongoing debate between the group at large of the benefits and detriments of talk therapy- Max didn't like it, but it seemed to work pretty okay for Mike. Will was scared to try it cause he didn't want to be reminded of his "check-ups" at Hawkins Lab, and so on and so forth. Everyone had their own personal hangups.

"Anti-depressants are not downers, Steve, and they help him. You know, I don't see why you couldn't try it-"

"I'm- I'm not saying I wouldn't, I just wanna figure out some other shit first, and I'm the one who gives you advice, Henderson, and-"

jingle, jingle!

"-welcome to Family Video, can I help you guys find anything?"

When the two women who've just entered the store shake their heads no, Steve turns back to Dustin, his face returned to a blank slate. "So. You and El?"

"Yeah. Me and El." Dustin scoffs.

"Good." Steve smiles. For real, this time. "I'm happy for you guys."

Dustin takes his VHS tapes and bids Steve and Robin farewell, making his way toward the early morning light.

"Open doors for her! And- and give her your jacket and shit! And use protection! And share your-"

"Shut the fuck up, Steve!"

"Hey! Just the guy we were talking about."

Dustin steps out onto the curb only to be met by two more of his best friends- namely, Max and Will, decked out in their blue Palace Arcade t-shirts as they unlock the doors for the morning- or, try to unlock the doors. Will has to fiddle with the key because the lock is old and rusted over, Max offering very little in the way of help.

"How was the date, Henderson?" Max says with a smile as Will gets angrier at the door. "If you break that, you're paying for it."

"Maybe then we can finally get a new one," Will retorts. "Yeah, Dustin, El came home pretty happy last night. I hope you guys had a good time."

"Oh, great does the whole town know at this point?" Dustin says. "So, you're not gonna, like, poke at me? Y'know, 'hurt my sister and you die' or something like that?"

Will shrugs. "Why would I? I know you won't."

Max's hand shoots up into the air.

"I'll do it! Dustin, if you break El's heart I will break one of your limbs or something," she says with no actual threat in her voice. Dustin laughs. The lock clicks and Will pushes the door open. "No way, you actually got it to work?"

"Uh, yeah." Will answers, then wipes a speck of blood away from his nose.

"I think that's cheating or something!" Max calls after him, following Will into the building. She turns back to Dustin. "But seriously, good for you guys. You wanna go for a Dig Dug-off before the snot-noses start showing up?"

"I can't, I have plans. But I'll remember that offer for later." Dustin says.

Bidding his friends goodbye, Dustin climbs into his beat up old car where just last night he and El were driving together, in a movie scene he never thought would've been real. Everyone's happy for them, it seems almost too good to be true. But still, the car radio kicks on as Dustin backs out of the video store/arcade's shared lot and reminds him just how real this all is.

Help me, I think I'm falling in love too fast
It's got me hoping for the future
And worrying about the past
Cause I've seen some hot, hot blazes
Come down to smoke and ash
We love our lovin'
But not like we love our freedom

Chapter Text

Friday, October 30th, 1987

3:15 p.m.

The other students of Hawkins High School are less than happy when they have to maneuver around the geek squad taking up far too much space in their little huddle smack in the middle of the hallway. Mike Wheeler, however, will take no criticism on how he directs his operatives for what is about to be the single most important weekend of their lives.

Never mind the time they saved the world from a world-splitting phantom demon from an alternate dimension.

"Alright, guys," Mike says, rubbing his hands together. "It's just about go time. The feast is served at 8 p.m. on the dot. If you're late, you starve."

The others roll their eyes and laugh. The "feast" is pizza Mike is in charge of picking up from their favorite joint downtown. It's not like Mike will stop anyone from eating if they show up late, there just might not be anything left for the poor sucker who gets to the door at 8:02.

"We all remember our assignments, correct?" Mike says. "Operatives Mayfield and Byers?"

"We're getting the movies after work." Max deadpans.

Mike frowns. "You know, a little enthusiasm goes a long way. Operatives Hopper and Henderson."

Dustin salutes Mike with far too much enthusiasm. "Snacks, sir!"

"Here," El produces a folded up piece of notebook paper from her shirt pocket, passing it around the group. "Final checklist. Add what you want."

Will hastily snatches the paper to jot down "Reese's Pieces" in scraggly handwriting as Mike continues to address the group.

"And perhaps, most importantly- Operative Sinclair?"

Lucas smirks, steeling his gaze with determination. "Booze."

"Excellent. Any questions? None? Perfect. 8 p.m. sharp. Don't be late. Break!"

The group splits unevenly, as Lucas takes off further into the school to hopefully get to basketball practice on time, while the other five turn toward the exit.

"You're such a ham." Max groans as she and Will peel off to retrieve their bikes. "Could you ever, like, not make a scene in front of the whole school?"

Mike shrugs. "Why not? Everyone already thinks we're freaks."

Max doesn't really have an argument for that. She and Will make a haphazard bet on who can beat the other to work and take off, leaving the final three in the group to trek up to the gravel patch some might attempt to call a student parking lot.

Mike, Lucas, and Dustin park next to each other every single day. Mike and Lucas received new cars on their sixteenth birthdays, Mike's blue while Lucas' was a shiny silver. The rusty red of Dustin's busted up Honda sticks out like a sore thumb between them. He could've gotten a new car, if he pooled the government hush money and the cash Claudia definitely would've given him, but he opted to stick most of the Uncle Sam money in a bank account and let it be until he needed it. No, his dear Cass (El had named her after the myth of Cassandra) was technically a gift from his mom, but Dustin knew most of the money had come from Hopper, after Dustin had refused the chief's attempts to pay him outright for tutoring El.

He already got the best gift possible from that arrangement, anyway, as he feels the warmth of the hand holding his.

All that to say, it wasn't a hunk of junk, but it wasn't too pretty next to his friends' rides, either.

Dustin glances up at El.

Oh. But to her, it's perfect. And it looks prettier with her in the passenger seat anyway.

"Off to Dunsinane," Mike comments, referring to the car line at Hawkins Elementary School. It didn't make the most sense as a reference, but none of them were willing to read as much Shakespeare as Mike to try and understand it. "See you guys tonight."

Dustin, however, takes his time getting his and El's backpacks into the backseat, opening the passenger side door for her, letting the heat get started, so on. He looks over El's shoulder at the final grocery list for the night.

"Man, we eat a lot of junk food. So," Dustin says. He checks his watch. "We literally have five hours to kill before we need to be at Mike's. We've got options. Follow Will and Max to work?"

El laughs and shakes her head. Even if Dustin was being serious, she'd still never pick the arcade. Far too loud and far too sticky.

"There's always that ledge at Lover's Lake that Lucas was telling us about." El jokes in response.

Dustin rolls his eyes. The group had transitioned from being surprised/happy for them to teasing them endlessly, the same way they did when Lucas and Max had first gotten together. Karma, Lucas had insisted.

"Alright, alright. Yours or mine?" Dustin asks.

"Mmm…yours." El answers.

"Sounds good," Dustin throws his car into drive. "Mom's at bunco until tonight, so we'll have the house to ourselves. That okay with you?"

El nods. "That's why I said yours."

Dustin's house is nice, even when it's empty. Their new kitten, Freckle, scampers across the living room when they enter. El sets her and Dustin's backpacks at the table as Dustin goes to the kitchen for snacks. They have a system whenever they hang out after school: the visitor sets up while the host gets snacks. Homework, snacks, then whatever comes after.

Luckily, the teachers at Hawkins High decided to have mercy this Halloween weekend, knowing no one was probably getting anything done anyway, and they only have a few things to work on. One of them, unfortunately, is a Spanish assignment, language being both El and Dustin's least favorite thing to work on, for a few obvious reasons.

They eat caramel cookies that had quickly become El's favorite thing in the world (Dustin joked she was only dating him for his mom's baking), pouring over conjugation until Dustin's vision starts to go fuzzy and El has to scramble to the cabinet for headache medicine.

"Okay, I vote we finish this later," El says. "We will have time Sunday night."

Dustin scoffs. "We'll probably be mad hungover Sunday night, but I like your thinking."

El wraps her arms around herself, bundled in an old blue hoodie of Dustin's. A strange phenomenon, indeed- Dustin had noticed in the month since he'd gotten a girlfriend, he'd lost approximately 25% of his jackets/hoodies/flannel shirts.

"We have time for something fun now," El rifles around in her backpack. "Like this…if I can find it."

"Oh yeah? More fun than Zelda? You almost finished the Dragon lair the other day," Dustin says. "You'd have to find something pretty good to beat that."

"Something like a 6954 Blacktron Renegade?"

Dustin's face falls. "You didn't."

With a massive grin plastered on her face, El produces a yellow and black box from her backpack, handing it to her boyfriend with pride.

"Where did you even find this?"

"Hop knows a guy."

"And-" Dustin looks up at El. "And you actually wanna build this with me?"

El nods. "Why wouldn't I?"

Dustin shrugs. "I- I dunno."

He does know, though. No one ever wanted to admit it. Everyone in the party had their hangups about being forced to grow up too fast- their guilty pleasures, carried into young adulthood. Will had his D&D, Max had her video games, Mike with his books and Lucas' action figures. Dustin had an impressive Lego collection to his name, alongside his plastic dinosaurs and mechanical robots, but never the subspace sets, nothing like the one El had just placed in front of him, the one he'd had circled in the catalog since he first saw it.

Looking up, Dustin doesn't even need to say anything. El's already perfect. This is just really, really cool.

They move to Dustin's room, to the little yellow table he'd built (with help from Steve, but Dustin would never admit it) with a brick board built in at the bottom. The set is just over a thousand pieces- small potatoes to Dustin and El.

El finishes the mini-cruiser first, preferring to let Dustin affix the base of the big battleship for her so they can do the details together. She uses her mini Lego-man to drop off new pieces for their main build, a light bulb going off in Dustin's head.

"Oh, I almost forgot, I have something for you too-" he gestures to a shopping back on his bedside dresser. "I got new minis. One of em's for you, since you said you wanted to paint yourself a new one."

El smiles. She and Max had been playing with the boys for a few months now and had yet to make their own minis- Max was content to let the others make them for her, but El had seen Will sitting quietly at his desk for hours at a time sometimes, painting the little figurines with such focus- she wanted to try it at least once.

"Is it an elf?" El asks. Her character, a mage currently called Lycra (yes, like the elastic), is a free-spirited elf princess, currently on an arc to reclaim her royal name from a pack of mischievous fae who had stolen it.

"An elf sorceress, according to the box," Dustin clarifies. "Don't tell Will."

After that, conversation falls way to focus, comfortable quiet permeating the room in conjunction with Dustin's radio on low volume.

"That one, right there," El points to the instruction sheet, grabbing for a small black brick under Dustin's arm. He reaches over El for a flat yellow piece and they get their arms twisted up in each other, laughing as neither one backs out and they try to keep building over each other. "Dustin!"

Snap!

The two stop dead in their tracks, worried that they've broken a piece. They frantically sift through their last few pieces, only to find the wing of the starship, fully intact, just removed from the structure at large, under the junction of their arms and tucked into a pocket of El's (formerly Dustin's) oversized hoodie.

El laughs into Dustin's shoulder as he re-affixes the piece, intertwining their fingers as they look down at the completed piece.

"Hour and a half," Dustin says, holding up his watch. "New record."

"Are there, like…prizes?" El asks. "For building Legos fast?"

"Probably," Dustin shrugs. "I've never looked into it. Why? You want a prize?"

El shakes her head no. She gently leans up and closes the gap between the two, remembering to slide a hand up and remove Dustin's godforsaken hat this time- her forehead had been a victim of that hat one too many times.

Their hands find their proper places pretty quickly, El's around Dustin's shoulders and neck, Dustin's around El's waist, pulling each other closer, El trying to ignore the way her hoodie is starting to feel just a little too hot as they kiss through noses bumping and teeth clacking unattractively.

One thing El has learned is this: making out is a lot more fun when it's one of the many things you can do, as opposed to the only thing you do.

She's never felt the need to explore that any more.

Speaking of exploring-

They slip, and El's hand finds the next thing she can grip to regain her balance, which just to happens to be Dustin's curls.

"Mgfffh-!"

"Ack-!"

El stumbles back, landing on the carpet in a fit of laughter as Dustin runs a hand through his hair where El's just was. "You good?"

She nods. "Are you? I didn't hurt you, did I?" she reaches up for his head.

"No, no, not at all, I-" Dustin laughs, looking around. "I think we were just in a bad spot. We should probably put the Blacktron up on the shelf so we don't break it again."

Dustin stands up and extends a hand for El. He gingerly moves the spaceship over to his shelf, alongside a pretty display of other structures just like it. El moves the brick table back into the corner of the room. She looks back at her boyfriend, nervously combing his hand through that same spot in his hair. Maybe, on a day where they don't have to see their friends again later that night, El will try that again. She knows they'd never hear the end of it if El had left school bare-necked and shown up later that night with a hickey.

She sits on the bed, kicking her feet innocently as Dustin adjusts his display shelf until they're just right. It's like watching an artist at work. When he's satisfied, he turns around to see El smiling up at him, happy to observe.

"Looks good?"

El nods. Sometimes, she'd have suggestions on how to make the arrangement look better. Today it looks good, though.

He joins her on the bed, their hands quickly finding each other again.

"We still have some time before we have to be at Mike's," Dustin says quietly. "Is your costume all finished for the party tomorrow?"

Right. The party. After their movie night sleepover, the party was to take Holly trick-or-treating before heading off to a Halloween party hosted by one of their classmates- it was a wonder that they'd been invited, but they figured they might as well go to one before their time in high school was over.

El nods. "Yes, it's finished. Is yours?"

"Yep. Packed in my overnight bag already."

"Perfect."

El plants another soft kiss on Dustin. He catches her by the cheek before she can back away and pulls her back in, El eagerly meeting him halfway.

"I really like your eyes, you know." Dustin says.

"Yours too," El murmurs. "Pretty."

They lounge, talk, make out, stare at the ceiling, etc. until they've got an obligation to make their way back to the car and head for the grocery store. The bags in the backseat with their sleepover necessities plus their homemade Leia and Han Solo costumes are moved to the ground to make way for the candy, drinks, and chips that make up the healthy diet of any sixteen year old.

Dustin doesn't know when he fell asleep. They were watching Friday the 13th, El jumped and landed in his arms and after that it was easy to drift off.

He awakens to the sound of clinking bottles. None of them had drank enough to be sick, but Mike was still fervently sweeping the basement floor for the evidence and shoving bottles into a trash bag.

"Mmm, morning." Dustin groans, careful not to move or talk too loud with El nestled in his arms.

"Afternoon, actually," Mike chuckles. "It was morning when we went to bed."

The couch creaks as Dustin peeks over at the other couch, where Lucas and Max fell asleep in an awkward mess of limbs and blankets. Mike and Will had been unceremoniously kicked to the floor, where Will now sleeps alone.

"You should still be asleep, then," Dustin murmurs. "Aren't we going out again tonight?"

"Yeah, I just…" Mike holds up the trash bag. "Wanna clear out any evidence before my mom comes down here."

"You want help?" Dustin asks.

Mike shakes his head. "Nah, I got it. 'Sides, you look comfortable."

Dustin's hand cards through El's hair. "Yeah, I am."

The room returns to silence as Dustin tries to resettle himself and Mike finishes cleaning up. Tossing the bag to the side, Mike smiles over at the two of them as he settles back into his horrible mess of blankets, kicking Will's limbs aside so he can get even slightly comfortable.

They'll all be awake again in an hour or two.

"Hey! Watch where you're going!"

Max watches a crowd of middle schoolers barrel past their group and nearly knock El off her feet. They snicker and race off.

"Assholes," Max whispers under her breath. She looks up at El's braided hair. "Hair still looks good though."

EL touches the braided crown framing her head- neither she nor Max had been able to do it themselves so they had to sit there awkwardly while Lucas schooled them in the art.

Speaking of-

"Hands up, or I'll blast you!"

The two girls catch a pretty funny looking sight up ahead, a gaggle of Star Wars characters hounding a small Alice in Wonderland.

"So, you having fun, Hol?" Will asks, walking backwards as he focuses his camera on Holly's grimace.

"Get out of my face!" Holly says with a laugh. "I'm on a candy mission and you're impeding me. And you're about to trip."

"Wh-"

The other boys reach out as Will trips on a crack in the pavement and nearly goes tumbling backwards. The girls laugh as Holly skips ahead of them towards the next house, free for one single moment.

"So, Hop lets you go over to Dustin's house alone now?" Max asks, the two of them trailing behind the rest of the group. "He must really be letting up in his old age."

El rolls her eyes. "You think we told him?"

Max cackles.

"What does your mom say when you go over to Lucas' house? Anything?" El asks.

"I don't think my mom knows Lucas and I got back together," Max explains. "She works like an insane person just to keep a roof over our heads."

It is a weird balance in the group. They don't often talk about money, not unless they need to. Mike and Lucas carting the party around in their shiny cars while Will and Max work to keep the lights on in their houses is a fact of life. One would think the government payout would handle their housing, college tuitions, and then some, but they'd learned better over the years.

"Well, I'm hoping he starts acting normal about it soon," El says. "Why are dads so weird about their daughters dating? It's in every movie we watch."

"Because they still want to cling to the glory days when were objects to be bought and sold," Max spits. "Men are evil, truly."

Holly shrieks. The girls figure they should focus on the group they're meant to be hanging out with.

They watch Lucas and Mike hoist Holly up onto their shoulders, Dustin valiantly carrying her candy basket alongside Will filming. Lucas turns back and shoots El and Max a wink.

"Maybe ours aren't."