15. When I See You Smile

[A/N: So I'm on a wee big of a roll and I got another chapter done today lol I wasn't going to post QUITE yet but I thought you guys deserved some fluff so I'm uploading now :) Enjoy!]

Chapter 15: When I See You Smile (by Bad English)

"Sometimes I wonder how I'd ever make it through... Through this world without having you. I just wouldn't have a clue 'cause sometimes it seems like this world's closing in on me. And there's no way of breaking free, and then I see you reach for me..."

. . . . . . . .

"Dude, I can't believe you're back," Dustin said animatedly, his excitement brimming. "You're never gonna believe -"

"We went into the Upside Down to find you!" Lucas cut him off, his own enthusiasm evident in the wide smile on his face. "It was crazy,"

"You were like, totally out cold," Dustin added.

Lucas said bluntly, "I thought you were gonna die,"

"Lucas!" Mike scolded with an incredulous expression.

"But she didn't!" Lucas continued, innocently shaking his head and gesturing with open palms.

"They had to do CPR to bring you back," Will chimed in.

"Yeah," Dustin nodded, wiggling his eyebrows. "And Mike gave you mouth-to-mouth,"

"Like the cafeteria?" El asked innocently, her eyes wide with curiosity as she looked around at the faces surrounding her.

"No!" Mike coughed, his face flushing beat-red. "Um, n-not like that. I, uhhh…"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, wait a minute," An ever-widening grin stretched across Dustin's face and his eyes twinkled at the scene in front of him. Lucas pursed his lips, his eyebrows lifting in an amused expression as Will watched. He had missed too much to understand what was so interesting about El's statement. "Whaaaat?" Dustin pressed.

"Mouth-to-mouth," El formed the words carefully, touching her lips with her fingers and looking at Mike whose eyes had seemingly grown to twice their normal size. "In the school?"

"Okay, I uh, think that's enough, El," Mike interrupted her, his ears and cheeks hot with embarrassment.

"But it's getting so good," Lucas pretended to whine.

"Yeah, Mike," Dustin added playfully, resting his chin in his hand. "What did we miss in the cafeteria?"

"Nothing, okay?!" He replied adamantly and his voice squeaked, causing Dustin and Lucas to erupt into laughter as El looked on, confused as ever. "Can we talk about something else, please?"

"Sure, Mike," Dustin obliged, still chuckling.

The boys spent the next half hour with El as it'd already gotten quite late into the evening by the time she'd woken up. They'd eventually gotten to chatting about Christmas and Thanksgiving and assured her that she'd learn all about the different holidays.

"Maybe when you get out of here, we can go see the Christmas lights around town," Mike suggested.

El nodded enthusiastically, a small smile stretched across her face.

"Some of them might already be taken down though," Mike said in a disappointed tone, realizing how late in the season it was getting to be. "But we can try,"

"Yeah, but next year you'll get all kinds of presents," Dustin added cheerily.

"Presents?" El inquired curiously as a cough crept its way up her throat.

"Yeah, you know," Lucas chimed in. "Gifts. From your friends and family,"

"People give you stuff at Christmas," Mike explained. "And on your birthday and sometimes Hanukkah too, I guess if you're Jewish,"

El just stared, overwhelmed by this influx of information. "Birthday?"

"Does she not know her birthday?" Lucas looked around the circle of boys.

"It's the day you were born," Will offered but El still looked confused and a little upset as she looked away.

"Don't worry, El," Mike said, grabbing her attention. "Everyone has a birthday," He paused thoughtfully. "What if we say yours is November 7th? The day we found you?"

El's face brightened at that and she nodded vigorously.

"Okay, great," Mike said, pleased with the decision. "So next November, we'll celebrate your birthday,"

"Alright, you guys," Jonathan said as he entered the hospital room after a bathroom break. "We've gotta head home. It's getting late and I promised Mom I'd get you guys home by 9,"

El frowned, her eyes widening with concern.

"Don't worry, they'll be back," Jonathan noticed her expression and calmly reassured the young girl with a smile. "And my mom is here now so she'll probably be in in a few minutes to see you,"

"Yeah, we can come back tomorrow after school," Mike said quickly.

"Yeah," Will agreed, turning to his brother, "You can bring us back, right?"

"Well, I've gotta work tomorrow," Jonathan said regretfully. "But maybe the chief could bring you guys up. You should ask him,"

"We'll find a way," Mike said assuredly. "We promise. Right guys?" He turned to his friends and they all nodded their agreement.

"Definitely," Dustin added for good measure.

Lucas nodded, "Yup,"

"I think Hopper is gonna stick around for a while," Jonathan said. "Becky went home already,"

"Okay, well," Mike said, unsure of what to do with his hands. Since El had calmed down, he'd been fidgeting throughout their visit, uncomfortably hyper-aware of how long he'd been holding her hand earlier. "We'll see you tomorrow, okay?"

As the boys said their goodbyes to El, Mike hovered nearby, hoping to catch her alone if only for a split second.

El and Mike watched the three of them walk out and El turned to Mike expectantly.

"Hey El?"

"Yes?" She said in that small, soft tone of hers that sent weird fluttering sensations up and down Mike's arms.

He struggled to make eye contact, looking down at the sheet on her mattress as he fiddled with a loose thread. Faced with the opportunity to speak with her alone for the first time since she'd been awake, he'd suddenly lost all his nerve. "I um…" He began, opting for a different subject instead. "I wish I could stay," He said quietly, bravely lifting his gaze to meet hers.

A small smile touched the corners of her lips. "Me too," She said, never breaking eye contact with him, though he frequently darted his eyes down and around the room, then back to her. "Jonathan promised," She said gently, looking toward the hallway where Jonathan was speaking to Will while Dustin and Lucas chatted animatedly.

"Yeah um…" Mike stammered, following her gaze then looking back down at his hands as he fidgeted with that loose thread again. She'd perfectly segued into what he'd wanted to talk to her about. "Speaking of promises…" He inhaled deeply, exhaling through his nostrils as he tapped his fingers against the bed rail. El watched his nervousness with curiosity. "I-I um, I'm really sorry… about missing the Snowball,"

El frowned, looking down at her lap. "Me too,"

Now what? Mike wasn't sure what to say in response and everything he thought of seemed stupid but he felt like even more of an idiot standing there saying nothing. "Uh," He began. "Maybe we could go next time," Lame.

But El smiled and nodded and Mike felt a warm sensation creep into his chest. "O-Okay, great," He grinned sheepishly, avoiding El's intense, magnetic gaze. Feeling a little brave, Mike added, "I um, I missed you… after the whole Demogorgon thing…"

El quirked her head to the side, eyeing him. "Demogorgon?"

Mike looked up at that. "Yeah," He said, frowning. "You killed the Demogorgon and that's when you disappeared… don't you remember?"

She stared at him, shaking her head and Mike's pulse quickened.

"So… you don't remember the Demogorgon coming after us?" Mike asked. "At the school?"

El pursed her lips and gave a small shake of her head.

"Wow…" Mike pushed himself off the rail as his mind whirled. If she didn't remember that, what else didn't she remember?

"Bad?" El looked up to him, her eyebrows stitched together and he could tell she was either worried or upset.

"Oh, uh," He stumbled over his words. He didn't want her to be upset. "No, it's fine," He shook his head. "Um, what's the last thing you do remember?"

El looked down, her hands clasped in her lap, then looked back up at him. "Mouth-to-mouth," She said softly, touching her lips and reaching a hand up to touch his as well.

"Oh um, okay, wow," Mike blinked as his cheeks pinkened at her touch, his eyebrows raised. "What about -"

"Hey Wheeler!" Jonathan dipped his head into the room. "We've gotta get going,"

"Okay!" Mike said over his shoulder, then turned back to El. "Don't worry," He said, patting her on the shoulder in an attempt to assuage her concern. She looked at his hand on her, then looked back up to his eyes. "It's fine. You're fine. Just uh," He faltered, the rush of having to leave soon making it difficult to think. "We'll figure it out. Just um, relax and I'll be back tomorrow, okay?"

El wasn't thoroughly convinced that everything was okay but she offered a small nod nonetheless and one side of her mouth curved in the hint of a smile.

"And don't worry," Mike added, noticing her worried expression. "The people here, they're really nice and they'll take care of you. I'm sorry we can't stay…"

El pursed her lips and nodded bravely before offering Mike a sweet smile.

"Okay, great," Mike smiled back, retracting his arm that he realized had lingered on her shoulder a bit longer than necessary. He could feel his face getting hot. "Um, I've gotta go but I'll see you later, okay? Just uh, try and get some sleep,"

El nodded and watched him as he reluctantly backed away to the doorway.

"Night El," He said, a goofy grin unconsciously making its way to his face.

El's expression relaxed into the most natural smile she'd had all day. "Night Mike,"

. . . . . . . .

"She doesn't remember anything after the sensory deprivation tank," Mike whispered in the backseat to Lucas and Will, conveniently leaving out the part about their intimate moment in the cafeteria, as Jonathan drove the four of them home. "I think she just remembers finding you and that's it," He said, looking to Will. "She forgot everything after the lab men got to the school,"

"She's probably just got some amnesia from all the head crap she's been through," Lucas reasoned. "People come out of that all the time, don't they?"

"Maybe her memory will come back to her in a few days," Will offered hopefully and Mike leaned back in his seat, trying to let his friend's optimism replace his worry.

"I guess," He shrugged, looking out the window as they passed streetlight after streetlight leading up to his house.

As Mike made his way up to his front door after saying goodbye to his friends and thanking Jonathan for the ride, he ran through everything El might have forgotten in his mind. Running from the agents, saving them, fighting off the Demogorgon. Of all the places for her memory to cut off, though, it was their kiss in the cafeteria. He grinned a little at that. He had been embarrassed and nervous enough the first time he'd done it, he was glad that she hadn't completely forgotten it happened. But if he had to do it again, that also wouldn't have been so bad. Then he realized he was thinking about kissing her again and an uncomfortable blush sent heat up his neck and to his face and he tugged on the collar of his coat to try and let some cool air in before he opened the door and stepped inside.

. . . . . . . .

"Okay, how about another one?" Dustin said gleefully as he flipped through the pages of the joke book he'd gotten for Christmas.

El simply watched him with earnest as she sat cross-legged atop her bed. She didn't quite understand the humor in the book but she enjoyed the short stories and Dustin seemed to like telling them to her. Mike stood by the head of her bed, awkwardly going back and forth between leaning against the mattress and standing with his hands on his hips. It'd been a few days since El had woken up and she was growing stronger quite quickly. As far as the doctors were concerned, all of her tests were checking out and she'd likely be able to go home in another week. She had a bit of a cough but they were monitoring her closely and the threat of pneumonia had thankfully passed.

Lucas and Will sat on opposing edges of the foot of El's bed, each dangling a leg over the side, as Dustin crowded close to El at the head. He kept the joke book in front of her as he read, despite the fact that most of the words were too advanced for her. She'd only been taught to read her name and a few small words - no one had ever taken the time to teach her more than that in the lab.

Dustin guffawed as he finally settled on a page, "O-Okay, this is a good one," He said, clearing his throat and pulling the book out of El's sight, holding it against his chest. "What do you call a bunch of chess players bragging about their games in a hotel lobby?"

El looked at him expectantly, one eyebrow raised.

Dustin waited a beat, then answered, "Chess nuts boasting in an open foyer!"

The boys erupted into chuckles as El sat, inquisitively looking from face to face. She smiled slightly, her doe eyes wide with confusion as her friends laughed.

"Man, that is so lame," Lucas shook his head, laughing.

"Bite me, Lucas," Dustin quipped.

Mike noticed El's blank expression and calmed himself enough to explain it to her.

"It's funny 'cause it's a play on words, you know?" He tried to break it down. "'Chess nuts' are like, people who are really into the game and it's also a play on the word 'chestnut'. And 'boasting'' and 'foyer' are -"

"Dude," Dustin scolded. "It's not funny if you have to explain it,"

"It's not funny if she doesn't get it," Mike countered.

"Bull," Dustin shook his head, looking at El. "You get it, right El?"

El looked at the curly-haired boy and smiled but her eyes gave her away.

"Yeah, she totally doesn't get it," Lucas laughed and Dustin rolled his eyes.

El's face fell slightly and Dustin chimed in, "Don't worry," He said assuredly, patting the girl on the shoulder. "We can fix that. You've just gotta hear more. Here, look -" He started flipping through the pages again but was interrupted by a knock on the open hospital room door.

"8 pm," Hopper said as he entered the room. "Time to go,"

"What?"

"No way,"

"Just a few more minutes,"

The boys complained but Hopper wasn't having any of it. "I told your parents you'd be home by 8:30. That means we leave now," He said emphatically. "You've been here damn-near every day this week, you'll see her again tomorrow,"

"Okay, well," Mike stalled for time. He wasn't sure what to say or do but he just wanted to be here. He wasn't ready to go home yet. "We'll come by again tomorrow after school, okay?"

"I'll bring the book again tomorrow," Dustin said cheerfully.

El nodded reluctantly as Mike managed an internal debate as to what to do from here. Should he grab her hand again? Pat her shoulder? Hug her? Every option seemed unreasonably terrifying.

"Okay um," Mike stammered, trying to forget that they weren't alone. "Bye, El," He said, quickly diving in and giving her an awkward hug that she didn't have time to reciprocate before he pulled away again. The added bonus of the pillows behind her that prevented him from enclosing his arms around her only made him feel like more of a doofus.

He felt a small sense of relief when Dustin, Lucas, and Will all lined up to hug the girl goodbye as well, though their hugs carried much less weight than his did. He wiped his sweaty palms on his pants and pretended that his heart wasn't racing out of control in his chest.

. . . . . . . .

"There's nothing in this world that could ever do what a touch of your hand can do. It's like nothing that I ever knew..."