─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───
LOVE REALLY HURTS WITHOUT YOU!

CHAPTER TWO: MEMORIES.
─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

⠀⠀It had been Dustin's splendid idea to bring the complete s t r a n g e r back to Mike's basement instead of going to Will's house like they'd originally planned, and Mike hadn't been too fond of the idea. The basement was where they brought ELEVEN . . . It was like her place; her little fort to sleep in and toys to mess around with when she'd been bored, and even now that she was gone, it still belonged to her in some sense. At least in his mind.

⠀⠀He didn't want to replace her. He couldn't.

⠀⠀And just like the raven-haired boy, FIVE wasn't exactly excited about it, either. He didn't trust them. How could he? But he had nowhere else to go, no one else to go to. It was his only option for now, really, if he didn't want to die of hypothermia outside in the cold.

⠀⠀"Okay, so," Lucas clasped his slender fingers together, the action resulting in a faint SMACK! to echo throughout the room, as he narrowed his chocolate eyes at the strange teen, almost as if he was trying to figure him out. "What do we do?"

⠀⠀FIVE had taken a seat on the couch, the fabric feeling soft under his skin, the feeling of something other than hard, solid floor making him release a breath he hadn't even realized he'd been holding. Meanwhile, Lucas was leaning against the railing of the stairs, arms folded loosely across his chest, while Mike was seated on the first few steps of the actual stairs, leaning forward against his knees. Dustin was upstairs, phone clutched in his hand, as he spoke to Will and explained why they hadn't come.

⠀⠀"I don't know," Mike grumbled under his breath, feeling mildly annoyed over the fact that his basement had been the place they'd gone to. Why not Dustin's place, or Lucas'? Or even Will's? He was squinting at the carpeted floor, raven locks framing his pale, delicate features like a curtain.

⠀⠀Lucas received no chance to reply before Dustin came scurrying down, almost tripping over his own feet on the way. The curly-haired boy peered around at their faces expectantly, almost as if waiting for them to update him on the two minutes he was gone, "So?"

⠀⠀"So w h a t, Dustin?" Lucas' mild irritation towards his best friend got the best of him once more. "You were gone for two minutes. Two!"

⠀⠀"A lot can happen in two minutes, Lucas!"

⠀⠀FIVE slowly leaned back against the couch, the cushion embracing his back in something that almost felt like a warm hug, as he blinked at the two friends bickering back and forth before him. This, he definitely wasn't used to, but then again, he wasn't really used to anything from the outside world. Growing up in a lab meant being isolated from everything, you could say.

⠀⠀"Shut up!" Mike had snapped, instantly halting the two boys in their words. He raised his head, gaze locking itself on FIVE, an unreadable emotion glimmering in his earthy hues. "We beed to figure something out."

⠀⠀"Yeah, no shit," murmured Lucas under his breath, eyes rolling into the back of his head in mild irritation. Then he exhaled heavily through his nose in a sigh, "I say we take him to Hopper. He'll probably know what to do. Plus, then we won't have to deal with him."

⠀⠀Dustin, blinded by his immense curiosity, disagreed with a shake of his head and a bounce of his curls, "Let's find out what even happened first. I mean, I didn't think any of them were left in the lab!"

⠀⠀Mike impatiently rubbed at his eyes, his head too clouded and stuffed to the brim with thoughts and concerns to even think. He craned his neck to peer over at the Sinclair beside him, "Lucas, go get some clothes in my closet, will you?"

⠀⠀Lucas, clearly not impressed nor satisfied with the task being thrown at him, sneered slightly but nonetheless obliged and went up the stairs.

⠀⠀"What happened? How did you get here?" Mike then proceeded to question FIVE, dark brows colliding on his forehead in a frown. "There aren't supposed to be any of them left."

⠀⠀Confusion rushed over the olive-eyed boy, as to what they meant with there not being anyone left. When he managed to flee, he had been the only one to do so. The other cells scattered out had still been occupied with other teens who had suffered just the same as he had.

⠀⠀"Time-travel," was what he decided to use, the words being so simple yet so complicated. His eyes travelled between the two boys repeatedly, taking in the way their expression morphed into something different, "From 1981."

⠀⠀Silence dripped from the air for a few seconds, the boys seemingly having to process what he'd just informed them. Dustin was the first to react, excitement and adoration decorating his pale features as he exclaimed how awesome that was. Mike, however, looked less pumped.

⠀⠀"You can talk," he pointed out, his heart aching with the thought of his first love. His eyes were slightly narrowed, as if he was trying to figure FIVE out. "ELEVEN barely could."

⠀⠀FIVE felt overwhelmed with emotions and information all of a sudden. They hadn't told him much, nor had he been with them for longer than 15 minutes or so, yet his mind was unable to figure out what to do and how to react. Now they weren't the only ones who had too many questions to ask.

⠀⠀"ELEVEN?" He queried, lines forming between his brows, as he cocked his head slightly to the side. "Another subject?"

⠀⠀"Are we just going to ignore the fact that he just told us he has time-travelled from 1981?" Dustin asked dumbfounded, brows arched at the two boys and hands flying around to deepen his point. 

⠀⠀"He t i m e-t r a v e l l e d here?" Lucas was gaping when he came hopping back down the stairs, a stack of Mike's clothing balancing on one hand. It was soon thrown in FIVE's lap, to which he unfolded it and stared at it in awe as if he had never seen anything like it.

⠀⠀He almost hadn't, only on the workers at the lab. The subjects had only ever been allowed to wear a hospital-gown so thin it was almost like it wasn't even there. Things had changed, though. Now he got to wear actual clothes, something he had no memory of ever trying.

⠀⠀"Can you show us?" Dustin took a step closer to the petite boy, gaze wide and filled with amazement. He was fascinated, anyone could tell, and the fact that powers like FIVE's and ELEVEN's existed was information that still had yet to get through his head.

⠀⠀"Dustin, now's not the time," Mike groaned from his seat on the stairs, looking like someone who wanted to be anywhere else. He had his reasons, though. This whole thing was just like a big, flashing reminder of what happened, not helping the fact that she was all he could think about still. He didn't want to go through everything again. It was too painful.

⠀⠀"Can I change?" FIVE peered up from the clothing he'd been handed, a small glint of excitement hidden deep in his olive eyes as the first happy emotion that had ever adorned his features. It felt good. It felt new. Unfamiliar.

⠀⠀It was nice, though. He could get used to it.

⠀⠀"Yeah, there's a bathroom right there," Mike bobbed his head up and down into a short nod, index finger pointed in the direction of the bathroom door. The situation was too familiar and he despised it.

⠀⠀Once FIVE had taken a single step inside the small bathroom, the three boys had huddled around each other, voices not as hushed as they'd thought.

⠀⠀"We need to take him to Hopper," Lucas had stood by his opinion from earlier, arms folded loosely, yet stubbornly across his chest.

⠀⠀"Why?" Dustin had tsk'ed, waving a hand of dismissal. "We've done this before, we can do it again! No biggie."

⠀⠀"There's no way in hell I'm doing this again, Dustin," Mike had almost spat at his curly-haired best friend, wanting to get as far away from the situation as possible. "Lucas is right."

⠀⠀As FIVE peeled the gown of his dangerously skinny body and tucked on the sweater and sweatpants he'd been handed, his ears were perked and he listened carefully to the words exchanged between the boys just outside.

⠀⠀He was tempted to just take the clothes and then teleport his way out of there, freeing them from the responsibility of having to come up with what to do with him. He didn't want to be a bother and they had clearly been through something like it before; something that had just left a mark and traumatized them.

⠀⠀At the same time, he had nowhere else to go and despite what Mike had mentioned about the lab, the anxiety of being snatched right back by Dr. Brenner and his merciless staff pumped through his veins. There was no way in hell he was going back there, not after finally succeeding after years of trying to escape.

⠀⠀FIVE came trudging back out minutes later, his body feeling warmer and hugged by the clothes clinging to his frame. He slid back down on the couch perched in the room, eyes shifting between the boys again as he waited for what their final outcome would be.

⠀⠀"I'm calling Hopper," the Wheeler brushed past Dustin and up the stairs, not sparing him a second glance or another second of his time. The boy's desperate needs to get rid of the whole situation at his hands only ignited a small spark of interest in the boy. FIVE wanted to know what laid behind that made him react like that.

⠀⠀"Mike, c'mon!"

⠀⠀Lucas and FIVE were left staring after them, Lucas with a roll of his chocolate eyes at Dustin's attempts at stopping the raven-haired boy and FIVE slacking any sort of expression. He was just blank at that moment. His head was too fuzzy to know which emotion or thought to act on.

⠀⠀Over the Henderson's groans, his "Don't do this, Mike, c'mon!" and his "We can do just like we did with ELEVEN!", Mike's irritated voice was heard speaking into the phone plastered against the wall of his home.

⠀⠀"Hopper, we have a bit of a situation."

IDA'S NOTE!
this sucked ): i'm sorry
but season 3!!!!!!!!
itwas amazing and i'm
so excited to start writing
about it!!!! it'll be a while
though since this takes place a week or two before season 2 really starts . . .
i'll try to be quick though :D
leave feedback please!!!!