June 12th, 1986

The fighting wouldn't stop.

Mike Wheeler, fifteen years old, didn't remember the last time his parents didn't have a fight.

That night, Mike was in the living room of his two story house watching TV when a sudden shout erupted from the kitchen. Mike sighed and tried to ignore it by turning up the volume on the TV. 

"You never do anything around here, Ted!" His mom, Karen Wheeler, shouted at his dad, Ted Wheeler. Mike sighed, knowing that turning up the volume wouldn't drown out his parents shouting. He turned the TV off and stood. He slipped passed his parents to set the bowl of popcorn on the counter before heading upstairs, thanking God that Holly was already in bed- hopefully sleeping.

Mike walked up the stairs, glumly- his parents shouts echoing behind him. Instead of going straight to his room, he took a turn and quietly and slowly opened Holly's door- knowing his mom won't be checking on her tonight. Mike peered into the dark room- the nightlight casting a faint white glow upon the room. He closed the door after seeing that his baby sister was peacefully asleep. 

Once, he stepped foot into his room he shut the door and sat down on his bed. He wished Nancy were here instead of at The Byer's house so he could talk to her about their parents fighting and how it made him feel. Nancy comforts him, he comforts Holly, and Holly cheers Nancy up in times like these. 

Mike shook out of his thoughts and changed out of his T-shirt and shorts into sweatpants and a sweatshirt. Since it was only 8:00 P.M. he decided to drone out his parents by reading one of his favorite comic books. But his parents shouts still found a way to make it to his ears, keeping him from reading. Mike slapped his comic book down on his bed in frustration and sadness. He sat on the edge of his bed, placed his face in his hands, and tried to hold in his tears as he listened to his parents bicker.

"Why can't you just help out around the house or with the kids for once?!" Karen yelled. The sound of something crashing to the floor and a shattering noise echoed throughout the house. 

"Our kids don't do anything! How could I help if I even tried, huh?!" Ted yelled back. "And what do you do that I would be able to do?!"

"If you actually cared about them then you'd know what incredible things they do!" Karen shouted before continuing. "And, oh, I don't know! Maybe help with the dishes. or laundry, or vacuuming, or cooking dinner, or taking Holly to swimming lessons?!"

"Those are woman things. Not men!" Ted shouted and Mike felt a few tears roll down his cheeks. "Oh, and what incredible things do they do? Nancy has sex with any boy that she can get her hands on. Mike just sits in the basement and talks to his weird and freakish girlfriend that I don't like at all. Holly doesn't do shit! She should do more!"

Mike let out a sob. He never realized how cruel his dad really was.  Mike knew that his dad knew Nancy doesn't have sex with every guy and that Mike doesn't sit in the basement all day but he decided to say stupid things to upset his mom. His dad didn't know the truth about El- unlike his mom who did know- because once he found out he'd call the lab.

Karen gasped, loudly. "Ted! That is not true!" Karen shouted. "Nancy has an amazing job with Jonathan at Hawkins Post! Mike is a very successful student with all A's except for gym class because that's not his thing. And that's okay! He is a wonderful boy and is the greatest son ever but you're too blind to see it! A-and Holly is six years old, Ted. Six!" 

"Jonathan." Ted said. "That's the son of bitches name. And Jamie, the weird girl that acts weird and is always quiet and is a worthless piece of-"

"TED!" Karen exploded as Mike let out another sob. "Her name is Jane, Ted, Jane! And she is the sweetest girl ever who treats my son the way he should be treated, vise versa! She's been through too much already and doesn't need your stupid side comments! Now, I am not just going to let you insult my kids significant other just because you are jealous that my fifteen year old son has a better love life that a forty-eight year old man!"

Another crash. "Your kids?!" Ted boomed. "Your son!?"

"Yes, Ted! My kids! My son!" Karen shouted.

"They're my kids too you know!?" Ted yelled. 

"Well you don't act like a father!" Karen screamed-Mike could tell she was crying by how her voice cracked at certain words.

His door quietly opened and he wiped his eyes and looked over at the figure in his doorway.

Holly, his six year old sister, stood in his doorway in light pink jammies- hugging her Teddy Bear to her chest. Mike could see the tear tracks on her chubby cheeks and her eyes were rimmed with red. 

Mike stood from his bed and walked over to where Holly stood- sniffling. He wrapped his lanky arms around his baby sister and hoisted her up into his arms.

Holly wrapped her arms around Mike's neck and cried into his shoulder. Mike screwed his eyes shut at the sound of Holly crying. His chest ached for her. She was so young, only six, and was already going through this. He rubbed her back and bounced a little to try and calm her.

Holly pulled away and looked into her big brother's warm brown eyes. "W-why are Mommy and Daddy fighting?" She hiccuped. 

"I don't know, Holly." He sighed and sat her down on his bed as the shouting got louder. He grabbed his backpack and started to throw clothes into it. "Stay here, okay?" Holly nodded and he stepped out of his room and into Holly's. He grabbed some of her clothes and toys and put them in his backpack.He grabbed a pair of her shoes too before he caught sight of something purple on her bed. He grabbed her purple blanket that she always sleeps with on his way out and threw it over his shoulder. He opened the bathroom door and grabbed both his and Holly's toothbrushes and her toothpaste- she doesn't like the minty kind. 

Mike stepped back into his room and knelt on the ground in front of Holly. He slipped her shoes on her feet and started to val crow them. "Mike? Where are we going?"

"Away from here for a couple of days." He looked up at her after he put his shoes on and saw the fear in her eyes. He kissed her forehead. "Don't worry, Holls. I know where we're going." 

"Okay." Holly hopped off his bed and reached up to him. He picked her up and carried her downstairs with his backpack and her blanket.

Mike stopped walking by his parents and cleared his throat loudly. The shouting stopped and both sets of eyes were trained on him. "I'm sick of your guy's arguing. Holly came into my room crying because of your yelling. Honestly grow up! My baby sister can't even get a good nights sleep because of you two!" Mike turned his back on his speechless parents and started towards the door but stopped. Mike turned back around, Holly still in his arms with her face buried in his shoulder, and stared at his father. "I don't appreciate you disrespecting Jonathan and my girlfriend. Thanks Mom for defending them. Now, I'll be at The Hoppers for a couple of days. I'm taking Holly with me. She doesn't need to be stuck in this hellhole right now. Hope you guys work things out." Then Mike Wheeler was out the door and grabbing his bike.

Mike wrapped the purple blanket around Holly as he set her on his bike then got on behind her. With one hand around Holly to make sure she doesn't fall and one hand on the handle bar, he began to pedal to El's cabin.

-----

Mike pulled up to the cabin and almost sobbed with relief when he saw that all the lights were still on. He had felt like crying throughout the whole ride there. He helped Holly down and grabbed her hand after taking her blanket off and throwing it over his shoulder.

He lead himself and Holly up to the door- Holly looking around the dark forest with fearful eyes- and knocked as quickly as he could. 

Knock. Knock.

Knock.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

-----

El laid on her stomach on her bed, legs slowly swinging in the air, and her head bobbing to the music playing in her room. (Cyndi Lauper.) 

She flipped through a magazine, stopping at an article about dogs. Her eyes flicked to the photos of the puppies. She giggled.

"Awe, they're pretty." She muttered to herself.

Knock. Knock.

Knock. 

Knock. Knock. Knock.

Her eyebrows scrunched together as she looked at the clock. 9:00 P.M. 

Hop was already home so who else would be coming over at this time? 

She got onto her feet and straightened her light pink T-shirt and fixing the waistband of her plaid pajama pants that got twisted when she rolled onto her back to get off her bed.

"I got it!" El called over to Hopper who was watching The Goonies in his recliner. 

El reached for the doorknob and pulled open the door. El's eyes widened at the sight in front of her. Mike stood there, eyes rimmed with red, his eyes pooling with tears, and his chin wobbling. His hand clutched his little sister's hand- who had tear stains on her cheeks. 

"Mike?" She said right when Holly ran into El. She picked up the little girl and wrapped one arm around Holly's middle and the other  gently stroking her soft blonde hair- a little messy from sleeping. Holly's head resting on El's left shoulder.

Mike blinked and a tear slowly ran down his cheek. He stepped forward and wrapped his arms around her and placed his forehead on her right shoulder. 

There was a loud sigh coming from the living room. "Wheeler, it's 9:05. Too late to be here. I'll drive you back h- Who is that?" He pointed at the little girl in El's arms. Mike stepped away from El and wiped his eyes.

"Holly." El answered.

"Who?" Hopper frowned.

"Holly." El repeated. 

"Who's Holly?" Hopper said, obliviously. 

El rolled her eyes. "Mike's little sister."

Hopper groaned. "There's more Wheeler's? Is she just as annoying because if she is-"

"Hop!" El said in disbelief.

"What? I don't need another annoying Wheeler in my-"  All of a sudden Mike was right in front of Hopper and pointing an accusing finger at his face.

"You don't talk about my baby sister like that, okay? S-she's already going through enough." Mike said protectively. Yes, Mike was protective of Holly. That's when Hopper took in the boy's appearance. 

"Hey, kid." Hopper said. "What's going on?" Mike's whole strong and friendly facade collapsed. His shoulders dropped and tears started rolling down his cheeks. He lowered his head so he looked at the floor and cried.

"Mike." Holly whimpered as she saw her big brother's shoulders shake with sobs. El could see Mike start to weaken so she quickly handed Holly to Hopper as Mike's knees gave out. 

El caught him from behind, her arms underneath his arms. She gently lowered them to the ground. Mike folded into her, wrapped his arms around her waist and head against her chest, El, soothingly, ran her fingers through his hair and wrapped one of her arms around his shoulder as he cried. 

"What-" Hopper began but El shushed him. 

El pressed her lips to the top of his head, keeping them there for a good eight seconds. "Mike..." El placed her hand on the back of his head and pressed him further against her. "Mike, what happened?"

"M-my-" He was interrupted by another wave of tears. 

"Mike." El said seriously. "Talk to me. You know you can tell me anything."

Mike sniffed and mumbled against her neck, "My parents are fighting again."

El sighed sadly. "That's what I thought."

Hopper held up a hand. "Wait, you knew his parents were fighting?" El nodded. "When did it start?" 

"I-I don't remember. It's been a long time since they haven't fought." Mike stood with the help of El. El stepped forward and took Holly back into her arms, resuming their initial position. 

"Alright, well, I'll let you two figure it out." Hopper said and turned off the TV before going towards his bedroom. "And, Mike, you and your sister can stay here for as long as you need."

Mike smiled gratefully. "Thank you." 

"And since Holly's here you can close the door all the way." Hopper said and entered his room, shutting the curtain behind him.

Mike looked at El and she shrugged. She turned around and walked to her bedroom and sat down on the bed after turning off the music. Mike sat down next to her but turned to face her. 

Holly was snuggled up against El- her head against El's chest- but Mike grabbed Holly's hand and rubbed his thumb in circles. Holly's eyelids grew heavy so she closed them and fell asleep to El running her fingers through her hair.

El looked at Mike worriedly. "What happened?"

"Like I said, my parents are fighting again." Mike said, eyes tearing up. El grabbed his hand that wasn't holding Holly's and laced their fingers together.

"I'm so sorry, Mike." El whispered. "You don't deserve any of that."

Mike let out a quiet and humorless laugh. "Neither does Holly. Or Nancy." He shrugged. "I heard everything they said."

"What did they say?" El shook her head- sending her curls into a frenzy. "You don't have to answer that."

Mike shook his head before saying, "No, no. I want to talk about it. Remember what we agreed on? No secrets."

El nodded. "No secrets." 

Mike took a deep breath and began.

----

"...Then he called Nancy a slut, me useless, and Holly also useless and that she should do more." Mike told El, halfway done with the story. 

"Mike." She shook her head. "You're not useless and she's six!" 

"That's what my mom said." Mike said. "She defended all of us even you and Jonathan. She said he needs to act like a better dad and she called Nancy, Holly, and me her children. Not my dad's. Just hers." 

El closed her eyes before opening them again. "Wait, she defended me and Jonathan? W-what did he say about me?"

"Shoot, I wasn't going to say anything about that." Mike scolded himself, rubbing the back of his neck.

El's eyebrows shut up. "Mike! No secrets!"

"Fine." He relented. "He said that you were my weird and freakish girlfriend. He said that you don't do anything and you're just some worthless piece of- then my mom interrupted him."

El bit her lip, nodded, and looked down at Holly. 

Mike cursed under his breath. "El, this is why I didn't want to tell you. I didn't want you to think-"

"No, Mike. It's fine." El muttered, eyes filled with tears. 

"No, it's not." Mike pressed. "El, look at me." 

"It's fine, Mike. Really. It's fine." El said, still looking down at Holly.

"El, talk to me! No secrets!" Mike said softly, squeezing her hand. 

El looked at him and blinked the tears away. "I've just been told that my whole life. I'm used to it. I'm okay." She squeezed his hand back.

"We're talking about this tomorrow." Mike looked into her eyes. "I don't care what you say."

"Alright." She leaned forward and pressed her lips to his. His hand went to her hair, curling his fingers through the caramel colored hair. A few seconds later they broke away. "You need sleep." 

Mike nodded and once Holly was situated between them, they laid down on their sides so they faced each other. El pulled the comforter over them and turned the lights off with her mind. They laced their fingers together over Holly and held on tight. 

"You know I love you right?" Mike whispered. 

"Yes." El whispered back.

"More than anything, you know." Mike whispered.

"Yes, I know." El whispered back with a small smile.

"I mean, Holly is a close second but.." He teased causing El to let out a breathy laugh. 

"I love you, too, Mike." El whispered. "More than anything."

"Well, that's good." Mike whispered and squeezed her hand. "We won't end up like my parents right?" 

El shook her head and even though Mike couldn't see her, he could hear her curls brushing against the pillow. "Nope. I won't allowed it."

They laughed quietly before falling asleep in each others company.

--------

The End.

My next one shots will be something along the lines of these:

Insecurities.  (El) (I really like that prompt.)

Songs.  (Mike sings El a song. I don't know.) (El writes a song and Mike over hears.) Just something that came to my mind today.

Disappointment.  (Ted and Mike) 

Closets.  (El get's trapped in a closet at school.)