( darkest before dawn / act two )
❛ GIRLFRIEND , BOYFRIEND ❜
episode eight | stranger things

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AURORA LET OUT A small wail as the chief of police pulled another piece of wood from her leg. Her knuckles turned white as she gripped Mikes hand tighter. The sheet she was lying on was covered with blood, blood that seeped from her leg like a never ending river.

Her skin was pale, almost transparent from either blood loss or sickness. Mike seemed to look the same, but his eyes hadn't left the bloody mess that was Aurora's leg since they had sat on the small cloth covered table Mrs. Byers had set up in her bedroom.

"Stop, stop, stop," Aurora cried out pulling her leg from Hoppers grip as he reached the tweezers back to her leg, "please, stop."

"You're doing so good," Hopper smiled at Aurora, and dropped the tweezers to the side, "Aurora, there's just one piece left, okay? I'm going to pull it out, and that's it. You just have to let me do this."

Mike kissed the crown of her head, "Darling, you are doing amazing, just one last piece, okay?"

"No," Aurora cried, and tried to push Hopper away. Her tears falling more and more as she moved her leg. Hopper let out a string of curses.

Mike swallowed harshly before grabbing Aurora chin to turn her face towards him. Without hesitation, he pressed a kiss to her lips. It moved slow at first, neither of the two knowing what to do, before Aurora smiled against his lips. Fireworks exploded in her stomach as she held on to the side of his cheek. Her mind was spinning, and she couldn't form coherent thoughts as Mike deepened the kiss slightly. Then a throat cleared and Mike pulled away from Aurora like she was on fire.

"Woah," Hopper pointed between the two of them after dropping the final piece of wood from Auroras leg into the trash, "you're all good kiddo, but I don't want to ever see that again."

Aurora could feel the fire in her cheeks as Mrs. Byers laughed slightly at her predicament, "well, I think I'll wrap up your leg and then I'll leave you two alone."

"No," Hopper scoffed, crossing his arms.

Mrs. Byers smiled as she wrapped the roll of gauze around Aurora's leg, whispering apologies when Aurora hissed at the pressure. "Yes, Hopper. Besides don't you have something to call in?"

Aurora couldn't glance at Hopper, but she knew he was rolling his eyes, "Fine, Wheeler, six inches."

Mike nodded bashfully as Mrs. Byers led Hopper out of the room with a teasing grin. In the eerie quiet that followed, Mike found himself staring at Aurora Briar. She was alive. His heart pounded in his chest, a wild rhythm that echoed his relief.

"Aurora," he began, his voice trembling. He reached out, his hand shaking. Her skin was cold, but she was there, real and alive. "I shouldn't have done that. I just - I thought I lost you," he confessed, his voice barely above a whisper. "I thought...and I couldn't...I can't..." He choked on his words, emotions overwhelming him.

Aurora looked at him, her eyes reflecting the same fear and relief he felt. She reached up and placed her hand over his, a silent assurance that she was okay.

He took a deep breath, it was now or never. Her eyes met his with a silent question. He swallowed hard, pushing past the fear. "I like you, Aurora," Mike finally said, his voice stronger now. "I've think I have for a long time. And today...today made me realize that I can't lose you. I can't live in a world without you. Without your smile or comments that I pretend to get annoyed at just to see you smile and keep making them.

"I realized that you are the glue for our party, you connected everyone together and — and I realized that along the way I fell in love with you. I didn't realize it at first, but it's been there, growing stronger every day. I love you, not like a friend, but like...more. So much more."

Aurora looked at him, surprise and something else flickering in her eyes. "Mike," she whispered, her voice weak but filled with emotion. "I've been in love with you since second grade when you pushed Tracy Dinkins off the swing because she was taking too long and you knew I wouldn't do anything. I've been in love with you since the fourth grade with you demanded that you and Will become a trio because you didn't want me in another group. I've been in love with you since you kissed me that night in the school.

"I think that in every single universe, I will fall for you Mike Wheeler. No matter if we have to fight demogorgans, or shadow monsters, or Tracy Dinkins. I will always fall for you Mike," Aurora stood up slowly, and pressed a kiss to Mikes lips again.

"So," Mike whispered when they pulled away, "does this make you my girlfriend?"

"I don't know," Aurora grinned, "does this make you my boyfriend?"

"If I get to keep kissing you then yes," Mike placed another kiss on her lips, "yes it does make me your boyfriend, my girlfriend."

Aurora blushed as she placed her hand to Mikes cheeks, "I like that."

"Like what?"

"You calling me yours," Aurora slapped a hand over her mouth as the words tumbled out, "oh god that's really embarrassing."

Mike pressed a quick kiss to her lips, "I like calling you mine too, Rory. So get used to it, because I've wanted to do it for a while."

Aurora couldn't let the grin or blush leave her face as Mike helped her out of the bedroom. Her hand in his with the other arm under her arms to keep most of her weight off her injured leg.

Hopper glared at the two of them, but couldn't say anything as he was on the phone. His grip got a little tighter as Mike and Aurora sat leg to leg on the couch, hands interlocked.

Dustin and Lucas noticed as well, the two of them whispered between them as Max grinned, sending Aurora a thumbs up and a wink. Aurora tucked her chin down as heat burned at her cheeks. Steve Harrington glared at their interlocked hands before walking into the other room.

"Is Will okay?" Aurora asked to anyone who would answer.

"Yeah," Nancy whispered back as Jonathan entered the room, "he is, Rory."

The telephones ring echoed through the house as Hopper slammed the phone to the receiver, "they didn't believe you. Did they?" Dustin spoke.

"We'll see," Hopper snapped his fingers between Aurora and Mike with a glare.

"We'll see?" Mike shouted, "We can't just sit here well those things are lose!"

"We stay here," Hopper grunted out, "and we wait for help to come to us."

"That's bullshit," Aurora scoffed, "we should be out there helping!"

"No," Hopper took a few steps closer to the girl, "I am not going to bury a child, just because they wanted to play hero. We. Stay. Here."

Aurora rolled her eyes as Hopper stomped away. Max grinned, "adrenaline makes you feisty."

Lucas laughed at Max's comment, "you haven't seen Rory being feisty until she loses at Monopoly."

"Ooooh," Max clapped her hands, "I have to see that. When this is all over, Monopoly party?" Aurora smiled softly, and nodded. Mike pushed his chair out, pressed a quick kiss to Auroras head and walked over to Bob Newby's stack of games that he had brought over. "What is this all about?"

Aurora turned her head as watched as Mike picked up Bob's Rubik's Cube. Aurora opened her mouth to quietly respond but Mike spoke up before she could, "did you guys know that Bob was the original founder of Hawkins AV?"

Everyone glanced at him in questioning. "Really?" Lucas spoke up, his voice scratchy.

"He petitioned the school to start it and everything," Mike spoke quickly and Aurora couldn't believe that she only just got to know that man. "And then, he had a fundraiser for equipment. Mr. Clarke learned everything from him. Pretty awesome, right?"

A chorus of "yeahs" sounded from each of the kids, as Mike stepped back to the table and placed the Rubik's Cube on the table, "we can't let him die in vain."

"Well what do you wanna do, Mike?" Dustin scoffed. "The chief is right about this, we can't stop those demo-dogs on our own."

"Demo-dogs?" Max questioned, a grin on her face.

"Demogorgon dogs," Dustin spoke slowly, "demo-dogs. It's like a compound. It's like a play on words—"

"Okay." Max rolled her eyes, and with Auroras good leg, she kicked the girl.

"I mean," Dustin started as Steve stood behind the group, "when it was just Dart, maybe..."

"But there's an army now." Lucas threw his hands up in frustration.

"Precisely."

"His army," Mike started.

"What do you mean?" Steve drew everyone's attention to him.

"His army!" Mike stood up, "Maybe if we stop him, we can stop his army, too." He rushed to grab Wills drawing, the pen that Doctor Owen's had copied.

"The shadow monster?" Dustin questioned.

"It got Will that day on the field," Aurora spoke up as she leaned to her right slightly.

"The doctor said it was like a virus," Mike continued, "it infected him."

"And so this virus," Max seemed suspicious, "it's connecting him to the tunnels?"

"To the tunnels, monsters, the Upside Down, everything." Mike spoke quickly, as he took some of Aurora weight off to lean against him.

"Woah." Steve put his hands out, "slow down. Slow down."

"Okay, so," Mike started, finally speaking at a normal pace, "the shadow monsters inside everything. And if the vines feel something like pain, then so does Will."

"And so does Dart," Lucas concluded, finally connecting the dots.

"Yeah. It's like what Mr. Clarke taught us, the Hive Mind."

"Hive Mind?" Steve and Max questioned.

As Dustin turned to answer the teen, Aurora turned to Max, "did you not pay attention in class? How do you not know what a hive mind is?"

"What ever papers you do seem a lot more interesting." Max grinned as Aurora smiled.

"This is the thing that controls everything," Mike pointed at the shadow monster on the paper. "It's the brain."

"Like the Mind Flayer," Dustin spoke with wide eyes. The term was from their Dungeons and Dragons games, and it made sense.

Max and Steve looked confused again, but Aurora grinned, "If demogorgons are real, the Mind Flayer could be too!"

They all moved back to the table, as Dustin pulled a book from Wills shelf. Aurora sat down in a chair, as the others stood around her. Almost everyone was around the table as Dustin started.

"The Mind Flayer," Dustin pointed at a specific image in the book he had pulled.

"The hell is that?" Hopper scoffed, as he stood right next to Mike and Aurora.

"It's a monster from an unknown dimension," Dustin rolled his eyes like it was obvious to everyone, "it's so ancient that it doesn't even know it's true home. Okay, it enslaves races of other dimensions by taking over their brains using its highly developed psionic powers."

"Oh my god, none of this is real." Hopper scoffed, "this is a kids game."

"No, it's a manuel." Dustin stuttered, "and it's not for kids! And unless you know something that we don't, this is the best metaphor—"

"Analogy." Lucas interjected.

"Analogy?" Dustin scoffed, "that's what you're worried about? Fine! Fine, an analogy for understanding whatever the hell this is."

"Okay," Nancy spoke up, "this mind flamer thing—"

"Flayer." Dustin corrected, "Mind Flayer."

Nancy inhaled deeply, "what does it want?"

"To conquer us, basically." Dustin nodded, "it believes it's the master race."

"Like the Germans?" Steve stuttered, trying to add in his thoughts. Aurora grinned as she glanced up at Mike. The boy looked down at her with a smile before they turned their attention back to Dustin.

"...If the Nazis were from another dimension, totally." Steve grinned, feeling like an accomplished something as Dustin continued, "Uh, it views other races, like us, as inferior to itself."

"It wants to spread," Mike answered, and Aurora could feel his breath above her, "take over other dimensions."

"We are talking about the destruction of our world as we know it!" Lucas slammed his hands to the table.

"That's great!" Steve groaned, turning his back to the table, "that's great. That's really great. Jesus!"

"Okay," Nancy jumped in again, "so, if this thing is like a brain that's controlling everything, then if we kill it..."

"We kill everything it controls." Mike nodded.

"Which includes...Will." Aurora added quietly.

"We win." No one clearly heard Aurora, or if they had they were choosing to ignore the obvious. If Will was connected — which he was — killing the Mind Flayer would kill Will.

"Theoretically," Lucas pointed out.

"Alright," Hopper grabbed the book from Nancy's hands, "so, how do you kill this thing. Shoot it with Fireballs or something."

Dustin laughed, "no. No, no fire — fireballs. Uh, you summon an undead army, uh, because..." Dustin rambled on about the army as Hopper slammed the book down.

"What the hell are we doing here?" The chief scoffed, walking from the table.

"I thought we were waiting for your military backup?"

"We are!"

"Even if they come," Mike shouted, "how are they going to stop this? You can't just shoot this with guns!"

"You don't know that!" Hopper yelled. "We don't know anything!"

"We know that it's already killed everybody in the lab!" Mike shouted, Auroras gut churned as she thought about Dr. Owen's.

"And that the monsters are going to molt again!" Lucas added.

"And we know that it's only a matter of time before those tunnels reach the town." Dustin finished off.

"They're right," Mrs. Byers spoke up as she entered the room, "We have to kill this thing. I want to kill it."

"Me — me too, Joyce. I do too, but how? We don't exactly know what we're dealing with here."

"No," Aurora spoke up, "but he does. The shadow monster does, and that means Will does too."

"I thought we couldn't trust him anymore?" Max questioned, "I thought he was a spy for the Mind Flayer?"

"Yeah," Mike grabbed onto Auroras hand, "but he can't spy if he doesn't know where he is."

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(      LET ME SPEAK    :      )

such a short chapter but tbh one of
my favs because of the love confession
😍😍 but we're getting down and
dirty in the next couple of chapters
because there's only two more chapters!!

credit goes to fivehxrgreeves