Pairing: El x Reader + bonus wingwoman!Max Mayfield

Requested: Can you pls do a eleven x reader where eleven kisses the reader cause the boys told eleven that a kissing someone meat you loved them and yeah I thought this idea would be cute lo

A//n: i cannot tell you how much I loved this request, this is beyond adorable. Please know El loves you very much, and Max just wants her ship to set sail already. I used fictober to help me with inspo, which is why this and the following fics are probably not gonna be super great

Fictober Day 1: "no, come back"

Warnings: shit ton of fluff, and a shit ton of spelling/grammar errors im sure.

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There you were again. Just, existing, and it was enough to make El's stomach errupt into... butterflies? Yes, that was it. She remembered hearing the phrase on the television and how it caught her ear. What an odd thing to say, she remebered. Then again, she felt so grown up everytime she learned a phrase like this. And human. The boys, aside from Mike, and occasionally Will, would giggle when she tried using sentences when she learned them. At least, when she used them wrong.

Even Max would chuckle, shake her head too, but at least she'd correct her. She'd be able to learn.

El loved learning, especially when it meant showing off to you. She loved picking up simple phrases, and odd sayings, and being able to casually use them when in conversation with you. You always understood what she was trying to communicate, even if she did get it wrong, sometimes.

One of the many reasons why she loved "being your company". Don't be fooled, though. She is very bright and incredibly perceptive. She could always tell when something was wrong. Like today.

You were acting very strange, in fact you had been for some time now but today was by far the most concerning to her. You had managed to keep up the charade from the others to the point El was completely baffled as to how they couldn't possibly see something was clearly bothering you! Didn't they know you at all? She had only known you a year and already she felt as if she had known you her entire life, naturally she had picked up on your tells very early.

So here she was, with the biggest frown on her face as her eyes sit on your isolated form back at the table. Your head was down, your face a complete blank slate as your eyes glazed over as your mind was taking you far away. Herself, Max, and the boys were currently waiting in line at Hot Dog on a Stick and while the others were currently engaged in a discussion about The Terminator, El was hellbent on figuring out why you were so distraught.

"Something is wrong." El stated again, her attention never once wavering from you aside from the flickering glance she sends to Max in worry.

Max glances over her shoulder to find you waiting somewhat patiently where they had left you across the food court. You had offered to save the table while they got food, and it wasn't much longer that you felt a second pair of eyes boring into you that you looked up. Max and El were staring at you from their place in line between the boys, and out of reflex you felt your eyes squint a little as you sent them a genuine smile. Max returned your smile before returning to El, muttering something that looked like reassurance judging by her body language to the anxious looking brunette who had her full attention on you.

You squirmed a bit under her stare, your eyes finally breaking away from hers hoping she would drop it. Your stomach was doing flips and a heat raged from the tips of your ears to far below your neck, your heart pounding. It was a feeling you were getting a lot lately around El, and as time crept on it was getting harder to deny these feelings. It has really been throwing you off lately, and surprise surprise, Lucas, Mike, and Dustin either didn't notice it or were too hesitant to address it.

Unbeknownst to El, Max had in fact tried to approach you about your odd behavior. And while you had managed to avoid spilling your guts to Max, you didn't necessarily have to for her to understand. Max was no fool either, which was brought this specific air of confidence to her now as she watched El carefully, waiting to see what El would do.

"Y/n's just had," she frowns thoughtfuly, before fighting a smirk at El. "A lot to think about lately. It's probably best to leave it be."

El looks to her best friend, her eyes quickly scan Max's face for any sign of... well anything. She wasn't quite sure what Max was up to, and the Mayfield girl wasn't exactly giving her much to work with. She quickly fell into a shrug, any trace of mischief quickly vanished from her face which confused El. For all she could tell, Max was serious and she quickly decided she didn't like that at all.

You were there for her when she felt the most lost, how could she possibly even think to leave you stranded and alone if you were feeling the same? The person who twisted her stomach into knots in the best way possible, the person who visited her thoughts the most. It was Y/n.

El shakes her head, looking to Max defiantly, though her tone is lighter than her stare. "No."

El hikes her chin, and takes off across the food court with zero hesitation. Max watches, turning slowly to watch El stalk off as she wears a blank expression.

"Wait..." she mutters weakly, a smile tugging the corners of her lips. "Oh no, come back. That's not what I wanted to happen at all,"

Max watched triumphantly as your head picked up from its crestfallen state to look at El who approached the table. Already, she noticed the change in you.

"Hi, El." You said, mustering a smile, though this time it did not feel fake. "Not hungry after all?"

Her stern glare she had held on her features in the past moment had melted immediately when she got to you. All that remained, was a soft look as she stood taking you in, specifically your body language.

"Is everything okay?" You ask finally, fighting a gulp.

"Somethings wrong."

She watched you carefully as your eyes widened slightly, and you spared a quick glace to the party only to see them laughing and perfectly fine. You sit up a bit in your seat, scooching in further to the side for her to join you in the booth as you looked at her in concern.

"What, what's wrong El?"

She shakes her head quickly when she realizes she has been misunderstood, and eagerly takes a seat next to you. You try not to notice the pink you may or may not be seeing in her cheeks and you do your very damn best to not focus on the fact she is now close enough for you to smell the cabin on her clothes. It was a pleasant one you often associated with your growing feelings for her. But there was no time to think about that now, not when something was wrong.

"You tell me." She answered, catching you off guard.

Your fluster returns under her unwavering stare and you struggle to avoid her gaze. Once again, it is not hostile. She merely watches you with the softest look in her eyes. El was examining but also admiring every detail of your face at the same time.

You're ready to spew the same response you always do, your shoulders rising in a weak shrug but the words, 'I'm not sure what you mean?' something completely different leaves your mouth without your permission.

"I don't know, things have just been different I guess."

You finally allow yourself to gulp as you look back at her with a sinking gut. You ask yourself why your heart is ready to explode out of your chest but you know the answer. The answer you weren't quite ready to admit to yourself, let alone to El. And there was no chance things would work out, you guys just weren't on the same page.

"Different how?" Her voice is soft, and it makes you melt a little as it had been doing.

You shrug again, looking back at the hem of your shirt as you began fiddling and as you do you see her take another bite of her ice-cream cone from the corner of your eye. "I don't know, it's probably stupid."

That is when the oh so velvety soft look she always wore just for you turned to something resembling anger.

"No." She said sternly, making you look back to her. "Not stupid."

It's your turn for your expression to soften as you look at the determination in her eyes. All she was missing was a nosebleed, and it would have been chilling if you didn't know how upset it clearly made her to hear you speak negatively about yourself. In fact it cheered you up in a way, and gave you a surprising amount of hope.

And try as you might... You just can't help but think how adorable she looks right now. She always was, that was a damn fact but as she sat next to you now with a cone in her left hand, strawberry ice-cream on her upper lip and by far the most intense stare you would ever see in your life you were certain you had never seen a girl so charming.

Slowly you crack a smile and a small giddy laugh builds up inside that's desperate to break free. It was the kind of spontaneous laughter that spread all throughout your body, warming you up until all you could think about was how giddy you suddenly felt. El's priceless reaction not only does nothing to help but instead fuels your happy laughter as her eyes widen a bit. Her eyebrows raise and her strawberry ice-cream mess of of lips part in a confused manner as she tilted her head. She looked like a damn puppy dog, the cutest damn puppy dog you've ever seen and it makes your heart melt.

"What?" She asks.

Your laughter subsides, and through weakened chuckles and a now brilliant smile you point to her lips. "You uh, got some ice cream. Just there,"

Her eyes widen again, and her hand instinctively flies up to wipe it away but she freezes before she can do that when she catches the gleam in your eye that lingered. That beaming smile still on your face as you looked at her.

The word 'pretty', in her opinion, didn't ever quite feel like the right word to describe the look of happiness on you. What was that word she had heard on one of Hopper's old movies? It was one of those rare words she felt she didn't have to ask about, it seemed to make sense to her. Something so pretty that it takes a moment to catch your breath; Breathcatching. Yeah, that must be it, El was pretty sure she remembered that right.

You were simply breathcatching, especially when you looked so happy and she was not eager for that to go away. So instead, her hand fell to her lap, and with a silly smile she looked to the melting ice-cream cone in her hand and softly jammed her upper lip into the ice-cream. You gave her a wild look of confusion despite your laugh, quirking an eyebrow at her.

"El!" You laughed, much to her enjoyment. "What was that?"

"You're laughing," she shrugs happily.

Her eyes are simply gleaming as the biggest smile you ever seen on her accentuates her cheekbones, her eyes never leaving you for a second. You stare at her again, your mouth agape yet still in a confused smile as you try to decipher this bizarre roller-coaster of a conversation. You shake your head, your lips pressing together in a pleased smile as you let out a small chuckle.

A cold but soft pair of lips hit yours before you can realize El had leaned in to kiss you. Your eyes popped out of your head before fluttering closed, your heart for sure exploding in your chest and dizzying your head. The kiss lasted seconds but felt much longer and somehow far too short. You were dissapointed when she pulled away, your gut sinking suddenly but it disappears as soon as you see the glee in her eyes.

"El!" You yelled in hushed shout despite the smile on your face, and quickly you looked around to see if anyone had seen that before looking back to her smiling face. "What was that?"

She looked as id she was thinking about it for a moment, but she nodded reassuring herself. You didn't know but she had been thinking about a talk she had with the party a couple weeks ago. It was about something she hadn't really fully understood on its own, but it all clicked when she thought of you. She finally had a word for what it was that made her the way she always was around you. How happy she was, how protective she could be of you, how silly she got around you.

"Love," she answers simply, with a shrug.

Your eyes widen again, as do you gulp a second time. If this was all some cruel sick joke the others put her up to. Tricking her into something she didn't have any prior knowledge about... Well, you didn't know what you'd do.

"W-?" You licked your lips out of nervous habit, your stomach doing more flups when you taste the strawberry that was now on your lips. "Love? You-? What are you saying, El?"

She nodded, her brows beginning to knit together as she studied your reaction.

"Dustin said," she began, and your heart fell straight into your stomach in worry. "kissing is a way to show someone you love them."

And just as fast your heart shot right back up to your throat.

El loved you? Eleven loved you? For weeks now you had been trying so hard to stamp down your hopes and expectations that she would ever return your feelings given how close she was with Mike. And while it was true she did at one point harbor feelings for the Wheeler boy, that all kinda changed when she befriended you. You were something else entirely, in your own breathcatching way and it confused her now as you seemed surprised she felt this way about you.

"You... love me?"

El smiles when she realizes how flustered you are, and like you had moments ago, she can't help but think how insanely adorable you look. You feel her hand slip into yours, intertwining your fingers together and she leans in again. You're happy to feel her lips on yours again, your head going dizzy and she pulls away to look at you with the sweetest grin. Her eyes now held a gentle mischief, as if asking you if you were still unsure.

Okay, so maybe you were on the same page.