[email to Onze Dee]

[still_the_dm]

TO: scare_onzedee@gmail.com
FROM: wheelmaster@gmail.com

SUBJECT: Friends Don't Lie

Hi,

This may sound weird, but have you ever been to Hawkins, Indiana?

Thanks,

Mike Wheeler

Comments

reply: (literally ten minutes later)

[onze]

TO: scare_onzedee@gmail.com
FROM: wheelmaster@gmail.com

SUBJECT: Friends Don't Lie. Ever.

Hi, Mike.

Ellie AKA Onze Devereaux

Re: reply: (literally ten minutes later)

[still_the_dm]

TO: scare_onzedee@gmail.com
FROM: wheelmaster@gmail.com

SUBJECT: Friends Don't Lie. Ever.

Jesus Christ, it's you. It's really you.

Dustin's been subscribed to your channel forever. He kept telling me it was you, but I didn't believe him. Then I finally watched, and I'm taking French in school so I figured out your name. Then I looked up your dad and dude, how did you get adopted by a fricking Youtube super celebrity and shit? That's incredible!

We tried to start a YouTube channel. So far, the only subscribers we have are Nancy and Johnathan.

El, are you okay? Really okay? Because I think about you all the time. And I really miss you. I always kept your spot for you in the basement. I even put a bed there.

I promised, right?

Mike Wheeler

Re: reply: (literally ten minutes later still icon hunting omg)

[onze]

TO: wheelmaster@gmail.com
FROM: scare_onzedee@gmail.com

SUBJECT: Friends Don't Lie. Ever.


Yeah, it's me. It's a long story. Short version? I got stuck in the Upside Down with the Demagorgon and then tore my way out somewhere in Nebraska.

He found me digging through a Burger King dumpster, took me home, and has kept me safe ever since.

I am really okay. I promise.

I miss you too, Mike.

You did promise. You were always good at keeping promises.

Hey...don't give this out, but here's my cell number. Okay?


(and there's a number to follow)

Talk to you soon,

Ellie

Re: reply: (literally ten minutes later still icon hunting omg)

[still_the_dm]

TO: scare_onzedee@gmail.com
FROM: wheelmaster@gmail.com

SUBJECT: Friends Don't Lie. Ever.

I'm just glad you're okay. And I won't give out your number. Not even to Dustin and Lucas unless you say it's okay.

Promise.

Mike Wheeler

[...he manages to wait a whole half hour before Dustin and Lucas finally badger him into calling (since he won't give out her number).

Thirty minutes after sending the email, her phone starts ringing.]

Re: reply: (literally ten minutes later still icon hunting omg)

[onze]

[ By this point, El managed to get a pizza ordered to her house, pay for it, eat about three slices and then when the phone does ring, it's obviously while she's chewing. So it takes a minute for her to answer. ]

Mike?

[ God does she sound hopeful that it's him and not some random telemarketer or whatever. ]

Re: reply: (literally ten minutes later still icon hunting omg)

[still_the_dm]

[The voice is different, it's older and it says his name with more certainty, like talking isn't so new...but it's definitely her.

It's Eleven.

That little kid who wanted to take her to the Snow Ball, his chest squeezes so tight that Mike can't breathe for a second, much less talk. Dustin and Lucas flank him on either side, jabbing him with their elbows and making faces of expectant excitement...but this isn't something they can understand.

They never liked her.]

...are you eating Eggos?

[The remark immediately earns him a slap upside the head from Lucas, while Dustin can be heard through the phone, head thunking repeatedly against the table where they still play D&D every week with Will.]

Re: reply: (literally ten minutes later still icon hunting omg)

[onze]

[ And there's the Mike she remembers, even if the voice has changed a lot. She still knows him. She'd know him anywhere and that familiar feeling of safety fills her. Not that she hasn't experienced it before, and not that she doesn't have it now with Rock and her pack, but it feels new like it did when she first met him.

There was a laugh from her, a faint one, but that's not something she's done around him.

There wasn't really much reason to. ]

Uh...yeah. I have a freezer dedicated to three of the millions of flavors. Strawberry, chocolate chip and plain. My grandmom makes sure it's stocked.

What about you? Hows...how is everything? Tell me everything.

Re: reply: (literally ten minutes later still icon hunting omg)

[still_the_dm]

[It's strange to hear her talk--not talk, but talk, spout words like she's been talking all her life. He's not sure how it can possibly be his El, the one he taught words like friend and promise to five years ago.

And she has a freezer full of Eggos. And a fricking YouTube channel with like six million subscribers. Or...something. He'd sort of tuned that part out when Dustin was rambling about her channel.]

Uhhh...not much to tell. I'm still in Hawkins with the rest of the party.

[The party...they haven't called themselves that since those days.]

Will's okay...had some rough patches after he came out of the Upside Down, but we took care of it! Dustin's the most popular guy in our class, Lucas is still a dick...

[That earns him another slap, and an audible "Shut up, motherfucker!", then an audible snigger from Mike through a sound of pain as he rubs the back of his head.]

Nancy's engaged to Johnathan...hasn't told Mom and Dad yet, though. What about you?

[Finally relenting as Dustin and Lucas start shoving at him, Mike finally puts the phone on speaker and sets it on the table.]

What about you? How'd you get adopted by a freakin' celebrity? And how are the Bad Men not on your tail?

[onze]

Hi, Dustin. Hi, Lucas!

[ These are her guys. These are her guys she's talking to. Guys who helped her through so much and kept her safe and almost died because of her and they're talking like they just saw each other yesterday. ]


Nancy's not marrying the mouthbreather?

[...forever her favorite word. ]

Thank God. He was a dick.


[ She listens to everything Mike says, smiling softly as she steps outside onto the balcony of her tree house. Spotting her dad, she gives him a grin and a wave, a thumbs up to let him know everything's fine, before she continues on.]

He has some pull in some important places. It took calling the right connections and now I'm legally and forever Onze Devereaux, adopted daughter of Rock Devereaux.

[ A pause and there's a tone change, like she doesn't quite want to talk about the Bad Men, but she can't lie to Mike. Not ever. ]

They showed up every once in a while for the first year, but dad and his family scared them off and we haven't seen them in years.


[ For all she knows, dad pulled more strings somewhere and got them to back off for good. ]

[still_the_dm]

[The line is promptly filled with a dual voice chorus of "HI, ELEVEN!" before Mike gets them to shut up so they can listen to her talk.

And she's still there--odd as the long sentences and happy conversation are, those words still sound like Eleven, and it's like being back five years, huddled under the table with Eleven and promising her that he won't tell his mother about the girl he's hiding in the basement.

It's weird to hear her talk about having a father, while said father waves back at her from the yard--complete with the same cheesy smile he gives at the end of his videos...but it's way better than her calling that Bad Man 'papa.' When that tone slips into her voice, though...that rips him in two. Glancing between Lucas and Dustin, he can see it haunts them just as much.]

Well--we're glad you have a dad like that. [He pauses, and he tries not to feel that loss of her, of knowing she was out there all this time and not there, where he promised her a bed and a family and a date for the Snow Ball.]

I--we just wish we could have know you were okay sooner.

[onze]

[ El goes silent at his last comment, and she's still outside on the balcony, watching her dad and her grandparents when she visibly shrinks from guilt. She should have told them something, but each time she thought about it, her biggest fear was the Bad Men would find the party and use them to get to her. Hurt them somehow to get her out of the safety of her pack. ]

I'm so sorry, Mike. I didn't know if it was safe to contact you guys.

Can you forgive me?

[ All she wants in this very moment is to look him in the face while they talk, so she presses a couple buttons and prays to God he has Facetime or something. ]

[still_the_dm]

[He's cut off from answering by the sound of rustling on her end, like she's gonna hang up the phone...until his screen flashes with an incoming Facetime call from her number that he hastily accepts.

A second later, she's faced with Mike's features filling the screen: the floppy dark hair was now shorter, a close cut that had grown out, and the hawkish features that made him look so skeletal and awkward five years ago had filled out just enough to finally fit his face. On either side, Lucas had filled out equally well, and Dustin...

He would have been totally unrecognizable if not for that impish little smile on his lean, striking features.

Mike is at the center, though, and the look on his face is a mixture of shock and affection, that same awe she might remember from the edge of the cliff after she saved his life.]

El, there's nothing to forgive. As long as you're okay and happy...I mean, as long as some could keep my promise for me? You didn't do anything wrong. I mean...look at you! You're on Youtube, you have a family and a bed...you talk...you don't have to apologize for anything, okay?

[Lucas sniffs a little and shrugs. "Well, she could have at least called, dude."

That promptly earns him a dirty look from both Mike and Dustin seconds before both boys reach over to slap him upside the head with a chorus of "Don't be a dick, asshole!"]

[onze]

[ For a moment, all she can do is stare at the three of them. They all changed so much, it was amazing. Dustin the most. Dustin had teeth and wasn't the round, chubby kid she remembered. Mike had gotten taller, but no less sarcastic and snippy with his words and Mike...

God help her, he got cute. She always remembered him as cute, but this was a whole new level of cute and suddenly somehow? Somehow, she was worried about her hair. It hung well past her shoulders in almost black waves, looking recently trimmed, but gone is the buzz cut. And she's filled out some, no longer waifishly thin. She's no little girl anymore.

Lucas gets an eyeroll and then there's a laugh as the boys do what she remembered and then she's ducking her head, nodding. ]

Thank you. I needed to hear that.

[ Reaching for the hair tie on her wrist, she sets her phone up nearby and runs her fingers through her hair, the deep brown giving way to a myriad of colors dyed underneath, tying her hair back as she speaks. ]

Listen, give Lucas and Dustin my number. I want to keep in touch. I don't want us to lose each other again. And Joyce, too. If she's still around.

[ Pause, and because the word has more significance to her than it has probably anyone ever. ]

Promise?

[still_the_dm]

[For just a second, as they look at each other through the phone...there's something in her face that he remembers from that last night at the school, just after he'd pressed a hasty kiss against her mouth...something wide and wondering...

And she's better than he remembered. It's one thing to see her videos, but like this he knows her, healthy and glowing and with hidden rainbows under her hair.

Mike doesn't need to give the guys her number: it shows on the display, and both Dustin and Lucas are already punching it into their phones with big grins. The promise about Joyce makes Mike nod.]

I will. Mrs. Byers is still here. She's cool...we're not sure, but we think she might be dating Chief Hopper.

And, uh...El? You...you still...

[He trails off, taking a deep breath before smiling softly.]

You still look...pretty... good.

[onze]

[ She had her eyes on Mike as Dustin and Lucas put her number into their phone. Almost immediately, she gets texts from the both of them. Dustin's is pages and pages of info, including something about Mike learning guitar and she grins as she reads it. But she doesn't mention it yet. She can't. Mike said something that made her bush, brought back memories of her first kiss with a twist in her chest and some kind of need she can't fully explain. part of her wnders if it's him she need, and the part of her that still doesn't understand how emotions worked called that silly.

Still, she can't resist commenting. ]


I'm still pretty?

[ That was another thing she was happy to hear. One of their few happy moments, repeated. ]

[still_the_dm]

[He can hear Lucas and Dustin cursing and muttering with smiles on either side of him, but all he can see is her, and that little way she lights up...not as sad as she was once upon a time, but still just as desperate. It makes him ache in a way no one else has ever made him feel.]

You're always gonna be pretty, El.