#atdidl

“Oh, you should hear him over the phone with her,” Caroline tells Lucas, crossing her eyes as she mimics Mike’s dream-like trance on phone call with her last month, “Goldilocks perfect describes things so well, I should use that phrase more.” 

Jason nearly topples over on the picnic blanket as Lucas muffles the sound of laughter with his hand. 

“Okay, fine,” Mike sighs as he averts his gaze to the gentle pull of the ocean waves, the sea a shimmering bright blue as it brushes against the shores of the pebbled beaches. “Get it all out of your system now.”

“Trust me, that’s not even the worst of it,” Lucas starts after he finishes laughing. “You should have seen them when they first met.” 

“Oh my god, right,” Jason sits back upright. “You were then when they dated for the first time! You have to tell us what that was like.” 

Lucas takes the bait, seizing the opportunity to reminisce on the first days of Mike and El. “Listen,” he commands with the power of his voice, a natural storyteller in a way that pricks Mike with envy. “They were sweet when they first met. Mike built her a pillow fort in his basement and gave her his favorite watch. He even promised she could come live with him and she could eat as many waffles as she wanted.”

“Aw, Mike,” Caroline nudges him as Mike’s cheeks flush with heat at the memory, a naive twelve year old who happened to fall in love with a girl he met in the woods. “That’s kind of sweet.”

“But when they were teens,” Lucas continues, his groan sending Jason into a never-ending spiral of laughter, clutching at his side as he falls onto the picnic blanket. “They were insufferable! They literally couldn’t go two seconds without going at it! The places we caught them-” 

“Oh, do tell us the places you caught them,” Caroline urges, raising her eyebrows at Mike. 

“Well, my parent’s bedroom, for starters,” reveals Lucas.  

“YOUR parent’s bedroom?” Jason clarifies, nearly choking on the question. “How did that even-” 

“Okay,” Mike tears his eyes away from the ocean view to clear his name. “I swear it’s not as bad as it sounds!” 

El slides her thumb over Neel’s knuckles to express her gratitude. He takes her fingers in his in response, his touch delicate and gentle as their hands rest on the pink duvet between their chests. A thought comes over El about Mike and Hopper, a thought that settles and makes itself home in her mind no matter how much she tries to shoo it away. She loves that Neel is accepting and open about her past, but she wants to talk to someone who fully witnessed her relationship with Hopper from when she was a teen, who fully understands how confused and tangled she feels about the state of his health. 

“Something on your mind?” Neel asks, sensing El withdraw into her thoughts. 

“Um, yeah,” El hesitates, remembering her former therapist’s advice to breathe. She is scared of being rejected, but more than that, she doesn’t want Neel to feel hurt and upset. “Is it okay if I talk to Mike about all of this, alone? Um,” El’s throat dries as she searches for the explanation again. “I just think it would be nice to talk about it with someone who knew us back then.”  

“Oh of course!” Neel replies, completely unbothered. 

“Really?” El asks.

“Yes, really,” Neel smiles softly at her, so she knows it’s okay. “Did you think I would say no?” 

“I don’t know,” El’s heart pounds with anxiety, still worried about betraying Neel even though he already said it was okay. “Isn’t it weird hanging out with an ex-boyfriend?” 

“I mean, I don’t see why not,” Neel shrugs casually. “I’ve had lunch with Preeti, and we’ve run into her at weddings all the time.” 

“Preeti is the worst and cheated on you three times.” El scowls, thinking of Pretti's annoying, self-centered chattering at Neel’s cousin’s wedding a couple years ago. Neel was naive enough to believe that she hadn’t cheated the first time, even though, according to Jazz, he had found multiple pairs of men’s underwear in her laundry. 

Chapter Summary:

After El finally calls Hopper, a shocking bit of news unexpectedly draws her closer to Mike.

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