Jailbird || Stranger Things

sixty-two ➵ hiccups

"And we end this," she copied his movement before she glanced away to say "maybe," and continued down the aisle with the cleaning products. "All I know is we need El.

"Bowl, bowl, bowl," Lucas and Will walked down the aisle, fruitlessly trying to find the thing Max had asked for. "Why wouldn't it be with the cereal?" he turned to Will.

" I don't know."

"What else do you use a bowl for?"

" I—I don't know," Will repeated his previous answer, making Lucas sigh as they reached the end of the aisle.

Oh, shit," Lucas' eyes widened in awe. Sharing a brief look, the boys hurried to the firework display, making the boy reach forward to the biggest rocket on show. "Oh, Satan's Baby! You ever shot one of these suckers?" he asked Will with a wide grin.

"No. Is it sweet?"

"That's an understatement."

"That doesn't look like a bowl," Max spoke, approaching from a different aisle as she noticed the boys stood by the July 4th corner of the store.

"Nah, it's way better," Lucas let out a short chuckle, "There is a reason this warning label says 18 or older. This sucker is filled with 150 grains of black powder, AKA gunpowder," he passed the box to Max. "Strap two of these together, and it's bigger than an M-80. Five of them, we've got ourselves a stick of dynamite," he explained, painting a pretty gory picture of what could be.

As soon as Max realised this, she cocked an eyebrow in disappointment. "You wanna kill that thing with fireworks?"

"Do you have a better idea?"

She stared back at her two friends (at the best of times), and nodded like her answer was the most obvious solution, "Uh, yeah. Eleven," she passed the box back.

"Against that thing?" the boys asked, reminding her of the monster they faced in the hospital then back at the Hopper cabin, the very thing that was the reason for El's injury. "She's gonna need some backup."

"Oh, my God," she sighed in annoyance, turning away, but the boys had another plan.

"Hold this," Lucas gave Will the box, helping him keep the bag open to add the extra fireworks. A good stock up never hurt, right?

Meanwhile, El was left with only Mike for company. Who was not taking the injury too well.

"Does that hurt?" he asked as he lifted up to look under the gauze at her injury.

"Not bad," El hummed.

"You're gonna have an awesome scar," he smiled in an effort to cheer her up. "You'll look even more badass."

"Bitchin'."

"Yeah, bitchin'," he chuckled with her, watching as she averted her gaze. But he wasn't done yet. "El?"

"Yeah?"

" I've been meaning to tell you something," he committed to saying his piece. "It's just, being broken up—it's been hard," he began, though they were both distracted for a moment by the radio in someone's pack that crackled to life but soon died down again. "And—I like that you and Max are friends now," he continued. "It's just, I was jealous at first, and, and angry. And that's why I said all that stupid stuff. And it's like I wanted you all to myself. And now I realize how unfair that is. And selfish, and, I—I'm sorry. I just, like, I've never felt like this, you know, with anyone before and—You know, they do say it makes you crazy," he let out a nervous laugh.

"What makes you crazy?" El asked, unaware of what Mike was so desperately trying to say.

"You never—You never heard that term? You know, like the phrase, like 'blank makes you crazy', like the word—"