"I'm sorry my heart's too big for my own good! I just want to be a good person!"
~
Theodore Chambers moves from his home in London to Hawkins and realizes this town isn't what it seems
Or
In which the new kid in town is thrown into all sorts of insa...
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chapter sixteen; reunited
Teddy and Eleven, reunited at last. It was a full 353 days of waiting, Eleven had kept count of each passing day, and if Teddy was honest, so did he. He tallied every day on a page in his notepad after he called to her and wrote her letters. (He wanted to show everything to El later... but there were more important things to talk about).
The moment was surreal. Teddy shook in excitement, he could barely contain himself. His mind fluttered joyfully, the happiest it had been since he met the girl. That was El right before him. It really was! He fidgeted with the biggest grin on his face.
'Go to her.' His thoughts told him. Usually, they tended to be more critical of how he was behaving, but not in this moment. He was so damn happy to have the girl back that there was no negativity in his mind. Teddy slowly started to move forward, almost in a daze... like he was floating. He wanted to run, like full speed and engulf her in the tightest hug and never let go. He had this perfect image in his head of what he'd do and say to her when they finally stood face-to-face. It was perfect.
It was perfect... until, someone pushed him aside:
Mike.
Michael Wheeler got to Eleven first.
That snapped Teddy out of his trance. His smile disappeared. Mike stood in front of Teddy, meeting with Eleven first before she could even see the smaller finger boy. In fact, because Mike was just taller than Teddy, it actually hide the boy completely. El gasped as the two met in a tight hug, "Mike."
"Is that—?" Max started to question.
Lucas and Dustin nodded their heads, "Yes."
Max watched Teddy's entire face fall with a perplexed stare. Her eyes bounced between Mike and Eleven hugging and talking and her suddenly sad friend who stood by her side. Didn't the two just have a conversation about liking El? She nudged Teddy to get some answers. "...why does Mike get the first hug? Shouldn't it be you?"
It should've been him, a part of him thought that. He should've been the first to her. He thought about her and grew to have such deep feelings for her... but... she didn't know any of that. "N-n-no... it's not like that... she... doesn't know about that..." Teddy rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly with an embarrassed red dusting on his cheeks. "it was never... like that. Just a crush. Just friends..."
"Oh."
The boy could just overhear the tail end of Mike and Eleven's conversation. "—I called you every night. Every night for–"
"353 days. I heard you and Teddy." El admitted. El... heard him? Teddy's calls weren't for nothing? She heard everything!
Mike glanced back to stare at the other boy, but Teddy hid behind his other friends. He could just see something in Mike's eyes when El told him that both boys were calling her. Was it jealousy? Was he upset that she didn't answer? He looked back at the punk girl, "why didn't you tell me you were there? That you were okay?"
