Third person's point of view...

It was the seventh time the sun had gone down.

Eleven was in the school. More specifically, she was in the school's gym.

Let's just say that there were quite a few people in the backyard of the Byers household.

Mike, Will, Dustin, Lucas, Jonathan, Nancy, and Hopper were all there, and Joyce would have been if it weren't for her job and need of the cash.

Everyone that was there to support in first world had a big set up, with the expectation of course that Eleven would return.

Hopper had made a small fire pit in the back yard, which of course was a distance away from the pool and the trees.

A fire was lit and a tent was set up. Everyone had agreed that whether this plan ended in success or failure, no one would want to return home after. The Byers house is rather small, though, so a ten was raised.

Everyone in the first world sat around the fire anxiously, making small talk amongst themselves. While everyone was more or less engaged in conversation, Mike and Will were entirely focused on their intercoms, waiting. It took Eleven a bit of time to realize that everyone on the other side was waiting for her.

She had to contact them.

She had to tell whoever was going in to get her what to do.

She had to pull them into the nothingness.

It was all up to her.

Eleven sighed as she pulled at the antenna on the intercom, realizing that this might be the last time that she would ever have to do this.

Static was heard coming from the devices in the first world. Everyone instantly snapped out of their conversations and looked at one of any of the four communication devices.

"Mike?"

She never asked for anyone else. She knew that others had an intercom. She knew other people could pick up theirs and speak. Despite all of this, she always asked for Mike.

"Eleven? Hi, El," Mike replied with a smile, calmly exhaling. "Who is coming?" Eleven suddenly asked. Mike froze. He looked around the small group of people and stopped at Hopper, glancing at him with a questioning look on his face.

Hopper sighed, rubbing his hands on his face and looked down at the grass. "I know, kid, you want to, don't you?" Hopper asked Mike, his head still facing the ground. Mike bit his lip, but stayed silent. He was too embarrassed to answer.

"I can't let you, Michael..I'm sorry. I don't know the dangers of all of this," Hopper explained, looking up at the boy. Mike bit down on his lip harder, moving his glance away from Hopper. "I get it," Mike said in a voice so low, it was almost like a whisper.

"El?" Mike said again, gaining Eleven's attention. "Yes, Mike?"  She responded. "Hopper, the chief is coming to get you," he told her. The disappointment was evident in his voice and on his face, even though he knew he should only be happy that they are going to get Eleven back. At least, they were going to try their best. "Oh, okay.." El said, trailing off. The disappointment was evident on her voice, as well.

"Hand me that," Hopper commanded of Lucas, referring to his intercom. Lucas handed the device to him. "Hello, Eleven. This is Hopper. I'm going to help you out, but you're going to have to tell me what to do," Hopper said, standing up.

"Get in," Eleven began to say, explaining what you have to do. "close eyes, breathe - breathe in, focus. Focus on me."

"Simple enough," Hopper mumbled aloud. He started to walk over to the tank and he was instantly followed by others in the group. They all watched in anticipation, waiting for what was going to happen next. Nancy was subconsciously clinging on to Jonathan for dear life which Jonathan didn't particularly know how to handle. Mike, Lucas, Dustin, and Will had their arms around each others' shoulder in a huddle, all surrounding one area of the side of the pool. Hopper took his socks and shoes off, throwing them to the other side of the yard.

"Are you ready, Eleven?" Hopper asked El. "Ready," she responded.

El set the intercom down next to the kiddy pool and got in. She took a few deep breaths before moving to float on her back and started to focus on the target as Hopper got in in the first world and did the same.

The two concentrated. Eleven tried to manipulate Hopper and herself into the limbo that she has come to know, but whenever she tried, she would only find herself getting tired. She was aware that nothing productive was happening.

"Too much..." you could hear Eleven's soft whisper from the intercom. Hopper immediately sat up and looked around. He appeared to be a bit out of it and he looked as if he saw a ghost. "Wait, what's happening?" He asked, almost out of breath. "She said it was too much," Nancy said, biting her lip. "Dammit," Hopper exclaimed, dropping a hand into the water lazily.

"Do you think it could have something to do with, like-" Lucas began to say, trailing off, as if he didn't want to finish his sentence. Dustin looked at him with furrowed eyebrows, trying to understand. Lucas just motioned towards Hopper. "Oh," Dustin mumbled as he started to get it. Others started to catch on, as well.

"I think someone smaller should go," said Jonathan. "Yes," agreed Eleven, like she was trying to say that all along. Without hesitation, everyone looked at Mike. He tried his best not to smile and show his satisfaction. He anxiously bit down in his bottom lip to contain himself.

"Me?" He asked for assurance. "Sure, kid," Hopper said, letting out a slight grown as he leisurely made his way out of the pool. "But be careful. It can get a bit crazy in there," Hopper said, chuckling as he walked over to where everyone else was standing.

Mike was confused, but he decided he better not question it. He released his arms from around the other boys and turned to face them all. "Good luck, Mike," Dustin said, shrugging slightly. Lucas and Will both nodded, agreeing reassuringly. In the process of passing Nancy, she let go of Jonathan and went to hug Mike. "Good luck, Mike," she repeated just like Dustin had. Mike only smiled at her as their embrace ended and Nancy returned to holding on to Jonathan once again. This time, half-consciously.

Mike picked up the intercom. "Get in, close my eyes, breathe in, and focus on you," he said, repeating the instructions that she gave before. "You understand," Eleven answered, causing Mike to smile a little. "Ready, El?" Mike asked.

Eleven confidently smiled at the communication device that she held in her hands. "Ready."

They both got into their pools - Eleven doing so for the second time. In the opposite dimension, they mirrored each other, inhaling and exhaling at the same times at the same rates before falling backwards into the pool, laying down on their backs.

The both focused hard on each other, thinking about each other in their current opposite worlds - Eleven working harder than Mike, of course.

Suddenly, the two seemed to evaporate. They were swarmed by a cloud of black particles that eventually swallowed them until you saw nothing in the pool. Nancy clung to Jonathan even more as she buried her head into his shoulder, confused as to what happened and worrying about her little brother. She was on the verge of tears and Jonathan tried to comfort her. Hopper stared at the tank as if he were looking for an answer inside of it. Everyone could tell he was anxious.

Will was looking at Lucas who was next to him, as if to receive an answer from him. Lucas and Dustin, however, were looking at each other. Mike disappeared just like Eleven had when she killed the Demogorgon. The thought of struck fear into the boys, but they still showed calming expressions, trying not to worry anyone.

Instead of the black oblivion they were expecting, when Mike and Eleven involuntarily opened their eyes, they saw the same thing that they had seen when they had closed them. The only difference was with Mike. Instead of looking up and seeing the worried faces of his friends and family, he saw the twinkling night sky. No one was with him.

Mike sat up and looked around. Everything was the same. "Eleven?" He called out. His voice echoed and echoed. It seemed like it could be heard from miles and miles away. Not only did Mike hear the echoes, but everyone back in the first world could, too. No one understood how, but somehow they could hear what was going on in the 'left side."

It was almost if everyone could hear Mike's call.

Including Eleven.

"Mike?" She called back.

Everyone heard that too.

Suddenly, Mike seemed to have a break through. He remembered where El was. She was in the school. He had an idea. "Eleven, start running to Will's house," he commanded. He let his voice ring through the air as he ran to the front of the house. If everything here was the same, then Will's bike should still be here, too, and sure enough, it was.

Mike hopped on Will's bike and began to pedal off and make his way toward Mirkwood.

Eleven bolted out of that school faster than you could say so. She was exhausted and tired of being alone. All she wanted to do is be home again. Eleven ran fast. She was running so fast that nothing could stand in the way of her finding Mike. At least, that's what she thought.

A howl was heard. Like everything else here, it echoed. It echoed louder than Eleven and Mike's voice combined. Both Eleven and Mike stopped dead in their tracks, looking around for the source of the howl. Eleven found it. She looked behind her near the direction of the school and saw a small pack of wolves. Her eyes bulged out of her head as the growled and snarled at her. "Mike! Creatures," Eleven shouted before she continued to run. The wolves began to follow.

"This isn't good," Will whispered to everyone else back in the first world. "Yeah, no shit," Dustin mumbled, causing a light slap on the arm from Lucas. "Shush, both of you! We need to listen," Lucas said, facing the intercom once more.

At the call of his name, Mike began to pedal faster. He had to save her. He will save her.

Mike pedaled so fast, he was worried the pedals may break off. Eleven ran, he pedaled.

All at once, it came into view. There was an almost-translucent shield that marked the end of what the kids called Mirkwood. However, it was still visible enough to be seen.

This shield was a cut off. Where Eleven was running from was the left side: a dimension that was only inhabited by animals without a single human in sight. Where Mike was running from was a parallel version of the real world. The only difference was there was no people, either, not to be confused by the left side. A penguin would never be found here.

This was a place where Eleven could cross to get to Mike so the could return home. The greatest part about this shield was that nothing from the left side could cross over into the real world. The only reason why Eleven could was because she didn't belong in the left side - she wasn't from there.

This was how Eleven could be brought home, and brought home safely.

The sight made Mike stop the bike so hard, he thought he was going to fly off of it. And no, the sight of the glassy looking barrier that stretched for as long as he could see was not what made him stop. It was the sight of Eleven.

Unfortunately, Eleven was being chased by blood thirty meat eaters.

Mike's heart felt as though it was going to explode out of its chest. He felt a rush of affection, danger, energy, and worry swarm in his body, almost like they were trying to fight each other to come to terms with which emotion was going to be the alpha.

This was the girl that had haunted his dreams for months now. The girl that saved his best friend. The girl who he made promises to. The girl who changed the lives of everyone. The girl who changed everything.

The girl that changed him.

Though he knew she was being chased, he wasn't worried. She was going to make it to him before the wolves could ever dream of getting to her. That's my girl, Mike thought, though El is not his girl. Not yet.

In this moonlight, Eleven seemed to glow. She looked like an angel. She had hair, too. He had never seen her with so much natural hair before. He almost forgot how beautiful she was. Almost.

Somehow, Mike always knew he was crazy for El, but at this exact moment when he was just now seeing her for the first time face to face (that wasn't in an oblivion-like brain game), he truly understood how mad this girl made him. This is when he understood how much he would sacrifice for this girl, and it wasn't just because she saved his best friend. It was because she was just her.

This is when Michael Wheeler knew he would spend all of the days that he could protecting this girl.

The ear piercing sound of the wolves had been ringing in the air ever since the began. It just made everyone more anxious.

Eleven stopped where she was when she saw Mike. She was close to forgetting about the wolves that were so close on her heels, but she didn't. Instead, she turned around and whipped her hand from one side of her to the other, causing the wolves to almost be blown away into the woods that surrounded the road.

"Mike."

"Eleven."

Despite them both being out of breath, they whispered each others' name, which even though their voices were in fact at a whisper, continued to echo. The smiles of the two widened and Eleven began running again. She ran and she passed the boundary, causing a loud whooshing sound to be heard, which was practically the least of their concerns.

Mike fell to his knees due to his weak leg and allowed Eleven to run into his arms, causing them both to fall backwards. Eleven began to cry tears of happiness and Mike was on the verge of doing so, as well.

Just like she had promised that bunny one day, Eleven, right then and there, kissed Mike. Ah, screw it, Mike thought. Mike moved his hands to Eleven's waist as he kissed her back.

Seconds later, Eleven pulled away and wrapped her arms around Mike in a hug. "I've missed you so much, El. More than you know," Mike whispered in her ear as he rubbed small circles on her back. "I missed you," El simply responding, enjoying their embrace.

They didn't know, of course, that everything they were saying could be heard back at home. Lucas and Dustin exchanged smirks like they typically did when this kind of stuff came up in conversation. Will looked more uncomfortable than amused. Nancy was not only crying still, but now she was laughing. "He really likes her," she told Jonathan who still had his arms around her from the comfort she was in need of earlier. "I can tell," he responded.

Hopper tried to hide the evident smile on his face as he shook his head. Young love, he thought. Maybe it'll last.

Mike and Eleven both stood up and looked behind them. They saw the pack of wolves were up once again, trying to get through the barrier that was impossible for them to cross. "Wow," Mike and El both mumbled, causing them to suddenly erupt in giggles.

Ignoring that now, Mike grabbed El's hand and gave it a squeeze before releasing it. "Let's go home," he said. "Home," she repeated as another tear fell down her cheek. Mike wiped her tear and then leaned close to her to kiss her cheek. "I like your hair, by the way," Mike said, tucking a loose strand of it behind her ear. El blushed, looking at the ground.

As they walked toward the bike, Mike noticed there wasn't a place where El could sit like on his. "Here," Mike began to say as he led El to the front of her bike. "sit up on this," he finished, referring to the handlebars. "They're not as comfortable, but it works. It will only be a few minutes at the most," Mike persuaded. El got up on the handle bars and allowed Mike to take her back to the parallel version of the Byers house.

Once they got there, Mike left Will's bike back where he had found it and led El into the backyard to the tank he had arrived there in. "So, how-" El cut him off by putting her finger up, motioning for him to wait. She walked over to the side of the pool and found an intercom sitting there as she suspected. She turned it off and set it back down in its place.

Due to the intercom being turned off, no one in the regular world could hear any other further conversation. However, no one noticed. They knew that the kids were coming home.

Eleven then ran over to Mike and dragged him over to the kiddy pool that was currently ring used as a sensory deprivation tank. "Get in, close eyes, deep breaths, focus - focus on home," Eleven said all while holding Mike's hand and staring into the pool. "I understand," Mike said, chuckling slightly.

Eleven and Mike both got into the kiddy pool together, repeated the steps, and then fell backwards to float on their backs. Their fingers were intertwined the whole time.

Just like Mike had vanished, Mike and El reappeared the same way. A cloud of black particles came out of no where and surrounded the pool. As the particles cleared, the kids were able to be seen. The both sat up in the pool. Eleven's nose and ears were dripping with blood and Mike was having the hardest time catching his breath, but it didn't matter. They were home. Home and safe.

Eleven was pulled out by Hopper and Mike was pulled out by his sister and Jonathan.

The rest of the evening was filled with joy, laughter, and tears. They went inside the house and made a homemade meal for El which she had three servings of. Eleven finally got to meet Will officially and sincerely. Nancy made Eleven a s'more over the fire that was still brightly burning outside.

Everyone stayed awake until Joyce came back to the house in the early a.m. hours where Joyce was then reunited with the girl.

Needless to say, Mike didn't leave El's side the rest of the night, and no one stopped him from doing so, either.

After a long long night, everyone was starting to doze off. Will agreed to give up his bed for the night to allow Eleven to sleep in an actual bed for her first night home.

Nancy slept on the floor of Jonathan's room, though he did offer to let her in the bed and him in the floor.

Hopper slept on the couch.

Joyce slept in her room.

Eleven slept in a Will's room.

The boys slept in the tent outside.

When everyone was asleep, Mike snuck back into the house to talk to El. He had asked for her to wait for him earlier that night. He then decided to explain to El what the true (in what he interpreted) meaning of love was. Eleven stayed silent during the whole conversation, taking in each new bit of information. She smiled here and there and Mike saw her cheeks turn a few different shades of pink, as well.

That wasn't what gave her away, though. It was what she said after the explanation that gave her away.

----------
A/N: if I was sorry, I'd say so. Trust me. It took a hella long time for me to update, but this chapter was almost 1000 words more than I typically write, and considering the chapter, I'm pretty sure it was worth it...anyways, the main reasons for me not updating is me not having time and me not having motivation. Please vote and comment! It keeps me going and it's what helps me write. I appreciate you all! All the love, Dx. <3