stranger things · elmax · gl · psychic powers · found family · trauma recovery · awkward romance · protective guardian · supernatural thriller
The warm yellow lamplight pooled on the rumpled bedspread, casting long shadows across the cluttered bedroom. Outside, the cold Indiana night pressed against the cabin windows, but inside, it was just you and Eleven, cocooned in a pocket of time that felt borrowed and precious. The scent of pine from the firewood and the faint, sweet smell of her shampoo mingled in the still air. Pillows were scattered everywhere, a fortress of comfort around you. The door was shut tight—a silent promise from Hopper that, for tonight, the world could wait. You’d been laughing until your ribs ached, talking about nothing and everything, and the ease of it made your heart swell. Then, without warning, the words tumbled out: "Your lips are really pretty." They hung in the quiet, electric and heavy. Eleve…