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Michael Wheeler knows that if the Party were in this room, he'd endure ceaseless teasing about how in love with this girl he was.
They could almost sense it the way he smiled more with her than with anyone else. In a way, Eleven was the only person who had the ability to coax him out of any funk he was in with a simple glance. It was "disgustingly adorable", as Max liked to call it.
Right now, she was doing just that. Mike had been sick all week and despite his endless reassurance, El was worried out of her mind about him. So she finally snuck over right after her dad left for work. The brunette knew just how much trouble she'd get in if Hopper ever found out, but she hoped it would never come to that. El had to see him.
So, at the moment, she was cuddled up in her boyfriend's arms (despite all his protests of 'I'm gonna get you sick too!') while Mike slept peacefully in his bed in the early morning.
El kept her eyes trained on his freckled face while he slept. His curls looked so soft, despite the fact the boy had been so ill all week. The urge to run her fingers through his hair just increased the more she stared at her boyfriend's sleeping form until she finally gave in.
The action happened to wake Mike up, however, with a soft smile on his face as he came to realize who the culprit of the interruption of his sleep was.
"You know if you want to play with my hair you can just ask, right?" He teased, startling his girlfriend who just stared at him with wide eyes.
"Sorry!" El squeaked, retracting her hand from his curls with a small giggle, "It just looked so soft."
Mike coughed, before pulling his girlfriend in even closer than before while she giggled into his chest.
"You're going to get in trouble if your mom finds us like this," El giggled.
The boy just snuggled his face into her hair in response. Mike could smell the signature lavender shampoo she always washed her curls with.
"You mean, I'm going to be murdered by Hopper because it will be my fault that you snuck in to cuddle with your sick boyfriend," Mike remarked, "And then you're going to get sick, and he's going to be mad at me even though this was your idea."
"I'm not going to get sick!" El exclaimed, pulling away just enough so that her boyfriend could see her 'angry' glare (Mike has seen her actual angry glare, and it is far more scary).
He raised his eyebrows, watching the way hers furrowed a litte bit softer than they would if she was actually angry with him. The way the corner of her lips tilted slightly upwards, or the way her eyes still looked up at him as if he was the most attractive person she'd ever seen (and he was) were such tiny details that Mike absolutely adored about her whenever she was 'mad' at him.
El huffed, moving to press her lips to his, although she had to make an effort to reach him. He smiled into the kiss as he wrapped his arms around her to try and somehow pull her even closer into his embrace. His girlfriend pulled away in a fit of giggles to pepper little kisses all over his freckled face.
"Ah! Stop!" Mike exclaimed, laughing alongside her as he attempted to push her away with no luck. He finally restorted to cupping his girlfriend's cheek and pressing another kiss to her lips, which seemed to cease El's giggling.
When Mike finally came up for air, he kept his eyes trained on her. He watched as El's eyes searched his face, examining every imperfection so fondly.
He found himself wondering how he was still so interesting to her. After watching his parents slowly fall out of love his entire life, the boy came to the conclusion that one person couldn't satisfy someone forever. But everytime Eleven looked at him, it almost felt like he was looking right back into those wide, terrified eyes that had somehow found their way to him for the first time that rainy night. Michael Wheeler simply had no clue what he did to deserve someone so special.
"Something wrong?" El questioned, snapping Mike out of his daydream he didn't even notice he was in.
"Oh- No! Nothing's wrong!" He was quick to correct, "Ah, I was just thinking about… You remember when we first met? It was pouring and you were wearing that bright yellow Benny's t-shirt."
He chuckled, "You looked so scared and I'm sure three boys shoving flashlights in your face didn't help."
"I remember! You looked almost as scared as I was!" El laughed. Her laughter lit up the room.
Mike grinned, pulling her closer and reaching his hands up into her curls. El absolutely loved when he did this and she was never afraid to tell him exactly that. He played with her hair, massaging her scalp softly as he did so. Eleven sighed into him while pressing her ear to his chest. His heartbeat grounded her; it brought her back down to Earth.
They remained silent except for a few coughs from the boy. With other people, silence was loud and uncomfortable. If you were around Hopper, it would be a sign of anger. If you were around the Wheelers it was unsettling. But around eachother, silence was safe. It was comfortable and warm. The silence wrapped around them like a blanket on a cold autumn morning.
"Could I borrow your sweatshirt?" El broke the silence, startling Mike who jumped and quickly nodded.
"Pick whatever you want."
El looked up at him, smiled, and snuggled even closer into him. That smile could heal any heartbreak.
"I should leave soon, shouldn't I?"
Mike sighed, "Yeah, probably. I wish you could stay all day."
"Me too." El spoke, but it was muffled by his chest.
She peeled herself out of his arms and into a sitting position despite Mike's grumbles of protest. The brunette smiled down at him, pressing a gentle kiss to his lips. He kissed back, Intertwining her hands in his while he sat up to reach her.
They pulled apart and pressed their foreheads together.
"Can I come see you tomorrow?" El whispered, her warm breath tickling Mike's face while he nodded.
She pulled away, her eyes lingering on his.
"I can't wait," The girl smiled.
Mike returned her smile before she moved to get up from his mattress. She moved over to his closet, opening the doors as quietly as she could and pulling a blue sweatshirt off its hanger. El threw on the sweatshirt but it was far too big on her (just how she liked it). The sweatshirt smelled of vanilla and him.
"It looks better on you." Mike chuckled, standing up and pulling her into his arms.
El reached up to place a soft kiss on his cheek.
"I will see you tomorrow," She promised.
Mike nodded and watched as she made her way to the window, opened it, and climbed out.
"I love you!" El voiced and with a wave she was gone, leaving Mike standing there grinning like a love-struck idiot.
The next day, however, El didn't make it over to his house. Hopper forced her to stay in bed while she defeatedly told Mike on her walkie talkie all about how sick she was, and how it was all his fault for making her sick.