love? \\ mileven

one~snowball skies

snowball night//part one

mike leaned in and kissed elevens soft lips for the first time in a year that felt like forever. he pulled away to see el shocked just as she had been after their first kiss, but a smile painted her face seconds later, with a light shade of pink tinting her cheeks. she leaned her head onto mikes cheek, with her soft hair gently tickling his face, he smiled too. he smiled what felt like the first in a long time. he was happy, really genuinely happy in this moment. his hands wrapped around the girl he loves, his face a light shade of red, and a giant ear to ear grin spread across his cheeks.

mike and eleven continued to dance to the song, el's hands still around mikes neck, her head now rested onto mikes shoulder. mike had his hands wrapped around eleven's waist. their bodies were so close to each other that mike had his hands clasped together at elevens lower back. the song came to a close, and mike struggled to pull away from the peaceful moment. with his hands still around elevens back, he looked down into her gentle brown eyes. she looked back up to him, meeting his eyes perfectly.

"come with me." mike told her, grabbing a hold of her hand and walking through the dancing crowd and out of the gym, into the hallways of mikes school. eleven looked back towards the gym, then back at mike, who was focused on the path in front of him.

"mike," eleven said just above a whisper, as if she feared someone other than mike would hear her. "where are we going?" mike chuckled under his breath and turned back to look at el, with a small smile across his lips. "oh you'll see. i really think you'll like this place, el. trust me."

el lowered her head and nodded, just curious as to where mike could possibly be taking her. her thoughts were brought to a halt when mike stopped, and let go of her hand. she looked up at him, and watched him pull out a key from his pocket to open a door that was in front of the two of them. once he unlocked the door, he gestured for el to go inside. el obeyed, only to see a flight of stairs, followed by more stairs, followed by more stairs. she stared up to see how high they go when she heard the door close. she looked back to see mike, who had locked the door once more and was looking at el, while putting the key back in his pants pocket. el looked from mike back up to the stairs. "where?" was all she said, bringing her gaze back down to look at mike. mike shrugged. "you'll see. now come on, i'll race you!" mike said while starting to run up the stairs. "race?" el asked, causing mike to stop and look back at her. "a race is when two people run as fast as they can to a certain place, and the first person to get to that place, you know, wins." he gave her a small smile at the end, which allowed el to smile, and slowly walk towards the stairs. she then gave mike a devious look, then sprinted up the stairs, passing mike and already making it up to the next flight. "race you, mike!" she exclaimed through giggles, causing mike to laugh "no way!" eleven laughed. like a genuine, whole hearted laugh, which caused mike to feel so extremely warm inside. he got extreme butterflies, it was the first time he had ever heard her laugh.

he eventually reached the top, taking slow steps to catch his breath. eleven on the other hand, looked absolutely fine, as if she hadn't just ran all those stairs and she simply appeared there. she smiled and chuckled lightly at mike, and how out of breath he was. "it's...not...funny..." he said between breaths, bending over while holding his stomach. el shrugged, and attempted to hide her smile but failed, as mike could see her smile increase. he had caught his breath at this point. he tried to glare at el but just ended up chuckling, and walking over to the door before then opening it. he walked out onto the school roof, with eleven close behind him. he stopped walking to allow el to walk in front of him.

elevens eyes immediately met with the night sky, and with the stars that painted it. she starred up at the sight in awe, while mike found himself staring at her. a coincidence, really. she was staring at something beautiful and so was he. a small smile began to form on his face, just the thought of her made him feel so happy. and here she was, standing in front of him staring up into the calming darkness that is the unknown.

she turned around to look at mike, who was already looking at her. her mouth was slightly gaped open, and her eyes were lightly glazed. she looked first to mikes eyes, then she closed her mouth and gulped, allowing her eyes to trail down to his lips. she began walking closer to him and mike began to stiffen up. he had no clue what she was up to. still looking at his lips, she was now in front of mike. her eyes looked up into his eyes as she placed her head on his chest, wrapping her arms around his torso. mike wrapped his own arms around her small figure, hugging her without hesitation. eleven signed into mikes warmth. "i really, really missed you mike." she whispered. mike smiled and hugged her tighter. "i missed you too el. so damn much, it was probably unhealthy for me." eleven let out a small giggle into mikes chest, and mike smiled.

he looked up at the sky and eleven noticed, because she looked up to mike, then up to the stars. they were still holding onto one another, just their eyes were looking up into the night. "how did you know that i would like this?" mike looked down to her, his brows slightly raised. "well do you?" el smiled at him with her teeth. "of course i do." mike who was still looking at her with his eyebrows raised lowered them and smiled at her. "exactly." he said.

el then shivered, causing mike to drop his smile and rub her back. "are you cold?" he asked, concern filling his voice. she clenched her teeth, leaning into him more. "n-no. im fine." mike shook his head and backed away from her. "i don't think so, el," he said beginning to take his blazer off. "friends don't lie." he helped her put it on and she let out a shaky breath, wrapping herself in it more. "you're right. im sorry." she looked up to him and shrugged. "friends don't lie." mike let out a small laugh and hugged her.

the sound of tires against gravel in the parking lot below them startled el, as she pulled away and ran to the edge of the roof. mike ran after her, unsure of what was going on. she looked over only to see hopper shutting the door of his car, leaning against it and lighting the cigarette in his mouth. he placed the lighter back in his pocket as he looked up, and el backed away from the roof pulling mike with her. "hopper. he's here to take me home." she told mike whilst gripping the arm of his dress shirt. "so, why are you so scared? hasn't he taken care of you for the past year?" mike asked, clearly confused. el looked up to mikes eyes, now holding both his shoulders to ensure he pays attention. "hopper talked to the people at the lab. he said it was a "one night" deal. this may be my last night with you again, mike." mikes eyebrows furrowed while his eyes glistened with tears threatening to spill. el let go of his shoulders and took a step back, looking down at her feet. she was trying to hide her own tears that had already begun to fall. mike gripped her shoulders insisting she look into his eyes. "no, el. it's not the last night. i spent 353 days suffering, calling you every damn night just waiting for an answer, a sign letting me know that you were okay. you alive at least. but no, i just waited and waited and waited. turns out you were alive, and well and here in hawkins for all of those nights i called!! you listened to all of my calls and you weren't allowed to respond. because of the lab? because of hopper? no, el. i am not going to let that happen again."

eleven was crying at this point. just looking into the eyes of the boy in front of her. the boy that somehow made her feel emotions she didn't know she had. the boy that took care of her when neither of her parents could. a boy that put his friends lives before his own. a boy that never lies. a boy that now doesn't want to let her go, because he wants her. he wanted her.

eleven felt so many emotions at this moment. her heart was pounding out of her chest, she was scared it was going to burst out. she took a deep breath and asked him. "you-you promise?" she looked into his eyes and watched as his pupils darted from both her eyes, and then they landed on her lips. she somehow found herself looking at his, awaiting his answer. she watched as his mouth curved into a response to her question.

"i promise."

an;
1640 words