love? \\ mileven

three~gas stations

snowball night//part three

the drive to wherever the hell el and hopper had been staying was silent. absolutely silent. hopper was driving, asking no questions but occasionally looking at the two sitting in the back through his rear view mirror. eleven and mike had their hands intertwined, and they rested on mikes lap. elevens head was leaned onto mikes shoulder as she looked out the window. from the outside, it would look like eleven was holding a straight face. but to mike, who had been staring at her face the entire car ride, he knew that she was subtly smiling. he was carefully studying her facial features, from the little scars on her forehead to the way her facial muscles move when she blinked. mike genuinely thought she was beautiful. not just now but always. when they dressed her up and he called her pretty for the first time, he had meant it. it was there and then mike looked at her, and realized how amazing she really was. and then when they went home, and he helped her remove her makeup and he took off her wig, his thoughts didn't change. she was still pretty with or without the wig, and it was because mike had fell in love with her. not just her looks, not just her powers.  but every little detail that made eleven, eleven. he smiled to himself bigger thinking about how he found the love of his live, in the span of one week.

"oh shit."

mike snapped out of his thoughts and looked into hoppers mirror, curious as to what happened.

"im all outta gas."

mike looked out the window and watched as hopper pulled into a nearby gas station.

"be right back guys."

hopper got out of the car and shut the door, already pulling out another cigarette to light.

"what does it mean?" mike looked down to the little voice the phrase came from. el looked up from the window to mike.  her head was still resting on his shoulder and her eyes were meeting his.

"what? what does what mean?" he asked. her eyes made their ways down from his eyes and down to his lips. she lifted herself up a bit and leaned close to mike, closing her eyes as she carefully and gently placing her lips onto his.  with her hand upon his chest, she melted into the kiss. mike was taken aback and was a little shocked by her reaction, but nonetheless, here he was seconds later, with his eyes closed as he kissed her back. this kiss was longer than the other two they previously had. those other kisses lasted a couple seconds at the most. this one lasted a good ten seconds, with mike feeling continuous knots being tied in his stomach.  el pulled away and looked him in the eyes, with her left hand on his chest, feeling his heart beat powerfully and rapidly, and her left hand intertwined with mikes, still in the his lap.

mike felt his face turn a bright tomato red as he tried to calm his heart. it was beating a mile a minute and he was weak at the knees. he couldn't even grip elevens hand as tightly anymore. he did not expect to get two kisses from this girl in the same night. "it...uh...you..." mike stammered, clearly flustered. elevens smile grew slowly, as she watched the boy between her arms struggle to respond. she was still curious as to what it meant, but mike needed to calmed down first.

"mike..." she chuckled. mike closed his mouth that had been spitting gibberish and looked at her.

"yes?"

"calm down."

"okay yeah...sure." he took a deep breath and faced forward. "be cool." he mumbled but eleven heard.  she  lifted the hand that was on his chest and moved it to the side of his face, turning it so that his eyes were looking into hers once more. "just talk, mike." mike gave her a slight chuckle while getting lost in her eyes, beginning to talk.

"what you just did...it's called a kiss. people only do it with one another when they really care about and love the person they're, you know, kissing." 

"love? what is love?"

"oh. well love is another thing. it's this feeling that you have with someone where you just..."

mike paused to gather his thoughts.

"you just really enjoy someone. like anything that they could possibly do would make you still want to be...you know, with them. it's like a friend but more. it's like the next level from a friend. and you hug them and kiss them and always remind them that you love them, just to show them how much you do. how much you love them."

mike finished, and just looked at el. looked at her eyes and tried to find her heart in them.

"that's what love is. and you wanna know something else, el?" eleven didn't respond, which mike knew was her letting him know to continue. her hand was still on the side of his face, as she listened to him with her full attention. "i...uh..." mike took a deep breath, before leaning in and giving her a short but loving kiss, similar to the first one they ever shared.

"i love you, el."

el smiled, opening her mouth to respond.

"i-"

she was cut off by hopper opening the drivers door of the car. el spun her head and then the rest of her body around to face the front with wide eyes, as she backed away from mike, and simply sat in her seat.  mike, who was still looking at her, changed his expression from his calm, gentle self to kind of angry and sad at the same time. he wasn't mad at her, though. he was mad at hopper for just bursting in out of no where, startling her to the point where she backed away from mike, leaving him feeling cold in all the areas where she was initially touching. his hand felt empty. his thighs and shoulders felt bare. and his mind felt cold, as she still hadn't responded.

hopper looked back to the two, with mike just staring at el while she stared out the window, her face red.

"what happened in here?"

eleven responded almost immediately, Turing her eyes to meet the officers. "nothing." she said, giving hopper a death glare. hopper glared back but she glared harder, slightly cocking her head to shut his car door with her mind. hoppers eyes went soft as he gave her a light smile, knowing now was not a good time to mess with her. he put his hand on mikes knee, allowing to mike snap out of his trance, and face the officer.

"you alright, son?"

mike quickly glanced back to el before looking back at hopper. "yeah...yeah im okay."

hopper nodded slowly before looking back at el, taking his hand off of mikes knee and turning to face forward. he started the car and began to drive.

mike had his head held low with his hands clasped together in his lap. he was sad for some reason, and he didn't know why. he suddenly felt a small warm hand seep it's way in between his hands, with the fingers making their ways between his own. mike followed the arm back up to elevens pretty face, staring out the window with a smile on her face, and her head turned. when she felt mikes stare she turned her head around, looking back into those deep chocolate brown eyes that made her feel so soft inside. her smile slowly faded as she saw his sad expression. "please don't be sad, mike." she said in almost a whisper tone. mike simply shook his head, turning it back to face the front, eyes looking at his knees. "im not mad." he simply whispered back before letting out a light chuckle, "how could i ever be mad at you." the smile rested on his face as he turned back to look at her. this time she chuckled, "you have been though." mike just furrowed his brows. "what? when?" still smiling, she lifted her other hand to make air quotes. "what is wrong with you??!"  she said whisper yelling. "oh stop that." mike took his free hand and lowered her hand, letting him now hold both her hands in both of his on his lap. "i didn't mean that. you know i could never stay mad at you." the ends of her lips curved into more of a smile as she raised her eyebrows. "i swear!!" mike replied with a light laugh.

eleven let out a giggle as she rested her head on his shoulder. mike was still holding both of her hands, and hopper was still driving.

"mike?"

"mhm?"

el lightly pecked mikes neck before resting her head back on his shoulder.

"i love you too."

an;
1497 words