love? \\ mileven

five~freckles

snowball night//part five

mike stood there plainly. "what do you mean your name is not eleven."
"i mean-" she shoved the folder labelled 'ives' into his chest, as both his hands made their ways up to hold the edges of the papers that were being pressed against his body. "my name is not eleven." she removed her hands from pressing down onto his chest, now having them rest gently at her sides.

mike's long fingers turned the folder around, so that he could read what was inside. he opened the folder with such a light touch, as if any harder of a grip would make the sheets perish. as he flipped over to the next page, his eyelids widened as he read the headline of the newspaper article.

eleven looked to where he was looking, taking her finger and pointing at the word 'jane.'

mike's mouth dropped open slightly, realizing what she meant. eleven's eyes made their ways to his eyes, then down to his parted lips. he looked into her eyes, as he closed his mouth and gulped. "i am jane, mike. my name is jane." she said, still staring at the his lips. he let out a shaky breath before looking back down at the paper, his lips parting once more. she lowered her hand and her head, before speaking just above a whisper, "im sorry."

mike's head darted up from the folder the second she spoke, his eyebrows furrowing together.

"hey..." he said, moving the folder so that he was holding it with his left hand, and held the girls chin with his right pointer finger and thumb. eleven gently allowed her eyes to find his. still holding her chin, mike smiled. "eleven, el, or jane. i will call you whatever the hell you want me to, no problem. but please, please don't let this information make you feel, you know, like you're different. because you're not el! you really aren't. not to me anyway."

mike spoke gently yet powerfully. el watched as his eyes sparkled when he spoke about her, and how much he really did love her more then papa did, maybe even more than hopper does. mike really does love her.

el, who was currently smiling, took her turn to speak. "el." was all that came out of her. mike smiled bigger then he already was, his hand still grazing the skin under her chin. "it's short for eleven." she continued. "and i like that."

mike placed the folder he was holding on the bed, as his hands made their ways to her shoulders, and hers lifted to be gently touching the chest. then mike bent over and hugged the slightly shorter girl, with his hands wrapped around her shoulder blades and hers placed on his hunched back. they stood there for a while, taking in each others scent and presence, until mike remembered something.

"shit!" he pulled away from el, glancing at her quickly before running to the door, carefully turning the handle and opening it, and running into the kitchen. he grabbed the phone and began to dial for his mother, forgetting that he was supposed to call her and tell her where he is. As mike brought the phone up to his ear, el walked towards mike and when she was right in front of him she began to twirl the telephone cord in her little hands. mike's free hand rubbed up and down her bicep, but stopped when he heard a worried voice from the other line. el simply studied mike's eyes, and how they would dart all over when he was nervous.
"hello?"
"hi mom. it's me, mike."
"mike!? for heavens sake where are you!? we've called everyone asking where you've gone. the sinclairs, the hendersons, even the byers. where the hell are you micheal, tell me now."
mike clenched his eyes. he wished she hadn't called every possible family, because now he was fumbling thinking of a lie. el saw his tension and now placed her hands on both his shoulders, standing on her tippy toes to do so due to the his height. as mike opened his eyes, an idea struck him like a light bulb.
"mom, i understand why you're mad, but let me just explain that i am perfectly safe and nothing went wrong. i understand that i should have told you where i was and what i was up to, and I'm truly sorry for that. really, i am." mike gulped. el nodded, still looking deep into his eyes, nodding.
mrs wheelers voice rang through mike's ears from the other line. "so? where are you? when will you be coming home?"
the boy clenched his eyes shut, trying to think. he felt el move her hands down his arms, and stop and mike's free hand and hold it in both of hers. he opened his eyes to see her looking at their hands, smiling subtly. mike smiled just as another light bulb electrified in his brain.
"uh mom, i don't think i'll be able to come home tonight. see, when the snowball finished and everyone was leaving, officer hopper came up to me saying he had to ask me some questions. so i went with him and answered them, but by the end of it, it was pretty late out and he said that he could take me back to his place."
"his place? so you're at officer hoppers house right now? why wouldn't he just drop you off here? at home."
"well he wasn't done questioning me. he just finished and i asked to phone you right away before bed. I'm sorry mom, I'll make it up to you, I promise."
el's head shot up, analyzing mike's facial details before letting a huge smile take over her face. mike smiled back a grin just as big as hers.
"okay mike. we'll talk about this later. but until then, take care of yourself. behave, and don't upset hopper. I love you, goodnight sweetie."
mike sighed in relief. "I love you too, mom. night."
and with that, karen wheeler hung up the phone, and mike put the phone back on the wall. "boom." he said, turning back to face el, causing a cute giggle to escape her lips. he nodded his head towards the room, and they entered, mike behind el. he quietly closed the door, and locked it. as el put away the ives folder back into her drawer, mike grabbed her waist from behind and fell back onto her bed, bringing her down with him.

she turned over to face him, his hands not moving from her sides. she took her index finger, touching all of mike's freckles one by one. so gentle, mike almost didn't feel the touch. he watched her gorgeous hazel eyes trailed from one freckle to the next. he watched her lips move slightly as she counted each of them to herself. he watched her curls bounce the slightest bit after every touch. he couldn't believe her beauty, and how every detail about her is beautiful in its own way. she then moved her hands to mike's hair. running her fingers up and down through it, she admired every slight curl and smiled as her eyes connected to mikes, who was already staring at her. she sighed as a smile formed on her face, her eyes returning to the boys hair.
"you called me every night, for 353 days. why?" mike sighed, the small smile on his face now fading. he looked at her lips.
"because i was worried about you." el's gaze moved down to his eyes, as his moved up to meet hers.
"really?" mike chuckled.
"if you were really listening all those nights I called, you'd know the answer to that question already." eleven laughed a genuine laugh, causing her to fletch her eyes and lower her head. due to how close she was to mike, her head hit his chest. mike felt butterflies explode in his stomach, but nonetheless he laughed as well. when she lifted her head, her cheeks were a light pink, and she had a smile remaining on her face.
"you needed me." mike's smile grew.
"need, present tense. i still need you. i think i always will." el's smile remained.
"because you need me to protect you?" she said jokingly. mike chuckled.
"nope. it's my turn. to protect you." el was looking into his eyes very deeply, almost longingly. mike gulps before concluding with
"i need you in my life. you complete it. so im not letting you leave me again. if you go anywhere..." mike took a deep breath, still looking into her now teary eyes.
"...i'll go with you."

eleven hugged mike, arms wrapping all the way around his skinny frame, as he dug his face into her warm shoulder. "i love you mike."
mike kissed her shoulder, and hugged her tighter. "i love you more, el."

and it was in that position the lovers dozed off, the only sound being they're synced heartbeats, each full once more.