Freckles & Curls | MILEVEN AU

seventeen - hold of me

song - Hold Of Me by Dean Lewis

~"Then you said, "I need nothing from nobody"
I can see it on your face you're hurting
Grab a hold of me
I said, "Baby, can't you see?
That your past is your past
Oh babe, you've got a hold of me"~

He was the best part of her. Although his eyes were dark, nothing had ever lit up her nights as much as the stars that resided within the soft orbs, eyes that never looked at her with dismay. He was the bright stars in her sky, the torch through the woods that guided her home, every single burst of light within her own universe that made everything okay again. The days had been hard after the anniversary, each minute leaving a deeper ache within her heart as if she could never fully heal from what happened. She often struggled with the anger that swelled within her heart, anger aimed at how unfair it all was. After years of being tortured and manipulated by cruel hands, she was made to believe that none of it was ever her fault, that she deserved more. But if she deserved better, then why was she left with all of the scars, with sharp pains hitting her at the smallest memory of her childhood. Why was she left with all of the pain? But when her thoughts became too dark, she only ever wanted to turn to the stars. She would watch from out of her window, keeping a close look out for a shooting star that wish away every bad memory that she was left with. 

But some nights there were no stars left in the sky, clouds covering every inch of the sky's surface as if she didn't deserve to be guided home. She was forced to turn to the other stars in her universe, the blindfold easily slipping over her eyes as she pictures his familiar dark eyes. Mike would appear before her, doing homework or eating dinner with a sour face that she wanted to smooth over, the sight of him itself breaking through the darkness of the clouds above her. Her sky would clear and sunshine would filter through, a softness settling deep within her eyes that simultaneously blurred all of the pain inside her. All of her anger fizzled away at the sight of his nimble fingers and freckled cheeks, his freckles making their own constellation of stars to correlate with the ones in his dark eyes. 

There was a sudden knock on the cabin door. "El?"

Jane gasped, straightening up from her bed instantly. She had been doing school work in her pajamas, hair messy and strewn across the pillow as she tried to concentrate. Mike's voice was soft and cautious as if he was worried that Hopper would answer. 

"M-Mike?" she called out hesitantly. 

He chuckled. "Are you going to let me in? I want to see you."

"Just a second!"

Her feet instantly dashed into the bathroom next to her bedroom, hands wiping away the steam on the mirror from her recent shower. She frowned when she saw her appearance, eyes widening in panic as she tried to flatten down the mess of her curls. Her small fingers ran through the springy strands, huffs escaping her lips as she tried to sort it out desperately. After a few moments, she rushed over to wear the door was in her socks, gasping as her legs slipped out from underneath her. She slid across the floor with a sharp gasp as her big toe stubbed the nearby wooden pillar by the door, groaning instantly. 

"Ow!" she moaned, hopping on one leg. 

Mike's voice was worried through the wood of the door. "E-El? Is everything okay? You sound like you're hurt...what happened?"

She winced, brushing herself off. "N-Nothing, just banged my toe."

When she finally opened the door, her heart skipped a beat instantly at the sweet sight of him before her. His ebony hair was flicking slightly in the late afternoon wind, cheeks flushed with redness that made her hands feel clammy, itching to trace the freckles on his face. His eyes lit up and he sent her a silly grin, chuckling as she hobbled slightly to get rid of the sharp pain in her toe from stubbing it on wood. She instantly forgot about the pain when he stepped inside, his hands naturally settling on her arms and pulling them around his waist so that they were connected. A sigh left her lips contently as he rested his chin on her curls, smiling with closed eyes as they breathed each other, squeezing lightly as if making sure that they were both real. Sometimes Jane would worry that she was dreaming, that one day she would wake up in the lab and that Hawkins and Mike would have all been a really good dream. By squeezing Mike and linking her fingers in the grooves between his, she was secretly convincing herself that she was truly awake, that he wasn't going anywhere.