you're my safe place ~ MILEVEN ONE SHOTS~

Remember The Hurt

(leave your usual anxious comments or apologies about being late - the first comments always make me laugh so hard. This is dedicated to the best person on earth - my bestest friend ever (the other half of melodie) strangest_mel11 who suggested this idea! You mean the world to me and everyone knows that by this point<3)

Remember the hurt, the hurt is good - it means that you're out of that cave. 

It was a phrase that he could remember noting down in his speech, the speech that stayed inside the pocket of his uniform from when he felt too awkward to get the correct words out. It was something that he cursed when he was taken by the Russians, finding it difficult to believe his own advice while he was locked away on the opposite side of the world. His guard was up and stronger than before, knowing the exact reason why they had taken him to their base - why he was so useful to them. He punched the walls with his bleeding fists, trying harder while his eyes squeezed shut - yelling at them to let him out because he was nobody's prisoner. After a while it seemed like all hope was lost, like he was always going to be trapped away from those who may have needed him after all. But no matter how hard it seemed, he kept that advice close to his heart, tucked away for when he needed it the most. While he watched the guards carefully with narrowed eyes, mapping out their every movements and schedules so that he could pinpoint the perfect opportunity. In the moment that he finally managed to escape, running as fast he could, stolen gun clenched tightly in his fist in case he was caught. In every single moment where he felt like falling down to the ground - he remembered those words. He thought of his second chance, second chance at being a better person, second chance at life, second chance at being a father - and it gave him the strength that he needed. 

He needed that strength when he saw the sold sign, one word which sent cold shivers down his spine - panic filling his veins. His mind was running a thousand miles per minute, scouring the property for clues, not even seeing any tire marks - the terrifying proof that they had been gone for a long time. He mumbled curses underneath his breath, scratching his beard that had grown too long in the past five months - trying to find enough silence to think. 

His eyes hardening, realizing what he had to do. 

Mike Wheeler was home alone that night, the storm brewing and making him sad. Perhaps he always felt empty when the lightning struck because has thinking of her, of how he had sheltered her from the cold and wet rain - and how she was now so far away. He groaned at the sound of an insistent knocking at the door, expecting it to be one of his friends asking for help with homework. Whatever he was expecting - it certainly wasn't who was standing out in the pouring rain. As soon as he laid eyes on him, the world stopped moving. He felt frozen deep within his bones, more frozen than any amount of fear had ever made him and all he could do was allow his brain to run through every moment of the past five months. Every day with her crying down the radio to him, him pleading with her to stop because it made his heart ache in an inexplicable way. The moment that she found out, crumbling down to the ground by the ambulance until he came and picked her up as he always did. The reason was standing in front of him with a thick, messy beard and dark eyes - eyes filled with a new kind of fire. 

"H-Hopper" he choked. 

Before he knew what he was doing, he had fallen into the flustered man's embrace. The chief froze with confused eyes, not knowing what he was supposed to do - needing nothing other than to see the people that he had left behind. Mike was practically shaking, holding onto his strong build for dear life, eyes clenching shut at how his frame was weaker than it was the first time he had fallen into it. 

"Mike" he pulled the teenager back, holding him by the shoulders, "I need-"

"H-How are you even alive?" Mike stumbled over his words, eyes filled with something unknown, "I-It has been months and I don't know if I am even dreaming...you can't...we had a funeral and-"