Mileven One-Shots

Ring Money

This is a little fun chapter I had been thinking about the past couple weeks, and had finished the lay out last weeks, so why not write it? There's a bit of a backstory to this one as well. I was reading this really great fanfic on Ao3. It was more of a one shot I think, a really long one at that, and it had a bunch of little scenes of Mileven through their high school and college years. There was them getting accepted into the same college, Karen finding ring money in Mike's closet in senior year, Hopper getting mad when he finds out Mike and El are moving in together sophomore year of college, Max moving in with them as well, El and Max talking about Lucas because the two of them had broken up a while back but secretly still like each other, Mike getting a ring, Mileven getting engaged, and so much more. BUT, unfortunately, I can't remember what it was called so I can't reread it. So....

I decided to write my own little snap shot (the Karen finds ring money, because that's the one I most enjoyed and can't find it anywhere else).

When putting away clean, folded laundry away in Mike's closet, Karen Wheeler did not, under any circumstances, expect to find two mysterious mason jars peeking out behind folded sweatshirts on a shelf. the lids poked above the fabrics, and she grey curious and removed the hoodies to get a better look, not thinking about the way she was invading his privacy.

The jars were both filled, one a bit more than the other, with dollar bills, pennies, dimes, you name it. It had to have been years worth of saving up, but the money isn't what shocked her the most, no. He'd had jars of money before, one for comic books, the arcade, and a new bike, but these were something entirely different. These were labeled: Ring Money.

In shock, as she read, the neatly folded clothes fell out of her slackened arms and onto the ground, fortunately not unfolding from impact. A gasp bubbled it's way up her throat and pushed out between her lips, her heart pounding. Mike was only eighteen years old, still a senior in high school, and hadn't even been accepted into any colleges. And he was already saving up for an engagement ring.

She was filled with shock, a bit of irritation, even a small sense of pride, but one emotion overpowered them all; concern. Karen was worried for Mike, worried that he was moving far too fast for an eighteen year old, and that he'll be heartbroken in the end. She knew who the ring money was for: El, Mike's first ever girlfriend. She knew they'd been dating for a while, but they were far too young to be thinking about marriage of all things. It was a bit absurd in her opinion, shouldn't they be worrying about colleges they'd applied to? And which ones they were going to get into?

That's another bump in the road. What if they got accepted into different colleges across the country? How would they balance their relationship out with the distance between them? If Karen knew anything about high school relationships, it's that they usually fell apart because of distance. And it was exactly that for Mike and El, a high school relationship, wasn't it? Or were they really that serious? Well, he had at least a years worth of money in that jar... no. Karen shook the thought out of her head. They were high school sweethearts, she knew that, but they weren't ready for marriage. They just couldn't be. Marriage was a huge step.

Finally, she snapped out of her initial shock when the front door open, indicating that Mike was home from work. Quickly, Karen bent down and picked up the clothes, putting them away, shut the closet door, and headed downstairs. She found Mike in the kitchen, munching on one of the chocolate ship cookies she had whipped up the day prior, and he was pocketing a $20 bill, and she had just the slightest inkling on where that was going. At least she finally knew why he stayed after work to wipe down tables for extra money.

(Mike had been working at the new, pretty fancy, cafe that opened up downtown a couple years back. He was actually one of the first ever employees. It payed well, and the job wasn't too busy since he was preparing coffee and shakes all day. Yes, he was a barista, and surprisingly, he enjoyed it quite a bit, of what he's told Karen. There's probably a few downsides he's keeping from her for her sake. And for the past year, he had been staying a couple hours after work to wipe down tables, sweep and mop floors, do the dishes, all for extra money.)