purple's our color- mileven au

SIXTEEN

A/N: i'm gonna be completely honest when i say this it NOT my favorite chapter ive written. sorry if it's confusing or messy there was a lot of filler stuff for me to clear up but i still struggled with finishing it bc i finally figured out what the ending is gonna be and my minds been on that. anyways next chapter is gonna be so so much better than this, thanks for reading <3

"We had a possible connection, on the table for a second, then she made such an entrance, can't stand all this tension, can you?" The Walls Are Way Too Thin, Holly Humberstone

       As time went on and there was slight closure for El and Mike, Mike began to realize the extent of his wrong. She had made it clear what happened wasn't ok with her and that something in her told her that they just weren't made to be. But Mike had never agreed with her on that. He missed her in a way he had never known he could experience. He missed the way her face lit up at the littlest joke or exciting news, her eyes widening tightly and smile increasing by the moment. He missed her careful composure and her kindness to people. How easy it was for her to be soft and kind around some people and sterner but still sweet altogether with others. She got along well with a long list of people, everyone including himself. And especially, Mike missed her gestures, her soft touches and pokes and how she would shrug and grin carefully in response to anything. Her actions were always reassuring and genuine. That was the person she was. El had so much good going for her, she was all these things and it made her so enjoyable to be around. It shouldn't be surprising to him that he missed the way El interacted with him for that short period of time before he messed it all up. But he was just so unsure with her, he always was. What would please her, what wouldn't? She wasn't like  everyone else, it wasn't as easy as he was used to. El was complex and difficult. And Mike loved that, but he didn't know how to handle it.

     They still loved each other, and they both knew it. What they didn't know is that the other felt it too. But what could ever make them see eye to eye again? It was early July, warm haze covered the town and it was humid and miserable. Summers were always an exciting time of possibility for the party, but they all couldn't feel like this summer was laid out for them and there was nothing they could do to change that.

    "I just wanna go swimming!" Sara cried out, uncharacteristically hitting El on her wrist. El had noticed a behavior change in her younger sister. She was angry and upset all the time and she was so young and naive she couldn't figure out what to do with herself. "You're not supposed to do anything like that for a few more days, I'm sorry," El hugged her, "I can invite Holly over and you guys can watch a movie?"

      Sara smiled hopefully and sniffled, looking up at her sister, "yay!!" El looked down at her sister and gave her a sad smile. Of course, the little five year hadn't noticed El was upset, but she was. "I have to text Joyce first if it's ok because she won't be home until after 4," El explained. Sara huffed and nodded, laying down.

        "Oh, and you're being a total brat today," El commented jokingly and Sara stuck her tongue out at her in response.

    It was unimaginable that Sara hadn't noticed the thinning on top of her head, but El started to think that she pretended it wasn't there. She just wasn't mature enough to understand and think of it as anything. Joyce tried to tell her how she could cut her hair soon, whenever she was ready, and Sara let it slide like she hadn't said anything. El wasn't sure if Sara was being stubborn or if she was plainly confused anymore.

    Holly waltzed through the front door in about a half hour, and ran over to sit next to her smaller friend. They immediately started talking and laughing. It was only El and Sara at home previously, both Hopper and Joyce were at work and Will was out with the boys.