DAYLIGHT | mileven

seven

"i can't believe this is the last time we're in this dorm together." el tried to fight off the sadness in her voice, "it's just... so sad."

her eyes raked over the empty dorm that holds so many phantoms of so many memories — phantoms of the first time mike laid his hands on her, phantoms of the first time she asked him to stay over, phantoms of the routine they slipped into once they moved in together.

so much of their history would be left behind here and el couldn't help but feel a sense of loss at leaving. this place wasn't perfect, hell, it was far too small and the issues of the dorm, starting with the barely hanging-on kitchen cabinets all the way to the shower head that sizzles and hits everything like an unexpected water-gun, there were a lot, but she still felt some sort of attachment to it.

maybe it's because of the memories but it felt like closing a way too important chapter of life.

"so many good memories, huh?" mike asked with the tiniest grin on his face.

"i'm being emotional over here and all you ever think about is sex?" she rolled her eyes, wrinkling her nose to stop the pressure that is a blatant build-up for tears.

"i'm not!" he laughed, wrapping his arms around her waist to pull her back towards his chest. "i'm trying to lighten up the mood, doll – but if you need to cry, you can cry."

she huffed out a breath, relaxing in his hold. "it's such a stupid reason to cry though."

he shook his head, gently swaying them back and forth. "i don't think it is, not knowing what the future will be like after college is scary."

but that wasn't the scariest thing, sure, marching into real adult life is scary but what's even scarier is the fact that they're losing their weekly pizza fridays now that all their friends will be scattered around – dustin moves to california because he said that it's his calling, will moves to new york for a while to live with his brother, lucas and max are the only ones staying in chicago by moving in an apartment together.

and worst of all? mike and her couldn't find an apartment to move into together, so now for a while, heaven knows how long, she'll have to go back to her childhood home and mike will have to go back to hawkins.

the thought of not only living separated but having to be in a long-distance relationship for some time made her want to cry all over. she got far too used to sharing the same space with him, of hearing his stupid and inappropriate jokes throughout the day and waking up next to him.

being deprived of that for a while will suck bad.

that was all she could think of for the last couple of weeks – no more regular pizza fridays, no more sharing a dorm together and way less sleepovers with max.

it takes her right back to the last sleepover she's had here with max just a few days ago.

"what the hell happened?" mike asked as he quickly stepped into el and his dorm to find el leaning on max's shoulder while crying – no, sobbing.

this definitely wasn't how any of them thought the night would progress.

before they had to pack their stuff, el asked if it was okay that her and max would have one last sleepover together before they fully move out.

mike obviously didn't object and wished them a fun time together before he made his way towards dustin and lucas' dorm to spend the night on their couch.

when he received a "come here quick" message by max around 1:00 am though, he sprinted out of the dorm to get back to his, not even caring that his leaving was loud and abrupt enough to wake dustin and lucas.