Mistletoe - Mileven

Mistletoe

 It was Christmas morning in the Wheeler household. Wrapping paper was strewn across the floor, snow that had been dragged in by Holly going in and out of the house was beginning to melt, and Mike was getting very, very nervous.

There was a single unopened gift sitting under the tree, and it was for a pretty, doe eyed girl who would be knocking on the door any second. Mike, however, was not concerned with answering the door. Instead, he was glancing at the ceiling, wondering if Eleven even remembered what mistletoe was. He had just explained it to her a few nights before, but it had taken her weeks to fully understand the concept of "Christmas" and "Santa Claus", so he wasn't sure if she would be able to recall everything he told her. It wasn't that Eleven wasn't smart enough to grasp the idea; in fact, Eleven was possibly the most intelligent person Mike knew. But, she wasn't raised with the idea of "magic" or "miracles". So, things like Disney movies and holidays left her skeptical and confused.

He paced back and forth underneath the dainty red plant with his eyebrows pinched together and his hands fidgeting by his side. His nerves were all but tearing his stomach apart as he continued to go over the plan in his head. As he waited, he did his best to go over all possible outcomes of the situation. He knew what he'd do if she didn't notice; he knew what he'd do if she did notice. Even though he was sure that he had considered all of the variables, his heart was still racing and his stomach was tying itself into knots.

He was snapped out of his thoughts when there was a soft knock at the door. Nancy, who had heard about Mike's plan, scurried down the hallway to open it. On her way past him, she winked at him and chuckled, amused at his obvious panic.

In that moment, Mike decided he needed something to do with his hands so he didn't look too staged. Without looking at the title, he snatched a book off the shelf next to him and leaned against the wall, casting one last glance up to the mistletoe. As he cracked open the book, he heard footsteps against the kitchen tile. He knew that both Joyce and Jonathan put in money to buy Eleven a new Christmas dress, and he knew that she must be wearing it. The thought of seeing the girl he adored all dressed up made his heart race, but he refused to look up at her. Soon, the sound of her footsteps disappeared as she made her way onto the living room carpet. Still, he didn't look up.

Although she was completely silent, he could sense her approaching. His throat became tight and his palms became sweaty and all he could think about was kissing her. They had only kissed twice; once right before she disappeared and once when she was in the hospital after being rescued from the Upside Down. In all honesty, Mike didn't even know if Eleven felt the same way about him as he did about her. He wasn't even sure if she understood what a crush was. But, he was hoping that he'd be able to talk to her about it sometime soon.

He felt her stop short right in front of him. For a moment, it was almost as if he had forgotten how to breathe. Slowly, he lifted his head up and met her eyes. As always, they were wide and lovely, making him smile as soon as he saw them. This morning, they were slightly hooded, and she blinked somewhat slowly, letting Mike know that she must've gone to bed late and woken up early. He knew how excited Will got on Christmas morning, so he wasn't surprised at her sleepy state. Of course, her face and hair looked almost exactly the same as it did yesterday or the day before, but he couldn't help but be awestruck. Maybe it was because he went a year without seeing her, or maybe it was because she was beautiful. Mike didn't care either way.

Next, he glanced over the book in his hands and down at her new dress. In some ways, it reminded him of the dress she had worn during her first week in Hawkins. It was a light, baby pink color with darker pink bows around her waist and on her chest. The skirt hung loosely around her bruised knees, and the collar was high and frilly on her neck. One corner of his lips pulled up in a smirk as he admired her, and he silently thanked Joyce and Jonathan for letting her be completely girly after living in a hospital gown for her entire life.

He looked back up at El's face, and forced down a smile when he realized that she was yawning. Then, after meeting her eyes again, he glanced up at the mistletoe in the hopes of getting her to notice. When he cast his gaze back at her, he saw that she was looking at the small plant above them with a calm, curious expression. Then, she looked back down at Mike.

For a moment, there was only a frozen, heavy silence. Then,

"Your book is upside down."

She moved past him in a sleepy, slow pace. Mike felt all the blood rush to his face in embarrassment as he snapped the book shut and flipped it over, only to realize that it was, in fact, upside down. He looked up again and saw Nancy quietly laughing in the kitchen.

At first, Mike was terribly confused. He stood there, frozen in thought, trying to figure out how Eleven could even realize that the book was upside down when she couldn't read in the first place. When he looked back down at the title, however, he understood.

In his rush to look nonchalant, he had picked up Eleven's favorite book: The Hobbit. Will had been the first one to introduce it to her, and the Byers had all decided to read to Eleven whenever they had free time. She had loved it so much that Mike had gotten a copy to keep at his house, and they had been leaving it in the living room so they could read together and look at the Christmas lights.

After a brief moment of self pity, Mike turned to face Eleven. His mind was racing with things to say or do to fix the situation. But, he stopped short when he realized that El was right behind him, her wide eyes meeting his.

"El, I-"

Before he could get his words out, she was leaning in to kiss him. For a moment, he panicked, not entirely sure what to do, but when their lips met, all of his fears dissolved. Blindly, he reached for her hands and laced his fingers with hers. His shock melted away to happiness as he kissed possibly the most beautiful girl in Indiana (or the word, for that matter).

The second she pulled away, the room was filled with "aww"s from both Nancy and his mother, who had apparently made her way into the room without them noticing. Eleven's cheeks turned pink to match the bows on her new dress, but Mike didn't care. It was like his smile was permanently stuck on his face.

"Merry Christmas, Mike," Eleven whispered.

"Merry Christmas, El"