𝐃𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐌𝐄𝐑𝐒 | mileven oneshots.

bare-faced beauty

el hopper struggled to feel loved without makeup.

of course mike always made her big heart flutter and hopper was always there for her, but she couldn't help but wonder if their love wouldn't last if she exposed her bare face.

if one day, she'd wake up and hopper and mike would've abandoned her.

although she was excited mike was coming over tonight, she was more nervous.

and it wasn't the good type of nervous, either. it was the one that made you want to curl up in a ball and disappear.

she applied yet another pound of makeup onto her 'hideous' face.

she slammed one of the many makeup brushes she owned onto the wooden table, upset about the reflection she saw in the bathroom mirror.

she glanced at the time, and she realized mike would be at the cabin in ten minutes.

since hopper was working, for the first time, it would be just mike and eleven.

as she realized she only had a few minutes left to apply her makeup, she frantically grabbed the brush and began to make herself 'pretty.'

once she finished with two minutes to spare, she was disgusted with what she saw.
she had no idea what she was doing.

the first time she wore makeup was when mike put it on her when the boys gave her a makeover, and he even did a better job.

the second time was when kali and her gang put black eyeshadow on her eyelids.
although it didn't look great, it was definitely superior than to what el could do.

and most recently, when nancy did her makeup for the snowball.
she put powder, eyeshadow, and anything you could think of on her face.

she remembered mike telling her she looked beautiful that night.
was it because of the painting that hid her true face?

and now el sat on the bathroom counter in one of mike's oversized sweaters and her jeans.
nancy's many makeup products were scattered on the table. she had 'borrowed' the products last time she visited the wheelers.

mike didn't love bare-faced el.
he loved el with makeup on.
every kiss, every hug, every compliment, every cuddle, was all just a lie.

el looked at the makeup wipes in front of her, but slowly glanced away.
if this was what made mike love her, she would have to do it, right?

el heard mike's knock, slightly startling her.
"j-just a minute!" she yelled, as she scrambled to hide the makeup in various cabinets.

she answered the door to see mike smiling widely, flowers in hand.
"pretty." she muttered, as she threw her arms around mike, causing a bit of her makeup to appear on mikes sweater.

"um, im just going to put these in my room.. you can, uh, sit on the couch." she smiled.
she rushed to her room and placed the bouquet next to the dozens of others in her collection.

every time mike visited the cabin, he would always bring over a bouquet for his princess.

as she walked out of the room, she saw mike intrigued with a soap opera that was playing on the hopper's t.v.

"mike." she whispered, finding it funny that her boyfriend loved soaps.
"oh! uh, hi." he quickly switched the channel in an attempt to erase what el just saw.

she lightly laughed as she sat next to mike on the couch and intertwined their hands.

as she rested her light head on his shoulder, she could feel mike's heart beat quicken.

"why is your heart doing that?" she asked as she placed her hand on his heart.
"uh, doing what?" he blushed.
"it's going even faster now!" her eyes enlarged.

mike felt himself blushing more than ever now.
"im going to go to the bathroom!" he quickly blurted out, embarrassed.

as he closed the bathroom door behind him, he looked into the mirror and saw a tan color that had appeared on his jacket.

confused, he furrowed his eyebrows.
he then looked down to see a makeup product had fallen on the ground.

el wears makeup?
mike took a second glance, not being able to fully comprehend what he saw.

he couldn't understand why el would feel the need to coat her face with makeup.
in fact, he always thought el looked even more beautiful without makeup.

he opened the bathroom door to see el cuddled with a blanket.
he saw her relieved expression when he returned.

"you don't need it." he simply stated as he lied on the couch, wrapping his arms around his girlfriend's fragile body.
"huh?" she questioned.

he looked into her charming eyes.
"the makeup, you look even more like a princess when you don't wear it." he smiled, satisfied with the fact that he had not stuttered once.

"no i don't." she murmured, as she looked down at their held hands.
"boyfriends and girlfriends don't lie." he smirked.

she giggled at the new saying that he had slightly altered from the original.
"promise?" her eyes met his.
"promise."

el slowly separated from mike's embrace as she took the makeup wipes in the bathroom, and started wiping off the meticulous painting.

she looked at the reflection in front of her.
the reflection she once despised so much, but she now grew to fall in love with.

she returned from the bathroom and snuggled with mike once again as she turned on soaps.

instead of him paying attention to the soaps, mike was focused on her stunning, natural, features.

and that's what you call a lazy ending!!
anyways, i know nobody really cares but today i am five years free from misophonia! if you don't know what that is, it is a diagnosis that can make people lose control when they hear triggering sounds. it caused me to have no hearing up until three, but once i finally earned my hearing, it caused many problems. i would get triggered very easily by sounds such as doors shutting, car honks, ice cream trucks, and more. it caused me to also suffer from anxiety and depression, which i still cope with today. luckily, i found an amazing therapist who is my bestfriend, and i was prescribed lexapro. lexapro helps calm me down and lessen my risks of having panic attacks! im sorry if that was boring, but im just very happy i was able to almost completely overcome it.
love you guys all so much!
-lindsay