mileven oneshots

believe me, baby

time was running out

that rang around in el's head as she layed on her bed, staring up at the ceiling.

it had been a year since "the slowing" had begun. the earth's rotation took longer now, adding more hours to the day.

it was 9:30pm, the sun had finally begun to set a bit.

the days and nights were longer, the ecosystem was slowly destroying itself, animals and plants were dying, everyone was getting sick.

"the syndrome," which caused dizziness, nausea, and possibly death if one were outside for too long.

mike had gotten it during the beginning of the slowing, up to the point where he couldn't get out of bed.

but he was saved. el cured him, but with a great sacrifice.

she had let the world continue to slowly end, just to have mike wheeler live.

and no matter how many times hopper had told her that it was the wrong decision, all she replied was with "he deserves to live."

and it was true, mike deserves to be a happy boy with an extraordinary life. that sickness wasn't going to take him away that quickly, not under el's watch.

but after a few months, horrible news broke as they found out that max had gotten the syndrome as well.

and again, el had tried to save her but it was no use.

she couldn't, she had to save enough energy to try and stop the slowing along with other gifted people like her.

and it killed her, knowing she couldn't do anything to save her best friend.

but that was how the world was now. all it had were bad consequences, no matter what you did. everything as they kne wit had changed.

and the town of hawkins had lost a small portion of their population after the news broke out. it scared everyone deeply, but not party nor their family.

suddenly, their was a knock on the door. "el, may i come in?"

el shot up from the bed, shaking her head slightly. "yeah, come in."

the door opened fully, revealing a healthy and peaceful mike.

el felt herself smile widely, she enjoyed seeing him so calm and happy.

   "how are you?" he asked, sitting beside her. he wrapped his arms around her waist, el instantly melting into the hug. she layed her cheek on his shoulder and fluttered her eyes close. "i'm doing better, just a little tired."

el showed signs of depression. all of the stress and anxiety had gotten to her, leading to sudden panic attacks, heavy and uncontrollable breathing, making her think horrible things.

   "good." he said, rubbing circles on her back. "just know that everything will be okay, no matter how impossible that seems right now. it will."

   "i've heard that at least once every day for these past months. i'm tired of everyone lying to me. i know that when i get enough energy to stop this madness, i'll be dead by the time it even gets put to an end. and i'm fine with that. i don't care what happens to me anymore, all that matters is you and the rest." sniffled el.

as much as el wanted her family safe, a little part of her wanted to live. she wanted to live a happy life with mike and the rest, to learn more about the world. there were so many things she still hasn't done yet. but just like that, her chance of a better life was being thrown away.

mike leaned out of the hug and looked into her now tear-filled eyes. he cupped her face, rubbing off the tears that rolled down her cheeks.

   "el, i understand how hard all of this has been. with max getting sick and everyone depending on you to stop this, i can imagine how you feel. but whether you succeed at this or fail, the rest and i will still love you. and it's okay if you want this to stop, that this is all too much pressure. hopper and joyce will understand. dustin, lucas, will and max will understand. nancy, jonathan, and steve will understand..." there was a pause as he leaned in to place a kiss on her forehead, a tear rolling down his cheek. "i understand. and i will always love you. thank you for saving me."

  "mike...you will always mean the most to me. i love you too." whispered el.

the two sat there in a comfortable silence afterwards, their foreheads touching.

then mike thought of an idea, "let's go outside."

el furrowed her eyebrows, "why do you want to go out there?"

   "well, the cement is still wet. and people don't really care what you do here anymore so...let's go!" he exclaimed, grabbing el's hand as they sped out of her room.

hopper took notice in the kids as he and joyce sat on the couch watching television, "where do you two think you're going?"

   "outside, but only for a little bit." replied mike, opening the door as he and el went outside.

   "hey, get back-" joyce calmed down her husband, giving him a glare. "c'mon hop, let them be. we need to give these kids a normal life under these circumstances."

hopper looked down at joyce, grunting in defeat as he saw her puppy eyes. "i guess your right."

   "i'm always right," stated joyce. "besides, they're like us when we were younger."

   "we weren't that stupid." joked hopper, receiving a giggle from joyce.

mike stopped at the edge of the front lawn, kneeling down on the grass.

he gestured for el to do the same as he began to write something down on the cement. his finger wrote out "michael wheeler &."

el scrunched her face up in confusion, "what are you doing?"

   "write your name there, so everyone can see." he smiled, looking at her and then back at the cement.

el slowly dipped her finger in the wet cement, writing "jane hopper" in cursive.

she also wrote a couple other things, intriguing mike. after a few seconds she leaned out and stood up, looking down at what she had put.

michael wheeler and jane hopper
1985
"we were here"

mike grinned at the writing and stood up as well. "we leave this legacy."

   "for everyone to see." she continued. they connected hands and walked back into the house, soon coming back as the rest wrote down their names.

the certain patch of sidewalk in the town of hawkins, indiana lived just like mike, eleven, and the rest for many years to come.

i'm going on a break for a while. i'm not quite sure when i'll be back but i hope you guys understand. i have other priorities that i have to get to and my phone is one of the main problems to my procrastination. i love all of you, see you soon:)

love em!