you're my hope ~MILEVEN AU~

x - belonging

Jane ordered a hot chocolate on her break from volunteering at The Creamy Cup, sitting down and blowing on it lightly. She grinned when she saw millions of small chocolate sprinkles on top of her whipped cream, reminding her of the chocolate sprinkles all over her boyfriend's face. Maybe that was why Jane had always been a fan of chocolate sprinkles, because they reminded her of his freckles. 

She looked up and caught the eye of her adorable nerd Mike Wheeler who waved at her happily from where he stood behind the till. Mike had finally managed to grasp the magic of making the drinks at the cafe, although they kept him limited to hot chocolates only as Jane did not want to confuse him and have him messing up again. She remembers when Mike made her his first hot chocolate, glancing at her nervously from under his dark eyelashes before grinning happily when she kissed his cheek and told him it was the best hot chocolate she had ever tasted. 

Hey, cutie. Just some extra chocolate sprinkles for my FAVORITE customer! 

Jane rolled her eyes and laughed at her dorky boyfriend's note, ended with a small smiley face as per usual. He always wrote on her napkin when she brought a hot chocolate on her break and always made some dumb pick up line or comment about her favorite topping. She always made a face at them and pretended that it was cheesy but her heart always rose inside of her chest despite her teasing words. She secretly tucked the note into her pocket to add to her collection at home. She would sit up and read them while on the phone to Mike, opening each one and smiling at the cheesy note that he had wrote for her. 

Later that night after they had both finished working, Becky turned to them and smiled. 

"Hey, go and walk Jane home, sweetheart. I'll lock up by myself."

"You sure?" Mike frowned slightly, wrapping his arm around his shivering girlfriend, rubbing some warmth into her shoulders. 

"Go have fun. It's just so nice to see how far you both have come, I can really see how happy you both make each other" Becky smiled warmly, her eyes softening at the couple that had been making it work for months now, always smiling in each other's company. 

"Becky..." Jane gasped, feeling herself get slightly choked up and she hugged the kind woman that was like her family. After exchanging soft smiles, she allowed Mike to pull her in the direction of the woods that they walked through to get to her house. 

After asking her out officially, Mike had never let her walk through the woods alone at night, always walking by her side and wrapping his arm around her at the slightest noise. The pair would discuss their day, books or Mike's nerdy obsession with comic books and the Dig Dug. They never ran out of things to say. It was better than Jane could have ever imagined, Mike was her boyfriend but she knew that he would always be her best friend first.

"I agree with her" Mike smiled slightly, tucking Jane further under his arm as they continued to walk. "It's so weird to remember how I never spoke to you and how you barely used to talk. Now I can hardly get you to shut up."

"Hey!" she yelled with a giggle and slapped his arm playfully. He simply kissed her forehead and ruffled her curls softly. 

"Kidding. But really, I'm just so glad that I bumped into you that day. I just think of how different everything would be" Mike mumbled to himself, thinking back to when Jane would hardly look at him and how far she had opened up to him since then. He still remembers the night that she explained what had happened with her mom, crying in his embrace and how he refused to let her go no matter how many times she asked him to leave, silently wishing he would stay. 

But Mike always stayed, through the good and the bad. 

"I should be thanking you, for speaking to me and not leaving me alone" Jane looked up at him as they stopped outside her cabin. 

"It was the best thing I've ever done" Mike smiled softly, tucking a curl behind her ear and letting himself get lost in her caramel eyes. He would never get enough of her, how pretty she was, how she made him feel and how all he wanted was to make her happy. 

"I better go before my dad comes out with the shot gun again" Jane teased, kissing his cheek and letting go of his hands. 

"Your dad loves me" Mike argued, tilting down and stealing a quick kiss. 

"Not if he catches you kissing me again" she giggles as he continues to make her lose her train of thought with his soft lips and gentle touch. 

"It's worth it" he shrugs before pushing her gently against the nearby tree, kissing her deeply. Jane tangled her hands in his soft dark hair as his hands wrapped around her small waist to pull her even closer. They would never stop wanting to be this close, to feel their connection even just through the warmth of their lips and fingertips. 

"Wheeler..." a gruff voice warns in the distance, the chief standing on the porch of the cabin, smoking as he watched the scene before him. The pair jumped apart, glancing at each other with scared expressions, not knowing how long he had been watching them. 

"Goodnight s-sir!" Mike called out nervously, kissing Jane's cheek before trying not to trip over a log on his way home. The chief rolled his eyes at the dork and gestured for his smiling daughter to come inside. As much as it nearly gave him a heart attack every day to see her with a boy, he was glad she had found one that really loved her and it was always worth it to see her come home from school with something new to say. 

She had started to tell him about her new friends, and how they had named her the mage of their party because they said she had a 'magical' ability to make the best hot chocolates. She had become extremely close with some of the members, particularly Max and Will, who she thought really understood her. 

And then there was Mike. 

Mike who had always made sure she was okay even in the beginning when she would ignore him. Mike who always walked her home and stared at her in class when he wasn't too busy acing the work. Mike who always had time to help her study or to listen to her cry, even if it was just to be there to hold her up when she felt like she could barely stand. Mike was her hope. 

Jane had always felt like she would never be enough after her mother left. Everyone at school gave her a hard time or stared at her like she was some kind of freak just for not having any friends. She never truly knew what it was like to love, to have friends or to feel worthy of all of these wonderful things. 

But thanks to meeting  Mike Wheeler who never gave up on her, Jane finally felt like she belonged here in this world, and that she definitely belonged with him.  

xxx

I have loved this story so much! There will be an authors note next about this so stay tuned and I hope you liked the sweet ending! 

Vote and comment as usual! I have never ending love for all of you! 

~Jodie