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mike & el
El loved watching the sunset, therefore Mike loved watching the sunset. It was second from the top on their list of favorite things to do. Number one was, well, anyone could guess what number one was...
The two had finally managed to get some time to themselves, having been occupied a majority of the time by the Party.
The close knit group had been spending so much time together since everything had happened, which was both needed and not so needed, at least for Mike and El.
They loved their friends, they really did. Having each other to rely on really helped move past the events that occurred at Starcourt, but the two could only take so much, before they got the pressing urge to sneak off.
Today, though, they didn't have to sneak off. Their friends willingly left the two alone for the afternoon, having had enough of their lovey dovey tendencies.
Now, it was just Mike and El, sat upon the highest hill in Hawkins that Dustin had discovered for his Cerebro endeavors.
The sun was just now beginning to set, shades of pink, red and orange taking over the sky above them. Mike tilted his head to admire the view in front of him. He couldn't possibly think of anything more beautiful.
And it wasn't the sky he was so fixed on either, it was her.
She was always beautiful, but the way the sky lit up her face, brought out her features to an extent that he couldn't help but lose his ability to breathe. He should be used to that though, she tended to have an overwhelming effect on him quite often.
"Can we get ice cream before we go home later?" El sweetly asked, breaking their comfortable silence.
"Yeah, of course we can." Mike assured her, the idea sounding like a good one, even though he'd happily do just about anything she asked of him.
Thoughts of ice cream suddenly led him to a memory from a day that he didn't particularly enjoy.
In this moment though, he couldn't help but laugh at the images running through his head.
"What's funny?" El curiously asked, leaning her head back to look up at him from where she sat in between his outstretched legs.
Mike tightened his hold around her waist, while he continued to chuckle to himself. "I was just thinking about that day at the mall, when you dumped me."
"Hmm, you didn't think it was that funny when it happened." El teased, thinking back to the look on Mike's face as he watched the bus drive away. "I thought you were gonna cry."
"Oh, I did cry." He quickly admitted, causing El's head to whip around once more, eyes searching his face for any sign of teasing.
She didn't seem to find any, which wiped the amused grin off her face. The thought of her making him cry made her heart sink in her chest. "You cried??"
"Yeah, after Lucas and Will went home."
El shifted in his arms, turning her whole body around to face him. She brought her hand to his cheek, lightly grazing her thumb across his soft skin, smiling sadly while doing so.
"Well, I cried too... in the bathroom, when Max went to sleep." El told him, with a heavy sigh. "I didn't want to break up with you, Mike. I'm so sorry."
"It's okay, I deserved it. I shouldn't have lied to you." He argued, not wanting her to blame herself for any of it. It was his fault, no one else's. Even if Hopper did basically threaten him to lie, he didn't have to go through with it.
Thoughts of how differently things could have gone if he had just told her the truth were interrupted by another image from that unfortunate day.
"You know, you're real cute when you're angry."
El giggled at his compliment. "Oh, really?"
"Definitely. I mean, I was terrified, but you staring up at me with that little glare on your face was pretty cute." The smile on Mike's face seemingly matched hers, accompanied by the slight blush in her cheeks. "I totally thought you were gonna shove that ice cream cone in my face, though."
"I thought about it, didn't wanna waste a perfectly good cone though." El quipped, laying her head back on his chest.
"I dump your ass!" Mike mocked her words from that day, in an extremely high voice that sounded nothing like her own. "Where did you even hear that?"
"Max."
"Ah, that makes sense." He concluded, placing a chaste kiss to her forehead. "Well, as cute as it was, I hope I never hear those words from you again. My poor, El loving heart couldn't take it."
"Your El loving heart?" El questioned, the insane amount of amusement in her voice blatantly clear.
"Yeah, you heard me. My El loving heart!" He shamelessly exclaimed, suddenly taking her hands in his. "Because you, El Hopper, have completely taken over the entirety of my heart. It only has love for you, my dear."
"You're crazy." El couldn't contain herself, giggling like a fool with her head thrown back against his chest. "But I guess blank makes you crazy right?"
Mike sighed heavily, bracing himself for the teasing he was sure to get. Really though, he didn't mind it coming from her.
"Yeah yeah, mock me all you want. I was trying my best to get the words out okay? It's not my fault you make me nervous!"
El pulled their joined hands up, placing a light kiss to his hand. "I'm not mocking you, it was cute."
"Cute." Mike scoffed playfully, thinking back to just how much of a mess he was trying to tell her he loved her. Now, it seems so trivial that he was so worked up over it.
Ever since Mike had told her for the first time, not too long after they had defeated yet another inter-dimensional monster, he felt like he was saying it all the time. He just couldn't help himself. He wanted to tell her he loved her every chance he could, so she knew just how much love his heart held for her.
"I love you, Mike." El softly spoke, beating him to it. Turns out, El loved to say it just as much as he did and that only made him love her more, if that were even possible.
"I love you, too." Mike smiled affectionately, instantly leaning down to kiss the girl he loved senseless.
The two continued their loving exchange for quite awhile, so caught up in one another that they hadn't noticed the sun completely disappear from the sky.
They weren't too upset about it though, they'd just catch the next one.
And the next one.
And the next one...
