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love doesn't hesitate.
"mike." eleven continued to stand on the cold street in silence, not being able to let out anything. his presence felt like a magnet - even though he didn't even notice her, and was standing across the street, she literally felt that she has to talk to him, she has to feel him. he didn't even glance towards her, yet she felt more confident and powerful than she ever did. it was a really unusual feeling, how through all these years filled with deep loneliness she had never even thought of being cheerful again. and just because she saw him, everything seemed to change.
el almost ran across the street, and then shyly tapped on mike's shoulder.
he rapidly turned around and opened his mouth in amazement mixed with surprise.
he missed her.
"eleven, I, what are you doing here? I can't believe you're-"
they stood in silence, both too shocked to talk.
the girl shook her head and slowly put her finger on mike's mouth, feeling vibrations going through their bodies. "that's impossible, I know", she softly grinned. "although I'm... glad to see you."
mike sighed heavily. "yeah, me too, I mean, I've missed you." el felt immediate warmth inside her heart, an odd emotion she almost forgot.
they both stood in silence, staring deeply into each other's eyes, feeling exactly what they both needed. after a short while, a familiar face suddenly appeared right in front of them, wheezing and gasping. her red hair was quite messy. "eleven, there you are! I've been-" then she looked up.
"for the love of god, it's michael wheeler himself!" she exclaimed, trying to act annoyed, but she clearly was glad as well. "our most annoying party member." she added with an evil smile.
"max." eleven rebuked. "at least try" she mouthed silently.
"well, are you two..." "no!" they protested. but that made maxine's suspiciousness even bigger. "okay then, that's exactly why I'll leave you alone" she announced with pride and then turned to jane to whisper "thank me later." and all of a sudden, she was already gone.
when eleven laid her brown eyes on mike again. he nervously coughed and shrugged his shoulders. "do you want to go and have a drink?"
➷
five minutes later they entered a cozy, small and old fashioned café on the corner of the street. it wasn't too crowded, and it offered hot chocolate, mike and eleven's beloved drink in the past.
they sat in two big armchairs. "this... this is unbelievable. how long have you been living there?" mike asked. "about three years. I moved right after I graduated," she replied, still not sure if she's talking to mike, the one without whom she maybe wouldn't be even able to live like an equal human. without him she would never experience love.
and mike? he hadn't even dreamt of anything similar to what is happening.
her. eleven jane hopper, the one who had stolen his heart away fully at the age of twelve.
her. the one who had never lost faith in him.
her. the one he had always thought of as the most beautiful and smart girl he had ever met.
her.
"and what are you doing there?" she raised a simple question, feeling her petite hands shaking under the table.
" I'm not even sure yet."
"what do you mean?" eleven asked with clear confusion.
" I'm supposed to write an article about new york's society and universities. boring shit, but sent me all over the way from hawkins just for this. you know, observation, experience, blah, blah." he explained in a derisive tone. "it won't take me long for sure."
eleven didn't know what to say. she was just a pathetic english student.
"but it's weird, you know. i'm not doing exactly what... exactly what i want to do" he murmured. el nodded.
"i understand what you mean."
a shade of happiness came across the raven-haired boy's face. "really?"
eleven smiled weakly. "yes, really. except that, i don't even know what i want to, or who i want to become." she responded. her voice was sad.
she looked out of the blurry window, only to see rain pouring down. the rain was calm yet dangerous.
mike touched her hand gently and glanced at her for a moment.
"just do what makes you happy."
➷
just do what makes you happy.
that sentence has been on eleven's mind since tuesday. and it's wednesday, which means she's meeting mike in two days, on friday. she hadn't told max about it yet, but she thought it's better for her. until one cold evening.
the girls were watching some horror movie under a blanket, when the redhead suddenly asked: "how are things going on with mike?" jane rolled her eyes. "it's not that simple, max. we weren't a... casual couple back then."
maxine frowned her eyebrows and drank some orange juice. "what exactly do you mean by that?" she asked again, causing her poor friend to sigh in disappointment.
"i mean, we had some kind of a... you know, like a feeling... a special bond," she responded after a while of contemplation. "yes, that's what i wanted to say" she continued quickly before max was able to reply anything.
"sure. are you assuming, that you two were better than me and lucas" her friend joked with a serious face. eleven smirked.
"maybe." she answered, and they started a pillow war, that lasted about ten minutes and ended with max's victory. they fell asleep on the couch, both dreaming different things.
but it's kind of an obvious thing, what exactly these things were.
➷
after their encounter, michael felt really weird. he hadn't felt anything as strong as he feels towards jane for a really long time. he felt like he wasn't able to love anymore. and because of her brown locks, gorgeous smile and deep eyes, he started to feel. he started to feel things again, the way he hadn't known yet, like when you discover something everyone is talking about. was it excitement? maybe. although he also thought that what he's doing is wrong. maybe eleven's life had been better without him. maybe she doesn't need him anymore.
➷
oh god, it's been a while since I've written an author's note. I just wanted to apologize if this is bad or disappointing, but I had a little hiatus because of school and I'm really glad I finally succeeded to update my beloved mileven fic.
