•
mike & el
El was having a terrible day.
Possibly the worst day in awhile.
For starters, she couldn't seem to get any of her assignments done, no matter how many times Will had explained the content to her.
This had been happening a lot lately.
Since she was still doing all of her schooling at home, she only had Joyce, Jonathan and Will to help her and they just couldn't seem to explain things in a way that she could understand.
Mike would occasionally help when he called, but it was hard to explain certain things on the phone.
She kept getting more and more behind on everything and it often made her so frustrated that she wanted to cry.
Not only was her schoolwork an issue, but she was also having nightmares lately.
These nightmares were incredibly vivid and often woke her up during the night. She usually could never recall what exactly they were about, all she knew was that they haunted her most nights and left her feeling exhausted the next day.
She had one of these nightmares last night and it left her feeling so anxious today that she didn't know what to do with herself.
And to top it all off, she just really misses Mike.
She always misses him, but today that feeling is much worse, even though she had just seen him a couple of weeks ago, when he had drove up for the weekend.
Ever since Mike had gotten his driver's license, he'd come to visit her so much that the ache in her heart wasn't as consuming as before.
But now that his parents had made him get a job, he wasn't able to come as much, which meant that aching feeling came right back.
It was especially overwhelming today, given everything she was dealing with and all that could make it better was talking to Mike.
He could make her feel better.
He always does.
El grabbed the phone off the hook and dialed the number she knew by heart. It was a little early, considering their usual phone call was at seven-thirty and the clock on her bedside table only read four-fifteen.
She really hoped that he would still pick up, otherwise she'd most likely cry her eyes out until she did get to speak to him.
"Hello?"
Thankfully, Mike picked up almost immediately, the sound of his voice even uttering one word, bringing a smile to her face.
Given the fact that she was so upset though, her smile wasn't as bright as usual.
All that could be heard was the sound of her sniffling, until she finally said something.
"Mike..."
"El, are you okay? What's wrong??"
El couldn't help but break down, diving right into what exactly was wrong with her. She told him every detail and he listened as intently as ever, not only hating the fact that she was so sad, but also that she hadn't mentioned any of this to him.
Apparently this had been going on for most of the month and he just wished she had told him about it sooner.
"I'm so sorry. I wish there was something I could do."
El went quiet again, sniffling a couple of times before she let out a deep sigh. "I wish you were here, Mike. I just really need a hug from you right now."
She started crying again, wishing more than anything that she could have that. As simple of a gesture as a hug is, Mike's somehow have a tremendous effect on her.
"El, hey. Please don't cry. It's just a bad day, tomorrow will be better, I know it!"
El wanted to believe that, she really did, but she knew that tomorrow would likely be as tiring and upsetting as today had been.
"Believe me, I'd hug you right now if I could. I'd hug you and I wouldn't let you go until all those tears went away."
Once again, his words had brought a smile to her face, but the tears kept falling.
The rest of their phone call was spent this way, with El letting all her emotions out and Mike doing anything he could to make her feel better.
•
The next day, El did feel a little better, but not enough to say that she was okay.
She still felt stupid, tired and in a way, alone.
She was currently lying on the sofa, watching one of her soaps, while munching on some pretzels.
Will was next door with his friends, while Joyce and Jonathan were both working. They'd all be gone for most of the day, which left her to having the house all to herself.
Sometimes she didn't mind that, but with the way she had been feeling lately, having the house to herself was the last thing she wanted.
As her luck would have it though, there was soon an oddly familiar knock at the front door. She hopped up off the sofa and ran to it, opening the door to find Mike standing on the other side.
Tears instantly filled her eyes, not believing that the one person she needed to see was suddenly right here in front of her.
Mike smiled warmly back at her, not saying a word. He only held his arms out for her, wanting to give her the very thing she needed.
El went straight to him, falling into his open arms, letting him hold her. He hugged her so tightly, hoping that he could help rid her of the sadness he knew had been inside of her.
Mike could hear the sounds of her crying, which only made him hold her tighter.
"It's okay, I got you." He softly assured her, moving to place a loving kiss to her forehead.
El took comfort in his arms for a moment, until she soon moved back to look up at him. "Mike, what are you doing here?"
"You needed a hug." He smiled, quickly bringing his hands up to wipe the tears from her cheeks.
El truly felt like her heart was going to burst, feeling so much love for Mike Wheeler that she couldn't handle it.
She leaned up on her tiptoes, eagerly bringing her lips to meet his, hoping that he could feel just how much she loved him right then.
Once El had pulled away, she grinned up at Mike, before grabbing his hand and tugging him along with her back to the sofa.
Mike cuddled up with her to finish watching what was currently playing on the television and she could feel the aching that had been living inside of her start to fade away.
She was feeling better already and it was all because of the amazing boy holding her like it was the very thing he was made to do.
