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mike & el
christmas: part 1
El sat in the back seat of the car, a look of content on her face as she stared out the window. Will was sitting beside her drawing in his sketchbook, while Jonathan and Joyce were chatting away in the front seat.
The four of them were on their way to the Hawkins, where they were spending the next few days for Christmas.
They would be staying with some relatives who lived nearby, with the exception of El. Joyce had decided on letting her sleep over at the Wheeler's for the holiday, knowing how much it killed her to be away from Mike.
Joyce knew what a significant part he was in her life and since Hopper was gone, she felt it was the least she could do for El.
It also made it easier to deal with their relatives, saving them from having to come up with an explanation for who this teenage girl was that now lived with them and would be joining them for the holidays.
Karen had assured Joyce that it was okay for El to stay, making sure to clarify that she and Mike would be sleeping in separate rooms each night.
Joyce appreciated her effort, but she was certain that Mike and El would somehow find a way to sleep next to one another. She had more of an understanding of the bond between the two teens than Karen did, so she was a bit more lenient when it came to things like that.
Hopper certainly would not approve of how much she trusted them alone, but Joyce liked to think that he'd understand where she was coming from.
Joyce knew that Mike meant the world to El and she also knew that he was the very reason for the smile that had been glued to her face ever since they had begun their road trip.
And when they finally arrived to the Wheeler's, El was the first one out of the car, still grinning as she ran to get to him.
As if on cue, Mike had opened the front door and ran out too.
"Mike!" El's smile grew brighter as soon as she saw him. She ran right into his arms, immediately taking comfort in his loving embrace.
"Oh my God, I've missed you so much." Mike spoke, his voice so full of relief. He finally had her back, even if it were only for a few days. She was here and his heart could take a break from that constant feeling of missing her.
They broke apart from each other and both went in for a kiss, lips softly meeting in the middle.
El giggled blissfully once they pulled apart. "I missed you, too."
"This is going to be a great Christmas!" Mike wholeheartedly assured her.
She nodded eagerly, knowing that it would certainly be great.
"I'm going to help Joyce get my things, okay?"
"Okay, but hurry." Mike grinned, then stole one more kiss before he let her go.
Mike then went over and talked to Will, while El and Joyce got her things out of the car. They took them inside and Karen helped to get her all settled in. She was going to be sleeping in the basement, so Karen wanted to make her as comfortable down there as possible.
Once everything was all good downstairs, El went back to where Mike and Will were now sitting on the couch. Mike shot up to his feet when he saw her coming, quickly wrapping his arm around her once she was in reach. She hugged him close, feeling the amount of sheer joy inside of her grow stronger.
She was actually here with Mike, after weeks of missing him and she couldn't be happier.
"Oh I forgot!" Mike suddenly spoke up, quickly grabbing her hand and bringing her over to the fireplace with him. "We got you something!"
