Mileven One-Shots

Gift (Fight For You Part Two)

A/N: so this is the Fight For You sequel. I like how the series is going so far and I hope you do too! 

This one will definitely be more focused on Mike actually being drafted than his reactions, don't worry haha. 

Sidenote: El doesn't have powers and never did in this universe.

DISCLAIMER: THIS CHAPTER WILL CONTAIN HEAVY REFERENCES TO WAR AND THINGS THAT MAY HAVE TO DO WITH WAR, SO IF THESE TOPICS ARE SENSITIVE, I RECOMMEND SKIPPING THIS CHAPTER!!!

(El's POV)

December 1942

My mind was filled with dread as the blanket of snow covered the yard in front of our humble abode. 

More like my humble abode nowadays. 

The slouchy Christmas tree was only covered halfway with lights and didn't have a single ornament. The boxy and large black-and-white tv took up a good amount of the room, forcing your eyes to look at it. I was watchig reruns of NBC News with Lowell Thomas from last year when I heard the local chapel's clock chime. Midnight was upon us. 

A tear shed from my dark eye as I clenched the corduroy pillow. I glaced out my window to see two people, a man and a woman, arm in arm, smiling and pressing their lips against each others. Then the man dipped the woman in his arms and it looked as if both of them lit up from just the thought of one another. Another tear fell from my eye as the searing pain burned in my heart. 

Mike and I used to be that happy. We used to dance down the streets and laugh at the littlest things. We would hold each other and kiss one another so much to the point that the people we might have been with were annoyed at us for stopping so much to take in each other.

The jealousy burned through my veins as I watched the happy couple trudge through the snow. I hated seeing other people happy. I hated seeing other people have what I used to. 

I reverted my attention beack to the tv and watched Lowell talk about News that had no meaning to me anymore. I felt my eyelids get heavier and heavier until they felt like boulders laying on my eyeballs. I closed them and allowed sleep to take me, forcing me into tomorrow. 

I woke up to the feel of loneliness consuming me whole. My body felt strangled by the familiar feel of not having Mike with me, but it had an extra strong hold on me that time. Tears immediately started pouring from my eyes as I realized:

This is my first Christmas Eve without Mike. 

My heart was shattered and I felt my hand grab the locket he gave me before departing. It was gold and had a picture of us when we were just teenagers. Ever since the day he left, I have never taken it off. It's silver chain always wrapped around my neck and stayed there, comforting me when I needed it. 

I walked into the bedroom, heart feeling as cold as ice. I had a sudden urge to go into the clsoet and look at all of the things that are Mike's, but I didn't want to torture myself more than I already have. 

The urge got the best of me, and I felt my feet unravelling from underneath me and walking in the direction of our shared closet. I opened the door, ready for what I was about to endure. His side was filled to the brim with his things, the military not wanting him to take too much. I pulled apart his shirts on the hanger, his scent overwhelming me. I collapsed into a pile of his clothes, tears staining them more and more every minute. I stood myself up in an effort to look at his things, gently and carefully opening boxes  I hadn't seen in months. 

I lifted the cardboard cover off the top box, and to my complete and honest surprise, I found hundreds, maybe thousands, of old pictures of the two of us. Ones where we are laughing, ones where we are crying, ones where we look utterly uncomfortable, and at the bottom of the pile, I found and envelope, the opening side facing up. I picked it up, the cover waiting to be opened. I looked on the back, and found my name written in his sloppy handwriting. I smiled and took the beaten up paper out of the envelope, my heart warming more and more with every crinkle.