Mileven One-Shots

First Day of School

"Are you ready for the first day of school?" Mike asked El as he helped her organize her school supplies. Hopper had went to the store to get them for her after work that day and El had no idea what to do with them.

"I am excited but also scared," El said.

"What are you scared about?"

"So many people. I've never been to school before. I don't know anything about it," El said, looking down at the floor. Her legs dangled off the edge of her bed, Mike beside her.

"Well you have nothing to be afraid of. Me, Max, Lucas, Dustin, and Will are all going to be there with you. Nancy and Jonathan are upperclassmen but they'll still be there too. And I know we don't have every class together but we will be together for 2nd, 3rd, and 5th periods and we'll be together for lunch," Mike said softly and kissed her cheek. She smiled softly, which made Mike smile too.

"Thank you," she said softly. He took her hands in his and brought them up to his shoulders and then put his hands on her waist and leaned in and they kissed sweetly.

"Alright Mike. Time to go home kid," Hopper said from the doorway. Mike and El pulled apart and El found herself looking down at the floor again.

"You'll see him again tomorrow," Hopper said, half in a teasing tone and the other half in a sympathetic one. El nodded, tearing up. She wasn't sure why she wanted to cry, but she just did. She looked up at Hopper and he sighed. As much as he wanted to let Mike stay, that just wasn't an option. Mike and El followed Hopper to the front porch and El wrapped her arms around Mike.

"Hey, I'll see you tomorrow morning alright?" Mike said, lifting her chin gently with his index finger. She blinked slowly as she nodded at him and he kissed her softly.

"I love you," he said gently, caressing her cheek. She leaned into his touch and smiled ever so slightly.

"I love you too," she whispered. She put her hands on his chest and leaned in for another kiss and Mike held her face in his hands.

Hopper stood in front of the car, leaning on the door waiting for them. As much as he wanted El to stay young and innocent, it made him happy to see her so in love and happy at such a young age.

Mike and El's lips lingered together for a minute before Mike went over to the car and got in the passenger side. El watched as he blew her a kiss and she giggled as she pretended to catch it and put it in her pocket. Hop pulled away and she stood on the porch watching the car as long as she could see it. She let out a shaky sigh as she went back in the house, locking the door behind her. She decided to shower and then climbed into bed, wrapped up in Mike's Hawkins AV sweatshirt. She laid there, staring at the ceiling, still awake when Hopper got home.

"You still awake kid?" He asked from the doorway.

"Yes," she mumbled. She sat up and turned on her bedside lamp. Hopper came and sat in the chair across from her bed.

"You nervous?" Hop asked.

El shook her head.

"Terrified," she said. She reached beside her bed and grabbed the polaroid photo of her and Mike, running her fingers over it. In the photo, Mike and El were standing on the hill where cerebro was at, the sun setting behind them. Mike held El's face and she had her hands on his chest as they smiled at each other.

"It wouldn't have been appropriate to let him stay. Or I would've."

"He could've slept on the couch. Or on the floor with the door all the way open," El said.

"We'll see about that sometime in the future. I promise. He said in the car he had homework he needed to finish before he went to bed. You understand they've all been in school for a couple months right? But I promise you once everyone starts getting on a schedule I'll consider it okay?"

El nodded and suddenly burst into tears. She didn't know why she was crying. Maybe it was stress. Maybe it was fear. She wasn't sure.

"Hey hey hey it's okay," Hop said. He got up and sat beside her and put an arm around her, letting her cry on his shoulder. After just a couple minutes she calmed down and curled up under the covers.

"Alright, try to get some sleep okay? Goodnight," Hop said.

"Goodnight," she muttered back. He turned her lamp off and left the room, shutting her door. She stared at the ceiling again, her eyelids getting heavier and heavier until she finally drifted off to sleep.

•••••

El woke up in the morning still feeling absolutely drained. She climbed out of bed and got dressed, doing her hair as best as she could the way Max showed her. She washed her face and brushed her teeth.

"No breakfast?" Hop asked, sipping his coffee and reading the newspaper.

"I'm not hungry," she said, sitting across from him with her backpack on the floor beside her.

"Okay. Well we better get going then. I forgot we're going to swing around through town to get Mike," Hop said as he set his coffee mug in the sink. El perked up at the mention of his name and skipped out to the car. Hop took off down the road. The closer they got to town, the bigger the pit in her stomach felt and the more scared she got. They pulled into Mike's driveway and honked the horn and Mike came out with his bag slung over his shoulder. El couldn't help as she jumped out of the car and ran to meet him, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"Are you okay?" He asked her softly, his lips pressed against her ear.

"I...I don't know," she said.

"Well let's get through the first day and see how you feel then, okay?" Mike said. She nodded and he kissed her sweetly before they got in the car. El sat between Hop and Mike and she leaned against Mike, her cheek squished on his shoulder. Hop pulled up to the school and they climbed out of the car. El saw all the people as they walked into the building and she froze with fear. Mike felt the small tug on his hand as she stood still and he turned around to her.

"El? El are you alright?" He asked. Hop still sat there, waiting to see what was going on.

"Mike I can't do this..." she said. He gripped her shoulders reassuringly and made her look at him.

"Hey, look at me. You're going to be just fine. All of us are going to be here with you all day. You won't be by yourself. El...hey listen to me, I'm right here. You're okay. You're okay," Mike said. He rubbed his hand on her cheek and she felt her heart rate return to normal from his touch.

"She okay?" Hopper called. Mike looked up at him and nodded as El shakily wrapped her arms around his torso.

"Okay, see you two this evening," Hop said. He gave Mike an approving nod and pulled away.

"Eleven!" Max, Lucas, Will, and Dustin called excitedly. They all group hugged her and she smiled softly but immediately gravitated back to Mike when they all pulled away from her.

"Alright, let's get you inside and to your first class. We're going to take this one step at a time okay?" Mike said gently.

"Okay..." El whispered.

"Into school we go!" Dustin said excitedly, and they all followed him inside.