Magic between us || Fillie

Take It Slow

Millie walked into her room, closing the door right after Finn followed in.

'You're not leaving it open?', he asked as he stood by her bed, not knowing where to sit or what to do. He was already on edge, his nerves steadily taking the wheel from the moment he arrived home from the set and started getting ready.

'She's not Hopper, we don't have to follow her orders', she responded with a shrug of her shoulders.

'And we're not Mileven, right?', he said, snorting out a laugh that was abruptly cut short as soon as he realized what he had actually said.

Their eyes met, silently speaking words they didn't dare say yet.

'Right', she concluded quietly.

Both of them awkwardly looked away from each other, feeling neither strong nor brave enough to hold the scorching eye contact.

As Finn looked around Millie's room, his brain in overdrive, his stare caught something that drew his attention back to planet Earth. He strode towards her bed that was filled with small pillows of many different shapes and sizes.

'You still have this?', a tone of surprise evident in his voice as he picked up a small green plush turtle.

She lifted her gaze to him, finding him holding her favorite stuffed toy, 'Of course I do', she exclaimed, 'Why is that so surprising?'

'Well, no, I guess that's not the surprising part', he shrugged, 'What is unexpected is that you brought it here'.

'I always take it with me', she mumbled shyly.

'Always?', his brows shot up, 'For the past, what, nearly five years?'

'Yeah', she shrugged, 'It's the first present I ever got from you, it means a lot to me.'

His lips stretched into a little timid smile at those words. His chest swelled with happiness as a blush spread on his cheeks. He remembered how nervous he was about buying her that turtle the first year of filming Stranger Things, for her 12th birthday. But he figured he couldn't go wrong with it because she would talk non-stop about those tiny animals back then.

Her excitement when she finally opened the gift box proved to him that he was right in getting it. She loved it, that much he knew. He just never expected for her to hold onto it so closely for so long.

'I had no idea', he whispered, trailing off in a daze as he stared at the small toy in his hands.

'I'm surprised Caleb didn't tell you, it seems like he can't keep his mouth shut', she scoffed as she sat down on her bed, curling her legs under her. Not having had the opportunity to speak to him yet, she was still feeling bitter about his blabbing the other night.

Finn followed her lead and mimicked her position, settling down on her bed. The plushy still between his slender fingers, serving as a sort of anchor for him, 'Yeah', he trailed, 'I talked to him in the car today as we were driving back here. He apologized for everything. He didn't mean to blow up like that, but apparently, we're being extremely annoying; his words, not mine'.

Millie chuckled silently, staring at her lap and playing with her fingers. She felt her nerves acting up once again, as she knew where this topic was heading to. And even though she wanted to and she knew they had to talk, she still felt scared.

She never found it easy to talk about her feelings, no matter what those feelings were about and who she was talking to about them. It truly takes guts to be vulnerable enough to show that side of yourself to someone. But it has to be done sometimes. Some things cannot be avoided forever.