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mike & el
It was late, so late that Mike knew if he even glanced at his alarm clock he would regret it. He had to get up early for school the next morning and really needed to be asleep right about now. Instead, he was tossing and turning in his bed, desperately wishing for sleep to come.
He was exhausted, but his day hadn't been so great and everything whirling around in that head of his was keeping him awake.
He also missed El. Well, he always misses her, now more than ever though. She knows exactly how to make him feel better, even just a few comforting words from her can always do the trick. At this point though, the sound of her breathing coming through the phone would be enough to make him feel even the slightest bit better than he was.
Before he knew it, his mind took off thinking about her and the way that she would look at him if she were there with nothing but concern in her eyes or the way she'd wrap her arms around his torso and squeeze him so tight that he could barely breathe.
He really missed that.
Lost in thoughts of her, he hadn't realized that his eyes were now welling up with tears. He didn't want to cry right now, knowing that a massive headache from it would surely make things worse, but he couldn't help it. The weight of everything going on and the pain of missing her was so overwhelming, it all just came out.
And after a good five minutes of trying to force those pesky tears away, he made the decision to call her. It was a terrible idea, he knew that. The ringing of the phone might wake up the entire Byers household, but if he wanted to get even an hour of sleep tonight, he had to do it.
Mike snatched the phone off his bedside table before he could talk himself out of it and dialed the number, hoping that El was awake and could somehow get to the phone before anyone else.
He waited as it rang a couple of times before someone finally picked up on the other end.
"Hello?"
Mike's face fell, seeing as the voice definitely didn't belong to El. "Uh hi, Joyce... it's Mike."
"Mike? Is everything alright?"
"Yeah, everything's fine. I'm sorry for calling so late."
"Oh honey, it's alright. I was still up, so you didn't wake me."
"Oh okay, good. Is El still up?"
"She's not, but it sounds like you really need to talk to her, so I can wake her up. I know she would be furious with me if I didn't."
She laughed for a moment, and Mike made an attempt at laughing too, but he wasn't exactly in the mood for that.
"Thank you."
Joyce then put the phone down, it growing silent for a bit until he heard the sound of El's frantic voice.
"What? Did something happen? Is he okay?"
He couldn't make out Joyce's response to her or the rambling that followed, until El finally picked up the phone.
"Mike?"
He instantly released a breath, the sound of her voice already calming him. "Hey, El."
"Are you alright? It's late."
"I know, I'm fine. I'm sorry you had to get up, I just really wanted to hear your voice."
El sighed softly, and Mike knew she was on to him. She knew him well enough to know that he wasn't okay, no matter how cheery he tried to make his voice sound.
"What's wrong?"
It was quiet for a minute, Mike debating on whether he should throw all his problems at her or not. Then again, that was the whole reason he called. How else was she supposed to help him if she didn't know what was wrong?
"I had the worst day." He huffed, the rest spilling right out. "I failed a test that I practically killed myself studying for. Some assholes in my gym class decided to trip me in front of everyone and as embarrassing as that was, it only got worse because my nose started bleeding. I had to spend the rest of class in the nurse's office waiting for it to stop. Then, I come home and my mom is yelling at my dad for who knows what, but she was crying and it's never good when she cries... I also can't seem to eat much lately or sleep and I'm so tired, El."
"Oh, Mike... I'm so sorry."
"And I miss you, I miss you so much I'm not sure I can handle it much longer." Mike's voice hitched then, another round of tears spilling out. "I wish you were here. I need you to hug me and tell me that everything's gonna be okay. I need you to make me forget about it all. I just... I need you here with me."
"Gosh, I miss you too, Mike... every minute of the day." She told him, the sound of her sniffling quickly following.
He could tell she was crying now, which only made him annoyed with himself because he had made her cry. He never wanted to make her cry.
"I'm sorry. I didn't call to make you upset too, I just-"
"It's okay." He heard her sniffle a few more times. "I hate that I can't do more to help you right now... I love you so much, Mike and I would give you the biggest hug right now if I could."
His heart warmed at the thought of her arms snuggly wrapped around him, wishing more than anything that it was real.
"I love you too, El."
"Don't worry, things will get better. I know they will." Her soft voice assured him and because of the significant effect she had on him, he believed every word. "Get some sleep, okay? Dream of me."
"I'll try my best, believe me." He grinned foolishly, only hoping that he was lucky enough to have her in his head while he (hopefully) slept.
It grew quiet between them then, even the silence a great comfort to them. Neither wanted to hang up just yet, wanting to take advantage of their time together for as long as possible, but they knew that they had to go. It was awfully late, after all...
"Night, El."
"Night, Mike."
Her soft spoken words brought yet another smile to his face, the memory of a much younger version of her sat in his basement flashing through his mind.
Feeling much better than before, Mike hung up the phone and fell back into the comfort of his bed. Sleep came pretty quickly once he let his eyes fall shut, as did his dreams, dreams filled with nothing but his beautiful girlfriend.
