It was a cold, bitter December day. The wind was howling, the roads were covered in a thick carpet of snow, and the temperature was ten degrees below freezing. None of this stopped the six teens from being outside, as a member of the party had never seen this phenomenon.
Eleven looked around her at the white, soft substance that had covered everything. Of course it wasn't her first time seeing snow, but it was the first time she could enjoy it. Her eyes were filled with wonder and fascination as she took in every inch of the white surroundings.
"What do you think?" Mike's voice broke her from the trance.
She didn't have a word for this, it wasn't like anything she had even seen. The thin snow that covered the ground during her days before Hopper found her had caused more of a obstacle than a sight to marvel at. She thought of a word that she used to describe things that looked nice, a word that had changed her life two years ago.
"Pretty."
And with that, the surreal surroundings quickly turned into a battlefield as snowballs came flying from the other teens. Mike took El's hand and guided her to the side of the house, where he started to roll snow in his hands to produce his ammunition. Eleven watched him make a few before trying to do it herself. The first ball she made was more of a chuck; but with some hand movements, it transformed into the ball she wanted. The two continued until they had several snowballs, then the picked them up and used one arm to hold them and the other to throw them.
As they stepped around the corner, a ball whizzed past El's face and landed right in Mike's face. El couldn't help but laugh, which ended up with her getting the same fate. After she cleared the snow from her face she looked for her target. After she spotted him; she threw a snowball, (and with some help from her powers) it found it's target and Dustin was knocked back.
The battle continued until everyone had run out of ammo. The group rejoined and shared laughs.
"You should've seen El's face when you got hit." Lucas said to Mike.
"Yeah well she hit Dustin pretty hard." He said with a grin.
"I think it's time for some hot chocolate." Max said.
El looked to Mike who was waiting to explain the words to her. "It's a drink that taste really good, and it's warm so it's pretty nice after being outside on a cold day."
She nodded signaling that she understood and the group walked into the Wheeler's house. The adults were at the table and talking about whatever adults talk about, the teens came in and Mrs. Wheeler knew exactly what time it was. She got up from her seat and rummaged through the cabinets looking for the coco mix. She found it and got out mugs for everyone. After a few minutes the party was seated in the basement and were enjoying their drinks. El had drank hers in just under a minute and now had a smile on her face to express how good it was. The others finished quickly after her as they all had been waiting for the chocolate beverage.
After coco Mike set up the TV to watch some Christmas movies. The first one, which was a Charlie Brown movie was the first as Mike thought it would help Eleven understand the Holliday. His plan did not work, as El was questioning nearly everything in the movie. She moved closer to him after her first few questions, and she had her head lying in his lap, completely oblivious to the movie. She had her focus on something much more important now, the boy that had taken care of her, the boy she loved.
Mike's attention had drifted from the movie to the girl as well. He ran his fingers through her hair and she closed her eyes, wanting to enjoy this for as long as possible.
She eventually drifted off to sleep which left Mike sitting down, which he didn't mind at all. The others had started watching another Christmas movie but Mike still paid no attention. He was staring at he brunette laying on him, the love of his life. Mike eventually lost himself to sleep, causing the others to snicker at the two love birds. However, they did not want to wake the two, as El would probably kill them. They resumed watching the show and enjoyed the quietness, as El was no loner asking questions constantly.
Hopper left the kitchen table and headed to the basement to check on his daughter. He reached the bottom step when he saw the two lovers sleeping; and even though he wanted to kill Mike for it, he couldn't help but admit that it was pretty cute. He went upstairs to gather the others, wanting Mike to feel as embarrassed as possible when he awoke. The parents crept downstairs and awwed at the two. Everyone gathered around them and Jonathan snapped a photo.
After the photo was taken, everyone realised that it was getting late and the party started to disperse. Mike and Eleven were still fast asleep and only woke up when Hopper woke them. After several apologies, Hopper told Mike it was fine and took El back to their new home. After Mike waved goodbye to the two he turned around and was met by the Byers. He thanked them for coming and everyone said their goodbyes. Jonathan was the last out and handed Mike the Polaroid photo before walking out. Mike's face turned a bright red. He walked upstairs and looked at the photograph again before pinning it on his wall.
He took a quick shower and changed into his pajamas before getting into bed. All he could think about was the girl he spent the day with, and how much he loved her. A few miles away a certain girl with a odd name was thinking the same thing about a certain boy named Mike.