Chapter One

Mike sat alone at the Snow Ball, unable to focus on anything but the thought of El. His friends were now all on the dance floor; Max with Lucas, Will with a girl called Sarah and Dustin, unfortunately, with, his sister. But even the thought of one of his best friends dancing with Nancy couldn't distract him tonight.

He missed her, terribly. Her absence from his life over the last year had been nothing up to the last month. She was a constant ache in his heart. She filled his thoughts constantly and he didn't... couldn't feel whole without her.

He kept replaying the night she'd come back... over and over in his head. The noises of the demo-dogs outside... the crash as one had come through the window... the chain on the lock... and then she'd walked in and simply stood there. More beautiful than he could possibly have imagined. He'd felt that his heart had surely stopped as the tears rushed to his eyes. He couldn't breathe. She was there.

'Eleven...'

'Mike...'

He strode towards her, wrapping his arms around her, his breath coming in short, jagged bursts. She was here. His El. His girl. She was finally there, with him.

'I never gave up on you,' he grinned through his tears. 'I called you every night. Every night for;'

'Three hundred and fifty three days,' El sobbed.

The words hit him like punches to the stomach. His heart swooped. 'Why didn't you tell me you were there? That you were okay?'

His fight with Hopper had played in his head over and over... It made moments like now, when he was alone, without her, even harder to take. Of course he knew why he hadn't been able to see her. She was in danger. She was a fugitive. The thought hardened his jaw and made his eyes prickle with tears... but that didn't make it easier. All those nights he could have spent with her... all those days they could have done things together... gone to the movies... or walking in the woods... all those times he could have kissed her...but she could never really have a normal life, she could never really go to the Snow Ball, could she?

His heart hurt again and he sniffled, not realising that he was nearly crying again. He looked back at the dance floor... his friends looked to be having a great time. He smiled lightly. They all deserved that...but no-one deserved it more than El... She should be here... he thought again. Would she have remembered that he wanted to go with her the year before... just before he had kissed her for the first time?

But his thoughts drifted not to their first kiss, but the last time he had seen her...

'Just be careful, all right? I can't lose you again...'

'You won't lose me,' she had said softly, inches from his face.

A tear trickled down his cheek. 'Do you promise?'

'Promise.'

Mike's heart ached once more, his stomach flipping with excitement as she had leaned in to kiss him.

Hopper had interrupted them. Never in his life had Mike wanted to kiss her so badly. He had wanted to kiss her when she'd first walked through the door at Will's... as soon as she'd walked in...but her presence had had him mesmorised. He desperately wanted to feel her lips on his... but at the same time, he just wanted to look at her, take in every inch of her presence; her hair, her eyes, her body, her feet, her hands; every inch of her.

And she'd driven away... she'd closed the gate. Hop had said she'd slept for three days after defeating the Mind Flayer. Then she'd had to go back to the Lab... He'd called Hopper and Joyce every day since then... desperate to see her. But Hop had always said it was too risky and that he was waiting for a meeting with someone...but didn't she want to see him as well?

And right then, alone at the Snow Ball, he wondered if maybe she didn't want to see him. Maybe everything was too painful? Maybe there were things that she'd experienced that had changed everything? Would she really be interested in a stupid Snow Ball after what she'd been through?

Mike shook his head, 'So stupid,' he muttered to himself. Why did it matter so much anyway?

The music changed, he noticed, and he looked up at his friends briefly. They were still dancing. He lowered his head glumly and sunk back into his daydream, thinking about her face. Her big brown eyes, the contour of her cheeks, her smiling lips.

The door to the gym opened and Mike looked over absent mindedly.

His heart stopped. She was there.

El's hair was chocolate brown and curly, resting at the base of her neck. Her eyes were soft and pink. She wore a blue dress with a pink sash. He had never seen anything so beautiful.

Mike's breath caught on his chest and he got to his feet.

El looked around the gym for him... before finally finding him. Their eyes locked and Mike felt that he couldn't breathe.

Despite the fact that he had wanted to go onto that dance floor with El all night, now suddenly, he found his legs felt like jelly. She walked over to him. He gulped hard but smiled warmly. 'You look beautiful,' he said breathlessly.

El smiled shyly.

'Do you wanna dance?' he asked quickly.

El looked briefly at the dance floor at the figures swaying to the music. 'I don't know how,' she replied.

Mike shrugged but smiled, 'I don't either. Do you wanna figure it out?'

El nodded, smiling shyly again. Mike took her hand and led her onto the dance floor. His heart was still beating fast but his excitement and anticipation of holding her allowed him to power through his jitters. He took her arms and placed them on his chest, 'I think...like this...' His body tingled when she curled her fingers around his neck. 'Yeah, like that.' He smiled widely and they began to move to the music.

He couldn't take his eyes off her. Her hazel eyes were wide, beautiful, innocent, and they were looking right into him. It made his heart dance and his stomach fluttered with nerves. He thought again of the night she had returned... how he'd held her... he thought of every day he'd contacted her... she had been there... she had heard him... he thought of the way she had leaned in towards him that night...she had been going to kiss him...

He looked back at her now even though he'd never really left. Something burned deep within his soul. He felt electricity surging through his body. He couldn't wait any longer. He had to kiss her. He needed to.

Mike leaned in and gently pressed his lips on hers.

El's breath caught on her chest. Mike smiled shyly and she smiled back, resting her forehead against his. Mike felt a sweet release now they had kissed again. It felt like the beginning of something special... something more... She was his girl and he was her guy and nothing could ever come between them again.