"Love"
A/N: Just a drabble, short and sweet. Hope you all like it!
"Love you, Mike."
Mike looked up from his biology homework at the sound of El's voice breaking the comfortable silence the two had been enjoying. He found her smiling shyly across from him, lying on her stomach and propped up on her elbows with her textbook directly beneath her, and Mike couldn't help but return the smile.
It was just past five o'clock, and Mike and El were lying on the floor of the 'living room' of the cabin, their homework sorted into piles around them. It was quickly becoming a routine, the two of them retreating back to either the cabin or the basement of the Wheeler residence after school to work on their homework together, providing them some time to be alone. Freshman year was already off to a busy start, and Mike despaired in the amount of homework he had already received, though this despair was thankfully tempered by El's presence beside him at lunchtime and during a total of three of his classes during the day.
"Love you," Mike responded with a smile of his own, knowing his face had to be as red as the apple he had eaten for lunch earlier that day.
Though the two of them had been saying 'I love you' to one another since that fateful day in the summer when El first asked Mike to define 'love' to her, and she had decided right then and there that she loved him and that was all there was to it, Mike nonetheless always felt his heart skip a beat when he heard her say it to him. And often enough, it was as simple as that: El would say "I love you," Mike would say "I love you, too," and the two would happily return to whatever it is they had been doing, vindicated in their feelings for one another.
This was not one of those times.
"Why?" El asked. She wasn't smiling anymore, but neither was she frowning; if anything, she seemed genuinely curious, perhaps hoping to divert her attention away from the homework before her.
Mike blinked. "What do you mean, why?"
"Why do you love me?" she asked inquisitively, her textbook temporarily forgotten. "What do you love about me?"
And for the first time in a long time, Mike was speechless, not because he didn't have an answer, but because he seemed to have far too many. A thousand different responses flooded his mind all at once, each vying for dominance, all of them seemingly equally as persuasive.
What was there about El that he didn't love?
Mike loved how El smiled at him like he was the kindest, gentlest person in the entire world. She smiled at him like merely looking at him made her enormously happy, like seeing his freckled face and messy black hair and gangly limbs was enough to push every bad thought out of her mind. She smiled at him like he was the rising sun bringing an end to the darkest of nights and beckoning in the brightest of days.
Mike loved how El looked to him for answers, her inquisitive nature matching perfectly with his nerdy impulse to explain anything and everything, no matter how mundane or uninteresting, in the most riveting of detail. She wanted to know everything there was about the world she lived in, and no matter what question she had, she always turned to him for answers, trusting he would explain it to her in a way she would understand.
Mike loved how El always told him she missed him when they saw each other, no matter how long (or not long) it had been since last one had seen the other. Every meeting was like their first, and it was rare they greeted each other with anything other than a full embrace, eyes closed and arms wrapped around each other, as though afraid to let go. It was in those moments that El would lean in close to Mike's ear and whisper "I missed you," and Mike's heart would melt and he say "I missed you, too," and all would once again be right with the world.
Mike loved how El protected him with everything she had, whether she was protecting him from bullies, or interdimensional monsters, or even from himself. She reassured him when he was sad or angry or insecure, and was always more than willing to face anyone else who would dare make him feel such a way. She had risked her life so many times to save his, and given up so much just to be with him. Mike only hoped he would one day be able to pay her back in kind.
Mike loved how El was always close to him, choosing him above all others, consciously or not. In school, they always sat side-by-side, whether in class or at lunch. When hanging out with the rest of the party, El's seat was always the one closest to Mike's, and everyone knew better than to argue. Even when they played Dungeons & Dragons, with Mike serving as Dungeon Master and narrating the game, El sat in his lap and watched the proceedings with apt attention.
Mike loved how El held his hand almost unconsciously, as though their hands belonged together, puzzle pieces that fit together perfectly, and to have them separate was simply the most unnatural thing in the world. They would be walking through the woods, or lying in the grass, or even just sitting around and watching a movie, and Mike would suddenly feel El's fingers intertwine with his own. Indeed, it was rare to see the two without their hands held at all times, and it was for this that both had suffered endless teasing from their friends during many a lunch period.
Mike loved how El cuddled into him no matter where they were or what they were doing, and with little to no regard as to the appropriateness of the situation. Whether they were alone, in school, around family, or hanging out with their friends, whenever El grew bored or tired or simply uncomfortable, she would always respond in the exact same way: cuddle into Mike. Mike knew his face always burnt with embarrassment whenever El leaned in and rested her head on his shoulder or buried her face into his chest, but he also knew he loved the sensation of feeling her so close to him, and he never passed up the opportunity cuddle right back.
Mike loved how El kissed him like it was her favorite thing in the world to do, which was good, because it was definitely Mike's favorite thing in the world to do. He loved the feel of her lips on his, her breath on his skin, the feeling of warmth and electricity and comfort that enveloped him whenever they kissed. He loved how perfectly they fit together, how every kiss seemed to elicit something beautiful and wonderful and passionate inside of him, something so powerful he felt like he could take on the Mind Flayer all on his own if only it meant he could feel her lips on his one more time. He lived for her kisses, sought them every chance he could get, and knew he never wanted to kiss anyone else for as long as he lived.
"What do you love about me?" she had asked.
Mike could have said any one of the thousand responses bouncing around in his mind, or he could have said all of them, or he could have said none of them and come up with a thousand more in an instant. But instead, gazing into her innocent brown eyes and smiling with all the strength he could muster, tears in his eyes as he realized just how much he loved the girl lying in front of him, the answer came to him, so simple and so pure he didn't know why he hadn't said it immediately. Just one word, that was all he needed.
What did he love about her?
"Everything."
A/N: I'm thinking of maybe doing a sequel of sorts in which El reflects on all the reasons she loves Mike. What do you guys think?