The Life You Deserve
AN: Thank you so much for the amazing reviews! They literately give me life and push me to get each chapter out to you, which I hope can remain on a daily basis.
This chapter is super long, so I apologise in advance if you're not a fan of long chapters.
Some of the guest reviewers have mentioned how they are liking the build-up to Mileven's sexual relationship and that is going to be explored again in this chapter. So just a warning for sexual themes.
Hope you enjoy! Our boy is turning 15!
Chapter 14 – Mike's 15th Birthday
October 1985
El had been ecstatic when she found out from the party that Mike's birthday was coming up. He had conveniently not mentioned it to her. When she confronted him about it he had blushed and said it just wasn't important to him and told her something about "middle child syndrome", whatever that was. Mike might not have been bothered by his upcoming birthday but El was determined to make it his best birthday yet.
She had called his mom and discussed what they could do for his birthday, Karen had mentioned that Mike usually liked to have a sleepover with his friends and El almost begged if she and Max could attend too. Karen had sighed saying it was fine with her as long as it was okay with the chief.
Convincing her dad to allow her to stay the night at Mike's had been no small task. El pestered him for an entire week, explaining how it wasn't just going to be her, there would be four other teenagers. He finally caved when she begged for the millionth time. "Just make sure it stays the six of you El! I mean it. No sneaking off to his room or anything." Hopper had warned.
"I promise." El had said seriously, willing to say anything to make sure the sleepover took place.
"Good." Hopper had answered in relief, clearly knowing that El didn't take promises lightly, and she didn't break them either.
El had spent a good full day trying to find the perfect present in the limited Hawkins shops, finally having a fit of rage that there were no shops in the small town. She gave her dad the best bambi eyes she could possibly make to ask if they could pretty please go to the mall in the next town over. Hopper had pinched his nose and finally relented.
So that was how El found herself on Friday after school, in the mall with Max and a very bored Hopper trailing behind them.
"How about clothes?" Max suggested, clearly getting just as bored as the chief.
"No." El sighed, peering at the shop windows they walked past in the large shopping centre.
"He's a nerd. Just get him something to do with Star Wars." Hopper mumbled from the back.
El shook her head, "no Dustin and Lucas have already got him figurines. Plus, I want this to be…special."
"God give me strength." Hopper sighed, rubbing his hand over his tired forehead. "Girls I'm going for coffee and contemplation."
El turned to her dad with a frown, "You always have your coffee and contemplation in the morning."
Hopper laughed, "I worked the night shift kid, so I need the coffee."
"And the contemplation?" Max asked playfully.
"The contemplation is for trying to understand how I ended up spending my Friday night looking for the perfect gift for Michael Wheeler." He deadpanned causing Max to laugh loudly and El to scowl.
"We didn't need him anyway." El said sniffing indignantly as she carried on walking with Max and Hopper headed to the coffee shop. "His ideas were rubbish."
"Oh, I don't know. I like the toilet papering the basement idea and getting him a tarantula." Max snorted.
"Max I'm serious! I need to get him the perfect present!" El stopped walking and turned to her best friend with an almost desperate expression.
"Woah calm down El. It's not like it's the first present you've ever bought him." Max scoffed, but her smile soon disappeared when she saw the look in El's eyes. "Oh shit…it is the first thing you've ever bought him isn't it?" She questioned, already knowing the answer.
El nodded and sighed, "that's why I want it to be perfect. The first thing he ever bought me was the super com. It means a lot to me, it's my way of communicating with him…with you all. I just want it to be something…meaningful."
Max sighed finally giving in. "Okay, okay. We'll find something meaningful." She said, although El had come to know the red head enough to see she had something else up her sleeve. "Just as long as you don't give him your virginity as a gift!" she teased.
El laughed and hit Max playfully. As they walked around the shops and looked at different options, El couldn't help but wish she was older and giving her virginity as a gift could be a real option. It would certainly be meaningful. But from what Joyce had told her and from things she had heard in high school, she was definitely still too young for that. It didn't stop her from being curious about the more intense feelings that she felt about Mike, that seemed to surface more and more often now as she grew up.
"Um…Max?" El said quietly, as she looked at different comic books. "Yeah?" Max asked rather distracted as she rifled through a spider man comic.
"How…how old do you think is old enough to have sex?" she almost whispered, averting her eyes from her best friend back down to the books.
She heard Max gasping next to her, "El I was totally joking about you having sex with Mike!"
El looked back up at her friend, "no, no I don't mean like right now. But do you think 16 is the right age. Or older? Or even younger?" she said, no longer feeling nervous about her question and just wanting some answers from her closest girlfriend.
Max seemed to give her question some genuine thought because she didn't answer straight away. "Well…I know technically you're meant to wait until you're 16 or older. But I think it depends on a lot of things." She reasoned.
"Like what?" El asked with genuine curiosity.
Max seemed to check they weren't being overheard before continuing. "Well I guess you need to make sure you're with the right person. The person you want to lose your virginity to. You need to be old enough to understand the risks and use protection. Most importantly, you need to feel ready."
"How do you know if you're ready?" El whispered, her gaze intent on Max who laughed softly.
"If you don't know how you would feel when you're ready to have sex, then you're definitely not ready to have sex any time soon El." Max said calmly.
When El looked a little defeated Max jumped in. "But don't worry El. We're definitely too young to be having sex at the moment. But…it's not like you couldn't do other things." She smirked.
El's interest peaked once more. "Like what other things?" she whispered, smiling slightly.
Max grinned, "well I won't go into detail here in case we get overheard, but there are ways that you can do things together that will make you feel good without having sex. And stuff you can do for each other." She said quietly, her blue eyes still checking the shop to make sure no one could hear.
"Do you mean kissing with tongue? Because we've kissed with tongues." El said eagerly making Max laugh gently.
"Well that's one of the things you can do. Another thing involves tongues too…well one off your tongues. But we can't talk about it here." Max said in hushed tones.
El nodded but then smiled, "can we talk about this at some point though?"
"Definitely." Max said confidently. "But for now, we need to find lover boy a present."
Max followed El around like a loyal servant as they went from shop to shop. She didn't know how she had been roped into finding a present for Wheeler. Yeah, they were friends, but they certainly weren't close. Other than the usual nerd stuff, she had no idea what he loved. Except for El of course.
The trip had certainly taken an interesting turn when El had started to ask about sex. It had shocked Max who saw her best friend as a very innocent being, especially because of everything she had been through. She could barely comprehend the fact that El and Mike were at the stage of French kissing!
Max had tried to give her opinion on sex and when was the right time to do it, but in truth she wasn't too sure herself. Her brain told her 16 or older, but when she looked at Lucas, when she wrapped her arms around his broad shoulders and brought him down for a tantalising kiss, her body screamed at her wanting more and more, no matter of her age.
All Max knew was that she didn't want rumours to go around school that she was a slut. She reframed from her hormones as best as she could, even when Lucas would come up behind her, wrap his arms around her waist and nibble on her ear and she felt the burn right down there.
Max knew she had told El that she would tell her all about foreplay, but she couldn't help but feel a weird guilt. Would she be a terrible friend giving El the information? What if she went and did something that she hadn't actually been ready for? Was she sexualising her? Max gave a small shudder and realised she was going to hold back this talk for as long as she could. She wanted to protect El.
They were walking past a jewellery shop when El gasped. Max turned to the store and raised her eyebrow. She wanted to give Wheeler jewellery? El pointed excitedly to a photo of a male model who was sporting a leather bracelet.
"I want to get him that. And I could add something onto it." El said eagerly, taking Max's hand and dragging her into the jewellery store.
When they looked at the leather bracelets Max had to admit to herself that they looked a lot more masculine than the word bracelet would allow. She was so intrigued by them that she couldn't help but think Lucas would look good with one on too. Perhaps for his birthday in February.
Max watched as El selected the bracelet she wanted and then searched all the charms on display, to find the perfect one to go on the bracelet. It was Max who came up with the idea that El finally went for.
"Why do you get him one of these silver clasps to go on the bracelet and see if they'll put your name on it or something? Seeing as he belongs to you." Max said, smirking at her last words.
El had nodded eagerly, taking the silver clasp and the woven leather bracelet up to the shop owner who greeted them kindly. Max was impressed with the amount of money El had saved up over the year, as she handed dollar after dollar over. Max considered offering to do the chores and wash Hopper's truck for him too if this was the kind of pocket money you got.
The leather bracelet got "El" in a heart imprinted onto the silver clasp just as El gasped having had another idea. She took off her blue bracelet and asked the shop owner if she could have a silver clasp with "Mike" and a heart put onto her own bracelet. He agreed and she gave him the extra money required.
They both left the store feeling satisfied with their purchase. El kept looking down at the clasp on her bracelet with a big grin on her face.
"You're so in love." Max teased as they walked to the coffee shop, their arms linking together.
El beamed and sighed before turning to Max. "Aren't you in love too?"
Max blushed and bit her lip, "yes I am." She thought of Lucas and her heart trembled. "But I'm not crazy like you and Mike." She added for good measure, earning a laugh from her best friend.
"Right so I got him those comics, Lucas and Dustin have got the figurines and Will got him a new book for writing the campaigns, and you've got him the leather bracelet. Lover boy better appreciate all of this!" Max said half joking and half serious.
El laughed and nodded, "oh he will." She said in a dreamy sigh, clearly back in Mike mode, making Max roll her eyes with amusement.
Mike rushed into his bedroom with El, she was giggling that naughty little laugh she did when she was being mischievous and it made Mike even more turned on.
He pushed her down onto his bed, her curls pillowing out around her face so beautifully. Mike crawled up her body and pressed a heated kiss to her mouth. "I love you so much. I want you so bad." He panted.
He didn't have a top on and El's fingers trailed from his shoulders down his chest and then to his stomach. Mike closed his eyes and gasped as El's fingers found his erection and rubbed him through his boxers, he instantly moved his hips forward, wanting more.
El pulled him down to her, their bodies so close. She kissed him with a fervour, their tongues fighting for dominance, their chests heaving.
"Mike"
He ignored the distance voice, too concentrated on the beautiful angel beneath him, wanting to get closer to her, to really feel her for the first time.
"Mike?"
Mike broke from his kiss, confused as he realised it was El's distant voice, but El was beneath him, kissing his chest.
He blinked and woke up to his real-life girlfriend sitting on the edge of his bed with a big smile.
"Holy shit!" Mike yelped, yanking the sheets to cover his chest and to hide his erection. The action almost made El fall off the bed as he brought the sheets all the way up to his chin.
"Are you okay?" El asked startled at his sudden movement.
"What are you doing here?" he asked quickly, ignoring her own question, a sweat on his brow and his heart pounding.
El looked slightly hurt, "I said I was coming over this morning remember? To help your mom bake your birthday cake. She told me to come and wake you up. That'd you'd slept in long enough." She mumbled shrugging her dainty shoulders slightly in defeat.
Mike felt instantly terrible, realising he had sounded like he didn't even want her to be there. He sat up carefully to make sure the sheet was covering his lap, where his erection was still daring to taunt him.
"I'm sorry El. I'm happy you're here. More than happy. I just…got startled when I woke up is all." He said giving her what he hoped was a charming smile before he reached for her hand and kissed it softly.
He knew she couldn't stay annoyed at him for long and she quickly smiled shyly at his romantic gesture of kissing her hand. Mike thought that things would hopefully be okay now, but then El asked a question that caused him to blush.
"Were you having a nightmare? You're sweating." El asked, her eyes gazing over his face with concern.
"Er…" Mike considered what he could say. He didn't want to say he had a nightmare because it felt like it was disrespectful to El who suffered real nightmares, ones that made her wake up screaming or crying sometimes. Ones that made him sit up at night and talk to her on the super com for hours to calm her down.
"No, I was having a good dream…" He said quietly, realising that she was watching him with curious eyes. Friends don't lie. "A really good dream…about you." He concluded, his cheeks now flushed with red.
El just stared at him for a moment and then reality seemed to dawn on her. "Oh…" she exhaled before giving him a shy smile.
Mike felt so embarrassed that he quickly changed the subject. "Anyway, so I'm up now." He cringed at his choice of words, something was definitely up! "I best take a shower." He finished with clenched teeth, wanting to just fall into a hole and not come out.
El grinned, "okay. Well I'm going to go and help your mom with the cake then." She said before getting off his bed and brushing down her beautiful pink dress. Mike was eyeing her up when she turned around to look at him and he pretended that he had been observing his sheets instead.
"And Mike?" El said to him softly.
"Yeah?" he answered, gulping as he met her eye.
El swooped down, her hands going to Mike's cheeks as she pulled him in for a tender kiss. The kind of kiss that he felt everywhere. Her lips causing electricity to rush through his veins, his heart to leap and his brain to go to mush. She pulled away just enough to smile against his lips.
"Happy birthday," she sighed happily.
"Thanks…you too." Mike said in a dream like state. Too happy to make any sense.
El giggled and pulled away, giving him a cheeky smile, not to dissimilar from his dream El before she left the room. Mike groaned and lay back in his bed for a moment. Yep, he was going to need a cold shower. A very cold shower.
15 minutes later Mike had showered, dried off and was dressed, wandering down to the kitchen were the most delicious sweet smell was calling him.
He blinked in confusion when he rounded the corner and saw his mom and El both stood at the island, with the cake in front of them whilst his mom was explaining how best to ice the master piece. It was the odd image of his mom and El stood side by side in matching aprons that confused Mike the most. Almost as if they were becoming the same person, which in every sense of the word was just gross.
Mike loved how serious El had taken his birthday, wanting everything to be perfect. But it would be perfect just for him to spend time with her, preferably alone and definitely not with his mom there too.
His mom looked up first and gave him a big smile, walking around the island and kissing his cheek before pulling him into a suffocating hug which made him cringe at being shown affection by his mom in front of El. "Happy birthday sweetie. 15 years old today! Where does the time go?" Karen sniffed, pinching his cheek affectionately.
"Mom!" Mike moaned, breaking loose of her hold and wandering over to the cake.
"What do you think?" El said proudly, her hands either side of the cake.
"I think it looks delicious…" Mike said, his mouth watering slightly as he reached his finger out to taste the frosting, only for it to be slapped away by El.
"No! Not until it's finished. I want it to be perfect." She said scolding him in a very mothering way. Mike flinched at this new similarity to his mom who came back to standing next to El.
"She's right Michael, not until it's done. If you're hungry, there's pancakes and waffles on the table. Go join your father and sisters for breakfast." She said in a tone that made Mike know he didn't have any other choice.
"You coming too El?" he asked his girlfriend hopefully.
She shook her head and smiled, "no it's okay. I want to finish the cake." She said before picking up a piping bag full of frosting.
Mike frowned thinking that this had to be the first time El had ever said no to waffles, but he nodded in defeat and walked into the dining room where Nancy and Holly were tucking into pancakes and his dad was reading the paper.
"Happy birthday son," Ted spoke from behind his paper.
"Thanks dad," Mike mumbled as he sat down.
"Mike! Happy birthday!" Holly almost squealed, leaning over in her seat to give him a hug. Mike couldn't help but smile at his little sister's eagerness.
"Thanks Holl."
"Yeah, happy birthday ass hole." Nancy muttered to him under her breath making them both laugh.
Mike forked a few pancakes onto his plate and reached for the syrup when Nancy looked around in confusion. "Isn't El joining us?"
He could help but sigh in frustration, "no she wanted to finish the cake off with mom." He said glumly.
Nancy smirked watching his facial expression. "What are you scared she's becoming a clone of mom or something?"
"A little bit, yeah." Mike admitted as he stuffed a piece of pancake into his mouth.
His older sister rolled her eyes in amusement. "Mike she's just trying to make this a good day for you. And so what if she likes cooking and baking with mom. Surely that's going to be to your benefit in the future?" she teased making Mike almost choke on the pancake he was chewing.
Mike guessed Nancy was right. She had clearly worked hard on that cake with his mom and it did smell delicious. He took his time chewing, not wanting to comment on the other part of Nancy's statement but mulling it over in his head. He smiled against his glass of orange juice, already picturing El as his future wife.
After breakfast Mike was let off dish washing duty and went up eagerly to El who had now finished the cake. "It looks amazing. You've done a great job." He told her with a warm smile as she appraised the masterpiece.
She turned to look at him, her eyes so beautifully bright. "Thank you. I hope it tastes good too." She said biting her lip anxiously. Mike couldn't help but put his arm around her and pull her close. El leaned her head on his chest and moved both of her arms around his waist. It felt heavenly having her this close.
There was a knock at the front door and his mom shouted from somewhere in the house that she'd get it. A minute later, the kitchen was filled with Dustin, Lucas, Will and Max all rowdy and teasing Mike the moment they saw him cuddled close to El.
"Well, well, well, what did we walk in on in here?" Lucas said playfully.
"We know it's your birthday Mike but maybe just take this to your room?" Dustin teased making Mike go immediately red at the insinuation.
"We're stood with our arms around each other Dustin. If you think that's inappropriate you need to re-do sex ed." Mike said sharply making the others laugh but blushing himself when he realised what he had said. He tried to quickly change the subject. "What are you guys doing here anyway? The sleepover doesn't start until 5." He asked looking at his friends.
"Miss Hopper kindly asked us over, to get you out of the house." Dustin said simply.
Mike looked at El in confusion and she broke out of their embrace slightly so she could look at his face. "There's a few things I need to do with your mom and Nancy, so I need you out of the house." She said grinning.
He sighed watching her excited eyes. Mike wanted to tell her no, that he'd rather be home with her and his friends together but he could see how much effort she was trying to put in and it wrecked him with guilt at the thought of spoiling it. "Okay," he mumbled in defeat.
El beamed and stood on her tip toes to give him a chaste kiss. "Thank you," she said grinning.
"Damn Wheeler, you are whipped." Lucas muttered.
"Coming from you?" Will teased making them all laugh except Lucas who gaped like a fish.
"Don't deny it stalker, we all know it's true." Max said with sass, giving him a wink, causing him to blush furiously and give her puppy dog eyes.
"So are we going or what?" Mike finally said in annoyance, wanting to get this over and done with so he could get back to El.
"Yes sir, let's hit the road." Dustin said smiling.
"So what are we doing anyway?" Mike asked after he had kissed El good bye and was getting on his bike, his friends around him.
"We're gonna spend a couple of hours in the arcade, then lunch and maybe a quick round of D&D if we can fit it in. El's gonna call me on the super com when she's ready for us to get back to the house." Will said as he mounted his bike.
Mike begrudgingly smiled, knowing that this did actually sound like a lot of fun. "Let's go then." He said with a grin, kicking off and starting to pedal.
El felt guilty for forcing Mike out of his own house on his birthday, but it was all for the best if she wanted him to be really surprised when he got back and she knew he'd have fun with the party around him.
She had a precise idea of how she wanted the basement to be set up and she had enlisted Karen, Nancy and Jonathan to assist her. Jonathan arrived about 10 minutes after Mike left and they all got to work.
Her vision was that she wanted the basement to be transformed into their own little movie theatre. She wanted them to watch as many movies as Mike wanted, whilst a table was set up with the birthday cake, pizzas when they arrived, bowls of potato chips, sodas and presents.
Jonathan had impressed El with bringing something he called a projector screen. He had other technical equipment with him and El watched in wonder as he fiddled with the VHS player and the television to get everything to work.
El had wanted some kind of light in the basement and so she set to work tying up fairy lights with Nancy whilst Karen set up the tables and with the help of Holly, decorated them with party table covers and confetti pieces saying 15, which Holly happily scattered around.
They all laughed as they blew up balloons, El having difficulty tying them and making them go flying around the room until the technique finally clicked in her brain. They put a banner down the stairs, taped balloons up here and there as well as placing streamers on the ceiling with Jonathan's help.
El carefully placed the cake in the centre of the table and looked around the room proudly with her helpers. It was exactly how she had imagined it. She went over to her bag and called Will on the radio, saying it was time for them all to come back.
El squealed to herself with excitement as she looked again at the master piece of the basement whilst Jonathan took a few photos here and there for her, so they could always remember how cool everything had looked. She waited impatiently for the birthday boy to return.
Mike had to admit that he had a great time with the party. They laughed and fought in the arcade, Max beating all their asses at every game. They ate burgers at the refurbished Benny's now run by his brother and then played a quick version of D&D at Lucas's which was the closest to his house. They ignored Erica when she called them all nerds, except for Max of course who got a reprieve because she was "cool".
Despite the fun he had, Mike was more than relieved when El's voice rang over the super com to say they could come back. He'd missed her more than he'd like to admit to his friends who no doubt would have tortured him for. But he biked harder than he usually did so that he could get home quicker, the others having to try and keep up.
Mike entered his house with the party hot on his feet. He looked around disappointed to see the place was quiet.
"I think we need to go to the basement Mike," Will said giving him a bit of a push in the right direction.
They all walked through the kitchen and then Mike feeling oddly nervous opened the door to the basement and started to descend the stairs. He gasped when he reached the fifth step down as the basement came into view.
"Surprise!" a number of voices shouted to him. His jaw dropped as he looked around the room. There was a large screen projector set up, the room was dimly lit by overhead fairy lights making it look magical, there was a table with a mountain of presents, food, drinks and the cake, and balloons, banners and streamers all over the place. But most importantly there was his girl stood proudly in the centre of the room with his family stood behind her.
Mike laughed in surprise and shock at what they had done with the basement and carried on walking down the stairs whilst his friends gasped and made noises of delight when they saw the room too. "This is amazing!" Mike shouted happily, as he walked straight over to El.
In that moment he didn't care that his parents, sisters and friends were all stood close by and watching. He gathered El in his arms the second they reached each other and pulled her in for a kiss. Mike kept it as innocent as he could, but he was so happy it was hard for his love and passion for El not to be shown.
He heard a few wolf whistles and his mom say an exasperated "Michael!" but he kept El close, even when they broke from the kiss, he held her in his arms. "You are incredible." He whispered into her ear.
El beamed and slowly pulled away, her eyes so happy that Mike could feel his heart growing with even more adoration and love for his girlfriend. Something he didn't even think was possible. "I just wanted it to be perfect for you," she said sighing in relief at his reaction.
"It is perfect. You're perfect." He told her smiling so widely that his cheeks ached.
"We helped too." Holly huffed and Mike was reminded that they weren't alone and he had just called El perfect in front of everyone. He blushed, but mostly he didn't care. It was true after all and surely everyone else already had to know it too by now.
"Holly you chucked confetti. Try rigging up all these lights or the projector screen like Jonathan did." Nancy said chuckling at her little sister.
Mike grinned and went over to Holly, picking her up and sitting her on his hip as she beamed happily at her new position. He kissed her cheek contentedly and looked around at everyone. "Thank you, seriously this is amazing. Best birthday ever." He said honestly.
"You haven't even opened your presents yet." El said chuckling.
"Or eaten any cake…" Dustin added his mouth watering when he looked over at El and Karen's creation.
"Well let's get to it then." Mike said grinning, looking over at his friends and then his family.
He sat on the couch, El next to him and Holly sat the other side of him because she wanted to "assist" him with the wrapping paper. He rolled his eyes knowing that she just wanted to see what he'd got and if she could steal anything.
As he started opening presents, El whispered to him that she wanted him to open the present off her when they were alone. He nodded and gave her a warm lopsided grin before tearing into Dustin and Lucas's joint gift. Mike was overwhelmed by the generosity of his friends and family. His favourite presents were video games off his mom and dad, a camera off Nancy and Jonathan and the full Star Wars collection of figurines off Dustin and Lucas. Mike couldn't help but wonder with excitement as to what El had gotten him, but didn't press the issue.
Just like Mike had suspected, the birthday cake was so delicious that he had seconds along with Dustin, Lucas and Max. He couldn't keep the grin off his face, even when Jonathan asked them to gather around so he could take a few photos. Mike didn't even care or really listen to the taunting him and El got when they had a few photos on their own. He even kissed her for one of them. Mike was full of gratitude and full of love, he had the best girlfriend ever.
His family finally left the basement and the teens all got into their pyjamas, the girls changing in the bathroom together which for some reason Dustin thought was hot. Lucas and Mike punched him in both of his arms in response.
Mike was deciding on a film when Max and El walked back into the room, them both laughing at something. He stared at El and felt his heart pacing. She looked so adorable in her pyjamas. Well if you could call them pyjamas. She was in her small field and track team shorts and wearing one of Mike's old AV club middle school t-shirts. He looked at her long legs and her cute ass, and his blood boiled.
To get geared up for Halloween, Mike's favourite holiday, they decided to watch Halloween films and started with Ghost Busters. Mike cringed when he thought about how they had dressed up last year and no one else in school had. They had been ridiculed for weeks, but that didn't stop him appreciating the awesomeness of this movie.
Mike sat on the couch, El next to him and Will sat beside her. Dustin was lounging in an arm chair and Max and Lucas were sat in front of the couch, their hands touching. They all scoffed pizza and drank soda, Dustin burping now and again.
Mike put his arm around El, and she looked up at him grinning. He leaned in and gave her a soft kiss, nuzzling her nose. "I love you," he whispered. She exhaled deeply as if she was trying to control her emotions. "I love you too. I'm so happy you've enjoyed your birthday."
"If you guys want a room, I'm pretty sure Mike's is available." Max teased making Will, Lucas and Dustin snigger.
"Very funny," Mike muttered, glaring at the back of Max's head. El didn't seem to care about the comments, and snuggled in closer to him. Her head on his chest whilst he played with her hair absentmindedly and watched the movie. Mike knew this was going to be one of those moments that you just remember for the rest of your life, that caused nostalgia any time you thought about it. He couldn't help but smile for how thankful he was for this moment.
After they had watched Poltergeist, everyone decided to call it a night. El was exhausted after a long and busy day but she still hadn't managed to give Mike his present. She would have done so in front of others, but she knew how flustered her boyfriend could get when all the attention was on him. So she kept the small wrapped gift behind her in the fort, waiting for the right moment.
El had taken her sleeping bag into the fort, oddly excited to sleep in her old den again. Lucas and Max had taken the couch, albeit opposite ends. Dustin and Will were on the floor, and Mike had moved his sleeping bag as close to the fort as he could.
They lay facing one another, both desperate to stay awake longer than all their friends, but their eyes were heavy. Their arms were arched on the floor, so that they could hold hands, their fingers locked together, fitting perfectly. El remembered just smiling at Mike in the dark, him grinning back and then she was suddenly asleep.
El woke up to the sound of the light rain hitting the windows, she looked around, her vision trying to adjust to the darkness. She squinted and could see the time on Mike's watch was illuminated saying 2.13am. El could hear the deep breathing of all of her friends and the light snoring from Dustin.
Her eyes went back to Mike and she smiled to herself. His hand was inches from hers and his face was calm, his breathe coming out softly from his slightly open mouth and a few of his dark curls falling into his face. El bit her lip and stared at him, he was so handsome.
It had been a while since El had gotten the opportunity to stare at him like this, without ridicule from Max or the boys. She took in the sharpness of his cheek bones which made her heart race, his long body that made her skin tingle and his gorgeous pink lips that contrasted so perfectly with his pale skin. It made a burning fire start in the pit of her stomach.
El gulped, all of a sudden feeling as if she had a dry throat. Her eyes moved to Mike's thick curls and she found her hands start to twitch as she so desperately wanted to touch them…maybe even grip them between her fingers. Her heart started to pound and her breathing was speeding up as she appraised her boyfriend. Wow…now I really understand the meaning of hot. Mike is HOT. El thought desperately to herself.
She knew she should just let him sleep, but she wanted to be closer to him. El's hand found Mike's again and she slowly brushed over his palm with her fingers in tantalising slow circles. She didn't even know what she was doing, but she felt her heart skip a beat with excitement.
Mike's eyes slowly opened and he blinked in slight confusion, before he focused in on El, making the burning in her stomach wreak havoc when she saw those dark orbs staring at her. Oh wow. She couldn't even think straight.
"Mike," she almost gasped as quietly as she could.
"El?" he whispered.
"Will…will you come in the fort with me?" She asked nervously, not realising how her hormones were shoving her common sense to the back of her mind.
El heard Mike gulp nervously and he seemed to look at the fort, taking in the smaller space for a moment. But when he looked back into her eyes, he seemed to end his inner conflict. He nodded and then unzipped himself from his sleeping bag.
El shuffled over into the fort so there was room for Mike to get in and slowly unzipped her own sleeping bag. He lay down, his breathing uneven before he reached for his open sleeping bag and lay it over them as a cover.
They turned to face each other silently, sharing the same pillow. El could feel Mike's shaky breath on her face and she was sure her own warm breath was hitting his face too. "Did you have a good birthday?" she whispered to him, hoping to stall her hormones who were currently strangling her common sense.
He nodded, his nose unintentionally nudging hers because of their proximity. "It was the best birthday ever. Because of you El…" he whispered back, his voice like a caress to El's heart. He reached out his hand tenderly, and stroked her hair making El start to shake, which Mike noticed.
"El are you okay?" he suddenly asked with concern, misinterpreting her shaking to mean something was wrong, oh there was certainly nothing wrong with this situation.
"I'm fine…I'm just…" Aroused? Turned on? Horny? El stared back at Mike, not knowing what to say. Not wanting to take things too far…but - "Mike I want you to kiss me. I mean really kiss me." She whispered breathlessly, not able to hide the desperate need in her voice.
Mike gasped, his eyes wide but then he was kissing her. Really kissing her and she all but melted. His hand went into her hair, his other hand scooping around her waist and clinging to her back. El let out a sigh against his mouth, and then their tongues were dancing frantically, the sensation causing her to erupt into goose bumps.
El just wanted him closer and so pulled him tight to her body by clutching his t-shirt to her chest, she could almost hear his heart pounding as fast as hers was. She instinctly wrapped her leg around Mike's waist and he groaned in her mouth at the sensation.
His hand in her hair moved down the curve of her body and landed on her bare leg. She could feel her blood boiling as his hand slowly ran up her leg, stopping on her thigh and gripping the skin desperately.
She didn't know or care how, but El wanted Mike to be even closer. The burning was moving down lower and she felt the need to squeeze her thighs together, which was impossible when one of them was draped around Mike. She took her passion out on him through her lips, doing things she'd never done before. Things she didn't realise she knew how to do. Like pulling his bottom lip between her teeth and nibbling, making him shudder at the feeling and grasp her closer to him.
El was almost panting when she moved one of her hands to Mike's firm back to pull herself tighter to his body. It was in that moment that she felt something hard against her thigh when she readjusted herself. El slowly looked down curiously, was that his -
Mike quickly jumped away from her, disentangling himself and gasping to try and catch his breath. El stared at him breathlessly, his eyes wide and his cheeks blushed so red she could see it through the darkness of the room.
"That was…incredible El." Mike gulped, before turning his head nervously to check their friends were all still sleeping. They thankfully were but this action seemed to sober them up. "But I don't think we should carry on with them here." Mike whispered, his breathing finally starting to go back to normal.
El nodded in agreement but she couldn't stop the happy grin from spreading onto her face. She didn't regret a second of their make out session. They had never made out or let alone kissed lying down together before and it had just been so intense, so intimate, so wow.
"Will you still cuddle with me though?" El whispered to Mike, hoping their passionate moment wasn't going to steal her of snuggling up with her boyfriend.
He smiled, "yes of course we'll cuddle. I've just got to er…er go to the bathroom." He said awkwardly, getting out of the fort and making sure he kept his back to her. El smirked to herself, if the hard thing she felt against her was anything to go by, she had a sneaky feeling she knew what he was up to. The daring side of her wanted to follow him but then common sense which was exasperated and angry, told her that she wasn't even 15 yet and to calm herself down.
When Mike came back they snuggled and didn't mention what they both knew had just happened. After a while El remembered something and gasped. "Mike I haven't even given you your present yet! Do you want it?" She whispered with excitement, reaching for the wrapped box.
"What we just did wasn't my present?!" he asked rather sheepishly.
El giggled and shook her head, "no…that was just because…well because you're hot." She said giving him a smirk before handing him his real gift.
Mike chuckled at her words and then eagerly took off the wrapping paper and opened the box. He gasped in happy surprise as he lifted up the leather bracelet, the silver shinning as he squinted in the dark to make out the heart and the "El."
"Do you like it?" She asked him hesitantly, feeling nerves bubbling in her stomach.
"El I love it! It's so thoughtful." He told her grinning his beautiful dopey smile as he leaned in and gave her a soft kiss that made her sigh with happiness. Mike put the bracelet on and stared at it in wonder for a while.
"I got one too. Well a charm I mean." El said smiling as she showed Mike the additional silver heart to the bracelet Hopper had given her.
Mike saw his name in the heart and beamed, giving her another tender kiss. "I won't take it off ever." He said before wincing. "Well I might be forced to take it off for swim team, but apart from that." El laughed and snuggled closer to him. She fell into the best sleep of her life, not even the sound of her friends eventually waking up and gathering around the fort ready to ridicule her and Mike for "sleeping together" could wake her up, well not at first.
AN: I hope you liked this chapter! Please let me know what you think by reviewing. And favourite or follow the story (or both!) if you like what you see!
The next chapter is going to be…HALLOWEEN! Any guesses as to what Mileven might be going as?!