Fun at the mall and Christmas gifts. Enjoy.
Since it was El's first Holiday season reunited with everyone, she kind of felt a mixture of love and being pulled in every different direction. Joyce Byers had insisted that Hopper and El come to her Thanksgiving lunch, and they had because Hopper found giving in to be easier than defying Joyce, and Mike wanted El to come to his family's Thanksgiving dinner, inviting Hopper as well. Hopper's reasons for going to the Wheelers were twofold; one being that El was so excited to go, the second being that he knew Karen Wheeler and that he would definitely be sent home with leftovers for the next three days at least. He'd never pass that up.
El found that it didn't matter that she didn't get any alone time with Mike because she was so full from the day. If she even saw another bite of green bean casserole she'd explode.
Something about dinner with the Wheelers did stand out to her though. As they were eating, Karen Wheeler had brought up the subject of Christmas and gifts and caused El's mind to churn. She'd been looking forward to Christmas. She'd seen every Christmas special on television and to El, it all seemed like one big hug. She couldn't wait to experience it with Mike and her friends. Until Karen had brought up gifts, which obviously El knew about because Hopper always got her something for Christmas, she hadn't given any thought to what she might give other people. Other very important people. Karen's mentioning of it sparked a desire to acquire the perfect thing for Mike.
Three days into December, the first Saturday of the month, El and Max went to Starcourt Mall to shop for gifts. El thought she needed an early start in case she couldn't find the perfect thing the first time out looking for it. They shopped in every store that looked promising. El didn't want to get Mike any clothing, deeming it boring. Mike wasn't much of a jewelry guy. Nothing the girls found was exactly what El wanted.
"I want it to be perfect," El said, sighing. "Anyone could buy any of this stuff. It's not special. I want him to think of me when he looks at it."
"I'm pretty sure you could give him a Nerf football and he'd think of you, Doc. Mike thinks of you constantly," Max replied.
El smiled.
"I know. But I still want to give him something really good."
They went to more stores. They passed a new salon that had just opened and Max noticed El looking inside at all of the different colors of nail polish they offered. It gave Max an idea which she filed away for later.
They passed Victoria's Secret and Max pulled El inside, whispering to her.
"This is the store I was telling you about when we tried on our Halloween costumes. Look at all this shit! Think Mike would like this?"
El looked around at all of the fancy panties and bras and sexy sleep gowns. She'd never seen such elaborate pieces.
"What is this? How would I even put this on?" She asked, running her fingers over the silk of a black merrywidow complete with garters.
"I've never worn one. Maybe we could figure it out. We should probably check out the fitting rooms anyway to see how they're arranged. You know, if you really want to bring Mike here. It's up to you though." Max hadn't planned on trying on any lingerie that day but upon seeing that it wasn't all just put on and go, that some of it looked technical, she thought maybe they should practice first if El really wanted to carry through with what she'd wanted back in the dressing room of the Army surplus store.
"Let's try something on then. Just to see how hard it is to get into it," El said, determined. She decided against the merrywidow when her eye was caught by a pink babydoll set with transparent sheer mesh that she knew could be seen through. It came with a matching thong.
Max took the black merrywidow. It looked interesting and now that she'd seen it, she wanted to see what she looked like in it.
"Do you ladies need any help?" A sweet voice rang out. The sales clerk had seen them, probably looking confused, and offered assistance. She seemed in her mid-thirties and nice enough.
"Could we try these on? Is it okay if we try them on in the same room?" Max inquired.
"Of course! If you're more comfortable doing that. Have either of you ever worn anything like this?" She asked, nodding to what Max was holding. El's choice was pretty straightforward. Panties and a slip. No instructions really needed.
"Um, no, I haven't," Max admitted.
"Well, you'll want some panties to go with it, otherwise you'd be on show under your skirt or dress or pants or whatever you're wearing." She laughed, as if anyone would ever purposefully want to be that way.
"Oh, okay. I'll try some on too then," Max said.
After the clerk found the right size and style for Max, she led them through the store, back to the fitting rooms.
"If you need any help, just let me know. Christmastime has us pretty busy so unless someone asks us to, we can't really stand around waiting. But if you do need anything, don't hesitate to ask. I'm happy to help you," she said through the door of the fitting room.
"Thanks," El murmured. She could tell the lady was already walking away.
"I think that's a good thing. They're so busy now, next weekend they'll be even busier. We can bring Mike back," El said to Max.
Max had something she wanted to talk to El about but she didn't think the right time was when they were about to get naked and try on lingerie. They could have a snack in the food court later.
El's lingerie choice was easy enough to put on. She slipped out of her clothes and inched the little pink thong up her legs slowly, watching herself in the mirror. Then she draped the babydoll over her head and let it fall over her torso. It stopped just at her hips, allowing the thong to be seen. El could see her abdomen through the mesh. She liked how it looked.
"What do you think, Max?" El asked. Max had gotten out of her jeans and shirt, had the panties the sales clerk had given her on, and was struggling with the merrywidow itself. She looked at El.
"Whoa. You're gonna have to buy something like that some time. You look hot, Doc."
"Do you need help?" El asked, seeing that Max did indeed need help.
"I can't get it pulled…in the right…place," Max sighed.
El helped her straighten the lace, pulling it down to where it was supposed to be. The nature of the thing, the tightness, made it difficult for Max to get it situated once she had it around her breasts. El helped her pull it down.
After a couple more adjustments, to El it looked like they might have it right. They looked at themselves in the mirror.
"Oh, God, Max. You look amazing. I mean, I don't know what these things are but they highlight your legs and it just looks so sexy. I think when Mike is here I might want to try on something like you're wearing."
Max could see her point. They both looked stunning but she hadn't anticipated how hot she would actually look. Both of them for that matter. Hearing El say she'd like to try on what Max was wearing gave Max an idea.
"You know? I think you should. I can help you so it doesn't look awkward. We can like, make it a show for Mike. Maybe? Would you want that?" Max asked.
"Oh, yes, that would be perfect," El said excitedly.
"But what if instead of wearing panties with this, you like…don't? These things hanging here are called garters and back in the day they had a purpose because pantyhose like we have now didn't exist, only stockings, and the garters would clip to the stockings and hold them up. So like, what if we found stockings too and you wore those? I could help you put the thing on and clip the garters, but then since you wouldn't have panties on Mike could still see everything. Think he'd like that?" Max knew the answer.
"Yes."
"Oh! No, you should wear the panties and then take them off while he's watching and let him notice for himself how hot you look in just this thing and stockings. He can watch the garters snap off, like, bouncing around, as you slide the thong down your legs…"
"And you need to stop talking or I'm gonna mess these panties up and have to buy them," El said, not joking at all. Max's description and thinking about Mike being there with them was doing things to El, causing reactions she didn't want to have to pay for.
"You're right. But hey, look at us! We are smoking hot, if I say so myself. And we won't be weird or awkward, not that Wheeler would mind. I think it was good that we researched." Max began to tug at the lingerie, removing it before it was soiled by her own arousal.
El did the same.
"I'm happy too. Mike won't suspect anything. We should shop first so he gets bored and then surprise him," El thought aloud. The idea just came to her.
"Oh yeah! Make him carry bags, go in stores he doesn't even like. He'll be put out but won't show it because he'd never not do what you wanted to do. Then we'll bring him here. He'll probably groan because he'll feel out of place. But then…"
"Yes. But then… You get me, Max. Cool."
They left the lingerie pieces in the dressing room and slipped out of the store unnoticed. El knew that the next time, she would probably have to buy something. She'd barely escaped having to buy something today. They headed to the bathroom to clean up a bit before stopping in the food court for a snack.
Sitting at a table in the food court, sharing a soft pretzel and sipping on Orange Julius smoothies, the girls chatted.
"I've been thinking, and there's something I wanted to talk to you about," Max started. She was hesitant, not sure what exactly she was going to say.
"What is it?" El asked, worried she'd done something wrong.
"It's just like, you know when you and me and Mike…like, that night after the movie?"
El nodded.
"Well that was like, very fun. It was something I'd never thought I'd do, or be part of. But now that I know you, now that we're friends, I don't feel like I can like, have sex, with Mike anymore. I just…respect you too much. I know it was your idea and you were okay with it and all, but like, you don't have to ever share him. I'm just happy to be your friend." Max felt as though a weight had been lifted.
"That was fun. But if you don't want to do that with him, even if I'm there, that's okay with me. But I want to say that doing stuff with you is fun. It's fun to fool around with you. You're a good teacher and you're patient, not that Mike's not but it's different with you, and you're nothing like the girl I spied on from the void when I'd watch you and Mike," El was saying.
Max felt her cheeks flush.
"Oh, God. You watched?"
"Only sometimes. But when we do it you don't like…you don't seem to want to be put down and you're gentle and it's different than when I watched. And also…I like what it does to Mike when he watches us. I like how he looks at us."
Max took a long sip from her smoothie trying to collect herself. El had watched them. Max felt embarrassed for what El might have seen. El could sense it.
"Don't be embarrassed, Max. Besides Mike, you're definitely my best friend. I'll never think anything other than fondly of you. I love doing stuff with you. Shopping, laughing, watching movies, anything we do really." El didn't say it, but she knew Max knew what she meant. El liked making out and fooling around with Max. It was just fun.
Max sighed.
"God, I should have believed Wheeler a long time ago. You really are the best. I never thought I'd have a close friend like you. You never judge me when you totally could. Even when I've done something like, awful. You look at me the same. I know we haven't been friends for all that long, but…like when you know it's real…you just know."
"Friends don't lie," El said, a credo she'd adopted years ago because of one special boy.
After their snack they checked a couple more stores. Max could see that El felt dejected for having not found anything.
"Hey you know what? My dad in California always likes it when I make a gift for him. Maybe you could do that for Mike? No one else could give him the same thing, it would definitely make him think of you, and it would be special."
El's eyes brightened at the suggestion.
"Yes! But what? I'll have to think about it." Already she was thinking. It had to be something personal and special and El.
As the girls shopped, Mike was in his basement writing at his desk. It was something he'd been working on since the winter of 1983, in secret. For years, Mike had been writing short stories, having himself and El be the main characters, and putting them in a myriad of situations. At first, they were sweet loving stories, usually one of them saving the other one, but as he grew older they started to occasionally become sexier. Writing his stories was really the only time Mike had been happy in the years El was gone. No one knew he did it. His father had bought a Tandy 1000 computer when they came out and Mike had spent hours transcribing his handwritten stories into it so he'd have them all in one file and could maybe someday make a book. He was working on a new story. It was brighter and more hopeful than his stories of late had been. El was reunited with him and it breathed new life into his writing.
But Mike still had all of his handwritten stories. He'd made so sure to use his best penmanship while writing them. Even after he got the computer, he'd still hand-write his stories as well. He'd never been sure why he did it but he kind of liked how he could go back and see how as he got older his handwriting changed, how his stories got more passionate as they progressed with the years. Mike could almost see how his hand would cause the words to flourish more in the racier parts, how they'd drip with feeling.
His new story was a Christmas tale and even as he was writing it, Mike knew what he was going to give El for Christmas. He'd been making this for her all along, he realized. He hadn't been writing for himself at all, though it made him immensely happy. As happy as he could be at the time anyway. He'd been writing it all for her, and without even knowing it. The thought made Mike smile.
Of course, he was going to give her something else too. That was just how Mike operated.
The following Saturday Mike tagged along with El and Max to the mall. The girls dragged him to several different stores, knowing all the while that he was bored. He didn't complain though. They'd try things on at Gap and have Mike wait and hold their purses. They sniffed candles at the candle store. They admired jewelry and watches at a jewelry store, where El remarked about how lovely a silver heart-shaped locket looked to her. Mike took a quiet mental note.
Starcourt Mall was very busy. At last they arrived at Victoria's Secret and went inside. Mike definitely did groan.
"Ugh, I feel so weird in here," he said, complaining for the first time that day.
"Don't you like to look at this stuff? Do you wonder what I'd look like in anything?" El asked innocently.
Her question changed how Mike viewed the store, no longer feeling as awkward to be in there.
"Well um, yeah. I like that over there," he motioned toward the real lingerie, not just the panties and bras.
"Let's go look at it," El took his hand and the three of them crossed the store to the sexy clothing.
El had already spied the merrywidow she wanted to wear. She found her size, then found a matching thong she knew she'd be omitting later. She'd found where they kept the stockings the week prior so she took those as well.
"Wait, you're actually gonna try it on?" Mike said incredulously.
"How else will I know how I look in it?" El countered. "Max, you should find something too. See you in a bit, Mike."
Mike was floored, thinking of both El and Max wearing sexy lingerie.
If only I could see them. I'm sure that's not allowed in here.
El left for the dressing room, wanting to get the stockings on before Max and Mike arrived. She'd seen how his brow furrowed the way it did when he was really thinking about something. El knew what Mike was probably thinking about.
Max had her choice in her hands, an aquamarine colored babydoll not unlike the one El had tried on the week before. The color matched her eyes and really went well with her flowing, fiery hair.
"Listen," Max whispered to Mike. "I'm going to ask the sales clerk something to distract her. When I do, go to the back of the store and you'll find the dressing rooms. If it was available, El will be in the last one, kinda in the middle. The rooms are in like a semi-circle. We've already talked about it. So watch me and then go."
Mike watched Max do exactly what she'd said she was going to do. There were a lot of people in the store, men and women. Most of the men looked bored and were holding shopping bags and purses. Mike walked confidently as though he was meant to be doing something important. He tried his best to not look lost or confused. He just went.
He found El in the furthest fitting room from the entrance to the big closet type room with the little booths. Mike went inside.
El had gotten the stockings on and was waiting on Mike and Max. She was only wearing the black stockings and the little black thong.
Mike didn't have time to say anything before Max joined them.
"Ooh, that's pretty, Max," El said.
Max winked at her.
"I see you're ready to do our thing. Here, just let me put this on."
Mike watched as Max undressed. He tried to lean against the wall and not be in the way, not believing he was watching them try on pieces of lingerie. Hot lingerie at that. He watched Max pull the blue thong up her smooth legs. Mike saw that El was watching her too.
Max slipped the babydoll over her head. Mike could see her torso through the sheer fabric. Her breasts swelled in the confines of the top, making them look even bigger. Then Mike watched as Max went to El and helped her put on the much tighter clothing she'd chosen. He didn't know what to call it but as they got the black lace into place and he watched Max clipping the little garters to the stockings El was wearing, Mike thought he might need to jerk off. And soon.
"You guys look…fuck," Mike was able to whisper. The idea that they needed to be quiet somehow made everything even hotter than it already was.
"I'm gonna definitely have to buy these panties. I'm already so wet," El breathed. She touched Max's abdomen through the soft blue material she was wearing.
"So am I," Max agreed. She knew they'd planned this and Mike was already watching so intently. Max leaned forward to El. They started to make out, slowly yet hungrily, knowing that it was a show for Mike. They were trying to be quiet but still the occasional sigh or gentle moan could be heard.
Mike couldn't stand it any longer. He took his hard cock out of his jeans and started to stroke it. He didn't think they could have sex in there because someone would definitely hear. He went slowly as the girls made out in their hot lingerie.
El slid her hands under the fabric of what Max was wearing, softly touching her stomach and breasts before her hand went down. El tugged the thong into Max's wet slit, causing Max to pull her closer and do the same to her. El moved the fabric around between Max's folds a little, causing them to rub against her clit and deliver delicious friction. Then El's hand moved inside the panties.
Max was doing the same to El. Whatever El did, wherever she touched, Max would reciprocate. Mike watched them as he stroked his dick, leaking pre-cum all down the shaft.
El bit Max's lip gently, making sure Mike could see her pull it out with her teeth. She had her palm covering Max's mound, the heel of her hand rubbing Max's clit and her fingers just at her opening, pressing inside occasionally. Max did the same to El.
"Doc," Max whispered between kisses. "You're gonna make me cum. Your hand…oh shit, El…" Max came all over El's hand as El kept kissing her and rubbing her and Mike watched it all.
Max felt her body wrack with little explosions and held on to El as they subsided. With one hand she caressed El's hair while the other remained inside the little black thong. Mike was still pulling on his cock, stroking it and pumping it slowly.
Max knew what she wanted to do.
She removed her hand from the thong El was definitely going to have to purchase and, kneeling down, began to unfasten the garters from the stockings.
Mike wasn't sure what was going to happen so he just watched. He liked watching the little belt things snap away from the stockings like rubber bands only to fall loosely back onto El's thighs. Then he watched Max begin to slowly remove the thong El was wearing.
Once El stepped out of the panties, Mike was greeted with a sight he'd not ever even imagined. El stood before him in black stockings that came to her upper mid-thighs, no panties, which showed her smooth and wet bare pussy to him and caused the hanging garters to almost frame it, and the top of the lingerie she'd tried on. Her breasts heaved in the lacy fabric. El looked at Mike with excitement in her eyes.
Max took El's hand and led her to Mike, who was really only a few feet away. She turned her so that El's back was to Mike. Then Max bent her over.
The garters hanging on the back were just as hot as the ones on the front as they draped over El's toned ass. Max had positioned them so that they could both see the mirror.
"I think El needs a bit more. You should give it to her, Mike," Max whispered.
Mike slid himself into El's waiting and dripping pussy. They all watched the mirror as he fucked El from behind as quietly as he could.
"I'm gonna buy this for you, El. All of it. You're so fucking hot in it," Mike murmured as lowly as he could. El and Max both heard him. He ran his fingers over the lace on her back before gripping her bare hips.
Max moved in front of El, kneeling again. This time she kissed her, muffling any moans El made.
El had already been pretty close when Max's hand was on her but feeling Mike inside her while Max was kissing her sent her flying. Her eyes opened wide, looking at Max and not being able to speak.
"She's cumming. Can you feel it?" Max asked Mike.
Mike thrust hard, his hands on El's hips pulling her even closer to him. Mike felt her quivering around him and watched her face in the mirror. It was all he needed. He didn't announce it. Mike just came with his cock deep inside El while he watched Max kiss her.
Afterwards it was all they could do to stifle their giggling and laughter at what they'd just done. Also because both El and Max were going to have to buy the panties they'd been wearing. They redressed and Max left the room first, making sure the coast was clear for Mike. Then El joined her to pay for her items.
"I'm buying that. Fuck, I'm buying all of it. Max's too. As a thank you."
The girls let him.
Once back in the mall, the teens couldn't stop laughing.
"I can't believe we did that!" Mike laughed.
"Yeah, but that was really fun," El agreed.
"Wanna get some ice cream?" Max asked.
They all did.
A few days after their fun mall excursion, while rummaging through her closet, El found the perfect thing to give Mike for Christmas.
Even though Hopper didn't ever let El leave the cabin after he found her in the snow, it wasn't like he was her captor. He always functioned more as an overbearing father. As her hair started to grow back out, not being routinely buzzed anymore, Hopper had noticed how cute she looked and as it got fuzzier he started to document her hair growth. Every couple of months he'd take a new picture of her as her hair grew. They weren't all school photo headshots, but they showed her hair growth as well as El's own growth from a child into a woman. Hopper would develop the pictures himself in the darkroom at the police station so that no one would notice her and inquire as to who she was. He always made two copies, so El could have her own set. He'd done it for years.
El happened upon her shoebox of photos and knew immediately that she would give them to Mike. She just needed to get a little photo album for them.
El called Max to share her find.
"Max? I found the perfect thing. Will you go with me to the mall to find a photo album this Saturday?"
"You know I will. Um, that kinda works for me too. I got you something for Christmas and it's a gift to get before Christmas so this Saturday will be great."
"You don't have to get me anything. Just being my friend is enough," El uttered. The idea of anyone besides Hopper or Mike giving her a gift hadn't crossed her mind.
"Too late," Max said sweetly. "I think you'll like it. I'm gonna surprise you though and just show you Saturday. How is 11:00 for you?"
"Eleven is my name," El said before laughing into the phone. "I'll see you then!"
On Saturday El met Max at the mall and followed her to the second floor. She was surprised when Max ushered her into the new salon.
"Pick out any color you want. I got you a gift certificate for a manicure and a hair styling," Max said proudly.
"You did?" El was touched. "Wait, Hop gave me some money so I can buy some gifts. Can I give you the same thing? We can do it together. Then we can go find my album. Please?"
It was Max's turn to be touched. She wasn't as girly and into the stuff as El seemed to be, but Max liked the idea of sitting next to El and chatting while they got their nails and hair done.
"Only if I can get black nails," she said.
"Any color you want," El smiled radiantly.
As they got their manicures, El told Max about finding her photos and how she was going to give them to Mike for Christmas.
"Now that is a cool idea. Who knew Hopper was a big softy? Ooh! We should take a picture of you after we get all this done and then put that in the album too. There's a photo booth downstairs. There are two actually, one is pretty new and it makes color photos. We'll use that one for just you but I want to take pictures of us together in the old one. It takes like four pictures so we can make different faces."
El loved the idea.
Max's black nails looked a lot more badass than she'd imagined. She was happy she'd chosen that color. As for El, who of course chose pink, she was more than happy with how she looked. Her hair had been trimmed only a bit so it still hung a little past her shoulders (El had decided a couple of years before that it was a length she liked so she'd cut it herself to remain that length), but it had never looked so stylish. She looked every bit as young and fresh as she felt.
They found a photo album that El liked. It was brown leather and looked more like an old book than an album. Then they went downstairs to play in the photo booths. El sat alone in the new one and posed for the final photo she'd put in her album for Mike, then she and Max sat together in the older booth that took a strip of four black and white pictures and made funny faces and scared faces and angry faces and happy faces. They did it twice so they'd each have an entire strip.
Mike and El decided to exchange their gifts on Christmas Eve. Their decision was aided by the fact that Hopper was working that night so that he could be off on Christmas Day and the day after. And it being Christmas, he let El spend the night with the Wheelers because Karen and Ted would both be there along with Nancy and Holly so he thought it safe enough.
As the snow was gently falling outside, Mike and El walked through the neighborhood hand in hand looking at Christmas lights on the houses and trees.
"Wow, this is like magic," El said with wonder.
"You're magic, El. Every Christmas Eve, even though I didn't believe in him, after what we saw as kids I thought maybe it wouldn't hurt to try. So every year I'd ask Santa Claus to bring you back to me. I was terrible this year but I finally got my wish."
"You were hurting. You're on the nice list, Mike. You're on mine anyway."
"I love you, you know," Mike said, stopping on the sidewalk.
"I do know. And I love you too. I cried myself to sleep so many nights because I missed you and I knew you missed me. It was hard."
He kissed her while the snow fell around them. Then they went back to his house to exchange their gifts. They'd already had dinner with Mike's family and it was getting pretty late. Christmas Eve would become Christmas Day in about two hours.
They shook off the cold and took cups of hot cocoa into the basement with them after they changed into their pajamas.
"Who should go first?" Mike asked.
"You can open yours first," El said. She was already feeling warmer and she didn't think it was because of the cocoa.
El handed Mike his gift. She'd wrapped it herself in red and silver wrapping paper.
Mike slowly and methodically undid the tape, wanting to savor the moment. He got the paper off and held a cardboard box. Mike lifted the lid. What he saw he thought was a book. He took it from the box and held it up.
"What book is this? There's no title," he asked, his brow furrowing the way El always secretly liked.
"Open it." El held her breath.
Mike opened the cover and saw the girl he'd found, though her hair was a tad fuzzier. He almost started crying right then because the last time he'd seen her look close to that was the night he'd lost her. El seemed to notice.
"Keep looking, Mike"
He turned page after page in the album, noticing that they were all photos of El. Her hair was getting longer as he turned the pages. At one point it was curly. Then it got longer. Mike saw El throughout the years, getting older, changing into who he saw right before him. Pictures of her smiling, sometimes laughing. He could feel his heart swelling.
"I wanted you to have them because now you'll know how I looked while we were separated. You can see me growing up. Hop took them all."
"Hopper? Huh. Maybe he's not so bad after all…" Mike was still looking at El's face as it changed with her aging. The last photo looked exactly how she looked sitting there in the basement with him that very Christmas Eve.
"Max helped me with that one when we were at the mall last Saturday. Did you know they have photo booths there? We should take some of us sometime."
"Open yours now," Mike said, more excited now to give his gift. That they had both decided to give thoughtful gifts that were so personal made him happy. He handed her the present he'd wrapped that morning.
El removed the paper. Mike's gift was also in a box. She didn't know why her hands were suddenly trembling as she removed the lid and took the gift from its box. She held in her lap a stack of notebook paper held together with little golden brads. The covers, both front and back, were thicker black cardstock and My Happy Thought had been written in pink letters that Mike had glued on.
El opened the cover.
For El. It was always for El, even when I was a kid. El is my happy thought. Without her I can't fly.
She flipped through the pages, seeing time and again her name as well as Mike's. His handwriting went from a tad childish looking in the beginning to more adult as she flipped further.
"What is all this?" El asked, noting little doodles on some of the pages and little notes to himself that Mike had written in some of the margins.
"Stories I've written over the years. No one knows I do it. El, it was the only time I was happy. When I was writing a story with you and me, together, facing anything and everything, it made me feel closer to you. I have them on the computer too. And I'm gonna keep writing them. But these…these are the ones I wrote all the years you were gone. Some are a little sad, some are funny. Some are really…well fuck, some are porn okay? But they're all about us."
El felt the tears streaming down her face as Mike spoke. Hearing him describe how writing about her was the only thing that made him happy and how even though he thought she was gone, he never gave up on her as very emotional for her. Mike created stories just by thinking of her and it touched El's very soul.
"Oh! I also got you this," Mike said, producing a little box.
El opened it, lovingly setting her book aside. The book he'd given her would be her most prized possession from then on. After getting the paper off, she noticed it was a little velvet box like she'd seen in jewelry commercials.
"Don't think I'm crazy," Mike chuckled. "It's not a ring…this time. But someday, you know. I got you this because I thought you'd like it."
El opened the little box to reveal the silver heart-shaped locket she'd seen in the jewelry store at the mall.
"You got this? I love this. Put it on me?" El said giddily, taking the locket from its box.
"Sure. But first open it and look inside."
El opened the little locket. One side was empty but the other side held a small picture of the blanket fort, of El's blanket fort, looking just as it had that cold stormy night when Mike and his friends found her cold and alone in the woods.
"So you'll always have it with you. So you'll always have home. You can put whatever you want in the other side." Mike slid around to fasten the locket chain around her neck.
El made sure her treasured book was safely out of the way before she pounced on Mike, sending them both to the floor.
"I love you so much. You're my favorite. You said some of the stories were porn? Show me now. We're the characters, right? Let's do something you can write about later. A very merry Christmas story."
Mike would never pass up such inspiration. As Christmas Eve became Christmas Day, Mike and El were connected in literally every way possible, body and soul.
A/N: That was fun to write, I must say.