The two once again lied in bed that night and watched Netflix before going to sleep.

"I'm sorry you feel so bad." El said to Mike as he turned over towards her.

"S'not your fault. It's a yearly thing." he sniffed, and groaned quietly when he realized he still couldn't breath out of his nose fully. "I'm a mouth breather now, great." he grumbled. she giggled.

"You never realize how good you have it until you get a stuffy nose." he let out a small huff of laughter and nodded.

"Dustin once asked me how he could unstuff his nose."

"I thought he was smart?" she joked.

"He is... sometimes. Book smarts, but not street smarts."

"Shouldn't that technically be book smarts though?" Mike didn't answer for a minute and let out what sounded like an attempted snort. she laughed at that and he grimaced, before chuckling lowly.

"Ugh, that felt and sounded horrible."

"It did." she agreed. He tilted his head back, where he could see her face. His cheeks were flushed red, his nose as well- he looked like Rudolph and she couldn't help but giggle a little at that- and his eyes were red rimmed, just slightly.

"What?" he asked. She reached up and brushed some hair out of his face.

"You just look cute." he made a face.

"I'm sick." she snorted.

"So? Still cute." his cheeks got noticeably darker but she didn't say anything, she just grinned. "You look like Rudolph, with your red nose."

"Thanks." he deadpanned, and coughed into his elbow for a second. She smiled sadly and ran a hand through his hair. He closed his eyes and sighed deeply when she scraped her nails lightly against his scalp. She smiled. Her eyes flickered to his lips, which were parted slightly so he could breathe, and she wanted to kiss him, thinking that she probably wouldn't get sick, but ultimately decided against it because she knew he'd complain about getting her sick. She knew she'd probably get sick when they were back in Hawkins, but she didn't really care. Other than the urge to kiss him, she noticed how dry they were, and furrowed her brows.

"Mike, do you own chapstick?"

"What's chapstick?" he muttered sleepily. She giggled and reached over to her night stand and grabbed the small thing of Carmex and opened it, putting a good bit on her finger and gently putting it on his lips. He scrunched his nose at the feeling, but didn't say anything.

"Rub your lips together real quick." she told him and he did, opening his eyes.

"Thanks." he whispered. She gave him a smile and kissed his forehead.

"I'm gonna text dad and let him know the deal and then I'll play with your hair, 'kay?" she asked and he nodded.

"Your hair is pretty." he mumbled, closing his eyes and moving his head a little, to where her chin could rest on the top of his head if she wanted. "You're pretty. So pretty. Beautiful." she smiled and could feel her cheeks heat up, and was sure he could feel and hear her heartbeat speed up. He wrapped one arm around her stomach, fisting the back of her shirt.

"So are you." she told him, honestly. He made an affronted noise and she laughed. "It's true! You're pretty, beautiful for a guy. Still handsome either way, but I think those two words suit you better, to me." A rumbling noise came from him, and she realized he was humming. She smiled and brushed hair out of his face again, before grabbing her phone and texting her dad. Mike ended up falling asleep, thankfully, a few minutes after she started playing with his hair, and she followed soon after, despite it being so early.

They were woken up by Max at nine thirty, when she brought them both dinner and Mike his medicine. She'd eaten with them, and told them that they would wake them up in the morning before they left, wished them goodnight, and took the dishes back downstairs. El took a quick shower and changed into a pair of shorts and a tank top before joining Mike again, this time, her head was on his shoulder- as he'd been sprawled out like a starfish and she didn't have anywhere else to go- with an arm draped over his chest, and the two went back to sleep.

Friday, December 8, 2017

The next couple days got a little easier for the both of them, Mike stopped throwing up everything he ate- excluding toast or crackers- on Monday, and was feeling better, other than his entire body aching at some point or another, but that's what medicine was for, and he told El that he'd feel up to leaving on Thursday, but she decided to wait until Friday, just in case. They'd gone to be earlier than they usually would Thursday night, the two deciding to share Mike's bed -since it was bigger- from now on.

Hawkins

3 PM

"Looks like Michael here has finally come back from the dead." Steve said, smirking as Mike and El walked into the Byers/Hopper house.

"Shut... your face." he put a hand over Steve's face as he passed him and Steve snorted.

"Mom! Dad!" El shrieked. "We're home! Wait, dad's at work, shit." Mike snickered. Nancy and Joyce came into the living room from the kitchen, wearing matching grins as they hugged the two. Jonathan, Will and Holly followed soon after.

"Mike, you look like shit." Nancy said brightly, pulling away from him.

"Thanks." he deadpanned. "I haven't felt like shit at all this week, so I'm not sure why I look it." she laughed, reaching up and ruffling his hair.

"But really, you look tired. Did you get enough sleep this week?" he nodded.

"He took like five naps a day." El said, holding her arms out for a hug from Nancy. She chuckled and hugged her back as Joyce pulled Mike in tightly. "Which, to me, would be a major accomplishment."

"How are you feeling, Sweetie? Do you still feel sick? I can make you something to eat if you want-"

"No, no, I'm fine." he said, smiling at her. "Thank you though. El took good care of me." El smiled at him. "Holly doll! Looks like you got a little taller in the last two weeks." He said, crouching in front of her. She stuck her tongue out.

"It's not my fault you're a daddy long legs who is as tall as me when he's crouching." she sassed. He snorted and held his arms out, and she hugged him.

"Ready to geek out for the next three weeks with me?"

"Heck yeah!" she exclaimed, letting him go so she could hug El.

"Jesus, no one's gonna hug me?" Jonathan asked, pouting. Mike rolled his eyes and stood up, knees cracking, and hugged him.

"Michael!" El squeaked.

"Eleven!" he squeaked right back and she glared. He winked at her and she chuckled.

"Ew, quit undressing each other with your eyes. There are children present." Steve said, making a face at them.

"There's only one child here." Mike corrected.

"I'm talking about you too, Wheeler. You're a child in my book until you're twenty one. And you still have a couple weeks."

"Oh, what a joyous time that'll be, too, eh?" He replied sarcastically. Steve chuckled. "And I'm not saying I'm not glad to see you guys but like, don't you have your own house?" Nancy snorted.

"Yeah, but we figured you two would come here instead of there so we decided to just come over." she told him.

"Uh huh." He gave her a look. "Are you sure that's all it is?"

"Um, I think so?" she shrugged. "Everything's going good so far, with the custody/guardianship thing. They're both willing to sign." Mike scoffed.

"Good. Fucking dickheads." she nodded and patted him on the shoulder before following Joyce and Holly back into the kitchen, where they were making sugar cookies.

"Walk with me, Wheeler." Steve said, throwing an arm around his shoulders and leading him towards the front door. Mike looked back at the other three.

"Help." He mouthed.

"No." El mouthed back and grinned at him. He stuck his tongue out at her and let out a sigh as Steve opened the door and they walked back into the cold air.

"Dude, I'm still not feeling a hundred percent. I don't feel like being out here." He whined.

"It's only gonna take a minute, calm your tits."

"Okay, Dustin." Steve flipped him off.

"I wanted to ask you for permission to marry your sister." He said, without missing a beat. Mike stared at him for a second.

"What?"

"I wanted to ask you for-"

"No, I heard you. Holy shit, I mean, I figured you were already gonna get married."

"I haven't even proposed yet. Or got permission." He raised an eyebrow at him.

"Hell yeah, dude. You can marry the hell out of her as long as you treat her right. I might be a baby giraffe but I've got a mean right hook." Steve snorted and nodded.

"Good, good. I'd never hurt her, you know that. And trust me, I know. I've seen it in action." Mike snickered.

"When are you gonna propose to her?"

"Christmas. Cheesy, I know, but I've heard her mention it to Barb."

"Good, you listen. Jesus, when we were kids she would freak the fuck out to mom about how cute it would be." He shook his head. Steve chuckled at then, but then frowned slightly.

"Uh, how're you doing? With... everything?" Mike sighed.

"Good as I can get, I guess." He shrugged. "It shouldn't have surprised me, all this bullshit with my parents. I'm just glad everything's going good in that sense." Steve nodded. "And uh, thank you, for going along with Nancy. To get custody of Holly, you know?"

"Of course, Mike, I love Holly. Hell, I love you and the rest of your little, well, not so little seeing as you're taller than me now, nerd friends. You're like the little brothers and sisters I never asked for." Mike snorted, rolling his eyes.

"Yeah yeah, I love you too, Harrington. So, can I see the ring?"

Inside, Nancy, El and Will were in El's room, talking.

"How're things with you and Mike?" Nancy asked, nudging her.

"He hasn't let me kiss him in a week." she pouted. Will rolled his eyes.

"Would you rather get sick?" He asked.

"Duh. Otherwise I wouldn't be pouting." Nancy chuckled, shaking her head at them.

"But everything's going well in general, I take it?" she asked. El nodded.

"Yeah. He loves me, and I love him." Will raised an eyebrow. She sighed and looked at Nancy, who was confused. "Falling in love with him is one of the hardest things I've ever done." Nancy made a face. "And I don't mean it in a bad way. He's not hard to fall in love with, he's amazing. It's because of the whole Bradley situation."

They continued on their conversation, until Mike and Steve came back in, Mike whining about the cold and how he was sick and that it was neglect for them to let him stay out there so long. El just rolled her eyes, shooed everyone else out of the room and made him take a nap while she edited her pictures. Soon though, her eyes were starting to bother her so she got up off the bed to change them.

"You've gotta be fucking kidding me." El groaned as she dug through her bag. Mike grunted and looked back at her from where he was laying on his stomach.

"What?" He asked sleepily.

"I can't find my contacts." she huffed. "I swear I put them in here."

"Do you have your glasses?" He asked. She scrunched her nose and nodded, sighing.

"I do. I have a pair here and back at the house, just in case. Guess that was smart on my part." she grumbled, going over to her night stand and taking a pair of black rimmed glasses out. "I don't wanna put them on." she whined.

"Why?"

"I look stupid with them on."

"Nah." he shook his head, rolling onto his back. She raised an eyebrow at him. He raised his back at her. "El," he let out a quiet laugh, "You'd look beautiful with a potato sack dress on, never mind the glasses." she blushed a bright red and he grinned. She sighed.

"Fine..." she went to the bathroom and came back a minute later, but without the glasses. They were still in her hand. She squinted at him, but he was still blurry.

"You look like you're looking at the sun. I mean, I know I'm very bright because I'm so pale but... No need to stare." she giggled at that. "C'mere." He patted the space next to him and she made her way to him, plopping down and putting the glasses in his outstretched hand. He opened them and put them on for a second, and the face he made made her laugh. "Jeez, you are blind. Here." he put them on for her, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear in the process. He grinned widely. "See, beautiful." her cheeks had yet to go from red to their normal color, so she was positive they were even brighter.

"You look better with the glasses." Is what she replied with. He snorted.

"I'd hope so. If not, I'd be pretty offended."

Saturday, December 9, 2017

Mike had stayed the night with El, but the next morning he drove over to Steve's house, where he'd most likely be staying the rest of break. Upon arrival, he saw that the Christmas tree had yet to be decorated. He also noticed-barely- the small blonde running up to him, about to pounce.

"Mikey!" she shrieked. He snorted and leaned down to hug her. "I made them wait until you were here to decorate the tree." He saw movement out of the corner of his eye and saw Nancy making her way towards them. She smiled at him and nodded.

"I kinda wanted to wait too. It's tradition for the three of us to decorate it together." she told him. He grinned and hugged her too.

"Thanks, Nance, Hols. It really means a lot." he told them, honestly. They smiled at him, and Nancy pushed him up the stairs and showed him the room he'd be staying in.

"There was a twin sized bed in here that was for guests but we've made this your room for you to stay in, until we make the move to Chicago." She explained to him. "So consider this big ass bed one of your Christmas presents that you get to take with you to the house after we sell this place." She winked at him and he rolled his eyes, but thanked her.

"A king sized though? Really?"

"If you haven't noticed, Mike, you're fucking huge and would probably take up three fourth's of a queen when you starfish. Poor El wouldn't have any space to sleep." He huffed.

"I don't have any space when we sleep in the same bed." He said, sticking his tongue out at her. "The girl is tiny but damn she's strong, even when she's asleep. Nearly pushes me off the bed sometimes."

"So you two have slept together then?" She asked.

"N-no! Not like t-that!" He stuttered, glaring at her. She raised her eyebrows.

"I didn't mean like that. What are you? Twelve?" He scowled at her.

"Shut up. But yeah, we've slept- in the same bed- together." He told her.

"When did that happen? You two have only been together for what, two weeks now?" He nodded.

"The first night I was sick. She got off work early and made me take a shower and lay in her bed because my sheets were gross and sweaty." She chuckled.

"Sounds like her. You wanna unpack now or go ahead and decorate the tree?"

"The latter." He said, grinning at her. She rolled her eyes.

"You and your fancy words."

"That's not even fancy, Nance. Compared to other shit I've written." She rolled her eyes and shut the door behind her, following him down the hallway.

"I wouldn't know, considering I've never read anything you've written. And you've let El, apparently!"

"If I ever get anything published- officially- you can read it. How's that sound?" She rolled her eyes again.

"Whatever you say, little brother." She said.

"I'm not even little anymore!" He grumbled. "Like I'm a whole foot taller than you now."

"Still younger than me." She retorted.

Mike ran downstairs ahead of her and she rolled her eyes, making her way down.

"Okay, why exactly are we in the kitchen?" She asked, hands on her hips. Mike looked at her and shrugged.

"I don't know."

"I don't know either." Holly said. "I was gonna get something but I don't remember what it was." Mike snorted.

"Me."

"You're tall as shit, Wheeler, come help me get stuff out of the attic." Steve said, motioning for him to follow. Mike made a face.

"What's that gotta do with anything? There are literally stairs going up there." He made a face.

"Just come on." He grumbled walking away. Mike rolled his eyes but followed him. They got a couple boxes of decorations into the living room when Steve said, "So uh, I'm gonna need you to break it to Nance that we have no working Christmas lights." Mike stared at him for a second.

"The fact that you're afraid of my sister amazes me." He said, finally.

"You don't even know, dude."

"Pretty sure I do? I lived in the same house as her for like fourteen years!"

"Okay, yeah, you have a point but you're her brother. I'm her boyfriend- hopefully soon to be fiancée- and she has for sure treated us differently." Mike rolled his eyes. So dramatic.

"Fine, I'll tell her. Or, I can just grab Hols and take her with me to get some and do some Christmas shopping? That way she won't necessarily know you don't have any." No like it'd be that big a deal, anyways.

"Okay, okay, cool. Yeah, do that. We won't have to deal with the wrath of your older sister now." Mike rolled his eyes again and grabbed the last box of ornaments, taking it into the living room.

"Hey Hols, you wanna go to the mall and Wal-mart with me?" He asked, putting it next to the other boxes. She and Nancy both eyed him.

"Why?" Holly asked.

"Why not?" He retorted. "You don't have to go. I just figured, you know?" He pouted a little and Nancy rolled her eyes.

"I want to go!" She said defensively. "I just wanted to know why." She mumbled.

"That's for me to know, and you to find out when we get there." He said, grinning at her. He gave her a knowing look, which she didn't get, and said, "Go get ready and we'll go in a few minutes."