Stars
AN: Hi everyone!
It's been a while, since I last published something, as there was so much else going on in my life, but now I'm back and I'm planning to be more active again (also going to update the unfinished stories soon). But for now, I start with a fluffy Mileven one-shot set shortly before the events of season 3.
Disclaimer: I do not own any characters or storylines of the Stranger Things universe.
The stars shone above them like a sea of small lights, in a weirdly chaotic pattern, forming constellations and figures when you connected the dots in your mind. They were shimmering mystically and in combination with the light of the moon they brightened the otherwise pitch-dark early June night.
The air was still heavy from the heat of the day, pressing down on them and wrapping them up in a warm embrace. But now it was a rather comfortable feeling and felt nothing like the burden of the past days, when they had groaned from the heat of the sun burning down on them relentlessly and the dust dry air, that had crawled through the cracks of the cabin, slowly heating it up, like the inside of an oven.
Luckily, school had just ended a week ago, so her friends were free to spend all their time with El, and they had happily sought some refuge in a secluded area of Lovers Lake. Hopper still didn't like El being out in public, but so long as they avoided the crowded swimming areas of the lake and chose a more abandoned part of it, he had nothing to say against it. El had the feeling that he was actually quite happy to hear that she would spend these days with her group of friends (excluding Dustin, who had been off to summer camp right after school had ended), instead of only Mike visiting her at the cabin, how he had mostly done each day after school for the past half year.
But during this particularly hot week, they had willingly traded their alone time in the sticky cabin for a few days out at the lakeside, where they had been able to cool down in the wet depths and afterwards savour the rays of sunshine, being spread out on their towels.
Nonetheless, El missed her time alone with Mike and though she still spent all her days with him, it wasn't just the same.
Since the night at the Snowball, where Mike had explained the concept of dating to her and had asked her to be his girlfriend, she had been with him every day and during that time she had learnt a lot about him. One of those things she had observed, was the Mike he was among his group of friends, and the side of him that he only showed to her. And though she loved every version of him, she relished those moments when they were on their own, and he was the most tender, most caring towards her, without the slightest hint of embarrassment, and always staring at her outright with bright eyes and a smile spread across his face.
It was not like all that was gone as soon as they went out, but it was more subtle and often interrupted by shy glances to the ground, especially whenever one of their friends teased him about his lovesick demeanour.
Therefore, El had been pleasantly surprised when Mike had hastily kissed her goodbye this evening in front of his friends and had used the short moment to sneak a piece of paper into her hand.
In the privacy of her room, she had unfolded the small paper that looked like it had been teared off from some kind of notebook and in his messy handwriting it read:
Meet me outside the cabin at midnight. Mike
El's heart had skipped a beat upon reading the short note and she had felt the excitement immediately creep up inside her body. She had never sneaked out of the cabin at night to meet Mike before, but the prospect of seeing him, spending time alone with him again after so many days, and the hint of the forbidden, made her feel aflutter. Because there was no question, that Hopper would never approve of a nightly rendezvous.
So, she had spent the following hours agitatedly observing her dad when he would finally retire to bed. El had also made sure, that he would never run out of beer, in hopes the drink would make him fall asleep more quickly.
In the end, Hopper had not made it to his bedroom, but had fallen asleep in front of the TV in his big armchair instead, but El was nonetheless satisfied and confident that this would do.
She had gotten up and gone to her bedroom, closing the door behind her, so that Hopper would think she went to bed, in case he would wake up during the night, and afterwards had spent the next 45 minutes sitting on her bed and staring at the clock on her wall in anticipation.
After what felt like eternity, she had heard a low tab at her bedroom window, and she had jumped to her feet to open it. With a wide grin and flushed face from the biking exercise across town, Mike had greeted her, and she had not hesitated a second to climb out of the window to meet him.
And with that he had taken her hand in his and walked them through the woods, until they had reached a small clearing, where they lay now starring up at the sky.
El lay with her back on the grass, that was crispy dry from the past days. She still wore only a t-shirt and the shorts she had been wearing all day, but now they didn't stick to her body anymore, like they had earlier. Her right hand lay in-between her and Mike, intertwined with his left one, and she felt his thumb drawing caressing patterns on the back of her hand.
El couldn't tell how long they had been out here by now, as time became insignificant. She could only guess that at least an hour had passed, during which they had talked, and Mike had made her giggle on several occasions. Ultimately, he had started to explain her something about the stars and had pointed out constellations to her, that were visible in the Indiana night sky, like the Little Bear or The Herdsman. She had honestly failed to see the figures that the stars were supposed to form, but she had loved to listen to his calm voice and his seemingly endless pool of knowledge, and she had eagerly taken in each of his words.
By now they had fell into a comfortable silence and El continued to stare up into the vastness of the universe, fully consumed by its sheer infinity. She couldn't withdraw her eyes from the beauty that she hadn't been able to experience for so long, and when she had finally escaped the lab the darkness of the night had scared her immensely, but now in this peaceful and quiet place, feeling Mike's presence next to her, she was overwhelmed and in awe from her ethereal surroundings.
While she stared up into the sky, she suddenly felt something changing, as if being watched by someone, and so she withdrew her eyes from the sea of stars and turned her head to the right, only to be met by a pair of chocolate brown ones, staring back at her. She was immediately drawn in by their depths, that spoke of kindness, adoration, and devotion, and got lost in them completely.
El stared back at Mike and with each passing second, she felt her heartbeat quicken and her breathing becoming more erratic. Only Mike was able to erupt these feelings in her and she remembered how they had confused her in the beginning. But by now, she was used to the heat rising in herself and the nervous excitement welling up in her body, that were signs of the love she felt for Mike. And she knew she loved him, though they had never spoken about it, but what she had learned and experienced in the past one and a half years could not be described by any other word.
The air between them became more tense, as if being electrically charged, and apparently Mike also felt the shift because he suddenly leaned in and closed the remaining distance between them. His lips met her own and El closed her eyes to let herself fully emerge into all the feels; the tickling of her lips, where his brushed over hers; the erratic beating of her heart, as her senses were invaded by his presence; and the blood boiling in her system, as she kissed him back, like she had desired for days. Her left hand moved into his thick hair and brushed through the dark curls that she loved so much, while his was firmly placed on the ground, to prevent himself from crushing her.
El lost all sense of time and place, as Mike kissed her in a combination of passion and tenderness, that made her feel desired and caressed at the same time. Their lips moved as if on their own account in a well-known rhythm, that they had established in the past months, and El was left with nothing but the feelings that Mike had set loose.
However, when the need for air become too much to bear, they broke apart reluctantly, each heavily breathing, but Mike only backed off a few centimetres, so that his upper body was still slightly hovering above El and she starred right up at him. A smile broke out on his face, that she mirrored on her own, while they relished the feeling of each other's presence.
El's gaze took in his lips that were slightly swollen from their kisses, his eyes that glistered as they took in the girl lying on the grass, and his freckled covered face that was illuminated by the shimmer of the stars above them.
She untangled her hand from his hair, and slowly moved it downwards until she reached his cheek, where she stopped and moved her thumb over the constellation of little dots.
"They are like the stars.", she heard herself whisper in a raspy voice, while her thumb continued to draw patterns on his skin.
"What?", Mike replied with obvious confusion written on his face.
El smiled tenderly up at him, "Your freckles... They are like the stars up in the sky. So randomly at first, but when you draw the lines, they form pictures.", she explained, as her thumb moved over them, as if to underline her words. "Beautiful pictures, that tell a story of unlimited freedoms and endless possibilities."
With her words Mike's face displayed an expression of astonishment, which was then taken over by one of pure adoration. He stared down at her for a small eternity and El sensed him debating something within himself, as if he wanted to say something, but eventually he swallowed the words that had been at the tip of his tongue and instead leaned in and tenderly kissed her once more. El had the feeling he transported something with his actions, that was more than she could decipher in this moment.
When they parted again, he looked back at her and whispered, "You are beautiful, El. More beautiful, than all the stars combined."
With that said, he lay back on the grass and El knew he would say no more on the matter for the night. Still, she smiled happily and leaned into his side, her hand wrapping over his torso and the contentment filling her body. As they lay there for the rest of the night, she fully sank into the feelings and his cosy being, the stars at the sky long forgotten.
