"Wait, I think I hear something," Mike says, leaning his head against the door. Yep, it's definitely muffled sobs that he hears. The sign says "Employees Only" but Mike doesn't hesitate to open the door, Will following behind, and there she is. His girlfriend, tear stained cheeks and soiled dress, leaning against the wall looking absolutely miserable. She startles as he enters and quickly turns away from him.
"El," Mike says softly, but she refuses to look at him.
"Go away," she says numbly.
Mike ignores this, instead striding over to her and crouching down beside her. He gives a quick glance at Will, still standing by the door. "Can you give us a minute?"
Will looks sullen but backs out of the room without complaint. The sound of the door shutting is missed by another sob from El.
Mike takes his girlfriend into his arms and she starts sobbing into his chest. He doesn't say anything for a minute, just holds her while she cries. He strokes her hair and tries to think of the right thing to say. Those stupid, shitty mouthbreathers. He can't believe anyone could be so cruel. And to El of all people! She didn't deserve this. He only wishes she had told him she was being bullied. He of all people understood what that was like.
"El," he says again quietly, as her sobs have calmed to a slight whimper. "It's going to be okay."
"No," she refutes. "It isn't."
Mike moves to meet her eyes, his hands on her shoulders to try to get her to look at him. "Hey, they're mouthbreathers. What they did was horrible, but don't let them get to you. They don't matter, okay?"
El finally looks at him, her stare pain-filled and sullen. "I lied to you."
Mike is taken aback for a second, not expecting the brazen confession. "Uh, right," he mutters. "Will told me." He pauses. "Why did you, exactly?"
Eleven sighs. "I wanted you to think I was fine, that I could fit in and be normal. But I can't. I don't fit in because I'm not normal."
"El," Mike starts, but she keeps going.
"I'm never going to belong here. I'm never going to belong anywhere. I lied because I thought if you knew the truth, you would realize you didn't want me anymore."
"What?" Mike says, startled. "How can you…how could you possibly think that?"
El looks down, no longer able to meet his eyes.
"El, nothing could stop me from caring about you."
"Care…but you don't love me anymore?" She asks, looking up at him.
Mike was NOT expecting her to say that, and he feels instantly defensive. "Who says that I don't?"
"You never say it! Even in your letters all you write is 'from mike' 'from mike' 'from mike'." The tears in her eyes start welling up again, and she hides her face in her hands, the sobs escalating.
Mike takes a deep breath, feeling like the world's biggest asshole. She thought I wouldn't want to be with her anymore. He knows he's bad about expressing his feelings, but he never would have thought she'd doubt his love for her. To Mike, he said I love you when he handpicked the yellow and purple flowers for her, giving her a piece of home. He said I love you when he talked her through her nightmares over the phone in the middle of the night. He said I love you when he called her every night for 353 days, never losing hope that she was still around. He said I love you when he brought her in from the rain, making the fort in his basement for her to sleep in all those years ago. But in this moment it's clear that it wasn't enough-she needed to hear it from him. She deserved to hear it from him, despite the anxiety crawling up his throat at the thought of saying it. After a second of deliberation, he shifts to face her, grabbing her hand gently, needing to have her full attention.
"El, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you think that. I guess it's just hard for me to say when even my own parents don't say it to each other. But I need you to know that nothing could change the way I feel about you." Finally she looks up, and hesitantly meets his gaze. "I don't want you to feel like you have to hide from me. I WANT to know when you're struggling. I want to help! I mean, I've been bullied my whole life, I get what it's like." She looks down and starts to shrug away, so Mike hurries and adds, "I mean, I don't know what you're going through. None of us could. You've had to deal with so much more shit than any of us could even imagine. But that is just a part of why you're amazing. You're a superhero, El. And if those mouthbreathers can't see that, it's just because they don't know you."
"I don't have my powers, Mike. I'm not a superhero. Not anymore."
Mike sighs. "It's not about your powers, El. It's about you." He moves to stroke her face, making sure she is looking at him. "You're the most incredible person in the world, alright? And I…" He pauses, taking a moment to gather his courage. "And I'm in love with you."
She looks in his eyes, and Mike can see his declaration takes her aback. "Really?" She asks, and Mike can feel his heart beating through his skin.
"Really," he states. "Honestly, I've been in love with you since the moment I laid eyes on you."
A smile emerges on her face, and she looks at him through her lashes. "Promise?"
Mike feels his heart melt, a smile tugging at his lips. "Promise," he confirms, and leans in.
With this kiss, Mike tries to convey everything he feels. The worry he has for her, the devastation he feels seeing her in pain, the hurt of her lying to him, but most of all the intense love he feels for her, has felt for her all these years. His lips move against hers and it feels like the first time he kissed her, all over again, the newness, the nervousness, the excitement. He said it! She kisses him back and he feels all the anxiety and worry from earlier melt away. In this moment, it's just him and the girl he loves, connected now more than ever. When he moves away, he sees the wetness in El's eyes still present.
"I'm sorry I lied to you," she says.
Mike just smiles and kisses her forehead. "I guess that makes us even then, huh? But this time I think we'll skip the dumping part."
El giggles and then leans her head against Mike's shoulder. "Thank you. For everything."
They sit in silence for a second, just relishing in each other's company, before Mike stands up and offers his hand. "Let's go home, alright? I think some eggos are calling your name."
El accepts his hand and entwines their fingers, ready to leave the boothe. She can't help but feel extremely grateful for the boy next to her.
"Home," she agrees.
Meanwhile outside the room Jonathan and Argyle emerge to pick up the teens, spotting Will sitting alone at one of the tables.
"Hey Will," Jonathan greets. "Where're Mike and El?"
Will glumly points back at a closet labeled 'Employees Only'. "They're in there."
At that Argyle snickers. "Getting in some restricted closet action. Nice."
Will rolls his eyes. "No, they're just talking."
Even Jonathan raises his eyebrows at that. "Um, sure, yeah."
Will just groans, not feeling up to explaining everything. "Let's just go."
Argyle's smile hasn't left his face. "Whatever, man. But I volunteer you be the one to interrupt their "conversation" to tell them it's time to leave."
Before Will can reply to this, Mike and El emerge from the closet, hand in hand, and Will notices that El does look a lot happier now. He does a quick glance around the rink to make sure Angela and her goons aren't around, before asking, "You guys ready to go?" He sees Mike look down at his girlfriend, who smiles back at him.
"Yeah, let's go home," Mike says, and with that the group heads to the van. Will is more than happy to leave. It's been a very long day.
A/N: I love me some mileven angst, but ngl it killed me to have them separated when none of it could be resolved. Thankfully we have volume two to give us all the closure we need (to say I'm excited for Mike's monologue is a huge understatement). But I figured I'd turn to fanfiction to get some resolution even quicker.
Thanks for reading!
