"I'm ready to go."
Mike looked up from his backpack. El was wearing a blue print dress, and her eyes seemed even bigger and prettier than he'd ever seen them.
He pressed his lips together, stood up and walked over to her. He gave her a warm hug.
"Is everything ok Mike?"
"I don't pay enough attention to you. Here I am with literally the prettiest girl in the world and I've been neglecting you."
"Mike… you've been busy, we all know that."
"I should never be too busy for you."
"I've never been tired, really cold, or hungry with you Mike. And I've never been happier. You have done everything right. A girl couldn't ask for a better boyfriend, even before all this happened,"
"Thanks El."
"I mean it."
Mike gave her a kiss on the mouth, not deep, but he held it for a long time. "I love you El."
"I love your kisses. I'm going to stick around for those ok?" She giggled.
"You really do look pretty today. Why are you dressed up? Your legs are going to be cold on the walk to the library."
"I have leggings underneath. I wanted to dress up for our library date. It's a date right?" She smiled at him.
"Yes it is. Remember no talking in the library."
"Ok… but our kissing might be loud."
Mike laughed. "Yes I forgot, library kisses are the best. Just a warning."
XXXXX
They were halfway to the library and the wind started to pick up. "Are we going to get another storm?" El said, looking worried.
"It looks like it. But don't worry, I've got us covered."
El looked even more worried, when the snow started. "Mike… what if we get stuck here."
He stopped and turned to look at her before they entered the building. "El, I promise. I will keep you warm, safe, and happy. I knew this might be a possibility. I have a surprise for you inside."
She looked relieved when she heard the word promise , but she still looked around.
Once inside they kicked the snow off their boots.
"It's warm in here!" El said, smiling. "That was your surprise? Is this place like the mall?"
"No, it's even better than that. This building has a natural gas boiler system with radiators for heating. No power is needed. We don't want to walk back and forth to the library, I'm not sure I can do all the research and planning I want to do for us in one day… so even if there wasn't going to be a storm outside, we are going to stay here overnight."
"Overnight? Is it safe?" El looked down, "Of course it's safe. You promised."
"That's right. Follow me."
He led her to the back of the library where there were sound isolated reading rooms. He opened the door to one and El walked into what looked like a mini apartment. An air mattress on the floor with a comfy looking sleeping bag on it. A sofa, one one wall and a writing desk on the opposite wall. The back wall was one big bookshelf.
"When I was alone after this all happened I did a lot of survival research, I learned new skills."
"Even the boring ones?" Her eyes wide as she looked at the shelf.
"Definitely. And especially the boring ones. I knew they would keep me alive."
They took off their winter gear and threw it on the sofa.
"Oh, one thing I forgot to do." He walked up to El and put his hands on her waist. She immediately closed her eyes and turned her face up to his and put her arms around his neck. He kissed her for a long time, and then hugged her for even longer.
El sighed, "Warm, safe, and happy."
"I have food for a week, but I don't think we'll be here more than one night. I guess that depends on the storm."
XXXXX
"What's wrong Mike?"
"I want to ask you a question, before we get started, but I don't want you to get mad at me, and I don't want you to feel bad."
"I don't think I could ever get mad at you."
"Can you count ok?" Mike instantly regretted asking her when she hung her head.
"I'm not really good at math, but I can count. My dad concentrated on my speaking skills, and simple math. I'm not stupid."
Mike had her in his arms before she could finish. "I'm sorry El. I will teach you everything I know. It can be a lot, but there will be no test." He grinned.
XXXXX
"Oh! So if one book was 917.123 and another was 917.124, but you needed to file a book between the two, it would be 917.1235?"
"Yes, I mean, librarians who know the system better than I do might tell you that based on the last name of the author it could be .1231 or .1236, but you have the basic idea. That's really good, El I know people who were in my class that didn't grasp that concept. I mean, that really deserves a long kiss."
El was breathless when they parted. "With those kinds of kisses, l can be a very fast learner."
"I have a few atlases here. I'll show you how to use the card catalog, no power, so no microfiches.
XXXXX
Mike used the conference table in the reading room next to the one he had set up for sleeping. He had maps spread out all over the large table. He heard El come up to him breathless. "I found them!"
Her enthusiasm alone put a smile on his face. "There was a whole shelf full of them, wasn't there… um, let me think… 403 right?"
She nodded, "I found them myself. Mike..."
"What is it El?"
"I could learn a lot here. I could learn everything there is to know." She said it in almost a whisper.
"You could… what are you trying to tell me?"
"It's warm in here… and there are all these books… and… could we just live here until it's time to go?"
Mike looked surprised. "I never thought of that. Yes we could. There's a lot more room to move around here then there was at my house. We probably have at least four months of cold weather left this winter. Maybe longer. This is Hawkins."
No sooner had he said that then the wind started to howl outside. Both he and El shivered at the same time. "That really sounds cold. We are losing light anyway. We've already eaten… we should try and get some sleep and start when it gets light tomorrow morning."
As they crawled into the sleeping bag, El got very quiet and asked. "Did you and Max sleep in this together?"
"No, I used the sofa, I let her have the sleeping bag."
She was happy with that answer and curled up beside him. They both listened to the wind and the snow hitting the windows.
The radio crackled, "Mike are you there? This is Lucas. Over."
Mike grabbed the radio and thumbed the push to talk button. "Everything ok Lucas? Over."
"Max wanted me to check in to see if guys were out of this storm. We can't hear it very well in the mall unless we go to one of the entrances, but it looks pretty bad…. Over."
"We are safe, warm…" He gave El a little squeeze in his arm. "... and happy. Over."
"Uh, do you want to talk to Max? Over."
"She's your problem now, Lucas, over."
As Lucas laughed, Mike and El could hear Max in the background, "I heard that Wheeler… "
"Ok, just checking in," Lucas said. "Over and out."
"We have good friends." El said.
"Yeah… but, El. I don't think they'll come with us. I know Max had it pretty bad when she was walking back to Hawkins, so the safety and comfort of the mall is a big draw for her and Lucas. I think if we hit Dustin and Suzie with the logic, they might.. I don't know what to do."
"Do you want to stay Mike?"
"No, it doesn't make any sense to stay. Anyway, I don't need to see the rest of the country, but I know you'll see some beautiful places along the way."
"You've already seen the world?"
"No, but I've seen the most beautiful thing I'm ever going to. I get to kiss her anytime I want."
"I don't think I'm beautiful... but... I will accept all your kisses." El snuggled closer.
They kissed until they both fell asleep.
