A/N: Merry Christmas! This is a three-chapter project, each taking place over a different Christmas in Mike and El's relationship. Each chapter takes place in the same universe and is a continuation of the previous chapter, just several years later. I hope you enjoy it. Please remember to leave me a review and let me know what you think!

This first chapter takes place in December 1985.

Disclaimer: I do not own Stranger Things or any of its characters.

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Mike Wheeler woke up on Christmas morning, and for the first time in his life, he hoped he would not see snow outside his window. The plan ever since Mrs. Byers had moved El and Will away from him was that Mike would visit them on Thanksgiving, and El and Will would visit Hawkins on Christmas. The first half of that had happened, no problem. Mike had ridden to Springfield, Illinois, with Nancy on Wednesday afternoon when school had let out, and they had stayed with the Byers family until Sunday afternoon. It had been perfect. Mike was able to experience his first Thanksgiving with El, and the trip was filled with four days of time with his best friend and girlfriend. Christmas was going to be even better because Mrs. Byers was letting El and Will stay for a whole week. That is, if she could safely get them there.

For the past several days, the weatherman had been calling for a nasty winter storm – the biggest since the blizzard of 1978 – and it was likely to hit overnight on Christmas Eve. Mike had tried to sound positive and reassuring when El had called to tell him that Mrs. Byers said if the snowstorm hit as scheduled, she and Will would not be able to visit. He had told her that they would figure something out. Mike had begged his mom to let El and Will come early, before the storm hit, but Karen said that it wouldn't be fair to Mrs. Byers to ask for her kids to spend even less time with her over the holidays, and if the road conditions had not improved by the end of the week, Karen did not want El and Will to be stuck in Hawkins. Mike, however, didn't think El and Will being stuck in Hawkins would be the worst thing in the world.

Finally, he swung his legs over the edge of his bed as he sat up. He stood and walked to his window slowly, praying to see grass outside – or even a small dusting if there must be snow.

"Please no snow, please no snow," he muttered as he approached the window.

Mike took a deep breath and pulled back the curtains, and his stomach sank when he was blinded by a thick, bright, white blanket of snow covering the ground. He could not tell where the yard ended or where the sidewalks or street began. Nobody was outside, nobody had attempted shoveling yet. Not even a snowplow had been down to the end of the cul-de-sac yet. One thing was certain; nobody was getting in or out of Maple Street anytime soon.

"Damn it," Mike muttered and let the curtain fall back into place.

He shuffled back over to his bed and flopped onto his back. He had no motivation to leave his room for breakfast or to open gifts. Mike knew that he would have to call El and confirm that they would not be seeing each other for Christmas after all.

Mike jolted as his doorknob started to rattle.

"Mikey! Wake up!" came Holly's voice from the hallway, and Mike let out a frustrated sigh.

"I'll be right there," he called gloomily.

The rattling of his doorknob stopped, and Mike heard his little sister run down the hallway and then down the stairs. Truthfully, he would rather his family proceed with Christmas without him while he stayed holed up in his room for the day. He wasn't going to be able to see El, and he would barely be able to talk to her. There was no way he could make it out to use Cerebro, and his dad would kill him if he spent too much time on a long-distance call. This Christmas was going to suck.

"Michael! Let's go!" his mom's impatient voice rang from the bottom of the stairs, and Mike groaned in annoyance.

"I'm coming!" he hollered.

Mike stood from his bed and dragged himself out of his room, down the hallway, and down the stairs. In the living room, he found his parents sitting on the couch and Nancy sitting in the armchair resting her head in her hand and looking just as disappointed as Mike felt. Of course, she would not get to see Jonathan for Christmas either. Holly was sitting on her knees in front of the Christmas tree, bouncing up and down from the excitement that she could hardly contain.

"Nice of you to join us," Ted said as his son sat on the floor and leaned his back against the armchair Nancy was in. "Holly has been ready for presents for a half hour."

"You could've started without me," Mike shrugged.

"We're not having our family Christmas morning without the whole family," Karen said with a pointed look, and Mike sighed.

"Well, let's get started, then," Mike said glumly.

Karen pursed her lips, choosing not to say anything, but Mike could see a softness in her eyes that told him she did feel sympathy for him since the storm hit. She knew how much he had been looking forward to El and Will coming.

"Okay, Holly," Ted nodded.

Needing no further instruction, Holly lurched toward the piles of presents under the tree. She had been firmly directed to check the nametags on each present and only open her own. Holly tossed aside the gifts that were not addressed to her, and she began to tear into the wrapping paper of her own gifts. Karen knelt next to her youngest daughter and began passing out the gifts to the rest of the family.

Mike opened his presents, but he felt like he was simply going through the motions. His mind was on El. They were supposed to see each other later this afternoon, and they were supposed to spend a whole week together. They were going to exchange Christmas gifts; Mike was so excited to give her the stack of Wonder Woman comics he had gathered and the framed photo of the two of them that had been taken just a month prior at Thanksgiving. They were going to watch Christmas movies, hang out with the whole party, and spend plenty of time snuggled together with hot chocolate and fuzzy blankets. Now, they would be staying separated.

"Show what you got, Mike," Karen said, pulling him out of his gloomy thoughts.

Mike looked down at the pile of clothes, Atari games, movies, and records, and he shrugged.

"You already know what I got," he mumbled as he pushed himself up off the floor. "Let me know when it's time to eat."

As Mike left the living room, Karen's mouth dropped open in shock, and she was about to call him back to spend more time with the family, but then Nancy stopped her.

"Mom, he hasn't seen his girlfriend in a month, and their plans are ruined. Just let him go," Nancy said.

Mike heard the brief exchange and felt a sense of gratitude for Nancy. He opened the door to the basement and went downstairs to flop onto the couch. Every other day of the year, Mike would be looking forward to talking to El, hearing her voice. But now, today he was dreading hearing the sadness as they talked about not being able to spend Christmas together. For the first time, he was dreading calling his girlfriend.

In Springfield, Illinois, El woke up excited. Her excitement wasn't necessarily for Christmas; sure, she liked presents just fine, but since she hadn't grown up experiencing the magic of Christmas every year, she didn't feel the same joy from the holiday that her friends did. El's excitement was because she knew she would be seeing Mike later in the day and staying with him for a whole week. Well, as long as the weather cooperated.

El jumped out of her bed and hurried over to her window, pulled back the curtain, and frowned at the blanket of snow that covered the yard. She ran to her bedroom door and sprinted to the living room, ignoring the "good morning" from Joyce as she passed the kitchen. El opened the front door and looked outside. The front yard was covered in snow, and Joyce's car was buried, but the snow plow had been down their street, and El saw cars slowly traveling by. Surely, that meant they could leave the house as long as they were careful.

"Honey, close the door. It's freezing outside," Joyce said as she entered the living room.

"What time are we leaving for Hawkins?" El asked as she quickly turned to face Joyce, ignoring the woman's request.

Joyce crossed the living room with a sad expression on her face and closed the front door that she and El were now standing in front of.

"El, sweetie, I'm sorry, but we won't be going to Hawkins," Joyce replied gently.

"Why not?" El asked, furrowing her brow.

"We've known this was a strong possibility, honey, and the storm they were expecting did hit us," Joyce explained.

"But they're clearing the roads," El protested. "We can drive slower and be careful."

"El, it's nearly a five-hour drive in normal weather," Joyce said. "It would take us all day to make it there-"

"Then let's leave now," El insisted.

"I'm sorry, El, I really am," Joyce said. "I know how much you were looking forward to visiting Hawkins, but it just isn't going to happen this time."

El clenched her fists at her side as the fury from the realization sank in that she would not be seeing Mike for Christmas.

"Weather can really ruin plans, but I promise you can visit Hawkins soon," Joyce assured her.

Soon. That stupid word again. Hopper had told her she could see Mike "soon" for over three hundred days.

"When is soon?" El asked.

"I don't know right now. I would have to talk to Karen about arranging for you to visit," Joyce replied.

Soon was clearly just a word adults used to shut kids up and let them keep the hope that something would happen without actually giving a real idea of when.

"I'm going to see him for Christmas," El stated before striding past Joyce and down the hallway to Jonathan's room.

El knocked firmly on Jonathan's door, and she heard his sad voice call for her to come in. When she opened the door, she saw Jonathan sitting on his bed holding a wrapped gift in his hands.

"What is that?" she asked.

"It's my gift for Nancy," Jonathan replied sadly.

"I knew you were still planning to go," El said in a sigh of relief. "I can be ready in twenty minutes."

"El, we're not going," Jonathan said, setting the wrapped gift down on his bed beside him.

"But you want to see Nancy. I know you do," El argued.

"Of course I do. More than anything," Jonathan agreed. "But it's not safe. The roads are too bad."

"So drive carefully," El insisted.

"It's not that simple," Jonathan shook his head. "Plus, the weatherman on the news showed Indiana got hit even harder than we did. We wouldn't be able to make it. I'm sorry, El."

El huffed and started briskly down the hallway to her own room. She heard the phone ring in the distance, and as she reached her bedroom, Joyce called down the hall that Mike was on the phone for her. El perked up and hurried down the hallway and into the kitchen.

"Mike?" she said into the receiver.

"Hey," Mike's strained voice came from the other end. "Merry Christmas, El."

"Joyce said we can't come to Hawkins because of the snow," El said, hoping that somehow Mike would say something to make it not true. He always came up with a solution for everything.

"I know," he sighed. "It sucks. I've never been so angry at the weather before."

"So, it's true?" El asked.

"Yeah, unfortunately," Mike replied. "I'm sorry, El. I want to see you so badly."

"I want to see you, too," El said softly. She could feel the lump forming in her throat. "I really miss you."

"I miss you, too," Mike said. "I had so many things for us to do the week you would be staying here… Then this stupid snowstorm had to ruin everything."

El's throat was too tight to allow her to respond, and her vision blurred with tears. She wiped her eyes and tried not to sniffle into the phone, but she knew she couldn't hide how upset she was from Mike. He always knew.

"El, it's going to be okay," Mike said softly. "We'll see each other soon."

"I hate that word," El croaked. "No one knows when soon is."

"I know Nancy will want to see Jonathan for Valentine's Day," Mike said quickly. "So whatever weekend they see each other for that, we can plan to see each other too. If Nancy goes to Jonathan, I'll have her bring me, and if Jonathan comes here, we'll have him bring you."

"You think they would do that for us?" El asked, a glimmer of hope rising in her voice.

"Sure they would," Mike replied. "I know it would only be a weekend instead of a whole week, but it's better than nothing. Plus, I'm going to ask my mom if you can come here for the week that I'm out of school for spring break."

"When is that?" El asked.

"The end of March," Mike replied.

El nodded. Valentine's Day was a month and a half away, and then spring break would be another month and a half after that.

"Our Thanksgiving visit went so fast, and waiting for the next visit went so slow," El said.

"I know," Mike agreed. "But we'll have something to look forward to. We can exchange our Christmas presents then, and we can still make the most of Valentine's Day weekend. It'll be worth it, El. I promise."

"Okay," El nodded. "I still wish I could be with you today."

"Me too," Mike said. "How about I call you again tonight?"

"I would like that," El smiled.

"Good," Mike smiled in return. "Try to have a Merry Christmas, and I'll talk to you tonight. I… I love you."

El blushed at the minor hesitation before Mike told her he loved her. Thanksgiving was the first time they were able to say it face-to-face, and Mike was still sort of bashful about saying it in person and on the phone. El thought it was cute.

"I love you, too," she said.

They hung up, and El decided to try and make the best of her situation. She wouldn't be seeing Mike, but she would get to talk to him twice today, and he had given her a more definitive timeframe of when they could next week each other. Valentine's Day. There was a light at the end of the tunnel.

She walked into the living room where Joyce, Will, and Jonathan were all sitting, waiting for her so they could open presents. El sat next to Joyce on the couch.

"I'm sorry I was so upset," El said quietly.

"You don't have to be sorry about being upset, sweetie," Joyce smiled. "I know how much you were looking forward to it."

"Yeah," El nodded. "But the weather is not your fault. I understand why we can't go."

"Thank you, sweetie," Joyce smiled and placed a kiss on El's head.

"It does suck. I was looking forward to seeing our friends," Will said. "But we can still have a fun Christmas here, just the four of us."

They took turns opening their presents, and Will set his and El's presents for their Hawkins friends to the side. When they finished, they moved into the kitchen where they all helped Joyce make a nice Christmas lunch. Throughout the afternoon, El was still disappointed that their plans had to change, but being a part of this loving family helped her feel better about not being able to see Mike. She was thankful that Joyce was so patient with her, and even more thankful that Joyce and Jonathan both agreed to El and Mike's Valentine's Day weekend plan. El couldn't wait to tell Mike tonight that they were officially confirmed to see each other for Valentine's Day.

In Hawkins, Ted had instructed Mike to shovel the walkway, and by the time Mike finished, his arms were burning from moving the heavy snow. Lucas trudged through the snow and hung out with Mike downstairs for a few hours, playing their new Atari games. It did help to take Mike's mind off of missing El and of how sad she had sounded that morning.

After dinner, Mike was back in the basement ready to call El. He hoped she was able to have a good day with the Byers family. When he called, Will answered the phone, and the two of them spent a few minutes catching up and talking about what they each got for Christmas. Then, Will handed the phone over to El.

"Hello?" she said.

"Hey," Mike smiled into the phone at the sound of her voice. "How was the rest of your Christmas?"

"It was good," El replied. "We opened presents and made lunch and just hung out."

"That sounds relaxing. Better than shoveling piles of snow like my dad made me do," Mike chuckled. "Did you get anything good?"

"Yeah. I got a new stereo and some new tapes. I got a couple sweaters and a curling iron," El listed.

"That sounds cool," Mike said. "Did you get everything you wanted?"

"Almost," El shrugged. "I would've given it all back if I could've spent Christmas with you instead. That's what I really wanted."

Mike was speechless for a moment. Every now and then, El would say something like that, and Mike wasn't sure if she didn't realize the weight of some of the things she said or if she did realize it and was just comfortable enough to say things like that. Either way, it was always unexpected, and it always made Mike's heart stop.

"Are you still there?" El asked.

"Yeah, I am," Mike smiled. "I'm glad that you had a good Christmas."

"So," El said after they were both silent for a moment. "You said earlier you had made plans for us this week. What would we have been doing?"

"There are lots of Christmas movies I wanted to watch with you, for starters," Mike replied.

"Like what?" El asked as she knelt down on the floor in front of the Byers' movie collection.

"A Christmas Carol, It's A Wonderful Life, Miracle on 34th Street," Mike listed.

"Hmm," El hummed. "It looks like we have that last one."

"You do?" Mike asked.

"Mhm," El nodded as she pulled the Miracle on 34th Street tape off the shelf.

"Do you want to watch it?" Mike asked. "I mean, obviously we can't stay on the phone for the whole movie, but we could start it together and watch a little bit of it together."

"Yeah," El nodded enthusiastically.

"Cool. Let me get mine ready," Mike said.

While Mike was getting his tape ready to play, El went to her bedroom and changed into one of Mike's sweaters that he had left with her when he visited for Thanksgiving. She also grabbed the blanket from her bed that she and Mike cuddled in together every day when he visited, and then she went back to situate herself on the couch.

"Are you ready?" she asked when she was curled up on the couch in his sweater and under their blanket.

"Yeah. Let's start it," Mike said.

They both started the movie, and they remained on the phone together for about another ten minutes before Mike said he needed to get off so his dad wouldn't get too mad at him.

"I love talking to you, but I hate when we have to hang up," El said.

"I know. So do I," Mike agreed. "But I'll call you in the morning, and you can tell me what you think of the movie."

"Okay," El nodded. "And thank you for making Christmas special tonight."

"Merry Christmas, El," Mike smiled. "I love you."

"Merry Christmas, Mike," El replied. "I love you, too."

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A/N: I hope you enjoyed this first one! Leave me a review with your thoughts!