Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Hopper expected Joyce to put up mistletoe (if you were to ask him, the woman had entirely too much Christmas spirit). All the same, when he walked inside with Eleven and saw the little green sprig, he didn't even try to stifle his groan. Hopper liked the Wheeler boy to some degree, but he did not like him with his lips on El...or hands. Or eyes. Hell, anything really.
Luckily, Eleven didn't seem to pay any attention to it until that evening, during dinner.
"Why did they just kiss?" She asked, staring into the living room with curiosity, "Nancy and Jonathan?"
Needless to say, Hopper and Mike both spit their drinks all over the table.
"What?" Hopper asked in the middle of his coughing fit, making sure he heard that right.
"They stopped out of nowhere. And they kissed,"
"It's something -"
"Joyce, please stop talking," Hopper said, still sputtering.
"She's not a little girl, Hop," Joyce said, "She's a young woman,"
"Joyce -"
Joyce ignored him and turned to Eleven, "It's a Christmas tradition, El. When two people find themselves standing under the mistletoe -that's that little leaf thing right there- they kiss,"
Eleven looked at Joyce like she had three heads, "Why?"
"I'm not exactly sure -"
"Actually, it originated in-" Dustin started, but stopped when he saw a few eyebrows raised in his direction, "Nevermind. I'll stop talking,"
"You're too young for mistletoe, Jane," Hopper told her, his voice authoritative.
Eleven looked him straight in the eye and told him, "But I'm a young woman,"
"Too young. You here me?"
Eleven lost her daring attitude and lowered her gaze to the remaining scoop of mashed potatoes on her plate and muttered a defeated, "Yes, sir,"
Dustin, Mike, and Hopper and El were the last few stragglers at the Byers'. Hopper was outside with Joyce -grownup talk they called it, although it just looked like an awful lot of cigarette smoke and laughter. The three boys were helping out to clean up the last of the mess in the kitchen.
A loud clatter was followed by Dustin's shout of, "Shit!"
"Well -at least it wasn't the good pan," Will offered, looking at the shattered dish of what used to be a casserole, "I'll help you get the towels,"
Mike noticed that this left him and Eleven alone, and wondered if she realized this too. And if she did...was she thinking the same thing he was?
Mike dismissed it. Probably not, he thought. She'd just learned about mistletoe, and they'd only kissed a handful of times. Besides -Hopper told her no. He left the kitchen briefly to retrieve a cup that had rolled its way into the hallway.
When he came back, his eyes locked on the glass to check for cracks, he bumped straight into Eleven, who had been straightening a stack of recently cleaned plates. If the glass wasn't broken before, it was now.
"Great," Mike muttered, but as he bent down to pick up the pieces, he caught a glimpse of El's brown doe eyes staring at him intently.
"Mistletoe," She said softly, a small smile playing on her lips.
"El -"
Before Mike could finish his objection (and that took a lot of willpower), Eleven had pressed her lips against his.
It lasted only a couple seconds. Just two seconds of hot cocoa flavored lips and bliss. But hell, it was enough for Mike.
"What the hell happened in here?" Dustin said as he and Will stepped back into the kitchen.
Eleven and Mike jumped apart, faces red. Mike's shoe landed on the shattered cup with a crunch.
"I meant the cup. I was gone for like two minutes," Dustin said, "I already know what happened with you two. I'm not that dense,"
Okay, I know it's short, but I had a short time frame and let's face it -it's not my best work, but it's definitely adorable. Happy holidays!