tea stained newpapers. mileven au.

thirty one.

mike wheeler... he was exactly what el had pinned him from the beginning.

a successful writer boy.

the perfect persona for someone who loved to live with his head in the clouds.

yet mike, just mike himself, that was a form of himself that he hated showing. the boy who watched his parents fall out of love, the boy who dealt with the consequences of that hurt by feeding into the very unfulfilling validation of success, and that same boy who still fell into his sister's arms each time he felt like he couldn't achieve what the world threw at him.

he wanted nothing more than to just be mike wheeler all the time, to live in ignorant bliss of all of his flaws for the rest of his life.

but he couldn't hide from hopper, it felt wrong even trying to. he couldn't force himself to act different after he'd listened and quite literally wrote his almost the entirely of this man's life at this point.

the raven haired boy shifted in his seat, the half built shield inside of him breaking down as he let each syllable come out of his mouth in one intricate breath, "she said that she would have to go back to indianapolis anyway."

hopper chuckled to himself, his eyes still kind and tone still serious as he took a small sip from his mug before titling his head to the side in a knowing way, "well she's not wrong... i don't know if you've heard the same complaints i've heard lately about how she running out of outfit combinations but it's getting quite annoying."

to be completely honest, mike had heard those complaints. and at first he had thought the concept to be almost amusing to think about.

yet the more el mentioned it, the more it became a reminder that she was just visiting. that she wasn't meant to stay here forever, that at some point they would have to separate from each other physically.

sad, in his opinion, would be a much better way to describe those comments than annoying.

he felt deep down that hop probably thought the same, especially when the next words out of the older man's mouth were laced with a tone he had never heard him use before.

it was a soft tone, but almost hopeful. and for the first time it occurred to the writer that he might not only be the lifeline to keeping el here for himself but also for her father, "do you have a plan?"

mike didn't respond instantly at first, his brain still processing the concept that his own girlfriend's father was looking at him for a single strand of hope. and contrary to popular belief, for a second, instead of putting it into words, he was truthfully debating opening up his laptop to show the older man all his tabs.

but time had never been on his side, so expecting the right words or even the right gesture to offer hopper right now should have never even been anticipated.

"kid..." the older man searched his features in a panic once it was clear that the writer truly didn't know what to say to him, those blue orbs looking for the answers hidden in those freckled scattered across his nose, "are you gonna get down on one knee and propose to her so she has a reason to stay or should i prepare for a different kind of heart attack?"

and for the first time since sitting at this dining table today, mike actually laughed.

fully laughed, almost doubled over as the shock that registered through jim hopper's face turned into full annoyance.

"i'm not proposing to her." the raven haired boy inhaled loudly as his heart found comfort in the sweet sound that bubbled in his throat, a foolish smile overtaking the once solemn look on his face.

it sounded crazy and entirely too early to be thinking about, but living a life with her is all he could see now. she was it for him and he had a feeling that she knew he was it for her too.

but watching her father crumble at the thought, gave him the smallest advantage that he would never ever let go of now.

"i was thinking of something a bit more physically permanent not emotionally binding, i guess." mike bit the inside of his cheek, his brows lifting before adding teasingly, "well... for right now."

hopper's voice dropped an octave, his eyes dancing with curiosity as he leaned across the table, "like what?"

"like... a home."

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a/n: miss me?

p.s. go easy on me with this one. i know it's average, but i'm fragile and this took me four months to write.