𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐨𝐧𝐞-𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐭𝐬

treehouse

"no."

it was barely audible, mike even doubted hearing it. but then, he felt her trembling next to him, and he was sure something was wrong.

"no." el whimpered. "no, stop!"

mike turned his body around, now facing his girlfriend, who was moving and shaking uncontrollably under the sheets. he saw tears falling down her cheeks, worrying him even more.

"no! papa, stop! papa! no!" her screams and sobs were truly heartbreaking, they made mike's heart ache.

he pulled her under his embrace, not letting go despite the fact that she was kicking him with all of her strength as she continued yelling. "el, wake up! it's just a dream, wake up! wake up!"

suddenly, he felt her stop kicking him, and there was a sudden silence that scared mike even more. he continued caressing her hair, and bit his lip when he heard her sob louder than before.

"mike." she managed to breath out through her crying, holding onto her boyfriend as if her life depended on it. she needed to feel him, to think that he was there and that he was real.

"shh, it's okay, el. you're okay, i'm here." he continued caressing her hair, his other arm on her back as he rocked them back and forth.

"they- they took you a-and they wanted me to- to hurt you and-"

mike pulled away from the embrace, moving his hands to her face and cupping it with his hands before giving her a soft peck on the lips, enjoying the way she sighed as her lips met his. he pulled away, his eyes staring deeply into hers. "i'm here, el. and i'm not going anywhere. we are okay."

"we are okay." she repeated in a faint whisper, her lower lip trembling before she let out another loud sob, burying her face on mike's chest as he proceeded to caress her cheek with his thumb.

it was so hard for mike to calm el down at nights. before el's eighteenth birthday, her nightmares hadn't been that bad, or that often. she told him that she had them maximum two times a month, but after her birthday, nightmares were an everyday thing.

so, mike always came over to her house at night, without his mom or el's dad knowing, and held her as she slept, hoping that it would somehow help to ease her.

but it wasn't hard because it was tiring. it was hard because seeing her suffer made him completely miserable.

he looked down to el, who was now sleeping with her head and hand on his chest. he cleaned her tear-stained face with his thumb softly, making her sigh in her sleep.

mike knew he needed to do something else. something that would make her happier, or at least assure her that she would never be alone again.

and that's how mike wheeler came out with, possibly, the best idea he ever had in his life.

mike had to leave earlier that morning, of course, not before leaving a note next to el and kissing her forehead.

and he loved kissing her forehead. it smelled like coconut.

on his way back home, mike wondered if hopper would get mad at him for what he was planning to do, but he didn't really worry a lot about that.

once he had all the tools ready and in the back of his car, he decided that he should bring more stuff to decorate, so he decided to take four buckets of paint, though he didn't check the colors, he thought at least one would be nice.