Mileven One Shots

A Conscious Visit (1995)

Popping in with this quick little one shot! A super big thank you to the amazing, StrangerDanger_011 , for requesting this brilliant idea — I hope I did a good job bringing this to life! Enjoy!
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The road that the family was traveling upon was bumpier than most. The concrete was disintegrating along the edges and the potholes were becoming deep enough to swallow a car's whole tire. The township they were located in had a low population count, so it was assumed that the local government gave up on repairing the roadway's poor conditions.

After Hopper had hit a particularly hard dip in the road, El could not stop herself from clutching at Willow's car seat. Her arms were gripping the hard plastic item that was currently protecting her two week old daughter, and Mike could practically feel the tension radiating off of her bones.

El jumped out of her seat at her husband's touch before giving him her hand. Their interlaced fingers usually lulled her with calmness, however, there was nothing that could soothe her anxiety at this moment.

"We don't have to do this if you don't want to," Mike whispered, rubbing his thumb in small circles on the top of her hand.

She shook her head and kept her eyes facing forward, knowing that if she looked to him now that her hard exterior would crumble to ash and her anguished pain would escape her all at once.

Mike knew exactly what thoughts were swimming through his wife's mind, and he could sense her beginning to drown. He desperately wanted to help her get back to shore; away from all of the darkness that lurked beneath the depth of the ocean, but it seemed she was set on sinking. The riptide was heavy, but he wouldn't let his love get swept beneath the waves alone.

"Hey, it will be okay," he quietly spoke, not wanting to catch his in-law's attention. When she failed to react to his voice again, he defaulted to settling on a childish way to retrieve her attention. He leaned over his and her's sleeping daughter and kissed El's cheek before darting his tongue out against her skin. And just as he had thought, Eleven quickly reacted and wiped the side of her face as she giggled.

Her musical laughter caused a grin to spread widely across Mike's face. Wasting no time, he reached out and cupped her cheeks in his hands, holding her there so gently like she was the most valuable item that had ever existed.

"There's that smile I love," Mike paused to take a mental photograph of the look on her face before continuing, "we are all going to be there through this. And the second you decide you are ready to go, we can leave. I promise it's going to be okay."

The light in El's honey brown eyes threatened to fade as tears began to crowd her orbs. Her vision became hazy and her lip began to wobble as she clutched her husband's forearm, "promise?"

"Promise," he sealed his assuring confirmation by pressing his lips into her own. He didn't budge and lingered there for a few seconds longer; and before he could pull away, her hand had pressed into the back of his neck, pulling him further into her.

A gruff tone came from the driver's seat, "if you two don't stop, I'll have no choice but to pull this car over."

Mike detached his lips from his wife's and met his father in law's eyes in the rear view mirror, making sure Hop recognized his eye roll. Before he could say something witty back, Joyce had already lightly smacked the man's shoulder and began to berate him.

"Hopper, leave them be," she turned and faced her daughter then as she murmured, "it's going to be okay, sweetie. We are going to be with you the whole time and if you feel uncomfortable, we can say we have to head back home."