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Valentine's Day.
It's a day solely for expressing affection toward those we deem important in our lives. We shower them with gifts— cute sentimental cards, boat loads of candy, bouquets of the loveliest flowers and the occasional stuffed animal or two.
Mike planned on doing every single bit of that for El, even though he basically already does. He's not one to shy away from showing affection toward her and the same could be said for El, as well.
This day had to be a little more special though, since it would be El's first time to celebrate the holiday with a boyfriend. Mike wanted to go all out, to give her a day she so rightfully deserved. It was just a little hard to plan anything too big, since both of their days were packed with work and classes.
He just wanted the world around them to slow down so they could have more time together. Really, he wanted all the time in the world with her. He would never part from her side if that were possible, but unfortunately, it was not. So, he would gladly take all that was given to him.
Whether they had the time or not though, he started his planning a couple of days before the holiday, trying to figure out what all he could do for her.
In true Mike Wheeler fashion, he immediately began to stress out, thinking that something wouldn't be enough or that it would be too much. Of course, El noticed his worrisome state right away and managed to force it all right out of him.
There wasn't much she couldn't get him to do, not when she gives him that certain look of hers that renders him powerless.
El was flattered that he felt so obligated to make the day perfect for her, but insisted that he shouldn't spend time worrying about it, that he should keep it simple. So, that's exactly what Mike did. He may have amped up one or two things, but for the most part, simple.
And before he knew it, the day arrived and Mike had found himself outside her apartment door at seven in the morning. She had class to get to soon and since he refused to wait until later that evening, this was his only chance to give her all her gifts.
He stood there for a little bit, trying to figure out how exactly he was going to even turn the doorknob with all the gifts he had in hand. Somehow though, he managed to shuffle things around in his arms, turning the knob as quickly as possible and nudging the door open with his foot. He had to leave one of her gifts outside, seeing as it was much too big to carry in, but that worked out, since he wanted it to be a surprise anyway.
A few seconds after Mike had closed the door, El came out from her bedroom, already grinning from ear to ear.
"Happy Valentine's Day!" She squealed, rushing across the room to get to him. As soon as she had, Mike felt her lips delivering soft kisses all over his face, before finally planting one on his lips.
He pulled away with such a huge grin, feeling incredibly flattered by the greeting she'd just given him. "Happy Valentine's Day to you, my insanely beautiful girlfriend."
"Wow! Are these all for me?" She asked, noticing exactly how much he was holding.
"Of course they are!" He nodded, looking down at everything he had gotten her— a bouquet of sunflowers, more candy than she could possibly eat, two heart shaped balloons and one of those giant cards.
"So much for keeping it simple, huh?" El teased, before graciously accepting his gifts. She went over to set all of them on the table, grabbing his on her way back over to him.
El had gotten him a card as well, only it was normal sized, along with a couple of boxes of his favorite chocolate.
"Open your card!" She urged, excitement all over her face. Mike happily did as told, not feeling even the tiniest bit surprised when he found a dog staring back at him on the front of the card.
Valentine, I can't seem to keep my paws off of you!
"How cute." Mike teased, before flipping to the inside, reading over what was printed on the card, then reading what El had written herself.
Mike,
I never would've thought that I'd be sharing Valentine's Day, my first true Valentine's Day, with the cute guy from across the hall.
I really never expected any of this to happen, but I wouldn't want to change a thing. All this time I've spent with you has been a dream and I truly hope this dream never ends because it's the best.
You fill my heart with so much happiness and you make me so blissfully content with life. I can only hope that I make you feel the same.
Thank you for being you, the most amazing guy on the planet. Thank you for treating me the way that you do and always making me feel wanted.
And thank you for being my Valentine, Mike.
El ♡
Mike smiled to himself, letting his eyes scan back over her words, as he was literally unable to speak due to what all was whirling around inside of him. The things she wrote in that card had somehow managed to make him feel even stronger for her, a feeling he would happily welcome.
"It was too cheesy, wasn't it?" El hesitantly asked, his silence being the cause of her silly worries.
"What? No! It's not too cheesy. It's perfect." Mike assured her, reaching out to take her hand in his. "Thank you, El."
She gave his hand a light squeeze in response to his thanks, before letting go. "My turn now!"
El grabbed her card from the table, her hands moving quick to open it up. Mike watched as her eyes read over the words he had written down inside, the words he knew by heart at this point.
El,
You are my sun, my moon and all my stars.
You brighten my days, from the moment I see you until the moment you leave. Even then, your radiant presence lingers, leaving me with a warmth that never seems to die down.
You shine such a bright light on my nights, being the moon and all the stars that accompany the dark sky above. With you, I will never find myself wandering in that darkness, lost or afraid. I will always know exactly where I'm going, because the only place I need to go is wherever you are.
You make up my whole entire world and without you, I truly don't know how I could exist.
I'm not too certain how I ever did before. Even if it was only a short time ago that I was living life without you, it seems like a lifetime when I think about it. It almost feels like a nightmare, a nightmare that I truly don't ever want to live through again.
I'm not quite sure what I did to deserve you, but I'm so very lucky to have you in my life and I'm especially lucky to have you as my girlfriend.
You deserve the world and I will stop at nothing to give you that.
Happy Valentine's Day!
Yours,
Mike
"Oh wow. Mike, that was so beautiful." El finally choked out, the tears very much evident in her eyes. "I can't believe you wrote all that."
"If my memory serves, you did ask me to write you something beautiful." He reminded her, the realization over what he was referring to hitting El in an instant, causing her to lose it.
"Oh, I believe I see some tears." Mike teased, bringing a hand up to wipe away the fallen tears from her cheeks. "How many bonus points did that get me?"
Soft laughter fell from her lips, while she dazedly shook her head. "All the bonus points in the world, come here."
El nearly yanked him over to her, her lips devouring his like there was no tomorrow. Her emotions had taken control, making her want as much of him as she could get.
As their lips meshed together, her hands clutched onto his shirt, keeping him from moving so much as even an inch away from her. Mike certainly didn't mind, though he hadn't planned on moving anyways, not when she was kissing him the way that she was.
The two continued to get lost in the sweet taste of one other, until El had no choice but to take a breather, pulling away just enough to rest her forehead against his.
"You make me so happy, Mike Wheeler."
"As do you, El Hopper." He tenderly spoke, making the move to kiss her again. He stopped before he'd reached her though, remembering what was waiting for her outside. "Oh, almost forgot, I have one more thing for you. Stay right here."
Mike rushed out before she could even reply, eager to bring in her last gift.
"Oh my God!" She squealed once he had returned, now holding a teddy bear almost as big as her, literally.
Mike was afraid it would be too big or maybe just too childish for her liking, but judging by the look on her face, it was the perfect gift.
What he didn't know though, was that the very thing El had always wanted out of Valentine's Day was, in fact, a giant teddy bear.
So, yes. It was the perfect gift.
•
After their responsibilities for the day had all been taken care of, the two spent a rather chill night together, celebrating the holiday. Mike was insistent on reminding El that he would've gone all out for her, that it was what she deserved, but she made it clear each time that there was no need for him to make a big deal out of it.
All she wanted was to be with him, nobody else but him, which is exactly what she got.
Mike had cooked for her, yet another amazing meal, then they cuddled up on the couch and watched scary movies. Most people might not want to spend what should be a romantic holiday that way, doing something so mundane, but to her, it was perfect.
It was so perfect that she didn't want the day to ever come to an end. She just wanted to live in that wondrous state of bliss she'd been in with him, forever. No more classes, no more work, just Mike.
But after a bit more of their silly movie commentary and cuddling up to one another, they had no choice but to part ways for the night. It was already later than usual and she had to be up pretty early the next morning for class.
She'd get to see him again tomorrow though, that fact alone being the only thing that managed to get her to start walking toward the door.
"Thank you for today, Mike, really. It was everything I wanted it to be."
"Oh, no need to thank me, I'm glad you enjoyed it." He beamed, slowly leaning down to capture her lips with his in a passionate kiss.
Like usual though, one thing led to another and the two were full on making out right there in the hallway.
Someone could walk by at any moment, but they didn't care. They were far too caught up in one another, their feelings once again taking over. It wasn't long before they broke apart though, both knowing they couldn't stay out there like that all night long.
"Goodnight, El. I'll see you tomorrow."
"Night, Mike." She sighted, watching as he went back inside, her crooked smile never leaving her face.
El simply stood there, staring at the now closed door just a few feet away, grinning like a fool. Gosh, she was basically addicted to Mike Wheeler at this point, so much so that she desperately wished she didn't have to go back to her place right now. She just wanted to stay with him, as long as she possibly could.
She wanted to be with him every minute of every day, as clingy as that may sound, it was the absolute truth. They both really needed their sleep now though, so she'd just have to settle for being clingy tomorrow.
With that thought in mind, she figured she should probably go inside. As she dug around in her purse, searching for her keys, a rather tempting idea crossed her mind, one that would make that wish of hers from before come true.
Not even needing to convince herself to do it, she dropped her keys right back in her purse, turned around and walked back to Mike's door.
She softly knocked, Mike appearing a moment later, looking a bit worried. "El? You okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine! I actually just realized that my keys are on my kitchen table and the door's kinda locked. The office is already closed too so I can't get them to let me in." She explained, attempting to sell the made up story. "Do you mind if I stay?"
"Are you kidding? Of course I don't mind if you stay." He told her, while moving over so she could come back in. "Get in here!"
"You're truly the best!" El raved, getting up on her tip toes to kiss his cheek as she walked by him. "Thank you!"
The two soon found themselves in Mike's bed, El now clad in the clothes that he'd given her to sleep in. They'd started cuddling the moment they'd gotten under the covers, both wanting to get right back to how they had spent most of their night.
"You know, I'm actually kinda glad you locked those keys in there." Mike spoke softly, as he continued to run his fingers through her hair.
El smiled against his chest before shifting around in his arms so she could look at him. "Yeah?"
"Mhm, because now I get more time to do this."
He wasted no time in moving closer, smashing his lips down onto hers. The kiss lasted for only a moment, then he had moved his mouth up to her forehead.
"And this."
He placed a kiss there as well, next moving right along to her cheek.
"And this."
Mike swiftly pecked her cheek, then did the same to the other. He wasn't done yet though, suddenly kissing all over her face, just as El had done to him earlier that day.
She enjoyed it just as much as he had, though she was unable to stop the breathless giggles coming out of her. "We're never gonna go to sleep, are we?"
"God, I hope not." He muttered, before leaning back in for more, El melting into the liplock right away.
Despite what they thought, the two did fall asleep, eventually. El was snuggly wrapped up in Mike's arms, it being so comforting she had no choice but to drift off to sleep, Mike going right along with her.
•
The next morning, El was woken up by the familiar sound of her alarm, a much brighter smile than usual appearing on her face as she reached for her phone to shut it off.
The previous night, more like the entire day really, had left her feeling so insanely happy that she couldn't help but embrace the feeling that had stuck around.
The only thing that could possibly make her any happier, was if Mike was here with her. He was no longer beside her, but the smell coming from his kitchen had told her everything she needed to know.
El threw the blankets right off her body, then made her way to the bathroom, wanting to make herself a bit more presentable. She definitely didn't want him to see her hair looking the way it did, nor did she want to kiss him with morning breath.
Once everything was to her liking, she rushed off to join him for breakfast.
"Good morning!" She happily chirped, as she walked into the kitchen.
Mike glanced up from where he stood at the stove, immediately smiling at the sight of her. "Morning, did you sleep well?"
"Better than ever, actually!"
"Good!" He said while walking over to her, then carefully placing her plate down in front of her. "For you, my love."
"Wow, Chef Mike strikes again." She teased, making him laugh as he sat down next to her with his own plate.
Mike had made french toast, the stack covered with syrup, powdered sugar and strawberries. It looked so good, she could already feel her mouth beginning to water.
It tasted even better though, possibly being the best breakfast she'd ever had.
They chatted for a bit while eating their food, until El unfortunately had to leave. She had a class to get to soon and since she still had to shower and get ready, she knew she would have to hurry.
After retrieving her things from his room, she headed toward the door, Mike following along with her as she got her keys out from her purse.
"Thanks for breakfast! I could definitely get used to having that every morning instead of Eggos."
"Hey, that can be arranged. I'll cook for you anytime, you know that." Mike told her, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her closer. "Have a good day. I'll see you tonight?"
"Yes you will!" El brushed a hand along his cheek, before leaning up to peck his lips.
"Oh, by the way, I'm glad you found your keys."
"What?" She asked, unsure as to what he was talking about. She never even lost her keys? El stared up at him, confusion written all over her face while she waited for him to elaborate, but then it hit her. "Oh."
She had completely forgotten that she told him they were locked inside.
El's gaze soon dropped to the ground, feeling a little embarrassed that she'd gotten caught in such a silly little lie. Just as soon as she looked away though, he had slipped his thumb under her chin to get her to look back up at him.
"If you wanted to sleep cuddled up next to me, all you had to do was ask." Mike grinned, clearly enjoying this moment. "Actually, you don't even have to ask. You know I keep a spare key under the mat, so you're welcome anytime."
El truly didn't know how to reply to that, she simply stared back at him, smiling as her face flushed a little bit more.
Mike then pressed a soft kiss to her forehead, El leaning into his comforting touch right away.
"I'll see you later, babe." He nearly whispered into her ear, before slowly walking away and shutting his door behind him, leaving El a flustered, giggly mess... along with a good feeling that she would definitely be using that spare key.