Archive of Our Own ^beta

The first time Mike imagines giving El a promise ring, it’s a full year before he actually does.

It’s a few weeks after El closes the gate underneath Hawkins Lab, a couple of weeks before the Snow Ball. Mike’s asked her to go with him, but he’s still waiting to find out if Hopper will let her go – he knows El wants to go with him from the way her eyes lit up when he asked, so it’s just a matter of if the Chief will let her out of that dingy, cramped cabin.

So, in the meantime, instead of worrying about whether or not he’ll be able to fulfill his promise to El to take her to the Snow Ball (it’s his last chance, god dammit), Mike’s focusing his attention on something still El-related… and, somehow, still just as stressful:

What to get El for Christmas.

The Party’s pooling some of their resources together to go in on a Supercomm for El, so it’s not like Mike’s not getting her anything – but that’s a gift from everyone, not one from him.

And Mike wants to get her something from him, just him – something special between the two of them, something significant.

So, naturally, given how important this is to him, he’s drawing a complete and utter blank on what to get her. It’s just his luck, really: get lucky enough to have the coolest girlfriend in the world (and holy shit he has a girlfriend), but spectacularly and utterly fail on knowing what to get her for a present.

It’s no wonder, then, that Mike finds himself increasingly mopey with every day that goes by and he’s still no closer to figuring out what to get El for Christmas. 

This day’s moping session – a dreary Saturday morning in the beginning of December – is being held in the basement. Mike has plans to go over to El’s later in the afternoon, but the whole Party is going together, so he’s stuck waiting unless he never wants to hear the end of it from Dustin and Lucas. 

And the waiting is giving him nothing to do but mope and worry over his lack of an idea of a good Christmas present for the most amazing girl in the world. 

Mike’s slumped on the couch in the basement, head level with the top of the couch cushions while his legs are stretched out in front of him. It feels like the weight of his failure is pulling him down into the depths of despair, which feels like it’s gotta be beneath even the center of the earth for how heavy it feels. 

This is how Nancy finds him as she comes to tell him breakfast is ready. “Hey Mike,” she says as her feet fall heavy on the basement steps. “Mom says it’s time for-” The steps pause and Mike looks up to see Nancy looking back, a concerned look on her face. “Hey, everything alright? What’s going on?” She resumes her descent into the basement, crossing the short distance to sit next to him on the couch. 

Mike heaves a sigh full of lovesick teenage angst. “I don’t know what to get El for Christmas.”

Nancy’s brow furrows, lips pulling down in a tight frown. “I thought you guys were getting her a Supercomm for Christmas.”

“Yeah, we are, but I don’t have a present for her.”

“Ah, I see,” Nancy says with a knowing smile. “First Christmas in a relationship, gotta be special.”

“Ugh, exactly!” Mike says, heaving a heavy sigh as he throws his head back against the couch cushions. “And I don’t know what to do! But I want it to be the best present ever.”

“The best present ever, huh?” Nancy breathes out a small laugh. “That’s a high bar, little brother.”

“Thanks, like I don’t know that, Nancy.” Mike emphasizes his point by crossing his arms over his chest. 

“Well, if you wanted it to be special, how about a promise ring?” There’s something teasing in Nancy’s voice that has Mike looking up at her, only to see an amused smile on her face. “I know promises are a big thing for you two.”

Mike scrunches up his nose. “Promise ring?” He’s not sure what that is, but something about it tugs on his heart. 

“Yeah, you know, a ring that signifies that you’ve promised yourself to her. It means you’re making a long-term commitment.” There’s amusement on Nancy’s face, but it’s not unkind. It’s… warm, fond. Mike doesn’t know what that means or why she’s looking at him like that, but he doesn’t trust it. 

Besides, his brain is still rattling around with the thought of getting El a promise ring, something that says they’ll always be together. And, despite how big the idea of always feels, there’s something to it that Mike can’t – no, doesn’t want to shake. 

“Huh,” is all he can say as he processes, words having left him as his brain spirals. 

“Well, I can see I’ve given you a lot to think about,” Nancy says with a gentle pat on his shoulder. “I’ll try to save some bacon for you, but no guarantees.” And with that, Nancy gets up and leaves him with his thoughts. 

A promise ring, huh? The thought sticks in his mind, latching on with an unshakable grip. It’s a lot – it feels like a lot – too much at this point, if Mike’s being totally honest with himself. Plus, it’s probably not a cheap gift and given how much of Mike’s money is going towards helping buy El a Supercomm, the odds of him being able to afford a promise ring are depressingly small.

But none of that stops Mike from imagining what it would be like to give El a promise ring and his mind races on ahead, painting a vivid picture that Mike has no control over.

He’d give it to her at the Snow Ball – giving a promise ring feels too special to do it at someplace like the cabin. 

El would be there, wearing a pretty dress that makes her the most beautiful girl in the entire room, while he’d be wearing the new suit his mom just got him for the dance. They’d walk into the gym – decked in sparkling decorations, lighting dim to set the mood – hand in hand, his palm a little sweaty at getting to hold her so close to him, the promise ring tucked away securely in his pocket, ready and waiting for the right moment.

They’d dance first, Mike knows this. He’d dance to as many songs as she likes (hopefully slow ones where he’d get to hold her close), and the entire time he’d be waiting for a quiet moment, an opportunity for them to get away so he could give her the ring.

And it would come, probably later in the evening. Maybe El would want to take a break from dancing, or maybe she’d just want some time alone with him. But, regardless, there’d be a moment where they could sneak away, sit on the bleachers or even go outside under a star-lit sky.

“I have something for you,” he’d say, voice low and soft, tender, filled with all the feelings he has for her, including the ones he’s too scared yet to name.

El’d look at him with wide, sparkling eyes, gentle eagerness writ large across her beautiful face. “What is it?”

At this point, Mike would reach into his pocket with a trembling hand and pull out the ring that’s been stashed there the entire night. Maybe it has a stone in a delicate setting, maybe it’s gold or silver, but the important thing is it’s pretty, just like her. The metal shines enticingly in the low light, a glimmer that pulses like the beat of his heart, a beat that feels like it’s just for her. 

“It’s a promise ring,” he’d say as she takes in a soft breath of surprise at the pretty piece of jewelry. “It means you and me, always.”

Maybe there’d be tears shining in El’s eyes at that statement and she’d look up at him with endless hope and affection. It would make his heart race and sing. “Always?”

“Always,” he would repeat, forcefully, definitively. He’d mean it with every breath, every beat of his heart, every microscopic fiber of his being. He’d mean it for as long as he lives because he can’t imagine ever being with anyone else.

He’d take her hand (her right, in this case – placing a ring on her left hand, even in this daydream, feels Too Big) and gently guide the ring on to one finger, hands trembling the entire time.

“So pretty,” El would say as she looks down at the ring, happiness outshining the sparkle of the ring. “I love it.” She’d look back up at him, lips pulling up in a small smile. “Always.”

At this point, Mike wouldn’t be able to keep from smiling like a fool, so overwhelmed by her like he often finds himself. “Always, I promise.”

Words would no longer be necessary at this point. Maybe El would reach for him, fingers curling in the fabric of his suit coat. Or maybe he’d reach for her, hands wrapping delicately around her waist. Or maybe they’d reach for each other, eager to be close. But regardless, they’d find themselves moving closer together and Mike would dip his head as she lifts hers up, lips meeting in a kiss that Mike would never, ever want to end.

Because he’d have promised himself to her for always and that’s a promise he would never break.

Mike shakes himself out of his daydream, but the images are hard to break. And while he doesn’t get her a promise ring this time (instead, he makes her a mix tape, borrowing tapes from Nancy and Jonathan to find all the songs that remind him of El, songs that he hopes will come to mean something to both of them), it doesn’t stop him from tucking away the idea in the back of his mind.

Someday, he tells himself. Someday he’ll get her a promise ring, the first of many, he knows.

Someday, when the moment is perfect.

Just not today.

Mike doesn’t think too much about the promise ring for several months after that.

Oh, it’s not that he’s forgotten about it – he hasn’t. Sometimes, when he’s on his way to falling asleep, or bored and daydreaming in class, it’ll be one of the thoughts that rises to the surface.

But mostly, the reason why Mike doesn’t think too much about it is, well… because he’s distracted, distracted with how full his life now is. 

Because when Mike’s not at school or spending time with the Party, he’s pretty much spending every waking moment with El. 

Most of the time with her is spent in the cabin, especially in the early months of 1985 as an Indiana winter rages around them. Eventually, once the weather starts to warm up, they venture outside, going for walks in the woods or heading to hang out with the rest of the Party (as long as it’s not somewhere public, per Hopper’s rules).

Regardless of where they spend their time, there are some remarkable consistencies in how Mike and El spend their time together: they talk, they hold hands, they play games and watch movies that Mike brings over to the cabin or TV shows that El finds for them on the old TV set.

And when they’re alone (or as alone as Hopper will let them be), there’s one other thing they frequently do with their time together: kissing. Lots of kissing.

It doesn’t go any further than that – they’re only 14, after all – but every time Mike kisses El, it feels like the most transcendent experience of his entire life.

Kissing El feels like flying, like he’s been set free. His whole world disappears, leaving only the sweetness of her lips, the gentle press of her hands as they cup his face, the soft scent of her shampoo from when her hair tickles against his jaw. 

And in the moments where they pull away, Mike is blessed with the most beautiful sight: a soft smile on El’s face, cheeks rosy and flushed, eyes sparkling with happiness that echoes in the breathy giggles that escape from swollen lips. 

To Mike, aside from taking his breath away every time he sees El looking at him like this, it means one thing, that she’s happy, safe… here. After almost a year spent wondering if she was any of those things, it feels like it’s almost too much to have all of them at the same time.

It’s like living in a dream, one Mike never wants to wake up from. But the thing about dreams, at least in Mike’s experience, is that they don’t last – at some point, the real world takes over and you wake up.

For Mike, it happens the day Dustin gets back from summer camp, when his girlfriend’s troll of a father figure lies to him about a family emergency and then threatens him with taking away his ability to see El.

“I don’t care what you have to say to her, but you will not be coming over tomorrow. And there are going to be new rules that you will follow if you want to continue being able to see her, is that clear?” is what Hopper tells him on the drive home, voice low and calm, making the threat all the scarier. 

Mike spends the entire ride home deathly silent, heart in his throat, feeling like he can’t breathe. But he knows he’ll do whatever Hopper asks – fear is a powerful motivator, after all, and there’s nothing Mike fears more than losing El.

The next morning, when El calls, Mike panics – no, he lies. The lies spill out of his mouth almost faster than he can keep track of and he hurries to get off the phone so as to not dig himself into a deeper hole.

But Mike knows its bad once he hangs up the phone and the full realization of what he just did hits him like a slap in the face. He lied to El. Now, granted, it’s because Hopper put him in this position, but it still doesn’t take away from the fact that Mike actually did it.

This is bad, really bad. El’s gonna figure out that he lied to her, sooner than later because she’s too good at ferreting out Mike’s secrets. So Mike knows he needs to fix this before El even realizes there’s a problem.

He calls up the Party and all but Dustin answers, so it’s not long until Lucas and Will are huddled with Mike in his basement to help Mike solve the problem he’s gotten himself in… well, Lucas is helping, Will’s busy doing something D&D-related, but he’s at least not being distracting. Besides, Lucas has the kind of experience Mike needs right now.

Which is how Mike finds himself at the mall looking for an apology gift for El… and how he also finds himself seriously thinking about giving El a promise ring.

They’re at a department store, moving from counter to counter trying to find something, anything that would be an appropriate yet affordable gift. They eventually make their way to the jewelry counter, metal and precious stones glittering inside the glass cases.

In a few minutes, Mike will find the solid gold teddy bear with a price tag that will have him storming from the department store in both anger and disgust. But before he gets there, he finds himself looking down at a case full of rings.

He skims over the rings that are clearly engagement and wedding rings, bright gold and silver with shining diamonds placed in delicate settings. Mike doesn’t even let himself think about those kinds of rings – not because he doesn’t want to think about them, but because it’s way too soon for those kinds of thoughts.

(still, despite everything, he has thought about what might hopefully be in store for his and el’s future… not a lot, but a few times, at least. there are vague thoughts of a life together, visions of the future where they’re still together many years later, wearing matching rings on their left ring fingers, a ceremony where she’s dressed all in white and they promise themselves to each other for the rest of their lives. mike doesn’t let himself linger on those thoughts for long – he’s only 14, after all – but he does think them and each time there’s a giddy sense of awe that fills his heart that it’s a future that might be possible if he doesn’t screw it all up.)

But there are other kinds of rings in the case besides wedding and engagement rings – rings that are still beautiful, but clearly meant for other occasions. And, just like that, Mike finds himself thinking about promise rings, about giving El a promise ring.

Oh, it’s not a good apology gift – even Mike knows that, despite how out of his depth he feels right now – but he can’t stop himself from thinking about it now. Especially not once his gaze lands on a ring tucked away towards the back of the case.

It’s a beautiful ring; deceptively simple, elegant but understated, beautiful without being flashy. The gold band is soft, hypnotic, as it wraps around a teardrop-shaped ruby-red stone. The tag next to the ring proclaims that it’s a 12-carat gold ring with a cubic zirconia stone. Mike has no idea what that means exactly, but he does notice the price: a modest $50.00 compared to the majority of triple and even quadruple digit prices. 

It’s the kind of price tag that, with a bit of saving, feels affordable and Mike knows, that if he ever gives El a promise ring (ok, let’s be real – it’s a matter of when, not if he does), this is the ring he wants to give her. His mind runs away with the thought of it, imagination going into overdrive, as he pictures what that might look like, how giving El this ring specifically might actually happen.

If there’s one thing Mike’s come to realize, is that it doesn’t matter where he gives El the promise ring. On a walk in the woods, on the front porch of the cabin… heck, they could be standing at a traffic corner for all it matters. Because, no matter where they are, everywhere is special if they’re there together. 

Mike knows what he’d say – that hasn’t changed in all the times he’s imagined this – but now that he actually knows what ring he wants to give her, it makes the vision of this all the more clear. 

He pictures the look on El’s face when she sees the ring with it’s delicate gold band and sparkling red stone. Her eyes would go wide, the gorgeous flush of her cheeks putting the red of the stone to shame, mouth parting in that oh so tempting way that would make Mike have to fight with every fiber of his being from swooping in to capture those lips with his own. 

But he’d resist as he cradles a velvet ring box in his hand, opened to display the ring he so desperately wants to give her.

After he gives his speech, the one where he promises that they’ll be together for always, he’d take the ring out of the box and, with shaking hands, slip it on one of the fingers on El’s right hand (ideally, the middle or ring finger, but since he doesn’t know her ring size, realistically any finger would work). 

El would ooh and ahh over the ring, marveling over “how pretty” it is, and she’d reward the gift, sealing the promise with a kiss that would make his toes curl, a kiss rich with the promise of forever, something fundamental shifting beneath their feet as the future becomes real in a way it hadn’t been moments before.

The ring would become something of a touchstone for Mike. He’d relish in the feel of it against his skin when they hold hands, running his fingers or thumb over the band in a gentle caress, lifting her hand to his mouth to press a kiss right where she’s wearing it… anything to remind both of them of the promise he’s made her, of the promise they’ve made to each other: the promise of a future, of always together, of forever.

And yes, Mike knows he won’t always be a perfect partner, but he knows he’ll always try his best. Because El deserves nothing less (hell, she deserves more than him, better, but for the moment she’s chosen him and he knows there’s always going to be part of him that’s forever terrified of fucking this up).

“Hey, what, you gonna propose as an apology?” 

Lucas’ voice interrupts the vivid daydream and Mike has to focus to shake loose the cobwebs in his mind. “Um, no, j-just looking,” he says, stumbling a bit, looking over at Lucas while trying to keep the guilty, sheepish expression off his face.

It’s clearly an exercise in failure because Lucas just gives him a look too full of knowing before he shakes his head. “Come on, Romeo, I think there’s something probably better over here,” he says, steering Mike towards where he’ll soon find that damned gold teddy bear, Will trailing behind them like a miserable shadow.

The thought of the promise ring soon fades to the back of Mike’s mind, put away but not forgotten. And even though everything’s about to change in ways that Mike could never imagine (and that he’ll hate beyond all reason), there’s one thing at least that Mike knows:

When he’s ready to give El a promise ring, he’s definitely coming back here to buy it.

Mike doesn’t end up finding a gift at the mall, but that turns out to be the least of his problems. Mike figures the worst of it would be when El breaks up with him, but somehow everything manages to continue to get even worse, culminating in a frantic, chaotic, deadly 4th of July evening.

The weeks following are bittersweet. Mike and El make up, but most of El’s emotional energy is spent dealing with the loss of Hopper and adjusting to living with the Byers, so their relationship takes a backseat as El mourns and Mike does whatever he can to help support her through this time. And, eventually, both of them are dealing with a massive upheaval when Mrs. Byers makes the decision to move her and her family out of Hawkins and all the way out to a small town in Southern California. 

After that, every time Mike and El see each other is colored with the undeniable knowledge that the countdown until they can’t see each other everyday, until their interactions are contained to letters and weekly phone calls and maybe, maybe getting to see each other a few times a year for a few days at a time. Mike hates the sadness that lingers around the edges every time he sees El, hates why it’s there, but there’s nothing he can do about it – Mrs. Byers has made the decision and that’s that. All Mike can do is cherish the time he still gets to spend with El while she’s still here.

There is one thing that changes after July 4th, though, that Mike can’t help but be excited about: he officially starts saving to buy El a promise ring. At first, he thinks it’ll be hard to set aside pretty much all the money he gets from his allowance, but it turns out to be pretty easy. It’s all for El, he reminds himself and that more than soothes the sting of not being able to spend his allowance on the things he used to. After all, he’d do anything for her and the knowledge that he is doing this for her excites him.

Saving up for a promise ring takes on a different feeling when Mike hears that El is moving with the Byers’ in October. As much as Mike hates that El is moving (and he really, really, really hates it), it only motivates him more, convinces him that buying El a promise ring isn’t just the right thing to do, it’s what he’s meant to do. 

It’s what Mike’s meant to do because he loves her. Mike loves El, a fundamental truth woven deep into every fiber of his being. It’s something he’s known for a while now, but the knowledge is sharp and poignant after he blurts it out to everyone else during that emotional outburst in Hopper’s cabin, a terrifying and thrilling presence that feels too big for his thin body to contain.

Not that he’s told El directly that he loves her, though. Mike almost did in that quiet moment at the grocery store, but he hasn’t had the courage to try again since. And El hasn’t brought it up, making Mike doubt his suspicions that she had to have heard him that day through the door to her room.

Sometimes he thinks that he’ll work up the courage to tell her he loves her when he gives her the promise ring, but Mike doubts that’ll happen most of the time. What he hopes for instead is that, well… El will just know that he loves her, when he gives her the ring. After all, he wouldn’t promise himself to her if he didn’t love her. And El’s always been so good at understanding him, even when he can’t find the right words or the courage to use them.

But that’ll have to be a problem for later in the future because there’s no way Mike’s going to be able to save enough money to give El a promise ring before she moves to California. At first, Mike thinks he’ll be ok with that fact – yeah, it would have been nice to give it to her before she left, but he doesn’t know if he wants her to associate the promise ring with them being forced to live hours apart from each other.

But when he’s hugging her one final time before she gets in the car and drives away, one final embrace after she told him she loves him, too… god, Mike wishes he had that promise ring to give her, wishes he could slip it on her finger and let her know that it doesn’t matter how far away they are from each other or how long they have to be separated for, he’ll always want to be with her. He’d let her know that he loves her, that he’s forever devoted to her, that there will never be any one else for him as long as he lives. El’s it for him and Mike would wait forever for her if he had to. It’s a promise he makes to her every day and he wants so bad to give her a physical symbol of that promise, doesn’t want her to leave Hawkins without it.

But it’s not to be. There’s no ring, no physical symbol. Mike won’t have the money to buy the promise ring until just before Thanksgiving at the rate he’s going. 

So all he can do is hold El close, forehead pressed tight against hers, a silent plea for her not to leave him etched in the way his body bows over hers to keep her near. Her hand’s on his face, cupping his cheek, and neither of them can stop the tears that spill down their faces.

It’s all so unfair, Mike can’t help but think, that they keep getting separated, that something keeps pulling them apart despite their wish to be together. And Mike’s helpless to do anything about it as he watches El get into the passenger seat of the moving truck, her gaze full of endless sadness as she gives him one last look over her shoulder before she disappears inside, door shutting behind her with a painful thud.

It’s the sound of his heart breaking, Mike realizes, the sound of her leaving. And, yeah, he’ll see her again when he flies out for Thanksgiving, but that’s weeks away, an unbearable amount of time to go without seeing the girl he loves more than life itself.

The truck drives away, dust kicking up behind the tires, and Mike can’t look away, frozen in place as his heart disappears from view right in front of his eyes, carried away with every rotation of the moving truck’s tires.

But as much as Mike feels the distance like a string pulled taut between him and El, a feeling he won’t ever get used to as days turn into weeks and weeks turn into months, there’s one thing he realizes as he heads home, all but numb from grief: there’s nothing that will stop him from giving her that promise ring the next time he sees her.

Not if it’s the last thing he does.

Turns out, though, that there is one thing that will stop Mike from giving El that promise ring.

It’s not the money – he finally has enough saved up about a week before he and Nancy are supposed to fly out to California for Thanksgiving. And it’s definitely not him chickening out. Mike dreams of giving her a promise ring and he wants to give her one so badly, he can practically taste it.

So it’s not money or desire, no – it’s the fact that the damn mall is still closed and none of the jewelry stores in town have anything that equals just how right that ring that Mike found at the department store was.

Starcourt Mall has been under renovation since the beginning of August and it’s felt like it’s taken forever for them to finish the repairs. Construction finishes the repairs about halfway through November, but the owners decide that the symbolism of the grand re-opening on Black Friday is too much to be ignored. So Mike’s going to be in California when the mall reopens.

Which means he’s not going to have the promise ring to give El when he flies out to see her.

To say that Mike is disappointed is something of an understatement. He doesn’t quite sulk on the plane ride out the Tuesday before Thanksgiving – he’s too excited to see El again to be truly sad – but there’s an undercurrent of sadness that he can’t quite get rid of as he stares out the plane window.

An elbow nudges him and Mike looks over to see Nancy staring back at him, gentle if amused concern painted across her face. “Hey, you ok? You’re not nervous, are you?”

Nervous? Why would he be nervous? Mike shakes his head and sighs. “No, not nervous. I’m excited – really – it’s just….” Mike trails off. He doesn’t know what to say, how to explain what he’s feeling.

Nancy jumps in, hazarding a guess. “Let me guess, you hate that this is the only way you can see El.”

Well, she’s not wrong, Mike thinks and he leaps at the explanation. It’s easier, really, than having to confess how he’s really feeling. “It just sucks, you know? We only have a few days to spend time together before having to go back home. I just… I really hate it.”

“I know, same here,” Nancy says, laying a comforting hand on Mike’s arm. There’s a tightness in Nancy’s voice that Mike isn’t used to hearing and he realizes it’s because she really is going through the same thing Mike is. Nancy always seems like she has her shit together, so it’s easy to forget she’s suffering through a long distance relationship same as he is. “You just… can’t think about it, you know? Not while you’re spending time with El. You don’t want to be so focused on the fact that you don’t have much time together that you don’t enjoy the time you do get together.”

Mike nods. “Yeah, you’re right,” he says, a small smile creeping onto his face. It’s a bittersweet thought, the knowledge that he has to live in the moment because the moment will come to an end faster than he wants, but it’s true. He doesn’t want to be worrying about being separated from El to the point that he doesn’t get to enjoy spending time with her – not when there’s precious few opportunities to do so.

The rest of the flight is quiet and by the time they’re landing, Mike’s all but forgotten about his disappointment. Instead, he’s practically vibrating in his seat, he’s so excited. The distance between him and El can be measured in mere feet – not miles or hours – and he’s eager to get out of the plane to where he knows she’s waiting for him at the gate.

Once they’re out, Nancy races for Jonathan, with Mrs. Byers and Will standing nearby as other passengers and greeters mill all around them. But all Mike really sees is El.

El’s standing there, dressed simply in a pair of jeans and a pale purple sweater, hair down and loose around her shoulders. She’s looking at him with all the excitement he’s feeling mirrored on her face: eyes bright and wide, cheeks flushing, lips pulling up in an eager smile….

Mike’s moving for her before he’s even fully aware that he’s doing so, only realizing that she’s doing the same after a split second, the both of them moving towards each other like magnets, inexorable, inevitable. He blinks, draws in a deep, eager breath as he moves a handful of rushed steps forward, and then….

Just like that, El’s in his arms, her own coming up to wrap around his shoulders, reaching up to hold on tight. She’s warm beneath his palms and, god, weekly phone calls, letters, and conversations through Cerebro as often as Mike can get away with are no substitute for this: the slender lines of her body fitting neatly against his, the soft brush of her hair against his cheek, the warmth of her bleeding into him.

And then El’s pulling him down, face tilting up towards his, and Mike willingly lets himself fall. Their mouths meet in an explosion of sensation and it’s only after Mike relaxes into the kiss that it fully hits him just how much he’s missed this, missed her.

For weeks, Mike’s felt lost, untethered, like he’s just surviving, not even living. But here, with El, he’s home. And he knows it’s always going to be like that. For Mike, home isn’t a place, but the most beautiful, amazing girl he’s ever met, the one he’s lucky enough to get to call his for as long as she lets him, and as long as he’s by her side, he’s exactly where he belongs.

Eventually, they separate (somewhat reluctantly on both their parts, Mike knows, if the little pout pulling down on El’s mouth tells him anything) and Mike greets everyone else. Will is acting a little subdued, but the looks on both Mrs. Byers and Jonathan’s faces are open and welcoming, Mrs. Byers particularly giving him a warm, motherly smile that makes Mike feel like a kid again.

There’s too many of them to fit into one car, so both Jonathan and Mrs. Byers drove to the airport. Nancy slides into the passenger seat of Jonathan’s car while Mike, El, and Will go with Mrs. Byers, Mike and El sharing the backseat while Will sits up front with his mom.

Mike doesn’t let go of El’s hand the entire drive back to the Byers’ house (hell, they practically didn’t stop holding hands throughout the whole of the journey through the airport, either, plastered against each other’s side like there is no way to physically separate them). And it’s here, in the backseat of Mrs. Byers car, El’s hand clutched tightly in his, that Mike gets his first good look at Lenora Hills.

His first impression is that of a desert, all exposed rocks and cacti, palm trees lining the streets. It’s warmer than Hawkins, even for November, and dry, arid. Mike hates to think what it’d be like here in the summer.

But it’s where El lives now and ultimately none of that other stuff matters. She could be living in Antarctica and that’s where he’d want to be.

The rest of the day passes in something of a blur. Mike’s mostly just exhilarated to be with El again even as he’s overwhelmed trying (and failing) to take everything in. He puts his things in Will’s room, seeing how as Nancy gets the lone guest room (though Mike knows that Nancy is definitely going to be sleeping in Jonathan’s room – no judgment as Mike’s 100% positive he’s going to be sneaking in to El’s room to do the same… though just to sleep, which is where Mike’s pretty sure his and Nancy’s experiences are going to be very different). And after, El gives him a tour of the house before everyone settles in to just… spend time together.

But it’s not until after dinner that Mike finally gets to spend time with El alone. 

The dinner table is a cramped affair – 6 people all gathered around in the cozy space – but Mike doesn’t mind. He’s sitting next to El, so close he’s pressed up against her shoulder to hip, which is the furthest he really ever wants to be from her ever, so he’s pretty happy with the arrangement.

Everyone’s plate is mostly empty when El turns to him, a small, hopeful smile on her face. “Did you want to go on a walk? Just you and me?” At Mike’s eager nod – because why would he say no to spending time alone with her? – El turns over to Mrs. Byers. “Joyce, is that ok?” Mike doesn’t know how or when El started calling Mrs. Byers by her first name, but Mike knows that he’s nowhere near comfortable enough to call an adult by their first name.

Mrs. Byers smiles and nods. “Yeah, of course. Just don’t go too far, ok?”

El beams at her step-mom and hurries to stand up, mostly empty plate in one hand. “Ok, thanks!” 

Mike follows El’s example and they clear their plates off the table, dumping them in the sink before all but skipping out the front door and into the mild, evening air.

Even though it’s a couple of days before Thanksgiving, night in Lenora Hills is only a little cool and the long-sleeved shirt Mike’s wearing is more than enough to keep him warm as El takes his hand and guides him down the front walk towards the sidewalk. Something deep in Mike’s chest unfurls with a soft sigh as he realizes that, finally, he and El are alone and he pulls his hand away so he can drape his arm over her shoulders, letting her tuck in against his side as they walk.

Mike lets El dictate where they go – this is her neighborhood, after all – and he can’t resist as he leans over just enough to press a soft kiss against the side of her head. The giggling sigh that El lets out makes his heart feel full to bursting and it takes him a few moments to wrestle the feeling under control before he can find his voice.

They talk as they walk, Mike asking her how she’s settling in (“School is weird – I don’t think I like it too much yet” – “Nobody really likes school, so don’t worry too much about it.”) while El eagerly digs for any updated news about their friends back in Hawkins (“I think Lucas and Max are going to break up again.” – “I wish they’d stop doing that.”). Their conversation is soft and aimless, relieved at not being interrupted by static or worried about long-distance charges. Mike never wants this moment to end. 

They end up at a small park not far from El’s house and El guides them over to a bench that overlooks a grass field. No one’s there but them and, under the starry night sky, surrounded by soft streetlights that line the sidewalks, everything feels romantic. 

This is the moment when Mike wishes, with every fiber of his being, that he had that damn promise ring. It’s the perfect moment to give it to her, out under the stars, her looking up at him with a soft, content expression on her face, looking so damn beautiful it almost makes him want to cry. 

God, Mike even knows what he would say, the words hitting him solidly in the chest almost hard enough to make him gasp.

“Hey, I have something for you,” he’d say as he reaches into his pocket for the ring – either loose in his pocket or secured in a ring box. In real life, Mike knows his fingers would be trembling, but this is his imagination and, in this fantasy, his fingers would be still, confident.

The look on El’s face would shift from soft and content to eagerly excited and the anticipation in her expression would give Mike an extra dose of inspiration to continue on. If the ring is in a box, this is the moment he’d open it to reveal it. “It’s a promise ring,” he’d say before El could ask (because she always asks – it’s one of the things he loves about her, how endlessly curious she is with him). “I know it’s been really hard being so far apart. And I’ve missed you so much, it hurts. But no matter how hard it is or how much it hurts, there’s nothing that will stop me from wanting to be with you always.”

Maybe, at this point, El would gasp, lips parting delicately in pleased surprise. “Always?”

“Yeah, always,” Mike would continue, unable to keep himself from smiling. “There’s no one else for me – not now, not ever. That’s what this ring means, that I’ll always be yours for as long as you’ll have me, I promise.”

Maybe he’d say “I love you,” at this point, but not even in his fantasy is Mike this brave. But still, El lets Mike slip the ring onto her finger on her right hand before she eagerly reaches for him, fingers curling around the fabric of his shirt at his shoulders to pull him down for a deep, lingering kiss….

“Hey, are you ok?”

El’s voice cuts in through the hazy layers of futile daydreaming and Mike turns to look at her, one knee drawing up on the bench so he can face her fully. “Yeah, just thinking,” he says, a shadow of a smile on his face. “I’ve missed this, missed you.”

El smiles at him and it’s the kind of bittersweet that cuts him deep down to the core. “I’ve missed you too. It’s been… hard, adjusting.”

Mike reaches for her, hands going to her waist to pull her close. “Same here. But at least I’m here, for a few days at least.” Really, this would be the absolute perfect moment for that promise ring….

But the thought cuts short as El’s hands slide up his arms, palms coming to rest on the sides of his neck. Her touch is always so electrifying, making him feel like he’s just moments away from jumping out of his own skin. 

And then El pulls him down towards her and Mike’s powerless to stop her even if he wanted to… which he absolutely does not. Mike lets himself fall until their foreheads are resting against each other’s. He breathes her in, lungs filling with the scent of El’s shampoo and whatever laundry detergent Mrs. Byers buys, both mixing with some indescribable essence that is El, addictive and sweet. It’s intoxicating and Mike wasn’t aware how much he’s missed it until right this moment. 

“I’m happy you’re here,” El says, whisper soft around a sigh that burrows into Mike’s heart. 

“Me too,” Mike says with his own soft sigh. “I wish I didn’t have to ever go home.”

El nods against his forehead, but she doesn’t say anything – probably not wanting to think about their eventual separation, if Mike had to guess. Instead, she tips her face up towards his, forehead tilting away, and presses her mouth to his in a slow, rich kiss.

Mike doesn’t hesitate to return the pressure of her lips on his, head tilting just so as he deepens the kiss. In this moment, nothing else matters – not the frustrating lack of a promise ring, not the fact that he has to go home later this weekend, not the thousands of miles that will separate him and El once he goes home – none of it.

No, all that matters is El, the warmth of her beneath his palms through the fabric of her sweater, the glide and taste of her against his mouth, the soft sighs that echoes along his skin. This is all Mike needs and he lets himself drown.

Mike loses track of time as he sits there with El, trading rich, luxurious kisses, getting reacquainted in ways they haven’t been able to in weeks. And if his mouth traces a path up her jaw to her ear to the sound of her gasp against his cheek, or if her fingers dip tantalizingly beneath the collar of his shirt with a gentle, teasing touch that sends shivers down his spine, well… there’s no one else there to know. 

Eventually, they go back to El’s house, once it’s just a little too cool to stay outside even if it means giving up this slice of alone time. They hang out with Will, watching TV and just talking over it the entire time. 

When they go to bed, Mike and El exchange a lingering good night kiss before she heads upstairs to get room, with Mike following Will down to the lower split level where a sleeping bag has been set up for him. But once Will is asleep, there’s nothing stopping Mike from sliding out of the sleeping bag and tiptoeing his way up to El’s room. 

Her door is propped open a bit – 3 inches, in memory of Hopper – and Mike keeps it that way as he closes the door behind him. El’s room is dark, but he can see just well enough to make his way over to her bed. 

El’s already holding the covers open for him to slide under and Mike doesn’t hesitate, scooping up behind her so he can pull her into his arms, her back pressed against his chest as he spoons her. They both sigh at the closeness, the quiet intimacy of the darkness that surrounds them. His hand drapes gently over her stomach and her hand comes down to rest on top of his, their fingers shifting so they can intertwine.

Mike wishes he could live in this moment forever – he’s home, for the first time in weeks – but sleep eventually claims him. And when he dreams, he dreams of El, of the two of them together, for always…

And, the entire time, with a promise ring on her finger.

Getting on the plane to go back to Hawkins the Saturday after Thanksgiving is the hardest thing Mike thinks he’s ever done.

He spends pretty much every moment (both waking and sleeping) with El during the four days he’s in California, quickly becoming addicted to being able to see her, touch her, be with her whenever he wants. Every cell in Mike’s body screams at him not to get on that plane (and, from what he can tell from how Nancy and Jonathan are hugging at the gate, she’s going through the exact same thing he is).

But Mike can’t stay, he knows he can’t. Besides, he tries to reason with himself, trying to blunt the pain as much as possible. You’ll see her again in a few weeks.

And, yes, it’s true – El is flying out for Christmas with the Byers. But that still means he’ll have to be without her for the meantime and Mike’s sick and tired of being separated from El.

One day we won’t have to be, he promises himself and Mike can’t wait for that still-too-far-off day. 

But the promise does little to help him at this very moment. He and El are luxuriating in one last embrace before he has to let her go and head down the jetway onto the plane. They clutch onto each other tightly, desperately, and Mike feels like his heart is ready to break all over again. It’s not as bad as it was when they had to say goodbye when El moved away from Hawkins, but it’s not too far off in Mike’s opinion.

“I miss you already,” El says, whispering the words into his ear. “I don’t want to let you go.”

“Me neither,” Mike says with a ragged sigh. “But it’s only for a few weeks this time.”

El nods, her hair brushing against his neck, and Mike pulls back to give El one last kiss, one that El leans up into eagerly. It’s a deep kiss, mouths slanting hard against each other’s and tasting bittersweet the entire time. But, still, it makes Mike’s heart race as kissing El always does. 

They eventually have to separate, though, much as Mike hates it. And, after another promise to call and write soon, Mike gets on the plane, feeling the entire time like he’s leaving his heart behind.

The plane ride back is quiet, sad. Neither him or Nancy really talk much, both of them wallowing over having to leave their significant others behind.

Hawkins is literally the last place Mike wants to be as he arrives at home later that day, night having long fallen due to the time difference and long day of travel, and he all but flops face first down onto his bed, letting his moping heart lull him to sleep.

When he wakes up the next morning, he’s still moping, but there’s a renewed sense of determination bubbling up in his chest. Because, now that he’s back and now that the mall is open, Mike can finally go buy El the promise ring he’s been saving up for.

He eventually makes his way over to the mall early Sunday afternoon, alone except for his thoughts and $55.00 protectively and securely tucked away in his wallet. He knows Lucas or Dustin would have come with him to the mall if he asked, but this is something Mike wants to do by himself, something personal that belongs only to him and eventually El.

Some perverse sense of luck is on Mike’s side because when he makes his way to the jewelry counter at the department store, the ring that caught his attention all those months ago is still there. On top of it, the jewelry counter is running a sale, so the ring is $40 instead of $50. Which means Mike is going to have money left over, money he knows he’s probably going to spend buying a Christmas gift for El (yes, he logically knows he could use the promise ring as a Christmas gift, but that just kinda feels like cheating if he’s being honest with himself).

The woman at the counter is quick to help Mike and very nicely ignores the way his voice is trembling as he asks to buy the ring. There’s an awkward conversation about ring size (and Mike’s kicking himself for not thinking about that sooner), but he does his best and soon walks out of the mall with a black, velvet ring box in his jacket pocket and $11 remaining in his wallet. 

The next few weeks pass by with agonizing slowness, every second like an eternity as he counts down to the moment he gets to see El again. Being in school kinda helps (though that’s its own brand of torture), but that only lasts a couple of weeks before school lets out for winter break.

At night, when he’s alone in his room, Mike spends a lot of time cradling the ring box in his hands, opening it over and over again to stare at the delicate gold band. He rehearses in his head the things he wants to say when he gives the ring to El and he tries to imagine what the moment will be like when he gives it to her, hoping that he’ll know the perfect moment when it happens, that he won’t miss it. 

Finally, with all the combined anxiety and excitement that it brings, it’s the day that El is supposed to arrive. A few days before they're scheduled to go, Will comes down with the flu, so Mrs. Byers is staying home with Will while El and Jonathan fly out on their own, Mike and Nancy welcoming them with just as much excitement and enthusiasm as they received in California.

Having El back with him in Hawkins just feels right and Mike blissfully floats through the rest of the day, high on being with El again. It’s all he ever wants and he hates that he always has to let it go.

Mike’s hopeful that, maybe, he can give El the promise ring later that night, but turns out Holly is enamored with El (and, honestly, Mike can’t blame his little sister for that at all) and won’t leave them alone until his mom declares it’s time for bed for everyone. With his mom watching like a hawk, everyone gets settled in where they’re sleeping for the night – El in the guest room, Jonathan in Mike’s room, and Mike down in the basement.

It’s ridiculous, is what it is, Mike thinks – like Jonathan’s really going to stay out of Nancy’s room all night, like Mike isn’t going to try to do the same with El. But his mom is hyper-vigilant, which Mike knows will last as long as it takes for her to fall asleep.

But with Jonathan camped out in his room until closer to midnight, there’s no way Mike’s going to be able to get his hands on the promise ring, which is tucked away in his nightstand drawer. So he’s resigned to just laying on the couch in the basement with only the dim light of an old lamp to keep him from being in the dark, staring up at the ceiling with his arms crossed behind his head, and trying to wait long enough before making a move to sneak upstairs.

Turns out, though, El is one step ahead of him.

A barely-there creak on the stairs startles Mike out of his impatient countdown and he lifts his head to see who’s coming down just in time to see El making her way down the last few steps.

He props himself up on his elbows, smile pulling up on his lips. El’s dressed for bed – flannel PJ pants with a light, blue long-sleeved thermal, hair loose around her shoulders – and Mike thinks she’s never looked more beautiful. “Hey, how’d you get past my mom?”

El gives him a sly, mysterious smile, one that makes his heart race. “I’m good at sneaking,” she says as she crosses the basement floor over to him.

Mike lifts the blanket up as he turns onto his side, back pressing tight against the cushions of the couch, making room for El to slide under the covers with him. Both of them sigh as she settles against him, head next to his on the pillow, one hand on his chest while the other curls up delicately below her chin. Mike’s arm immediately drapes over her waist and the knot of anxiety he’s been carrying around these past few weeks just completely unfurls before fading away entirely.

“We almost don’t fit on this couch,” Mike says with a grin as he glances down to where he and El are laying. It wasn’t meant for two people to be laying on it, even when they’re both on their sides.

El lets out a giggle as she shifts closer to him. “Guess we will just have to snuggle, then.”

“Hmm, guess we will,” Mike agrees, holding her tighter against him. To say that he doesn’t mind is the world’s biggest understatement.

There’s a moment where Mike is keenly aware of the promise ring two floors above him – all the pieces are here but he can’t put them together, dammit – and a helpless surge of frustration starts to rise in the back of his mind. But it all fades away the next moment when El captures his lips in a sudden kiss. 

Suddenly, there’s no room for thought at all as the minutes disappear in a haze of slow, deep kisses. Mike discovers that he quite likes making out while lying down – the easy yet almost illicit intimacy of it, lazy and thrilling all at the same time, the way it lets him hold her while she presses herself up against him – and, from the way El’s fingers card through his hair and the little noises she makes, he guesses she does too. 

El goes back upstairs eventually, leaving him with a dopey smile on kiss-swollen lips and a promise to see him in the morning, and the next couple of days pass by like a dream, even as Mike is ever vigilant for the right moment to give El the ring. He starts keeping it with him at all times, ready for whenever the moment finally arrives. 

And, for all of Mike’s anxiety and worry about missing the moment, when it does arrive, it’s totally and completely unmistakable.

It’s evening a couple of days before Christmas. Earlier in the day, El and Jonathan joined the whole Wheeler family in decorating the Christmas tree and not an insignificant amount of Mike’s attention was spent just watching El, drinking in the joy on her face and the way her eyes lit up to shine just as brightly as the string lights wrapped around the tree, just so stunningly beautiful that it robbed Mike of the ability to properly think or breathe.

But night has now fallen, the house gone quiet as everyone has long since settled in to sleep, and Mike is waiting for El to make her now nightly-trek downstairs. He knows she’ll be down soon, he doesn’t doubt that – it’s just a matter of timing, is all.

While he waits, though, Mike decides that it’s worth heading upstairs to the kitchen where he knows his mom has stashed away a horde of Christmas cookies. They’re practically calling his name and Mike’s an absolute sucker for his mother’s cooking.

Only, Mike never makes it to the kitchen as he moment he gets up to the first floor, he spots El sitting in the living room on the floor, knees drawn up as she stares at the Christmas tree, all lit up and blanketing the space in soft, white light, giving the entire room a soft, romantic glow.

This is the moment, you idiot, his brain screams at him and Mike doesn’t hesitate to act as he quickly dashes back downstairs as quietly as he can to grab the ring where he’s been hiding it at night before heading back upstairs, hoping the entire time he hasn’t made too much noise.

Luck’s on Mike’s side because when he gets back upstairs, El hasn’t moved an inch. He approaches her slowly, trembling from a combination of both excitement and nerves, and he announces himself when he gets a few feet away. “Hey, whatcha doing?” he asks, keeping his voice quiet so as not to startle her.

Despite his best efforts, El jumps, but just a little – a brief twitch of her shoulders – and she turns her head to look at him as he approaches. “Just wanted to look at the tree. It’s pretty,” El says with a soft smile, watching as Mike comes over and sits next to her on the floor. “Were you looking for me?” 

Mike breathes out a light chuckle, acutely aware of the way the ring box is digging into his thigh from where it sits in the pocket of his PJ pants. “No, actually – came up for a snack.” He reaches for El, snaking an arm around her waist to pull her close. El goes willingly, easily, leaning so her head can rest on his shoulder. “Always happy to see you, though, so I’m not complaining.”

El hums in satisfaction and, for a long moment, the two of them just sit there, enjoying each other’s company. But at the same time, even as Mike relishes in the feel of El snuggled up against him, her hair tickling his neck and jaw, he’s working on psyching himself up to give El the promise ring he’s been wanting to give her for so long.

And, after a few breathless seconds, Mike decides that he’s going to be as ready as he’s ever going to get. So he takes a deep breath and starts to speak. “So, um, I have something for you.”

El lifts her head and Mike shifts so he can face her fully, just in time to see her turn to look at him, eyes lighting up with excitement, the look rendered even more beautiful under the sparkling lights of the Christmas tree. “A Christmas present?”

Mike lets out a soft laugh – how can he resist when she’s so adorably beautiful? – and shakes his head. “No, not a Christmas present.” He hears how that sounds and hurries to clarify before any disappointment can set in. “I mean, I have a Christmas present for you, but you’re not going to get it until Christmas. This is something else, something I’ve been wanting to give you for a while. Only I wasn’t able to get it until recently. And I, um, wanted to give it to you alone, not in front of other people.”

By this point, El is also looking at him not just with eagerness, but also with a growing confusion, so Mike hurries to reach into his pocket for the ring box. He’s acutely aware of El’s eyes on him as he holds the box between them, hands shaking as he orients it so he can open it facing her. 

Mike hears El’s sudden intake of breath as he opens the ring box, the tiny hinges creaking ever so slightly, and he looks up at her through his eyelashes, his own breath catching at what he sees. El is entranced, a pretty blush growing on her cheeks as she stares down at the ring, which glistens gently under the twinkling Christmas lights. Mike swallows roughly – god, she’s just so beautiful – and somehow manages to find his voice well enough to keep speaking. 

“It’s a promise ring,” Mike says with a quaver in the words he can’t get rid of. El looks up at the word “promise”, gaze locking with his. “Promise” means so much to both of them, the word heavy with meaning as it sits in the air with the weight of their history together. 

“I-I know it’s been hard with everything that’s happened, with the move and being so far apart and all. And it sucks that we don’t get to see each other every day like we used to, and that we have to be ok with letters and a couple of phone calls a week instead.” Mike pauses, gulping hard as emotion threatens to overwhelm him. “I just miss you so much. Everyday it feels like part of me is missing.” He takes in a deep breath in an attempt to find some sense of calm – he’s only a little bit successful. 

Still, it’s enough to let him continue. “But no matter how much it hurts, you being so far away, there’s no one else I’d rather be with. You’re the most amazing girl in the entire world and I don’t ever want to be with anyone else, even if I have to wait forever.” Mike glances down at the ring before meeting El’s eyes once more, her gaze bright and shining with what he hopes are happy tears. “That’s what this ring means, you and me, always.” Mike breathes out a self-deprecating laugh. “And I hope you feel the same way, otherwise I’ve just made a complete idiot out of myself.”

El’s eyes widen and she shakes her head. “No, you’re not an idiot. I feel the same. There is no one else for me, either. How could there be?” She smiles, a delicate curve of her lips paired with the slightest head tilt, and Mike feels his heart skip several beats. A second later, she looks down at the ring, a curious expression on her face. “Do I need to get you a ring? To make the same promise?”

A deep wave of relief rushes through him, making Mike feel almost giddy, and a silly grin spreads across his face. “No, um, not if you don’t want to, that is. I make the promise to you by giving you the ring and you return the promise by wearing it, if that makes sense.” A jolt runs through him as he realizes that also sounds like a very different kind of ring, one that makes a similar promise but makes a vastly different and much more serious statement. And while Mike knows deep down that, someday, he will absolutely be giving El an engagement ring, it’s way too soon to be thinking about it right now while they’re both only 14. 

“I want to wear it,” El says, redrawing Mike’s focus on what’s right in front of him. “Can I?” She holds her hand out like she’s about ready to pluck the ring right out of the box, the look on her face beautifully eager. 

“Yeah, yeah, of course,” Mike hurries to say as he fumbles to get the ring out of the snug velvet holding it in place. “Here, let me.”

It takes a bit of trial and error, but the ring eventually sits snug on El’s right index finger. Disappointment begins to rise inside of him – he’d been hoping that the ring would fit on either her middle or ring fingers – but then Mike sees El’s reaction and the feeling disappears. 

The fingers of El’s right hand are gently curved and cradled in the palm of her left hand as she runs her thumb over the band of the ring in a reverent caress, a blissfully awed smile on her face. “It’s beautiful,” she all but whispers, lifting her gaze back up to his. “I love it.”

I love you, Mike thinks, but can’t seem to say. The words get stuck deep in his chest, blocked by something he’s too scared to look at too closely. But just because Mike can’t say them out loud, doesn’t mean he doesn’t feel them….

Doesn’t mean he can’t show her how he feels. 

Mike reaches for her, almost on instinct – no thought, just need, a desire to be close to her, to show her the love and affection that swims in every cell in his body. One hand curls gently around her waist while the other cups the side of her neck as he moves closer to her. 

El, who had looked up at Mike’s movement, doesn’t even question what Mike’s doing and it’s like she falls into his embrace, shimmering affection shining in her eyes, enhanced by the soft, romantic glow of the Christmas lights. 

They come together like magnets, like there’s no other option but for them to fall into each other. Mike manages to draw in one last shaky breath before his lips come crashing down onto El’s, which is good because it’s a kiss that takes his breath away, leaving him feeling lightheaded and dizzy, his every sense overwhelmed by her.

Time seems to lose all meaning as they sit there, trading rich, lingering kisses under the soft glow of the Christmas tree lights. There’s something deeper in the air between them, something heavier. It’s like now that Mike’s given El a promise ring – and that she accepted it – their connection, their future is so much more real, concrete… permanent.  

Somehow, they manage to gravitate even closer together – her hands in his hair, his arms wrapped around her waist, one of her legs thrown over his folded knee to minimize the space between them – and the whole moment is just perfect, the kind of perfect Mike wishes would stretch on forever. 

But it can’t last forever, as Mike is painfully aware of. In a matter of days, El will fly back to California and it will be months of letters and phone calls that will have to sustain them until they can figure out another time to see each other. 

One day, though, they won’t have to live apart any longer. They’ll be adults and will be able to make their own choices, able to go where they please with no one to stop them. One day, Mike will be able to be with El every day and, when that happens, he’ll be able to fully live up to the promise embedded in the ring El now wears on her finger. 

For now, though, he’ll have to be content with moments like this that will be too far-and-few-between for his liking. And in the meantime, he’ll dream of that far off “one day” of a promise of love and forever waiting to be fulfilled. 

(and maybe someday, hopefully well before that, he’ll finally be able to tell her that he loves her, but… that’s a battle for a different day….)