Sequel to Paper Hearts. Works as a standalone too. For the anon who requested the other half of this fic:Ā El drawing hearts in her notebook and Hopper or MikeĀ finding it.
Mike Wheeler was one hundred percent certain that he loved El Hopper. He knew it with every fibre of his being, knew that the warm and indescribable feeling he had every time she smiled at him or touched his hand or kissed his cheek was definitely the deepest kind of love he had ever felt.
What he didnāt know, was how to tell her.
It was this problem that held his attention during Fridayās final period, not the several algebra equations on the page before him. He had been meaning to say those three little words to El for weeks now, maybe even months, but he wanted to make sure everything was perfect.Ā
And, having never been in love before, Mike had little idea what perfect was. He might have asked Nancy or Steve, but the idea of telling anyone other than El didnāt seem right. He wanted her to know first.Ā
He had contemplated pulling a scene from one of her favourite movies, but it just never seemed to rain at the right moment and he was pretty sure the Chief would arrest him if he showed up tossing rocks at Elās bedroom window.Ā
When the dismissal bell finally rang, Mike was beyond ecstatic. He always visited El on his way home from schoolāshe wasnāt able to go herself yet, but Hopper said next year was looking hopefulāand on Fridays he stayed for dinner and worked on some of his homework while helping El with her tutoring. Already flush with excitement, Mike biked over to the Hoppersā house as fast as his legs would carry him.Ā
āLucas and Max got detention,ā Mike told her, grinning as he recounted the details of his day. He sat with El on the living room sofa, sharing an after-school snack of chocolate chip cookies and milk. āThey were throwing paper planes at each other during study hall. Lucas never gets detention. His dad isāā
āPaper planes?ā El interrupted him for clarification.Ā āAirplanes?ā
El knew about airplanes. Sometimes she and Jim would go up on the roof and watch them fly by. Jim promised that one day heād take her on a plane and theyād go far away from Hawkins for a little while.Ā
āPaper airplanes,ā Mike explained,Ā āItās just paper thatās folded to look like a plane. I canāt make them that good, not as good as Lucas or Will, but here, Iāll show you!ā
He held out his hand and El passed him the notebook that had been resting on her lap, ready to be opened as soon as they finished their snack. El didnāt realize Mike was opening it to a random page until it was too late.
The page laid there before them was covered in her heart doodles and Mikeās name written several times, eachĀ āiā dotted with a tiny heart.Ā
El flushed, staring at the floor.Ā āMikeāā she began, but he laughed, gently and kindly, cutting off her words.Ā
āHey!ā Mike smiled and took her hand āI like it. My math book looks pretty much the same.ā
El looked up at him, eyes hopeful.Ā āReally?ā
āYeah!ā Mike nodded emphatically,Ā āWait here.ā He scrambled over to the front door and returned to his seatĀ a moment later with his own notebook, opened to a page near the beginning. El looked and saw her name doodled repeatedly across the margins of the paper, hearts and stars surrounding it.Ā
Smiling, El looked up at Mike with shining eyes, noting how red heād turned underneath his frecklesāshe loved those freckles. Love. Elās lip quivered, words poised on her tongue. She opened her mouth to speak, but Mike beat her to it.Ā
It was said quickly, but there was no mistaking the words, or the feeling behind them. El shifted closer to him on the sofa and clasped his hand, notebooks forgotten on the pillows beside them.Ā
