promise me

i've never been on a plane before so sorry if some of this doesn't make sense, just going off of prior knowledge.

Lost My Mind by FINNEAS✈︎

Mike woke up to the sound of someone rustling around, he was of course in El's room as he had spent the night the day before and when he opened his eyes he saw El bringing her suitcases out of the room.

Then it hit him. She was leaving today and Mike couldn't have dreaded this day more.

He got out of her bed slowly, stretching his arms before he got up to go look for El. She was in the kitchen with Hopper, who was sipping a cup of coffee. El spotted Mike walk into the kitchen and she smiled sadly, "Finally awake?" She asked softly, "Yeah.."

"I wanted to let you sleep a little longer, since you probably won't get any sleep tonight." She said as she walked over towards him. "Thanks," Mike chuckled, "I'm just going to drive separately, if that's okay? You two are probably going to be all mushy and sad and I can't deal with it right now." Hopper said with a tired sigh. "Yeah that's fine, I just want you at the airport when I leave."

"Of course. Want me to go put your bags in the car?" Hopper offered, El nodded and the burly man stood up and grabbed her suitcases, which were placed by the door neatly, and carried them out to his truck. El turned to face Mike when Hopper left and saw the sad expression printed onto his face.

El immediately ran to him and hugged him, "You are going to make this really hard for me." She admitted shyly, "Sorry." Mike whispered, placing his chin on the top of her head. "Don't try to be too upset around me, if you can?" She asked, this was already hard enough for her but if Mike got all upset, it would only be worse.

"I'll try." He replied, his answers were fast and short. He didn't know what to say except respond to her, what was he supposed to say?

"Why don't you go get dressed and get something to eat, we have to leave soon." El suggested, pulling away from him and offering a small smile. Mike shrugged and nodded his head and then went back to her room to find some clothes. He opened her closet and found one last sweater in there, all of the rest she had packed away in her suitcase.

He took off his pajama shirt and slipped the sweater over his head and then found his jeans from yesterday draped over the chair by her desk, so he put them on. After he was dressed he messed around with his hair and then walked back to the kitchen and grabbed a granola bar out of the cabinet.

The kitchen was painfully quiet, no one said a word. What was right to say in that moment? Hopper was so happy his little girl would be going to the school of her dreams, but he was also sad he would be all alone in their house. No one to watch Miami Vice with, no one to eat eggo extravaganzas with, or play board games with. Just Hopper. Mike was also happy about her going to Italy to fulfill her lifelong dream, but he couldn't help but be selfish to want her to stay. He couldn't face the loneliness, waking up alone, spending summer alone, doing things they loved most by himself, only visiting her every few weeks. This would be torture for him and Hopper both.

Not only the boys were sad but El too, she had never left the states before and she would have to face a whole new country by herself, without Hopper or Mike by her side and that terrified her. Hopper only had the money for one plane ticket, because of her boarding fee in Italy, but oh how he wanted to go with her. If something happened to her, he would never know.

Breaking everyone out of their thoughts, Hopper looked at his watch and realized they would have to leave now. "Okay.. I think it's time to go." Hopper announced after clearing his throat. Mike glanced to El quickly and she looked over at him and then at Hopper. She nodded and got up, "We'll meet you at the airport?" She asked, Hopper nodded and gave her a quick hug.

"Yeah, see you there. Do you remember how to get there, Mike?" Mike nodded and stayed silent as he grabbed his keys off the kitchen counter and walked over to El. "Ready?" He quietly asked, "Yes, let's go." She grabbed his hand, to reassure him everything would be okay (Though it didn't work), and they walked out of the door and out to his car.

Mike got in the driver's seat, and El in the seat next to him. Hopper left a few minutes ago so he would be ahead of them for sure. El connected their hands once again, wanting to feel as close to him as possible for now. Mike started the car and pulled out of the driveway slowly and then started driving down the street silently.

El thought she had never seen him so quiet. He only spoke few words to her today, and that was odd for him since he was always making jokes or talking about something with her. "Are... Are you okay, Mike? You've been really quiet.." She dared to ask, although she knew what his answer would be.

"No. I'm not. I just... I don't really know what I'm supposed to say right now." He answered. Not only did he not know what to say, but he was so confused. Would he ever get the chance to tell her how he felt now? He couldn't tell her today because well, it just wouldn't work. What if she came back after the summer and had a boyfriend? That would be tragic for Mike, he could barely handle her talking to anyone but him, so if she came home with some random Italian dude, he would lose his mind.

What was he supposed to do? He wasn't planning on keeping it in forever, he couldn't go his whole life without her knowing his feelings for her, but he knew he was going to tell her one way or another.

Soon enough they got to the airport, and Mike just wanted to turn the car around and drive as far away as possible right now. He parked the car and froze, his seatbelt still buckled and his hand still on the steering wheel, the other holding El's hand.

El bit the inside of her cheek, holding back as many tears as she could. Mike sighed and rubbed his eyes, finally he said something. "Could you... could you come here?" He asked, El furrowed her eyebrows, "What?"

"Come here." He repeated, El was still confused but unbuckled her seatbelt. "What do you want me to do?"

"Sit." He pointed to his lap, "Mike-"

"El. Please, just...do it. I'm not going to do anything, I've slept next to you for like 10 years. I just want to hold you one last time before you go. That's all I want, please." He pleas, the desperation in his eyes is enough for El to unbuckle her seatbelt.

El sighed as she gave him, crawling from her seat to him, when she reached his lap she curled up, letting her head rest on his shoulder. Mike wrapped his arms around her and pulled her closer to him, cradling her in his arms like she was a baby.

"I don't want you to go." He said, making El's heart shatter. She knew how much this would affect him, but she didn't know it would affect her just as much. "I know." She replied softly, swallowing, trying to get rid of the thickness that somehow made its way into her throat.

"But you'll see me sooner than you realize. Next weekend, you remember?"

Mike nodded, "Counting down the days." El chuckled and felt some of her tears slip out and slide down her cheek. "See? And how many days is that?"

"6"

"Exactly. That's not bad! Y-You will make it. I'll call you every night and... it will be okay!" She said, trying to reassure herself as well as Mike. "But there's a 6 hour time difference."

"I'm 6 hours ahead of you, it won't be that bad!" She said, sniffling. "You will call me when you are settled in?"

"If I don't pass out from jet-lag, then yes. I will call you and dad when I get there." She said, "Promise?" Mike asked. "I promise."

El rested her head in the crook of his neck and they stayed like that for about 5 minutes before El slowly sat up, "I think I should probably go.. don't want to miss my flight.." She said with an awkward laugh. Mike nodded and gulped back some tears, but one slipped out. El placed her hand on his cheek and wiped the tear away before it could get to his chin.

"Please don't tear yourself up. I'm not leaving forever and we will talk every single day, I promise. Can you promise you will not spend your whole summer thinking about me?"

"How can I not think about you? You are the center of my entire life and now you're not going to be there. So what am I supposed to do now?" He asked. "You have to try. Find some new friends, go to parties, do whatever you want!"

"I am not going to any parties without you." Mike said sternly, "Okay, okay.. but at least try and have some fun? Promise me that?" She asked hopefully, Mike nodded. "Okay. Now let's go before you miss your flight."

El smiled at him and kissed his cheek before opening the door and hopping out, Mike following. He grabbed her hand out of instinct and they walked towards the entrance of the airport. When they walked into the lobby Hopper was waiting with all of her bags and when he saw them he stood up, "You guys are finally here," He scoffed.

"What took you so long?"

"Mike took a wrong turn, what a silly goose." El said poking his side, making him smile probably for the first time that day. Hopper muttered something under his breath. "You ready to go, kid?"

El glanced at Mike and back at her dad, "Yeah. I think so." Hopper nodded and they walked over to where security was. This was where they would all have to say goodbye.

El let go of Mike's hand and went over to hug Hopper. "So proud of you, kid. Call me when you get there, okay?" El nodded and kissed him on the cheek. "I love you, dad." He grinned, "Love you too. Be careful."

El walked over to Mike and immediately hugged him. "Don't you start crying and make this harder for me." El's muffled voice said as she buried her face into his sweater that smelled just like her closet. "Sorry.. too late." He said with a small sniffle, and she felt his salty tears fall on the top of her head.

"I'm so happy for you, El." He managed to say, "Shut up, your lying." She giggled, "No! I'm not! I'm totally serious. I'm just sad, am I not allowed to be?" He questioned. "Okay, fine." She sighed, pushing her face further into his grey sweater.

She pulled out of his embrace and stared into his dark chocolate eyes, "I love you so much, and don't forget my promise." She said with all seriousness. Mike nodded, "I won't. I love you too, be careful okay?"

She grinned, "Okay.." She wiped her eyes quickly and turned to face the both of them. "I'm going to um... go now." She said awkwardly. "Bye kid.." Hopper said, giving her one last hug.

"Bye El." Mike said quietly, she blew both of them a kiss and started walking to security, leaving them both behind. She could feel the strings of her heart tugged her backwards, wanting to do nothing but be in Mike's arms once again. But she couldn't. She made this commitment, she wanted to do this (she really did) and she was going to do it.

But not before saying goodbye, one last time.

She dropped her suitcase from where she was standing and turned and started running back to her best friend. She ran into him, almost knocking him over and hugging him tighter than she ever had before. Hopper smiled at them, there was no doubt in his mind that one day, one day they would be together.

But from the amount of love they showed each other, Hopper wouldn't even be able to imagine how they would be if they were together.

El stood up on her tip-toes and kissed his cheek, "I'll miss you, my love."

Mike grinned, "I'll miss you more, honey pie." Hopper stared at them, very confused, when the hell did that start?

"Okay, okay. I'm leaving before I miss my flight, I love you, "She pointed at Mike, "And I love you." She said, hugging Hopper before she finally left.

The two watched her go, their once happy smile now turned into a deep frown as they saw her getting her bags checked and then walking around the corner until they couldn't see her anymore.

Mike was barely keeping himself together, he had never been away from El like this, except for one time. But this is worse. Way. Worse. He felt his world spinning as he couldn't see her anymore. His head felt like he had just spun around in circles for 5 minutes straight, his newfound nausea now making him feel like he had to puke.

Hopper glanced at the boy, who was staring at the corner she turned 5 minutes ago, still hoping that maybe she'd turn around and run back to him. But she never did.

"Are you um.. going to be okay?" Hopper asked awkwardly, Mike turned his head sharply, his eyes already red and his tears stained with dry tears, only to be covered with new ones. "No."

"Can you drive back home? I can call one of the guys from the station to come pick your car up and I'll drive you home?" Hopper suggested, it was the least he could do for him. Mike made his daughter so happy, maybe he could repay him with this?

"N-no it's fine.. I can drive myself, thanks." Hopper frowned, "Are you sure?"

"Yes! I'm- yeah. I'm sure." He snapped quickly. "Okay, well if you change your mind-"

"I'll let you know. See you around, Hop." Mike said before turning around and walking out of the airport quickly, his feet seconds closer to running. He couldn't be in that place anymore before he officially lost his mind, and probably threw up. He pushed the doors open and got to his car quickly, shutting the door and sitting down in his seat.

He wanted to scream. He wanted to break something. How was he supposed to go on without her? She was everything to him and now he can only see her once or twice a month?

Mike hit his head on his steering wheel before he just sat like that, his head on the steering wheel and his knees tucked up to his chest, breathing heavily. Now he felt like his lungs were closing up, his throat closing up. His brain went on full lockdown and he didn't know what to do. El was always there to calm him down when he started to panic, she always had been. Never once was she not there in this type of situation.

Except for now.

He tried to remember what she would tell him to do, her soft voice ringing through his mind.

"Just breathe, Mike. It's going to be okay." She would say. "Nothing is going to hurt you, not when I'm here. I'll always be here." Well now she wasn't, that thought only made him panic more.

"Breathe Mike, breathe." He could feel the ghost of her hand rubbing his arm soothingly. He just wanted her back, it hadn't even been an hour and he was already giving himself an anxiety attack. Each heaving breath made his heart ache further, it felt impossible to breath in that moment. His own body suffocating him, as if El was the only air he needed to survive, and she was. But right now she wasn't here and he would have to learn how to breathe on his own. His heart felt like it was sinking with every breath, an impossible ache only El could stop.

How would he even begin to go on without seeing her face every single day? Without waking up and seeing her beautiful features. Without spending his entire day next to her. Without laughing and making jokes with her.

He needed her more than he ever thought he did. Without her there, the realization of how much he depended on her slapped him in the face, and also the realization of how deeply in love he was with her.

He knew these next few days, weeks, and months would be extremely hard, but he had to keep his promise. He had to do it for El.

✈︎

El has just boarded her long flight, she shoved her suitcases into the overhead storage units. The flight was going to be a long, painful 9 hours of sitting in the uncomfortable seat. She'd never been on a plane for that long, and there would be no stops in between because it was a direct flight.

El just hoped no one would bother her. She was trying her best not to think about how Mike was right now. Unbeknownst to her, he was actually trying to control the heaving of his chest, or how his lungs felt like they would collapse with any given second. If she knew that, she would get off of that flight right then and there. But she didn't know.

She sat down, trying to get as comfortable as she could, and waited for the plan to begin take off. With a soft blanket draped over her legs and a neck pillow around her neck, she was all set. She closed her eyes but wasn't welcomed with darkness, like she normally was. Instead her brain was playing its own slideshow of memories to display to her.

"Wake up!" 12 year old El said, poking her best friend as she laid on top of him, trying to pull him out of his deep slumber. She huffed and rested her chin on his chest, why did he never wake up? It was so irritating.

"Hey! I said wake up, you slug!" she repeated, reaching her hand forward to poke his freckled cheeks. He groaned and lazily pushed her hand away, "Go away."

"Get up, get up, get up!" she repeated persistently. His eyes slowly opened and looked down to glare at her. She displayed a playful grin when she saw his eyes open. "Why do we need to get up?" he asked groggily.

"We don't, I was just bored and I missed your face." She giggled, poking his his nose to see his face scrunch up. "Why couldn't you have waited longer? A boy needs his beauty sleep!"

"You've gotten plenty, now, let's go play!"

As that memory began to fade, a new one appeared.

It was a rainy day in Hawkins, and the harsh droplets of rain that poured down on Mike's roof is what made El freeze. She was only 10 and her fear of thunderstorms should be way past her by now, but they aren't.

They were playing in Mike's basement with some of his Star Wars toys. It was already raining to begin with, but it only got worse as time went on. The loud crack of thunder from the sky is what made El jump clear in the air. Mike noticed her sudden movement and looked up from his Stormtrooper toy.

"Are you okay?" He asked, he didn't really see what happened but looking at her now, she didn't look okay. Her olive skin was now pale and her eyes were wide with fear.

"I'm... I'm scared, Mike." She whispered as she tucked her knees up to her chest and began rocking slowly, trying to distract herself from the loud cracks of thunder. It didn't work. With each clap of thunder, it sounded like the sky was being ripped apart and El hated it.

Mike tilted his head to the side curiously, El was always the brave one protecting him. He had never seen her look so scared in their 3 years of friendship. Except the one time they went to the theater and saw Poltergeist.

When she jumped again at the loud sound, Mike immediately pushed the toys they were playing with off the couch and onto the floor without a care in the world, and he scooted closer to her. Silently Mike put his arm over her shoulder and pulled her closer to him, so her head was resting on his chest.

"It's okay.. it won't hurt you. Just think about it this way, the angels in heaven are playing bowling!" Mike said, making her giggle. "Are they really?"

"Maybe. But they want to have fun sometimes too, and they definitely don't want to see you cry." Mike said as he saw a crystal clear tear fall from her brown eyes. In a swift movement he swiped it away with his thumb. "Just listen to the sound of my heart, don't focus on anything else, okay? It's just you and me."

El silently nodded and pressed her ear closer to his chest. The thumping of his heart made all of her muscles relax and suddenly, her eyelids become heavy. It was only them, Mike and El, and with the reassurance of him holding her close was all she needed to fall into a peaceful sleep.

Just thinking about how Mike always held her close to him when they fell asleep, made her slightly sleepy. Except this time he wasn't there, just the cool temperature settling down in the plane, which was nowhere as comfortable as the feeling of Mike.

Author's Note:

Hope I didn't make you too sad... idk but this made me kinda emo too lol. Finally the plot begins! Mike will have a hard time dealing with things without El, as will she but she will be busy enough to keep her mind occupied for now.

Next chapter we will meet a new character and maybe one familiar one..? Who knows but I hope you enjoyed! I am genuinely happy with how this turned out :))

double update for y'all bc imma try and work on puppy love- let's see how that goes 🙄🙄

ALSO CHECK MY NEW FIC hehe