you are the stars

Song: Just what I Needed by the Cars

TIME SKIP TO THIS WEEKEND.

✈︎

The day is finally here. Mike is going to Italy to see El.

He could barely sleep the day before. Tossing and turning, checking the time every few minutes. But he got about an hour of sleep until he had to wake up around 4.

Yes, Mike picked the earliest possible flight. He just needed to see her. The restless nights, spent with tears rolling down his cheeks. The phone calls, none of the topics of conversations having anything happy in them. He couldn't wait to just hug her again.

To see her face again. She'll be even more beautiful now that she's let the hot sun tan her cheeks. He remembered that in the summertime when she's outside a lot, small brown freckles will paint themselves on her cheeks, spreading over her nose and her whole face.

Mike loves summer even more because of that.

He had his bags all ready to go by the front door, his mother knowing he would be gone by the time she woke up. Mike got ready, dressing quickly and making sure he had everything before he headed out the door and got in his car.

Today was the first time he would smile in days.

He double checked everything before he set off to the airport for his 5:15 flight. He smiled the whole way there, thinking about her and only her. Only El was able to make him act (and feel) like that.

When he finally arrived at the airport we went through all of the security, baggage check, more security, and finally he could board his plane. It was going to be a long flight, but he was willing to sit there for hours next to some random stranger as long as it got him to El.

He put his carry-ons into the overhead storage and sat down next to the window. He pulled out his walkman and put in his cassette tape that he would listen to when he was thinking about El. It was funny, he thought, that you can make a song seem like anything you want. It can be about whoever you want.

After some time and the flight attendants went over safety procedures, the plane was finally surging forward and then lifting off the ground. After 6 excruciating days without her, he was finally going home.

✈︎

El woke up early, she wasn't going to be late when Mike arrived to Italy. She jumped on Sofia's bed, shaking her awake. "Get up, get up!"

"W-what?" Sofia asked groggily. "We have to get to the airport!"

"What time is it?"

"Like.. 7."

"Elll his plane doesn't land for like another 3 hours!" Sofia whined, shoving her face back into her pillow. "I know but I wanted to get there early.."

"But El! Sleep!"

"Please, Sofia? Please?" El begged, giving the blond her best puppy eyes she could do. "we could look around at all the shops in the airport? And we can get a cinnamon roll!"

El was very tempting with her offers, Sofia couldn't say no when she mentioned a cinnamon roll. "Fine."

"Yes!" El said, jumping on Sofia and hugging her tightly. "Alright, alright. Dammi un po' di spazio, Gesù.."

El unraveled herself from the blond and went over to sit on her own bed. Sofia changed into a sweater and some jeans, the airport was always cold, and she wasn't going to freeze her ass off. She noticed El was wearing a plain t-shirt and jeans.

"You might want to put a sweater on, the airport gets cold." Sofia mentioned as she brushed through her hair. "Oh, right. I forgot about that."

She went into her side of the closet and pulled out a knit sweater with blue, brown, and green zig-zag patterns. Sofia rolled her eyes, she already knew that was Mike's. After spending about a week with El, she probably knew everything about her, and Mike.

"Okay, are you ready?" El asked impatiently. "Si, Si. Andiamo poi."

They walked out of the apartment, Sofia with the car keys in hand. They got to the car and Sofia thought El was going to burst out of excitement. She hasn't seen her that happy since she got here.

"How we feeling over there, happy feet?" Sofia asked. "I'm so excited."

"Clearly."

"Sofia, you're just going to love him! Oh I just can't wait until he meets you." El grinned. "He's going to be all stubborn and pretend not to like you at first, but I promise he'll warm up to you. And if he doesn't I'll kick his ass."

Sofia chuckled. "Okay then."

Sofia couldn't get over how clueless El was. The brunette clearly loved Mike, and it was extremely evident Mike loved her. Why couldn't El open her eyes and ears and see it? No matter how many times Sofia would hint it out to her, El simply laughed and ignored it. Maybe that was her way of trying to deny it.

They eventually arrived at the airport and El opened the door quickly and ran to the other side of the car, pulling Sofia out.

"Calm down! He isn't even here yet." Sofia said as El pulled her through the parking lot. El ignored her and they walked into the airport. "I told him I would meet him right here. At the bottom of the escalators.

Sofia nodded. "So, let's look around shall we? We've got some time to kill before he gets here."

"Okay."

The two girls looked around all the shops, trying on cheap clothing, getting food, walking around until they heard an announcement that the plane from Indiana was landing. El grabbed Sofia's hand and spirinted back over to the escalators.

Sofia forced her to come sit on a bench near the escalators, so Sofia could give her feet some rest while they were there. El could barely sit still, moving her legs, her fingers tapping alone her thigh nervously and her foot bouncing up and down.

It had been almost 20 minutes and El was losing it. She knew it took time to get through security and get your suitcases but for El it felt like years.

"Where is he? Do you think he missed the flight? Maybe we got the wrong time or-"

"El. Stop it, Bebè. He'll get here. I don't think he would miss the flight. Essere paziente."

El took a deep breath, "Okay.. you're right."

Sofia nodded, she knows that. They remained quiet until El saw him.

There he was, coming down the escalator, his eyes scanning the airport looking for her. His messy mop of black curls, his pale skin, attentive eyes, he was there. Even though it had been a few days since she last saw him, he looked so different.

El stood up and slowly walked over to where he was getting off the escalator. That's when he saw her too. Wearing his sweater, her hair still messy and wild as always and her honey eyes. They were a few ways apart but they both froze when they saw each other, simply drinking the sight of one another.

For Mike, he felt light. All of the stress, all of the anxiety, all of the overwhelming sadness. Gone. Just from the sight of her.

"Mike," She whispered, a smile stretching across her face. "El,"

He couldn't take it anymore, he needed to hug her right now. He let got of his suitcase, leaving it behind him as he started walking towards her. El snapped out of her daze when she saw him walking towards her, she felt like he was a magnet pulling her forward because before she knew it she was running directly to him.

They met halfway, El jumped right onto him, her arms around his neck and her legs around is torso. Mike tried to keep himself balanced, but he couldn't and he fell to the ground. He immediately wrapped his arms around her as he tried to sit up. Eventually, he did sit up slightly, but El's position did not change.

It might look a little weird to strangers passing by, El sitting directly on his lap with her arms around his neck and her legs around his torso. Yeah, it would definitely look odd to everyone, but they didn't care.

She pulled her face away from his shoulder and placed her hands on the side of his face, inspecting his face to see what changed. The only thing that stood out to her was the incredibly dark bags underneath his eyes, she knew he had been having trouble going to sleep ever since his last nightmare, so sometimes he didn't sleep at all.

"Ugh, just look at you! My best friend is here!" She exclaimed, leaning forward and kissing his forehead. Mike thought he might pass out. Even after she pulled away he could still feel the ghost of her lips on his forehead.

"I can't believe you're here." She squealed, hugging him again. Mike chuckled, "Me either. I'm just happy I am."

She looked at him again and grinned. "You have no idea how much I missed you."

"Um, hello? I missed you too? Possibly more?" He says, making her giggle. "I'm not really sure if that's possible."

"But it is."

"No it's not."

"Hey are you two gonna get out of the middle of the airport or what?" Sofia asked as she stands above them. El laughed, "Yes, Sof. Give us a second will you?"

Sofia rolled her eyes, "Si, Piccioncini. Non avere figli mentre non guardo!"

El widened her eyes and glared at Sofia. "What'd she say?" Mike asked in confusion. "Uh, nothing. But c'mon we should get up." She got up off of his lap and stood up, holding her hand out for him to take, which he did. When they were standing he still didn't let go of her hand.

They walked over to where Sofia was standing, "Sofia, Mike. Mike, Sofia." El said, introducing her two friends. The girl had pale skin and freckles, her blue eyes standing out brightly amongst her pale skin, blond hair and a friendly smile. She wore a brown cardigan with a white t-shirt underneath, a pair of jeans to top it all off.

Sofia stuck her hand out at Mike and grinned at him, "Nice to finally meet you. El never stops talking about you. It's like she's in love with you or something."

Mike didn't seem phased and just chuckled as he shook her hand, "Nice to meet you too, Sofia. It looks like I have some pretty tough competition."

"You're way ahead of me, she would never replace you." Sofia chuckled. "She better not." El rolled her eyes and nudged him with her elbow. "You know I wouldn't."

"Alright, well, let's go. I'm pretty sure you're both going to be exhausted when we get home, so Mike go get your suitcase that you left behind and let's move." Sofia said, picking at her nails bordly. Mike and El walked back to the escalator where luckily, no one had taken his suitcase, Mike took in in his freehand and they walked back to the blond.

"When we get home I'm just going to go to Anthony's so you two can catch up. Suono va bene?"

"Perfetto, grazie." El said with a smile. They all walked out to Sofia's car, Mike and El in the backseat and Sofia driving of course. El put her head on Mike's shoulder when they both had their seatbelts on.

Sofia would glance at them from time to time in her mirror, simply smiling and shaking her head. The pair of friends were both sleeping, El's head on his shoulder while his rested on top of hers, his arm around her waist, keeping her close to him.

Now that Mike could finally breathe, he was finally home, he could get sleep. He didn't worry about nightmares haunting him, he knew that they wouldn't bother him when he was with El. His personal dream catcher.

It was only a matter of time before they arrived back to El and Sofia's shared apartment. Mike shook El awake when they arrived and they walked into the apartment. To Mike's surprise, the apartment was actually nice. It was quite spacious and just enough for the two girls to be living in.

Sofia came in with them for a little bit and then called, "Don't get too frisky in here by yourselves!" Before she left. El rolled her eyes and looked to Mike. "Sorry about her."

"She's cool, I like her." Mike said. "Yeah, she's really nice. But, uh you want anything to eat? We don't have a ton of stuff but we got like... crackers." El said with a laugh. Mike grinned and shook his head, "Nah, I'm good. But I'm kinda tired."

"Yeah me too. Wanna go take a nap?" El asked, already knowing what his answer would be. Mike nodded and they walked over to where El and Sofia's room was. Mike looked around the room, slightly a mess but it still had El written all over it.

He noticed a picture of them on her nightstand and smiled to himself. El already got in her bed, she was extremely tired since she hadn't gotten barely any sleep the past few days. "Stop staring at my room, just come lay down." she whined.

Mike chuckled and got under the covers next to her. She immediately curled up next to him, "I missed this," She sighs, her fingers playing with the front of his sweater. "Me too." He replied, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her closer.

They finally felt at peace for the first time since they'd been separated. It was extremely weird to think how they managed a week without each other, but they would have to get used to it because Mike wouldn't be able to visit every single weekend. The next time he would be here would be next month.

How would they survive that if they could barely manage a week?

✈︎

Sofia got home later that night, the apartment was silent. She wasn't sure if Mike and El were even there until she saw their shoes. She figured they would be out in the living room watching TV, or talking. But it was silent. Too silent.

Sofia walked around the apartment quietly, trying to make as little noise as possible. They weren't in the kitchen, or living room, or anywhere. She walked down the hallway to her and El's bedroom where the door was a few inches open.

She pushed it open and looked around the room. It was dark, but not dark enough to the point where she couldn't see Mike and El cuddling in El's bed. Sofia smiled softly at the two, now seeing them together she couldn't even remember what it was like without Mike.

They completed each other in a way that Sofia knew what was truly going on between them. Even if they couldn't see it, it was incredibly obvious that they loved each other.

Sofia looked at them for a few more minutes before she quit the room, closing the door on the way out and walking out to the living room.

She turned on the TV and sat on their small blue couch, though she couldn't really focus on the TV. She was too busy thinking about Mike and El. Maybe it was weird, but there was something that fascinated her about their relationship. How they looked at each other, especially the way Mike looked at El. His eyes full of pure love and even something Sofia couldn't quite put her finger on. It was a weird unexplainable look, like he was sad, but she knew he wasn't upset about anything.

It was obvious Mike was happiest with El, so why did he look so sad?

Another thing she couldn't get out of her head was how El cared for him. Even just talking on the phone with him, Sofia could tell just from her expression and tone of voice that she cared very deeply for him. And when they were at the airport, how she hugged him like there was no tomorrow, and how she held his hand like their lives depended on it.

It was just incredibly fascinating to look at them. Sofia didn't think that loving someone that much was even possible, but now she's met Mike Wheeler and she's proven wrong.

Just as the raven haired boy came into her mind, he suddenly emerged from the hallway, sleep still in his eyes and his hair slightly messed up. Sofia smiled softly at him, "Hey there sleepyhead." She greets, scooting over on the couch so he could sit next to her.

"Hey." He said before sitting down next to her.

"Sleep good?"

Mike nodded and rubbed his eyes tiredly, "It's been a while since I slept that good." He mentions quietly. "Hm, I can tell." She chuckled, referring to the dark bags underneath his eyes.

"You two are very prezioso.. I can tell that you care for her." Sofia said, her eyes glued to him. Mike nodded, "Yeah, I do.." Sofia caught onto the tone of his voice, like he was holding something back. And the blond knew exactly what he wanted to say.

"You love her don't you, and not just as friends?" Sofia asked curiously. Mike wasn't surprised by her question, there was no denying it anymore, and he had to tell someone. It was eating him up inside.

"Yeah, I do." He admits sheepishly. Sofia grinned at him, but he didn't seem too thrilled as she was. "What's wrong? Perché la faccia triste?"

Mike shrugged, though he didn't know what she said in Italian he could try and piece it together. "I don't know.. I mean, I'm going to tell her.. soon, but I don't know how she'll react and I'm just scared it will ruin everything."

"Guardami- Look at me," She started, making sure he was paying attention. "I've spent a whole week with her. And I know, I know that she loves you more than the world itself. Fidati di me, she does."

"No.. Sofia, I know her, she doesn't. The love you see is how she is with everyone, the kind you feel for all the people dear to you."

"No, Mike," Sofia said, shaking her head. "It is not. You don't see what I see."

"Explain."

Sofia thought for a second, trying to find words that he would understand. "The way that you see it, she just looks at you like her best friend, correct?" Mike nodded. "I see it as.. she looks at you like.. you are the stars, on a clear night. Like she can't stop looking at you, and if she does you will disappear. And the way she touches you, and holds you. It isn't something she would do with anyone, I can see that. You are the only one, does that make sense?"

Mike looked at her with wide eyes, is that all true? Or is she just saying what he wants to hear?

"Um, yes. I guess so."

"Believe me, Mike. You are for El, and El only."

Maybe she was right.

Author's Note:

oh hey AGAIN. i am seriously obsessed with this book, pls don't let me even touch it again until i write something else. but i literally love sofia, she is the ultimate mileven stan and u cannot say otherwise, and i liked this chapter. also, i am not fluent in italian so pls don't attack me

next chapter will continue onto this one, being in the same day so we can enjoy them together longer. and thank u for 4k on this book <33 hope you enjoyed!