a love like yours

Song: I Will Always Love You by Whitney Houston

✈︎

Dreams never seemed to haunt Mike whenever he was with El. The only dreams he had were ones where they were together, none where his mind would torture him of being abandoned by her, or not wanted, or simply the fear of just being away from her. No, those dreams wouldn't dare to enter his mind when El was cuddled up to his side.

When he was with her he wasn't scared of going to sleep like he usually would be. When he was back in Hawkins and far away from El, Mike would stare up at his ceiling for hours, just avoiding any wink of sleep. He'll admit it, the dreams scared him. He didn't know if they were real or if they were fake. They were incredibly realistic and most of the time he couldn't tell them apart. That's what scared him.

He would stare at his ceiling, or the wall for countless hours each night just so he wouldn't fall asleep. He tried to keep his mind busy, but none of it worked. His brain simply tortured him at night when he wasn't around El, but when he was with her, things were completely different.

Most of the time he wouldn't dream about anything, but when he did they were magical, and when he woke up the first thing that he'd see was her. That's how Mike wanted to wake up every day. He wanted to fall asleep next to her knowing that the next morning she would be in the exact same place.

Right beside him.

The room was dark because of the curtains that covered the small window on the wall, but from the small rays of sunlight peeking out of the sides, he knew it was early in the morning. El was sleeping peacefully next to him, her head on his chest and her leg swung over his hip, her hand intertwined loosely with his.

Mike remembers when they first held hands and how sparks and butterflies lit up inside of him, and how those same sparks happened to this day. Although he knows that he's been in love with her since the very first day of their friendship, he just doesn't remember exactly when he started to fall for her. Maybe it was when they jumped in the pool, or maybe it was their first day of middle school, maybe it was watching the sunset and and talking for endless hours about nothing in particular, maybe it was when he looked into her eyes and felt safe, or maybe even when he started picturing his future, and figuring out what he wanted to do with his life but in all of those thoughts, she was there too. Maybe it was listening to love songs on the radio and finally understanding what they meant, what the true meaning was behind them because he could feel it himself. Maybe it was when she would ask him what he was thinking, and the only thought popping up in his head was how desperately in love with her he was. Or maybe it was when he realized brown eyes could never be so beautiful, and how he would do anything just for her to look him in the eyes. Maybe it was when his black and white life turned to color. Maybe it was when he realized he would die for her, or walk through fire for her. Maybe he doesn't remember exactly when he fell in love with her, but he's held her hand his entire life and now he realizes how much it would hurt if he ever let go. But he wasn't going to let go anytime soon.

As he looked at her, he knew that he would do anything to keep her safe. It didn't matter if he had to cross a million rivers, or walk a billion miles just to get to her. He would risk it all, just for her, and there was no doubt about it. He loved her with every cell in his body and he never would have realized just how amazing it felt.

He's always been a firm believer in true love, too. And he was completely certain that El was destined to be his. They were created to love each other, and that's exactly what they would do.

It was in the early hours of the morning when Mike thought El looked her best at. Even if her hair was tangled and knotted, or her tired eyes could barely keep open, or how small and raspy her voice was, it didn't matter about the slight imperfections, Mike would always think that she was beautiful in the mornings. That's why he liked waking up, so he could look down at her face and fall in love all over again.

Looking at her now, he never wanted to let her out of his arms. She was the missing puzzle piece that had been found and finally made him whole. She was everything he needed to make his life complete.

Mike wondered if El had the same thoughts he did, if she loved him the way he loved her. Did she think of their future together like he did? Did she daydream about him and create happy fantasies of them together like he did?

Suddenly she mumbled a few words before scooting even closer to him and snuggling her head right back into his shirt. He could fall in love with her a million times a day and it would still give him the exact same heart-throbbing experience as it did the first time. The same butterflies and sparks inside of his stomach, and the same blush on his cheeks.

He could just lay in bed with her all day and just admire her for how she is, but last night she mentioned going to a museum in downtown Florence so that's what they would be doing that day. Maybe in the future she wouldn't mind laying in bed with him all day too. He hoped that day would be soon, because he just wanted to smother her in kisses, but he couldn't do that yet even though he wanted to. He wanted to kiss every part of her face and tell her just how much he loved her. He wanted to kiss her eyes, her cheeks, her nose, every single dotted freckle that scattered over her cheeks like stardust, her forehead, her lips.. he could tell her over and over just how much he loved her, but it would never be enough. Words weren't enough.

Not even the universe itself could explain it.Why was love so complicated yet so simple?

Mike didn't know how long he'd been awake, whether it was minutes, seconds, hours, days, he didn't know. Time can be difficult as well. When you lose track of it, you just lose all sense of existing as well. At least that's the way it was for Mike. When he looked at El, the world stopped for him but continued to go on around him. But in reality, he's been up for 4 hours. 4 hours had gone by and he spent every second just admiring her. That was time well spent, if you asked Mike.

Of course the time with his thoughts ended when El slowly started to wake up, she fluttered her eyes open and slowly loosened her intertwined hand with Mike's, not knowing that he was awake, and stretched her arms out. She slowly wiggled her way out of his embrace and climbed over him so she could get out of bed. She quietly walked over to the bathroom and closed the door behind her, leaving Mike alone.

He let out a sigh, he knew she would be back but it always hurt his heart for her to be more than a few feet away from her. The air always seemed to be colder when she left, too. He didn't know why. A few minutes after she went into the bathroom, the door opened back up and he saw El sleepily shuffling over to her bed.

She climbed back into bed, still not noticing that Mike was awake and went back to her original position next to him. She yawned quickly before resting her head on his shoulder and closing her eyes again and in just seconds she was fast asleep again.

Mike laid there for a while, just sitting with his thoughts, letting them pass by without any hesitation. Another hour went by and Sofia had gotten up and left the room quietly, and yet another hour went by and El officially woke up.

She stretched her arms out and yawned again before she looked up and caught Mike's eye. She gave him a toothless smile and settled her head on his shoulder again.

"How long have you been awake?" She asked quietly. "Like 6 hours." He said nonchalantly.

"6 hours?" She repeated. "Why didn't you get up?"

"Because I like staying here with you, love."

El rolled her eyes. "What did you even do?"

"Nothing, really. I was just thinking." He mumbled as his fingers fumbled with hers.

"About what?"

You. How much I love you.

"Nothing much." He shrugged. El poked his side, "C'mon, it must have been something if you were up for 6 hours!"

"It really wasn't, just passing thoughts. What, you hopin' to get a love confession outta me?" He joked, making her roll her eyes and laugh.

"Did you have nightmare?" She asked softly. She knows how they were the reason for his recent lack of sleep. Mike shook his head quickly. "No. I don't get nightmares when I'm with you. Not that many, at least."

"Then why were you up so early?" She questioned.

"Not sure. I guess I've just had a lot on my mind."

"Wanna talk about it?"

"No, that's okay. Nothing to worry about, sugar." He responded. "Whatever you say. But if you do-"

"I'll make sure you are the first person I tell, alright? I'm starving, so lets go get something to eat." He said, hopping off of the subject.

"Okay, since it's only about 11:30 right now how about we drive down to that place I told you about yesterday around 12 or 1?" She suggested as they got out of bed.

"Yeah, sounds good." Mike replied as he stood up and followed her out of the room and to the kitchen where Sofia was sitting at the counter with her sketchbook in hand.

El came up behind the blond and peered over at the page in front of her. "Whatcha drawing?" She asked. Sofia slightly jumped, not hearing the girl come up behind her.

"Um nothing much, just some sketches I guess. I finally finished our project for school though." Sofia said with a small smile. "Let me see!" El exclaimed.

"Okay, but don't judge me. Yours is a million times better."

El rolled her eyes, "Doubtful. Now show me." Sofia turned a few pages back in her sketchbook and a colorful pink flower took over the whole page. Each petal was the exact same size and had all of the same details in each, showing exactly what their professor had requested.

"Wow, it's amazing! How did you get everything the same way?" El asked as she took the paper from the blonds hand and examined it closer with her eyes. Sofia shrugged, "Not really sure. It took a long time, though."

"Yeah, I bet." El muttered as she looked at the piece more closely. Mike came up behind El with a glass of water in his hands as he looked at the colored pencil creation Sofia had made.

"Wow that's really good, Sofia." Mike said as he looked at the flower. "Thanks." Sofia said with a smile. No one had ever really appreciated her artwork like Mike and El did. Her own parents didn't even bother to spare a glance at her. There were few people that really believed in her, her high school art teacher and Anthony, but now she had these two and that made it all worthwhile.

She cleared her throat, "But um, anyways.. what are you two doing today?" Sofia asked as she took the sketchpad from El's hands and set it back down on the counter.

"We're going to go down to Uffizi Gallery. You should come with!" El suggested. Sofia glanced at Mike and back at El, "No, that's okay. I'll let you two have a day for yourselves without me interrupting and getting in the way."

"What? Why not?" El asked with a frown. "Already told you! Don't want to get in your way, plus I can go there anytime I want with Anthony. I have plans today anyways."

"You won't get in our way, it will be fun! And what plans do you have exactly?"

"Plans. Now stop pestering me about it, you'll survive." Sofia said, smiling at the brunette and giving Mike a quick, sly wink.

El frowned, "Okay.."

"There's more Eggo's in the freezer if you two want any." Sofia said, making El immediately smile and run to the freezer to pull the yellow box out.

El made Eggo's for all 3 of them and they all ate in silence, only exchanging words every few minutes. After they finished eating, Mike and El changed into some clothes for the day, El into a flowy white sundress and Mike in a regular t-shirt and shorts and soon enough they were out of the apartment and driving down the narrow Italian streets.

"So what is this place again?" Mike asked as he stuck his arm out of the window. "It's an art museum. It has a bunch of famous paintings in it, like The Birth of Venus and Medusa. I know it probably sounds boring but once you see this place you won't even care."

"No, not boring. When you explain things, they're less boring so it's always fun." Mike shrugged. El smiled, "Hm, I would've thought I was annoying you with my constant facts.."

"You couldn't annoy me even if you tried." Mike sighed as he stared out of the window.

They drove for a few more minutes until they arrived at the gallery. The largest museum stood in front of them, and El could not wait to get inside. She was practically jumping out of her seat!

Mike found a place to park amongst the hundreds of other cars and the two were walking towards the large iron gates that guarded the entrance. The line to get in was long, yet expected. Security was checking bags and people were paying for their tickets, so the line would be a long process. But El knew it was going to be well worth the wait.

As they finally got through security, the ticket booth and everything else, they finally made their way into a large courtyard. It went at least a mile back and the whole space in between the two walls was just empty and the first thought that popped up into El's head was: 'I want to dance.'

"Mike," She started, grabbing his attention immediately. "Yes?"

"Would you take this dance with me?" She asked, a goofy smile spread across her face as she held her hand out to him. Mike raised his eyebrows and looked around the empty corridor.

"But there's not music?"

"Not music?! Who says we need music?" She exclaimed. Mike shrugged and smiled as he took her hand, "You may have this dance," He replied, placing a delicate kiss on the top of her hand.

El grinned and placed her arms around his neck, and Mike wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her closer to him. They started off by swaying slowly, though El had never been very careful on her feet. Even with the slight swaying motion she still found a way to trip over her feet, and Mike's.

Each time she tripped she would mutter a quick sorry, though she knew Mike didn't care in the slightest bit that she was struggling. That's one of the reasons she loved him. He didn't make fun of her, or mock her, or even bother to point something out when she was doing something wrong. She could always be herself around him and he would still love her the same.

"Sorry," She mumbled again as she stepped on his foot. "I was the one who suggested dancing, and yet I can't even do it." She chuckled lightly as she stared down at her feet.

Mike shrugged, "Doesn't matter to me, love. Just happy to be here with you."

El smiled. Everything felt like it was in place, everything made sense right now. Even if it was just as simple as just dancing, it felt like everything they did together had meaning. Everything was something special. Whether it was eating breakfast together, or spending every fleeting second together, it all meant something.

She accidently stepped on his foot again and looked up at him and cringed. "Sorry..again."

Mike sighed, "Well, if you're just going to step on my feet anyways just stand on them," He suggested making her eyes go wide. "C'mon, hop up."

"You sure?" She asked hesitantly. "You weigh like, nothing. I'm sure I can manage."

"Okay then." She hummed, carefully stepping forward to stand on his feet. He only held her tighter this time, fearing if he let go this moment would end, and he definitely did not want it to end. Their faces were so close now, and El could see every single detail within his beautiful chocolate eyes and she could feel herself melting under his gaze. She never wanted him to stop looking at her the way he was right now, like she was the most precious thing in the world (and to him, she was). Even if there was music playing, no song could describe how she was feeling right now. It really was indescribable, but there was one thing in particular that was replaying over in her mind. That was that she knew she would never stop loving him, not ever.

She didn't know how long they had been dancing there, but it didn't even matter. Before coming here, she was excited to see all of the famous paintings and statues, and she was excited to explain them all to Mike. But now she couldn't care less about seeing a few paintings in an art gallery. El just wanted to stay with him forever and ever, if the management of the people working there had to drag them out then so be it. But she knew she wouldn't be leaving here anytime soon.

There was a sense of home when she was standing on his toes, something that made her nostalgic. She remembered doing this with her dad when she was little, but those times were for when they were cleaning the house and listening to Jim Croce. Those were for fun, and when El still could not dance. This moment was way different, though. With each step that they took, she could feel herself falling more and more. She would've thought she'd be through the ground, but of course she wouldn't be. She had Mike to keep her standing, and she knew he would hold onto her until the day he died.

El rested her head on his chest and closed her eyes. He was the only person she wanted to be held by. He was the only person who could make her laugh so much her stomach began to hurt, and he was the only one who could make her smile so big that her whole face was sore. He was the only one who could make her as happy as she was now. He was the only person who could make her understand and appreciate things for more than what they were. He was the only one who could make her feel safe. She could be in her own home and it wouldn't feel safe without him there. He was the only one who could teach her how to love. It didn't even have to be romantically, it wasn't about looks or reputation. He taught her that real love was about the emotion and the feelings, real love was the way someone could look you in the eye and you knew everything would be okay.

El wouldn't have it any other way.

The words were on the tip of her tongue. Those three simple words that changed everything. Three simple words that she wanted to say over and over to him.

I love you, I love you, I love you.

She could say it right now and the weight of the world would fall off her shoulders. There was something holding her back that she couldn't explain. Why couldn't she say it now? The words were there and all she had to do was open her mouth and they would come right out. Her brain was saying, not now, but she questioned it with everything. Why not? She wanted to and she needed to, yet she just couldn't.

"Excuse me?" A shaky voice said softly from behind the duo. El looked up and stepped off of Mike's feet to see an older lady.

The woman smiled sweetly at them before she continued talking. "I didn't want to ruin the moment, and I don't want to sound creepy when I say this.. but I've been watching you two for the past.. 15- 20 minutes? And I just wanted to say that in all of my 74 years.. I've never quite seen a love like yours.. Whether you're friends, boyfriend and girlfriend.. whatever you are.. what you two have is special. I just thought you should know in case you ever thought about letting go of each other, and I'm telling you now. Don't you ever let go, okay?" The woman said softly.

Both of them smiled at the woman. "Thank you.. and we won't. Right, Mike?" El replied, turning to Mike.

"Right. I won't let go if my life depended on it." He responded, grinning down at El. "Good.. and I'm sorry I interrupted you.. I just could not hold it in anymore."

"That's okay.. we should probably head inside now." El chuckled. "You two have fun." The woman said with a smile.

"Thanks, have a nice day." El called after her and she walked away. She turned around to face Mike again and beamed at him. "That was nice.."

"Yeah, it was.. but um, how long were we even there for?" MIke questioned.

El shrugged, "Don't know, don't care. I loved it."

"Me too. Now, let's go inside, shall we?" He asked, inviting her to hold his hand, which she gladly accepted to.

"We shall."

Author's Note:

ok lol let me explain something

i didn't really want to include them going inside of the museum because 1. I feel like i would just be sort of doing the same thing i did when they were in the boboli gardens and 2. nothing much happens, they just look at art and stuff which is lowkey boring, so I didn't want to include something that didn't really need to be there.

ok but, i'm actually rly proud of this and it's probably my favorite chapter. they are so in love it makes my heart hurt 😭 and there's only 2 chapters plus the epilogue left so i'm emo

also: thank you @Betty_Wolfhard for suggesting Uffizi Gallery, and a bunch of other places!!

hope u guys enjoyed! lmk what u thought :)