An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
Chapters: 18/? Fandom: Stranger Things (TV 2016) Rating: Mature Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Eleven | Jane Hopper/Mike Wheeler Characters: Mike Wheeler, Eleven | Jane Hopper Additional Tags: Post-Canon, Post-Canon Fix-It, Angst with a Happy Ending, Mike Wheeler Needs a Hug, Eleven | Jane Hopper Needs a Hug, Reunions, Three Waterfalls (Stranger Things), in which the author is not coping well, not the post-canon fic she wanted to write, Sexual Content Summary:
El runs and she keeps running until she's about as far away from home as she figures she can get. And as the years go by, she manages to carve out a peaceful sort of existence. It's not a happy life, but she's content with the knowledge that the loved ones she left behind are safe and happy.
But while Mike's safe, he's not happy, not by a long shot. He's living a half-life, living under the shadow of the love he lost... of the love he knows is still out there, somewhere, waiting for him to find her.
And when Mike finally has enough of surviving without living and embarks on an aimless journey to find her, El knows her days of isolation are behind her. Because the longer Mike tries to search for her, the more attention he brings to himself and the more likely he'll put himself in danger. So she leaves a trail of breadcrumbs to guide him to her, as always willing to do anything to keep him safe.
And when they reunite in the sleepy village El has learned to call home, they'll learn if they can move past the shadow of the history they share... and if they can rediscover the love that once shone brighter than the sun.
Chapter 18 Preview:
El doesn’t remember when exactly her regular shift at the bakery became scheduled for 5am every Saturday. But she’s long gotten used to setting her alarm for 4:30 in the morning every Friday night before bed.
Most of the time, she legitimately wakes up from the alarm, but the relative handful of times she wakes up before the alarm goes off are always the worst.
Until, that is, El wakes up naked in Mike’s arms 15 minutes before her alarm is supposed to go off.
El’s mind has always been quick to wake up once her body is conscious - years of conditioning from waking up in the lab are hard to shake, even more than decade and thousands of miles removed from that hellhole - so it doesn’t take her long to register the warmth pressed against her back, the arm still wrapped around her waist, or the legs tangling with hers.
A smile tugs up on her lips and El can’t help but press herself further into Mike’s sleepy embrace. God, she wants nothing more than to wake up like this every morning and except for how early it is, everything about this is absolutely perfect. He’s warm and solid behind her, the feel of his skin against hers thrilling even at this early hour, and she opens her eyes to check the time, to see how long she can luxuriate in being in his arms. The red glow of her alarm clock is stark in the near darkness of her room and for the first time since she’s starting setting her alarm this early, El is glad to see that she has a little more than 15 minutes until she has to start extracting herself from how Mike’s holding her, absolutely intent on making the most of it.
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