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dearlcvers · 7 months ago

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i hate you and your face - mileven fanfiction

CHAPTER 1/3

Authors Note: I haven't proofread this because I needed this out and off my chest so I hope it's okay... let me know what you think!

Mike Wheeler was not a fan of hosting house parties. Not because he didn’t enjoy partying or found hosting particularly stressful but because no matter how hard he tried, he would always make stupid decisions. World Record breaking stupid decisions. Like the time he sold his roommates cat for 5 bucks, or when he sent an email to his entire phonebook detailing how long it had been since he had last gotten laid (this had been particularly humiliating after one of his college professors replied giving him an extension on a paper and wishing him luck and he quotes ‘i hope you use the time from the extension on the assignment to work on your flirting skills’).

His list of drunken mistakes included:

setting someone on fire

getting stuck in drying cement

and

dropping a plasma screen tv out of a window.

Oddly enough, this frankly insane behaviour was only limited to situations involving alcohol and his own property. Lucas’ theory was that Mike just let himself go more when he knew he was within the safe confines of his own house. This theory was yet to be fully tested because Mike has avoided hosting or going to parties for 10 months.

And yet here he is hosting once again. Dustin promised to not let him out of his sight and although Mike has faith in his friend he is not so sure he trusts himself to behave. The guys find this quirk of his amusing…and to some degree so does he but also this is not his favourite trait about himself.

But it’s Lucas’ 21st birthday and he wants to have a party. Originally Mike had agreed under the conditions that he would not be given a sip of alcohol under any circumstances but upon finding out Lucas was bringing his girlfriend’s incredibly annoying best friend he rescinded that demand.

He was not sure he could go through a night in El Hopper’s presence without killing himself or her. Alcohol seemed like the simplest way to dull the headache she always brought with her.

His dislike of her wasn’t exactly unwarranted either, she had made it very clear from the start that she hated him too.

To El he was nothing more than a moron with a massive ego and an inability to handle his drink at social events. She had been really looking forward to meeting Lucas’ friends for months only to be sorely disappointed when Mike had shown himself to be in her words ‘the worlds most annoying asshole’. She was still to this day unsure how Lucas, Dustin and Will, all really nice boys, were capable of hanging out with someone so blatantly rude.

Safe to say they were not fan’s of each other and this friction had stopped Max and Lucas from being able to merge their friendship groups the way they’d wanted.

To El’s credit she had tried really hard to be civil with him, multiple times, and every time it had ended in a massive blowout involving a lot of swearing.

So, the prospect of having her in his home was not a positive thing to Mike, and El was really dreading it. The hope for both of them was that if they both got drunk enough they’d be more willing to put up with each other for the sake of their friends. Add to that the fact that El has just been dumped by her boyfriend of 3 years and that she is in a fight with her dad… Nothing good could possibly come from this mix.

_____

Lucas is pouring everyone a shot to kick the night off. No one is due to arrive for another 30 minutes and the apartment is almost ready. The TV has been locked away from Mike’s reach as well as all car keys. Dustin has a set of handcuffs ready to use on Mike if things start to get lairy and Will has made a big varied spread of snacks and mixers.

‘Swear you won’t let me do anything stupid.’ Mike pleads to Dustin before necking the shot.

‘I swear a responsible adult will be with you at all times’.

Mike eyes his friend skeptically earning a confident grin from both Dustin and Lucas. The burning sensation of the Vodka in his throat temporarily soothes his perpetual anxiety.

‘Come on man you’ll be fine. You’ve not been crazy like that in like almost a year.’ Lucas offers encouragingly.

Before Mike can retort how unconvinced he is, the doorbell rings and Lucas runs to open the door. From the Kitchen Mike can hear Max…and therefore also El, greeting his friends. The sound of her grating voice carries through to him and prompts him to pour another shot. Dustin eyes him, handcuffs still in hand. But he needs to be sociable and really Mike has nothing against Lucas’s girlfriend. Max is funny and she’s good to Lucas and that’s all he can really ask for.

The girls and Lucas make their way to the kitchen, Mike braces himself for impact.

‘Michael Wheeler’ Max greets teasingly, approaching the kitchen island he’s leaning on.

His elbows are resting on the marble, head tilted up when El is finally within eyesight. He is greeted by a look of surprise, followed by clear annoyance. Predictably El looks as hot as ever. This irritates him more than her instant annoyance at his presence. Her hair is longer than laat time he saw her, golden honey coloured curls float just below her shoulders. She’s wearing a frustratingly short golden dress that’s shimmering in the dim light and her legs extend into a pair of open toed golden heels. He notices the way her body sways in a way he’d be embarrassed to say out loud. There’s a gentle blush painting her cheeks and he’s not sure if it’s real or one of those makeup tricks. Either way she looks good and this is annoying. Because it’s one thing to have to deal with a nuisance like her but the fact that the nuisance comes in such a pretty package is always bad news.

When he had first seen her Mike Wheeler had thought she was exactly his type and that he might want to ask her out sometime, but then she opened his mouth and that thought was burnt to a crisp.

He watches her face, careful not to leer anywhere else because as much as he hates her, he still respects her.

El is almost glaring at him from the kitchen walkway. She is experiencing a similar predicament. He looks sexier than she remembered. The instant rush of attraction that filled her already tipsy brain from the moment she stepped into the kitchen was a rude reminder of her current state of singlehood. Troy dumping her last week had sucked but Max had managed to convince her to come to Lucas’ birthday as a chance to rebound. But looking at Mike right now, she’s not sure anyone else at this party will be able to measure up to him. This is quite a blow to her because he sucks and she wouldn’t go near him with a ten foot pole.

‘Good to see you again Mike.’ El manages to choke out an insincere polite greeting he barely acknowledges, ever so slightly nodding before turning his attention to his male friends.

Jerk.

It doesn’t take very long for other people to arrive and the party is in full swing by 9pm. It starts with a few people Lucas knows from class that Mike vaguely knows from the last party Lucas invited him to. Then a few of Max’s friends that Lucas knows but Mike doesn’t show up and immediately El becomes the centre of their attention which is a relief to Mike because it means she is now deep in a conversation so separate from his own that he can breathe again. The urge to bite his nails off lessening. Still he feels like a part of his brain keeps searching out for her. Out of the corner of his eye he can see her leaning against the wall opposite him, laughing heavily.

I bet it’s not even that funny and she’s just laughing like that for attention.

For a while, they seem to be playing a game in silence. Like reverse magnets. Wherever one of them is, the other is at the furthest point possible in the medium sized apartment. When El gets herself a Tequila/Orange refill in the kitchen Mike leaves. When he goes to change a song by the speaker, she walks away. Like the force of his negative magnetic pull is enough to literally repel her and vice versa. They’re both very happy with this rhythm of avoidance until Mike overhears a conversation he cannot resist butting into.

By 10:30 Mike and El are both drunk and 40 minutes into a heated debate about the Barbie Movie.

‘All I’m saying is it doesn’t go nearly far enough in its criticisms of anything and why do we have to praise people for half-assing a political statement.’ Mike argues, hands crossed over his chest.

‘You clearly live in an echo chamber my friend’ the eye roll Mike can’t hold back following her use of the word friend urges El further. ‘The Barbie movie isn’t going to radicalise anyone. The majority of people have no concept of intersectionality or sexism and bringing them some elitist overcomplicated crap will not reach them the way a simplified explanation of the base problems will.’

‘No one ever made progress by treating their audience like toddlers’

‘Until we can boast higher than 24th in the world for Education I don’t think we should alienate the general public by talking down to them-’

‘First of all’ He interrupts her abruptly ‘if anyone is talking down to anyone…Dumbing down a feminist movie so the public can understand is incredibly patronising. Secondly, cite your sources where is that stat from.’

There is a small crowd of amused people watching them argue and El has to put a lot of effort to hide the fact that she is incredibly turned on right now. This man is arguing with her about feminism and he’s not on the opposite side??

The bar is in hell…

But not only that but he’s actually putting up a good fight. She’s not really used to any of her debating opponents to really make her fight for it like this, usually it feels like watching a cat play with its food.

By 11:10pm Mike has been handcuffed to Dustin for his own good and is silently sulking while Dustin hits on a girl in Will’s Art History class.

Mike tries to tune out Dustin’s attempts at flirting, he feels ridiculous and a little humiliated. Especially since Dustin called it a Time-Out. He knows this is for the best but the alcohol has started affecting the rational part of his brain that he starts coming up with schemes to entertain his friends and guests. Herein lies Mike’s downfall with alcohol and hosting…he gets to a certain level of inebriation where his anxiety and people-pleasing nature mixes with a confidence and need to be seen as a joker. Something pathological about being a class clown in your tweens.

Scanning the room he waits for something to catch his eye. As he observes the people in his surroundings his eyes are drawn to a shimmery golden blur and his alcohol soaked brain won’t let him look away. The way she’s swaying with Max on the makeshift dance floor and moving her body to the beat is scratching an itch in his brain. An itch he would probably blame on her in the first place if he was able to think straight. But he’s feeling so relaxed and also at the same time somehow incredibly wired. He feels like someone turned up a sharpening effect on his eyes but calibrated the settings wrong because all he can see clearly is her. She runs a hand into her hair, pushing it up and then slides said hand down her chest slowly, her tongue stroking her teeth provocatively. Humiliatingly this is having a huge effect on him, so much so he starts to feel like a starving animal. It takes every ounce of self awareness left to stop himself from actually drooling. Her eyes are closed and she’s singing along to the lyrics.

How is it possible someone so whiny and annoying could be so gorgeous? Mike wonders to himself whether if there is a god this might be Her way of balancing things out. Or maybe….maybe she’s Satan.

This thought pleases him and he internally pats himself on the back for what he has decided is the perfect comparison. The grin on his face grows slowly but is abruptly interrupted by a strong tug on his arm as Dustin puts his hands on the art major’s face and kisses her. Mike’s loud protest at having his hand forcedully tugged against a kiss goes unheard above the music and he kicks Dustin who jumps. When Mike finally looks away again he sees a bright red El laughing at him. Directly at him. Infuriating.

He aggressively pulls on Dustin and stalks towards her. Her laughter doesn’t subside as he approaches.

‘Something funny Hopper’ he barks angrily, trying to get her to stop laughing. His intimidation doesn’t work and he watches in anger as her laughter turns hysterical, she can’t even speak. There’s tears building in her eyes and he doesn’t think he can stand it any more.

‘You are so insufferable.’ Still, she is laughing. He gives a look to Dustin as if Dustin will support him in this but he looks amused, smug almost.

‘I’m so glad I saw that you have no idea. How’s your timeout going?’ she mocks, her laughter quieting down.

‘It’s not really a timeout if i get to hang out with my friend. Doesn’t feel like a punishment.’ He feels so ridiculous right now.

She’s laughing again and then suddenly he feels his hand being pulled again and before he can process what’s happening he watches in horror as Dustin latches the handcuff to El’s wrist. He would lunge for the key but Dustin hasn’t drank as much and is much faster, throwing the key across the apartment into an area Mike can’t see.

El’s laughter chokes out as her eyes widen in horror. Now it’s Mike’s turn to laugh although he isn’t sure why because this is his worst nightmare. Something about the look of incredulous confusion on her face is just tickling his funny bone. He laughs bitterly.

‘What the fuck Dustin?’ she spits out still in shock

‘He’s not supposed to enjoy a punishment. He won’t enjoy this.’ Dustin replies so incredibly proud of himself.

It’s important to note that the music is still blasting and the beat swells just as El swears again, covering the sound of her obscenities.

As the truth dawns on Mike again he feels like sobering up, although obviously he doesn’t, which is evident by the fact that his legs are feeling mushy and wobbly.

‘Come on Dustin I’m done, let us go. I’m not going to do anything stupid. I feel good about it I will not make any bad decisions tonight.’ Mike pleads with his friend who is shaking his head. Both of them look around for a bystander to help them out but nobody else cares, no one has even noticed except Max who was dancing with El. El can tell by the look on Max’s face that she’s not on side right now and that clearly the joke of this situation is at a higher priority level in this moment than her loyalty to El’s friendship.

To Max it feels a bit like a deserved punishment for them both for constantly making it difficult for her and Lucas to spend time with each other’s friends.

After a few more minutes of protesting Mike and El finally accept that for however long Dustin sees fit they’re now handcuffed to each other. She can’t even leave the party to escape him. They’re stuck. So the only rational way through this predicament is for them both to down as many drinks as they can individually get their free hands on.

The last thing either of them remembers, is Will falling face-first into the beer pong table.

Then, nothing.

___

El’s brain kicks back into function with an abrupt start. Slowly she regains consciousness and her senses start to work again one by one. First her sense of smell kicks in and she can smell sweat and rosemary and the familiar rancid smell of morning after alcohol. The loud pounding in her head stands firmly between her and regaining her vision. Next comes her hearing and she’s happy the only thing she can hear is her own breathing. Except…as the breaths come in and out she starts to realise the sound isn’t synced. And the feeling of air pushing against her bare neck confirms her dark fear that it’s not her own breathing she can hear.

Suddenly the pain behind her eyes is irrelevant. She opens her eyes and although she’s fighting the screetching pain of the light in her hungover eyes she pushes herself to look down. There’s a long slender arm under her head and another wrapped around her waist. She is completely encased in someone’s hold. She doesn’t have time to try and figure out who the arms belong to when she notices the ache in her wrist and the realisation crashes down on her like a cartoon anvil. Her body goes stiff and she directs her brain to pay attention to the sensation around her right wrist and to her utter dismay the feeling of a cold metal handcuff stings.

That’s gonna leave a mark.

So…it’s him.

Ew I guess?

She inhales deeply letting the smell of him and whatever room she’s in overwhelm her. She feels a bit sickened but there’s no way to determine whether that’s due to the ungodly amount of alcohol she consumed last night. She chooses to blame the nausea on him. Except for some reaaon she hasn’t moved yet. She can tell there is limited clothing left on both of them by the way she can feel his bare stomach pressing into her back. He’s warm and his skin is soft.

But he’s still Mike Wheeler and the fact that they more or may not have slept together last night doesn’t change the fact that she hates him. Conveniently, she spots a tiny shiny key on the bedside table and it doesn’t take long till she’s somewhat slipped out of his grip, gently avoiding sudden movements because although this is already bad enough, having to talk to him about it would be immeasurably worse.

Once her wrist is freed from the cuffs she gets up to put her clothes back on, finally allowing herself to look at Mike. He looks so peaceful in his sleep, oddly enough the dark circles under his eyes don’t make him look bad. He looks like a dark angel fallen from a thunderstorm, curly hair draped over the side of his face.

Memories of last nights events flood her brain as she watches him. Memories of passionate kisses and almost angry sex. And it was good. Partly probably because of the alcohol involved in loosening her up but also because despite Mike being a clueless individual he clearly knows what he’s doing. Last nights events have changed nothing, not for El anyway. He’s still the jerk that purposely argues with her any chance he gets and acts like a spoiled brat when anyone exhibits any kind of individuality. The fact that his hands know what they’re doing doesn’t change how annoying he is. She’s adamant that what happened last night doesn’t change anything about them and she almost doesn’t think it’s worth ever talking about so she’s not going to write him a note.

Just as she makes this decision his eyes flutter open and he looks up at her, eyes wide. It takes him a moment to register everything that’s happened and what she’s doing standing by his bed. Before he can say anything or mock her in any way she speaks.

‘This changes nothing. I still can’t stand you. I’m going now. Thanks for the orgasm I guess… See you around probably.’ She sees a flash of hurt then anger in his eyes but before she or he can process this she turns on her heels and walks out of his room, slamming the door behind her.

Mike is left stewing in his anger alone, head pounding almost blindingly.

Authors note: This fic is also on ao3 but when I post chapter 2 I'll link it here and post it on this blog <3

#mileven #slowburn #stranger things #fanfiction #ao3 #fillie #mike wheeler #eleven hopper #whopper #strangerthings #fanfic

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dearlcvers · 7 months ago

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Hey there! What's your take on why Mike keeps his eyes open and just limply stands there when El kisses him at the end of ST season 3? Bylers claim it's because Mike doesn't love her and idk about that... that definitely wasn't my read. But I recently rewatched the whole show, and I can't really figure out what that moment is supposed to convey?? Like, watching that scene, there isn't the feeling of a great love being fulfilled, or of grief at losing her to the move. He just kind of seems... idk, confused? Perturbed? idk! I can't wrap my head around what I'm supposed to take away from that moment!

Ok. I almost didn't bother writing out a long, detailed post about this, because it's one of those things that (in my mind) shouldn't need to be explained, since (to me) it's presented so clearly in the source material already. So much of this show is so wildly misinterpreted all the time these days and it's getting to be exhausting-- half the time my reaction is just:

BUT! Why would I ever pass up an opportunity to yap about my favorite things, namely my dear my son my boy Michael Wheeler??

So! Let's consider all the context pieces going on here, shall we?

Things we know about Mike:

Struggles to say the Big L Word in general. Feelings are big and scary. (This is not a new concept, mind you. It's a very common romance trope. It's also a real thing that real people struggle with, especially among men and boys. Remember the cultural setting, everybody.)

he has low self-esteem and Big Insecurities about the validity of his feelings and his relationship with her (insecurities which are constantly reinforced by the people around him)

he is ALWAYS visibly startled/surprised when ANYONE expresses that they care about him to ANY extent (surprised that his mom empathizes with him and isn't angry about staying home from school when his best friend is missing, surprised when Dustin points out that he and Lucas are close best friends, surprised that Nancy runs out to hug him and says she was worried about him, surprised that El doesn't judge him for being bullied and says she understands, surprised when she tells him she was listening all 353 days, surprised when she tells him she missed him at the pizza shop, surprised when Will tells him that he's the glue that holds the party together and that they all need him, surprised when Karen goes on a mom tirade about how she was worried sick and never wants to let him go far away ever again, etc etc etc... idk what you expect at this point)

here, he is clearly bracing himself for saying goodbye and putting on nonchalant fronts to protect himself from experiencing that grief again (see my pinned post for more in-depth analysis of why Mike is scared of his feelings)

Also take into account:

He TRIED to tell her he loves her in the supermarket, like really genuinely tried, but they were interrupted by ALL the shit hitting the fan. There is a LOT going on!! El's powers are gone and no one knows why! She's grieving the loss of her father! She's about to move across the country to somewhere entirely new and unfamiliar! Mike doesn't want to be selfish right now given what she's going through, making such a move now would be pretty tactless, and he's trying so hard to be a good respectful boyfriend (after literally everyone told him off for things like caring too much/spending too much time with her). Plus, if she doesn't reciprocate, well then fuck, some of his last moments with her will be stained by disappointment and guilt and awkwardness. And if she does reciprocate, well then fuck, now that just makes this goodbye even harder for both of them.

So yeah. He's fuckin shook. And, like the awkward noodle he is, Mike is slow to process it.

There are SEVERAL emotions going on right now-- the most apparent one being shock/surprise/confusion. Of course it's massively validating to hear "I love you, too", the same way it's massively validating to hear her say "I understand" and "I heard". But whatever happy feelings it brings are definitely overshadowed by the sinking realization that despite it all, he's still losing her. They still have to go separate ways. Remember that while we the audience know they're all going to come back to Hawkins and be reunited by the end of the story, the characters don't know that. As far as anyone knows in this moment, they're moving away for good. (And btw, distance is a lot bigger of a deal when methods of communication are limited-- remember the setting, everybody!! No instant messaging!! Letters take weeks to mail, no way to see each other's faces except through mailed photographs, only one landline phone per household and you have to factor in time zones and family members' working hours... long-distance relationships are hard now, imagine how hard they would be for teenagers in 1985!!)

Bottom line: He wasn't expecting her to say it. He wasn't prepared to hear it now. He wasn't ready for it to be such a mix of hurt and happy all at once. All he could do is stare in awestruck bewilderment.

His first love, the most important person to him in the whole world, truly reciprocates his feelings. And he's about to lose her forever again.

Unfortunately Finn's face is kind of obscured from view during a lot of the actual kiss, which can understandably make it hard to read, but he is most definitely kissing her back-- it's very hesitant and subtle compared to El's confidence, but he does lean in to meet her.

Every single indicator (in the music, the blocking/camera work, etc) is purposefully framing this scene as a positive moment and the resolution to their relationship arc for the season.

Further conflict and further resolution that we see in S4 supports/confirms this as the correct interpretation. His confession monologue spells it all out word for word for christ's sake.

Narratively, the scene would make ZERO sense if that was meant to be a negative reaction. Their romance subplot goes through all the story arc steps and all the buildup, why would it fall so flat right at the final piece of the resolution? That would just be poor writing. (And frankly, that entire take is evidence of poor media literacy and comprehension. You just... you can't cherry-pick the details, guys, I'm sorry.)

If that kiss was meant to be a nail in the coffin, a realization that everything that the story has established and everything these two characters have expressed thus far is, in fact, not so... then we wouldn't have seen a moment like this with such intimacy right afterwards:

Tell me you can't read his face now. He's in tears and clinging to her. That is heartbreak! And just by looking at how she touches his face and presses their foreheads together, you can tell she feels it too and understands.

So yeah, that's my take on it. I hope this provides some clarity! <3

PS, on a lighter note, allow me to present to you a directly comparable confused-open-eyed kiss scene that absolutely NO ONE questions:

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