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Yes! It's finally here. Sorry about the wait, I've been super busy. Buckle up! This is my longest chapter yet!

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----(Mikes POV)-----

The door opens, and I see her.

El is wearing a dark-colored dress, khaki-colored boots, and her hair is neatly done, framing her flawless face.

She looks, beautiful.

My eyes start to water, due to our eyes coinciding once again. And from what I can tell from her face, she is feeling the same way.

"El", I say trying not to choke on my words.

"Mike!" she exclaims, starting to run towards me.

-----(El's POV)----

I run towards him, tears of excitement and joy blurring my vision.

I see him start running towards me, getting closer, with every second and every step we take.

As I reach him, I leap into his arms, wrapping my legs around his waist and attaching myself to him. He stumbles back, almost falling over due to the speed at which I jumped into his arms at.

He holds me tightly, both of us breathing heavily. After a few seconds, he lets me down back onto the ground.
He's wearing a corduroy jacket with a simple grey button-up under it. His dark hair is still in his classic bowl cut style, framing his defined jawline. Even with the time that passed since we last saw each other, he's still the same freckled-faced boy; My freckled-faced boy.

We face each other, our hands immediately intertwining. He looks down at me with his soft dark irises, noticing a small tear roll down my cheek. He furrows his eyebrows, placing one hand against my cheekbone, and using his thumb to wipe the tear away.

"God, I missed you so much", I say, gulping back the build-up of emotions, in an attempt to not cry.

"I missed you more," he says as a tear leaves his eye aswell.

"Not possible", I murmur, giving him a cheeky smile.

He smiles back at me, and before I can say anymore, he cups my face in his hands, as his eyes dart down to my lips. He slowly moves in and kisses me softly.
I tense up and pull away, surprised by the sensation I had just felt again for the first time in so long. I look up at him, his lips still puckered from the kiss we just shared.
I smile and thread my hand through his hair as I stand up on my toes to kiss him again.

But this time, it lasts longer and holds more meaning, the longing we possess for one another. The kiss lingers, until our lips part once more as he places one hand on my waist. Our mouths separated, and our eyes meet. He leans his forehead against mine grinning from ear to ear with a light blush spreading on both of his cheeks. I smirk in response and start to feel the heat rise in my face as well.

----(Mikes POV)-----

Wow, that was amazing.

I have been so worried about this moment, the moment I see her again for the first time. 

What would I do? 

What would I say?

However, at this moment, all I could do was kiss her; the only way that I could even try to express my admiration and love for her was by kissing her. And she understood me, she kissed me back, and our lips spoke their own language.

It indeed was, the perfect moment.

- 

We stand in the driveway of her house, foreheads still leaning against one another.

"Ok, PDA, please!" a voice moans coming from inside of the house. I break eye contact with El, as we both turn around to see who it is.

We both recognize Will, arms crossed and eyebrows arched upwards as he leans against the door frame.

"Can I get a chance to greet my best friend now?", he asks candidly his grin growing larger.

I look down trying to hide my embarrassment, noticing, that Will had been standing there the whole time watching us. El rolls her eyes at him laughingly.

As my eyes stay looking at the ground, I notice a bouquet of red and pink roses laying on the gravel road. "Oh, Shit!" I exclaim as I bend over to pick up the bouquet.

"I must have dropped these when you ran up to me", I say laughingly handing her the flowers.

Her eyes go softs and she smiles at me, placing her free hand on my chest as she kisses my cheek.

My face turns a deeper shade of red as I grin at the ground, the sensation of her lips on my cheek stinging my skin.

El walks away from me to say hi to Nancy who is still standing by the car.

Will walks towards me, then starts to pick up speed, I laugh and roll my eyes, knowing that he's mocking El and I. But I know he's just messing with me, he's Will, after all, my best friend. As he reaches me, he hugs me tightly, just as tight as he did when we last said goodbye to each other in July.

"I missed you bud", I mutter into his shoulder.

"I missed you too", Will replies.

We break from our hug, and I smile at him. "You know.. I have a surprise for you."

"Oh yeah", he says, placing both hands on his hips, not believing me.

"I have a fully planned DnD campaign for us to play!", I answer confidently.

His mouth drops open, and then he smiles, "Really?!"

I nod, and he clapped his hands together in excitement.

I smile at his response, I know that I needed to surprise him with this, but now, I still need to surprise El with something...

-

Nancy, Will, Mike and I all walk into the house, dropping the luggage on the floor of the kitchen. Joyce greets us with a warm smile and hugs Nancy and Mike lovingly.

"Our mom wanted us to bring this.", Nancy says unzipping one of their duffle bags revealing a wrapped up casserole in a Tupperware. "She said you liked it"

A smile spreads on Joyce's face as she gives Nancy another hug "Thank you so much!"

"So!" Joyce starts clapping her hands together.

"Jonathan and Nancy, you guys can sleep in Jonathan's room. "I suppose you two are mature enough, two share a bed?", she says sternly raising her eyebrows.

Nancy giggles nervously while Jonathan smirks, his eyes glued to the floor. They nod, and Will nudges Mike, moving his eyebrows up and down, as they both start snickering.

I roll my eyes laughingly, and I shake my head.

Boys.

"And Mike", she starts.

Mike looks up at Joyce nervously, not knowing what shes about say next.

"Even though Hopper would never allow it..", she says laughingly.

"I think you are also mature enough to sleep in the same room together", she says, emphasizing the word 'room'. I grin, looking over at Mike. Happiness tugged at the corners of his lips as if invisible elves were playing tug-of-war with his mouth.

"Oh great so where am I sleeping?", Will ask in agony.

"You can sleep in your soon to be room; there's already a bed in there so you can test it out for the next few nights", she answers boldly.

His jaw drops and he starts jumping on the spot but then trying to act as if he isn't excited, by folding his arms, slouching and drawing a fake frown on his face.

"Fine", he answers plainly, as everyone in the room starts to laugh.

"There is one rule, however..", she starts as soon as the laughing calmed, looking at both Mike and me. "Keep the door open three inches".

I smile, remembering the letter, trying not to get emotional at this moment. Mike, seemingly noticing my vulnerability, reaches for my hand and squeezes it comfortingly. I look down at our hands and then at him, and smile warmly.

We both nod and Joyce smiles kindly. "Ok then, you kids have fun! Dinner is at 6:30, so don't be late!", she finishes as she starts to head to the ringing timer on the kitchen counter. The air is filled with the sweet scent of cinnamon and brown sugar. I ponder, licking my lips at the thought of dessert.

"Hey, Nancy um... I have a little surprise for you", Jonathan said, scratching his neck." I turn around to see Jonathan now standing infront of Nancy.

She looks up at him smiling. "Okay, let me just get my bags in your room."

He nods in response grinning at her as she kisses him on the cheek and walks into the room.

-

"Hey El, could I talk to you for a second?", Will asks me plainly.

"Sure", I say in an unsure tone, having no idea what he wants to talk to me about.

Mike slings a backpack over his shoulder. "I'll go bring this into your room".

I look back at him smiling, giving him an 'I'll be there soon look' as he walks into my, well, for now, our room.

I turn back to face Will, raising my eyebrows at him, signaling him to start talking.

"So, I know you are really excited to see Mike", he begins slowly. "And I remembered how upset you were about the whole polaroid thing".

I look down at my feet, my smile disappearing.

"Yeah..?", I ask, not knowing where he's going with this.

"Well, I thought I'd get you this", Will concludes pulling a little grey and red camera out of his back pocket with the name 'Kodak' written on it. "It's a disposable camera, which you can take pictures with, ... I thought you could take a new picture with Mike, you know, to replace the one Brady tore".

My mouth drops open, and my eyes go soft as my mouth closes in a smile, he smiles at my reaction before I pull him into a hug.

"Thank you so much", I say gratefully.

He nods.

"Happy Thanksgiving.", he exclaims throwing this hands up mockingly trying to imitate jazz hands.

I laugh as he hands me the camera.

"I'm gonna go and hang out with Andrew now", he says looking at me.

"So you and Mike can you know.. have some fun," he says, a cheeky grin spreading on his face.

"Shut up", I shout nudging him playfully. "No, but seriously Will you dont have to leave us alone, he's also your best friend and you haven't seen him in a while either", I say sympathetically.

"I know, but I can hang out with him later, you guys should have your moment." he raises his eyebrows, and I roll my eyes grinningly. "Besides, I like hanging out with Andrew."

He looks down to his feet, and I notice a slight blush rise on both of his cheeks. However, I decide to not address it due to the sweet gift he just gave me.

"Okay", I reply laughingly. "But I want my first picture to be with my brother."

"Okay fine if you so desperately want to", he moans sarcastically making me laugh as I embrace him tightly turning the camera to face us. We smile, and seconds later the bright flash illuminates our faces.

I smile as he heads for the door.

"Thanks again Will", I say softly.

He nods, waving goodbye as he shuts the door behind him.

-

I walk into my room to see Mike sitting on Will's bed digging through his bag for something.

"What are you looking for?", I ask him making him jump due to my sudden presence in the room.

"Umm nothing", he spits out while he hastily tries to close his bag, smiling nervously at me.

I raise my eyebrows as a smirk grows on my face. I walk towards him and try to grab the bag from the bed, but he dodges me by moving to the other side, blocking me.

"No El stop, it's a surprise!", he exclaims trying to sound serious over his laughing. I laugh, ignore his request and resume to trying to reach for his bag, as he continues to doge me. I reach for the bag once more time, this time, however, we both freeze, looking up at each other, noticing our faces are only inches apart from each other.

He looks down at my lips and quickly shoots his sight back to my eyes. I look down at his lips, which are parted, as he pants due to the mini-battle we just had. Our eyes meet once more. When suddenly the door across the hallway slams open and Nancy and Jonathan walk out into the kitchen, passing my room. Mike and I both jump and quickly back away from each other.

I sit down on my bed crosslegged. He does the same, hopping onto Will's bed, sitting exactly like I am and facing me.

We stare at each other for a second, before a mischevious smirk grows on his face.

"Stop looking at me like that!", I blurt laughingly.

"Like what?", he says, playfully as I watch him bit his lip subtlely.

I roll my eyes looking at the door then back at Mike.

He sighs, looking at me and shaking his head. "God, I missed you so freaking much."

"I grin, looking down at my bed, "I missed you too, Mike."

I glance at the wide-open door and then back at Mike. He raises his eyebrows and smirks at me as he starts to push himself off the bed.

I look at him puzzled, as walks over to the door, starting to push it. I watch him as he pushes it, closer and closer to being fully shut. He stops, studying the gap between the door and the wall. "Looks like three inches to me."

I laugh, rolling my eyes as he smiles at me.

He walks towards me, offering his hands to me, and I grab onto his hands as he pulls me off the bed. I look up at him and into his black irises. He smiles at me, holding one side of my face in his hand and the other tucking a piece of hair behind my ear.

"You are so beautiful", he says bewilderedly.

I smirk, due to the compliment, breaking eye contact for a second as I look down at our feet. He places his hand under my chin, pulling my face back up towards his. I smile at him as I see his eyes dart down to my lips, however this time he leaves his gaze on them. I start to lean in, connecting our lips in a passionate and almost magical kiss. The feeling that I have been craving for months.

I feel home with him here with me. I feel complete again, and I never want this feeling to end.

-

Hii

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They are finally reunited!!

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