He couldn't sleep. He just couldn't. He turned to his side for the fifth time this night but his eyes wouldn't close. He thought about all the previous nights, the nightmares. The horror of waking up breathless, panting. Tears filling his whole face. Dark skies, blood and pain. He kept dreaming of all they went through, all the terror, the void in his soul. How incomplete he felt without her.

And suddenly what was missing, all he ever wanted, was there. She was there.

He felt her hands wrapping around his waist slowly, her touch delicate and sweet. He couldn't help the little smile that appeared on his face. She could kill monsters, blow them up, turn them into dust with just a thought, but when it came to him she always treated him with carefulness. Except that one time she threw him with force upon the school's lockers when they were facing the Demogorgon. That hurt. But she did it to protect him.

He didn't talk. He liked the silence. Other than that there was nothing else to say. He needed her and she needed him. Nothing more and nothing less. As if she could read his mind, she stated the obvious.

"You can't sleep".

"Neither can you" he whispered back and he could practically see her chuckle. He turned around slowly wanting to see her face. Their eyed met and he felt his heart beating faster. It always happened. Whether they were with friends playing or watching a movie or arriving at each other's house… It always was the same. The same butterflies in his stomach, the constant rising pulse, the happiness… Every time their eyes met the whole world would disappear and it would be just them, standing just inches away.

He raised his left hand and let her slip under it, so she could rest her head on his chest. Hands wrapped around one another's body, breaths synchronized, eyes stubbornly open. El lifted her head and their eyes met again.

"It will get easier" she whispered letting her hand wonder over his face. Her fingers tangled into his hair sweetly, while his brought her even closer to him.

"As long as we're together" he replied and she nodded smiling.

They could stay like that forever. They could forget everyone and everything and just lie on this bed without caring about the rest. Especially about Hopper, who would kill them both if he knew she had secretly left from the house just to cuddle her boyfriend.

As if the thought had hit both of their minds a faint smile appeared on their faces. Mike caressed her curls from behind the neck and took a deep breath. It was really late.

"We have to sleep a little" he suggested and El nodded.

Still she didn't move, her eyes still fixed upon his. That was his cue. He leaned slowly forward and within a second his lips caught hers in a sweet kiss. They didn't part immediately. Their lips stayed a little bit more touching, as if this separation would make a perfectly needed dream disappear.

Their eyes stayed closed and finally sleep came slowly. It wasn't until next morning when they woke up to the sound of a certain police car's horn…