tea stained newpapers. mileven au.

thirty two.

CHAPTER THIRTY TWO:
MARK MY WORDS.
EL'S POV.

"would you like me to help you, sweet?" the raven haired boy inquired, his tone laced with a drawn out teasing expression as the brunette continued to struggle with the stove in front of her.

he was smiling, she could tell that factor even with her back facing toward him at the moment. there was no denying that he was finding this predicament too amusing, maybe even laughable that his own girlfriend had absolutely zero experience with this simple kitchen appliance after being alive for more than two decades.

and under any normal circumstance, the artist would have played into it, possibly tease him back or make a dramatic scene about how mean he was being just to get a few extra kisses.

but to say the least, it had been a long day. a really fucking long day at that actually. and unfortunately for el, her day in question was winding down to headache with the name maxine mayfield written all over it.

it was stupid really, to be so upset with someone who was truly only trying to figure out what was best for her.

yet, her favorite red headed human had quite the knack at being possibly a little too honest with her. especially in moments when she was actually intentionally trying to ignore the weight of her current situation.

the situation that regarded her feelings and the logistics of well... a stable life choice.

it was conflicting, confusing in el's mind to the point where she felt like she was going to spin herself insane. the idea of moving to a place she would have sworn months ago that she had no intention of staying even a day after her museum debut.

but the look on her writer boy's face this morning, with his pretty dark eyes and messy curls. how his voice tugged, disappeared into a lifeless void at just the thought of being separated.

it sparked something, stabbed even at the realization that her heart didn't feel like it had a physical place to call home anymore.

he was her home.

and honestly, she should have expected the conversation to come up at least once when her best friend was here. maybe she should have made an effort to address it sooner... maybe she should have told her when mike asked her to stay the night she showed him her painting.

but instead it stayed a lingering silent little thought between them, patiently waiting to be exposed until that perfect moment when max asked if she wanted to book a round trip back to new york instead of a one way straight to indianapolis.

it turned into an argument after that. not a huge one of course, there was no screaming. though, the words that were said between them still stung, as if they were slashed so gently it allowed the knife to go deeper than intended.

and what hurt the most was the fact that el couldn't deny the fact max was right.

she was always right.

so instead of being annoyed by her innocent boyfriend's mocking words, she only allowed her brows to furrow slightly, pure confusion and concern exposing itself in her voice as she twisted one of the burner handles a few more times, "i'm just not exactly sure what i'm doing wrong."