racing to you ; mileven

thirty-eight.

"of course i can't bring a piano here but i brought you your guitar," mike walks in with the widest smile.

he watches el curled up in the corner of the bed look up and he couldn't smile more.

he walks over to the bed, sits down and watches as she moves to sit cries crossed instead.

though she hasn't spoken much, she's been responding to mike by moving and just by looking at him.

he couldn't be happier though.

he hands her the guitar and helps her hold it, "want to play something for me?"

her fingers don't move and she only stares at the instrument. "or do you want me to play something for you instead?" he asks and she looks up slowly.

he grabs the guitar and sits criss crossed as well, "you can lay on me if you want, i don't mind, baby."

he lightly strums the guitar and kisses her temple. as he strums the guitar, he feels el slowly fall down to his shoulder.

his strums were soft and quiet, like a lullaby to put a baby to sleep.

once he was done, he sets the guitar down and caresses her face, "you know how you were working on you own piece?"

she looks up at him.

with a grin, he replies, "i saw it just now and you kind of mentioned it before. i brought it with me today and if you ever get bored and me or hop isn't here, then you can work on it."

he pulls out the sheets of papers then sets it on the desk, "of course, there's no piano but your guitar will do, right?"

she blinks and stares off as he holds onto her hand, "want to go on a walk with me?"

she doesn't respond.

"if your thigh still hurts then it's fine, we don't have to. it's just i thought you were bored in this room already." he suggests as she glanced at him from the side.

he moves to face her from the front, "does it hurt anywhere?" he kneels down and asks.

she looks him in the eyes and a hand goes to fiddle with the end of her shirt.

"el? it's okay, you can tell me where it hurts,"

slowly, she points to the side of her stomach then her fingers trail up to her heart.

"your chest hurts?" he asks her and sets his hand over hers.

she shakes her head lightly.

"okay, then what's wrong?"

she stutters quietly and he caresses her hand to soothe her. "ache." she moves her hand to demonstrate the ache.

"suffocating... inside.." she whispers as he nods, "i know.. i know it hurts."

"make.." she takes a deep breath, "make it stop." she cries quietly, "it hurts."

he sits up, moving to lay against the headboard before he pulls her closer to him. he lays her down to him then rubs her back before setting a kiss on her hair, "i know it hurts." he leans his forehead to hers.

"i wish i can take away the pain for you, baby. i wish i could," he rubs her hand before smiling at her sadly.

she quietly sobs, leaning against his body to stop the cries. with a small coo, he rubs her face, "baby, it's alright, you can cry. i'm right here with you,"

"i want my mommy and daddy," she sobs and covers her face, "i— i want them back," she hiccups as he hugs her close.

she lets out a small cry at the man stood in front of her, "i want my mommy and daddy!"