PLAY THE PART | mileven

five

"the pizzas will be here in about ten minutes, where are the boys?" max asked as she stood on her tiptoes to grasp some bowls at the top of her kitchen shelf.

"mike said they'd be here in five minutes." el shrugged as she took the bowls out of her hand and filled them with potato chips, salted pretzels and chocolate bars.

max arched a brow. "isn't that what he said half an hour ago?"

"well.. yes." el balanced the bowls in her hands and started to make her way towards the living room to place them on the coffee table. "i'm sure they'll be here any second."

the redhead crossed her arms and leaned her hip against the loveseat. "they better be or they'll have to eat cold pizza in return."

as they were arranging the placement of the various bowls and glass cups on the coffee table, the bell of the door rung.

"this better be them." max said under her breath as she walked towards the door, el was following her closely behind as she opened it and revealed the three boys they've been waiting for.

"hi." lucas awkwardly raised his hand before lowering it again. "sorry for being late, we stopped to get some beer but and the line was insane, like, we had to stand there for twenty minutes because some old lady dropped her purse and thought it was stolen."

"yikes." max winced, "it's fine, just come in."

he held the cater of beers in his hands, jerked his chin towards el to greet her and walked in. "should i put these in the kitchen or bring them to the living room?"

"the living room!" she called after him, seeing him look around the apartment in curiosity.

her attention snapped back to dustin as he cleared his throat and reached a transparent package of cake towards her. "brought some cake, i hope both of you like strawberries."

max's eyes lit up at the sight of the tart, she took it in her hands with a big smile on her face. "that's so sweet, thank you." but her eyebrows dipped together as she looked at it closer. "why does it look like someone spooned the cake already?"

dustin shrugged, chuckling. "well, someone had to do the quality check. tastes exquisite by the way."

the redhead rolled her eyes at the statement and let him walk in, there was only one left standing at the door.

mike stood there with a painfully forced and awkward smile, he was holding a flowerpot of orchids up; his left hand held the front of the flowerpot while his right hand was supporting it from the back.

el grinned in satisfaction at the sight, she had texted him earlier to get orchids for max because those would earn him the trust of her best friend way easier — they also fit in the vibe of her apartment.

max looked over at el with an approving raise of her eyebrows before she took it out of his hands. "that's so thoughtful of you, thanks. how did you know that these would fit in here so good?"

he buried his left hand in his pocket. "call it a gut feeling."

as they were about to walk inside, mike suddenly reached his other hand towards el out and revealed a bouquet of daises that she hadn't noticed earlier.

"these one's are for you." he said out, slightly wiggling the flowers in front of her.

max's jaw dropped in awe meanwhile el was standing there in nothing but utter surprise and shock. she hadn't even asked for him to do that.

"for me?" she asked as she carefully grasped the bouquet and examined it carefully.

dozens of white, fresh daises were wrapped in brown paper. daises always looked simple to her — she thought roses, lilies or tulips were the usual types of flowers someone would gift to someone else. but looking at them now, they seem beautiful.