breaking point ; mileven.

twenty-five.

"i missed you," el whispered to mike as she jumped on his back outside of the school.

"hey dove, i missed you too," he laughed and set his hands below her thighs to hold her, "how was classes?"

"shitty," she mumbled, "can we go get ice cream?"

"sure," he smiled and set her back down on the ground before he held her hand.

he held her face with one hand and squeezed lightly before he leaned down to kiss her lips, "peach?" he asked, referring to the taste of her lipgloss.

she nodded, "do you like it?"

"cola's better." he commented as they began to walk.

"i like peach better. but i'll wear cola when i kiss you," she murmured and swung their arms with a small smile.

"you are so cheery right now. when i saw your expression, i expected you to be in a mood." he told her and she looked up at him.

"i wasn't in a mood," she denied.

he gave her a look.

"okay, maybe i was. but i saw you and i'm all better now," she gave him the widest smile she could.

"good then," he nodded and made sure she was on the inside of the sidewalk as they walked.

"that's my parents company," el tilted her head and nodded ahead to the large tall silver building.

"i want to blow it up," she mumbled to him and he grinned, "and i'll help you. don't worry." he smiled, pulling her closer by the shoulder before kissing her temple.

"come on," he tugged the corner of her lips up with his fingers, "smile for me, baby. i don't like it when you're sad,"

she gave a smile, "i'm not sad. don't be stupid." her tone changed and she pushed her hair behind her shoulders since it was bothering her.

"i'm not stupid, i'm considerate." he corrected her and she nodded, "yeah, yeah. considerate." she mocked him teasingly just as her stomach rumbled.

"are you hungry?" he asked, not stopping his movements as he placed a hand over her stomach.

"not really, no—"

"is it because you didn't eat lunch? see, i told you not to throw it away, it wasn't that bad." mike bought el a lunch from the cafeteria considering how they both didn't have lunch from home.

but el thought it was disgusting—and it was—so she threw it away. which was why mike had to share some of his fries with her.

"i'm not hungry." she said sternly. "i'm— my stomach just makes noises sometimes."

"maybe you're not feeling the hunger. what did you eat for breakfast?" he hadn't asked her again.

she paused for a second before she went to respond, "just normal breakfast. eggs.. toast."

"you're lying." he pointed out. "i can see it on your face, el." he told her, "did you not eat?"

"i did eat!" she shouted at him in annoyance before she huffed and crossed her arms.

"look, im just caring for you, alright? so if you're actually so annoyed, then i'll stop," he mumbled.

she continued to walk alongside him, still annoyed at how much questions he was asking but like he said, he was just caring.

why couldn't she get that? she was asking herself why and why and why but the answer didn't seem to come out.

it was like she, herself, didn't know why either.