18+
"stop saying that! stop saying you love me or- or that you missed me more than anything. don't tell me i'm your favorite girl. just, fuck," she shook her head. "don't say shit you don't mean, mike. don't lie to me."
the money, the fame, the se...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
not even a month had passed before mike next turned up at her doorstep.
despite it being the week of thanksgiving, el hadn't expected him. it was monday, he didn't normally show up until wednesday and when he did, it was at her home in hawkins because he knew that's where she'd be.
she wished she hadn't asked why he'd come home for the holiday so early. she wished he hadn't answered.
mike was set to spend the actual holiday on thursday in north carolina with his public girlfriend, jade stone, and her family. she played his love interest in his upcoming movie set to premiere christmas day so their managers and producers were pushing the publicity. they wanted them plastered all over the media, and apparently spending a holiday together in her beachfront hometown was crucial in doing that.
el didn't want to think about that so she quickly averted the topic, asking him about anything else.
shockingly enough, not much had changed for him in the past month. he'd finished his press tour and was back to working on the band's next album before he began filming the fleetwood mac movie.
he played her a few demos, curious to hear her input. she liked what she heard, but she couldn't help but resent the lyrics. she knew he'd handed over the songwriting reins to outside parties when his acting career took off and it showed.
it's just that the band's old stuff was always so him. she didn't have to think about the lyrics because she understood them instantly — because she understood him.
the new stuff he played for her was good. objectively, she couldn't deny it. it still fit their indie rock vibes and the lyrics were still highly sexual and gritty. she knew the fans would love it all the same. she knew it'd still make parents cringe. she knew she was the only one who would detect the change in the narrative.
so el told him she loved the demos. she said the world would love them, too, and it seemed to soothed whatever worry he'd held within himself.
after that, she offered dinner but warned that she only had ingredients for the only pasta recipe she could successfully make: gigi hadid's vodka pasta.
they ate and talked and laughed.
upon her eager request, he gave her the inside scoop on her favorite celebrities. from what he knew, tom and zendaya were engaged, taylor swift and whatever her british lookalike-boyfriend's name was were married, timotheé chalamet and dua lipa were together, and harry styles's new album had a psychedelic rock sound.
upon his request, el gave him the indiana scoop. she told about how max thinks lucas is proposing soon, how will was still studying abroad in london, how dustin had been seeing a girl named marcella that gave her manipulative vibes, and how joyce and her father were buying an RV for likely some mid-life crisis-driven reason.
