welcome to o'connell creamery!
ˏˋ°•*⁀➷
the sound of the o'connell's creamery bell ringing when the two opened the door made mike smile to himself, because after all of this, mr. o'connell was still here after the "earthquake" willing to serve ice cream to them both.
it was the thirty minutes they could get of them acting like everything was just alright.
"and you're getting...?" mike asked, his hand finding river's quickly after.
"uhm," she glanced from the menu to him, because she thought he knew this already, but it was alright she didn't mind. river just looked tired, and her voice was low. still recovering from all the screaming she did just nights before.
"strawberry right? i'll get it." mike paused to remove his hand from hers and he let it softly graze her cheek as she looked up at him, he kept it there as he smiled down at her weakly. "you can go outside if you want?"
he felt just like she did, and that's mostly why river felt bad. because while he felt just as hurt he seemed okay. he was acting like it for her.
but, the very much strong smell of syrup in the shop gave her a headache, so she was okay with waiting outside. "okay." her hands were stuffed in her brown jacket, and she had walked out, leaving him to get both ice creams.
the one thing she didn't know that mike wished she did was that while he was still hurting, he was here with her. ice cream and river? that was great, and it made him happy, excited him.
getting the ice cream was quick considering there was nobody else there, hawkins had turned into a ghost town. mike's view switched to his girlfriend sitting down alone, quietly messing with the bandages on her wrists. they were overlapped by her bracelets.
the feeling you get when looking at something so perfect, but sad at the same time was the one mike felt.
he took his seat next to her on the bench, and he handed her the ice cream. "thank you." she gave a small smile and mike returned it.
her soft spoken self was very much back, it returned the night max went brain dead.
every few seconds they sat there, eating their ice cream mike found himself glancing to her. was she enjoying it? did she just want to leave? should they never have come?
he watched river sit there, she was quiet and her legs were crossed. it was obvious she was still feeling weird, and he didn't blame her in the slightest but he promised her this ice cream date would be one of joy. one where they got to be happy, where she got to be happy, forget everything that was eating her up at the moment.
"you, uhm-" mike had gently pushed the ice cream into her face, watching her look of annoyance as she turned to him, and she groaned.
"mike-" watching the smug smile on mike's face caused the same one to slide onto hers, "i hate you." she giggled lightly, pushing his ice cream into his face as well.
mike had fake gasped, holding his chest as he shook his head. "never would i ever think you'd do that to me, r."
"shut up, jerkoff." river continued to speak through her smile and soft laughs, and it gave mike that warm feeling inside of his stomach.
"no, you shut up." the 13 year old's they once were had very much returned in this moment as they shoved each other, bickering.
"okay, give me a napkin." river held her hand up, and mike chuckled at the sight of the pink spot on her cheek.
"they didn't have any." he shrugged, licking his sleeve, and pressing it against the girls face, wiping her cheek clean.
"well, thanks." river smiled, licking her sleeve and doing the same for him. "i can't believe you got vanilla, i expected better from you."
"vanilla is good, r. i've been telling you this since the fourth grade."
"it is, but is it better than strawberry? no." river spoke as she licked her own ice cream, her voice being muffled.
mike only laughed at the way she ate her ice cream and spoke at the same time, and he shook his head.
"wanna make vanilla-strawberry?" he playfully had stuck his tongue out, leaving his mouth agape as he leaned forward, attempting to make out with the girl and in response river had only pushed him away.
"gross, mike!" her laughs echoed in the streets, and mike's were silent, though he held his stomach. his forehead was pressed against her shoulder as he laughed, and he had felt her head turn.
"-but yeah i do." she had copied his actions, playfully as well and quickly stopped them once he looked up.
mike's laughs had faded just as river's did, and his hand had found its way to her chin, holding it before he pulled her in, pressing his lips to hers gently.
his ice cream had slid right off of his cone as he continued to kiss her but that was the least of his worries.
as they shared the long kiss river had scooted closer, and her hand wrapped around his neck, pulling him closer.
she wanted nothing more than to be as close to mike as she could right now. he could tell, because once they slowly and reluctantly pulled away, river's head found it's spot on his chest.
mike tossed out his ice cream licking the melted residue off of his hands, and he hugged her from the side.
he wondered what would happen if he just took river's ice cream and tossed it as well. of course he wouldn't but he very much remembered the times he had done that.
there were many moments where they both wanted to say something, or do something, but they didn't. they liked just being there. river liked the way mike held her, and mike liked the way she leaned onto him.
ˏˋ°•*⁀➷
A/N
dk how i feel abt this but here u go baes
not fully edited
