STARRY EYES | mileven

thirteen

it wasn't her proudest moment. then again, who gives a fuck about proud moments anyway?

the second she got home from set, she followed her usual routine; she showered, did her nightly skincare routine, slipped into some warm pajamas. now, she was curled up on the couch, one hand mindlessly petting lu while the other gripped her phone.

normal. just her usual night.

except for the fact that she had spent the last fifteen minutes spiraling down a rabbit hole, trying to decipher the connection between mike and angela.

alright, listen— who doesn't dig up some information when it comes to a co-star? especially one they used to have a silly celebrity crush on? it was only natural for her interest to be piqued when mike casually mentioned that he met angela years ago through a project her dad had worked on.

years ago. meaning before his hiatus.

meaning back when she was still semi-obsessed with him.

she used to know everything about his career, his projects... even his personal life. not in a crazy way—just enough to stay updated. so if there was ever a dating rumor about him, trust her, she knew about it.

and there were plenty.

people speculated constantly, convinced he was dating any girl who so much as breathed near him. most of the time, it was nonsense obviously.

so why— if angela and mike had known each other for years— had there never been any rumors? not even a whisper? were there even pictures of them together?

within two minutes of searching, she had her answer.

mike's last film before his hiatus, being the devil's advocate, had been released under up productions—angela's father's company.

that was the connection. that's how they knew each other.

el clicked on the images that came up, her eyes landing on one that seemed to be getting the most traction. it was of mike and angela sitting together, smiling wide, their heads tilted toward each other like they were in on a shared joke. a third person sat beside them, someone el didn't recognize, but her focus was elsewhere.

angela's hand rested on his thigh. his was on her waist.

they looked close. really close.

el groaned internally.

if she was already being pathetic, she might as well go all in. so, in a move she would regret almost instantly, she clicked on a reddit link.

r/mikewheelerdating.

she stared at the name of the subreddit, shaking her head. bunch of weirdos. who even makes something like this?

then she remembered she was the one who clicked on it.

well, time to put her conscience aside for two minutes then.

someone had posted the same picture, the caption blunt: are they dating?

the responses were chaotic. half of the people were having a full-blown meltdown, the other half were spewing misogynistic bullshit. only a handful actually answered the question.

one comment stood out.

throwaway123_7228u: can confirm. i saw them at a party together around a year ago. pretty sure they're dating.

el's stomach twisted. her fingers hovered over the screen as she checked the timestamp.

four years ago. a year into his acting hiatus.