the real world | mileven

Cuts

Playlist: ( songs that inspired me )

New - Daya

Him & I - G-Easy

El lasted the rest of the day, then collapsed crying on her bed.

She looked at herself in the mirror. She wasn't too pretty. She wasn't a perfect girl.

She didn't know why Mike even liked her.

Things the mean girls said got in her head, and El cursed herself as she curled up in the corner.

She stared at her skin, tears welling up in her eyes.

Stress filled her head, and she grabbed a pair of scissors.

Mike knocked on El's window softly. She was inside curled in a ball. It was late, that's why he didn't go to the front door.

She opened it with a sniff, and his heart lurched as he saw her mascara trails and puffy cheeks.

"El," He whispered.

She turned and crawled into her bed, facing away from him.

He climbed in, shut the window, and got in her bed, rubbing her shoulders gently. She began to cry again, and his heart hurt for her.

She turned and pressed herself against his chest, grabbing his shirt as she sobbed.

Mike pressed his head into her hair, and he wondered what was wrong.

He fell asleep finally when her crying turned into snoring, and she breathed peacefully snuggled into him.

El opened her eyes, and she began to move, but couldn't, as she was snuggled in Mike's arms. She smiled and bit her lip as she looked at his dark curls and freckles.

His eyes opened and she gazed up at him.

He smiled softly. "Hey.."

She gazed up at him.

He released her and flipped on his back, sighing softly.

El pulled herself on top of him, grinning at him and burying her head in his chest. He smiled at her breathing against him.

She kissed him and he kissed her back, feeling happy.

She forgot about all her worries from yesterday as Mike flipped her over to kiss her.

Then he drew circles on her hand and rubbed her wrist. El winced as she remembered what was there.

She tried to pull away, but Mike had already rolled up her shirt sleeve and was gaping at the bloody cuts on her arm.

"El..." he mumbled in shock. "Why did you do this to yourself?"

She shook her head, feeling tears come to her eyes.

He sighed and sat up, pulling her close to him.

He traced his fingers over her cuts, and stopped when she winced.

"We need to take care of this.." he said.

She shook her head. "No one can know."

"I won't tell them." He insisted.

He wrapped his arms around her as she cried, and she sniffed into his shoulder. "You smell good," she murmured.

The door opened, and Mike whipped around, cursing himself for falling asleep last night.

Joyce's shocked face was in the doorway.

"Um, hi."

El was blushing fiercely. She carefully rolled down her sleeve behind her back.

"Good morning Joyce. Um.. Mike came to check on me."

Joyce raised her eyebrows. "I'm assuming he didn't check on you this morning."

El shrugged, a small smile on her face. "Sorry.." she whispered.

Joyce shook her head in disbelief. "You'd better be glad Hopper isn't here right now. Come down for breakfast... Mike can join us."

She exited the room and Mike looked at El.

"Sorry," he mumbled. "I didn't mean to fall asleep."

El grinned. "It's fine babe."

She slipped out of the room. Mike was staring at her in shock.

babe?

what the hell?

"You coming or what?"

Mike snorted and followed her down the stairs.

Will stared at him in shock as he entered the kitchen after El.

"Um... Mike?"

Mike smiled slightly at him as he slid into a chair next to El.

Will looked at his plate in confusion.

El cracked a smile at Mike as she began to eat her breakfast.

Laughing echoed from down the hall, and Jonathan appeared with Nancy behind him.

Nancy looked around him with surprise on her face. "Mike? What the hell are you doing here?"

Mike gulped. He should have known his sister would be here for breakfast.

"Um..." he shot a glance at El.

Nancy raised her eyebrows. "Mike?"

She sighed and sat down. "I won't even ask.." she muttered, rubbing her head.

"It's not like that!" Mike burst out. "I just... um. I wanted to check on her. She had a hard day yesterday."

"Uh-huh."

Joyce was frowning at Eleven in worry. "You didn't tell me you had a hard day!"

El winced. "I'm fine."

Mike mouthed an apology to her.

They ate breakfast in silence, and then El pulled Mike up to her room. She sat down with a thud.

"I should really go home." Mike muttered.

El frowned. "I don't want you to!" She grabbed him and kissed him.

Mike pulled away with a sigh.

"I know, but my family will be worried."

El sighed. "Yeah, I guess so." She hugged him tightly. He smiled into her shoulder as she played with his hair.

"Uh, hey guys. Sorry to interrupt you."

Will winced as they ripped apart to look at him.

"So, Uh. Mike, what's the real reason you came?" He asked.

Mike smiled at El. "I wasn't lying. I came to check on her."

Will raised an eyebrow. "Did you really come this morning?"

Mike grinned. "I never said I did."

They all laughed together, and Mike kissed El once more before leaving to ride home.

It was only when he was halfway home that he remembered the cuts on El's arm.