discontinued. The Way We Live Now ⇔ Mileven {3rd - "Wake Up, Mike" Trilogy}

Ten

zoiNK guess who just popped up with a chap ?!

Max.

I know what's going on. We all do, we'd be fools to not know. It doesn't make it any less scary, or any less painful.

I keep looking at El, but she just looks blank. There's no expression, no sign of pain or worry. I know she has a habit of hiding her feelings, but this is next level. I'm scared something is actually wrong with Will, considering Lauren's urgency and tone. I'm scared out of my wits, and he's just my best friend. He's El's brother, how is she seemingly so calm?

I want to find out, but I promised to not read her mind. Her and Dustin are my exceptions, I stay out of their minds. Mike was on the list for about a month before I broke, but that's just because his thoughts amused me a lot.

"Mike, can you drive any faster?" El suddenly snapped, making Mike jump a bit and look over at her. I looked, too, surprised with her tone. Mike nodded slowly, glancing around the road before speeding up, exceeding the speed limit way too much. We all stayed silent, though, no matter how anxious Mike seemed.

We arrived at Will's a lot quicker than we originally intended, which I could still sense was bothering Mike. Mike isn't a rule follower, not by any means, but he hates when he gets caught breaking rules. He'll break every rule under the sun when he's under our influence, but if he gets caught? That's destined to put him into a panic. And speeding down the road, with El tensely sitting at his side, is bound to give him his deepest form of anxiety.

El and Mike rushed to the house while I trailed behind. I know all hell is going to break loose if I'm not careful, so I'm letting them panic before I say or do anything. I'll check on Lauren while Mike and El battle for Will's attention.

"Will?" El immediately called out once she had the door unlocked and open. We all heard Lauren call back from the back of the house, causing us all to rush in that direction. We turned into Will's room, seeing Will on his bed with Lauren sitting next to him, holding his hand. She looked up at us, sniffling to herself and slowly standing up.

"He's ok now. I'm gonna go take a breather." She spoke softly, walking past all of us and down the hall, into El's bedroom. El and Mike, as expected, rushed to Will and began to ask him questions. I looked back towards El's room, though, just worrying about Lauren.

"Hey, I'm gonna go check on Lauren." I spoke aloud to everyone, but Mike just glanced at me and nodded. I huffed to myself, spinning around in my spot and walking slowly towards the smaller room. When I stepped inside, I saw Lauren laying on the floor, across El's yellow rug. Which is ridiculous, might I add. Who puts a rug on top of their carpeted floor? I'll never understand that girl. But right now I'm not interested in the rug. I'm interested in Lauren Anderson, who is laying across said rug in her favorite shirt and crying lightly. I sighed lightly and stepped inside, closing the door softly behind me. She glanced over at me but didn't say anything, just continuing to cry. "Laur? Do you wanna talk at all?" I asked quietly, watching her as she reached up to wipe some wetness off of her face.

"I-I don't know how to talk about it. How do you talk about this?" She shook her head, closing her mouth and continuing to silently cry to herself. I took in a deep breath, slowly approaching her and joining her on the ground, then turning my head to look at her. I lifted my hand and started to play with her hair a bit, making her mimic my motions, turning her head to look at me.

"You say whatever comes to mind. You rant about anything you need to get off your chest, and I listen. I know I can suck sometimes as a friend, but it's what I'm here for, Lauren. I'll always listen if you need a friend." I spoke softly, looking into her glossy green eyes. Her lips curled in on themselves a bit as she cried harder again.