downpour / mileven au.

three.

CHAPTER THREE;
TERMS OF AGREEMENT.

the faux couple entered the diner together, not surprised to find it to already have a few teenagers sipping on their after school milkshakes. el looked up to mike who was nodding in the direction of some guys she assumed he knew, and then began to lead them to the secluded booth near the restrooms.

they took their seats opposite to each other. "okay, we need to establish some ground rules," el states, clasping her hands together on the table.

mike squints his eyes, "why can't you just let things happen? why does there have to be rules?"

"um, to avoid any misunderstandings," she replies in a 'duh' tone.

the curly-headed boy smirks before leaning closer. "oh, i see. you're afraid you're going to fall in love with me, aren't you?"

she scoffs. "please, i'd rather stick a knife in the toaster."

he chuckles, mercilessly. "maybe you should set some rules. after all, i don't want you to end with getting your heart broken." she huffs, more than annoyed by his boyish arrogance.

"first, i think we need to figure out what we're going to tell will. there's no way he hasn't heard about us kissing in the hall by now, and i don't want him to think we're hiding something from him, so i think i should tell him what's really going on tonight -"

mike's eyes bulge at her proposal, "what? are you serious? the only thing that would piss him off more than me dating his sister is me pretending to date his sister to get my girlfriend back." he did have a point. "you can't tell him!"

her hazel orbs narrow. "you really think he's going to think we started dating right after we both got out of serious relationships even though we've hardly spoken to each other since sixth grade?" he shrugs and she shakes her head. "the rest of our school might be falling for it, but he's my brother and your best friend. he knows us better than that."

he throws his head back in frustration causing his curls on his head to bounce slightly. "then what are we supposed to say? we can't tell him it's fake, he'd never speak to me again!"

"well, what exactly do you think he's going to do when we break up? obviously it's going to affect your friendship," she points out as she relocated the red scrunchie from her wrist to her hair.

"i just assumed we'd tell him things didn't work out, and it was mutual," he mused as if it was obvious.

"you'd still be my ex. and no matter how good of terms we end this, " she quickly gestured between them both, "on, he'd still think of you differently." it's quiet for a moment as mike appears to be rethinking this whole thing.

seeming to come to a decision, he sits up straighter. "okay, we need to get a story straight, like how you and i came to be. one that he's going to believe. as for how he takes the break up, we'll just let it play out, i guess," he dismisses.

her gaze drifts up, trying to devise some sort of scenario. "we could say you comforted me at school when you heard the rumors. you found me crying and then you said if i needed someone to talk to that i could call you -"

he snaps his fingers before pointing at her, "yes! and then, we could say i snuck in your room last night after the break up with brooke, and we talked and clicked."