mileven season three

one year.

one year.

It had been exactly one year since they broke up. 

A year ago it was snowing lightly, and the grass was covered in a thin layer of frost. The wind howled up against the side of El's house as she softly cried, thinking of all the ways she could have done better. She knew deep down that she did the right thing by ending what they had. They promised to stay on good terms, but El was scared it wasn't going to work. 

A year ago Mike stared into the mirror, his eyes rimmed with red from crying. He agreed to stay on good terms. He couldn't let her slip away. They both agreed to move on and stay friends. Drying his eyes he crawled into bed, knowing that they would be better off this way. 

One year. 

A year later, El walked through the halls, her fingers intertwined with her new boyfriend's fingers. She laughed at his joke, her brown hair swishing behind her shoulders. It was now down past her shoulders. She kissed his cheek before turning the corner, strolling into her next class. She opened her planner to write down the homework and her heart sunk when she saw the date. 

Mike's eyebrows were raised at his new girlfriend as she sketched something in the corner of her notebook. Mike leaned back and crossed his arms, his curls falling to the side of his face. He smiled as she flashed him the quick sketch she did of him, complete with the freckles and everything. Mike took the notebook from her and drew a stick figure next to it. He labeled them their names and handed it back to her. She laughed before swiftly getting up, ruffling his hair and heading back to her next class. Mike filed into his next class and took a seat. 

El tapped her pencil and stared out the window. She couldn't wait to go to lunch. Her stomach growled, causing some classmates to turn around and stare at her. She shrugged her shoulders in response and went back to looking out the window. The bell rang and she shoved her pencil in her bag, running out of the door. She waited in her usual spot until she felt a hand wrap over her shoulder. 

"Drew!" El exclaimed, punching him in the stomach. The two laughed and headed to the cafeteria, sitting on the far left side with the rest of the basketball team. 

Mike sat down in the middle of the cafeteria with his boys, waiting for the girls to arrive. 

"How come El hasn't sat here in a long time?" Lucas asked. Mike stuffed his mouth in order to avoid answering. Once he swallowed, Lucas asked again. 

"Her and Drew are doing really well, the whole basketball team seems to like her too," Mike said, nodding over her way. Their breakup hadn't affected any of the group dynamics until El pulled away to be with her boyfriend. Mike felt somebody sit down next to him and he looked over at the blonde. 

"Hey Amber," He said, giving his girlfriend a quick hug. Dustin laughed at them as the other girls slid in, Max sitting next to Lucas. 

"You will never guess what Steven said in Chemistry today. Like, it was so whack!" Amber said, going on one of her long tangent stories. As annoying as they were, Mike didn't care. He loved listening to Amber talk because of the way her blue eyes lit up when she got to the climax of her story. 

El leaned into Drew's chest, taking a sip out of her water. 

"And then..." She stopped to laugh, "I was like... your glasses... are on your head!" 

The table was silent except for El, who could not stop laughing at her own joke. This prompted the table to start laughing. Drew patted her back and she looked up. His brown hair was swept back and El liked the way it made his chiseled jaw look. She smiled at him and he smiled back.