𝐏𝐔𝐏𝐏𝐘 𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄, mileven✔️

sunsets & cassette tapes

not proofread per usual

❤︎

A few days passed since Mike and El's night out and they hadn't left each other's sides since. Mostly because Mike did not want to be alone, he wanted to keep himself busy and get over Chloe, even if it would be hard. He spent his days helping El out at the diner, he helped Dustin out in the back and sometimes messed around with El, sometimes he would peek through the small window diving the kitchen and the front counter and he would throw crumpled up orders at her.

El would simply ignore him and then when she had to make a milkshake she would squirt whipped cream at him whenever he passed by the window. It was all playful just fun but Dustin stood back and watched it all. He knew what was truly going on, he wasn't as dumb as El thought he was and he was not blind to Mike's growing attraction to El. It was subtle, but you could tell what was going on.

When Dustin looked over at Mike in the kitchen he would catch him staring at El. No matter how many times Mike said he wasn't over Chloe, he couldn't say it enough to convince everyone otherwise. El was sure of her feelings towards Mike, ever since the county fair, that same thought had been stuck inside her mind every fleeting second of the day. Even if El was sure of her emotions, Mike sure was confused.

He still missed Chloe even though it had been close to 2 weeks. She hasn't even reached out to him, no calls, telegrams, postcards, nothing. IF she wasn't going to try and tell him how she was doing, why should he still care about her? It's not like she cared about him anymore. For all he knew, she could be in Florida enjoying the sunny beaches while he's in boring old Hawkins stuck wondering if she's thinking about him.

Mike would try not to think about her, but the only time that was possible was when he was with El. She made all of his thoughts disappear and suddenly he would be smiling and laughing, having the time of his life. When he was apart from her he would find himself getting worked up about Chloe again.

Though lately, he had barely been thinking about Chloe at all. Sometimes he would see something that reminded him of her but he would just shrug and ignore it. He told El about this and she said this was a good thing, she claimed he was learning to get over her healthily and not beating himself up about it. She's right.

This is a good thing.

Mike knew why he was getting over her so quickly. It was those days or nights where he and El would go and do something fun. El said it was a fun distraction so he wasn't thinking about Chloe so much and boy, did those help. Not only did he enjoy spending his time with her, but he didn't even care about his ex-girlfriend anymore. The only thing he cared about was having fun with El, and that's all they seemed to be having when they were around each other.

❤︎

Around 1 o'clock, El finally got to take her lunch break. Since Dustin and Mike worked beside her all day, they declared it their break too. Dustin made burgers for everyone while Mike and El made milkshakes. El put a bunch of ice cream in the blender and slowly added the milk into it. The machine was slow, it always had been, so El leaned against the counter, waiting for the mixture to finish already.

Right as she closed her eyes for a few seconds, something hit the side of her face. Scowling, she opened her eyes to see who the culprit was and sure enough, Mike was standing in front of the counter with a bag of marshmallows in his hand. He quickly hid them behind his back but it was too late, El already saw them.

Still leaning against the counter, El crossed her arms at him. She could never be mad at him, but she could pretend to just to get a good laugh out of it in the end. "What?" He asked innocently. "I know you threw that at me," El said, "Threw what?"