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mike & el
Mike had been trying to work up the courage to go talk to El for a good five minutes now, to grasp onto the olive branch that she had extended, as Lucas had so oddly put it.
Usually he wouldn't be this nervous to talk to her, but she was so mad at him. God, he'd never seen her that way before. He'd never been on the receiving end of that intimidating stare of hers and he can't say that he enjoyed it.
He just wanted things to be good again. He never even wanted to lie to her in the first place, now here he was, being treated like the world's worst boyfriend and it sucked.
Well, he technically wasn't even her boyfriend anymore and once that unfortunate fact crossed his mind, he suddenly had all the courage he needed and walked right over to her.
Mike sat down in the chair next to El, then looked to his right, subtly signaling for Will to beat it. If he was going to try and get her back, he definitely didn't need an audience.
Thankfully, Will got the hint and moved, it now being just the two of them. El was looking off in the other direction, pretending as if he wasn't there, but Mike had a good feeling that once he opened his mouth to speak, she would no longer ignore him.
"Hey." He spoke casually, while fiddling with the bag in his hand.
A few moments of silence passed, before she finally chose to acknowledge his existence.
"Hi."
"Does your species like M&M's?" Mike went on, hoping the gesture would ease the tension between them.
El looked his way, staring heavily into his eyes before she stuck her hand out, allowing him to pour some of the candy coated chocolate into it. Then, as if by a miracle, a smile broke through on her face and Mike had never felt his heart begin to race so fast.
She was smiling at him! For the first time in days, she was looking at him in the way that made his heart soar and he couldn't be any more relieved.
"I like the new look by the way. It's cool."
"Thanks." El replied, shooting him yet another grin, just as he'd hoped she would.
Mike knew that compliment was long overdue. Ever since he had seen her at the mall, dressed in clothing far different than what he was used to, he wanted to tell her how much he approved. Of course, he thought she was beautiful no matter what she wore, but those vibrant colors and patterns seemed to suit her perfectly.
And now that he had the chance to, he admired her new look, especially loving the way she had her hair pulled back from her face. It made every feature of her angelic face stand out, so much so that he couldn't possibly look away.
It didn't take El long to notice his staring, but she didn't mind it. She stared right back at him, each beaming with so much happiness that it had to have been contagious.
The longer they sat there, locked in their happy daze, the more they realized just how much they'd missed this— simply being together.
"Do you want more?" Mike suddenly asked, holding the bag of M&M's out toward her.
She immediately shot her hand out for more, tossing a couple of them into her mouth. Her eyes then found their way right back to his, another foolish smile crossing her face.
Mike took this moment as his chance to give her a proper apology for what he'd done. Sure, he'd already explained to her why he lied, but he still felt like he owed her an apology for doing it anyway and not explaining the whole thing sooner. After all, friends don't lie and seeing as he was much more than her friend, that rule applied to him more than it did anyone else, regardless of the reason behind it.
Just as he was opening his mouth to let it all out though, El leaned up and pressed a soft kiss to his cheek, completely rendering him speechless. He could feel his cheeks start to flush as she pulled away, an awestruck smile coming over him as if it were the very first time she had ever kissed him.
El shamelessly admired the sight, loving nothing more than to see that familiar smile on his face, the smile she knew was reserved for her and her only. It was different from the way he ever smiled at anyone else and it never failed to stir up the butterflies in her stomach.
She happily let herself get lost in that feeling for a little longer, until she dropped her gaze from his.
"I'm sorry for being a mouth breather, Mike."
"You weren't." He was quick to argue, but El knew he was only trying to keep her from feeling bad.
"I was." She insisted, letting her gaze fall once more, before she took his hand in hers. "I was mean to you at the pool. You were trying to explain and I wasn't listening. I'm sorry."
"It's okay, really. I messed up, you had every right to be angry with me for lying to you."
El opened her mouth to protest once more, but instead kept quiet. She knew that Mike wouldn't let her take the blame for this no matter how much she tried to.
She stared down at where her hand still rested on his, smiling softly as her thumb brushed along his pale skin.
"Thanks for saving me, Mike."
"Thanks for saving me back." He chuckled softly, while turning his hand over to lace his fingers through hers.
"You're the most important thing to me in the world, I'll always save you." El told him, repeating the heartfelt words he had spoken to her, the words that hadn't left her head since.
Those words had been on Mike's mind too, as he had been internally freaking out over her lack of reaction to them from the moment he blurted them out. Now that he knew she felt the same though, those worries were long gone. All he wanted to do then was to bring her closer and kiss her.
Seeing as there was nothing holding him back now, that's exactly what he did. He closed the space between them, his lips finally reuniting with hers.
Of course, their friends chose that same moment to join them, bringing their innocent lip lock to an end much sooner than they would've liked.
"Well, I see you two made up." Lucas pointed out, winking at Mike, as he sat down in the chair next to him.
"Yeah, until the next time he screws up, then El will just dump his ass all over again." Max scoffed, laughing at her own comment.
"Max." El snapped, instantly getting the girl's attention. "Not funny."
Max's brows raised at El's sudden snappy tone, meanwhile Mike couldn't control the amusement written all over his face.
The redhead simply rolled her eyes at him, before glancing back at El. "Right, sorry."
El nodded her head, seeming satisfied with the apology, then returned all her attention back to Mike. She wrapped her arm around his, snuggling up against him as much as she physically could.
Mike let his head fall to rest on hers, smiling contentedly to himself, just as she was. Everything just felt so perfect that it seemed neither would ever be able to wipe the grins off their faces.
As their luck would have it though, that happiness would be disrupted in the minutes that followed. They would have to put all their focus on trying to save the world one more time, but at least could be comforted by the fact that things were okay between them again.
Sure, there was still more left for them to talk about, but they both knew, at the end of the day, nothing could ever really keep them apart.
