Love Me Back // Elmax Fanfiction

Chapter 23 ~ Fuck You

     The next morning I woke up in El's empty bed. I sat up with a jolt, my tired brain very confused by the fact that she wasn't in bed, and hit my head with a loud bang on her bed board. "Ow, fuck," I mumbled under my breath, rubbing the top of my head with my hand.
     A slightly worried-looking El popped up in the doorway. "Are you ok?" She asked, eyeing me as if trying to figure out what the hell had just happened.
"Yeah, I just hit my head on your bed board," I muttered, embarrassed.
      El giggled, causing my cheeks to go red. I shot her a look, but that only proved to be funnier to her, as she began laughing harder. "Cmon, I'm making Eggos," she said, almost skipping into the room, grabbing my hand and pulling me out of bed. I groaned playfully, to which she responded by rolling her eyes and mumbling, "baby."
     "Hey!" I shot back.
     "Oh, don't be so dramatic," she said. I anticipated what would happen next, which was her again calling me a baby under her breath, yet still loud enough for me to hear. I poked her arm with my free hand, and she smiled down at her feet. El escorted, or rather pulled, me to the kitchen, where there were three plates of Eggos set up. I realized that Will was sitting at one of the seats and flashed him a toothless but genuine smile, which he kindly returned.
     "Your sister called me a baby," I blurted, shooting Eleven a playful look. She tried to give me a death glare, but I honestly thought that it was adorable. We sat, our hands still entwined beneath the table. I saw Will eying us suspiciously and raised an eyebrow at him, causing him to turn away. I chuckled at his reaction and began to tear into my Eggos. El followed suit, using her left hand. It was quite convenient that she was left handed, I thought, because then we could hold hands the whole time.
     "Um, El?" Will said suddenly. She looked at him with expectant eyes and mumbled a slight "hm?" in response, her mouth having been stuffed with Eggos. I giggled before Will continued, "Mike said that he, uh... wants to talk to you."
     My giggling came to a halt, and I felt Eleven tense by my side. I gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. "You talked to him?" She asked, her voice still serene as usual, but holding a bit more edge to it. He nodded slowly, looking a little nervous. "I don't wanna talk to him," she said simply, biting again into her Eggo and maybe focusing a little too solely on it.
     "He's already coming over. At twelve," Will stated matter-of-factly. El's face went white; if it wasn't already obvious that she was now afraid of him, this proved it once and for all.
     When she didn't speak up, I did instead. Usually, I really liked Will and I wouldn't want to make him feel upset, but he really messed with the wrong girl at the wrong time on this one. El was more important to me than anyone, so if anybody, even Will, was hurting her, intentionally or not, let's just say it was the opposite of ok with me. Pushing my chair out and standing, I exclaimed, "What the fuck, Will?"
     He looked bewildered. "Do you not understand what he did to her? What if I walked over there and kissed you right now? You'd pull away. And then do you know what I'd do? I wouldn't let you! Don't you get it!?" He looked on the verge of tears. What a baby, I thought. Or maybe he just realized what he'd done wrong. I hoped it was that.
     "I'm sorry, I didn't realize..." I let out a long sigh and ran my hands down my face in annoyance. With that, Will stood and walked to his room. My guess was that he didn't want to cry in front of me and El.
     I sat down again, facing the brunette. She turned to face me, and immediately I could see fear glistening in her eyes. I grabbed both of her hands in mine as a single tear slipped out of her eye and trailed down her face. I began to rub her left hand with my thumb soothingly and said, "You know I'm not gonna leave, right?"
     Her eyes seemed to shine for a second, but whatever fire had been there was quickly put out by her tears. She sniffled and then whispered, "You're not?"
     "No! 'I won't leave you. Not ever.' Remember? Not now, not in an eternity." I let go of her hands and, instead, cupped her cheeks. I tucked a stand of hair out of her face and leaned closer to her. Our faces were mere inches apart, and even though I wanted to look down at her lips, I didn't; I kept my eyes level with hers, even if she took a couple glances down herself. I then whispered, softly enough for only her and I to hear, "Never." With that, I wiped her tears and pulled her into a hug.
     I could tell that she was trying to hold in a sob, so I rubbed her back and whispered into her neck, "It's ok." She let out one loud sob and I managed to pull her closer, to hold her tighter, then I already was. I rubbed the back of her neck and pet her hair, wishing I could get even closer, hold her even tighter.
     I saw Joyce walk a bit hurriedly into the kitchen, probably worried about her only daughter and the cry she'd emitted. When she saw me, confusion flashed through her eyes for a second, as she'd had no idea I was there, but she quickly covered it up with a smile. She appeared proud of me and grateful, which I thought was weird. How could anyone be proud of me? I smiled back, although more solemnly, and rubbed my crush's back once again. Joyce looked like she wanted to join the hug, but I could also tell that she didn't want to interrupt, and, giving me a final smile, walked off and back to her room. El and I, on the other hand, sat there for what felt like eternities, her engulfed in my arms, and me cherishing every bit of it.