talking bodies. (mileven au)

eight.

"el? el!" mike yelled, snapping her out of her daze. they were studying for their biology exam, but his brunette best friend couldn't stop spacing out. she jerked out of her daze and saw him sigh and set his vocabulary cards on her bed. "what's wrong? you keep zoning out," he asked, knowing how absorbed she got in her thoughts when something was bothering.

she knew he knew this so there wasn't much use in pretending nothing was on her mind. she bit her lip, "swear you won't tell anyone?"

he smirked. "we both know i can keep a secret. come on, what's up?"

she exhaled deeply before letting the truth tumble out, "my dad's proposing to joyce."

mike's eyes widened despite the news coming as no shock to him. the chief and will's mom had been together for years. it was only a matter of time before el's dad popped the question.

"el, that's great! wait, is it not great?" he questioned, confused as to what the problem was. el loved joyce like a second mother — well, third. karen, mike's mom, probably took second place seeing how much time el spent at their house.

el shrugged, "it is, i guess. i don't know, it's just strange. i thought they were waiting for will and i to go to college before they would move in together. but getting married? now? i know it's not really sudden, but it kind of feels like it is."

the curly-headed boy nodded, understandingly. he knew her well enough to know she was a creature of habit. she didn't do well with change and sharing a home with two more people, no matter how familiar they were, would be a big change for her. "yeah, but you love will and joyce. it isn't like they're strangers or anything. you're stressing for nothing."

the caramel-haired girl blew the air out of her puffed cheeks. "it isn't that i don't love them, mike. of course, i do. i just, i love living with my dad. he doesn't ask too many questions, he doesn't hover. he works all the time so i can do whatever i want most of the time. and when he is home, it's great. it's easy, you know?"

"it's just going to take some adjusting. it'll be great, especially because joyce is a much better cook than your dad," he joked, immediately earning a giggle from his best friend. he nodded, "i swear he gave me food poisoning when he made those really thick pancakes, that one time. fuck, how do you give someone food poisoning from pancakes?"

el hit her hand to fist chest, trying to speak through her laughs, "he saw it on the food network."

"well, he needs to stop watching cooking shows. he can't cook," he stated, recalling the tortuous three days that followed after eating the sheriff's cooking.

she scowled, feeling the urge to both defend her father and insult the boy across from her. "this comes from the guy that nearly started a housefire from making toast," she reminded.

he scoffed, "okay, that's different. our toaster was really old! it needed to be thrown away, and i just happened to want toast at its time of death. fuck you." she lifted her foot to shove against his arm in return. eventually, the same zoned out face overtook her features once again and mike frowned. he nudged her leg, "hey, stop it. you're working yourself up for nothing, el."

she whined, "how am i supposed to stop working myself up, though? i just keep thinking about it. i keep thinking about sharing a bathroom with will. ugh, what if he leaves toothpaste on the sink?"

an amused smirk pulled at his plump lips before he assured, "oh, he does. i've seen it." she let out a groan, covering her face with her hands. "i'm kidding, dumbass. relax."

she shook her head, keeping her stare on the ceiling. "i can't, though! i just keep thinking about it, and oh! what if will uses my skincare products! oh, i'll kill him."