animal / mileven au.

eighteen.

*** TRIGGER WARNING ***

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN;
FUCKED UP.

there were a lot of things el didn't expect to see in her lifetime. for the most part, this included things like flying cars and talking dogs.

something she never realized she didn't expect to see was her boyfriend engaging in a heated kiss with — another boy.

riley stevens. that's his name. a quiet and petite kid that's been working at the diner since middle school. el had shared a couple classes with over the years and he's taken her order a handful of times, but they never actually had a full conversation. she had always heard the rumors about him, but this sight only confirmed it.

el's boyfriend had him pushed against the brick wall behind benny's diner, probably thinking there were completely alone. after all, why would someone go back there at night?

to explain, el was walking home from the coffee shop up the street when she spotted his car in the parking lot. her interest was piqued because she specifically remembered him cancelling their study date for an emergency practice — not that it bothered her. benny noticed her scanning the diner and asked her who she was searching for before telling her he saw the quarterback walk around to the back to most likely smoke.

and that's how she got to this point, frozen in shock by the display a few feet in front of her. the busy boys seemed to be completely oblivious to her presence up until she let out an unconcealed gasp.

they abruptly pushed away from one another at the sound and then snapped their horrified gazes to el's wide-eyes stare.

"el?" daniel called, shame seeping his flushed features instantly. "it-it's not what it looks like. i can... look, i can explain," he stuttered.

but she didn't want him to explain. somehow, this made sense. this was the only explanation that made sense, actually.

el knew she should feel betrayed or, in the very least, hurt yet she felt was relief.

"no," she shook her head, flicking her eyes between the two boys that had a lot more distance between them than they did ten seconds ago.

danny took a step closer to her, "ellie, sweetheart, it isn't what it looked like."

she caught the pain that briefly swept riley's face and for a second, she thought he was going to say something but he didn't.

"it looked like you two were kissing," she softly stated.

his eyes squeezed shut and frantically shook his head. "no, it's not like that. i'm not- it wasn't like that," he assured, trying to reach for her but she stepped away. "el, no."

her eyes flickered to riley once again before finding danny's. "no, it's... it's okay. really, it's fine. i- um, i'm not angry," she said honestly.

she had love for danny, she truly did, but it didn't compare to how she felt about mike. never at any point in their relationship had she felt an ounce of the passion and excitement she feels with mike. it wasn't even a fair comparison.

maybe it was wrong of her to let daniel's questionable sexuality ease her guilt for all the cheating, but it did. it really did.