tea stained newpapers. mileven au.

nineteen.

CHAPTER NINETEEN:
NOT STUPID.
MIKE'S POV.

"stop moving!" the artist nudged her knee with the writer's in front of her, giggling loudly as she pulled his hand closer to where she could see what she was doing.

the raven haired boy scrunched his face before pushing his cheek into the plush grey cushions of hopper's couch, his voice muffled by the thick sewn fabric, "i can't help it, the brush tickles."

only a week had passed since the pair had danced around the kitchen together, both of them too busy with their work to find the right moment to interrupt in order to see the other. but of course, it should be noted that they had been keeping in touch, the writer sending the small girl cute little texts here and there just to make sure she felt appreciated.

yet, it only took the slightest bit of rain for one of them to come up with the perfect excuse to make time for each other.

completely out of the norm, the tiny brunette had actually texted mike asking him to come over tonight almost immediately as the sky started to swell up with tears, claiming that her father was going to meet jacob again and she was scared that the drizzling outside was going to turn into an actual storm.

the writer believed the part about hopper going to meet up with jacob. surprisingly, this whole biography thing had improved the older man's confidence in going out more, which was something mike couldn't help but to be extremely happy for him about.

still, el's other excuse about the rain?

that was a complete lie. the tiny little raindrops had stopped falling from the dark city lit sky about an hour ago when he showed up.

truthfully, it sounds awfully cheesy. though he would be lying if he said that idea of the beautiful small girl genuinely just wanting to see him didn't make his heart skip rapidly in his chest.

but that should be expected by now, it was obvious that his feelings for his sweet definitely weren't disappearing any time soon. he had come to that conclusion a while ago.

although, what wasn't expected was the fact that when he got here all the artist's paint brushes were scattered across the short wooden coffee table in the living room, various paints cracked open and deposited on plate in inconsistent patterns.

and unfortunately before he could even comment on the mess, el immediately dragged him to sit on the couch, grabbing one of his hands before plastering a layer of paint across the back of his hand.

the affectionate gesture took him clearly took him by surprise, it's not everyday that you plan on becoming a human canvas. but of course, we all know mike would gladly do anything she wanted just to see her happy.

el gave the lanky boy a dramatic eye roll, smiling as she continued to swipe the cold acrylic paint against his skin, "you're so sensitive."

"mhm, what are you even painting?" the raven haired boy leaned over to look his hand, the position bringing him awfully close to the small girl's face.

however, she was too concentrated on her work to notice their closeness, the tiny brunette biting her bottom lip intently as she brushed the tiniest bit of white paint into the shape of a petal, "oh, flowers?"