Magic between us || Fillie

Keep On

The knowledge of the lyrics of Taylor Swift's song called Betty is advised for the last part of the chapter.

Sometime around midnight, on the 18th of September, the last work-day of the week, Finn was laying in his bed and listening to the soft sounds of Millie's breathing coming from the speaker on his phone. This was the second night in a row that she had asked him to stay on the line with her until she fell asleep.

The first time she asked, Finn's heart clenched at how broken her voice sounded. The two had been talking over the phone before going to sleep, like they did every night, and just as they were about to hang up after saying goodnight, she quietly asked him to stay.

He wanted nothing more than to question her about what was happening, what she was feeling, why she sounded so helpless, but he knew she would've told him in the car earlier that evening had she felt ready to talk about it. So, after vowing to himself that he would be there for her however she needed him to be, he said, 'of course', and just lay there silently as she slowly drifted off to sleep.

Tonight, she didn't even have to finish her question; he knew it was coming so he interrupted her by saying, 'I'll be here'. Only this time, he found himself unable to hang up even after she had obviously fallen asleep. He put his phone on the pillow next to him after leaving it on speaker, and turned onto his back, lifting his gaze up to the ceiling.

He couldn't get the image of her looking absolutely drained of all of her energy out of his head. The moment he saw her on set that morning, he knew she had barely slept a wink. He was sure that something had to have happened between the time he hung up the phone after making sure she had fallen asleep and the time he saw her again that morning.

He didn't get the chance to ask her about it though, because they had a pretty busy day on set. It was the most crowded day on set since filming re-started back in July. The scenes shot included the majority of the younger cast members and Winona and Brett from the older ones. Of course the kid's parents in the show showed up too for a few short moments onscreen.

As soon as they gathered on set early in the morning, Shawn explained to the cast how almost all of the scenes from the day would be edited to look like a time-lapse with maybe the occasional snippet of some of the dialog.

Images of how those scenes went and everything that they had shot throughout the day surfaced in Finn's head, playing out like a movie in front of his eyes. It was like his brain was working hard to distract him from the worry he felt over the girl breathing next to him.

***

The morning after El woke up from the dream where Peter revealed a secret part of his life, was very productive for her. As soon as she had gotten up and ready for the day, she used a walkie-talkie that Mike had given her in case of an emergency, to call up a meeting with the rest of the kids, specifying to Dustin that he should inform Steve and Robin about it too.

She then told Joyce to call Murray and give him the exact time and place where they would be meeting to discuss future plans. She then begged Will to give Mike the news himself, as she still wasn't ready to speak to him after how they left things the day before. The disappointed and crushed look he had given her before turning around and leaving her feeling stranded in the suddenly empty basement still pained her. She would do anything to never see that look again.

Not wanting to draw unwanted attention from Karen and Ted, the group had decided to gather at the Lover's lake. To any passersby, they looked like a group of friends, or a family even, simply having a peaceful picnic by the lake.

Careful to keep her voice as quiet as possible and avoiding Mike's gaze at all times, El explained her plans and they all worked as a team to come up with the best way to make it easier for all of them to suddenly pick up and leave without raising suspicion in their families. Sure, the older kids, as Joyce would call them, could leave without raising flags, but the younger ones... not so much.