the last song (mileven au)

two months

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El Hopper truly didn't understand why the universe was against her. Specifically, why her own mother was against her. All she wanted to do was finally enjoy the summer with her friends after a long year of educational hell.

She finally graduated high school and wanted to celebrate. Because honestly, she didn't think she'd actually make it. Was wanting to spend time with her friends too much to ask?

Apparently so, because that plan was exchanged for spending all summer with her dad — if he could even be qualified to have that title.

El and her little sister, Sara, were being forced to go stay with their dad until August.

Two months.

How the hell was she supposed to survive two months in a place she doesn't want to be, with a man she definitely doesn't want to be around?? The whole situation made her want to die. Sara, on the other hand, was just a big ball of excitement, which annoyed El even more.

If only Sara understood why El wasn't too fond of their dad. She was young, much too young to understand why it was so fucked up that he just decided one day to leave them. But El knew and the older she got, the more she learned about the situation. There were still unanswered questions, though. So many unanswered questions, that she finally just gave up on finding out the answers. Obsessing over it and what she could've done to stop it, almost drove her insane.

What happened sucked and it affected her in more ways than one. It completely derailed her life, leaving her feeling like an entirely different person.

She was a different person now. The girl she once was, the girl who always had a smile on her face and loved playing the piano more than anything in the world, was gone. She's gone and there's not a chance she'll ever be coming back.

•

The familiar sound of a piano playing through the speakers brought El out of her thoughts. She quickly recognized the tune playing and leaned up from where she sat in the passenger seat, turning the volume on the radio all the way down. Her mom gave her a disapproving look, but didn't bother saying anything. Terry had been dealing with her oldest daughter's attitude the entirety of their 9 hour drive. One more argument between them and she'd probably bust out into tears.

El resumed her somewhat comfortable position and focused her gaze back out the window, as she'd been doing most of the drive. A few times, she contemplated jumping out of the car and running as far as she could, but figured she'd just get injured in the process and that wouldn't be very beneficial.

"Hey El, do you think dad will take us to the aquarium? I really wanna see all the cool fish!" Sara excitedly yelled from the back seat.

"If he does, I'm not going. I'm sure he'll take you. He'll probably end up leaving you there and not come back, though. He doesn't seem to have a problem abandoning things he's supposed to be taking car-" El's response was cut off by her mom, who had, much too quickly, turned into a driveway and shut off the car.

"Okay El, damnit! That's enough! You're staying here with your father, whether you like it or not. If I have to pry you out of this car and carry you through the front door myself, then I will. It's been three years since either of you have last seen him. You don't have to enjoy your time here, but please don't ruin this for your sister okay? Stop acting like a selfish brat for once and keep the negativity to yourself."

El's eyes had grown a bit wide, but then she chuckled, amused at her mom's outburst.

"Whatever." She replied, rolling her eyes. She noticed that her mom was removing the keys from the ignition and looked at the house they were now parked to the side of.

Ah, perfect timing. The driveway belonged to their dad's house. They had finally arrived. At least she could get away from her mom. It's just too bad that being around her dad was infinitely worse.

It's not that she hated her mom. Now her dad? Definitely hated him. She really did love her mom, but for the past 3 years, she's been on her case about everything and it was beyond annoying. El just wanted her space and her mom was giving her the exact opposite.

As El forced herself out of the car, Sara slammed her door shut, squealing. She went to the back of the car, searching for her bags. El came up behind her, roughly tugging on one of her braids.

"Hey!! Do it again and I'll tell dad you got arrested!"

The humorous look on El's face transformed into a glare.

"Do it, I don't care. What's he gonna do? It's not like he's gonna punish me for it. Besides, I'm already being punished enough just by being here."  She looked around in disgust. This place was definitely not Manhattan, which made El feel even more miserable.

The sound of a screen door slamming shut interrupted their arguing, both of them turning their heads to where to sound came from.

"DAD!!" Sara squealed, even louder than before, making El's ears feel like they could start to bleed any second now. Sara dropped her bags on the gravel driveway and ran to their dad, who engulfed her in the biggest hug.

"Sara, my girl. I've missed you so much!" He held her tight, spinning her around. He pulled away to get a good look at just how much his youngest daughter had grown, since the last time he had seen her.

"I've missed you too, daddy!" Sara squeezed him, once again, making up for the lost time, and all the lost hugs.

El watched her mother slowly make her way up the steps, to where they were still hugging. Terry smiled at the sight, happy to see that at least one of her daughters was going to have a good time here. She placed Sara's bags on the table nearby, then went over to them, even though she really didn't want to interrupt their moment.

"Hi, Terry. You look good."

"Hey, Jim." She gave him a soft smile, then looked to Sara, who was ecstatic.

"Thanks for this, really. It means the world." He gave her a hug, with his free arm that wasn't still wrapped around Sara.

"Just take care of them, I'm trusting you here." He nodded, understanding that she didn't owe him anything. He left her and their two children and he would've understood if none of them ever wanted to see him again. He was lucky to have this time with them, and he was going to enjoy every minute of it.

"Alright, Sara. I need to get going. Have the best time okay? I love you so much." She pulled Sara in for a long hug, then kissed her on the cheek.

"Oh I will! I love you mom!"

El stalked up the steps, to where her mother was waiting for her. She placed her hands on El's shoulders, giving her a knowing look.

"Behave, please. I love you."

El rolled her eyes, dropping her bags to hug her mother goodbye.

"You have a funny way of showing it, but love you too." She sighed, really just wanting to drop down on her knees and start begging her mom to let her go back with her.

Terry kissed her head, said goodbye, then she was gone.

And El was officially stuck here.

She roughly snatched her bags up off the porch, walking toward the front door, not sparing her dad a glance.

"Hey, Ellie. I've missed yo-" The slamming door behind her cut him off.

Sarah sighed, annoyed that her sister was still being so rude.

"She's being extra bitchy today dad, just ignore her."

He laughed at his daughter's choice of words.

"Yeah I see that. Hey, who taught you such language huh??"

Sara pretended to zip her lips shut, locking them, and throwing away the key, laughing right along with him.

All El could hear from inside the house, was the continuous sound of their laughter. She wanted nothing more for it to stop. She angrily threw herself down on the couch, taking in the small living room.

"This is gonna be the worst summer ever."

If only she knew just how wrong (and right) about that she was...