tea stained newpapers. mileven au.

nine.

CHAPTER NINE:
IS HE YOUR... BOYFRIEND?
EL'S POV.

"ughhh!!" the honey colored brunette nearly screamed before she crumbled down to the old cracked wooden panels beneath her and shoved her face into the plams of her paint covered hands, not even caring if the colors transferred onto her cheeks. a loud sob escaped from her lips, echoing throughout the quiet space she was working so diligently in just a few seconds before.

the small girl had been in her temporary new york studio for about half the day now, painting her life away just to be completely unsatisfied for the fourth time since arriving in the big city. el had never felt like this about her work before, but for some reason she felt so uninspired being stuck in this gloomy run down makeshift studio.

she missed being rudely interrupted by her friends coming to visit her even when she told them not to. she missed constantly yelling at dustin for messing with her supplies or for "accidentally" throwing paint at her. she missed complaining about how will would stand over her shoulder, critiquing her as she worked. she missed how max would mindlessly sit in the middle of the floor, sipping on her god awful hot tea and ranting about anything and everything that seemed to get on her nerves that day.

she missed being constantly surrounded by her family.

of course, her father made her feel happy here but she couldn't help to feel like there was something in indianapolis that just simply wasn't here. that, or maybe she hasn't found it yet...

the brunette slowly lifted her head from her palms, wiping the tears away from her delicate features before reaching a tired hand up to the table next to her, carelessly searching for her cell phone resting somewhere on the metal surface. the small girl quickly punched in the familiar ten digit string of numbers, gently pushing one of the strands of hair that had fallen out of her loose ponytail behind her ear as the line began to ring.

"EL!! OH MY GOODNESS I WAS JUST ABOUT TO CALL YOU!! YOU WON'T BELIEVE WHAT JUST HAPPENED!! YOU KNOW THAT WAITER, THE CUTE THE ONE THAT WORKS AT THE DINER NEXT TO OUR BUILDING?? THE ONE THAT ALWAYS CHECKS OUT WILL?? WELL TODAY HE - wait are you crying???" the redhead faltered, completely disregarding her story once she heard the small girl sniffle on the other side of the line.

"umm... yea..." the brunette shamelessly admitted, knowing that even attempting to lie to her best friend would be absolutely no use at all.

"what's wrong ellie? you can tell me anything, you know that right?" max softly spoke through the phone, her voice laced with comfort.

el sighed, suddenly feeling stupid about being upset over something so small. she should feel grateful to even have this opportunity, so why is it so hard to pick herself off the floor right now? "can you just stay on the phone with me until i get home?? i miss you a lot..."

"i miss you more el. seriously if these next few months don't start picking up the pace here, ima have to book an early flight to new york and stay with you and your dad. you know, i can only take so much of will and dustin before i actually start to go insane." the red head complained, making the brunette slightly chuckle.

the small girl slowly pushed herself off the floor, still grasping her phone close to her ear as she quickly collected her belongings and shut down her studio for the day.

✦✧✦✧

"i'm home now, i'll call you back tonight, okay? i love you." el hummed sadly into her small device as she entered the large dark mansion that belonged to her father.

she politely ended the call, taking a moment to lean her head up against the door frame to close her eyes and sigh to herself contently.

"long day at the office sweetheart?" a voice quietly interrupted her peaceful moment to herself, making the brunette slightly peak open one eye only to be met with the adorable freckled face of micheal wheeler.

oh, mike wheeler. in all honesty, el thought the raven haired boy was probably one of the cutest boys she's ever had the chance to cross paths with. besides the fact that he could potentially be some childish stuck up successful writer boy, she couldn't help but to be at least slightly attracted to him.

of course, nothing could ever happen between them though. she wouldn't allow it.

it was hard to believe in love when for so many years, all you've ever felt is pain from the people who were supposed to love you the most.

"what are you still doing here?? isn't it kinda late??" the small girl genuinely questioned, pushing herself up from her comfortable resting position and taking a few daring steps towards the writer.

"we kinda got a bit... sidetracked..." the lanky boy trailed off, earning a confused look from the brunette in front of him. mike shook his head dismissively before awkwardly clearing his throat and deciding changing the subject. "so... uh who were you just talking to?"

the brunette couldn't help but to raise her eyebrows at the him, slightly taken a back by the abrupt question. "just my friend max... from back home." she managed to answer calmly before making her way towards the kitchen, mike trailing quickly behind her.

"oh, is he like your boyfriend or something?" the question slipped from his mouth before he could even realize what he had just said. he silently cursed himself, oh what a stupid thing to say.

however his comment made the small girl crack smile as she leaned up against one of the counters. "he is actually a she and as much as i love my maxine, i sadly was cursed with only being attracted to the male species. soooo... no we are not dating." el attempted to hold back a laugh, but failed once his face started turn a bright shade of pink.

"i - i'm so sorry. i just assumed since you sounded really affectionate when you were on the phone with her and you also looked kinda upset when you hung up. i shouldn't have - i'm stupid. i - "

"has anyone ever told you that you have a really bad rambling problem?" el smiled at him, actually finding his rambling quite adorable.

"lucas always says i'm better at writing than actually talking." the raven haired boy blushed even harder, if it was even remotely possible to do so.

"i can tell. as for your assumption though... i was upset. i miss just her a lot... i miss all my friends so so much..." the small girl admitted to the boy in front of her, nervously fiddling with a piece of her honey colored hair. why on earth was she telling him this right now?

mike didn't say anything at first, truthfully he didn't know what to say. instead he reached over to the paper towels sitting mindlessly on the counter next to him, walking over to sink to quickly dampen the cloth before carefully cupping her cheek and wiping away some left over blue paint from her skin. he was so gentle when he touched her, like she could easily break underneath him any second now.

"uh... um sorry. it was bothering me." the lanky boy took a step back from her, not wanting to make her feel anymore uncomfortable than he probably just made her feel. although in reality, she felt safer when her was closer to her. "you know, there's this really fancy writer's event happening tomorrow night that me and lucas got invited to. i wasn't gonna go at first but our boss is kinda forcing us to. i know writing isn't really your thing but maybe it will be a good opportunity for you to just get out and have fun for the night. maybe get your mind of things, make a few friends or just - "

"mike?"

the raven haired boy looked down, afraid he had probably just made the biggest fool out of himself.

"i'd love to go."

---

a/n: i am so sorry this took me so long. like seriously i feel so bad. i love y'all.