tangled (mileven au)

you're catching on

๑ 5 ๑

El had shared so much laughter with Mike, that she began to feel her poor stomach start to hurt from it all. She didn't exactly know why the accident she caused was so funny, but Mike was certainly amused by it. It were as if his laughter was contagious too, because once he started, she was unable to stop her own from harmonizing with his.

Despite how much amusement they'd gotten out of it, El did start to feel bad. She really didn't mean to break anything, the ball just slipped right out of her hand. It was an honest mistake.

Thanks to that honest mistake though, their time at the arcade was cut short and she really wished it hadn't been. She was having so much fun there with Mike learning how to play all the different games. Even the ones that were more difficult for her were still enjoyable.

To make things even better, she also made a new friend there. Dustin had been so kind to her, telling her all about the games in the arcade and which ones were his favorites. She didn't understand some of the things he said, but was so caught up in his nonstop chatter, that it didn't really matter. He was a very talkative boy and she liked that a lot. She hoped that maybe one day she'd get to talk to him again.

As sad as she was to leave the arcade, El was looking forward to where they'd go next. She was already feeling so happy and free, she just couldn't wait for those feelings to grow stronger. She had almost eighteen years to make up for, after all.

"What can we do now?" She had asked Mike once they'd both gotten ahold of themselves and stopped laughing.

"It's your dream, El. You pick." He told her, his eyes never leaving the fairly empty road ahead of them.

El thought back to what she'd seen on television, trying to remember all the things she'd seen people her age doing when they weren't at school or at home. There was so much she wanted to experience, how could she ever choose?

"Oh! Is there a mall? Could we go there?"

"Yeah, we have a mall." Mike glanced over at her then, his brow slightly raised. "You sure you're gonna be okay with all those people around?"

Would she be okay? She honestly had no idea. The most she's ever been around was ten, maybe fifteen people at once. Those people being the ones who worked with Papa in the lab, always hidden by their weird looking suits and masks.

She'd never been around as many people as she expected to be at the mall, but she figured it couldn't be that bad. If it was, then she would simply force herself to get over it. This could be her only chance to go, she wasn't going to let fear mess that up.

"Yes, I'll be okay." El assured him with a confident smile on her face.

He eyed her warily, before nodding his head in approval. "Then let's go to the mall."

El couldn't possibly contain her excitement as they drove on, it increasing with each turn he took until they'd finally arrived. The parking lot was packed with cars, so many cars she couldn't believe it. As they walked through the lot, El trailed behind Mike, having been so distracted by everything around her. She froze as they neared the front, marveling at the huge building before her. Her eyes eventually landed on where people were going in and out, some with shopping bags in hand. They all looked so happy, wearing joyous smiles on their faces.