tangled (mileven au)

i see the light

๑ 8 ๑

"Are we almost there, Mike?"

"Yes, El. We're almost there."

Mike couldn't help chuckling to himself, seeing as that was the fifth time she had asked him that question. Any other time, he would be annoyed by something like that, likely kicking the person right out of his car at that point.

Clearly though, things were a little different when it came to the girl sitting in his passenger seat.

It seemed that the more time he spent with El, the less he acted like that intolerable version of himself he had become since his mother passed. El managed to bring out the better side of him and he certainly wasn't going to fight that.

And here he thought she was just some girl he would have to drive around for a day and then forget all about... Judging by the effect she's had on him in such a short span of time, he was clearly wrong about that. She wasn't just 'some girl' anymore.

Despite the fact that he quite literally just met her, Mike was really starting to enjoy her company. She had a certain innocence to her, one that others might find annoying, though he thought it was pretty cute now. He also thought she was one of the nicest people he had ever met.

Maybe at first she had been a little cold toward him, but that was to be expected. How else are you supposed to act when a stranger breaks into your home?

From what he gathered about El, she's been kept in that cabin for a long time, most likely her whole life. If it were him in her place, that would surely be enough to drive him crazy, enough to put him in a much worse mood than the death of his mother had. It's one thing to lose someone you love, it's another to be hidden away from the world and have nobody to love at all.

On top of that complete isolation, she holds the power to snap someone's neck in a split second, yet her heart is still full of so much kindness.

She even used those powers to save him, deeming the task of keeping him out of trouble more important than keeping her incredible gift a secret. If the police had realized it was El flipping the car in the air, there was no telling what could've happened to her. She could've been taken away, maybe even killed and that was something Mike couldn't bare the thought of.

He had began to feel a sense of responsibility for her, like he had to do whatever was necessary to protect her. Sure, she didn't need protecting when it came to down to it. She possessed powers that were stronger than anything he was capable of doing himself, yet he still felt like he needed to keep her safe.   

It was what she deserved.

So, he would do whatever he could to protect her, even if all he could do right now was simply fight off disgusting guys like Troy. He would gladly do it, anytime, anywhere.

At this point though, Mike was starting to think that he would do just about anything when it came to El. That's how things had gone so far, why would it change now, especially as he had only grown closer to her?

"Mike! Is this it? Are we here now?" El was suddenly questioning, her excitement more than evident as she was nearly bouncing up and down in her seat.

"Yeah, we're here." He told her, his thoughts quickly fading away as they had finally arrived at their destination— Lover's Lake.