tangled (mileven au)

questioning

๑ 12 ๑

After their day spent at the lake, Mike had taken El back to the cabin, her Papa thankfully nowhere in sight when they got there. He bid her a quick farewell, delivering a soft kiss to her cheek before he went on his way, wanting to get out of there while the coast was still clear.

He couldn't understand how they still remained to be so lucky when it came to their sneaking around, but he was certainly grateful for it. Sure, they might've slipped up with Dustin, but Mike knew that they could trust him to keep what he'd learned a secret.

That little incident aside, it had been a pretty great day. Mike truly had the best time with El, as he always did when she was around.

In fact, he had such a great time, that he spent the rest of his weekend thinking about it, thinking about her... how that beautiful smile of hers was quite literally stuck on her face that whole day, how she really seemed to enjoy herself swimming around in the water, which was by far the most important thing. No matter where they were or what they were doing, all that truly mattered to him was that El had a good time, along with her safety of course.

He just hoped that Monday would be even more fun for her, doing whatever it was that they managed to get into. There was still so much he wanted to show her, so much he wanted to help her experience with the little taste of freedom that he was able to give her.

Unfortunately though, he didn't get the chance because once Monday morning arrived, he never got a call from her. A part of him wanted to worry that she hadn't called because she was in trouble, but he knew that wasn't likely. There was no way her questionable guardian could've known that she left, so Mike assumed that she just couldn't see him today.

It was a major bummer, especially after realizing the extent of his feelings for her, but there was nothing either of them could do about it. If El felt that it wasn't safe enough to see him, then it wasn't safe and no way would he risk that just because he was incredibly desperate to see her.

So, he did his best not to let that disappointment get to him and hoped for tomorrow. Tomorrow he could see her again and it would be great.

As for now, he figured since he was already up, he might as well go to school. The idea didn't sound too appealing, but it wouldn't be smart to skip every single day. His dad would eventually get fed up with writing him excuses and force him to go, so giving the man a break from aiding in his imperfect attendance might put that off for a little while.

Once he'd gotten dressed and scarfed down a light breakfast, Mike left for school, thinking of nothing but El the whole drive there. It seemed to have worked in his favor, putting him in a much better mood.

It wasn't long before his mood was ruined though, seeing as he had a test in his first period, a test that he didn't know a thing about due to his many absences. If it were any other class, he could possibly wing it, but Math had never been his strongest subject.

He gave up as soon as he'd scrubbed his name down at the top, bubbling in his best guesses, already feeling the disappointment of the awful grade that was to come out of this.

He could only hope that El was doing better than he was.

•

El was miserable, absolutely miserable.

Papa had woken her bright and early, letting her know she was going to the lab with him for the day. It wasn't exactly the news she wanted to hear, but she knew there was nothing she could do to change his mind, especially with all his big plans lately.