CHAPTER THIRTY;
NOT YOUR FRIEND.

el was anxious.

she had sent him her location and told her exactly where the window to the room she was staying in was. now, it was a matter of waiting.

it all felt so scandalous. like she wrote in one of their previous texts, it was all in true romeo and juliet fashion. except death was unlikely, more so him getting caught by his parents and even more grounded than he already was. well, there was the possibility that they get caught by her gun-carrying father. come to think of, maybe death isn't that unlikely.

she flopped backwards onto the outdated floral print quilt that covered the guest bed of her grandparents darling home. despite having only stayed there a petite handful of times in her life, she couldn't deny that the bed was terribly comfortable.

the longer she waited, the more inclined she was to allow the plush mattress envelop her into a light but much-needed sleep. after all, she and mike were woken pretty early from the shrill of his mother when she found them cuddled up in the fort.

it wasn't the introduction she was hoping for, but beggars can't be choosers. there was no time for formalities when mike tried his hardest to get her out of there, likely to shield her from his raging mom.

el sighed, losing her grip on consciousness and slipping into a hazy slumber.

it was a soft tapping that jerked her awake, sending her on high alert. her wide eyes flickered to her window to find a set of familiar squinted eyes looking into the dim guest room.

she hurried to tuck her hair behind her ears and straighten out her pajamas (if you consider her father's outdated, grey academy tee-shirt and some old nike pro shorts to be pajamas). she hurried towards the window, nearly slipping when her furry socks departed from the rug and slid against the hardwood floor.

el smiled to the boy through the glass, hiding her slight struggle to lift the old and heavy window. finally, it pushed open with a squeak and the chilly night air met her bare legs. she backed up, letting him climb in without a word.

upon entering the cottage styled home, which wasn't too far from dustin's, and quietly closed the window shut behind himself before turning to face the girl he had been waiting all day to see again.

he didn't bother formally greeting her before cupping her cheeks and connecting his lips to hers for a chaste 'hello' kiss. unfortunately, the moment her eyes fluttered shut is the moment he retreated to finally look at her, "hi."

she swallowed, fighting the smile that threatened her tingling lips. "hello."

his hands fell from her cheeks to hold her hands, but not without gently trailing down her arms. "i really don't want you to go," he complained, leading her backward in the direction of the bed.

she frowned as she sat down, pulling mike down to sit next to her. "i don't want to go either, but i have to," she complained with a disappointed frown coating her darling features.

"not if i kidnap you," he replied, rubbing his thumb across the back of her hand with a smirk.

she rolled her fawn-colored eyes before reminding, "you could try, but my dad's a cop, so i'm not sure how far you'll get."

the curly-haired boy sighed, his structured face partly illuminated by the small bedside lamp behind him. "i wish you could stay just a little longer. maybe you could talk to your dad. you could say-"

with a sad smile, she shook her head. "i have to go home, mike. i have school and work, remember?"

the mention of her school only made him even more unwilling to let her go. "i hate your school."

a quiet giggle fell from her lips, careful not to alert anyone in her grandparents' house. luckily, the layout of the house made absolutely no sense and her guest room was on the complete opposite side of the house from the other two rooms.

"yeah, i hate my school, too," she agreed, lowering her gaze. "but hey, i only have four classes so, that makes it more bearable."

she looked back up when she heard him huff, finding his jaw clenched and eyes narrowed at the ground. "still, those assholes at your school deserve to be punished. i hate  that you have to deal with them, el."

the brunette shrugged before a sad smile made its way onto her lips. "it be like that sometimes," she joked, nudging him softly in hopes of eliciting a laugh. however, his unamused scowl remained. "hey, lighten up. it could be worse, mike. it could be like last year when i had no friends at all. well, i had rosie, but, as we've already covered, she's a pretty bad friend so."

"and you have me," he pointed out, meeting her stare once again with a dreamy glint in his dark orbs. 

she squinted her eyes before explaining. "like i said, i have friends now. that includes you, genius."

his face soured in an instant, expressing his strong distaste for the title. he shook his head and gave her hand a light squeeze. "i'm not your friend."

catching his drift, she smirked. "you're the one who said we're not together. what else would we be?" she could only pray her cheeks wouldn't tinge to a crimson red and give her faux nonchalance away. 

"that's why i wanted to see you, actually," he began, sitting up a little straighter. she kinked a brow. he rolled his eyes at her before continuing, "i wanted to ask you something."

her messy chocolate waves swayed as she titled her head to the left, "ask me what?"

her teasing tone didn't go unnoticed by him, but he decided not to call her out on it. "earlier, when i said we aren't together, i meant that we aren't yet -- like, officially. i mean, obviously i care about you a lot, and hopefully, you feel the same, but i didn't want you to feel like you're assuming anything. i want you to know exactly how i feel and exactly what i want." her taunting smile was long gone as a bit of anxiety settled in from his words. she worried this was his way of letting her down easy and telling her he wasn't looking for another relationship so soon. her concerns dissipated at the sound of his next words, "so, will you, um, be my girlfriend?" his eyes briefly squeezed shut out how cringey the words came out, but shook away the discouraging thoughts.

her parted lips grew into a breathtaking smile. "you want me to be your girlfriend?"

he chuckled softly but nodded. "of course i do."

el was stunned. it was as if all her lighthearted jokes of them being soulmates had somehow manifested into this singular moment where he's staring at her with nothing but hope in his glinting eyes. she confirmed, "and you'll be my boyfriend?"

the sound of her meek voice filled him with nothing but adoration for the petite girl before him, dressed in her comfiest clothes but still taking his breath away. he nodded again, "well, yeah. if you want me to be. hopefully, you do."

a grin swept across her lips before she nodded her head vehemently, "yes, i do."

he moved his hand from holding hers tenderly to interlocking their fingers, bringing them to his lips before kissing the back of her hand gingerly. "good."

she bit her lower lip, positive that her pink cheeks were giving her away. she just couldn't help it. her heart was racing and her stomach was churning in the best way possible. with every passing second, her reality felt more and more like a dream. god forbid it to be, but if so, she prayed her alarm never woke her up. 

mike leaned in, not so slow that he came across as unsure, but slow enough for her to object if she wanted it. she allowed his lips to fall onto hers, kissing her softly. for someone as inexperienced as el, he was shocked how smoothly her lips moved against his own. it was like their lips had been crafted to collide against one another.

his hand cupped her smooth cheek tenderly, deepening the liplock. el giggled against his mouth when his nose bumped her glasses. he pulled away, slightly embarrassed. she didn't hesitate to remove the frames from her face, discarding them to somewhere on the bed behind her. 

she leaned back up, capturing his lips again. this time, he made the bold move to slip his tongue passed her lips. a short gasp resonated from within her throat, but she continued to move her lips against his. drawing herself closer to the boy, one of her legs draped over his in an effort to feed the heated kiss.

before she could find herself fully in his lap, the erratic vibration of his phone interrupted the embrace. their swollen lips detached with an audible smack, and she retrieved her glasses from where they rested behind her. 

she looked over to find him, in a rather frazzled state, reading a text on his phone. he sighed before explaining, "holly said i need to get home. i told her i was coming to see you and she said she'd distract my parents, but they're starting to wonder why i've been in my room all night."

el nodded, dreading their departure as she knew this would be the last time she saw him for a while. "you should get home. i don't want to get you in any more trouble than i already have," she replied, thinking back to his grounding.

he objected, "stop. i got myself grounded. plus, it'll blow over in a few days, i promise." with an unconvinced nod, el rose to her feet and mike followed in suit, still holding onto one of her small hands. 

"text me?" she asked, referring to one he got home.

he smirked, pulling her closer to him. "i'm going to text you every fucking second of every day, el hopper. you'll probably dump me within a week."

disregarding his profanity, she agreed, "yeah, i probably will."

offended, he swatted her softly. after their quiet laughs died down, he swiftly pecked her reddened lips, lingering for only a moment. "i have to go," he unwillingly informed.

she nodded, "yeah, i know."

he walked towards her window, their hands eventually losing their grip on each other as the distance between them stretched. "bye, girlfriend."

she couldn't contain the cheek-burning smile that swept over her lips, "bye, boyfriend." with one final, longing stare, he was climbing out of the window with a soft thud. the smile on her face minimized slightly, but a part of it remained. she shook her head before thinking back to the countless texts he had sent her in the early stages of their relationship and mumbled to herself, "'just a friend' my ass."

...

a/n: hi, it's been a minute. just to let you know why, i've been struggling with my mental health, i've been super busy, and my laptop is broken (lol the AUDACITY). these aren't excuses (bc i dont owe u anything?) but i thought i should give y'all a little info on what's up. someone pls appreciate how far we have come from chpt 3 which was titled 'just a friend' UGH LOVE THAT FOR THEM!! ok, so updates should be more frequent now as there will be more texting and phonecall chapters for a while. also, if u keep telling me to update, i'll beat ur mom up. thanks for reading, lmk whatcha think !! xx

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