Biting her lip, El stares down at the loopy, elegant letters that form her mother's signature. Taking a gulp of air, she glances at the old school trip permit once more before she takes the hand holding the pen and places it on the little line that will save her ass.
School Attendance Justification
"Fuck." Sara breathes beside her, and El couldn't agree more. With one last mental shove from herself, she starts to trace the loops on the paper and tries to not be too much of a perfectionist when one of her fingers twitches on the pen.
"There," El exhales, holding the short sheet of paper in the air and staring at the space that Terry supposedly signed. "It does look like mom's, right?"
She turns to look at Sara over her shoulder, a hopeful grimace on her face, and gets a wobbly smile in return. "I mean… will Brenner buy it?"
That's what I wonder, El thinks with a heavy sigh, turning back to her vanity table where she has the paper splayed on, along with the pens and the copy of her mother's signature.
Laughter reaches her ears from the front door, and she shares a panicked look with Sara before she's bolting out of her seat.
"It's mom!" Sara whisper-shouts, bright blue eyes wide with fear as she takes the pens from the table and shoves them inside one of the vanity's drawers.
"I know." Terry's voice is suddenly on the stairs, and the other one accompanying her, which is totally unfamiliar, has El confusedly pausing her hide-the-evidence move for a few seconds before Sara slams a palm on the vanity table. With the help of the clinking perfume bottles and her sister's glare, she returns to shoving the papers inside her backpack, jumping to her bed once the zipper is closed, just in time for her door to open.
"Hey, girls." Terry smiles at her daughters, blonde waves of hair perfectly air-ruffled and shopping bags still on her forearms.
"Hi, mama," Sara dimples, the perfect image of innocence as she sits on the little bench in front of El's vanity table. "How did shopping go?"
"I found some offers… Ugh." Terry makes a pleasured face, one that has El thinking of moments between her parents that she did not want to think about. "You girls should've gone with me. Anyway, that's not important." She looks over her shoulder with a smile, opening the door wider to reveal the company.
An unknown, tall stranger stands in the hallway outside El's bedroom. He looks young, about her age, maybe two or three years older. His hair is a chestnut brown, lightly wavy at the front but otherwise straight and silky-looking. His brown eyes are warm and hesitant as he stares at both girls, his smile shy, and if El wasn't currently trying to justify missing school one day because of a certain boy, she would've instantly thought that he was hot and cute.
"This is Jacob," Terry introduces them excitedly, looking back at the tall boy, and El knows she's not imagining the pointed look her mother throws in her direction. "He just moved in with the Flynn's next door!"
"Hi!" Sara greets him enthusiastically, waving her fingers in the air with a bright smile.
"Aunt Molly's my dad's sister." Jacob explains with his shy smile, hands in his jean's pockets. And El is not imagining his lingering look either.
"So, El, I thought you could show him the neighborhood." Her mother says, cutting the chase and finally revealing the reason they're in El's room.
"Oh…" -what the hell, what the hell, what the hell- "It's just… well, a friend from school called me a while ago to invite me to the movies, and because I'm not grounded anymore, I was hoping to go." She mentally pats herself in the back for coming up with a lie on the spot.
"Who?" Terry frowns, staring at her with suspicion in her eyes.
"Carla," El blurts the first name that comes to her brain. "I called Dad to ask, but he didn't pick up his phone, so I was waiting for you to come home."
Terry fidgets on the spot, visually upset over her not sharing her time with their new neighbor. "Maybe some other time, though?" El directs her question at Jacob, just to appease her mother.
"Oh, no, yeah, totally," he agrees instantly, nodding his head repeatedly in her way. "No worries. It's okay, Mrs. Hopper," he smiles down at her mother, shifting on his feet as Terry continues to sulk. "Won't be the last time El and I see each other." He throws a smile at her, and she forces herself not to glare. What in the hell? Very sure of himself, isn't he? "I'll see myself out. Nice to meet you."
His footsteps resound all the way downstairs, and the three females in the room remain silent for the whole time. She knows she's on her mother's radar, so she tries to appease her again.
"I'll call him this week, okay?" She smiles sweetly at her, turning her back to the door and busying herself with arranging the bottles on her vanity table.
She hears her mother sigh, and she looks up to meet her gaze in the mirror. Terry rolls her blue eyes, huffing a little before she walks out of the room.
"That hunk is walking into the lion's den." Sara whispers with a smirk, crossing her legs and bouncing her foot up and down. "Musketeer man will eat him alive if he tries anything."
El can't help but laugh. The nickname Sara has chosen for Mike amuses her to no end, and she makes a mental note to tell him he has acquired a new label next time she sees him.
Which will be tonight, if their plans go right.
"Musketeer man will be too entertained in the movies to think of the new neighbor."
"Wait," Sara looks at her, a chuckle escaping her when she puts two and two together. "M is Carla?"
The bubble of laughter exploding out of her mouth and into the room comes out of nowhere for her, and she has to brace herself with her hands on the vanity table's surface as Sara continues to giggle.
Another nickname for the list.
.
.
.
"Mmm, missed you." Mike mumbles between kisses, his large hand tangled inside her hair, holding the back of her head as his other arm holds her close to him.
She breaks the kiss to giggle, their noses bumping together. "It's been, like, two days."
"Way too long now," he shakes his head, eskimo-kissing her. "I can't get enough of you."
"Do I have to get you into rehab?" El giggles again, returning his kisses. "Sounds like a serious addiction."
"Makes sense," he's suddenly serious. "Just being near you is enough to get me high."
She doesn't have the chance to explode-like she wants to, out of sheer adoration—because they're suddenly interrupted.
"Oh, my fucking God! That did not just come out of your mouth." Lucas exclaims, pulling them out of their little bubble.
"Ugh, Jesus." Mike mutters, burying his face on her neck as Lucas and their other friends start to tease the hell out of him. She giggles, looking over her shoulder to meet Max's amused face.
Obviously, she lied to her mother about going to the movies. Instead, Max had parked a street away from her house, concealing herself with a hoodie to cover her notoriously bright hair. El had pretended to call an Uber, and when the text hit her, Max rolled up into her street. The absurdity of their plan baffled her, but what baffled her the most was that it worked. Terry had not noticed a thing, even if Max was vibrating with giggles while El got into the back of the car.
Her best friend had cackled with laughter once they were a safe distance away, El crawling into the passenger's seat from the back while the redhead drove them to the races. Her outfit wasn't the most appropriate for the place—a pink, loose tank top with ruffles on the front and a pair of light washed jeans, paired with her loved Converse—but if she had decided to dress up for the races, her mother would've noticed something was going on.
So, here she was. Sitting on the little stage that overlooked the plaza full of leather-wearing guys on bikes, girls with short skirts and bright dyed heads, with Mike, Max and their friends. She'd noticed they were the ones that had vandalized James' car that night ("Bubble bath night." Mike smirked when she voiced her thoughts), but at the moment, she thought the ass deserved it.
"I never thought I'd see this day," Dustin, the curly haired one with a tiny hoop in his right lobe, grins as he takes a swig of a flask. "M has been tamed!"
"I'm not tamed," Mike rolls his eyes, jumping down from the stage but still holding her hands. "What am I, a horse?"
"A lion, maybe," Will smirks, popping a Cheeto into his mouth and sucking the orange powder from his fingers. "Not totally tamed but definitely calmer."
"Then he's more like a kitty." Tom points out, sharing a blunt with Ryan as they lounge on their bikes.
"More like a pussy." Lucas smirks, dodging Mike's punch when the freckled boy throws his hand out. And then, like five year olds, both boys start wrestling each other.
"Yeah, get that kitty to the ground, Lucas!" Dustin cheers with a laugh as the pair fought for dominance.
Max slides across the stage to sit next to her, bumping her arm with hers before throwing it over El's shoulders. "God, I feel like I'm dating my little cousin."
"Incestuous much?" El laughs, watching as Mike yelps when Lucas manages to pinch his ass.
"No!" Max laughs, reaching out to steal one of Will's Cheetos. "I just… I mean, look at them!" She gestures with her free arm at their boyfriends, who are currently looking like they're in the middle of a Twister game.
"I kind of like their childishness." El admits with a smile.
Max grins, turning her attention to the brunette in her arms. "Aww," she tightens her hold on El's shoulders, hugging her further into her side. "My little girl is in love."
"Uh, no," she laughs nervously, suddenly feeling like someone threw a bucket of ice-cold water on her. "No, I'm not."
"El," the redhead interrupts, loosening her hold to make their eyes meet. "It's okay. Maybe you're not ready to admit it. You may be lying to yourself, but you can't lie to me. I know you too well, toots." She taps the brunette's nose with a finger, smiling knowingly at her.
Before she can answer, a whooping yell takes their attention.
"Wooh! Yeah, baby!" Lucas hollers as he finally manages to drop Mike on his back. "I win!"
"Fuck off—"
"Nope, no chance of being a sore loser when you're obviously the one on the floor." Lucas grins, beads of sweat gathering at his hairline while their friends laugh at their struggling leader on the ground.
"And at last, the lion has been tamed!" Ryan cheers with both arms raised in the air, laughing along the others. El thinks Tom's laugh is very loud, but given the redness of his eyes, he must be finding everything funnier than everyone else.
Lucas walks to them, his face relaxing from his excited one when he meets Max's eyes. "I've come to take my price."
"Lucas!" The redhead yelps with laughter when she's suddenly plucked from El's side, her legs automatically wrapping around his hips when he lifts her up in the air.
She watches with a smile when the boys turn their teasing to the other couple, Lucas swinging Max around with a giant smile on his lips. She's suddenly aware of how happy she is. At first, she didn't know if this scene would be her scene, but the more time she spends with Mike's friends and the purring of engines around her, she thinks she rather likes it.
More so when he's this close to her.
"Okay, kitty?" She questions with a little smirk when Mike suddenly obscures her view.
"I lost the wrestling match," he whispers, circling her waist and touching their noses together. "I don't know how to feel. I need a consolation price."
"I'm not a price." She points out with a raised eyebrow.
"A kiss?" He smiles hopefully.
She giggles, leaning in to press her lips to his soft ones, threading her fingers through his soft curls, feeling the moist sweat at the nape of his neck.
Maybe Max is right. Maybe she is in love, because she knew it wasn't cardiac arrest that was making her heart beat this hard and the blood travel faster through her veins. It was all him.
"Holy fuck!" Tom screams suddenly, startling everyone. "Is that Lee?!"
"What the fuck?! Is that a 390 Duke?!" Will exclaims in surprise and a little bit of jealousy, Cheetos forgotten on the stage as he jumps down and starts walking over to the entrance of the plaza, where a slim boy is standing proudly next to a spotless, gleaming-new, orange bike.
Mike retracts from her in an instant, whistling under his breath as he stares at the bike that is attracting numerous men.
"How the hell did he get that?" Lucas frowns, plopping Max next to her while Dustin, Ryan and Tom follow Will.
"Stay here," Mike tells her, pressing a quick kiss to her cheek. "We'll be back in a minute."
"Don't fret, sweet carrot of mine," Lucas exclaims dramatically, gripping Max's hands and pressing multiple kisses to the back of them. "I'll return. This will not be the last time we see—"
"Shut up, Sinclair." Mike rolls his eyes, gripping the collar of Lucas' leather jacket and pulling him away. "And I'm the one who's supposedly tamed."
"And I love it! I love being pussy whipped!" Lucas yells as they walk away, leaving the girls laughing with both amusement and embarrassment as a few eyes turn their way.
"Hey, check it out," Max smiles as she takes a hold of Will's camera. "Oh, these are good!"
When they had arrived, Will had been clicking away on his friends. He had roped them into posing for him ("Capture me like one of your French girls." Dustin had teased as Max and El smiled to the camera), sitting on the boys' bikes, dancing around to the music, letting loose when Ryan joined them. It had been fun, and Will had taken some great photos of everyone. She smiles when Max passes a photo of her and Mike, both lost in the other's eyes while the rest of the group laughed behind them. She needs to ask Will to print her a copy of that one.
They're in the middle of laughing at the one with El's pinched expression at trying tequila for the first time, when a voice interrupts them.
"Hey, Hello Kitty."
El frowns, recognizing the girl from the night she raced as a Siamese.
Stacey stands there, pursed red lips on a locked jaw as she stares at her with hard eyes. She had been watching them the whole night; her chest and stomach tight with jealousy as M practically breezed through the plaza with little Pinky Pie attached to his hand, showing her off as his girlfriend. It had reached a point where she couldn't take it anymore, and seizing the chance, she decided to toy with the little princess the moment the boys left.
"This is yours, right?" The auburn haired girl questions with a mean smirk, lifting a piece of fabric in the air.
El immediately recognizes her lost scarf. And remembers how she lost it in the first place. More importantly, why the hell does this girl have her scarf?
Max tenses beside her, jumping from the stage and leaning over to hang the camera's strap on Lucas' bike handle. El takes a cue from her and lowers herself to the ground too.
"Yeah, it's mine. I don't think you'd have such a good taste if it wasn't." She practically snaps, feeling an ugly sensation rising inside her chest.
"M used it to tie me to the bed some nights ago." Stacey announces with a smirk, Cassie snickering as she stands next to the taller girl.
El feels her stomach clench with her hands, her head reeling back from the other girl's words. She doesn't want to know if it was true. But it would explain why she had her scarf, and she knows this… Stacey had something with Mike, by the way she had sauntered to him that race night, and by the way she had been so territorial over him. She knows Mike has a past, but this girl is too much of a heavy reminder of it, and she does not like it.
"It's strong. Resistant." Stacey continues tauntingly, gripping both ends of the scarf and tugging to prove her point.
"I can clearly see that, given that you're still here." El retorts, her teeth clenched in anger.
"Poor thing," Stacey shakes her head patronizingly. "You thought he'd promise you eternal love."
It kind of strikes a nerve, because she had been trying to avoid thinking too much of Mike denying his 'taming'. Max's hand is on her elbow, nails practically digging into her skin, but El doesn't know if it is to ground her or to keep herself from speaking up. The redhead is notorious for sticking up for her best friend, but El feels adrenaline spiking up inside of her already, and she wants this to be on her alone. She decides to think straight and take the high road, analyzing the girl and knowing what nerve to strike on her.
She lets herself smirk lightly, marveling at the light slip on Stacey's face, and turns to share a look with Max over her shoulder.
"What a pity," she turns to face Stacey again, feeling superior. "I feel sorry for you. It's so obvious that you're head over heels for him. And he doesn't have eyes for you anymore." The look on Stacey's face is priceless, really. She even wants to laugh, but anger hasn't left her system yet, so she decides to leave. "So sorry." She gives her one last smirk and then she marches up, snatching her scarf from the girl's fist on her way, Max hot on her heels.
Only it doesn't end there.
She feels her world spin when Stacey's hand latches onto her hair, keeping her from walking further away.
"Hey, hey, where do you think you're going?" The girl's voice is full of anger, the words scraping through her teeth on their way out. "Give me my scarf back."
She tries to slip away from her hold, turning back to face her as best as she can with her hair still in the girl's grasp, as Max is held back by Cassie. "Your scarf? Let go of me!"
"Give me the scarf!" Stacey screams, feeling the control leave her while El struggles against her.
"Let go of me!" She continues to scream, gripping the girl's wrist and sinking her nails in the skin. Stacey hisses but continues to tug on her hair.
"Let go of me, you mother—Get the fuck away from her!" Max yells angrily, trying to throw Cassie off from her, but the other girl is surprisingly strong.
When she manages to throw Stacey off from her, El pushes the girl's stomach as strongly as she can, releasing a cry of anger. But again, she feels the world spin when her cheek suddenly throbs. She hears the people around them start gathering around after Stacey slaps her, but she feels her ears block everything else that isn't the great impulse of finishing this girl.
She places a hand on her pulsing cheek, breathing hard for two still seconds as she stares at Stacey, before she lunges. Stacey's head spins nearly all the way around from the force behind El's slap, and she doesn't stop there once the girl grips her own cheek.
"Get her, El!" Max screams in the background as El launches herself at Mike's ex-lover, anger and pure fury whitening her vision as Stacey starts to fight back.
Like a bunch of idiots, the crowd starts to cheer while they watch the fight. El uses her hands, fists and knees as much as she can, trying to block Stacey's punches as much as she can while punching back. The girl is obviously used to this, knowing how to use her hands and body to throw her opponent off, and with one good shove, she manages to push El into a row of parked bikes.
She feels a mirror dig into her side as she falls, and she hears the crowd go "Ohh" when the bikes crash noisily onto the ground, parts clanking against each other and metal whining from the fall. She tries to regain her orientation, palming the ground while her hair is obscuring her vision, but through the strands she can see Stacey marching up to her with confident stomps, and she decides to take her chance and get that fucking confidence down.
Just when she leans down to get on top of El, the brunette lifts a foot in the air and kicks the girl in the face, feeling her nose tweak under the sole of her Chuck.
Stacey immediately wails, blood pouring down her nostrils, but El is far too gone and high on adrenaline to stop. She pushes at the girl's shoulders, managing to get her on her leather-vest-clad back and sits on her stomach. Stacey bucks underneath her, and El is reminded of that one time her father paid for a ride on a horse for her and Sara when they were little, and she fell when the animal started to ondulate under her. She receives a slap on the side of the head, her ear unbalancing her for a moment, and that's enough for Stacey to gain the upper hand again.
Her skull throbs as the back of her head hits the ground, Stacey's blood dripping on her tank top, and she screams in rage as she tries to throw her off.
"C'mon, El!" Max continues to scream, landing a kick on Cassie's shin.
"The scarf!" Stacey yells nasally, gripping her forearms as El bucks wildly under her.
She's so full of fury that she doesn't even find the will on her to respond. She hooks a leg between Stacey's, hitting the girl's side with her shoulder as she rolls them over and lands on top of her. Her breathing is heavy and labored as she grips Stacey's ears, giving her the same treatment and thumping that auburn head against the floor.
"M! M!" Lucas yells over his shoulder as he spots the fight. "Mike!" That makes him look up from his conversation with Lee. "It's El!"
"Beat the shit out of her, El!" Max yells, snatching her arm back from Cassie and landing a good punch on the girl's cheekbone. Another fight breaks out then, and the crowd cheers again.
El literally sees red. Like, literally, Stacey's nose keeps bleeding, and there's crimson thickness smeared all over her hands and shirt. Stacey tries to hit back, but the fight has been happening for far too long, and the poor girl is getting tired, apart from El being the one on top.
A-fucking-gain, the world spins around as someone grabs her waist from behind, and she's so out of it that she clenches her thighs around Stacey's hips to prevent the person from lifting her up.
"El! El, that's enough! C'mon, babe, that's enough!"
It's Mike.
It's Mike, and his stupid, lingering concern for his ex-lover is not helping.
"Let go of me!" El yells as he bear-hugs her, trapping her arms. "Let go of me!"
"NO! C'mon!"
"Let me go, Mike!" Her legs fly in the air as he finally lifts her up, and she throws her hips back against him, trying to stop his movements as he starts to backtrack.
A few feet away, Lucas pries Max off from killing Cassie, whispering soothingly on her ear as the boys try to control the situation.
"El, calm down!"
She gulps down hard, closing her eyes against the whole hurricane of emotions and sensations running through her body, and Mike's scent is starting to pass through her haze. She opens her eyes again, and she settles for glaring when she meets her enemy's gaze
"Let me fuck her up!" Stacey screams without much fight in her as Troy and an injured Cassie lift her up from the heap of blood and bruises she was on the floor.
"Touch me again and I'll kill you, bitch!" El yells back, her voice trailing off as Mike carries her out of the scene, the crowd parting like the sea for Moses.
Stacey tries to compose herself, feeling the eyes of the entire plaza on her. "Are you okay?" Troy pushes her hair back, observing her broken nose as Cassie rubs her heaving back. She does not answer, pinning her eyes to his chest as she wipes the blood from her upper lip with trembling fingers, breath shaky from adrenaline, embarrassment and lingering anger. The little mouse had fire, she'll give her that. She had to make sure to carry an extinguisher next time; those flames had to die.
.
.
.
The night air was cold and unforgiving, a blanket of icy breeze fluttering the grass and curls as they sat on top of the motorcycle. The city lights blinked at them from below, soft yellow from the buildings, bright red from the cars, and one or two neon blues from signs.
Mike watches them flicker as he holds a sobbing El to his chest. His arms are cold and a shiver sometimes runs down his spine, but he ignores it in favor of her being warm inside his jacket. He drove them here so they could be alone, and it worked, because the only sounds are her soft whimpers and the lingering noises from the city. It was a spot he liked to visit when he was feeling under the weather, besides the beach. On this hill he could always calm himself with the view, breathing fresh air into his lungs as the soothing hum of the bike vibrated underneath him. He hoped El would feel the same.
He turns his attention on her again, rubbing a large hand on her leathered back, caressing the soft, tangled strands of hair with the other. He runs his palm down the length of it, and it surprises him that the first thing that he notices is that it's getting longer. He leans his cheek on her head, closing his eyes. He's troubled. He doesn't know what to say to make her feel better. So he stays silent, giving her time to cry her emotions out until she feels good enough to talk to him.
It's a few minutes later, when her crying has subsided to soft whimpers and sniffles against his shoulder. He keeps on rubbing her back, pressing kisses to her temple, showing her comfort in the best way he knows. She leans back from him, her thighs draped over his as they sit facing each other on the seat. His arm does not retract from her waist, but the other one goes to her wet cheek, pulling stuck curls from the sticky skin and pushing it behind her ear.
"Hey." He whispers softly, his thumb gathering a teardrop from her bottom lashes and accidentally smearing some mascara.
She lowers her eyes, closing them for a few seconds as she takes a shaky breath. Her face is puffy, eyes swollen and red from crying, eyelashes wet and still beautifully curled. He's surprised that her face isn't stained with black tear tracks, but before he can think deeper of waterproof mascara, she's finally talking to him.
"I'm sorry," her voice is quiet, but he can still hear the sorrow in it. She blinks her doe eyes open, the normally bright orbs he adores brighter by the wetness in them. "I didn't mean to hurt her. I don't know what happened to me. I blacked out."
She pauses, biting her swollen lip as she sniffles, and then she peers up at him with shimmery tears surfacing in her eyes again. "She said… she said something about you…"
Mike frowns, stilling his thumb on her cheek as he stares into her eyes, willing her to continue. He doesn't know what Stacey said to her yet, but knowing the little witch, he isn't surprised El snapped.
"She said she was with you the other night, and then she had my scarf—", shit. He sighs, nodding as knowledge dawns on him. He knows exactly what happened then. "And that you used it to…with her. And, I don't know, I just—"
"El, it's okay," he shushes, bringing their foreheads together as her chest rattles with new sobs. "It's okay. You don't need to repeat it."
"It hurt," she confesses quietly, biting her lip again as her unshed tears sparkle in the darkness of the night. "It hurt to hear the things she said. I know you have a past with her, and that I'm not the first girl you—"
"El, El, hey," he tugs on her lip with his thumb, releasing the plump flesh from her teeth. He takes her head in his hands, palms on the skin below her ears and thumbs on the sides of her jaw, making her look at him. "I'm sorry, okay? I'm sorry that this happened to you, and I'm sorry I wasn't there sooner." He sighs, pulling more hair behind her ears as he thinks on the words to say. "Stacey… was sort of my… I don't want to say it like that, but she was my-"
"Booty call?" El supplies with a light frown.
He chuckles suddenly, his breath hitting her face in a warm puff, and it takes some of the seriousness away. "Yeah, let's call it that. She wanted more, but I wasn't ready for it. Or it was more of like I didn't want that with her. I wasn't looking for a relationship, and she isn't a girl I would choose for a formal thing. I'm sure that it stung, but I honestly don't care." He shrugs noncommittally, tapping his fingers on the sides of her neck, making her shiver and goosebumps appear on her skin. He leans down suddenly, capturing her mouth with his own in a kiss.
She feels her shoulders drop, her hands splayed against his lower back as she embraces him. His kisses are always caring; it doesn't matter if he's kissing her slowly, moving his lips on hers in soft caresses, or if he's owning her mouth like a madmen, nearly devouring her as they make out. He always makes her feel… loved. There's something about him that makes her feel secure, and even though tonight was a wild ride, he's always the gentle magic carpet that flies her home.
He breaks the kiss after a few minutes, their breathing slightly labored, and he gives her a small smile. "I don't want to talk about her. Because no matter what she said to you, I'm right here. With you. With the girl that will beat anyone's ass if they talk shit about her boyfriend."
She laughs then, finally, leftover tears spilling down her cheeks from the face movement, but he's ready to catch them. His own eyes crinkle with amusement as she continues to laugh. That's always his goal. There's not a day he spends with her that he'll not make it his purpose to see that smile. The way her eyes get smaller, her lips pulled back to show the row of gleaming teeth inside her mouth, and the way her shoulders shake along with the swaying of her curls.
"I'm with you now, okay?" He tugs her closer again, the arm around her waist curling tighter and his other hand on the base of her neck. "And I promise you that I will never cheat on you, or hurt you on purpose."
"On purpose?" She repeats with a lopsided smile, amusement all over her face again as she rests her chin on his chest. The position is a bit uncomfortable, but she likes being super close to him.
"I can be an asshole sometimes. Without meaning to." He twists his mouth in a grimace, lowering his forehead on hers again. "I just want you to know that I never intend to hurt you. You're way too important for me, okay?"
She's moved, his words appeasing the growing doubts inside of her, but she believes in him. And she knows he's changing. She doesn't know a lot about his past and the way he was before they met, but she likes the boy he is when they're together, and she understands what Will told her earlier now.
"You're changing him." Will said observingly as he fingered the lens of his camera.
She frowned, a bit apprehensive. "How?"
Will chuckled then, her frown deepening. Was he laughing at her or with her?
"For the better." He continued, looking over her shoulder at Mike, who was sniffing what was sure to be a death serum inside Dustin's flask. "I've never seen him like this. I feel like… he's in love, or something. I don't know what you're doing to him, but keep it up, El." He smiled gently, their eyes meeting. "He's been so closed off for a while now. It feels good to see some life in his eyes again. You're doing him good."
"Who's she doing good, now?" Mike materialized behind her, wrapping his arms around her and kissing her cheek repeatedly and soundly.
"No one, you eavesdropper." She blushed under Will's knowing smile, but still giggled, receiving Mike's affections and returning Will's grin.
"Hey, take a photo of us!" Mike grinned.
"Next on "Couples Segment", Mileven." Will smirked, lifting the camera to his eyes and pointing it at them. "Say cheese!"
She woke up from her space-out moment with Mike's mouth on hers again.
"Hey," he licks his lips, a grin following his tongue. "Do you know what warriors do after their first victory?"
He has a glint in his eyes, one that she knows is followed by mischief and maybe one or two weeks of grounding by her mother. But she has been through a lot tonight, so she decides to go for whatever he's thinking.
"No," she shakes her head, her lips twitching up in a smile as she takes in his face. "What?"
He leans in to whisper the answer in her ear, and even though she knows she'll be murdered if her mother finds out, she laughs loudly, gasping behind her palm as she leans back and stares at him in excited shock.
"Yes or no? What does my little fishy say?" Mike grins stupidly bright, moving his eyebrows up and down.
"Yes!" She laughs, leaning in to press their lips together in a noisy kiss. "Let's go, kitty."
.
.
.
"Is it going to hurt?" Her chest is rising up and down rapidly as she lies on her back, feet bobbing side to side in nerves.
"Easy," Mike chuckles, pushing her hair back from her forehead. "It'll be easier if you relax your muscles."
"Oh, God, I can't believe that thing is going to be inside of me."
"Are you sure you want to do this?" He questions. "I'm not forcing you to do anything you don't want to do."
Jesus, what did she get herself into? Is she sure?
She looks back at him, a million thoughts running inside her mind before she forces herself to stop. She wants this. She knows it. "No," she shakes her head. "I want to do this. Actually, will you go and stand by the door in the meanwhile?"
"What?" He frowns, following her finger as she points to the entrance of the place. "You don't want me to be by your side? Hold your hand or something?"
"Mike, I need to do this." She says seriously, taking his hand and squeezing it in reassurance.
"She'll be fine, M," the guy next to her says, chuckling lightly at her anxious boyfriend. "I've never killed anyone."
"You better or I'll kill you next." Mike warns jokingly.
"Go see if Ronnie needs a hand or something." The guy laughs again, shooing him away.
"I'll be okay." She smiles, squeezing his hand again.
He looks like he wants to say something else, but decides not to. It's her decision, he reminds himself. He leans down and kisses her softly, taking a few seconds to stare into her eyes after they break the kiss, and then he's walking away with a deep sigh, her purse slung over his shoulder.
"Ready?" The guy, whose name she couldn't remember, smiles at her, the tattoo machine in his hand and a pair of reading glasses that hadn't been there when she walked inside the parlor on his face.
"Yes," she exhales, throwing a look over his shoulder where Mike is hovering by the entrance. "I'm ready."
It stung, the needle piercing her skin and depositing black ink under the surface; she hissed and closed her eyes when it felt like too much, but she endured it. She felt a sudden veil of maturity; like she was finally in control of her life, of her body. And when the tattoo is done, she looks down at herself to find the letter she had selected as her first ink work.
The black M sits permanently on her hipbone, the style elegantly curled at the tips, and the texture isn't very different other than a slight rise on her skin and the bumpiness of the swelling.
It represents everything that has been going on in her life for the last few months; every change in her home life, in school, in herself. It represents the person who has the first spot in her heart, the one she prays will stay in there forever.
"I… wow," Mike breaths out, eyes wide with wonder and his face full of emotions. She didn't think it would mean so much for him, but maybe they really were on the same page. His hand hovers above her hip, hesitant but wanting to touch. "El."
He meets her eyes, and an indescribable sensation shivers down her body. It is in moments like these that she knows their feelings are running deep now. She can't wrap her head around it, can't believe how crazy this boy makes her feel. He's an insufferable idiot, immature but way too intense and serious when he wants to be, and she loves it. She loves him.
No words are needed. They stay in a stunned, speechless silence, one neither of them want to break. Now she just has to figure out when to reveal her feelings, and even more important, if he feels the same for her.
Her skin still stings, but the burn feels lesser when his finger is rubbing the soothing cream on her. Their eyes meet again, and this time they share a smile. His whole face splits with the wide grin on his lips, his teeth gleaming, lines appearing on his skin and those brown pools of chocolate sparkling with brightness. He leans down and gently presses his lips to the tender skin of her tattoo; her breath hitches at having his mouth on her body for the first time, his breath tickling the already very sensitive hipbone. She watches in enraptured awe as he leans away from her, almost in slow-mo, and she feels like she's in a movie. He peers up at her, a bit of hesitation in his gaze because of his bold- and unannounced— move, but it dies as soon as she extends her arms out to him.
They're probably showing too much PDA at the moment, with her still lying on the tattoo chair and him nearly straddling her, but Mike seems to know these guys, and they haven't said anything to them yet, so she really doesn't care.
The kiss is even more meaningful, finally joining their lips after so many emotions. But then she's pulling away when she detects the weird texture and the unpleasant taste on his mouth.
"Ew," she wipes her mouth with the back of her hand, a grimace on her face as he frowns at her. "What is that?"
His tongue darts out, licking at his lower lip to see what she's talking about, and when it goes inside his mouth again, he instantly grimaces too. "Ugh!" He coughs, moving his head sideways so he can splutter and spit the tangy substance from his tongue without filling her face with saliva. "It's the cream!"
She laughs, loud and resounding in the nearly empty room, as she rubs the remaining of the soothing cream from her mouth. "It feels like vaseline."
He laughs then, still rubbing his mouth as he turns back to face her, and he scoots closer to her, careful of not touching her fresh tattoo with the roughness of his jean-clad thighs. He's nearly sitting on her, straddling her, but the position feels oddly comfortable and… right.
"Disgusting." She giggles, wiping his upper lip with her fingers.
"No," his voice is suddenly hushed, almost a whisper, just for their ears. Her eyes snap to his when she feels his thumb on her hipbone and his other hand takes her cheek. "There's nothing disgusting about this."
She makes sure there's no more viscous stuff on his lips before she captures his mouth with hers. His lips taste like himself again, his breath still carrying the lingering scent of alcohol, and the rasp of his tongue against hers is a familiar sensation now.
Yeah, there's definitely nothing disgusting about them.
A/N: Hiya! Lils, girl, here's your much awaited chapter. Sorry for not updating sooner but this chapter was pretty hard to write because of school. As I said, I'm only a few days away from vacations but I have final proyects and they've been kicking my ass. Anyway, if anyone has watched The Kissing Booth, I'm in love with Jacob Elordi (and his relationship with Joe King, like, ugh, I want a boyfriend!) and I decided to include his gorgeousness in this. The character will reappear in the future, so look up for it. Also, I don't know why it took me so long to start watching Riverdale but I've done it and I'm obsessed now. That's where Ronnie's name is from. Veronica Lodge gives me major Blair Waldorf vibes and I'm loving it. Comment if I succeeded in making you believe they were having their first time at the beginning of the last part, lol.
I hope you enjoyed the ass-kicking and fluff. Love you all! Don't forget to review ;)