Once again, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU for the fantastic reviews! You are all wonderful! And I'm so happy that you enjoyed the last chapter! It was fun to bring Dustin into the story and now things are really going to start happening as well! So, I hope you all enjoy this next chapter!
Please read my little blurb at the end as well! :)
Disclaimer: I don't own anything.
June 16th, 1993
He's never actually wanted to kill anyone in his life, but he's pretty sure he gets fairly close to feeling this way the moment Dustin begins to pound on his door. Interrupting his and El's moment.
He honestly couldn't believe how fast things had progressed between the two of them. And when he exited his room, freshly showered and not feeling as overwhelmed by his thoughts of El, he realized that he was only kidding himself the moment his eyes settled on her.
It surprised him to see El's eyes widen when he approached her. The look was unfamiliar with him, never really having this kind of closeness with a girl in his life. Her face was soft, but her gaze was full of interest, he couldn't help but watch as her eyes roamed his body.
And the feeling of awe washed over him like a bucket of cold water.
'El's checking me out, and...I think she likes what she sees', his overcocky male brain teased him, and he quickly tried to push the thought away from the forefront of his mind. But then he saw her face redden suddenly, and he couldn't help but pick on her slightly.
So, with a quick wit, he mimicked her gesture from this morning when she caught him red faced in the kitchen.
He loves the look she gives him, all shy and coy. But, her next words take his breath away.
'Handsome', the word engulfs his brain and shuts it down momentarily as he processes what she had just said to him.
Mike had only been called handsome by family members, never by a stunning woman who was gazing at him with such affection.
And then she called him 'Cute', with such a shy atonement, and he then found himself gravitating towards the girl. Her words tugging him closer, wanting to drown in everything she had to say. He couldn't help but call her 'Pretty', in return, because she was. Honestly, she was beautiful, stunning, ravishing, any word he could think of, but for some reason, pretty, just seemed to fit her.
Then, he took both of her hands in his and intertwined them together. They fit perfectly, like they were always meant to be. She didn't pull away, no, she crept closer to him as well.
Their eyes meet in a tender gaze, he looks away for just a moment to look down at her lips, and he knows exactly what he wants to do. And flicking his gaze back up to hers, he watches in awe as she does the same to him.
Taking a deep breath, Mike begins to lower himself towards the girl before him, and he feels her pushing upwards to meet him in the middle.
His heart sings, not believing that El, a woman who has just entered his life could even want a guy like him. But, he follows the pull that is nearly irresistible, his eyes flutter shut, and their lips ghost each other slightly. And then, their moment is rapidly pulled away from them when his idiotic friend bangs on the door.
Mike's irritated beyond belief as he scowls at the door, and wishes he could just will Dustin to go away. But then he looks back to El who seems terrified, he attempts to reassure her, by giving her a warm look, a quick squeeze of both of her hands, and a promise that he will tell his friend to take a hike, and they can then return to whatever was happening between them.
Hastily, he approaches his apartment door and yanked it open, and barely leaves himself enough room to slink out. Dustin is right there, a surprised look on his face as Mike places both of his hands onto Dustin's shoulders and pushes him away from the door, and with a swift kick of his leg, the door slams behind them.
"Mike, what the hell?" Dustin curses as Mike guides him away from his apartment.
Mike gives Dustin a glare as he removes his hands from his friends shoulders.
"Dustin, what the hell are you doing here!?" Mike gives the man a disgruntled look.
Dustin shakes his head wildly, and his shaggy Anima steps forward as well, "Mike, you seem startled?" Dart gives him an incredulous look.
Mike tries to neutralize his face, realizing then that he is acting weird.
But, he fails miserably as panic fills his body, and he's sure he gives his feelings away immediately as his face falls.
"Yeah, man, you're acting really weird" Dustin gives him a once over.
"Uhm...no I'm not" Mike tries to play it off, but Dustin gives him a half smirk as he crosses his arms in front of him.
He gestures towards Mike's now closed apartment door, "What are you hiding in there?" a light tease dances on his words.
Mike pales, and Dustin springs at his reaction, "You're totally hiding something in your apartment!" he moves quickly, but Mike is quicker as he holds his friend back.
"I'm not hiding anything!" Mike tries to argue as Dustin pushes him back against the door, slamming roughly against it, as Dustin tries to fish around his side to grab ahold of the handle.
"Dude, you totally are! If you weren't you wouldn't be trying to hold me back!" Dustin laughs in Mike's face as he tries to hold his friend back.
"What are you hiding, a girl or something?" Dustin jokes once again, but his words cut Mike deep, knowing that his words were true.
Even though Mike has height to his advantage, Dustin is built a bit larger, which allows him to finally grab ahold of Mike's arm that is gripped firmly around the handle of the door, and Dustin forces it just right, causing Mike to yelp slightly, as Dustin pushes them both through the door.
They stumble into his apartment, barely catching themselves so that they don't tumble to the ground.
Mike's anger washed over him, as he tried to scold his friend for just barging into his home uninvited.
And then, Dustin is teasing him about actually hiding a girl in his apartment, when Dustin's eyes settle onto El, who is looking at them both with wide eyes.
Her gaze flicks to Mike's, and he can see that she's nervous, she has no idea who this man is. Mike gives her a soft apologetic look, and he watches her soften slightly.
He's slightly annoyed when Dustin approaches her quickly, as El freezes slightly as he approaches her. So, Mike steps in quickly, pushing Dustin away slightly, as Mike moves to El's side, a wave of protectiveness washing over him. He warms as he feels El move into his embrace slightly.
"Dude! What's your problem?" Dustin gives Mike a quick look.
Mike's not really sure where to begin, so with a heavy breath, he holds up a hand, "Dustin" he starts slowly, "There's a lot here that you don't understand" Mike gives his friend a tight look.
Dustin guaffs at him, "Mike, you don't have to be so secretive if you have a girlfriend, you know we'd all understand" he quirked an eyebrow up at Mike.
Mike rolls his eyes, and he knows his cheeks are flushing at Dustin's words, but he pushes that to the side for now, "It's more than that Dustin it's...it's-" and he then lets out a long breath. He really doesn't know what to say.
Truthfully, he was hoping to have a conversation with El about possibly talking to his friends about their situation. But, Dustin seems to have pushed that conversation out the window. Now, he doesn't know what he should do without revealing too much that El might not want discussed.
But, before he can think to further on the matter, he feels a gentle hand on his arm, he then turns to look down at El and she's giving him a knowing smile, and then she flashes him a quick wink. His heart stutters in his chest as she watches the girl move forward, a new type of confidence radiating from her.
She turns to Dustin and offers her hand, "I'm El, it's nice to meet you", her voice is sweet.
And with that Dustin beams as he grabs her hand, shaking it quickly, "El, what a lovely name! Mike, you sure know how to pick them!"
Mike huffs at his friend, as El giggles and gives him a tender look from over her shoulder.
El drops Dustin's hand and then returns to Mike's side. She raises a hand and places it delicately on Mike's shoulder, giving it a firm squeeze, a simple gesture letting him know that it's okay.
Mike feels himself soften slightly, as he turns to look at the girl beside her, both giving each other a small smile.
"Huh, wow, you guys are definitely smitten with one another" Dustin's teasing voice pulls the two back from their own little world.
Mike gives his friend a dirty look, in which Dustin quirks an eyebrow up at his friend. Mike doesn't even chance a look at El, because he's pretty sure she's probably just as embarrassed as he is.
"Dustin" Mike grumbles lowly. "Why don't we go talk for a minute" Mike states through gritted teeth as he moves towards his friend and takes him roughly by the shoulder.
"Hey, watch the jacket!" Dustin cries as Mike leads him away.
Mike turns his head back slightly to El, "We'll be right back" he says lightly and the girl gives him a small smile, nodding in understanding.
Once both he and Dustin are through in his bedroom, Mike shuts the door, and slowly turns to his friend, whom he can't help but give a murderous glare.
Dustin is all smiles as he mozies around Mike's room.
"Dustin, what the hell are you doing here anyways?" Mike shakes his head at his friend, throwing his hands up into the air.
His friend laughs, "Dude, don't you remember? You said you wanted to meet up this weekend, well...it's Sunday", he gave him an exasperated look.
Mike slowly lowers his arms, as his face falls slightly.
'Right' he mentally face palms himself. He had told Dustin that he had wanted them to meet up before Monday.
But, that was before everything that had happened to him, that was before he met El, only a mere 48 hours ago.
He runs shaking hands through his mess of black hair. 'Had it been only two days since he met El?!' his mind races. It had felt like a lifetime for him because he was starting to not believe he had been truly living before he met her. Now, everything felt surreal.
"Wow, you've got it bad" Dustin drawls as he moves to pat Mike on the back in sympathy.
Mike meets his friends eyes, "It's not what you think" he tries to defend. Because, yes, he was pretty certain that both he and El had the same idea before Dustin interrupted them.
However, now that Mike was separated from the girl who changed his whole perspective on life, he now had a million questions flowing through his head. Like, was the almost kiss something that was prompted only by the passion of their flirting, or was it something entirely else?
Mike wasn't sure if the emotions and life stories they had shared between one another had caused this reaction between them. For, with the depth of everything El had shared with him, he was bound to respond and empathize with her. Was he just acting on his primal male instincts?
'No', his heart fluttered in his chest. It wasn't just human instinct, it was something else, and he knew that. But, now with a rational mind in place, he figured he should probably discuss it further with El, but not until he got rid of his friend first.
Dustin's giving him an interesting look, "Then, my good friend, what in the world did I walk in on? You've never had a girl in your apartment, sans your sisters and Max" he shrugs his shoulders.
Mike sighs, he didn't really know how to explain it, not without telling Dustin everything.
"Look" Mike says holding his hands up, "I can't tell you everything, not without El's permission", he begins to explain.
"Mike, friends don't lie" Dustin utters their parties most held up rule.
"I know...I know" Mike says slowly, rubbing a hand across his face, contemplating his next words.
"I honestly can't tell you, not without El's permission, I don't want to…" he falters, wanting to say, "Betray her trust", when that's what he was doing to one of his oldest friends.
But Dustin beats him to his next words, "Ruin your chances with the first girl you've acknowledged that you actually like?" he chuckles.
Mike rolls his eyes at his friends forwardness, but he chooses to not get wrapped up in his teasing, "Yes, whatever Dustin, just...just give me a moment to talk with her first. And if she's okay with it, then I'll tell you".
Dustin seemed to ponder this for a moment, placing a finger just below his chin as his eyes wander upwards as he hums in consideration.
Mike knows he's just trying to be a pest, but he allows his friend to have his moment.
The curly haired man then nods quickly, "Alright, I'll give you and your lady friend, some time alone" he lowers his voice, as he wiggles his fingers into Mike's face, who swats the hands away.
"Thanks", Mike grumbles as he moves towards his door.
"Oh, I guess this would be bad timing then!" Dustin calls out and Mike whips around to give his friend a confused look.
"Bad time for what?" he shrugs his shoulders.
"Uh, I kind of told the others to come over too, ya know, for morale support" Dustin gives him a sheepish grin.
Mike's mouth falls open quickly in shock.
"Dustin, seriously!" Mike cries out, his hands going back to pulling at his hair, not sure how he was going to explain this all to El, and possibly his whole gang of friends.
She wasn't exactly sure what to think of Mike's friend, but she definitely knows that he isn't afraid to state his mind.
The multiple comments about her and Mike caused her cheeks to erupt in flames, and she could easily see that Mike was in the same boat everytime he cast a small look in her direction.
It was easy to see that Mike was flustered about the whole situation.
Sure, she had spilled her entire back story to him, and Mike was more than willing to help her out. But now, now they were both thrown into a whirlwind of uncertainty now that Dustin had seen them together.
She knew Mike had hastily taken his friend behind closed doors to try to smooth out some of the details. They were caught in the crossfire of everything that had happened between them.
From Dustin's point of view she was probably seen as some girl that Mike had decided to take home with him. But, from what Mike had let on with some of their conversations, he didn't seem to be that type of guy, in which El was secretly happy about, but she kept that to herself.
She could hear their muffled voices from behind Mike's closed door, her eyes glued to the wooden object.
"Don't look so worried, Dustin wouldn't hurt a fly" a voice startles El back to reality.
Pitch has come to sit beside her, as she glances down to the large black beast, who is cocking an eyebrow at her.
El notices that she's been fiddling with her jacket sleeve, and she immediately drops her hand from worrying a spot there.
She huffed slightly, "I'm not worried,'' she tries and fails to hide the anxiety behind her words, looking away from the Anima.
Pitch scoffs loudly, "Like I said, you two are quite an interesting pair".
El looks back down at the wolf who has a smirk waiting on his face that's just for her.
She knows her cheeks flame at his words, and she opens her mouth to retaliate, but Veda beat her to it, "Why must you always sound so condescending, like you know it all?" she quips.
Pitch chuckles lowly, "Because, it seems to me that humans tend to not follow their own instincts, Mike is the worst for sure".
"You don't seem to be anything like Mike" the words tumble from El's mouth before she can catch them. She quickly raises a hand to her lips, her eyes widening in surprise at her own words.
Sure, she can feel a wonderful energy emitting from Pitch, one that slightly intoxicates her, just like when she's with Mike. But, there's something behind the Anima that she can't fully put her finger on.
She expects the wolf to snap at her, to berate her that she's wrong. But instead, the wolf throws back his large head, his dark hair scattering about, letting out a long laugh.
El's surprised by his reaction as the wolf chuckles along for a bit, calming down just enough to take in a deep breath before speaking, "You definitely have that right, Mike and I are quite different from one another".
Again, El's eyes widen at the wolf's words.
"How can that be, though? You're the reflection of Mike's soul" Veda steps forward slightly.
Pitch merely shrugs, "It happens sometimes" his words are soft, as he pushes himself to stand on his four legs.
His mighty tail swishes back and forth behind him, he turns to El and gives her a wide smile.
"Just because we Anima's are the reflection of our human's soul, it doesn't mean we can't be different from our humans".
Pitch eyes both El and Veda carefully, "Most of the time, almost all the time, an Anima portrays many of the same characteristics it's human does, but-" and at this he stops and takes in a deep breath, "Sometimes, an Anima is a deeper reflection. A reflection of what is actually going on inside their humans mind".
El listens carefully to the beast before her, "What's that supposed to mean about you and Mike?" she asks softly.
"It means-" Pitch croons slightly, "That Mike hasn't fully accepted who he is yet, he doesn't fully trust himself and he's afraid of who the real Mike is, so he doesn't let it show. Instead, I reflect it."
El isn't completely sure if she believes Pitch's words, she frowns at him. "But what? Would that mean Mike is more like you? Not the kind and caring man that he actually is?" the words are tight against El's throat.
At this, Pitch's grin widens, "But...isn't that the real question then?"
The Anima's words hit El harder than she would have liked, and she stands there, slightly off balance as if she was experiencing a bout of vertigo, because the weight of the words are more stunning than she would like to believe.
She's about to say something once again, however, Mike's bedroom door opens, and she's met with his tired expression. Dustin and his Anima trail behind.
Mike gives her a half smile as he approaches her, "Sorry about that, uh…" he stops short, as his eyes flicker from side to side as if he's not sure what to say.
But, El knows that he's trying to keep things together, so she reaches forward and places a gentle hand on his arm, giving it a light squeeze. "It's okay Mike, I get it".
She watches as Mike relaxes slightly, nodding his head in return, "Good, good, uh...would you mind, uhm...you and I having a quick talk as well?" he gives her a questioning look as he points towards the spare bedroom.
El nods quickly, and Mike takes her hand in his and pulls her along gently.
She feels her heart swoop greatly in her chest as if she's just gone down a steep dive on a rollercoaster. She can't help but tighten her grip in his.
Once they are behind the closed door of the spare bedroom, Mike turns to look at her and heaves out a heavy breath.
He then buries his head into his hands.
"Ugh, I'm so sorry about Dustin, he can be a handful" he jokes, his words somewhat muffled by his hands.
El giggles as she moves to lean against the bed, "It's no problem, he seems to be a nice guy".
Mike pulls his hands away and decides to tuck them into his pants pockets shrugging heavily with a crooked smile, "Oh yeah, Dustin is one of the friendliest people you'll ever meet, but he can be a bit of a goofball, and a bit of an annoyance as well".
El hums in understanding as she waits for Mike to speak. He shuffles uncomfortably on his feet, and she can see his uncertainty.
"Mike, is everything okay?" she quips when he doesn't say anything for awhile.
He gives her a look, his head nodding slowly, "Yeah, yeah, sorry, I'm just...processing, is all" he states.
El nods slowly, "Yes, it seems to have been a handful of days of processing for us" she jokes and Mike grins at this.
"Yeah, exactly" he says as he slowly approaches her and tentatively takes a seat next to her on the bed.
She turns to face him expectedly, waiting for him to talk.
Finally, he sighs, and turns to her, their eyes searching each other's faces.
"Look" he says finally, "I didn't tell Dustin anything, I didn't know what was okay to say and what wasn't.''
El feels the knot in her chest loosen. Even though she knew Mike wouldn't say anything, to hear him say it aloud made her relax. She didn't expect any less from her, and it made her heart sing.
"Thank you" she says finally, truthfully.
Mike gives her another half smile, "Well, I mean we never really discussed next steps and what not" he shrugs.
El nods slowly, "No, we didn't get that far,'' she laughs lightly.
"No uh...we kind of got interrupted" and she hears Mike's voice get soft and low, and she can feel the difference in the air between them.
She can't help but scoot slightly closer to him, their eyes meeting each other. Smiles growing across each of their faces.
"Is Dustin famous for that?" she teases, and Mike laughs at this shaking his head, "Oh yeah, that's Dustin for sure".
They both give small laughs in return, but then a semi-serious look crosses Mike's face. El watches as he seems to contemplate his next words in his head.
"So...what do we tell him?" he gives her an uncertain look, and she shrugs normally.
"I..I don't know I mean…" but words fail her, what should they say? It wasn't everyday that you came across someone who was on the run from some lab that used you as some weapon.
"My friends know about my powers, they wouldn't think any less of yours" Mike's words bring El back to their current predicament.
'Right', she reminded herself. Mike's friend's were all there when he discovered his powers, so why should her powers be any different?
But, then her heart falls slightly, sure, telling Mike was easy, but that was very different. They had a connection, and it wasn't just with their powers, it was something greater that she was still trying to figure out.
"You can trust them...I promise", it was as if Mike could read her mind, she looks at him steadily.
He's eyeing her cautiously. "I know...I know it can be scary, but my friends wouldn't do anything to put you in harms way" his voice is genuine and true, "And you don't have to tell them you're whole backstory either, you can just give them the basics" he shrugs.
El ponders his words for a bit, evaluating her options, but then Mike's words fall into place a bit more concretely, "Wait friends, as in not just Dustin?" she's a bit confused now.
A sheepish expression arises onto Mike's face as his leg begins to bounce nervously, "Yeah, about that, I guess the rest of the party is coming over as well".
"Party?" she questions, her anxiety beginning to bubble within her at the thought of a million people coming into Mike's small apartment. Her breath quickens.
Mike holds up his hands quickly, obviously seeing the fear written on her face, "Oh, no, no, not a party, party. It's what my group of friends call our group, we were kind of nerds in school" he says as a flush covers his cheeks at his admission.
El narrows her eyes slightly at him and Mike chuckles, "I mean it, there's only three others who would be over. Will, Lucas and his girlfriend, Max" he explains.
"Trust me, my friend group doesn't get much larger than that" he scoffs at himself.
"And" he hesitates slightly, "I think they can help too.''
She nods at his words as she takes everything in. She's about to meet Mike's other friends, people who have been in his life since they were children.
El had never had that in her life. Sure, Kali was there, but she was more like a sister than a friend. El's not exactly sure if she could even call the people in gang she was in family or even friends. A different sadness envelops her.
"Hey" Mike's gentle voice brought her back slightly, she doesn't meet his gaze, but she can feel his soft hand that has reached out to rest gently across hers that sits on her lap.
"You don't have to do anything you don't want to. This is all your choice. I mean, we can totally come up with a different explanation as to why you're in my apartment" his voice teases, and El turns her head to look at him.
She can see that he's desperately trying to make her feel more comfortable with the whole situation. For, it seemed as if life just wanted to test El to make sure she was always aware of the dangers in the world. She never really caught a break.
But, she could see it written clearly on his face: he wanted to help her, in as many ways as he could. It was an expression she had never experienced before, and he had said his friends might be able to help too, a smile tugged at the corner of her mouth.
"We can tell them" her voice above a whisper.
Mike's shoulders relax greatly as he lets out a quick breath, "Yeah, okay, whatever you want to do, but...I think it's a great idea, they'll really like you" he says earnestly.
El simply nods at this, and then she watches as Mike's face switches once again, this time, a different type of uncertainty written there.
He squeezes her hand, "Uh, El?" he asks, lifting his head, their gaze meeting.
"Yeah?" she asks gently, moving just a hair closer, but the air shifting between them once again.
Mike takes in a deep breath before he speaks, "Uhm...earlier, uh before Dustin interrupted, I-" and he stops, shaking his head slightly before an uncertain laugh leaves his throat. His eyes flicker about, having trouble focusing with hers.
She can't help but allow the smile that begins to pull at her lips grace her features as she watches Mike fumble adorably with his words as his light skin on his cheeks begin to pinken, allowing his freckles to stand out even more.
She knows what he's trying to say, to explain. And she feels just as flustered as he does.
They both know that whatever is happening between them is exciting, it's new, at least to El. But, there's a side of fear and uncertainty as well. They had only met two days ago, whatever was growing between them wasn't normal...right?
And she can feel the hesitancy pulsing from Mike because he's just as confused as she is.
Yet, there's something deep within herself that tells her that all of this is normal. At least it's meant to be with Mike.
So, as she watches Mike falter lightly, she allows herself to bend forward slightly, and she can see Mike is doing the same.
"I know" is all she whispers as she squeezes Mike's hand in hers and they begin to come together once again, and it's like the moment they had about a half an hour ago, an indescribable pull that causes El's insides to squirm deliciously.
She can feel Mike's warm breath on her cheeks once again, as they get closer, closer…
"Yo, Mike!" Dustin's loud and erratic voice cuts through the moment like a samurai blade cutting through a stalk of bamboo.
She and Mike jump apart so quickly that they lightly bump heads.
"Ah!" they both cry as they reach up to touch the tender imprint of where each other's foreheads bumped roughly.
Mike let's out an exasperated sigh, as he stands quickly to his feet and wrenches open the spare bedrooms door.
"What!" he seethes through clenched teeth as El watches, slightly amused at Mike's annoyed state.
"Lucas just texted that they're on their way up, just wanted you to know!" he says almost too happily and Mike huffs in return, turning quickly to look at El.
She gives him a sheepish grin, as she knows her face is flushed yet again from the moment that almost occured between them. He lets out an angry breath shaking his head.
"Dustin, moment ruiner since 1985" he jokes, and El lets out a genuine laugh as she removes her hand from her head.
Mike approaches her as she stands from the bed. Their eyes meet gently, "Sorry about that, about him" Mike throws a thumb over his shoulder at the now open door where she knows Dustin is.
El only shrugs, "It's fine Mike, besides, we got to discuss what we needed to" she winces slightly, knowing that she's now avoiding what had almost happened between them...again.
Mike's nods slowly, "Yeah" his voice is low, sad.
Panic races through El's veins at Mike's changed demeanor. No, she didn't want to avoid what was growing between them, but she wasn't sure if they were going to actually talk about it or...her mind blanks, and she reaches a quick hand out to take his in hers.
Mike's dark eyes meet her light ones instantly, "We can continue later...right?" her voice is just a whisper, but she needed him to know that she was hopefully on the same page as him. She also realizes her words are a bit forward, but she also doesn't care.
She smiles broadly as Mike brightens at her words, cheeks all flush once again as he nods at her, "Yeah, we can definitely talk later".
And with that he turns towards the bedroom door as he pulls her along with him out into the living room. El's heart pounding all the way for more reasons than one.
Okay, I'm ending it right there for now. I know this is a bit shorter chapter but I really wanted to get something out. And I know, I interrupted another kiss moment, hehehe. They will get there soon though :)
Anyways, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, it's not one of my favorites, but I've got A LOT going on right now in my personal life, so feeling like writing and having time to do so has been limited.
My grandmother whom I'm super close to has been diagnosed with stage four lung cancer and is quickly declining. So, I've been spending as much extra time with her as possible, and my gumption to write is very low. So, please be patient as I start writing the next chapters, as they make take longer than normal to get out, but I will continue to write as I can.
Thank you all for understanding, not looking for anything, I just know there's many wonderful readers out there who look forward to updates, as I do with stories that I follow, so I'd rather have everyone understand why updates might be not as frequent.
And, as always, let me know what you think and please leave a REVIEW, I love them and appreciate everyone that comes my way :)
