Mike chuckled quietly at El's comment, taking in a deep breath.
She knew how awkward he felt, somehow. She looked over at him, lowering her free hand back down to her lap, a faint smile across her lips. Mike looked up from his lap, gazing over in her direction in return, a grin just slightly popping up.
Shit. Did I make it awkward?
"El, look, uhm.."
He took a breath, sighing quietly. She cocked her head slightly, staring at him.
"Has, uh, has Hop spoken to you about, like…"
He trailed off again.
You're pathetic. Seriously.
El propped a balled fist under her chin, resting her elbow on the bed. She bent over slightly, staring up at Mike's slowly reddening face. As much as she disliked the idea of making him uncomfortable, she had to admit that she found whatever he was doing rather entertaining.
He released his hand from hers, placing both of his own in his lap, adjusting his position on the bed. He shifted slightly, his legs dangling over the side. He peered down at her, sighing again.
She rolled her eyes, a 'trick' that she had picked up from Mike, much to Hopper's distaste. Mike furrowed his brows, continuing to remain silent, focusing on her.
She propped open her mouth, speaking simply,
"Awkward."
Followed by a stifled giggle.
"Yeah."
Mike smiled in her direction, surprised at her ability to detect the awkwardness lingering in the air. As much as he wanted to pipe up, he just, he wasn't strong enough. So he thought, anyway.
What would she say? Does she know? Do I want to know if she knows? I don't know.
Mike's internal monologue once again offered literally nothing useful.
"Hey, it's uh, it's almost twenty past - I mean, uhm, two two zero."
Nice one. Real smooth.
She simply stared at him, remaining silent. For a moment she glanced up at the clock on her wall, observing the analogue time, connecting the dots in her mind.
"So, y'know, like, lunch - right?"
Once again Wheeler, you're the smoothest fucker around.
As usual, she simply nodded and spoke directly;
"Yes."
That wasn't a very useful answer.
"I mean, like, have you had lunch? Because I haven't yet, and, well, uhm, I could make you something. If - if you're hungry, or whatever."
The smooth train has left the station.
"Haven't had lunch. I'm hungry."
Well, there we go.
"Alright, sure. I guess asking if Eggo's are good is pointless, right?"
Sarcasm. That was a tricky one. Mike had tried teaching her the concept the other day whilst the others had watched TV. He had decided at the time to grow increasingly sarcastic as he spoke to her, much to El's evident frustration. It got to a point where he essentially gave up and decided that what she knew was good enough. As good of a job as Hopper had done improving her vocabulary, he hadn't quite taught her how various other parts of the language worked, despite using them constantly around everybody else. Maybe he'd just assumed she'd learn naturally.
El laughed quietly, nodding up towards Mike.
Huh. I guess she understood.
Mike stood up, throwing his right leg forwards towards the door.
"Mike."
He swivelled around almost instantaneously, looking down at El.
"What is..". She paused.
Please, please, no, no, no, no.
El nodded to herself, smiling as she finished her sentence.
"..love?"
Abort, abort, abort, no - no, I'm not about to - no, absolutely not.
The question - if he was honest - hit him like a tonne of bricks. He knew it - or something similar - was coming, but it still had a rough impact. How was he supposed to explain love to her? Yikes.
"Well, El, uhm.. when two people love each other, uh, they, like, they uh.."
Keep it together.
On second thoughts, no, we're doomed. She'll just ask more questions.
He could feel his face getting hotter by the second. He was dreading this conversation. Not only because it was awkward, no, no - what if she - not that he'd ever admit that he cared to anyone other than himself, but what if she didn't love him? He'd explain the concept and… then what?
She raised her eyebrows, staring at him, as if to say 'Go on then.'
"Well, like, when two people who like each other, they like, they feel all fuzzy and stuff around one another, a-and being around one another makes them feel, like, uh, really happy. And stuff. Y'know? I'mnotreallysogoodatthisImeanyoushouldreallyaskHop…"
Nice.
"Oh, okay."
His heart was crushed. He expected something more than that. He wasn't expecting a wedding there-and-then but shit, just about anything more than 'Oh, okay.' would have sufficed.
He piped up, trying to hide the sadness in his voice.
"Is, uhm, is that all you wanna know?"
"Yes. Love you."
She looked up at him with such an innocent smile. How could she say it so nonchalantly? It was like, a big thing. A really big thing. People don't just say that like that. Do they? The thoughts rushing through his head barely had time to fester as he choked on his own saliva, trying to conceptualise a word or two.
"You, you too, uh, I'll just - I'll get some foOd.."
Nice voice, shithead.
Undeterred by the voice crack, he continued.
"..out and ready."
She sat up, nodding with a firm smile.
As he walked out, he felt a strange 'glow' in his mind. Everything was fine. Really, everything was completely okay. The three essays he had to write in two weeks drifted off into the depths of his mind, joining the 'seemingly irrelevant' group of thoughts. An odd sort of happiness was what he felt. He'd never felt it before. It wasn't quite - or even close to, for that matter - ecstasy. It was just, just happy. He pondered on this new feeling for a few seconds, standing in the middle of the cabin's living area, tapping his right foot incessantly on the hard wood floor.
El strolled out of her room, now lacking a large jacket and boots, instead covered with a grey jumper not so dissimilar to Mike's, complimented oddly by a pair of pyjama bottoms with small roses imprinted on them, top to bottom. She paused, staring at him as he stood in the middle of her living area. He was blinking and biting his lip, so he must have been alive. 'If he's biting his lip..' she thought, - '..he must be thinking. He always thinks like that.'.
She was right.