Lucas takes a deep breath as he looks at his reflection one last time. He doesn't know why he feels so nervous about talking to Mike — they're best friends, after all, have been ever since kindergarten. And didn't they learn how to share shit in kindergarten? Wasn't that still relevant? Shouldn't Mike share the role of lead guitarist with him?
Lucas winces, hoping his upcoming speech is more eloquent than his internal dialogue. Thankfully, none of the other students passing through the school hallway seem to notice him, nor his wincing grimace.
None of them except one, apparently.
"What are you doing?" A voice interrupts.
Lucas glances over his shoulder to see Max standing behind him. She's eyeing him skeptically with her arms crossed over her chest.
"Max!" Lucas blushes, turning to face her, "Hey!"
Max quirks an eyebrow. "Why were you staring at your reflection like a weirdo?"
Lucas glances back at the glassy trophy case behind him. "Uh, no reason."
Max gives him a doubtful look. "So, you just always check out your reflection before lunch?"
"No!"
"Then what are you doing?"
Lucas hesitates, but ultimately admits, "I was practicing."
"Practicing what?"
"Talking."
"You don't know how to talk?"
"No! I mean, yeah!" Lucas stammers awkwardly, "I mean, I obviously know how to talk, but I wanted to practice what I'm going to say to someone today."
Max steps a little closer to him, looking curious. "Who are you talking about?"
For a moment, Lucas doesn't want to tell her — it feels too embarrassing somehow. But then he realizes that if he can't even tell Max, there's no way he's going to be able to tell Mike.
"Don't laugh," Lucas pleadingly begins, "But I was planning on talking to Mike while we're all having lunch right now."
"About what?"
"About how I want to take the lead during more of our songs," Lucas explains, "How I want to be able to choose some of our songs."
"Why would I laugh?" Max frowns, "I think it's a good idea."
Lucas blinks at her. "You do?"
"Of course!" Max nods, "He's been brushing you off like, all of the time. It's about time one of us said something."
Lucas wants to melt. Seriously, he has to have the nicest, most supportive girlfriend in the world. But turning into a mushy mess wouldn't be a good idea right now — not when he has to stand up to Mike in like, less than five minutes. So, he instead settles for pulling Max into his arms and giving her a brief, firm kiss. He can hear a few kids whooping and making kissy sounds at them as they pass by, but Lucas couldn't give any fewer shits.
When they pull back, Max is blushing as red as her hair. "What was that for?" She smiles, tucking her hair behind her ear.
"For being amazing," Lucas smiles back.
Max rolls her eyes, but continues to smile all the same. "You're such a sap," she mutters, grabbing his hand. "Now, let's go."
They walk hand-in-hand to the cafeteria, which is as hectic as ever. As they get in the food line, they can see kids shouting out to one another, flinging food and wrappers at each other, and leaving tables without even bothering to clean up their messes.
"I hate that we have to eat in here now," Max mutters as she eyes their rowdy classmates.
"It won't be forever," Lucas reminds her, "Once the musical's over, we'll have our spot back."
"Thank god."
The pair gets their usual servings of Monday Mystery Meat before making their way over to the table their friends are sitting at.
Well, two of their friends.
"Where are Mike and El?" Lucas asks as he and Max take their seats across from Dustin and Will.
Dustin shrugs. "I dunno, they haven't shown up yet."
Max feels an anxious sort of prickle creep along the back of her neck. She has a pretty good idea what Mike and El are probably up to and having to feign innocence makes her stomach churn (though, to be fair, the stomach-churning could also be due to the meat).
God, it wouldn't be so hard to cover for them if they weren't so stupidly obvious all of the time.
"Well, they better hurry," Lucas grumbles, "I need to talk to Mike."
Will glances at him curiously. "About what?"
Lucas shrugs. "Band stuff."
The others reply with knowing nods before turning back to their lunches. Lucas uses his fork to poke his food impatiently, crinkling his nose at the moist squelch sound his pile of meat makes.
About ten minutes pass in a weird silence. They work away at their food, allowing the roar and bustle of the cafeteria to fill the void where their own conversations should be.
Finally, Dustin raises his head to offer, "Do you want me to go look for him?"
"Mike?" Lucas asks.
"Yeah. I mean, if you wanna talk to him. I'm pretty much done with lunch; I think that if I have to smell it any longer, I'm gonna regurgitate it all over this table."
"Oh," Will mutters, wrinkling up his nose.
"Please go then," Lucas nods hastily.
Max hesitates. Half of her wants to stop Dustin — if he finds Mike and El in a comprising position, they'd be totally screwed. The other half of her realizes that if this did happen, it'd be entirely their own fault. Max may have promised not to tell, but she didn't promise to be their freaking babysitter.
And so, when Dustin leaves the cafeteria to go look for Mike and El, Max doesn't stop him. She doesn't know that doing so would set a domino chain of events in motion, but then again, where that chain begins doesn't necessarily start with her.
Anyway, while Max, Lucas, and Will waited for Dustin to come back, Mike and El were sitting on the bleachers that overlooked the football field behind the school. They both have lunch trays on their laps and are finding their Mystery Meat just as appetizing as their friends did.
"This meat is so gross," El shivers, prodding her lunch with her fork.
"It seriously is," Mike contends, "I don't know whose idea it was to serve it every Monday."
It's a late-October day, so the temperature is a little chilly. A breeze passes through the trees, causing the browning leaves to rattle and fall. No one else is out here, which is why Mike suggested they eat here together — so they could have a little alone time together and not be forced to avoid each other during school hours.
Another breeze passes through and Mike notices that El is still shivering. Without giving it a second thought, he removes his jacket and places it over her shoulders, enveloping her in its warmth.
El turns to him with a grateful smile. "Thanks, Mike!"
Mike smiles back. "Of course, El."
They lean in for a kiss, making sure to keep it quick. Even though they're alone out here, anyone could theoretically walk in at any time.
As they pull away, El's brow furrows. "I can't do this anymore."
Mike freezes. "What?"
El points down to her lap. "Lunch! I can't eat any more. It's gross."
"I think my mom packed some cookies for me this morning," Mike offers, "It's not much of a lunch, but—"
"Why didn't you say so before?" El gasps.
"I just remembered!" Mike blushes. He sets his lunch tray aside and starts digging through his backpack. He retrieves a ziplock bag of homemade sugar cookies and holds it out to El, dangling it tantalizingly.
"Can I have one?" El pleads, setting her lunch tray aside.
Mike eyes her carefully. "What's the magic word?"
El leans in to kiss his nose.
Mike blushes. "That's not a word," he mumbles, but opens the bag of cookies anyway.
"Give me a bite," El smiles, opening her mouth.
Mike grins as he feeds a pumpkin-shaped cookie to her. When El bites into it, orange sugar crystals fly everywhere like confetti, causing both of them to snort with laughter.
They go through all of the cookies together, Mystery Meat entirely forgotten. After finishing, they lounge back on the bleachers, legs brushing against each other.
They stare out at the empty field. The sky is gray and gloomy; not exactly the most romantic atmosphere, but it makes for some good thinking.
"Nancy's coming home for Thanksgiving in a couple weeks," Mike says after a few moments.
"That's your college sister, right?"
"Yeah."
El looks at him curiously. "Is that a good thing?"
Mike nods. "I mean, we get along most of the time. Plus, my parents don't like to fight in front of her when she comes home for visits."
El softens. Though Mike looks nonchalant about the whole thing, she knows better. She reaches out to hold his hand and gives it a firm squeeze, causing Mike to smile at her.
"Well," El reminds him, "If you need anything, I'm here. "
Mike kisses her cheek. "I know."
They continue to sit in silence for a bit before El turns to him. "And, speaking of holidays...," she begins casually.
Mike looks back at her. "Yeah?"
"Halloween's in ten days."
"Oh?" Mike replies with a small smile.
El smiles back at him hopefully. "Are we going to do something?"
Mike pretends to think for a moment. As he does so, he casually slides a little closer to her. "I was thinking...we eat a bunch of candy, watch some horror movies, and like, make out or something."
El's smile widens. "That's nice, but we can't make out."
Mike pouts. "Why not?"
"Everyone knows that if you do it on Halloween, you die," El shrugs, "It happens in Halloween."
"Then we'll just wait until midnight," Mike offers with a playful grin that makes El's heart flutter and cheeks burn.
She gives him a small nudge, hoping her flustered feelings don't show. "When did you become so slick, Mr. Walkmen?"
Mike blushes modestly. "I'm not being slick, I just...I really like you, okay?"
El smiles shyly and tucks a strand of hair behind her ear. "I really like you, too."
The deeper feelings behind their words linger in the air like static electricity. They both more than just like each other, they're sure of that now, but neither has the guts to confess it to the other.
Mike leans in and briefly nudges her nose with his.
El knows it's dumb, but that little action just makes her fall in love a little more. That's been happening a lot lately. It's all the little things. Like, when he's driving her to school and turns to glance at her with the softest of smiles. When they're walking into school together and his fingers brush against hers one last time.
Her feelings for Mike are growing stronger by the day and it all feels like it's building to something. Maybe it's irrational, but over the past couple days, El hasn't been able to shake this feeling that something's about to happen. She doesn't know whether it's a good or bad thing, she can just sense it. Like when all the wind drops and the sky turns gray before a storm.
It's funny that she's thinking this, because minutes later, Dustin walks out to find them seated side-by-side and holding hands on the bleachers. They don't notice him at first, they're too busy joking about cheesy horror movies, but then Dustin clears his throat and they freeze.
Mike and El wrench their gazes away from one another to see Dustin standing at the foot of the bleachers, only a couple feet away from them.
Well, shit.
Dustin blinks at them, looking confused, worried, and a little distrustful all at the same time. His gaze falls to their hands, so Mike and El let go of each other hastily.
Dustin's eyes narrow. "What are you guys doing out here?"
Mike and El glance at each other. "We….we were…uh..." Mike begins helplessly.
El swallows. Maybe this is that feeling she was getting, maybe this is what is meant to happen. First Max, then Dustin. To keep lying would be a little ridiculous at this point, so maybe they should just come clean. They can't lie forever, and she's starting to get the idea that the longer they lie, the worse off they'll be.
And so, El takes a deep breath, ready to finally tell the truth. And then—
"We knew that we couldn't sit at our spot this week," Mike finishes, "So, we decided to eat out here instead, right, El?"
Mike turns to look at her, and El feels her heart sink. She doesn't want to do this, but her mouth starts moving anyway. "Right."
Dustin still looks suspicious. "Why didn't you tell any of us?"
Mike shrugs. "I guess we forgot."
Something doesn't feel right about this. Dustin saw them holding hands, and when he walked out, he saw how close they were sitting together, how they were beaming at each other and laughing together, completely lost in their own little world. He's pretty sure 'friends' don't look at each other like that, or 'forget' to tell everyone else where they're going.
But still, this was Mike, his best friend. They wouldn't lie to each other — it was in the band's rules, after all. Mike still cared about (him) that, right?
"So, that's it?" Dustin asks carefully, looking directly at Mike, "You just came out here to eat?"
Mike holds Dustin's gaze. "That's it."
A beat of silence passes, then Dustin seems to resign. "Okay," he mutters reluctantly.
Mike feels his shoulders slump in relief. Thank god.
El's heart suddenly feels as if it weighs a thousand pounds. That was a mistake, she knows it was, but still, she says nothing, not wanting to get Mike in trouble.
"So, did you need something, or...?" Mike asks.
"Lucas wants to talk to you," Dustin replies, "He's in the cafeteria."
It takes everything in Mike not to groan aloud. Seriously, couldn't Lucas and Dustin get off his case for five minutes? "Can't he wait?" Mike huffs.
"I don't know," Dustin hesitates.
"Let's just go," El says to Mike, trying to sound as firm as she can, "Maybe it's important."
"Maybe," Mike mutters.
Mike and El grab their lunch trays and follow Dustin back into school. As Dustin leads the way, he tries to shake off the nagging thoughts that are starting to linger in the back of his mind.
Mike and El, showing up late together.
Mike and El, disappearing together.
Mike and El, having private guitar lessons together.
Mike and El, driving to school together.
As every thought builds up in his mind, Dustin starts to feel increasingly frantic. Either he's going crazy and jumping to conclusions, or Mike is lying to his face.
He wants to believe the former. He really wants to. But when he was seven he also wanted to believe that Wookiees were real, and that obviously didn't work out.
They re-enter the cafeteria and join the rest of the band at the table. Dustin sits beside Lucas and Max, allowing Mike and El to sit beside Will.
"Hi, guys!" Will smiles.
El smiles back at him. "Hi."
Lucas sits up straight in his seat, trying to seem authoritative. Mike slouches back in his own, looking bored.
"So," Mike sighs, "You wanted to talk to me?"
Max gives Lucas an encouraging nudge and nods.
Lucas takes a deep breath. "I think we should talk about the band."
Mike raises his eyebrows, though he honestly doesn't look that surprised. "Okay."
"Well, I feel like I should get some chances to play as lead guitarist," Lucas says firmly, "You're always the one who plays lead and picks all of the songs, which isn't really fair because we never agreed to that."
"Why is that a problem?" Mike mutters. Mike doesn't know why Lucas even has to bring this up all the time. Mike rightfully earned his place as the leader of their group, so why was Lucas always trying to take his place?
It's probably super lame or whatever, but considering that this band is the one thing Mike currently has control over in his life, he's not eager to hand that to someone else.
Lucas stiffens. "I just want to be treated equally. I don't think we need only one person to be the lead all of the time."
"Whatever," Mike says dismissively, "Can we please talk about something else?"
"No, I think we should talk about this," Max says tersely, "Lucas deserves a chance."
"Fine, then!" Mike huffs, "He can play lead at practice tomorrow! Happy?"
Lucas' jaw tightens. No, he's not really happy. Mike clearly doesn't see what he's doing wrong, he's just going along with it so they'll stop talking.
"Fine," Lucas manages to reply, and he's honestly amazed at his ability to keep his voice even.
"Great," Mike replies disinterestedly.
He's wearing those stupid sunglasses on top of his head again, and Lucas kind of wants to smack them off.
El glances between the boys nervously. She locks gazes with Will and sees that he's also looking pretty worried. He's rocking ever-so-slightly in his seat, not really making eye contact with anyone.
El turns to Dustin to see how he's doing, but to her alarm, he's already glaring back at her. His eyes are narrowed as if he's lost in deep, critical thought. El doesn't like it — it feels as if she's being scrutinized.
They finish their lunches in silence.
On Tuesday afternoon, everyone heads to Mike's house for band practice. It's one of those stiflingly humid autumn days — since it rained the night before, it's sunny, but uncomfortably so. Mike has the garage door open and a fan running, but the difference it makes is minimal at most.
When Dustin arrives, Mike is helping El plug in her mic.
"Thanks," El smiles as Mike finishes, holding eye contact with him.
"Welcome," Mike smiles back.
Dustin feels his gut lurch. He forces himself to look away as he takes his seat behind his drum set and grabs his drumsticks.
Will arrives next. As he enters, he can practically see the tension crackling in the air. No one's really looking at each other or talking. Deep down in his gut, he knows that something is going to happen today. A part of him wants to ask Mike to cancel practice for the day — maybe they should go bowling or visit Benny's instead — but he knows it's futile. Everyone's already setting everything up, and besides, he knows they're not going to be able to avoid confrontation forever.
He just wishes it didn't have to be today.
Lucas and Max arrive last. Max's van comes to a screeching halt in Mike's driveway. She and Lucas get out, instruments strung over their shoulders.
"Hey, guys!" El greets, offering them a shy smile.
Max gives her a polite smile in return. "Hey, El."
"Alright," Mike says, clearing his throat and grabbing his guitar, "So, I guess you're in charge, or whatever, Lucas."
Lucas nods and takes his place in the center of the garage where Mike usually stands beside El. As Mike watches him, he can't help but think about how wrong it looks — like when a substitute teacher takes over a class for a day.
Whatever, Mike tells himself, it'll just be for like, one or two band practices. Then things can go back to how they should be.
"So, what are we playing?" Will asks.
"I wanna do Back In Black," Lucas states, glancing at the rest of the group, "Max and I have been practicing."
"That's great," Mike says dryly.
"You know that one, right, El?" Max asks, turning to look at her.
El nods hesitantly. "I think so. It was on the tape you guys gave me, so…"
"So, we're all set then," Lucas confirms, "Let's tune-up."
The rest of the band follows Lucas' instruction. After tuning up, they go right into practicing the song. The garage reverberates as the music pounds through the amps. El's a little rough on some of the lyrics, but the music goes by smoothly enough. When it comes time for Lucas to do his big guitar solo during the bridge, he does it with an effortless, practiced finesse that even Mike has to secretly admit is admirable.
When the song ends, Lucas is a little winded, but overall pleased. El gives him a warm smile which he returns before looking at everyone else behind him.
"Nice job!" Max smiles, "I think we sounded pretty bad ass."
"Yeah," Mike says flippantly.
Lucas grips his guitar a little tighter as he eyes Mike. "What?"
Mike shrugs. "Nothing."
"You obviously want to say something," Lucas says evenly.
Mike eyes him back for a moment before admitting, "Well, it's just that I think you messed up a few of the chords on the first verse. But other than that, it was good."
Mike's probably right, but that doesn't make his comment any less irritating to Lucas. "Well, El messed up some of the lyrics," Lucas points out carefully, "I don't see you saying anything about that."
Mike frowns. "Because…that wasn't as noticeable."
"Or, you just don't want to criticize her," Lucas says through his teeth.
"Why wouldn't I want to criticize her?" Mike scoffs.
Dustin, still seated behind his drum set, can't help but scoff right back. "I think it's becoming pretty obvious why," he mutters, loud enough for everyone to hear.
Everyone's heads snap in Dustin's direction, though none as quickly as Mike's. "What's that supposed to mean?" Mike asks warningly.
"Isn't it obvious?" Dustin replies, glancing at him nervously. He doesn't want to say or ask it — doing so would make it more real somehow, but he can't stop thinking about it. Showing up late, sneaking off, private lessons, car rides, the way they LOOKED at each other —
He remembers how it'd only taken one look from Steve for him to assume that they were dating. As Dustin feels all this evidence pile up, he starts to realize that maybe he's an idiot for not assuming the same.
And so, Dustin takes a deep breath and finally asks it.
"Aren't you dating?"
The garage is so silent, you can hear the neighbor kids a block away playing in their backyard. All eyes move toward Mike and El, waiting to see how they'll reply.
Mike glances at El, who looks worried. He opens his mouth to dissuade Dustin and move past all of this, but El is quicker.
"We are," El answers.
"El!" Mike yelps, shocked.
"What!?" El snaps back, "I'm tired of lying about it, Mike! They were going to find out eventually!"
"I knew it!" Dustin cuts in, "You guys were acting too weird! It's because you were lying!"
"And they're the worst liars ever," Max mutters.
Mike sighs and looks up at the ceiling. "Yeah, yeah, whatever. We're dating. So what? It's not that big of a deal."
"Not that big of a deal?" Dustin echoes, nearly choking, "Are you shitting me, Mike? We literally had a pact! We said El could only join the band if she didn't split us up!"
"She's not splitting us up, genius!" Mike retorts with a glare.
"Yes, she is! She turned you into a liar!"
El's jaw drops. "I did not!"
"Yes, you did!" Dustin insists, "Mike's never lied to us before!"
Lucas can't stop himself from rolling his eyes. "Oh my god, Dustin, who even cares! The problem isn't El — she's barely even a real member of this band!"
El flinches, torn between both sadness and anger at his words. "What?"
"This is about Mike!" Lucas continues, ignoring El entirely, "And how he's always being a total asshole!"
"Because of El!" Dustin insists, "She's Yoko-Onoing him!"
"No, she's not!" Mike snaps.
"Come on, Dustin," Max sighs, giving him a tired look, "This isn't like Yoko Ono. Just because you're dating someone doesn't mean the band is going to be ruined. Lucas and I are dating!"
"Yeah, but that's different!" Dustin insists, "Lucas isn't the lead guitarist like John Lennon was!"
The room falls silent at that. It feels like everyone's holding their breath, just waiting for things to explode. The tension that's been building ever since El joined the band is growing taunter and tighter with every moment, like a balloon that's about to burst.
There's silence, then after Dustin's declaration fully sets in, the balloon is popped, the volcano erupts, the dominoes come crashing down, or whatever dumb metaphor best describes the shit that follows.
"Mike's not the lead guitarist!" Lucas furiously erupts, "He only thinks that he is because he makes sure that he is! Every time I have an idea for a song, or wanna take the lead, he shuts me down! He controls everything and I'm sick of it!"
"I deserve to be the lead guitarist!" Mike snaps back, "Face it, Lucas! It was MY idea to make the band! We have practice at MY house! It was thanks to MY help that you even learned to play the guitar!"
"Well, don't expect us to start kissing your ass anytime soon!" Max retorts, narrowing her eyes at Mike.
"You don't even deserve to be the lead guitarist, Mike!" Dustin cuts in, "You broke the first rule! We don't lie to each other and we don't keep secrets!"
"Those rules are stupid!" Mike scoffs, "They don't even matter!"
Dustin's jaw drops in shock. "But they're our rules! We made them together!"
"We wouldn't have had to lie if you guys hadn't been so judgmental!" El interrupts, looking angry, "You guys were saying bad things about me behind my back!"
"Well, it's a good thing we never trusted you, because you're obviously a traitor!" Lucas scowls, "You broke the first rule, that means you're out of the band!"
"Guys, stop!" Will pleads, looking frantic, "This is stupid—"
"You can't kick her out of the band!" Mike scowls at Lucas, "Don't be stupid!"
"Oh, I'M being stupid?!" Lucas snaps, clenching his fists.
"Yeah, you are!"
"You know what, Mike, you really can be an ass sometimes!" Max scowls, "You never let Lucas do anything!"
"That's not true!" Mike persists, "I let him take lead today!"
"Wow," Max replies sarcastically, "One band practice in three years. How generous."
"He doesn't care about Lucas because he was too busy trying to hook up with El!" Dustin seethes, "He cares about her more than any of us!"
"Excluding himself," Max snorts.
"See, this is why I didn't tell you guys!" Mike snarls, "I knew you'd act like total idiots about it!"
"We're your friends, Mike!" Dustin counters, and though his demeanor is still angered, there's no hiding the painful tinge to his voice, "We're supposed to come first!"
"Well, too bad!" Mike says brusquely, "You guys are being annoying and stupid!"
"Well, you know what?" Lucas huffs, "Screw this!" With an angry tug, he yanks the cord connecting his guitar to the amp. The resulting popping sound explodes loudly throughout the garage, causing everyone to cover their ears.
Will's the first to lower his hands from his ears. "What are you doing?!" He asks worriedly.
"If Mike thinks I'm so stupid and that he's the best guitarist ever, then I quit!" Lucas declares angrily, "I don't need to be in his stupid, shitty band!"
"Fine!" Mike snaps, "I don't need you, either!"
Max eyes Lucas worriedly, but her face soon hardens with a firm glare. "If Lucas is out…then so am I," she states, unplugging her bass.
Lucas and Max grab their instruments and storm towards her van. Mike keeps his guitar strap over his shoulder and crosses his arms over his chest, eyeing them bitterly.
As Lucas yanks open the passenger's side door and enters the car, Max stops and turns back towards El. "Come on, El," she mutters, "I'll drive you home."
El turns to her, completely startled. "What?"
"Let's get you out of here!" Max says, motioning for El to follow her.
El pales. This is escalating out of control. She feels like she's trying to run down a steep hill — desperate to avoid tumbling face-forward and fall the rest of the way down. "I…I don't…"
Max frowns. "You're not seriously going to stay here with him, are you?" She says accusingly, pointing at Mike, "You heard what he just said about us!"
El fidgets in place, not looking at either Max or Mike. "I…I don't want to have to choose between you!" she murmurs woefully.
Max's eyes narrow. "Well, it sounds like you just did." With that, she heads to her van, climbs inside, and pulls out of Mike's driveway with an aggressive screech of her tires.
After Max and Lucas drive off, the remaining four turn to look at each other.
"If El stays, then I quit," Dustin says with a firm finality. He knows he's being kind of immature about this whole thing, but his angered fear has gotten the better of him. It finally, actually happened — Mike was seriously ditching him, ditching all of them, for a girl. He was going to be left alone and forgotten and shit, this was turning into such a disaster—
"I'm not kicking El out of the band!" Mike glowers.
"You're seriously picking her over everyone else!?" Dustin exclaims.
"Obviously!" Mike says with an eye roll.
Dustin hates that he feels sad about this. He should be pissed off at Mike like Max and Lucas are. Instead, he just feels bitter and abandoned.
"Fine then," he mutters, dropping his drumsticks on the floor and getting to his feet, "Screw all of you guys."
Dustin hurries out of the garage, head low and posture stiff. He grabs his bike from where he left it in the driveway and takes off, not looking back.
After Dustin leaves, Mike feels himself deflate. He didn't realize that he'd been clenching his fists and his jaw so tightly shut this entire time, nor that he was shaking so profusely. He takes a breath to steady himself, trying to calm down.
He turns to look over his shoulder at Will, who's still seated behind the keyboard. "Will?" Mike asks hopefully, "You're good, right?"
"I…." Will sways in his seat, wringing his hands together. "I…I actually think I should go home," He mumbles, "I'm sorry."
El feels herself physically wilt. Will's been innocent in all of this, he doesn't deserve this. "Will…please don't," she pleads.
"I'm sorry," Will repeats anxiously. He shakily gets up from his seat, pushes past them, grabs his bike, and, just like everyone else, he leaves.
With just Mike and El remaining, the garage is deathly quiet. Mike is suddenly and starkly aware of what just happened. During the entire argument, he'd been running on nothing more than adrenaline and emotion, but now that that's all faded away, he's left with nothing more than the reality and consequence of his actions.
Well, whatever, he assures himself, I don't need jerks like them anyway. He's still got El, so that's all that really matters.
Mike turns to look at her with a tired sigh. "So—"
El's eyes are red and shimmering as she tries to hold back guilty tears. She's set the mic back in its stand and is clutching onto the stand like it's the only thing anchoring her in all of this. She tries to meet Mike's gaze but can't, instead giving her head a miserable shake.
Shit.
"El? You okay?" Mike asks worriedly.
"This is all my fault," El whispers in reply, "I…I ruined everything."
"No!" Mike protests. He slips his guitar strap off his shoulder and sets the instrument aside before running over to her, "It's not your fault, El! They're just being assholes!"
"They're our friends!" El exclaims, "My dad and Max were right! We shouldn't have lied to them! I-I never even wanted to lie to them! I wanted to tell them, but y-you made me lie! Y-you s-said it would be fun and n-now th-they hate me!"
As tears begin to stream down her cheeks, Mike feels his gut clench with guilt. "I-I'm sorry!" He insists, placing his hands on her shoulders, "I didn't mean for this to happen!"
"I-I just wanted friends!" El continues, "Th-that's why I joined the band! I've never had any r-real ones before and now…n-now everything is ruined!"
"We can find other friends!" Mike offers weakly, "We'll….we'll make a new band!"
"N-No!" El sniffs, shaking her head.
"No!?" Mike echoes, feeling lost. He can feel that intense, overwhelming force of emotion taking over him again, only this time it's not rooted in anger, but panicked fear.
"N-no," El repeats, wrenching out of his grasp. She turns her back to him and starts walking out of his garage, wiping at her eyes remorsefully.
Mike's eyes widen. "El, wait!" He exclaims, "Where are you going?"
"I-I need to go!" El calls back.
Mike can hear alarm bells going off in his head and feel his heartbeat in his throat. He frantically runs after El, following her out to the sidewalk in front of his house. He manages to stand in front of her, momentarily stopping her from leaving.
"El, wait!" He says again, desperate, scared, holding her hands tightly, "Please, don't go! Talk to me!"
"I can't do th-this!" El wails, not looking at him, "I-I feel terrible! Every t-time we're together, I'll j-just think about what h-happened! H-how we lost all of our friends! H-how we lied to th-them!"
"Are we breaking up?" Mike asks desperately. God, he probably sounds like such an idiot right now, but he doesn't care. There's an intense, unshakable fear coursing through his veins right now. It's making his heart pound and his hands shake and he just feels like he's about to pass out. She's leaving — she can't leave. Please, please, please, please don't leave, please, please, please —
"I-I think so," El stammers, not looking at him, "I-I don't know. I just need t-to g-go!"
"But I promised!" His voice sounds so feeble and broken, even to his own ears. "I p-promised I w-wouldn't leave you, El!"
"I know!" El whimpers, "But y-you're not! I….I am."
With that, she pulls her hands away, pushes past him, and takes off running. As her shoulder brushes past his, he hears the heart-crushing sound of a choked-back sob.
He watches her go until her figure fades from view. Mike doesn't realize he's crying until he can taste the salt of his own tears landing on the corners of his mouth.
If this was a movie, it'd probably start raining. The lighting would dim, there'd be sad, dramatic music orchestrating the entire scene, and everyone witnessing it would like, cry or something.
Only that doesn't happen. It's a sunny, October afternoon. Birds are singing. Some of the neighbor kids are playing in leaf piles on their front lawns. The world keeps spinning. Life continues like nothing's changed.
It's ironic really, because Mike's pretty sure his world just ended.
[A/N]: sorry (: