i promise ♥ mileven one-shots

I'll Be There For You

Season 2, Episode 7: "The One Where Mike Finds Out"

(The One Where Ross Finds Out)

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It was closing up time in Espresso Express, and El was the one closing up tonight, with Lily in the back cleaning the cups and plates. Mike walks in, anger written all over his face. El looked up from cleaning a table and jamming to an 80's song on the radio.

"Hi," El smiles at Mike, before picking up the cups and walking to the counter.

"I didn't get a cat," Mike said, crossing his arms as El walks behind the counter and hands the cups over to Lily's slippery hands.

El nods and goes to clean another table. "Oh, that's um, interesting," She says, cleaning the lone table left, hearing Lily sing to Duran Duran.

"No, no it's not interesting. Okay, it's very, very not interesting. In fact, it's actually 100 percent completely opposite of interesting," Mike argued, watching El busy herself.

El raises her hands, cleaning rag in one and nothing in the other. "Alright, I got it, Mike," El defended.

"You had no right to tell me you ever had feelings for me!" Mike declared, making El turn around. With hurt written clearly on her face.

"What?" She asks, she'd originally been facing away from Mike, but when he told her she shouldn't have told, it hurt her so much!

"I was doing great with Poppy before I found out about you," Mike stated, his arms flopping about all over the place.

El looked offended. "Hey, I was doin' great before I found out about you. You think it's easy for me to see you with Poppy?" El asked, her delicate hand resting on her chest.

"Then you should have said something before I met her," Mike suggested, crossing his arms and then uncrossing them again because he was uncomfortable.

"I didn't know then!" She exclaimed. "And how come you never said anything to me?" El asked, raising an eyebrow at Mike. Picking on him, almost.

Mike stumbled on find the words for a second. "There was never a good time," he said.

El almost made a snort of a laugh. "Right, you, you only had a year. We only hung out, every night," El stated, confused as to why Mike never told her.

"Not, not, not every night. You know, and... and it's not like I didn't try, El, but things got in the way, y'know?" Mike tries to explain, but El rolled her eyes at Mike's lame excuse. "Like, like Italian guy or ex-fiancés or, or, or, Italian guys," Mike repeated himself.

El stood tall in front of Mike and prodded his chest with her finger. "Hey, there was one Italian guy. Okay? And do you have a point?" El asked, taking a box from the counter that they use for the rubbish and picked up the rubbish from the floor

"The point is I... I don't need this right now, Okay. It, it's too late, I'm with somebody else, I'm happy. This ship has sailed," Mike said, saying something they've heard Lucas and Dustin say multiple times.

El scoffed before flapping her hands about a bit as she spoke. "Yeah, what're you saying, you just sort of put away feelings or whatever the hell it was you felt for me?" She asked, shaking her head, and her curls fly everywhere.

"Hey, I've been doin' it since the ninth grade, I've gotten pretty damn good at it," Mike pointed, and he was pretty good at hiding it, she didn't know till he went to China. He'd liked her since the ninth grade...

El rolled her eyes at Mike and threw her hands up in the air. "Alright, fine you go ahead and you do that, alright Mike," El growled, stomping away from Mike, hearing Lily had stopped singing.

"Fine," Mike shouted back.

"'Cause I don't need your stupid ship," She exclaimed, kicking a broom out of the way.

"Good," Mike yelled.

"Good," El yelled back, leaning against the counter, as Mike leaves. Slamming the door behind him. She stands up and opens the door to shout after him. "And ya know what, now I've got closure!"

El slams the door and locks it as she walks away to the couch miserable. With her head in her hands, she begins to sob. What El must have said, must have earned a reaction out of Mike (one of upset too) because he walks back and stands outside the door looking at her, just as upset as El. She regroups herself and stands back up to finish cleaning, turns around. And sees Mike. She unconsciously smiles, making Mike smile back. El keeps her eyes locked on Mike's as she unlocks the door, and then tries to open it.

When she can't, she starts pulling at the door, with Mike pushing on it from the other side as well. Till he realises something. "Try the bottom one," he suggests.

She unlocks the bottom lock, standing up, and opening both doors. Mike walks to El, or El walks to Mike – at this moment in time, it doesn't matter, because he takes her by the face (El's hands in the crooks of Mike's arms) and having known each other since 1983, they finally kiss. El's hands go to his hair and Mike's remain on her cheeks.

This has been a long time coming.