back to you • lrh

28

Chapter 28:
"You love me, right?"

Eloise-Anne

My eyes are watery as I almost finish the movie. I haven't been feeling quite well the past few days. Mostly debating my choices. I know Ashton means well, and I don't like Luke at all, but you can't quite force people to not see each other, right? It's literally been all I've been thinking about. I just want a peaceful relationship, instead, I'm here. I'm crying about the whole situation and the movie ain't helping. I haven't quite reached out to anyone. I have called in sick for school and work, not wanting to get out of bed.

I grab another tissue from the box and wipe away my tears. My sleeves are soaked and currently, my face is very sensitive to the number of times I've rubbed it. I hear a knock on the door and wipe faster, but it's useless. I am a mess and you can see I've been crying. Besides all, I probably have my period next week. I always get so emotional the week before, it's not funny anymore. I hum in response to the door. Michael walks in and smiles weakly.

"El, can you come with me?" I frown as I sniff my nose. He sighs and looks at me. "You've been hiding in here for a week, you have to come out."

"I don't want to." He rolls his eyes and walks up to me, lifting me up. I hold him tightly, scared he might drop me. He walks downstairs and puts me in the bathroom. "Do I smell?"

"Yeah, you have this union scent going on. It's horrifying." He says, leaving the tiny room. I lock the door and take a shower as I am here. I didn't feel like taking a shower. Sometimes things are very hard on a daily basis.

As I have finally wrapped the towel around my body, I open the door and walk up to my own room. Michael is laying on my bed. My dirty laundry is gone from the chair and the floor. My bed has new sheets and the leftover pieces of food are gone. On my bed, there's a sweater from Michael. I smile as I put it on over the towel. It is mid-thigh length, even longer actually. I grab the towel from underneath the sweater and put on some underwear as I lay down beside him. He looks up from his phone and smiles when he sees me.

"Thank you, Mike. You are the best." I kiss his cheek.

"You finally smell good." I roll my eyes at him. "Okay fine, you didn't smell that bad." I give him a nudge and chuckle. "Just know you can talk to me, okay?" I nod and open the laptop, starting our lazy tv-show, Brooklynn 99. I know I can talk to him, I just don't know what's bothering me.

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"El, have you heard?" I frown at my best friend beside me. "You know about the thing where the song actually gets produced, right?" I tilt my head a bit, not knowing what she's talking about. "The music major, the assignment you head with Luke." I nod at her words, finally understanding her. "Because it's a group assignment, although it's not quite a group but-"

"Moral of the story..?" I ask her.

"The best duo wins. So let's say you and Luke win, you win together, no matter what your grade may be. The piece you handed in will be in the newspaper!" She says, her voice getting an octave higher. "They will announce the winners this afternoon."

"How is it that I never know these kinda things?" I ask annoyed. "I swear I pay attention." I feel an arm around me and look up to see Ashton. "Hey," I smile at him. He brings his loose hand to my face to kiss me right after. I stop talking and move my lips against his. His smile makes him break the kiss.

"Hey, baby." We continue walking towards the entrance of the school. "I am sorry I was being so harsh on you. I wanted you and Hemmings to be friends, I didn't know he'd fuck around like this. I should've known."