mileven season three

promise

Mike paced through the room with his hands digging into his hair. El was seated on her bed, her legs crossed and she was sitting up very straight. She was chewing on her lip to keep from crying. 

"Are you kidding me El?" Mike asked, placing his hand on her dresser, leaning into his hip. 

"Mike, I had to," El said, not changing her face.

"Are you kidding me? You had to?" Mike said, raising his voice. El flinched when he emphasized had. 

"My mother told me to!"

"Your mother? Your mother is a brain dead vegetable!" Mike yelled, slamming his hand on the dresser. A picture of the two fell over. Mike took a breath and set it back up as El talked. 

"Take that back right now," El said, standing up. Mike bit his lip and shook his head, his nostrils flaring as his eyes filled with tears. 

"Why didn't you come to see me?" He asked softly. 

"You think I wanted to stay in that cabin? You think I had a choice to ignore your calls and not reach out to you? Do you actually think that?" El screamed. Mike stepped back at her raised voice. 

"Then why did you leave?" Mike asked, walking towards El, his arms out for a hug. El hit his arms down.

"I had to. I had to see my mother. There are more like me."

"But you didn't have to meet them!"

El sat down and placed her face in her palms. El had finally told Mike where she went and why she came back all punk-ified. Mike was not taking it lightly.

"You don't know what it's like to be me."

"Then help me understand!"

"You will never understand, Mike. NEVER!" El said, the tears rolling down her cheeks. Mike didn't know what to do. 

"I can't believe you went all the way to Chicago," Mike said, leaning against the wall, his eyes closed. 

"Why? Am I not capable?" 

"El, it was dangerous," Mike started.

"You think I can't handle myself? I could snap your neck without changing a shade." 

"You could have fucking died!" Mike screamed. The tears starting rolling down his cheeks as he continued, "El, you could have died. Do you know how fucking hard it was for me to think you were dead? Every fucking day, I thought about killing myself. Every fucking day!" 

El sat in silence. She had no idea how to respond to this. Mike never cursed. Mike was hurting, but so was she. El laid down on her bed as Mike ran out of the house. She heard his bike drive away as the tires crunched the gravel. She rolled to face her wall, wiping the tears away from her bloodshot eyes. 

Mike drove straight to Wills house. He threw his bike down and walked up to the door, knocking their secret knock. Will opened and looked concerned at the sight of Mikes puffy and blotchy face. 

"What happened?" Will asked, motioning for Mike to come in. Mike looked around to assure nobody else was home,

"I fucked up, Will," He said, wiping his face with his cold hands. 

"Yeah, you look like it," Will said, patting the spot on his couch. Mike sat next to him. 

"I fought with El," He said.

"That's normal." 

"No, I really fought. I swore at her and got angry at stuff she did while I thought she was dead." 

Will stared at him, not knowing how to respond. 

"I need to apologize," Mike said, standing up and heading for the door. Will pulled him back onto the couch. 

"You need to breathe, Mike," Will said, leaning back into the couch, "We all say things we don't mean. You need to give it tonight so you both can cool off. Then tomorrow, or whenever the time is right you can apologize."

Mike closed his eyes and put his head in his hands. He sat up and turned to look at Will. Will had never seen Mike cry since the time he fell off his bike into a blackberry bush. Mike looked even worse now.

"But, what if she won't forgive me?" Mike asked, pinching his wrist. Will grabbed his hand and pulled it off before he could continue pinching himself. Will knew it was his worst habit. 

"She will."

"How do you know?" Mike sniffled.

"Are you kidding? I've seen the way you two look at each other. You called for what... 350 days and she heard every single time! That seems like a stronger bond than most parents have these days," Will said, trailing off. 

"353," Mike mumbled. 

"I promise it will be fine," Will said, "Wanna watch a show?" 

Mike nodded and sank deeper into the couch. After they finished a few episodes of their show, Mike got up.

"Thanks, Will. I'll tell you how it goes." 

"Anytime," Will nodded, shutting the door behind Mike. Mike cried all the way home. 

The next morning, Mike took an extra long shower, practicing how he was gonna apologize. He was snapped out of the trance when he heard banging on the bathroom door. 

"Let me in! It's been over 40 minutes, Mike!" Nancy said, her fist hitting the door. Mike turned off the shower and wrapped himself in a towel. He strolled out, dripping across the hardwoods.

"All yours," He mumbled as Nancy rolled her eyes and slammed the door behind her. Mike threw on shorts and a shirt and headed downstairs. He hopped on his bike and peddled away, his wet hair sending water droplets behind him. 

He practically threw his bike into the grass and headed to El's door, pausing with his hand centimeters away from it. He hovered over it, considering turning back. He hit the door three slow times. 

No answer.

He knocked on it again, this time in his and El's secret knock. 

He heard the door unlatch, and he let himself in. 

"El?" He asked softly, scanning the empty house. 

"El?" He asked again. He heard a noise come from her room, so he headed over there. 

She was sitting up on her bed, moving around some trash with her mind. When she saw Mike she dropped it to the floor. 

"El," Mike started, but El cut him off.

"Mike." She said. It was all she said, but he could hear the sadness in her voice. He made that happen. He didn't know if he could fix it.

"I'm so sorry, El. I was so selfish to only think about how i felt that I forgot to think about how you felt. I know you needed to meet your mother and it never even crossed my mind that their were others. I can't believe I turned this on you. I am so sorry," Mike cried. This was nothing like what he had practiced, his heart was just so broken right now. 

"I'm sorry about everything I said. I wish I could take it back but I can't. So instead of pretending to, I want to make things right. I want to be better to you. I want to make sure you never feel that way again. Please, please El?" 

"Promise?" El whispered, her lip slightly quivering. 

"Oh, El I promise. I promise a million times over."

El stood up from the bed and walked over to him, wrapping her arms around his waist, squeezing as tight as ever. Mike wrapped his arms around her and rested his chin on her head. 

"I never want to lose you," Mike choked out, his tears dripping onto El's head. El didn't mind, she felt relaxed listening to his heartbeat rhythmecly. 

"You won't," El said into his chest. Mike looked down at her.

"Promise?" 

El looked up at him and smiled a small smile. 

"Promise."