verso // control threequel

enlighten.

(now featuring some lit elmet fanart also by @graywritesstuff)

March 20th 1998

     "So when are you gonna tell her?" Thomas asked as he drummed his fingers on the library table.

     "Tell who what?" El asked as her tongue stuck out of the side of her lips in concentration. She was so focused on the list of movies she was making to watch with Kis. Kis told her once that she'd never been scared by a movie so El had a plan to find one that finally scared her and totally not because during scary movies Kis held her when El screamed, psh no that wasn't the reason at all.

     "Tell Kis that you're in love with her."

     El made a small gasping noise and dropped her pen. "I-I w-what...I-I don't..."

     Thomas rolled his eyes. "I'm not stupid. I know you guys are head over heels for each other."

     "I'm not!..." El let out a little breath, sagging her shoulders in a defeated sigh. "She doesn't like me that way."

     Thomas snorted. "Really? Come on, that girl only smiles when she's with you."

     "But it's not like..." El ran her fingers through her hair, letting out a stuttered laugh. "She doesn't do all the feelings stuff."

     "You know her better than that, you know she does deep down."

     "It sucks," El said softly. "Her parents, the people who were supposed to love her the most never did so she doesn't know how to let anyone love her."

     "She let you kiss her."

     El scoffed. "That was stupid, it was just getting our first kisses over with."

     "Or it was her fucked up way of letting you know that she wanted you to kiss her. She wouldn't want you to be her first kiss if you meant nothing to her."

     "Well of course I mean something to her, we're best friends."

     "El," Thomas said, looking the girl in the eyes. "You helped me with Newt, I'm going to help you with this okay?"

     El looked panicked for a second, before her face changed and she waved. "Hey Newt."

     Thomas turned around a little too quickly, smiling when he saw his blonde boy.

    "So what were you saying about me?" Newt asked as he plopped right down on Thomas' lap like he owned it, which in some way he did.

     "We were talking about El's love for a certain bichy death girl."

     "I don-"

     Newt scoffed. "She finally admitted it?"

     "What?!" El's voice got higher pitched, Thomas could tell she was freaking out. "Does everyone know."

     Newt nodded. "Everyone except your dumbass best friend."

     "She's not..." El flushed and looked down. "Okay yeah maybe I'm in love with her."

     Newt rolled his eyes. "Tell me something I don't know."

     El was eyeing Newt suspiciously. "She hasn't like...said anything to you about it right?"

     Newt zipped his fingers over his mouth. "I'm sworn to secrecy."

     El pouted.

     "I'm sorry! She kinda scares me, if she found out I told you anything, I'd probably die."