tangled (mileven au)

no more

About halfway into Jessie's Girl, El finally heard a faint knocking at the front door. She ripped the headphones off and tossed everything onto her bed, rushing right out of her room.

She yanked the door open with a smile, it dropping when she found that it wasn't Mike on the other side.

"Papa!" She practically yelped, her heart beginning to pound in her chest. "What are you doing back so soon?"

Papa sighed heavily as he stormed inside, slamming the door shut behind him.

"There was a leak at the lab. We had to shut down for the day. I swear, those imbeciles don't know what the hell they're doing."

"Oh, no... That's not good." She muttered, trying to show her concern while also trying to hide the fact that she was panicking on the inside.

"Come sit down and watch some television with me, I need to relax a bit."

"Of course, Papa."

Watching television with him was the last thing she needed to be doing. She needed to get to the telephone, so she could call Mike and tell him not to come over anymore

She couldn't exactly do that though, not when Papa was sitting so close to it. So, she did as told and sat down on the couch, staring straight ahead as he flipped through the channels for something to watch.

El began to nervously fiddle with her hair, trying to keep the entirety of her body from shaking.

This is bad.

This is so so bad.

What if Mike knocks on the door and Papa sees him?

What if he-

"Eleanor?"

At the sound of his voice, her head instantly snapped his way. "Yes, Papa?"

"Where did you get those earrings?"

Oh no.

El instantly reached up, her hands finding the earrings Mike had given her for her birthday. Usually, she hides them behind strands of her hair or goes the safer route and just takes them out, but Mike was coming over. She wanted to show the gift he'd given her off, hence the reason why her hair was pulled back from her face.

Papa was never supposed to see them.

"You bought them for me Papa, don't you remember?" She tried to convince him, but she knew her voice was too shaky for the words to be believable.

"Well, that would have required me to take you to get them pierced, which I would never do." He snapped, abruptly standing from his chair and walking closer to her. "Now tell me, where did you get them?"

El racked her brain, trying to think of something to say to him, anything that would make this easier for her. It was no use though, Papa wouldn't stop until he got what he believed was the absolute truth.

"I got them from my friend."

"Your friend? When could you have possibly made a friend?"

"When you were in Chicago, someone came to the cabin." El began to explain, nervously glancing up at Papa. "He uh, he was lost and I let him in to help him."

"Go on."

"Then I left the cabin with him... and we went places."

"You went places?"

"Yes, but it was okay Papa! I had such a great time! I saw so many things and learned a lot! Nobody tried to hurt me!"

"Hush, child!" Papa demanded, silencing her attempt to make light of the situation. "What's your friend's name?"