𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐖𝐚𝐲 𝐇𝐢𝐬 𝐄𝐲𝐞𝐬 𝐀𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐌𝐞

𝟐𝟏.

3:29pm

It'd been a few hours since we unboxed our presents. Max left since she's spending the rest of her day with her family, leaving Mike, Lucas, Dustin and I still in the basement, eating snickerdoodle cookies that Lucas and Max made yesterday.

Earlier when Max was opening her presents, she received a walkman that came with a shuffled up Madonna/Kate Bush playlist - that's when we knew it was from El.

And then it clicked.

El left right after Mike suggested that Max should open her presents, probably since she didn't want to be there for her reaction?

Besides, I could sense tension between them all day. Max already told me what was going on between them ages ago, but they just seemed weirder than usual today. They seemed less talkative- with each other, I mean.

Dustin, Lucas and  I have just finished setting up for the campaign and are about to start, except... Mike seems on edge.

I let out a sigh and sit down beside Mike, shrugging in confusion. "Is it about El?"

He nods slowly.

"Hey, I'm sure it's fine. Maybe she just felt sick or something - you guys seemed fine today."

"I know, I know. That's what I keep telling myself but... I can't help but feel like she's still mad at me."

I don't know if El's emotions relate to Max, but I know for a fact that it's not because of Mike. I can't tell him that though, otherwise he'll question me further and it's not my place to say what's going between them, even though it's quite messed up.

"Mad about what?" Lucas asks, chewing on a cookie.

"It's a... long story." I tell him.

"Maybe I should call her." Mike gets up and approaches the phone as if to dial her number.

"Let's just start playing already!" Dustin intrudes, slamming the phone back into the cradle. "Look I understand you're having relationship problems, but we've been planning this campaign for ages!" He says and I nod in agreement, crossing my arms. "No way we're cancelling for this."

"Dustin- you don't understand! If she breaks up with me, everything will go to shit!"

"Why??" He strikes back. Mike goes silent and looks down at the floor in search for words, but nothing leaves his lips.

"Just... call her." I capitulate at last. "Come on, Dustin."

. . .
4:22pm

Dustin and I are sat at the table, waiting for the Mike-El thing to settle. Dustin rests his cheek against his palm as I peer over to Lucas and Mike, who are still a worried mess about this dumb situation.

"See that's what she does! She tells me she's fine but I know that she's lying!" Mike paces around a small fraction of the room, distress visible on his face. I purse my lips and look down at the table, slightly caught off guard when Dustin gets up.

"Hey- where you going?"

"Home. It's clear that we're not gonna play any time soon - besides, my mom is waiting anyway... Merry Christmas." He says before walking up the stairs.

Are you kidding me...

I let out a sigh before getting up and approaching the boom box, a small idea in mind. I quickly throw on my cleric costume and turn on festive flute music, bringing the boys attention to me immediately.