how could i live without you?

give you an idea of what el painted <33 ^^

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Nearing the end of May was also the last day of school. Everyone way beyond relieved that the school year had finally come to an end. But for El, this was only the beginning of her art career. All of her free periods were spent in the art room, spending every second on that canvas in front of her. Sometimes when Mike got the chance he would sneak into the art room to see her, sometimes she would just ignore him, and others would be so relieved to see him.

The last time Mike visited her was during second period, he said he would come back during his lunch period so he could bother her. Mike always kept his word so there was no doubt that he wouldn't do so.

The bell rang and it was now time for students to head down to the cafeteria to eat lunch. El stopped at her locker to grab her lunch before heading back down to the art room. She entered the room, high ceilings, and wooden floors. The room used to be an old woodshop classroom but got converted into an art room for reasons no one knew. El headed towards the back, behind the actual classroom where her teacher was letting her do her project without it getting destroyed.

She got her oil paints out of a small drawer and looked at her painting, it was almost done. She had to clean a few things up and add a thing or two before she was finally done. She got her paintbrushes out and then started adding details to the painting.

"Hey, Picasso." A familiar voice greeted happily. "Hi, Mike," El mumbled. Mike pulled a stool next to hers and sat down, looking at her painting. "Are you almost done with it?" He asked. "Yeah, just a few more things and then I have to write my admission essay and then I'm all the way done."

"Want me to help you with the essay tonight? I don't have any homework or tests to study for, and you kinda suck at essays." El rolled her eyes, "Yes, you can help me with it." Mike smiled and leaned his back on the table behind him.

He watched as she put final details and finishing touches onto the canvas filled with colors. After a few more minutes El finally put down her paintbrush and looked at the painting once again. Mike thought she might be having a staring contest with it until she put her hands together and then turned her head to grin at Mike. He raised his eyebrows, waiting for her to say something.

"It's done!" After weeks and weeks spent in that room, hour on end spent on sitting on that stool, her hand hurting from holding the brush so long, she was finally done. Mike stood up and pulled her into his arms, "I'm so proud of you," He said before kissing the top of her head. El smiled into his shirt and wrapped her arms around his torso. "Even if you don't make it." He added teasingly.

El stepped out of his embrace and hit his arm playfully, "Shut up! You can't say stuff like that to me!" Mike put his hands up in surrender, "I'm sorry! You know I'm just joking, you're going to make it." El smiled at him before turning back to her painting.

"It feels like my child." She said after a moment. "Your child?" Mike repeated, "Yeah, I mean, I've spent hours and days and weeks with it and then I have to send it off to Italy once we finish my essay, and I'll probably never see it again." She sighed. Mike frowned, after her explanation he did somewhat understand what she was trying to say.

"Maybe they'll put it up in the museums and then you'll be able to see it," Mike said nudging her arm playfully. El giggled and looked back at it, "Maybe."

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The school day was now over and El left the painting at the school overnight so it could finish drying properly. Mike drove her to her house and when they arrived they took their backpacks out of the back seat of Mike's car and walked inside the small house. El kicked off her shoes as soon as she walked in the door and sighed, "I'm so ready for school to be over."

Mike couldn't say that he was excited to spend every day of summer with her because that's not what was going to happen. El was most likely going to get accepted into the school if it was a summer program or a full scholarship, she was getting in and there was no doubt in Mike's mind about it. That meant he was going to have to spend the rest of his summer thinking about all the fun they could've had but instead he's sitting in his room reading comics and eating bags of chips.

"Yeah, me too," Mike mumbled. El looked at him when he said that. "Okay, what's wrong?"

"Nothing! Nothing, I'm fine." He said raising his arms in defense. She gave him a look saying "I know you're lying" and so he sighed. How was he supposed to say that he didn't want her to go to the school of her dreams because he was being selfish?

Mike shrugged, "School is ending meaning that summer is here and summer means you're going away to Italy and I already know you are going to make it so don't give me the 'we don't even know if I'm going to get in' bullshit, okay? I know I'm being completely selfish, I know, but I don't know how I'm supposed to do anything this summer without you. This is the first time we're ever going to truly be apart and I don't know how I'm going to handle it."

El frowned and stepped forward to hug him. "You really are a mess and I'm not even gone yet," El chuckled. "Don't say that!" Mike hissed. "C'mon Mike, you said it yourself. I'm leaving but that doesn't mean we won't stop being friends. I couldn't live if we weren't friends! We've been through everything together but just because I'm going away doesn't mean this chapter in our lives is over! Our lives are merely beginning! You can come out and visit me whenever you want and you can stay the first night or two with me if you want, but you're going to have to learn to get through some parts of life without me, I can't hold your hand the whole way."

"I know," Mike whispered, resting his chin on top of her head. They stayed silent for a few minutes before Mike stepped away, "Now, let's get this admission essay done!" Mike exclaimed, walking towards her room. "I'll get some food," El called from the kitchen. She rummaged around and found a bag of chips, checking the date they would be fine until next week.

El walked over to her room and Mike was getting her things out of her bookbag and setting them out on her bed neatly. El sat down on the bed next to him and rested her head on his leg. "Okay, so, how do we want to start this essay?" Mike asked.

"I don't know."

"Isn't Picasso supposed to be smart?"

"Maybe, but not me." El shrugged, placing some chips into her mouth. "You are plenty smart, you just don't try."

"Screw off."

"Seriously, you have to take this urgently! This is crucial to your future!"

"Weren't you the guy that just told me he did and did not want me to go to Italy?"

"Stop!" Mike laughed, "You can't use my own words against me! I'm just trying to be helpful, but I guess I can leave if you don't want to do this." Mike sighed, standing up off the bed, letting her head fall softly onto the mattress. Mike walked out of her room and El sat up, "Wait you're serious!?" She called after him.

"More than you!" He called back. El sighed and got up off her bed and ran down the hallway. He was walking towards the door but El jumped on his back, "Do not even try to leave." She gasped out of breath. "Fine. I guess I'll stay." He shrugged, he waited a few moments for her to hop off of his back but she didn't move. Instead, she wrapped her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist. Mike shrugged and held underneath her thighs for support and began walking back to her room.

El rested her head on top of his and grinned. "Ooh? Did you get a new shampoo?" She asked, his hair smelled of lavender and citrus. "That is super creepy, you do know that, right, Picasso?"

"I'm not being creepy. I'm just taking notice is all." Mike hummed and finally arrived back at her room. He sat down on her bed and she got off his back and sat in front of a few blank feets of paper and pens. She stared at them, not knowing what to do.

"Okay, what happens now? What am I supposed to do?" She asked, turning to Mike. "Did you even go to English class, like ever?"

"I know how to write normal essays but what am I supposed to say in this?!"

"Well, think of it as painting a picture for them. A picture of yourself. They want to know highlights of yourself and why you should be accepted into their school. It needs to display some critical thinking, just to make you sound smart- not the point but they just want to get to know you and why you should be apart of their community."

"Why do I have to write an autobiography for them?"

Mike sighed, "You're not writing an autobiography. Okay here, let's pretend you don't know me. I'm just someone that is looking to hire you for let's say... some sort of job. You're super passionate about this job, it's your dream after all! Tell me some things about yourself, some things that you would say are important to you. Some helpful characteristics about you, some qualities you have, special skills. Anything. Just tell me something. I'm not Mike anymore, I'm just a stranger you don't know."

El took a breath before she began talking. They went back and forth talking like they didn't know each other, Mike wrote down some of the things she said so they could include it in her essay. They talked for about 20 minutes until El finally stopped. "That's all."

Mike looked up from his full sheet of paper and grinned. "I wrote down a lot of things I thought would be good to put in there, we have the draft, now all we need to do is piece it together and then we have it!"

"Wow, you are the best. What would I do without you?" El asked, falling back onto the pillows behind her. "I don't know, how about you tell me, my love?" El groaned, "would you quit it with the names?"

"What names?"

"Those little nicknames!"

"I don't think I follow..."

"You suck." El groaned, "Oh well. Let's just finish this so we can watch TV." Mike muttered, picking up a different blank sheet of paper and handing it to El.

"Now, you just have to piece all of this together in a way that makes sense, okay?" El nodded, "I'll be right here if you need any help." Mike said with a yawn, stretching his arms above his head and placing them comfortable behind his head.

About 15 minutes into El writing, she felt Mike's head fall on her shoulder. She was about to tell him something when she heard him snoring softly. Of course, he'd fallen asleep while she was writing one of the most important essays of her life.

She decided to leave him be until she truly needed his help. Soon enough, she pieced together all of the small notes that Mike took into a few pages of an essay and she was just about done! Her hand hurt but she was so close to finishing it she couldn't stop now. In just 20 minutes she put the last period on the last sentence and she was done.

Her head fell back on the pillows behind her and she finally let her aching hand free of that god awful pencil- that was now dull due to using it for hours on end.

El looked out of the window near the far side of her room to see that the sun was beginning to set. "Mike!" She whispered, shaking him gently. He groaned and wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her close to him, "More sleep, come back," He mumbled into the side of her shirt.

"You can sleep all night, the sun is setting, c'mon!"

Mike shook his head, "sleep, El, important for brain."

"Yeah well, you don't have much of a brain anyway so I don't think it will matter that much anyway," Mike muttered something and let go of her as he sat up to rub his eyes. El grabbed his hand and pulled him out of her room and towards the latter for the attic. This was something they did almost daily.

Every night (only if they were together!) they would go up to El or Mike's roof and watch the sunset. It was their thing. They climbed up the attic latter and then pushed the window in the attic so it was open then they crawled out onto the roof of El's home. They settled themselves in a part of the roof where two walls met, making a small corner for them to sit in.

They faced the sun as orange and pink colors burst into the sky. "I should have painted this for my project," El says with a sigh. "I think your project now looks pretty amazing though." El nudged him, "Thanks."

El rested her head on his shoulder, "If or when I go to Italy, don't be too upset. I know you're going to say that's impossible but it isn't. Remember that one time your mother made you go to that sleepaway camp for 2 weeks?"

Mike nodded, "Just think of it like that. I'm just going to a sleepaway camp for a little while."

"But even when I was there I cried every day." Mike pointed out, "Yes but you made it 2 weeks without even talking to me! You can do a few months even if it hurts."

He sighed, "But this is going to be way worse." He mumbled. "But you can talk to me every night on the phone, you can visit whenever you can and stay as long as you want. This is much better."

"Yeah," He sighed, "I guess you're right."

"I love you, Mike." she sighed, but Mike knew all too well this was the usual platonic love for expressed for him.

"I love you too."

If only she knew how much.

Author's Note:

Finally! Hope you are happy with this chapter. I am and I missed writing mileven besties. They are so cute and fluffy i just can't handle it! Never too much fluff amirite?