twenty-six

                                    

                                          
"i got you!" mike laughed, chasing after bella before wrapping the puppy in his arms. 
he rolled on the grass field behind campus, resting bella on his chest as el sat criss crossed on the grass besides them. 
laughing, he sat back up and scooted back to el's side before mumbling to bella. "you've gotten so big. one day i won't be able to pick you up,"
he turned to el, leaning over her shoulder from behind them rested his chin on her shoulder. "whatchu doing?"
she glanced at him quickly then muttered. "max," 
he watched as she slowly typed on her phone, seeing first hand what it was like from her point of view. 
she slowly typed out words, pressing send halfway through before she waited a long couple of seconds and thought about how she could finish her sentence. 
so that's why she took so long. 
he smiled at her when she turned her head and then went to hug her close.
"lilah," he whispered as she slowly leaned back. 
"i'm happy we're out today. the weather is.. nice for us, don't you think?" he asked her quietly by her ear. 
she shrugged a little. "dunno,"
he gently pressed a kiss to her temple and she turned her head to fully face him, her blinking slow to indicate that she felt a little at ease. 
he smiled at her actions and she stared into his eyes.
"bella's happy," he told her, "she's running around,"
el blinked slowly and he just grinned wider at her and caught onto bella who ran past him. 
she barked at him and he chuckled, tapping her nose which made her calm, her tail wagging happily. 
bella jumped around in his grasp, then went over to el, trying to lick her face. 
a little smile squeezed out before it disappeared again and he pressed his forehead to hers. "we have to get back soon though, we gotta pack,"
she nodded weakly and bella went to squeeze in between them to feel included. 
mike laughed at the puppy's action and el went to grab ahold of bella before using her hands to forge her body up. 
mike followed, grabbing their stuff before he grabbed el's other hand gently. 
subconsciously, she leaned closer to his side as he walked her back to her dorm building and all the way up to her dorm as well. 
"i'll come find you tonight," he said with a wide smile, pressing a kiss to her forehead. "i'll text you,"
she nodded slowly and he gave bella a kiss as well before waving. "call me if you need anything,"
she blinked once and watched as he walked away, turning back to blow her a quick kiss happily before turning the corner. 
looking down at bella, el blinked and bella tilted her head before inching her face closer to sniff el. 
el hugged bella tightly, moving back to shut the door as max came out from her room with sunglasses on her face with a funny beach hat as well.
max noticed her expression and frowned. "what? i was getting excited,"
el walked near her, holding bella up who took the hat off max's head. 
max gasped loudly. "hey!"
bella barked, her tail wagging more as she shook her head and threw the hat aside.