Michael let out a big sigh as he turned off his car, grabbing the grocery bags from the passenger seat. He quickly got out of the car and walked up the driveway, letting himself in through the front door.
It was Saturday afternoon and Michael was late. He was supposed to be at Melissa and Katie's house an hour and a half ago to help her set up for the birthday party they were throwing for Katie, but errands and traffic and what seemed like a thousand other things had gotten in the way.
He hadn't meant to be so late, it wasn't like he did it intentionally. Ashton had called Michael earlier that morning and gave him a whole list of errands to run. He didn't want to take too long, he was supposed to get everything done quickly, but Michael's new job was a lot harder than he thought it was going to be.
"I'm here!" Michael yelled as he walked in, kicking off his shoes by the door.
"I'm in the kitchen!" Melissa yelled back. Michael made his way through the house and into the kitchen, where Melissa was getting things ready for later.
"Hi." Michael said. He set the grocery bag down on the kitchen island before going and wrapping his arms around Melissa's waist from behind, leaving a short kiss on her cheek.
"Hey, how are you?" Melissa smiled, and Michael was surprised that she wasn't mad about him being so late.
"I'm alright, I'm sorry I'm so late." Michael sighed. He pulled away from Melissa and leaned up against the counter. Melissa turned around as well and faced him. "I had to do a few things for Ashton and it took longer than I expected."
"That's fine, the party doesn't start for another couple hours." Melissa shrugged.
"Great." Michael nodded. He stepped away from the counter and walked over to Melissa, resting his hands on her hips.
"Great." Melissa repeated, smiling up at him. She ran her hands up Michael's chest, wrapping her arms around his neck.
"I think Calum should probably be getting here soon with Lacey and I know Ashton is coming with Em and Riley." Michael trailed off, just thinking about things that they still needed to do before this party. "Luke and Sara will probably be late, as always..."
"Yeah, I talked to Calum on the phone earlier." Melissa nodded. "He said that he needs to go pick up Lacey from Hanna's house and then he'd head over."
"I told him to just invite Hanna to come with him." Michael sighed and shook his head, his nose brushing up against Melissa's.
Michael knew that Calum's situation with Lacey's mom was pretty complicated, but he also knew that Calum had feelings for Hanna. Really, he'd told Michael himself. Everyone thought Calum should just make a move already, but he never listened.
"Yeah, I think that'd be kind of awkward." Melissa chuckled softly, biting down on her bottom lip.
"Right." Michael nodded, remembering that there was a bit of a history between Melissa and Hanna and Calum. "Maybe it would be good for you guys to get together again, though, maybe you could forgive and forget?"
"I totally agree with you, I really do, but I don't think that Katie's birthday party is a good place for my ex-best friend and I to reunite after not speaking to each other for almost six years." Melissa said, still smiling. She was in a really good mood, and Michael was kind of worried. Whenever something like this happened it didn't end well.
"Oh, yeah." Michael paused. Melissa was right, like she usually was. "That's true."
"I'm sure we'll talk things out eventually, just not now. This is Katie's big day, I don't want anything or anyone to mess it up." Melissa said, reaching up and moving a piece of hair away from Michael's eyes.
