Dare || m.c.

➵ 2.1 - jade

Another long chapter oops sorry hope you enjoy

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Jade was frozen. Michael was waiting for her to speak and she couldn't bring herself to say the words. She knew she couldn't just chicken out now, not when she was the one who brought it up, but she was so fucking afraid. Afraid of speaking to someone other than Ashton about it and making it real. Afraid of confiding in someone and making herself vulnerable again. Afraid of starting a friendship and setting herself up for betrayal again.

"You can trust me," Michael said softly, as if he was in tune with her thoughts.

Jade wanted so badly to believe him. She knew Michael wasn't a bad person. It was Jade. She wasn't brave. She was the one scared of everything. She was the one afraid to face her own reality. She squeezed Michael's hand tightly, knowing it was probably too tight and that she was probably hurting him, but Jade was hurting too.

"I met my aunt for the first time on Saturday," she said. It sounded like she was choking on a sob, which was weird. She didn't feel like crying. She never really did. And when she did, she didn't let herself actually shed a single tear. Tears showed vulnerability.

"Is that bad?" Michael asked.

"I didn't even know she existed before the night my mom died." All emotion was gone from her voice. It was bad enough that she was telling Michael all of this. She didn't want him to see just how bothered she was by everything.

"What happened?" Michael's tone was gentle, like he was talking to a child and didn't want to startle her.

Jade wasn't sure how to tell him. She didn't know which details she should include and which details she should exclude. After an internal debate that went on for who knows how long, she decided to go with the naked truth. Maybe she shouldn't have. But something happened that night that made her walls crumble. She knew it was idiotic. She knew it was impulsive and she should've been more careful, but at the time she couldn't bring herself to be. Michael already knew too much about her and there was no point in keeping this from him, not when the effects of it were so clear on her face.

So Jade told Michael about what was written in the note that her mom had left her. She told him about meeting Meredith and how her aunt had told her things that unraveled her whole world. She told him about the envelope and how she couldn't bring herself to open it. And all the while she just looked down at her hand held in Michael's. Hers was much smaller than his, but it felt strangely nice. It brought with it a sense of safety, one she was only used to having around Ashton.

"Will you open it?" Michael asked after a while. Once Jade stopped talking, he hadn't said anything. He just sat there and held her hand, not even twisting her rings like he usually did.

"Should I?" Jade asked, not knowing why she asked. It wasn't like she would open it if he said yes, even though she knew she had to do it.

"I mean, you should." Michael said, but he sounded uncertain of himself. "Shit, Little Mermaid, it's not like I've been in this situation. I don't know what I would do." He wasn't very clear in his meaning, but Jade understood what he was saying. It was what she had been telling herself too. Just because she should've opened the envelope didn't mean she wanted to.

Jade pulled her hand out of Michael's and picked up the white envelope. She knew if she went back tonight without opening it, she would keep putting it off. She took a deep breath, setting aside her fear and trepidation. With shaky hands, Jade tried to rip open the envelope but couldn't. Michael gently took it from her and opened it, handing it back to her. She was trembling even more now as she pulled out two sheets of paper folded into thirds. After a few tries, she managed to straighten it out, but it was too dark to be able to see anything. Michael took out his phone and turned on the flashlight, shining it on the paper.