Michael Clifford One Shots

Untitled

He writes on a napkin, he sits there in the quiet cafe writing endless poems and stories. They seem to be his only escape at the moment; his mind refuses to quieten down no matter how hard he tries. Stories flow through his blood and ink stains his fingers from endless nights writing; writing in his journal, on his arms, on his legs. He liked to write... Well no, he loved to write... Actually, he adored writing. His passion for this less appreciated art could not be completely described especially with mundane words such as love or like. Writing was his life and his life was writing. The paper was his bone and the ink from the pen was his blood; etching the words into his soul so that they could not be forgotten over the times to come.

His friends worry about him, this annoys him. He knows they mean well and that they're only looking out for him but it suffocates him almost. But, and he has to admit this, they are the best friends he has; all three of them.

It is very rare that he goes out. Michael prefers to stay at home, in his flat where no-one can disturb him and where he can write, and write, and write about anything and everything. He always writes about the same thing: love. He's never felt it himself and he likes to imagine that one day he finally will experience that earth-shattering moment of meeting eyes with the one person that will shift your entire universe for however long they choose to stay.

He writes on a napkin, he sits there in the empty shop writing endless poems and stories because they're his only escape at the minute; his mind is restless and he can't think straight. All he feels is the adrenaline from the coffee and his hand is shaking so much that he can't put pen to paper in fear of what will come out. Maybe the coffee wasn't such a good idea, he thinks as he glares at the half full coffee machine that he swears is mocking him from its place behind the counter.

He looks down to his notebook, the lined page half full with doodles and half sentences that are more crossed out than they are completed. The only completed sentence on the page is outlined heavily because it's the only decent thing he's written all day but he doesn't know where else to take it. In the center of the page, among the doodles and the crossing outs is the sentence "He sipped at the fine wine that is his lovers lips; getting drunk on the feeling of their mouth pressed soundly against his."

He doesn't hear or see the girl enter the cafe. No, he's too focused on trying to think of something or anything that will fit on the end of that one sentence. He doesn't hear or see the girl enter the cafe; he only realises that there is someone sitting next to him when the girl orders a decaf coffee. He startles slightly at the sound of her voice; her voice is melodic and one that Michael has heard before but he can't place where. He doesn't turn to look at her to see if he can recognise her, instead he sits completely still, trying to make it look like he's focusing hard on his writing rather than making i obvious that he knows that voice.

The next time the girl speaks is when she is thanking the lady behind the counter. Michael expects her to find a table to sit at but instead she sits right down next to him where he's assaulted by the sweet, flowery fragrance of her perfume as she flicks her hair to the side before taking a sip of her coffee. He commits the smell to memory - who knows? maybe he can get a poem out of how the mysterious girl smells. Michael's mind goes into overdrive, ideas flooding his brain, turning back to his notebook he starts scribbling words down furiously. Desperately attempting to get a half-arsed story out by the time the cafe closes and he has to go home alone with no muse and no story. He only stops writing when his hand begins to cramp up, he makes a sound of discomfort and starts to stretch out his hand.

Discomfort and awkwardness starts to settle over him when he feels eyes on him. He's never liked attention, even when he was small, he hated being the centre of attention. It made him so uncomfortable especially in high school when asked to read to the class, he would close up and would stutter through his work. Eventually, the teachers stopped asking him and Michael would be eternally grateful. Michael still feels that someone is watching him, he thought they would stop after realising that Michael was a lump of awkwardness but apparently not. Feeling sort of brave, Michael turns to face the girl that has been watching him. She's beautiful, that's the first thing Michael sees. She's got brown hair that fades into a baby pink, and she's wearing a dark green jacket with black jeans and black boots. She isn't facing Michael, she's turned away which he finds to be extremely lucky because he can check out her side profile as she is messaging someone on her phone. Not a boyfriend, he hopes. From what he can see of her side profile is that she has her nose pierced. At least she's okay with piercings, Michael thinks as his hand comes up to his face to fiddle with his eyebrow piercing.

He's found middle ground now. He can ask her about her nose ring. He clears his throat and the girl faces him, "Hi... Sorry, I noticed you have your nose pierced. I'm thinking of getting one myself, just wondering if it hurt you?" He sounded awkward, and he blushed, he know he did. He can feel the heat radiating off of his cheeks.

The girl smiles at him. "Hi! This is the second time I've had it pierced and that time didn't hurt so much but the first time stung like a bitch. Not gonna sugarcoat for you if you're seriously thinking of getting one. Then again, I guess it depends on your pain threshold."

Michael nods along, understanding every word. "Thank you. I've been asking everyone and no-one would give me a straight answer."

The girl nods. "I know what you mean. I never ask anymore, I've had that many that there just isn't any point too it."

Michael has to ask, curiosity gets the better of him. "How many do you have?"

"At the minute, I've got thirteen." The girl replies easily, not phased by the question. "I've got my cartilage, tragus and four lobe piercings in my right ear and in my left I've got four in my lobe, my tragus and my scaffold done."

"Scaffold?"

"Yeah, it's this." The girl moves her hair to one side to show Michael a bar that goes through the front of her ear and out of the back. "It hurt like a bitch and bled a lot but it is completely worth it."

"I bet it is," Michael grins. "I forgot to introduce myself earlier. I'm Michael."

"Hi Michael! I'm Eadith."

"So tell me Eadith. Fancy a new piercing? I know a shop that's open at this time."

"You just read my mind Michael."

So the two go off together, they head to the piercing parlor where Michael gets his nose pierced and Eadith gets her conch done. He pays and she re-pays him by giving him her phone number.

In four months, she'll meet Luke, Calum and Ashton and she'll persuade them to get piercings too. And Michael will finally experience that earth-shattering moment when he falls in love with this girl who never leaves him and stays by his side till the end of their days.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I know. It's a shit ending, extremely rushed but jesus christ I've been stuck on it for months.

For anyone who doesn't know what the piercings are that I have mentioned:

nose - obvious, its your nostril.

cartilage - top of your ear

scaffold - this is bar that is connected by two silver balls on either end. this piercing tends to go through the cartilage at the front of you ear and it also goes through the back of your ear. google image if you don't understand. hurt like a bitch for me, and i have had to take it out due to a bitchy boss but now that i dont work there anymore i'm having it re-done

tragus - that is the part that covers your ear almost. gave me a banging headache when i got both pierced

lobe - your ear lobes.

i recommend googling the piercings I have mentioned if you don't understand, if you get any of them done: AWESOME but also be safe, use a reputable piercer, DO NOT TOUCH IT AFTER IT HAS BEEN DONE. SERIOUSLY THAT IS A BIG THING. AND CLEAN IT REGULARLY AND DON'T CHANGE IT UNTIL IT IS HEALED UP. IT CAN CAUSE DAMAGE TO THE WAY THE PIERCING IS HEALING.

Okay, hello. i love you all if you have made it this far. you are my favourite person if you've read this.

i'll love you even more if you vote, and i'll love even more and possibly forever if you comment.

hope you all have a bloody lovely day!

Mel. xx