hey jealousy // michael clifford

seven

After Avery yelled at Michael she'd stormed out of the lounge room, making sure to slam her bedroom door as she went. She'd spent the rest of the night in her room, resisting the urge to go back out into the lounge room to yell at Michael some more. It was almost like all the anger she'd suppressed when they broke up had resurfaced all at once and while she felt better for doing it she also felt pretty crappy over all. She kind of wanted to call Ashton again but she'd left her phone out on the coffee table and she didn't want to see Michael again at the moment so going out and getting it was out of the question.

Michael, on the other hand, spent his night alternating between feeling like shit for making Avery angry in the first place, and just being bitter in general because he'd only seemed to make things worse with Avery – which was a pretty big deal considering things hadn't even been close to good to start with. In hindsight he probably shouldn't have suggested anything was going on with her and Ashton, but at the same time Michael was never really good at holding his tongue.

In the end they both went to bed, and eventually fell asleep thinking about the other – both for completely different reasons.

The next morning Avery was in the kitchen making some tea when Michael walked in, rubbing his eyes before scratching at his neck and sheepishly looking down at his feet. Avery pretended she didn't notice he was there, putting a lot of effort into focusing every ounce of her attention on her tea. When he cleared his throat she couldn't ignore him anymore and reluctantly turned around.

"Hi." He muttered quietly, not exactly sure what he was supposed to say. Avery just raised an eyebrow and as she was about to turn around again Michael stuttered out an apology.

"What was that?" She asked and Michael could tell just from her tone of voice that she'd heard him perfectly but was still going to make him work for her forgiveness.

"I said I'm sorry." He sat down at the table and ran a hand through his hair while Avery crossed her arms over her chest. "About last night. You were right, it's none of my business if you're dating anyone and I shouldn't have asked. It was a dick move and I'm sorry."

***

"I've got to go do some groceries, so I'll be back later." Avery muttered to Michael as she pulled on her jacket.

"Hey, do you mind if I come? I mean, I can drive and help out?" Michael wasn't exactly keen on going grocery shopping but he was willing to do almost anything at this point if it gave him a shot at getting back into Avery's good books.

Avery scrunched up her eyebrows and gave him a quizzical look, when they'd been together Avery's parents had asked her to go shopping for food occasionally and Michael had come up with ridiculous excuses to avoid going almost every time – and the few times she'd forced him to go with her Michael had complained the whole time.

"It's the least I can do," Michael told her, getting up off the couch and slipping his shoes on as he spoke. "Y'know, since I'm crashing on your couch and eating all your food. Besides, I need to try and make up for being an asshole last night."

Avery was actually a little surprised by his words but she nodded anyway, figuring that if he drove that would actually help her out a fair bit.

The car ride was almost too quiet, without Michael singing along occasionally to songs that came on the radio it probably would have been unbearable. Avery couldn't help but remember the times when Michael would pick her up randomly and they'd drive around town, singing at the top of their lungs to all the songs they loved – not doing anything but enjoying each other's company all the same. It was hard for her to remember that had only been a year ago, they'd only been apart for 12 months but so much had changed in that time that it honestly made her head spin a little bit. And now here they were – barely able to say more than a few words to each other without it becoming uncomfortable.