Meant to be Yours|| Boyf Riends

2

The next morning Michael woke up bright and early.

"Early" meaning he woke up at noon, which was truly early for him.

After the incident in which he had a nightmare about losing Jeremy, Michael fell asleep in the comfort of Jeremy's arms.

Michael probably would have slept later than he did, yet he woke up in a panic, realizing Jeremy was gone. "Jeremy?" A few moments later, Jeremy burst into the bathroom with a plate of pancakes, only to be met with an obviously shaken Michael. "Sorry buddy, I was making you breakfast and I wanted to finish before you woke up."

Michael let out a soft sigh of relief, now aware of the fact Jeremy had not left him forever, unlike the Jeremy in his dream. He felt pretty silly actually. Knowing this, a not-so-subtle blush started to creep across Michael's face, but he hid it by taking a bite of a pancake. "S-sorry about last night," Michael rambled. Usually, it was Jeremy who stuttered, so naturally he was taken aback for a moment.

"No!" Jeremy said, almost too excitedly, startling Michael in the process. "Um no, don't worry about it," Jeremy said quickly, hesitating before he continued quietly. "I just wanted to make sure you were safe."

Now, it was Jeremy who was blushing.

Michael decided to break the silence and change the subject, hoping Jeremy wouldn't ask about the all-too-familiar dream.

"So, do you happen to know when you're going to talk to Christine?"

Jeremy blushed even more at the thought of Christine. "I guess sometime this week, while I still have the chance" Jeremy tried to say this confidently, but Michael saw right through the mask.

"Dude, if Christine has a working brain, she has to like you back! What's not to like?" Michael let his heart take control of his brain and continued talking before he could stop himself. "I mean you're smart, you're funny, you're super caring, not to mention you aren't hard on the eyes either. You're everything I'd want in a best friend, and if Christine doesn't see any of it, she doesn't deserve you."

"You really mean it?"

"I-I um yeah, I do," Michael responded. He coughed and then was change the subject for the second time, when Jeremy butted in.

"So, how about we get you that slushie I owe you?"

-

The boys were on their way back from 7-11, slushies in hand, when they spotted Christine in the park.

"Now is your chance!" Michael gently nudged Jeremy in Christine's direction.

"I- I don't know if I-" Michael cut Jeremy off. "Remember how we practiced last night?" Jeremy nodded hesitantly. "I want you to say what you said to me. Just speak a little slower and be yourself! You can do this!"

"O-okay" before Jeremy could put any more thought on the matter, his legs carried him towards Christine. The girl spotted Jeremy and smiled, standing up to greet him.

Michael felt a slight pang in his chest as the two talked and laughed, but he ignored it. He just wanted his best friend to be happy. And when Jeremy said, "I need to tell you something," he slid his headphones over his ears and sat down at a distant picnic table, mind drifting far away as the familiar Marley song played through his ears.

A few moments later, Michael felt a tap on his shoulder. A noticeably upset Jeremy stood behind him, tears brimming in his eyes. Michael's heart instantly broke in half at the sight.

Michael couldn't believe how selfish he was being, just moments before. He was riddled with guilt, and he blamed himself, as he did with most things. All that mattered to him most of the time was the well-being and happiness of Jeremy, and he had never seen Jeremy this sad in forever.

"Can we go back to mine?" Jeremy pleaded. "Of course," replied the boy in the hoodie.

The two walked to Jeremy's house in silence. Not the comfortable silence the pair was so used to at this point, no, it was a rather tense few minutes. As soon as they entered the door of Jeremy's home, however, Jeremy collapsed in a fit of sobs.

Michael enveloped Jeremy in a great big bear hug, his heart shattering further. Jeremy hugged back, crying on Michael's shoulder. Michael didn't mind though, not with the heart-wrenching circumstance he was in, seeing his favorite person this sad.

Michael managed to carry Jeremy to his bed and wrapped the unstable boy in the comforter.

"I've like-no, loved her for so long, Michael! Where did I go wrong?" Jeremy raised his voice slightly, breaking into another fit of sobs.

"Shh, Jeremy, you didn't do anything wrong." Michael sat down next to his friend and handed him a tissue. "Like I said, she doesn't deserve you. She couldn't see how amazing you are, you deserve someone who does.

"Who are you kidding?" Jeremy asked, his voice breaking. "It's not me who deserves better, it's her. I mean, look at me!" He gestured towards himself. "I'm a mess. I don't deserve anybody!" His voice softens. "Who would like a loser like me?"

"Jeremy, I guarantee you, anyone would be extremely lucky to have you. I know there is someone out there who would love everything about you, mess and all. Every. Single. Thing"

Jeremy sniffed, tears slowly, but surely still trickling down his face. At some point through the events, Michael started crying, but he didn't care enough about himself at the moment to notice. He was too focused on the person who was more important to him. Weakly, Jeremy challenged, "Oh yeah? prove it." He was too emotionally drained to say anything else.

Michael was quiet for a minute. "I will, one day, Jeremy, but today's not that day."

"You promise?"

"I promise"

With that, the boys, whose eyes were bloodshot from all the crying, shamelessly cuddled up and took a well-needed nap.

A/N: 1,000 words later and it's almost 2 am... whoops.