Don't You Love Me? (Jeremy X Michael)

Chapter Nine

    "I'm so sorry this happened to you!" Rich says, not taking what Michael said into much consideration. His lisp still a prominent part in his speech.

    "W-why are you-?"

    "Jake hit you with his truck. He's supposed to be up here soon. I'm so sorry, Jake must've been texting again-"

    "Rich!" Michael yells to get his attention, it hurts his vocal chords, "Rich, what are you doing here?"

    Rich looks at Michael oddly, then remembers something, "Oh, yeah, we haven't been in much contact since high school. I'm with Jake now," he smiles, but it quickly fades away, "so when I heard that Jake hit your PT Cruiser with his truck, I had to see if you were okay. Jake probably was just texting or looking for something, I'm so sorry-"

    "No, it's not Jake's fault," Michael admits, "It's mine, I'm sorry for damaging Jake's truck... if it's too bad, I could pay for the damages..." He says, but he has no idea how he would. He can barely pay for his tuition.

    Rich shakes his head, "The truck didn't have too much of a dent. Your PT Cruiser is done for. If anything, we should be paying you for a new car."

    "No, you don't have to do that," Michael reassures. "My PT Cruiser is finally dead. I don't think I'll drive for a while, anyways."

    "You sure?"

    "Yes," Michael nods.

    "Okay," Rich says, shrugging, "So, how're you and Jeremy?"

    Michael blushes, "I-uh-"

    "Did you tell him?" He asks in anticipation.

    Michael smiles and nods, and Rich gasps in response.

    "What did he say!?"

    "He said- uh.. he kissed me...."

    Rich almost has a spasm, "WhAt!? Really?"

    Michael blushes, smiles more, and nods.

    "Oh my god! I knew you two would hit it off. Bro, you should've told him before he got with Christine, but hey, better now than never! So, you two are together?"

    "I mean, I guess..?" Michael never really just assumed that they were together, but he just knew they were probably more than friends...?

    At that moment, Jake walked in.

    "Hey," he says, walking up to Rich, "It took longer to get here than I thought," his eyes travel to Michael on the hospital bed, "Yeah.. I'm so sorry for hitting you. I should've paid more attention to the road..."

    Michael smiles in a way that shows his guilt, "I should've, too. It's okay."

    Rich glares at Jake and slaps his arm, "You shouldn't have been texting while driving, Jake!" He yells.

    "Rich- you don't have to get so upset at him..." Michael defends. He never really knew or cared about Jake, but he just feels... different now.

    "Oh! We should let you rest. You've been through a lot already this morning," Rich says. He smiles, says his goodbyes, and leaves the hospital room with Jake.

    Michael did feel tired, but he's almost afraid to go back to sleep because of his nightmare, so he stares at the plain white ceiling in silence.

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    500 Words