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Now Playing: ❝ Angel - Madonna❞
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1:28 ⸠——❍—————⸡ 3:47
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The sunset rays of golden and orange peeked through y/n's curtains as she sat on the rough carpet floor. She looked out the window a bit admiring the sunset. She remembered the day her and Gregory had an icy treat while admiring the sunsets. It was their usual thing to do over the weekend. She couldn't keep crying anymore. Her eyes felt dry as her cheeks did, overlayed with dried tears. She looked at the bear once more "Look Gregory it's the sunset you always loved.." she caressed the bear in her arms as she starred back.
She sat the bear next to her as she pulled her knees to her chest. She began to wonder if her parents were really okay now. She hasn't heard a word from them this week. Not from her mother's aggressive behavior or her father's muffled crying. It broke her heart more every night to hear how stressed her parents were knowing it was all her fault. At least that's what she thought of course.
She knew she needed to make an effort to make things better. It's what Gregory would have wanted. He must hate seeing his family falling apart from above. "I'll do it for you Greg" y/n had a sudden wave of motivation as she finally opened her door. The door creaked as she slowly turned the knob to open it. The house was awfully silent. She looked back and forth through the hall. All doors were closed shut as if the house was left abandoned.
She opened her parents door. She saw her father laid on the bed sleeping again. His chest rose up and down. His hand hung down still gripping onto the sleeping pills. She sighed in disbelief to see her father this way. She closed the door slowly to not make any noise. She turned around and stepped forward into the bathroom. Her feet stepped onto the cold tiled floor causing her to shiver a bit. She stood in front of the sink and allowed herself to look up in the mirror. "How did I let it get this bad.." she looked at her oily hair as strands were poking out of her tied back hair. She took out the hair tie as her hair stayed in the air. She placed her hand in attempt to comb through it and it felt stiff and tangled with multiple knots.
"This is going to take forever" she sighed.
Michael however had been collecting homework for Y/n. He had only wrote notes down in a separate notebook as he promised the teachers she would eventually catch up. He placed the last sheet of homework into a folder for her. He had everything organized. More organized than his room. More organized than anything he's ever done. He signed finishing the last sentence the teacher had wrote neatly on the squeaky whiteboard. The final school bell rang signaling for students to leave. They all rushed to the exit as if there was a zombie apocalypse in here.
Victoria grabbed her belongings and made her way over to Michael. "Hey doofus, what happened to Y/n? I've been trying to call her since her brothers funeral" she placed her hand on her hip switching her weight to her right leg. "She's having a hard time just give her some space-" Victoria furrowed her eyebrows as she slammed a hand on his desk "No Michael, she needs someone there for her! Did you not see the way she looked at the funeral?! I doubt anyone is taking care of her right now!" Michael realized she was right. He had no idea if she was being taken care of properly. Or if she was even taking care of herself "Yeah you're right" he placed his last belongings in his backpack and stood up from his seat swinging his backpack over his shoulder.
"We need to go see her today. I can't let my best friend go that easily" she crossed her arms. "We?" Michael raised an eyebrow "Yes she needs her best friends there.. or perhaps her crush" she chuckled as Michael's face grew a light shade of pink. "Just teasing let's go" she elbowed Michael as they exited out of the classroom. Jeremy and Mari came running over to Victoria as they saw her with Michael which was out of the normal. "Hey vic where ya going?" Jeremy raised an eyebrow as he caught up to the two "We need to see Y/n we don't know if she's even dead" victoria shook her head remembering how scrawny y/n appeared.
"Shouldn't we stop by to buy her flowers or something?" Mari pooped from behind the group as they jumped a bit "Mari! You scared me" "Sorry" she chuckled as her chains clanked together. "She's right.. We can't just show up empty handed" Michael stated as they had already exited out of the school and were walking down the sidewalk. "I'm sure there's a market coming up a few blocks" Victoria pointed straight ahead as she turned over the group. They nodded in agreement.
Back at the L/n's, Y/n had spent over an hour getting the knots out of her hair. She felt a relief as her hair brush went through the last knot on her slightly damped hair. She finally had taken a shower and wore a pair of clean and comfy clothes. She felt much better. Giving herself some self care boosted her mood. Her chest still felt heavy but she knew she had to get through this. For her. For her parents. For her little brother.
She tied her hair back, keeping it away from her face. She walked over to the kitchen grabbing a couple of trash bags, a broom and dust pan. She made her way back to her room scanning over the mess. Clothes on the floor. Her bed was undone. Plates of moldy food and flys. This was her second step of her healing journey.
Back with the gang, they were just a few feet away from Y/n's house. Michael had bought her yellow roses and her favorite ice cream. Victoria brought cupcakes and Jeremy brought bags of chips and Mari brought chocolate. They all made their way to the front door and knocked on it hoping for a response. Y/n lowered her music more as she placed the broom against the wall. She rushed over to the front door and opened it as she was greeted by her friends.
She was completely speechless. They were as well. "Y/n!" Victoria practically cried over the sight of seeing her best friend again. "Hey vic"she almost stumbled back as Victoria hugged her tightly. Y/n patted the girls back as she turned her attention to everyone else who had a worried expression.
Y/n's POV
"We were so worried about you! Have you ate?!" Victoria looked up and down at my body. It was quiet noticeably I haven't ate anything. I shook my head as I felt my appetite gain back a little. My stomach began making grumbling noises. "Goodness let me make you food" she lightly pushed me aside welcoming herself in. Everyone else followed except for Michael. I turned to look to see yellow roses in his hand and a tub of ice cream. "Michael.." I looked back at his light blue eyes as they became glossy. We both rushed over to each other hugging as tight as we were able to.
It felt really nice. His warmth. His scent. All of him. He pulled away "You look a bit better" he looked over at my washed hair and clean clothes. My face still had dark circles and eye bags. "Thanks" I shrugged a bit rubbing my elbow. "Oh- uh these are for you" he handed me the roses and tub of ice cream. I took them into my arms as his grip around them loosened. "Thank you mikey these are beautiful" I looked at the roses and back at him. His face became red. "Are you okay? Your face is red" I chuckled "Oh yeah it's just the heat" he nervously laughed scratching the back of his head.
"So y/n we are gonna take you out" "We are?!" Jeremy raised an eyebrow and Victoria slapped his chest giving him a side glare "Oh we are!" he nervously laughed "Oh uh I don't know" "Don't dare debate on this. Go change now" she shooed me back to my room taking the roses and ice cream out of my hands. I didn't feel like wearing much so I went with a pair of jeans and a black sweatshirt that read "AC/DC" in dark red.
The sound of glass breaking caught my attention and I ran back to the kitchen as I looked over at the kitchen as Victoria attempted to cook something. "Guys, please be quiet my parents are not in-" my mom came rushing with anger "What was that noise?!" everyone's eyes widen to see her appearance. Messy bun. Dark circled eyes. She wore an old t-shirt and sweatpants that revealed scars of self harm. She realized that we had visitors. Some she had not met yet. Specifically everyone in the room except for Michael.
"Y/n.. you have your friends over at this time?!" she clenched her fist and grit her teeth. "I didn't-" "Out of my house now" she pointed towards the door. As we all stood there with hesitation "I SAID OUT!" she screamed and we all ran outside of the house, stopping at the side walk. "YOU ARE A DISGRACE TO OUR FAMILY! NEVER COME BACK Y/N!" she yelled once more before shutting the door loud enough for the neighbors to hear.
I looked over at everyone's faces. "Guess I'm disowned now?" my voice trailed off "I didn't think your mum had it that bad" Jeremy added to the silence. "We'll duh Jeremy she lost her child!" Victoria slapped the back of Jeremy's head "Ow!" he rubbed the back of his head. "Maybe Henry or my mom will take you in" Michael placed his hand my shoulder. "I don't wanna be a burden" I rubbed my shoulder again. "Nonsense" he shook his head in disagreement. "Come on love birds let's go get dinner!" she tossed her hands in the air. "Love birds?!" me and Michael said in unison. Jeremy has a perplexed look and looked over to Victoria "They don't know they-" victoria shushed Jeremy before he could even finish that sentence. That caused my face to heat up. I looked over at Michael who's cheeks were bright red. I looked back at Victoria who raised her brows at me and glanced over Michael. I looked at Mari who had the same expression. She formed a heart with her hands.
He likes me? I looked back at Michael and I wrapped my arm over his "Come on mikey" I teased as I saw his face grow more red. "O-oh"
We began walking over to well wherever Victoria had planned really. Her, Jeremy, and Mari were in front of us talking among each other. Me and Michael were a couple of feet behind. I kept my arm intertwined with his. "So uh.. about your crush what she's like?" I smiled a bit "Um well she's.." his eyes glanced down at me "She's beautiful.. perfect everything about her is perfect. Her personality. Looks." his pupils practically turned into hearts "When can I meet her?" he took his eyes off of me starring back at the group "You've already met her" I followed his vision. Could it be Victoria..?
My heart broke a bit "O-oh" I don't blame him. She's really pretty. I looked down at the ground feeling a wave of sadness. I loosened my arm and dropped it to my side. "Everything okay?" Michael looked back at me "Yeah just hungry" I laughed nervously. He smiled and hummed in response looking back at the group. Or specifically Victoria..
Time passed by and lunch was actually great. It was at some neon diner called Tommy's. Nothing too big. The rest left back home as me and Michael made our way back to his house. "You sure she won't mind?" "Of course my mom loves you" Michael smiled as we made our way up the white wooden porch. Michael knocked on the door a couple of times as we were greeted by a smiling strawberry blonde lady. Mrs.Afton. "Oh Y/n!" she pulled me into her arms hugging me tightly "Goodness I thought I wouldn't see you again" she pulled away keeping her hands on the sides of my shoulders. "My my your face looks awful have you've not been getting enough rest?" she caressed my cheek. I felt so loved just being by her presence. Michael is lucky. "It's been rough for me" my voice trailed off, trying to keep eye contact with her shining emerald eyes. "Oh honey it must have been. Come in let me get you a face mask" she wrapped her arm over my shoulder.
I turned to look at Michael and he had a warm smile over his face as he followed behind us. She sat me on the kitchen stool as she took out ingredients from the fridge. "Mom y/n needs a place to say" she raised a brow as she glanced between us. "What happened?" "Well.." I fiddled with my fingers "My friends came over to keep me company but my mother got mad and she kind of disowned me?" "Oh sweetie, i'm sure your mother didn't mean to. She's just stressed that's all. I'll pay her a visit tomorrow" she continued mixing the substance as the texture became smooth and heavy. "You can spend the night till I solve things" she finishes the face mask "I really don't mind at all sweetheart" she smiles warmly at me. "Thank you Mrs.Afton I promise i'll help with the chores and taking care of the children" she chuckled "Oh please call me Clara. You know you're always welcome here" she walks over to me placing a pin on my hair to remove any hair from my face.
She spreads the mixture onto my face making sure it covered every inch except for my eyes and lips. I peeked seeing Michael mesmerized. "You wanna try mike?" I giggled. Clara looked at Michael and raised a brow "He sure needs it" she finished up with mine and gestures for Michael to come closer "Guess it wouldn't hurt" he pulled a chair and sat next to me. Clara did the same with him. Pinning his hair back with a rubber band. His bangs were sticking up like a palm tree. I knew I needed
a photo of him like that.
She finishes up placing the brush and bowl back on the kitchen counter "Alright who's ready for chores?" she makes her way pulling out a broom from the closet. Michael groaned at the sight. He dragged himself off of the stool taking the broom. "You and y/n can go clean your room" she handed me a couple of trash bags "Thank you sweetie" she ruffled my hair a bit as we made our way back up the stairs into Michael's bedroom. "She wasn't kidding.." I looked over at the mess. He laughed nervously. "Well let's get to work Afton."
It took about 2 hours to leave his room looking spotlessly. We laid on his bed feeling sore. "God Michael I swear if you make your room dirty again" I groaned as I turned to my side to face him "I promise I won't" he chuckled. "Why won't you tell me about your crush" I pouted and sat up with my elbows leaning against the bed sheets "Because it's a secret" "We've been friends for a month now i'm sure you can tell me" he looked up at the celling "Soon" I sighed and laid back down. There was laughter coming from another room. Evan and Elizabeth's laughter. That brought my mind to thinking about Gregory again. I felt my eyes begin to water again. No.. no not again I can't cry again.. "Hey are you okay?" I nodded my head trying to blink back tears "Did I say something to hurt you?" He looked at me worriedly and I shook my head as tears flowed down my cheeks "Gregory.." I mumbled out. I closed my eyes as I felt a pair of hands wrap around me. Michael brought my closer to his chest as I began to cry again. My mother hates me. My parents are in severe depression and pain because of me. Gregory didn't celebrate his birthday because of me. If I had been there sooner. If I had stood by his side he would still be here.
"it's not your fault love"
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