Michael's P.O.V.
After about fifteen minutes of battling, Monica can't take anymore and decides to sit down. I don't argue and follow after her to the bench, relaxing on it and taking drinks from our waters.
"You've been improving," she begins.
"Yeah, I finally told myself that I need to focus on this stuff. It's important in my life and I want to become stronger," I admit. It's true. Monica being picked for the mission and considered one of the ten most powerful Galaxies inspired me to work up to the next level. I may not be as strong as she is, but I need to be the challenge for both of us.
"Wow, impressive," Monica nods.
"Or maybe it was because you weren't here to distract me," I joke with a serious face.
"What? Nuh uh," she replies, looking at me in disbelief. I chuckle and she playfully shoves me. "You idiot!"
"Idiot doesn't insult me anymore," I confess.
"Fine. I'll call you...a white dwarf," she responds, smirking. The smile wipes off of my face and I stare at her with wide eyes.
"Oh, no you didn't," I express. In astronomy, a white dwarf is a star that has exhausted all its central nuclear fuel and is floating in space as basically a dead star. This term has been a common insult with Galaxies for the past few years because let's face it. No one wants to be called a dead star. It isn't too derogatory, but if used in a very rude way, it's offensive.
"But I did. Whatcha gonna do about it?" Monica questions lightheartedly.
"I'll get you back for it. Maybe today, maybe next week. I could even wait until next year. But I'll get you back eventually," I inform.
"Thanks for that warning. I'll keep an eye out for you," she replies.
"Michael!" Avalon calls. I glance up at the direction of his voice and see him standing with a vaguely familiar face. "Work with Justin, please."
I sigh and stand up, approaching Justin. He's one of our fellow Galaxies and he's super smart, the smartest in our group. But being bright isn't everything; he lacks the qualities of being a strong Galaxy like Monica. So although his brain is full of magic unknown to me, he doesn't do too well in battle, except for the fact that he can perform spells that we haven't learned, causing a disadvantage to his opponent.
"I see the way you look at her," Justin starts when we find an open spot to battle.
"What?" I question. I'm taken aback by his statement for a second, wondering why he's bringing this subject up.
"Monica. I've seen the way you two have acted over the years and just now when you were talking to her, I noticed how special she is to you," he continues and I avert my gaze to Monica, who is now having a conversation with Avalon.
"Yeah, I know. Why are you telling me all of this?" I ask.
"You gotta get her, man!" Justin says. "Everyone else in this room thinks you guys are the perfect couple and it's surprising how after all these years, you're just 'friends.'"
"Wait, everyone?"
Justin nods. "It's so obvious. We've all seen moments between you two that it's been a huge discussion in here for quite some time."
Damn. We hardly talk to these people and yet we're the topic of gossip. But as much as I agree with them and would love to finally have Monica, there's one person standing in my way.
"Yeah, well, she has a boyfriend and it's not me," I inform.
"Really?" he inquires with a very shocked look.
"It's hard to wish them to break up when her boyfriend is my bandmate," I add.
"Ooh, ouch. Well, in my opinion, it's fate for you two to be together, so keep your hopes up. Nothing that special can ever go unnoticed," Justin advises.
"Thanks," I reply with a smile.
"No problem. It seemed like you needed a little encouragement anyways," he shrugs. He backs away from me and gets into his battle position. "You ready?"
Lingering my eyes on Monica for just one more minute, I tear them away and focus on Justin. "Let's go."
Monica's P.O.V.
The phone lines and towers have been fixed so we're finally able to get cell reception, which is why on Sunday afternoon, I decide to call all of the boys over to hang, since I haven't seen Calum and Luke in a while and I'd like to know how they're doing. I also haven't spoken to Ashton since Michael and I dropped him off at his house right after the mission. In the chat, I let them know to meet at Michael's house and not long after I send the message, I find myself in his house already.
About an hour later, everyone is here and we're chilling on the couches like normal, in our usual spots, too. I'm cuddling with Ashton on the corner of one couch while Michael sits at the other end of this one and Luke and Calum occupy the second couch. Not sure how this became our usual spots but I'm not complaining.
"So how is everyone? I think the storm affected all of us in some way, right?" Ashton questions.
"Not really for me," Calum answers first. "My family is fine and my house is alright, which is surprising. There is one huge crack down the block from my house and I was expecting something bad to happen to us, but we're okay."
"Phew, that's good," I express. Calum smiles at me and I return it. "Galaxies have special spells they can put over their house to protect it from things like that, so my family and house is fine, and obviously Michael's is, too."
"Wish you could have done that on mine," Luke says quietly. Our heads turn to look at him and he's glancing to the floor. He's silent for a moment until he takes a deep breath. "Half of my house is gone. I don't even know how it happened but it's gone. My family is okay but we're living with my aunt right now and I don't know what's going to happen next."
Oh, my God.
I look at Ashton and his expression is the same as mine. Untangling myself and sitting up, I approach Luke and embrace him. Not long after, Calum joins us, then Michael, and finally Ashton, giving Luke the much needed love and comfort right now in one big group hug. I can't imagine losing half of my house and being forced to live with a relative for the time being.
"That beats mine," Ashton replies when we break. He relaxes back on the couch and continues, "My grandma is severely injured and she's in the hospital right now."
"Woah, what?" Michael expresses and I settle into Ashton's arms again.
Ashton inhales and then informs, "Her house was also destroyed. Not completely, but enough for the structure to become weak and crash down. Basically, her house caved in on her and she nearly died."
Nudging my arm in-between him and the couch, I wrap the other one around his waist and hug him, my head resting on his chest.
"She's okay though, right?" Luke asks.
"Yeah. Like I said, she's in the hospital," Ashton answers.
"That's good. But just so you know, it's not a competition, Ash," Calum speaks.
"What do you mean?" he questions, narrowing his eyes and glancing at Calum with a confused expression.
I take over and explain, "You were kind of comparing Luke's situation to yours. You said 'That beats mine' and it sounded like you were implying that his was worse than yours."
"Oh, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean it like that," Ashton apologizes, looking at Luke.
"It's okay," Luke shrugs.
"Wait. First you, your mum, and now your grandma? Your family is making a trend of being in the hospital," I point out.
"I know. I don't know how we're going to pay for it all, though," he breathes.
Calum clears his throat. "I still have my gig money."
"What? Cal, I can't let you do that," Ashton voices.
"I still have mine, too," Michael discloses.
"Guys..."
"We want to help, Ashton. You need it way more than we do and hey, if we continue our band, we'll be playing more gigs soon enough that I'll be able to get it back," Calum explains.
Ashton takes a deep breath and lays his chin on my head. "I'll think about it." Calum smiles and sits back in the couch.
"Yeah, um, I don't think we'll be playing gigs too soon," Luke reveals. "Sorry to be a downer, but my electric is also damaged."
"Oh, shit, dude," Michael mumbles.
"My acoustic is fine, but my electric snapped in half," Luke admits.
"Damn it. Just when I was going to show them the two new songs we wrote," Calum declares.
"Wait, you guys wrote more songs? When?" I interfere, repositioning myself on the couch.
"Yeah, a few weeks ago. I wanted to show Luke a melody I had stuck in my head, so I asked him to come over and a song came out of it. Then, a few days later, another song popped in my head and I worked with him again and boom! Another song," he recounts.
"Yes! I really want to hear them now!" I exclaim.
"You will soon," Calum laughs.
"Wow, Mo. Just two months ago, you wouldn't even come to one of our rehearsals, and now you're excited to hear our new songs," Michael interjects, a smile playing on his lips.
Luke defends lightheartedly, "Hey, she likes our music and that's good enough for me. We finally have a fan who's not a member of one of our families."
"What if she's just pretending to like our band because she's friends with us, huh?" Michael says, thinking up a theory.
"Okay, enough," I giggle. "Honestly, I really like your music and no, I'm not saying that just because I'm your friend."
"Aw, thanks, Monica," Calum replies with the biggest grin I've ever seen on his face.
"Alright, who's up for a movie?" Michael announces. All of us collectively agree that a movie sounds good right now and I decide to make popcorn. I stand up and walk into the kitchen, remembering which cupboard is stocked with the typical movie snack and finding many bags of it. As I set the unpopped bag in the microwave, I hear the guys fighting over what movie to watch and I think to myself, Why am I friends with such dorks? I love them but they can be total immature boys sometimes.
Suddenly, Michael shuffles into the kitchen, shaking his head. With a deep breath, he relays, "I left them to choose a movie. Calum literally dived for the remote and I have never seen him act this way about choosing a movie before."
"Oh, my God," I sigh while rolling my eyes.
"Yeah," he responds and begins pulling out cups, plates, chips, and whatever else looks good to eat. This is very unusual for him because he's not the type to willingly serve his guests. Even when his mum forces him to, he breaks the rules and uses magic if the guests know about Galaxies.
"Hold up. You're actually bringing everything out without using magic?" I question.
He turns to me and replies, "Well, you explained earlier that we have spells to protect our houses and now with Luke's situation, I didn't really want to rub our wizardry in front of him, you know? After everything that's happened, using magic would be the worst thing to do right now."
"Wow. Since when did you start thinking over your actions?" I'm baffled by this.
"I don't know, I just...I guess it's because I finally found a group of friends that I'm happy with and who enjoy my company, too," he shrugs.
"Who are you and what have you done with Michael?" I sarcastically comment. He's never been this sensitive before.
"Fuck off," he expresses.
"Oh, there he is!" I voice. The microwave beeps and Michael beats me to it, opening it up and taking the bag out.
"Since you made fun of me, now I get to make fun of you. If you want the popcorn, come and get it," Michael smirks, holding the bag way above his head.
I forgot to mention that I'm kind of short and Michael plays this game with me all the fucking time. There is no way I'm jumping for that popcorn, especially when it's still pretty hot from being heated, so I glare at him and hope for the best. He shakes it as an attempt to get me to jump, but when he realizes I'm not going to do it, he lowers his arm, making it within reach. But as soon as I try to grab it, he uses his hand magic and transports the bag to a different location in the kitchen, causing me to lounge for his empty arm. My hand collides with his wrist and instead of focusing on the popcorn, I'm in a much better place to get even with him, since now I have his arm locked.
"You know, it would be a shame if this hand was broken," I challenge. I wouldn't really break it, but I'd bend his fingers and joints a little until it hurts.
"Yeah, okay. You can try but I know you," he retorts. Taking him up on that dare, I begin to slowly bend his middle finger first. But before it gets anywhere near hurting point, he swings his body around me and starts tickling me. I immediately release my hands from his and then through laughter, I realize I made a huge mistake. He has me trapped and he won't stop tickling me. And I'm ticklish everywhere so that's a big advantage on him, meaning he doesn't have to reach specifically for my feet to get me. He can tickle just my sides and I'm defeated.
"Okay! Okay, stop! Mikey, stop!" I declare through my giggles. He finally does and I'm able to catch my breath but he doesn't let go of me and I'm suddenly aware of our proximity. We've been this close to each other many times before (and him behind me) but something inside of me is making me feel different about this situation.
"I hope you've learned your lesson," Michael whispers in my ear and I have to admit, this is hot. No, not the temperature of his breath; the temperature of the sparks running through my body at his touch. "You can have your popcorn back if you don't say anything about what I just told you."
"Michael, I've never told your secrets before," I reply. He releases me and I turn around to face him. "Is everything okay?"
"They just mean a lot to me and I don't want to do anything that could ruin that," he confesses.
"I promise," I speak with a reassuring look. He smiles at me and moves along to finish gathering the snacks and dishes, which don't take him too long, and he's already out of the kitchen by the time I find where the popcorn ended up. As I pour it into a bowl, I reminisce about what the fuck just happened because with those emotions and feelings, I think I liked it.
No. I don't think I liked it.
I fucking loved it.
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;)
If any of you have seen Wizards of Waverly Place (a Disney Channel show from a few years ago), the character of Justin in that show is the Justin that battles with Michael in this chapter.
Rachel :)