Mickey stretched his legs out onto the coffee table in front of him, casually clicking the buttons on his game controller. He stayed quiet and listened to the curses and arguments between his friends over the headset.
Nothing new.
Mickey was always the “levelheaded” gamer, only fighting or cursing when he was losing. Which was happening at the moment. He was losing the game, but oddly, he wouldn’t curse at everyone who shot him.
Something new.
“‘ey, Mickey!” Ronnie called through the headset. “Are you still there?”
“Yeah,” he replied, shooting down Ronnie as he did so.
“What’s up, Mick?” one of his friends, Trent, inquired. “Your team is losing and I don’t hear a bunch of curses towards Ronnie–”
“– even when I’m on your team,” Ronnie muttered disheartenedly.
Mickey rolled his eyes at the pout Ronnie must’ve been wearing at the moment. He just knew he was. “It’s nothing.”
“I think I know what it’s about…” his best friend stated, amusement clear in his voice.
He just stayed quiet, listening to his friends asking Ronnie what’s up. Though, knowing better, Ronnie didn’t answer, claiming that it was a secret.
“C’mon, Mick!” Henry, another of his friends, exclaimed. “Don’t be all Mr. Cool and Mysterious!”
“Oh, you think I’m cool,” Mickey muttered mockingly.
The guys cackled in laughter, but Mickey didn’t join them. His mind kept trailing off and his lips kept on grinning. He couldn’t believe that Michelle– the Michelle Sarah Richmond– was his girlfriend (officially). Ronnie very-well knew how long he wanted her and now that she's his–
Boys and girls, wouldn't you like to see something strange?
Mickey smirked at his ringtone that he kept ever since he got his phone over two years ago. He never bothered changing it since The Nightmare Before Christmas was his all-time favorite movie. He faintly heard Ronnie commenting on the ringtone through the headset.As the song reached the chorus, Mickey lazily grabbed the phone sitting beside him and switched his smirk into a full-blown grin at the Caller ID.
He muted the headset, even took it off and tossed it to the side, before he cleared his throat and accepted the call. Finally remembering the game he was in, he placed the phone between his shoulder and ear and answered, trying to sound cool, "'ello."
"Hi," the cutesy voice belonging to his girlfriend greeted cheerfully. "You called me?"
Red crept up his cheeks, remembering his impulsive call to Michelle at seven in the morning. But, before it could've gone to voicemail, Mickey immediately hung up out of embarrassment. He didn't want to seem clingy to his new girlfriend. "Oh, yeah," he muttered. "That was butt dial. Sorry."
Michelle giggled, much to his relief. "Okay. Am I interrupting something?" she asked at the sound of all guys from his game yelling incoherent words at once, loud enough to make Mickey flinch.
"Uh, not really," he answered, ignoring the continuous shouts from his "friends". "I'm just playing video games."
"Are you sure? I can just hang up."
"You're such a mean girlfriend," Mickey stated, mockingness in his voice, "not wanting to talk to her boyfriend."
"I-I didn't mean it like that!" Michelle instantly insisted. "Th-They're your friends and… and..." She trailed off. "Sorry," she whispered, her voice calm and collected.
It surprised him to hear the calm, collected whisper in response from behind, “It’s fine.”
He swallowed and softly smiled. "I'm just teasing you, Angel," he whispered, not knowing that she swallowed at the nickname since it reminded her of her dream. "It's fine," he echoed, his voice slightly imitating that calm, collective voice.
“Sorry,” she repeated, sounding sheepish and embarrassed. This apology was for her before apology.
“You’re adorable,” Mickey complimented, chuckling.
“Yeah, yeah,” Michelle said dismissively, her voice altering a bit. He didn’t notice it, of course. “Well, what do you wanna talk about?”
“Anything. I just wanna hear you talk.”
Silene met the line and Mickey bit his lower lip. Michelle was either blushing like a mad woman, feeling utterly embarrassed, or she hung up. He knew that it was most likely the first choice.
“You’re mean,” she finally uttered, her voice getting squeakier. “Gosh. Even on the phone, you can make me blush!”
He couldn’t resist laughing in response. “If only I was there…”
“Well, we’re still on for our date tonight. Right?”
“Yeah,” Mickey replied happily, his face brightening, as he shot Ronnie down. He wasn’t really paying any attention to the game, just allowing his character to follow Ronnie and shoot him as much as possible. “You excited?”
“Uh, maybe,” Michelle murmured bashfully.
“Wanna know where I’m taking you?”
She stayed quiet for a moment then admitted, “Honestly, no clue and that kinda worries me.”
Out of curiosity, Mickey had to ask, “Did O’Connors take you out on dates?”
“Well, they were more hangouts to say the least.” Another pause. “So, this is pretty much my, uh, first date.”
One of your firsts that I shall take, he thought joyfully in the back of his head. The thought of being Michelle’s firsts excited him. Never before did Mickey have a girl, or at least a pure one, that he’d be able to do things with her and hold the rightful ranking of being the one to “take that first”. His mind wasn’t even thinking of the “dirty” firsts, because last thing he wanted to do was rush things.
“Mickey?”
Mickey’s eyes widened and he snapped back into reality. “Sorry,” he apologized. “Just spaced out.”
Shouts came from Michelle’s line and he couldn’t hear her responses that well. All he could tell was that she was nervous and scared. Suddenly, she came back on and said, “I have to go. I’ll see you later, Mickey.”
“Bye, Angel.”
Mickey couldn’t even see the red paint on her cheeks at his new nickname for her. “Bye, bye,” she bidded then the line was cut.
He grinned to himself, tossing the phone to the side and slipping on the headphones, turning off the mute. “I’m back,” he greeted.
“Mickey!”
Rolling his amber eyes, Mickey retorted, “Such fags.”
*
Michelle was practically bouncing on her feet. She stared at the beautiful reflection in the mirror and couldn’t help feeling proud of her sister’s finished product.
To start things off, the outfit was adorable and sexy. It contained a loose, white tank top tucked into her waist-high, goldish-tan skirt, cut off mid-thigh, with golden crosses going over it. To cover any bruises slowly disappearing, she wore a cute, white cardigan that reached past the skirt by a small bit. Megan even lent Michelle her golden flats since Mickey warned her to dress cute and partially comfortable– his exact words.
Michelle’s head portion was done simple, but perfect. Her hair laid in loose curls on her shoulders, some strands falling into her eyes. She wore black eyeliner and mascara, along with light, golden eye shadow. Her lips were covered in shiny, cherry-flavored lip gloss and, for once, she actually wore a tiny bit of blush to just “add color to the skin of yours”– Megan’s exact words.
Receiving a text from Mickey to go outside, Michelle grabbed her small clutch bag that only contained money and her cellphone. She sneaked out the window and hurried along the side of the house to the car parked nearby. She didn’t even hesitate when throwing open the door and slipping inside.
“Wow.”
Michelle looked over at Mickey, finding him gawking at her and her outfit. She bit her lower lip, officially feeling nervous about her, or Megan’s, outfit choice. “Uh, sorry,” she apologized, flattening out the skirt. “I wasn’t sure of what to wear, but I could go back and ch–”
“You look beautiful,” Mickey cut her off, smiling from ear to ear. “Trust me, it’s perfect. Though I think I’m going to find some difficulty in taking my hands off of you tonight…” He shot her a suggestive wink.
“Hmmm… I was thinking the exact same thing,” she responded, forcing away her shyness. She leaned into him, laying her hand on his chest and trailing it up and down. Michelle wasn’t lying. She doesn’t think she’ll be able to take her hands off of him.
Mickey wore a dark gray button up that didn’t pass his elbows at all, along with a pair of partially ripped jeans. His hair wasn’t taking long to grow as it was definitely longer than it was on Tuesday. But Michelle didn’t mind his long hair. In fact, she loved it since she could run her fingers through each strand.
“Lesson twenty,” Mickey spoke, his voice cracking a bit, his breathing taking a pitch. “Just… Seduce me, please.” Humor, and lust, filled his eyes at his words as he stared at her.
Michelle blushed and pulled away, laying her hands on her lap. “Me? Seducing?” she inquired, biting her lower lip. “No way… Wait, isn’t seducing and flirting the same thing?”
“Flirting is innocent,” he chimed. “Seducing is… Well, it’s more sexual and sexy.”
“Uh, I think we should get going,” she stated, feeling her face heating up even more. She looked away. “My parents might get suspicious of a car like this sitting near their house…”
“Give me a kiss and I’ll start up the car.”
Michelle’s head snapped back to him and those pools of blue grew wide. “What? No, Mickey! Not here!”
He shrugged and pulled out the keys. He fixed the seat so that it reclined before flexing his arms over his chest and resting against the seat. “Okay, fine,” he replied simply.
“Mickey!” she hissed, smacking his arm. He wouldn’t budge. “Fine!” Michelle unclipped her seatbelt and climbed over to the driver’s side, her legs straddling Mickey’s waist and her hands on either side of Mickey’s head keeping her up. “Mickey, I swear,” her fingers trailed down his chest seductively, “I’ll kiss the fuck out of you after we get to our first stop. Just, please.” Her voice turned into a whimper as her hand trailed back up to his head and trailed over his lips.
Mickey’s face was priceless. He stared up at her, mixing various emotions together. Bewilderment, lust, shock, lust, disbelief, and– well, lust. He involuntarily ran his tongue over his lips, but that was the only action he could do. Mickey didn’t even try reaching up and gripping her waist like he’d usually do.
She tilted her head forwards until her lips were against his ear. “Please, Mickey,” she whispered, brushing her nose against his ear. “Unless you want to still–” Last thing expected was Michelle to be pushed off of Mickey and back into her seat.
“Let’s get going then,” Mickey muttered, his voice wavering. He rapidly started the car and drove off.
Michelle flushed at the thought of what she just did and looked out the window.
“You’re really becoming a bad mamajama,” he commented after a few minutes of silence.
“Really?” she said and looked over at him, her eyes brightening. “I am?”
He nodded. “But I don’t get why you still want to be bad though,” Mickey stated, dampening her mood. “I prefer your sweet, innocent side.”
She stayed quiet, turned her head again, and kept herself watching out the window the entire time. Michelle wasn’t sure whether she should’ve been embarrassed or upset or angry. She was mainly the first two and didn’t have the slightest amount of courage to look back at him during the car ride.
No wonder why Mickey only called her cute or adorable, never sexy or hot. Sure, being called sexy or hot isn’t always the sweetest compliments, but sometimes it’s good to know that you have sex appeal. Michelle’s face slightly went red. Did this mean Mickey didn’t find her as attractive as he did with every other girl he was ever with? He probably considered her as a puppy trying to become alpha of the pack.
But the part of this all that angered Michelle was that this “new side” of her felt natural. It didn’t feel like it was something completely new to her body. It was almost like Mickey held a key and unlocked her hidden side. So, really, she wasn’t going to just change back to her old, innocent self in a snap of a finger. Well, if Michelle even managed to turn back, it didn’t mean she’ll be her completely innocent self again.
It also felt hypocritical for Mickey to want her to be innocent and all.
“Angel, are you okay?” Mickey inquired, interrupting her thoughts.
“I’m fine,” she lied smoothly, continuing to stare out the window. She felt a warm, large hand grasp her hand and place it on the gear shift, his hand continuing to cover hers.
He uttered in a murmur, “You may be a good liar, but not to me.”
Flaring her anger, Michelle yanked her hand away from his and slipped it underneath her thigh.
“Ah, I did anger you,” Mickey stated amusedly. “Let me guess. It’s about my innocent comment?”
She stayed quiet.
“Oh, you’re now not gonna talk to me?” he asked, still amused. He playfully poked her thigh. “How scary!”
Quiet.
“You’re adorable. Have I ever told you that?”
Her jaw clenched, but she remained quiet.
Suddenly, the car came into a sharp stop, making Michelle violently jerk.
She gasped and turned to Mickey, who looked amused and annoyed at the same time. “What did you do that for?” Michelle inquired, placing a hand over her racing heart.
“Our first date isn’t starting so well,” Mickey stated sincerely, despite the amusement and annoyance in his face. “I shouldn’t have made that comment when it’s obvious you want to do it.”
“Well, I’m sorry,” she snapped, glaring at him. “I’m sorry how I enjoy these lessons. How I’m able to actually experience something new. I’m sorry that I loved these fucking lessons, because I was able to spend a lot of time with you!” She finished off yelling before she crossed her arms and looked out the window, not feeling even the slightest bad for yelling at him. He deserved it.
He spoke softly, “Michelle…”
“Sorry for this crappy start of our date,” Michelle finally said, actually feeling guilty. She looked back at him. “I didn’t mean to ruin it with my temper. Let’s just get going to wherever you had planned and pretend this didn’t happen.”
“You know,” Mickey whispered, reaching out and tucking her hair behind her ear, leaving his hand to cup the side of her face, “most girls would’ve been gone or just ignored what I said. None of them would’ve talked to me like you just did. I was insincere about you and your feelings. I deserved to be yelled at.”
“Mickey, please, start driving,” she mumbled, her face heating up from the pure sincerity radiating off of him. “It’s fine. Let’s just–”
“Can you just shut up and kiss me already?” He slipped his hand to behind her head and pulled her forwards, engulfing her lips with his.
It didn’t take long for Michelle to respond. One hand went to grip his shirt while the other draped over his shoulder and ran through his hair. She happily kissed Mickey, her eyes fluttering closed. This time, she was the one to pull away and rested her forehead against his, softly panting.
Mickey panted along, but grinned like a Cheshire cat. “Mmm… Ready for the rest of our date?”
Giggling, she pulled away to rest her back against the seat. “Sure,” she answered, slipping her hand in his. “Sorry, again.”
“If you say that one more time tonight, our date is over.”
She opened her mouth to apologize again, but quickly shut up and pulled on a wide, happy smile when he raised an eyebrow at her.
*
“Uh, and why are we here?”
“Because I’m being fucking spammed,” Mickey sneered, tightly holding Michelle’s hand in a death grip. “Sam won’t stop texting or calling me.”
“Oh,” Michelle muttered, following him closely behind.
It wasn’t soon after they made up when Mickey’s phone constantly went off without a pause for fifteen minutes. He couldn’t even turn off or put his phone on silent, because of the spam. Then he tried reading the texts and quickly spun the car around, heading towards that night club Michelle was dragged to by Mickey and Ronnie.
He sighed and yanked her forwards, hugging her into his side. “I’m sorry,” he apologized lowly, despite the music blasting, kissing the top of her head. “Top was supposed to be an amazing date and–”
Michelle went on her toes and stole a kiss from his lips, cutting him off. “It’s fine, Mickey. We’ll just have to have a second date, I guess,” she teased, going back on the flats of her feet, as they continued to the doors of the night club.
She enjoyed watching the happiness and shock fill those amber orbs and excitement running over those grinning lips.
“Really?”
“Unless you don’t want to,” Michelle added with a forced nonchalant shrug.
His grin widened. “I got worried that you’d dump me after this date.”
She giggled, resting her head on his chest. “Yeah? Well, I was considering…” She trailed off and pulled her head away to see his horrified expression. She burst into laughter and said, “I was kidding!”
Mickey snorted and shook his head. “You’re evil,” he stated, approaching the bodyguard standing in front of the night club. All he did was give a nod and the bodyguard didn’t hesitate in stepping to the side, along with his eyes that trailed down Michelle’s body, much to her discomfort.
They entered the club. Mickey dropped his arm from Michelle to just grab her by the hand and pull her that way through the club.
She frowned at his tensed back. When they were in the car, every emotion on his face and eyes just disappeared. His emotions came back when he parked the car and their playful banter outside, but he was tensed. Sure, Michelle didn’t like Sam. Not a tiny bit. But she knew that Mickey won’t turn into that cougar-loving, man whore again, especially since they’re dating now. He went through that “this-is-the-real-me” phase and failed, so there was nothing to worry about.
“Mickey!... Minnie?”
Pausing in step, the couple turned around to find Ronnie standing there in sweats.
“What are you doing here?” Michelle asked while Mickey narrowed his eyes at his friend.
“Doug texted me,” Ronnie answered, but he was looking at Mickey. “He said something about Sam being wasted and that I was needed here. I’m guessing Sam was harassing you…”
“Mickey, me boy!” slurred a drunken voice from behind.
Michelle and Ronnie turned around to see the busty woman standing there, her arms around Mickey’s body and her lips against his neck. Mickey looked comfortably uncomfortable and tightened his grip on her hand.
“I missed you so much, boo,” Sam slurred, continuing to kiss his neck. “You haven’t talked to me in over a month! You haven’t visited me for over a month!”
“Sam, –”
“Hey, Sam!”
Everyone’s eyes, including Sam’s, landed on Michelle who dropped Mickey’s hand already.
“What?” Sam slurred, narrowing her eyes, while she pulled herself away from Mickey.
“Are you into taken guys?” Michelle asked curiously, smiling innocently.
Disgust masked the woman’s clown face. “Of course not!”
She grabbed Mickey’s hand and pulled him until he was behind her. “Then stay away from my boyfriend,” Michelle warned in a sneer, her smile turning icy.
“Aw, little girl!” Sam slurred, stumbling towards her. She stopped barely an inch away from Michelle, being all up in her face. “You won’t last long with Mickey. He’ll get bored with you and your closed legs. Unlike you, I can satisfy him!”
Flipping her brown hair over her shoulder, she smirked. “Nobody truly loves a slutty cougar.”
“Why, you little–” Sam cut herself off to grab Michelle’s hair and yank it.
“Sam!” Ronnie and Mickey cried out.
Michelle whimpered in pain for a bit, her hands encircling Sam’s wrist, struggling to force her to let her go. “Stop,” she hissed repeatedly in a low voice. Thoughts raced through her mind and it made her more and more panicked until–
A fist slammed against the cougar’s face. Her grip on Michelle loosened and she dropped to the floor.
Michelle closed her eyes, her fist stinging in pain. Tears filled her eyes and she felt herself being spun around and hugged against a warm chest. She cried, but not from the pain in her fist– from the images that filled her mind.
“Come with me, Minnie,” Ronnie whispered into her ear and started pulling her out of the club. “Mickey will meet us at his car.”
Meanwhile they went to the car, Mickey stood there with his arms folded over his chest. He stared down at the woman sitting there, her nose bleeding, with an innocent look to her face. “What was that for?” he sneered.
“You owe me ten bucks.”
His eyebrow arched at the man appearing beside the woman and holding his hand down to her to help her up. “Doug, what are you talking about?” Mickey inquired.
“I took the blow to see if the little fireball is good enough for you,” Sam answered, wiping the blood from her nose. “Gotta admit though, I was surprised. That girl has a mighty punch.”
“We had a bet on what she’d do,” Doug added on. “I said that the girl would stand up to Sam while Sam said that she would do nothing. So, I ended up winning ten bucks and a chance to see Sam getting punched by a prissy, high school girl.” He grinned down at the woman.
“Oh, shut up,” she snapped and looked over at Mickey. “So, no hard feelings. Apologize to your girlfriend about me pulling her hair– I didn’t mean to really do any damage.”
“Are you two drunk?” Mickey asked curiously, eyeing the couple in front of him.
“Yep,” they answered simultaneously.
He spun on his heel and walked away, shaking his head. Of course they are.
*
“I’ll take you home,” Mickey insisted with a frown clear on his face.
“No,” Michelle replied, her head rested on the cushion seat and turned to face him as he drove. “Please, Mickey, I want to finish this date. It’d mean alot to me.” And I don’t want to go home.
“But your head–”
“– is fine,” she finished, rolling her eyes. “Stop being so worried. How am times do I need to tell you that I’m fine?”
He sighed and glanced over at her then back at the road. “Michelle, I’m taking you home,” he insisted.
“I take it back then.”
“Take what back?”
“The second date,” Michelle clarified, her eyes narrowing. “If you take me home, I refuse to go on a date with you again.”
Mickey groaned and threw his head back quickly. “C’mon! That’s not fair,” he stated.
“No. What’s not fair is you ripping both of us off on a first date. So, either, we go on our first date or we’re through.”
Rolling his eyes, he muttered, “Wow. Dating for barely a day and there’s already a breakup threat on the line.”
“You and I both know I’m not serious about breaking up,” Michelle chimed with her own eye roll. “I just don’t know what to say to convince you to continue this date.”
After Mickey exited the night club, Ronnie managed to calm her down with corny jokes. Her makeup didn’t end up that damaged, only her mascara was running, and Ronnie somehow managed to also help her with that issue as well. And, when Mickey came up to them, he immediately went up to Michelle and captured her lips in a fragile, but needy kiss. Pulling away, Mickey just made sure if she was okay and dismissed Ronnie, thanking him for cheering her up. He then dragged her into the car and that was the start of Mickey insisting to end the date.
“But–”
“You know what, just drive me home,” Michelle said softly and genuinely. This was completely wrong of her. She was trying to convince Mickey to continue the date when it was obvious he didn’t want to since he didn’t like how things panned out. “I’m being really selfish at the moment. If you want to take me home, then okay.”
Mickey’s gaze softened and his eyes flickered over to her. Then, much to her dislike, he agreed, “Okay. I will.”
*
Michelle stood there, her eyebrows close together and her eyes taking in the building in front of her. “This isn’t my house,” she stated bluntly, eyeing the name of the building.
“Aw, really? Damn it. Wrong place then,” Mickey mocked, slipping his hand into hers. “You wanted to continue the date and that is what we shall do.”
She looked over at him. “But I said–”
“I wasn’t going to take you home, Angel. I just wanted to trick you into thinking we were,” he explained.
Her jaw slacked. Mickey made her argue with him for over five minutes on whether to go home or continue the date.
He then added, “It was nice to see how eager you were to go on dates with me.”
“I want to punch you right now, but I don’t think this restaurant would allow a bruised man in.”
Mickey chuckled, wrapped an arm around her waist, and pulled her up against his chest. “Which, speaking of punches, that was very sexy of you to do so,” he said lowly, brushing his lips against hers. “It surprised all of us, but still sexy nevertheless.”
Those blue orbs grew wide. He just called her sexy… Michelle mentally shook her head and looked over at the building in front of them, his lips now brushing against her cheek. “So, uh, are we gonna go inside?” she asked, straining to hold back her excitement.
“Do you like chocolate?”
“Yes,” she answered happily, now grinning at the chocolate restaurant that stood in front of them.
He kissed her cheek. “Let’s get going then.”