Art Credit (I think): abstractholly on Tumblr
OK, I don't ship these two, just BTW...
~BiCeratops
+=-=+
Rich's POV:
"Your SQUIP is gone? But how" Jeremy asks, looking very confused. I forgot the fact that he just woke up, so he had no recollection of what actually happened. Honestly, Michael would be the best one to explain it, seeing as he was actually there.
I reply, "Oh, athk your buddy. Anti-thocial headphoneth kid? He's been by like, a ton, by the way. What ith he, your boyfriend? No judgment. Just curiouth. Totally bi now."
Michael walks in on us talking and looks at me awkwardly. Dismissively, he says, "I'm sure some special someone will be lucky to have you, Rich."
My eyes widen. "You think?" I say, hopefully. I would love to have someone and being bi means I have double the chances. Maybe some guy or girl may find the real me as relationship material.
Maybe even Michael, if Jeremy is still gonna go for Christine. I mean, I have seen that rainbow pride patch on Michael's hoodie. It's hard not to notice it.
Suddenly, he interrupts me looking at him by shutting the hospital curtains. I try to listen to their conversation.
Jeremy asks, "What happened? All I remember is that noise, and..." It is understandable. All that pain must've messed with his head, leaving him with no memory of the full event.
Michael half-shouts back excitedly, "Oh man, it was genius! They were communicating with each other – they were linked! Which means... when you consider the kind of high-frequency sonic disturbance needed to wipe a system that powerful..."
I could see that from an outsiders view, it must be very fascinating, but for someone who knows what it feels like having it inside your brain, not so much.
Jeremy moans, "Michael. My head still hurts. . ."
Michael suddenly quiets down, but is still loud enough for me to hear him, barely. He replies, "Right, ah... Turns out you didn't have to destroy every Squip. Just one. And the rest... Boom boom boom." He makes fake explosion noises. Honestly, his excitement is kinda cute.
Their talking grows quiet, and I can't make out what they are saying. Soon enough, someone else enters the room, saying, "Jeremy, are you okay?" I can only assume that that is Jeremy's father. At least his father cares. . .
"Actually, I'm great—" Jeremy replies, clearly shocked about something. I wonder what is so shocking to him. His father cuts him off, "I'm glad. Because you're grounded. You're going to see some serious changes, young man, starting... " His tone shifts, "What?"
Jeremy replies, clearing up my confusion, "Dad... You're...wearing..." Nevermind. Still very confused. His dad responds sternly, "Don't look so surprised. I'm your father. And I wear the pants around here! Now let's get down to business: who's this Christine person, and why did I have to hear about her from him?"
I'm assuming by "him," he is referencing Michael. I guess Michael and Jeremy's father have met up outside of this room, because I haven't heard them talking about Christine. Then again, it could have been while I was sleeping.
Jeremy replies sadly, "It doesn't matter. After what I did, I'm lucky if she wants to go to the same school as me. . . . . What?" Seems as though there is something going on between his father and Michael.
Michael says snarkily, "It's reassuring. He still doesn't know anything about girls."
That's a weird thing to say, especially since I'm pretty sure Michael has had no experience with girls either. I guess Michael does have two moms, though. Maybe he has learned something from them? Or maybe he is just saying this. Also, isn't Jeremy's father divorced?
His father sings, "You gotta buy her a rose, compliment her on her clothes!" Ok, seriously, he is divorced and giving dating advice. Seems like a bad idea to follow his advice.
Next, Michael follows up, "Say you appreciate that she's smart!" I mean, that is good, but he still has no experience with girls either, so can you really trust him?
I seize the opportunity that their momentary pause has left me with.
I pull back the curtains to give my own kind of advice. "Nah man, you tell her that thhe exthiteth you thethually~" I coo, wiggling my eyebrows at Jeremy, who rolled his eyes. I guess I am not one to talk, seeing as the only dates I went on were when I had a SQUIP.
"And that's the way the way you get to her heart! Trust me, I know how it's gonna go! Listen, and oh!" Mr. Heere, Michael, and I sing together. Then, without thinking, Michael puts his hand on my shoulder, where there are still some burns. I let out a scream in pain.
Jeremy and his father leave the room to sign out of the hospital, but Michael stays behind, apologizing profusely for causing me pain.
"OK, seriously, I did it subconsciously! Please don't hate me! I didn't mean to-" he starts, before I cut him off. He looks terrified of me. It's understandable, seeing as I have tormented him for a few years now.
I look at him sincerely, saying, "It'th really fine! I'm okay. . . But how I treated you wath not okay!"
He looks shocked, not expecting me to be so okay about it. His head cocks to the side, giving me a confused look. He says slowly, "I mean... I agree! But why bring it up?"
I look at him sadly. "I jutht want to apologithe," I say sadly. "My THQUIP had me bully you so that way I could be popular! I'm tho thorry..." I can feel tears building up behind my eyes. "I hope you know that I would never do anything like that willingly, and now that my THQUIP is gone, I hope we can thtart again. And be friendth? But if you don't want-"
He cuts me off. "It's okay! We totally can start again! I would love to be friends! Erm- should we try to set everything aside, and get to know each other? Or. . ."
"That would be great!" I respond, smiling at him.
((Time skip brought to you by George Salazar and Gerard Canonico's adorably gay posts on Instagram))
Michael's POV:
I check the time on my phone to see that it is nearly 6:30 pm. A text comes in from my mom, asking where I was. Rich looks at me, confused. We had spent nearly 4 hours getting to know each other and talking.
Rich and I actually had a lot more in common than we both expected. We both smoke weed, like retro video games, and listen to 80s music, but he did lose me on Ed Sheeran and Taylor Swift. We became fast friends, and we already made plans to hang out tomorrow. I would be coming to visit him in the hospital tomorrow after school.
"Oh, I have to go... My moms want me home for dinner!" I say, giving him a sad smile. He looks sad for a moment before saying, "Aw, okay! See you, tomorrow, Michael!"
I grab my stuff and head to the door, waving goodbye to him as I leave the room. He waves back, and I close the door. I head out of the hospital to go to my PT Cruiser and go home.
Rich's POV:
Michael closes the door to my hospital room. I smile and wave as he exits. Then, I am left only with my thoughts, and the tiredness caused by the pain medications. My lids begin to feel heavy, and soon enough, I succumb to the sleep threatening my body.
Michael's POV:
I pull my PT Cruiser into the driveway and carefully exit the car. Swinging open the front door, I am greeted by my mama standing in the doorway.
"Saan ka ba? (Where were you?)" she questions, getting a bit in my face. I roll my eyes and sigh back a response.
"Sa ospital, ang nanay...(At the hospital, mamma...)" I reply calmly, backing up a bit so we had at least some space in between the two of us. She looks confused for a moment, then asks a clarifying question: "Pagbisita ni Jeremy, inaakala ko? (Visiting Jeremy, I assume?)" she asks.
"Ya, mamma, and Rich," I answer, switching to English. Her eyes widen. "That Goranski boy?" she questions me.
I nod in reply. She nods back and sighs, "Just remember to call me if you are going to be late. Dinner's on the table. Mom's not getting home until ten, so it's just us two tonight!"
I shrug and sit down to dinner, telling her about my day and what me and Rich had talked about.
((TIME SKIP brought to you by this one shot sitting heere since the middle of November and the fact that I want to actually give y'all content))
Rich's POV:
I crack my eyes open to once again see the sad blank room. I sigh and roll over to grab the TV remote. Glancing at the time, I notice that it was nine in the morning, and it was Saturday! Which means that Michael should be here in about an hour. I swipe up the remote and flick on the TV, turning on Desperate Housewives. Then, I grab my phone for the first time since I woke up to see a load of notifications:
TEXT: JENNANA- Hey, get well soon! We all miss you at school!
SENT: last night, 6:30 pm
TEXT: Cookie- Sorry I can't make it tonight... :P My mom had some stuff she wanted me to do, including laundry... I'll try to make it tomorrow.
SENT: last night, 5:00 pm
MISSED CALL: Cookie
last night, 4:45 pm
TWITTER: Jenna Rollin' tweeted: My heart goes out to Rich, who is still in the hospital tonight! Love you, bud!
Thursday, 3:28 pm
Instagram: Brookie Cookie tagged you in a post!
Wednesday, 9:55 am
MISSED CALLS (4): Cookie
Tuesday
TEXT: Jakey D- I hope your okay. I just can't bring myself to come see you tonight. I'll come on the weekend, I swear.
Tuesday, 1:56 pm
I decide not to look at anymore. I sigh and turn off my phone once again, wondering if it would've been better if I'd never opened it in the first place. It just made me feel bad to see my friends worrying about me so much.
I am startled out of my thoughts when Michael opens the door of the room, waltzing inside.
Michael's POV:
I open the door of the room to find Rich staring off into space. He practically jumps when he sees me, and I immediately feel bad for scaring him.
"Heyyy," I whisper. "Sorry for scaring you, I know I'm here early, I just-"
"Oh nononono. It'th fine, I was just lotht in thought. I'm glad your here early, cauthe I'm bored anywayth," I hear him say with a smile.
"Oh, okay!" I smile back, sitting down next to the bed. Being the curious bitch I am, I ask him, "So, what were you thinking about?"
He looks sadly at me and sighs, "I checked my phone and thaw how many people were worried about me... It jutht maketh me feel bad..."
I furrow my brows and give him a sad look. I say, "It must suck... It's not even really your fault, you do realize that, right?"
"I gueth..." he sighs before looking me in the eyes with a light blush spreading across his cheeks.
There were tears forming in his eyes. His amber eyes didn't have as much light in them anymore, not that I looked at them that much.
Don't lie to yourself, Mell. You have a cru-
Shut up. I don't like him like that. I literally just truly met him yesterday. He bullied me, and that was all I really knew he would be until yesterday. But.... I mean.....
Then I realize that we have just been staring in silence into each other's eyes. I feel my face heat up as I blush red, and I dart my eyes towards the wall.
He calmly says, "Yethterday you thaid that thomeone would be lucky to have me... I jutht wanna know who you have in mind, becauthe I'm pretty thure that no one liketh me without the THQUIP, tho..."
"I'm sure there's plenty of people that would want to date you! You're a really great person! I mean, who wouldn't like you? I really li-" I say, cutting myself off barely in time. My face heats up even more. He isn't stupid... I just told him.... Oh fuck....
Look what you did. Now he's going to hate you and never talk to you again. Maybe he'll beat you up! You deserve-
Suddenly, he asks, "What did you jutht thay?"
My eyes go wide. Maybe he didn't hear me! I might be safe! His voice cuts through my thoughts.
"Um, I'm going to jutht give thith a try... If you don't like it, jutht punch me to make it thtop..." he says before grabbing my hoodie and pulling my face closer to his. I feel his warm breath against my face. I lean closer to him, letting him do what I wanted so badly.
Slowly, his soft lips press against mine, and I just melt right into the kiss. My heart pounds madly, and all I can focus on is the softness of his lips.
Bum-bum
His grip loosens on my hoodie, and I raise my hand up and put it on the side of his face.
Bum- bum
I can smell him. Even though he had been in the hospital for over two weeks, he still smelled exactly like my own house. I loved it.
Bum- bum
His lips had a faint taste of cherry almost like he had put on chapstick a while ago, and it just never washed off. It tasted exactly like a cherry Slurpee, my favorite drink. I smile into the kiss.
Bum- bum
His right arm wraps around my head over my shoulder, pulling my face closer to his.
Bum- bum
He pulls away, and a deep red blush had spread across his face. He stammers, "Thorry! Unleth you liked it! I mean- you didn't punch me..."
I smile lightly at him, saying, "N-N-No, I-I lik-liked it..."
I trail off, not knowing what to say. Instead, we connect lips once again, which just felt right.
Bum- bum
Bum- bum
Bum- bum
Bum- bum
Rich's POV (same time as Michael's):
Michael asks me what was wrong and what I was thinking about when he comes in.
I sigh and say to him sadly, ""I checked my phone and thaw how many people were worried about me... It jutht maketh me feel bad..."
He looks upset and furrows his eyebrows, saying, "It must suck... It's not even really your fault, you do realize that, right?"
Replying to him, I mumble, "I gueth..."
I can feel tears prickling in my eyes, and I turn my head. Our eyes meet, and I become entranced in his chocolate brown eyes. We just stare into each other's eyes.
Wow, he is just so cute.... I definitely like him...
Suddenly, he moves his eyes, and a deep blush burns on his cheeks. I manage to calmly say, "Yethterday you thaid that thomeone would be lucky to have me... I jutht wanna know who you have in mind, becauthe I'm pretty thure that no one liketh me without the THQUIP, tho..."
I wanted for him to tell me if he liked me.
He would never settle with me. He deserves so much more than the depressed, suicidal, burned, bisexual, short boy with a lisp and trauma from a stupid Tic Tac. I'll never have a chance with Michael Mell.
"I'm sure there's plenty of people that would want to date you! You're a really great person! I mean, who wouldn't like you? I really li-" he starts before cutting himself off and turning a deeper shade of red.
My eyes go wide, and I ask, "What did you jutht thay?"
He, for a moment, looks relieved. I wonder why.... Does he not like me? What if he hates me? Ohh noooo....
Just do it. Doesn't hurt to try.
I say, "Um, I'm going to jutht give thith a try... If you don't like it, jutht punch me to make it thtop..."
He nods, and I grab his signature hoodie, pulling him in for a kiss. Our lips press together, and it feels like a thousand fireworks go off in my heart.
His lips were so soft and.... and.... I just can't think.... I have to just appreciate this amazing moment.
My heart jumps thumps as I take in his smell, the taste of his lips, the softness of his lips, the feel of the hoodie, and the feelings that came with this kiss.
True bliss
I loosen my grip on his hoodie after realizing that I was holding onto it so tightly that my knuckles hurt. He places his warm hand on my face. I melt into his touch, giving a small smile into the kiss. I wrap my arm around his head over his shoulder, so that way we could be closer. He edges closer to me.
Suddenly I realize that I am kissing Michael Mell. I pull away, my face heated up with a deep red blush.
I stammer out, "Thorry! Unleth you liked it! I mean- you didn't punch me..."
I was scared that he was mad or hated me. What if he thinks I'm disgusting or rude?? But he didn't punch me to have it stop. Maybe he didn't punch me because of my burns, but he really wanted it to stop... What if he slaps me and tells everyone that I kissed him without consent? I never want to be known for that!!!
But he says with a goofy smile on his face, "N-N-No, I-I lik-liked it..."
We kiss again, just feeling that it felt right.
Suddenly, the door swings open. We back away from each other and turn to see Brooke in the doorway.
"H-hey, Cookie!!" I stutter to her, remembering that she was coming to see me today.
She wiggles her eyebrows, gives me a smirk, then says, "I'llll leave you two be to keep making out...."
She backs out of the room and closes the door. Michael turns to me with a surprised look.
"Should we worry about her?" he asks.
I respond, "Go get her, she's going to tell Chloe, who'll tell Jenna, who will tell EVERYONE."
He nods and gets up, running out of the room to go get Brooke.
I smile, and when he leaves, I start to freak out. I think Michael Mell is my boyfriend now...
~\^/~
This has been sitting unfinished for, like, three weeks.... At least I finished it! While I was writing, my cat came and sat with me. Heere's some cute pics:
She is so cute! I was listening to Bo Burnham songs...
~BiCeratops