Micah Bell X Female Reader
Word Count: 2200
You knew that a few people in camp couldn't read and that wasn't anything that really surprised you and you would never judge them for not being able to read, you knew that they all could learn if they wanted to. You also new that Micah couldn't read, actually a few people knew that he couldn't read but never mentioned it since he would just get angry. You didn't care at first, didn't think it was any interesting information, the others in camp who couldn't read were either learning or simply didn't care. You assumed that Micah simply didn't care that he couldn't read and wasn't interested in learning. The truth was that nobody had offered to teach him, for obvious reasons, and he was too embarrassed and prideful to ask for help.
You hadn't thought anything of it, you had never really spoken to Micah before so you didn't care whether he could read or not.
One morning you were just cleaning up around camp and when you were passing Micah's tent you saw something that broke your heart just a little bit. Micah was sitting on his cot, a letter in his hands and looking down at it like he was reading it. You flinched slightly when he screamed in frustration, not loud enough for anyone else to hear it though, and crumpled the paper and throwing it to the floor.
"Mr Bell?" you asked, moving to stand in the entrance of his tent.
"What the fuck do you want?" Micah asked, turning to face him. You didn't react to his hostile attitude because you understood that he was irritated about something else.
"I-I don't mean to pry or anything...I just, and please don't be offended...would you like me to help you?" you asked. You knew that Micah had a temper, that's one of the reasons that you tended to avoid him but everyone always said that you could be too nice for your own good.
"Help me with what?" he asked, looking at you like you had just said the most stupid thing ever.
"With...would you like me to teach you how to read?" you asked again, not even able to look him in the eyes.
"What? You think I'm stupid or something because I can't fucking read? I don't need your pity" he snapped, raising his voice and making you flinch again.
"No, I don't think that at all and I don't pity you...I just...I saw you and you looked frustrated, it alright...I mean, a few people here can't read. I didn't mean any offence Mr Bell...I just wanted to help...I-I'm sorry" you shook your head, looking at him as you apologised. You felt embarrassed and just wanted to get out of there. You apologised again as you turned around and began to walk out of the tent.
"Ah, look...alright. But you don't tell anyone, got it?" Micah huffed. It annoyed him to accept your help but you were always quiet around camp, you would keep it to yourself. He had seen you around camp, he had avoided you though. He avoided you because he knew that you didn't deserve his bullshit, you were just too nice and so god damn quiet, he wasn't going to harass you.
"Got it" you smiled as you turned back to him.
"Now...fuck off or something. I will come and find you when I want you" Micah sighed, waving his hand to dismiss you. You just smiled at him and nodded before leaving the tent, wandering towards the camp fire.
-----
Micah had gone to find you the next day, practically pulled you out of your chair and pushed you towards his tent. He wasn't going to let you give him lessons out where everyone could see. You knew that he would end the lessons as soon as you did something to upset or anger him so you were careful.
You had never taught anyone to read before but you would give it your best shot. You sat beside him on his cot and handed him some pieces of paper.
"What's this? Why didn't you bring a book or something?" Micah asked, holding the papers up with a confused expression on his face.
"When Hosea taught me how to read he gave me papers like this. He said that books could be a little strange to read so these were like...starting with something simple" you explained. You had written some letter combinations, words, and sentences on the paper. Each one getting increasingly more difficult.
"Right, sure" he nodded, as he glanced through the papers quickly.
"Alright...so, erm...do you want to just read through them and stop when you have a problem?" you asked with a small smile. The last thing you wanted to do was treat him like an idiot because you knew that he wasn't one.
Micah just nodded but didn't say anything as he looked at the paper and you realised that he was reading in his head. "Er, Micah? Could you read out loud? J-Just so I can hear if-" you started but he cut you off.
"Yeah, yeah. Just so you can hear if I fuck up" Micah rolled his eyes, obviously trying to cover up the embarrassment that he was feeling.
"I wasn't going to say 'fuck up'...just if you needed any help" you smiled, he just glanced at you before beginning to read it out loud.
Micah got through the first few sentences fine, not making any mistake but when the words and the sentences became a little more complicated, he started to struggle. You told him to break longer words up into easier parts and all the other little tricks you had been taught.
It wasn't long before you could tell that he was getting frustrated, getting angry at himself. "Hey, that's enough" you smiled, placing your hand on his as you pulled the papers away. "You're frustrated and you aren't going to learn like that. Keep the paper, keep practising but only when you can focus. If you get frustrated, put them down, walk away, and go back to them later" you told him, placing the papers on the cot and taking your hand off of his. "When you want more help, come find me" you smiled at him as you stood up and walked out of his tent. You would say that your first lesson went well.
Micah couldn't believe that you actually wanted to help him. He liked that you didn't treat him like a child or an idiot, you were so god damn nice.
-----
After a few more lessons, Micah slowly got less hostile towards you and fully accepted your help, and his reading skills were coming along well. You had even grown fond of your time with Micah. He definitely wasn't stupid. The others in camp had described him as ignorant but you knew that it just wasn't true. He learnt fast and you could see that he was actually very clever, more clever than people give him credit for.
Micah had also grown found of your time together as well. He was constantly amazed by your patience with him. He knew that he could be difficult, his temper was short and he tended to have outbursts when he became frustrated. He had snapped at you multiple times, he had made you flinch, he scared you but you remained patient and didn't give up on him. Eventually he stopped snapping at you, not wanting to scare you off when all you wanted to do was help. What really made him warm up to you was your kindness, he swears that you didn't have a mean bone in your body.
Micah's reading skills had got much better and you thought that you would change up the next lesson. You were supposed to meet Micah in his tent and that's exactly what you did. "Hey, here" you smiled, holding a book out to him.
"You're actually giving me a book today?" Micah asked, raising an eyebrow as he took the book from you.
"It's one of my favourites, I thought that you might like it. You don't have to read it now or anything" you shook your head, looking down at your feet.
"Ah, I dunno. My reading ain't perfect...how about I read it to you? Y'know, so you can correct me if I read it wrong" he suggested, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly.
"I would like that" you smiled brightly. You were surprised by his offer but you thought it was sweet and you definitely liked the sound of it. Micah nodded, gesturing towards his cot. You took a seat and he sat down next to you.
He opened the book to the first page and began to read, making you smile. When he came to the first part that he struggled with, you could hear him getting frustrated. You cautiously reached other and placed your hand on his, slowly taking his hand in yours as you rested your head on his shoulder. "Keep going, I love this part" you hummed, smiling again when he continued to read.
-----
The gang were holding a little party in the camp, a celebration for Jack returning home safely. Some people were gathered around the fire, singing along with Javier's music, but others had spilt up into partners to dance.
You had always been rather quiet, so you sat around the fire, laughing along as the other drunkenly sang along to the song that Javier was playing. Micah didn't join in with the celebration, it wasn't really his scene, he liked to stay back from the livelier parts of camp. However, he found himself unable to take his eyes off of you. During your time spent together he had developed some...feelings towards you and he wasn't sure whether he liked it or not. All he knew was that he wanted to spend more time with you.
Micah finished his drink, placing the bottle on the ground before walking towards the fire. He tried his best to go unnoticed by other camp members as he walked up behind you. He placed his hand on your shoulder, making you look up at him. You smiled up at him, this man wasn't as bad as you thought he was. He leaned down to your ear so that you could hear him. "You wanna dance?" Micah asked and you could tell that he was uncomfortable asking you.
"Sure" you smiled, trying to hide your surprise and your eagerness.
Relief flooded Micah's body when you didn't reject him. He held his hand out for you and you happily took it, placing your hand in his as you stood up. Sure, some people gave you some glances but you just ignored them. Micah pulled you away from the fire, more towards where the others were dancing before turning around to face you.
You smiled, again, you were pretty sure you couldn't help it at this point. You wrapped your arms around Micah's neck as he placed his hands on your waist, being surprising respectful for what you would expect from Micah Bell. You both swayed to the music, nothing too fancy since neither of you were great dancers. You sighed happily as you leaned your body against his, this was the closest you had been to Micah and you were enjoying every second of it.
Micah began to rub gentle circles into your waist with his thumbs. "I'm not much of a dancer" you commented, deciding to make some conversation.
"Trust me, I'm worse, darlin'" Micah chuckled, God did you love that laugh. Micah had started calling you 'darlin' not that long ago but it made you flustered every time.
"Well, I think that you're great" you laughed softly, looking up at his face when you felt him still, did you say something wrong? Oh...your face heated up when you realised what you just said.
You blushed harder when his hand came up to brush your hair out of your face. You didn't knew what to say, but you didn't need to speak when he captured your lips with his own. His hand cupped your cheek as he kissed you, afraid that you would disappear from under his touch. You slowly began to kiss him back, moving your hands to hold the back of his head, your fingers tangling in his hair. Micah's other arm wrapped around your waist, pulling your body closer to his.
Suddenly remembering that you were standing in the middle of the busy camp, you hesitantly pulled away from him with a smile on your face. "You're damn special Y/N" Micah complimented, running his fingers through your hair while he wondered how your hair could be so soft.
"So are you" you smiled before leaning up and pressing another kiss to his lips, both of you hesitantly pulling away again.
Micah wrapped his arms around you as you lay your head on his chest and began to sway to the music again. He smiled to himself, one of his arms wrapped around your waist while his other hand cradled the back of your head with his fingers buried in your hair.
Requests?
BIG NEWS - since I just have a unhealthy obsession with writing about problematic characters, I have started a full Micah Bell story. It is called "Partners" and can be found on my page.
THANK YOU!