Michael was happier with life now than he had been in quite a while. He was starting to get back on track with his schoolwork and his grades were improving. He was actually spending time with his friends again. He wasn't sad anymore. Things were getting better finally.
Today was Sunday and Michael was as Luke's house with Calum. They really needed to practice more if they wanted any chance of making it big. Calum and Luke kept saying that maybe Michael should try apologizing to Ashton and see if he would consider joining the band. If Jade could forgive him and move forward, then so could Ashton.
Right now, after recording another cover for YouTube, they were dying Michael's hair again. This time it was a weird mix of blues, pinks, and purples; Luke called it galaxy. Michael liked the combination, but he had a feeling he would be changing it soon.
"What'd you do yesterday?" Calum asked as Michael touched the almost dry dye in his hair.
"Nothing," Michael said evasively. He didn't want to tell them about Sheila. He had no right to. "We just hung out."
"Yeah, no shit," Luke laughed. "What'd you do when you hung out?"
"I gave her a new phone," Michael replied. After leaving Sheila's house, they spent some time setting up Jade's new phone.
"You got her a phone?" Calum questioned, sitting up on the couch. Michael shrugged. "What the hell, man? You've never gotten me a phone. I thought we were close."
"Yeah, well, I've never had a crush on you, either," Michael said dismissively. Luke laughed and kicked Calum lightly. Michael had missed this stupid banter with his stupid friends. He liked spending time with them. As much as he loved being with Jade, he was glad he could be here with these idiots right now.
"Crush," Calum mimicked him. "It's been, what, more than a month? Have you even kissed her yet?"
Yeah, I have actually, Michael thought. He gave Calum a scowl and said, "Have you even kissed Mae yet?" He had been talking about her an awful lot and had even brought her to hang out a couple times.
"Maybe I have. Who knows," Calum said, his cheeks turning red.
Michael stood up and walked towards the bathroom. "Good. Maybe I've kissed Jade. Who knows."
"She would've have killed you if you had," Luke called.
Michael laughed and gave him the finger without even turning around. "Fuck off, Luke." Little did they know that he actually had kissed Jade and she hadn't killed him. In fact, she had hugged him afterwards. Granted, there had been a mini freak-out first, but she did hug him.
It took Michael a while to get the bizarre dye out of his hair, but when he finally finished, he stared at himself in the mirror for a solid three minutes and admired just how good it looked. It was probably his favorite color that he'd had so far. He took a few, maybe a lot, pictures on his phone and sent one to Jade.
Michael: Do you like it?? look at the light blue streak in the front omg it looks so good I'm impressed with myself
And because he couldn't help himself, he sent her another text.
Michael: I miss you
He put his phone back in his pocket and went out to the living room, where Calum and Luke were watching How I Met Your Mother. Well Luke was watching it, Calum could barely keep his eyes open. Plus, he was texting someone. Probably Mae.
"Are we done for the day?" Michael asked as he plopped down next to Luke, almost on top of him. Luke didn't even flinch. He was used to this all.
"Yeah, I'm gonna upload it tonight once you both take your asses home," Luke said, not bothering to look at Michael and disturb his show. Just to annoy him, Michael scooted closer to Luke and pressed his cheek against Luke's chest, making him squirm. "Get off, Michael. Your hair is wet. Ew, fuck off."
"But I wanna cuddle, Lukey," Michael said, trying so hard not to laugh.
Luke pushed him off, making him fall back on Calum. "Go cuddle with Jade," Luke said at the same time Calum grunted, "Stop being a prick, Michael."
Michael laughed loudly then and sat up, shaking his wet hair all over Calum, who crossed his arms over his face. "You're no fun anymore, I'm leaving. See ya, suckers." He got up from the couch and grabbed his jacket. As he left the room, Luke followed. Michael knew why. Ever since Luke walked in on Michael, he had been extra motherly. It was stupid, but Michael was secretly happy to know that Luke cared.
"You're alright, Mike, right?" Luke asked slowly. "You're feeling good?"
"I'm feeling fantastic," Michael said, getting his keys out. He was gonna get out of Luke's house and go see Jade.
"We're always here, Mike," Luke said. "If you're ever not feeling fantastic, please remember that we're here."
"I know," Michael said, feeling bad for scaring his friend like this. He stepped forward and pulled Luke in a hug. "I'm sorry for being a shit friend sometimes." With those words, Michael flicked Luke on his back of his neck, making Luke flinch.
"You're a dick, Michael," Luke laughed and shoved Michael out the door.
"Bye, Lukey, I love you!" Michael yelled as he walked towards his car, a big smile stretching on his face because he really did love his friends so much.
Michael drive back to his house while blasting Taylor Swift on the way, not caring who might've been giving him weird looks. Taylor Swift was amazing, fuck anyone who said otherwise.
He passed a gemstone store on his way back and somehow remembered that Jade's birthday was in less than a month. He had no idea what he would get her, since he had just given her a phone. A laptop, maybe? A drawing pad? A jade ring? He was overwhelmed all of a sudden and decided not to think about that right now. Maybe by then he would have a different relationship with her and they'll be able to go skinny dipping together.
By the time he got home, Michael had almost forgotten that he wanted to go and see Jade. He was too lost is the memory of his dream from ages ago, in which Jade had kissed him willingly. He so very badly wanted it to happen in real life, but reality always did ruin everything. He went home first and ate dinner with his family, making Karen's day. After dinner, he went out again and texted Jade, who hadn't yet replied to him.
Michael: I'm coming over :D
He walked over to Ashton's house, still without a reply from Jade. Now that he was standing right outside the door, he felt somewhat awkward, like he was intruding. He took a second and cleared his mind of doubts. He wanted to see Jade and he would. He rang the doorbell once. A minute later, a man opened the door, but only halfway.
"Hello, Michael," he said with a crinkly smile, catching Michael off guard. He knew this was Ashton's dad, that much was obvious, but Michael didn't exactly know him well enough for them to be on first name basis.
"Hi," Michael said and held his hand out for the man to shake. "Is, um, Jade home?"
"She sure is," he replied and opened the door further, allowing Michael to step in. "Come on, follow me." The nameless man led Michael through the living room, where Ashton and his little brother were watching TV. "Hey, Ash, mind bringing Michael to Jade's room?"
Ashton turned his head to look at them both, his eyebrows crinkling in confusion as he took Michael in. "Yeah, sure." He stood up from the couch and walked in front of Michael. "What are you doing here?"
To be completely honest, Michael was just a little bit scared. This was the first time he was actually talking to Ashton after the disaster with Jade. "I came to see Jade."
"Does she know you're here? She's not feeling well," Ashton said and stopped outside a closed door.
"I texted her," Michael said, feeling a bit intimidated by Ashton's glare. He felt like this was the time to apologize to Ashton because it wasn't often they were both alone. "Look, Ashton, I'm sorry I was dick. I didn't mean for things to turn out the way they did."
Ashton crossed his arms and leaned against the door. "I was all ready to kill you actually, but for some stupid reason she asked me not to. So if you do something idiotic again to hurt her, I won't listen to her."
Michael blinked. This was it? This was all he had been dreading? It couldn't be. "Wait, that's it? You're not going to try and stop me from seeing her?"
Ashton shrugged. "I don't have to. If she doesn't want to see you, she'll kick you out herself." That was true. "Listen, I don't know why she's talking to you again, but in all honesty, I think she's been happier these past couple of days. I don't know if that has anything to do with you or Sheila or something else, but I'm just glad. If she's happy talking to you, then I have no right to stop that. Just don't fuck up, alright?"
Michael was a little speechless. He was total expecting Ashton to be annoyingly protective and threaten to kill Michael. Well, he kind of did do the last part, but still.
"Do you plan on going in or are you just going to stand here?" Ashton shook his head and walked away.
Michael knocked on the door a few times and waited.
"It's open," came Jade's raspy voice. A smile made it's way onto Michael's lips and pushed open the door, stepping inside the room. It wasn't decorated at all. There were no posters hung up or anything else that would give the place a sense of home. Michael found it odd that someone like Jade would keep her room so devoid of any character.
"Hey."
Jade was lying on the bed, her face buried in a pillow with her arm thrown over another one. As soon as Michael spoke, Jade flipped over onto her back and stared at Michael with wide eyes. She didn't bother sitting up, but she did clutch the pillow closer to her.
"What are you doing here?" she asked, her voice coming out rough and scratchy. Michael took a few more steps into the room, not knowing where to sit.
"You sound awful," Michael said. Jade rolled her eyes and patted the space next to her. Michael didn't hesitate to sit on the bed. "It's like something crawled down your throat and died there."
"Shut up," she wheezed, unsuccessfully chucking the pillow at him. Michael easily caught it in his hand and put it on the bed. "I'm sick."
"I just saw you yesterday, how can you be sick?"
"I just saw you yesterday, how can you have candy colored hair?" She sat up then and crossed her legs, putting the pillow in her lap. "Who let you in?"
"Ashton and his dad," Michael said just as Jade sneezed. "Bless you." The she did it again. Three times. "Goddamn, Jade. Chill."
She sniffled a few times before looking up. She really looked awful. Her hair wasn't brushed, her eyes looked sunken in with deep bags underneath them. There was absolutely no color in her cheeks; they were ghostly pale and for the first time matched with Michael's own skin tone.
"Seriously, what's up? Why are you here?" She sneezed again and this time Michael didn't even bothering blessing her.
"I wanted to see you," Michael said and Jade snorted. Michael pouted. "What, I can't want that?"
"No one ever does anymore," Jade said nonchalantly and her casualness broke something inside Michael.
"Hey, don't be like that," Michael chided softly. "Of course, they do. I do. Ashton does."
"And that's the end of that grand list," Jade said sarcastically. Michael didn't like this. He thought she was getting better, that she was breaking out of her narcissist shell.
"Come on, Jade, cheer up."
"Michael, I'm always like this. You think you like me? I don't think you do. I'm always this pessimistic asshole that has to ruin the mood every time. You're better off without me."
Okay that made Michael angry. She had no right to go around and decide what Michael could and couldn't feel. "One, you don't get to tell me who I can and can't like. That's all mine. Deal with it. Two, you fail to remember that I was also a pessimistic asshole who almost killed himself. And three, I might be a pessimistic asshole, but I do like you and I am optimistic that it'll be okay in the end."
Jade laughed humorlessly and scooted back to lean against the bed frame. She poked the two rings hanging from the chain around her neck and twirled them around her finger.
"I was thinking about what Sheila said. About giving people a chance," she said, making Michael's heart beat faster. This was it. She would either make his life or crush him. "I see her logic. I thought I could someone a chance. But then I look at what happens what happens when you do give people a chance and I reconsider. Sheila and my father? Terrible ending. Me and Zach? Awful. Mom and Dad? They lived happily, but even they didn't have a happy ending."
Jade looked up, her tired eyes filled with so many questions. Michael wished he could answer them all with just one word, but he couldn't. He was helpless.
"Can you look me in the eye and tell me I'll have a happy ending?"
"I can tell you I'll try my damned hardest to give you a happy ending," Michael promised, his eyes never wavering from hers.
Jade stared at him for a long time and he stared back. He saw her cracking second by second. He saw her visibly swallow and then he saw her tired, tired eyes fill with tears. Before they had the chance to fall, Michael leaned forward on his knees and trapped the tears in his thumbs. Jade leaned into his touch and closed her eyes. And Michael couldn't hold it back anymore. He wrapped his arms around her and stayed in this awkward position, just hugging her.
"You'll get sick," she croaked after a minute, but instead of pushing him away she only held him tighter.
Michael didn't say anything. He scooted to the side until he was sitting next to Jade and then put his arms around her shoulders, pulling her into him. They stayed that way for a while. Michael wished he could do this all day everyday. He wanted to hold Jade every single day. He wanted to shield her away from all the bad things. He wanted to kiss her goodnight every night. He wanted so many things and he couldn't have any of them.
Jade craned her neck back just a little and stared up at Michael. He could see a war waging in her eyes, some dilemma she was torn apart by. All of a sudden, without any warning, she quickly kissed Michael's jaw, her lips touching right under the corner of his mouth. Before Michael could even do anything, she got up from the bed and walked to the window. Michael watched her for a second before getting up as well.
"Stop," Jade said, turning around. "Just stay there."
Michael kept walking, wanting to touch her again. Wanting her to touch him.
"Michael, please." She flipped her hair back, trying to keep it out of her face.
"Why?" Michael asked and didn't stop.
"Close your eyes," she said quietly, her raspy voice driving him absolutely mental.
"Why?" Michael asked again and took another step. The space between them was almost gone.
"Stay there and just close your eyes," Jade groaned, growing tired of Michael.
So he played along with her did as she asked. He had a good feeling about this. He closed his eyes and crossed his arms cross his chest. "Now what?"
"Stay." Her voice was so soft and quiet and a second later Michael could feel her standing right in front of him. Michael was amazed at how fast his heart was beating, it was almost like a hummingbird. Then he felt Jade's breath against his lips and his breath caught in his throat. Instinctively his hands came to rest on her waist and then her lips were on his, soft and teasing.
And then it was over.
-
who caught my my subtle i would reference?? and then the mmfd one?? whoever did is my lost twin
when i was four i drank an entire bottle of perfume but im still alive so it's ok
i have a lot of hw to do so this is probably the last chapter i'll post during break and what color should michael dye his hair next??? pce out xo