Chapter Text
Michael lay in his bed, wide awake. He stared at the ceiling dumbfounded. At least he wasn't rotting and purple anymore, and people didn't stare at him for being rotting and purple and smelling like death.
This was weird, and not in the "friend who's funny but feral" weird way. More like in the "holy shit I just time traveled and my siblings are still alive and maybe my dad hasn't murdered anyone yet, should I look into that?" type of way.
He was so confused. His voice squeaked, his face was oily and had pimples all over. And now he couldn't fucking sleep.
Could he not catch a goddamn break?
He heard a soft knock on his door.
"Who's there?"
The door creaked open slowly, and William's dark yet somewhat greying hair (he had Michael and Elizabeth to thank for that) could be seen through the crack of Michael's doorway.
"Sorry to wake you up, Mikey, I, I'm worried about you, champ."
Michael cocked his head. It had been years, decades even, since his dad had called him that.
"Why are you worried, Dad?"
William came in and sat at the edge of his bed.
"Well, earlier, Michael you were acting strange. Are you, kiddo, are you taking something you're not supposed to be taking?"
Michael's eyes widened in shock.
"What?! Why the fuck would you think that?! I'm not some sort of delinquent, am I?"
Thinking back on it now though, he very much was some sort of delinquent back in his late middle school to early highschool days. It was probably some type of outlast because of his mother's recent absence and the deaths of his two younger siblings but, he would digress. He didn't like to think about that.
"No, Michael, champ, I don't think that, I just think that may be, right now is harder for you than you realize and, if you're even touching any of that stuff, come to me, ok? That's, that's not a good way to deal with anything, son. I'm always here, always will be. " William checked the clock on Michael's bedside table.
The time read 11:35.
"Go back to sleep, Mikey." William ruffled his hair.
"Sleep well, champ. I love you."
With that, his father closed his bedroom door, and Michael turned to the opposite wall, staring blankly and wondering when this night more of a predicament would come to a close.