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You usually weren’t the violent type. But you wanted to beat Michael Afton to a pulp.
The ‘wanted’ in that sentence quickly evaporated.
Michael had thrown a punch to your stomach and your breathing stuttered, holding your stomach.
“Awww come on, let’s fight for real.” Michael said, grinning.
“Can’t you shut the fuck up for once!?” You shouted, recovering from the punch. You leap at him, punching Michael in the face. He yelled out, stumbling back, holding his face. After a moment he laughed.
“Nah, it’s a family trait to be annoying.” Michael said, grinning at you, his nose bent in an unsettling shape, blood spilling down his face. You grimaced at him.
“Jesus…if I hated you less I’d ask if you’re a- AUGH!” Halfway through your sentence, Michael tackled you, wrestling you to flat on the ground.
“Ugh! What the hell!?” You shout, blood dripping off his face and onto yours. You pushed your head back into the concrete, clamping your mouth shut in disgust. Michael laughed.
“Fuck, thats gross, sorry about that.” Michael said, before raising his fist to punch. You close your eyes, wincing in the expectation of a punch to the face.
“Shit. I don’t wanna fight anymore.” Michael said, and you open your eyes. It took you a moment to realize Michael had been straddling you.
“Uh-..hey wait-” you started, and Michael stopped, crouched over you, wiping the blood off his nose.
“Yeah, what’s up?” Michael asked, looking down at you.
“I didn’t mean to break your nose, sorry.” you mumble. Both of you had so much anger towards each other just moments ago.
Michael smiles.
“It’s cool, it’s uh..not the first time I’ve broken my nose. Want help up?” Michael asked, offering his hand. You grab it, and he pulled you off the ground.
“You’re acting like it’s nothing, seriously, do you want me to take you to the nurse’s office or something?” you ask and Michael smiles.
“Nah, I got it, heh- here watch.” Micheal grabbed the crooked bridge of his nose, shoving it back into place. He lets out a pained groan, holding his nose there for a moment.
“Holy shit you are not supposed to do that???” you said, Michael chuckling.
“Nah, it’s fine. That’s how they do it at the doctors office, why go to the doctor when you can do it on your own for free.” Michael said, looking up at you, before wiping the blood off his face with his shirt.
“...makes sense, I guess…” You said, how’d he go from being such an asshole to just some guy so quickly?
“Want me to walk you home?” Michael asks, smiling. You bark out a laugh.
“Hell no.” you tell him, and Michael laughs, nodding.
The next day Micheal walks up to you, a bandaid over his nose, hiding some of the purple and yellow bruising. He was smiling like an idiot.
“Hey y/n! Wanna come out tonight? Jeremys having a party at his house, I plan on sneaking out, wanna come with?” Michael asked and you raised your eyebrow, smirking.
“I broke your nose yesterday and you want to be friends already? Quite a turn around on my part.” You said, and Michael laughed, winding his arms over your shoulders.
“Awww come on, if I have a friend that hasn’t punched me I’m worried they have something against me I don’t know about. You just speedran it.” Michael said, walking with his arm around you for a moment. “So, what’d ya say?” Michael asks, leaning over you.
“I mean…I’ll go. But…” You said and Michael raises an eyebrow, smiling.
“Buuuuttt?” Michael asked, and you roll your eyes.
“Only if we ditch early if it sucks.” You said and Michael lets out a surprise laugh.
“You got it man. I’ll pick you up at seven, cool?” Michael asked, and you gave a thumbs up. He smiled and moved away from you, waving before running off into the halls of the school. That guy was so weird. You kinda wanted to be his friend.
You couldn’t find an outfit to wear, you forgot to ask Micheal what the vibe of the party was, but you think he would have mentioned if it was fancy or not.
You looked in the long mirror, fixing your hair. You had a t-shirt on with some band on it from the 60s, and a flannel that didn’t match at all. You called it ironic, but you just didn’t want to search through the piles of clothes to find one that matched.
The doorbell rang, and you heard your mother answer it from downstairs.
“Hey! Your friend is here to pick you up!” You heard her shout. You put in a cool earring and grab your bag, rushing down the stairs.
Your mother had left from the door by the time you came down, and Michael was leaning in the open doorway in a leather jacket and a paint splattered muscle shirt. He smiled.
“Hey! Glad you agreed to come with.” Michael said, smiling. He leaned in to whisper to you. “I don’t think I know anyone else other than Jeremy at this party so…glad you’re coming along.” Michael said, walking out of the house and to his car.
“Y’know when I thought about sitting in the popular boys car, I didn’t think of a Fiat Panda.” You chuckled and Michael grinned, getting into the drivers seat.
“Oh, so you thought about it?” Michael asked, teasing you. You look away, smiling.
“I always thought of like…maybe a convertible, or a ferrari!” You said and Michael laughed.
“Jeez, I’d kill for my father to trust me enough to get a nice car.” Michael says, starting to drive. You sink into the seat, it was comfortable, but the seat covers were hideous.
“Who the fuck picked out the seat covers, someones blind 100 year old grandmother?” You asked and Micheal laughed.
“No, no, my father did, unfortunately, he’s not blind, he just has bad taste. They’re a little too comfortable for me to take them out yet.” Michael said, and you looked at him.
“Wait- did you just said ‘unfortunately he’s not blind’??” You asked, laughing a little.
“Oh, yeah, I did.” Michael says, his tone shifting a little into more shut off that the humorous note they were just on.
“Oh, sorry man, I didn’t mean to strike a chord.” You apologized and Michael smiled a little, glancing over to you.
“Nah, it’s cool. I just uh…don’t really want to talk about him right now.” Michael explained and you nod.
“That’s alright, you don’t have to.” You said. Michael nodded, glancing down to your lap.
“So what’s so important you brought a bag to a fucken party?” Michael asked, looking back up at the road. Shit shit shit how the fuck do you tell this cis dude you didn’t want to try and hide your pads in your pockets, just in case they fell out.
“Sorry, that was out of pocket.” Michael said after you were quiet for a moment.
“Oh, okay.” you mumble.
It was mostly quiet the rest of the way there, the radio quietly going, Michael humming along with some of the songs.
“Hey! We’re here!” Michael said, jumping out of the car. You followed suit, looking up at the house in front of you. It was a kinda plain looking house that fit in with all the rest of the houses in the suburb. You followed behind Michael into the houses open door. The music was already pretty loud, and there were people everywhere.
You saw Michael run up behind someone with curly, dirty blond hair. He jumped on the persons back.
“Jere!!!” Michael shouted and the man under him laughed. Michael got off and gave him a hug.
“Woah, dude, why the fuck is your nose broken?” Jeremy asks and Michael grins, tilting his head over to you. You waved sheepishly.
“Mikey why the fuck did you bring someone who brok- yknow, I know what this is about, nevermind. It’s nice to meet you! I’m Jeremy.”
The night progresses,and you try your best to find a drink that isn’t alcoholic, and Michael hangs around for a good part of the night. He looks tense here though. Jeremy would come over to Michael, dragging him over to talk to some other people. Michael looked so stiff when talking with the other people. Was he always like that? He looked a lot looser when he was around you…
You had successfully found a nice corner to sit in on some side table, drinking your fanta. You pulled out a thin book that was squirreled away in the bottom of your satchel. It was some shitty mystery book from the dollar bin. You had started to take notes of the shitty plot in it.
Michael leaned over your hands to look at what you were doing. You were writing a long note that covered some of the text of the book, you really needed to get some sticky notes. But that would mean you didn’t have a good reason to vandalize it anymore.
“Woah, what are you doing?” Michael asked.
“I’m writing about how bad the plot of this book is.” You tell him, as if it’s the clearest thing in the world. He tilted his head in confusion.
“Gotcha.. Do you do that a lot?”
“Do what a lot?”
“Sit on tables and destroy books.” Michael asked and you laugh.
“A lot. To this one at least.” You said, closing the book. “What’s up?”
“Oh uh. I was just wondering if you were meaning it, what you said about leaving early, y’know.” Michael says, nodding to the door. You smile and stuff you book and pen back in your bag.
“Please.”
Michael practically dragged you out of there, not bothering to say goodbye to his friend. You both got into the car, Micheal rubbing his temples.
“You okay, man?” You asked and Michael put his hands down.
“Huh? Oh, yeah… I just needed to get away from how loud it was in there.” Michael said.
“Do you need some pain meds?” You asked and Michael sighed.
“I don’t have any.” Michael said softly, his eyes closed.
“Here” you said after you rummaged around your bag for a moment, finding the bottle of pain meds. You hand him the meds and the last of your fanta. He swallows the pills, taking a long drink of the soda.
“Do you always take medication and drinks from people you barely know without looking at them?” You asked and he smiles.
“No, but I don’t think you would poison me, or drug me, props if you did though.” He said and you laughed, shaking your head, even though he wasn’t looking.
After a long, quiet beat, he pipes up.
“So, where to, cowboy?”
“Wanna get slushies?”
You gave him directions to your favorite gas station.
“I have to put some gas in Sherry, can you get me a blue raspberry slush? I’ll be in right after you.” Michael said and you chuckle.
“Wait did you name your car Sherry?” you asked and his cheeks turn red.
“Uh. yeah.” he responded quietly, and you grin.
“I like it.”
You wave to the cashier, who knows you well by now. You grab your favorite flavor of slush and a blue raspberry one. The doorbell ringed, you look over, Michael walking to you, sunglasses on.
“Hey cool guy.” You say, handing him his slushie. He smiles.
“Let’s get some snacks, too, I haven’t eaten all day.” Micheal said, looking through the snack isles. You both picked out a couple bags of your favorite snacks respectively, going up to the counter.
The cashier looks at you, then to Michael with a smile.
“I didn’t know you could fit another person on that bike of yours, y/n.” The cashier asks you, a smile appearing on their face.
“Oh- no- we’re- uh..” You try to explain, before shutting your mouth. They finish ringing the both of you up, Michael insisting to pay. As you’re walking out, the cashier waves.
“Have fun on your date, y/n!” They shout, and you nearly trip on the curb, trying to look back at them, hoping they didn’t say what you thought you heard. You try to move forward to compensate, but your foot hits one of the parking bars, you close your eyes tightly.
You're caught quickly, a warm chest and arms enveloping you.
“Woah- hey, dude, are you alright?” Michael asked, looking down at you.
“U-uhm. Yeah.” You said, quickly moving away from him. You both go back to the car in silence.
“I’m so sorry about them- they have an overactive imagination- I just don’t bring friends around often.” You blurted out, Michael looked at you with a raised eyebrow, sipping his slushie.
“What are you sorry about?” Michael asked.
“Oh the um. What the cashier said..” You whispered, and Michael fully looks at you, his eyebrows raised.
“Oh, that.” he says.
You were both quiet for a moment.
“Are you….?” Michael asks. He didn’t need to finish the sentence for you to know what he was asking. You suddenly feel anxious, shifting away from him. Michael watches you for a moment, before leaning back, his eyes widening.
“No no no- I’m not like that- I wouldn’t hurt you, if you were..” Michael said looking worried at you. The tension eases from your shoulders.
“Yeah.” you said, swallowing hard. He sighs softly, laying back in his seat.
“Oh thank god .” He said. And you look at him, confused.
“I was so worried that I was going to have to sit in the car with a straight person for a couple more hours.” He said and you laughed, surprised.
“Hey, what about me! I’ll have to spend hours with a straight guy!” You say back and he grins mischievously.
“No you won’t.” He says and your eyebrows shoot up in surprise. He laughs at your reaction.
“Okay okay, my turn to take you somewhere, since you picked our stop for beverages?” He asks, grinning.
“Take us away, captain.”
Michael turned the radio up, both of you are singing it now. You both keep fucking up the words, and are out of key, and its amazing. Michael takes a turn onto a scenic driving route, going up a tall mountain road. You stop at the top of the mountain.
“You have an option on how this night will go, y/n.” Michael asks, smiling over at you.
“We could…sit here and stargaze, and I can pretend to know what constellations are and make up some just for you, or…we can crank the radio up, and dance in the parking lot together, how about it?”
Stargaze~
“Let’s look at the stars.” You said, and Michael grinned, he leans his seat back, opening up the sunroof. You lean your seat back as well. It was a beautiful clear night, but the draft from the open sunroof made you shiver.
“So, what about those constellations, tell me about them?” You said and Michael smiled, shifting closer to you. He points at a bright star in the sky.
“You see that one, that connects to these other four? It looks like a fan right, like one of those show fans. There’s two connecting stars to it, they make up a lady, looking from behind her fan. She was a mistress of some lord, who was actually an assassin. She was paid by the wife of the lord to find out he was cheating and kill him.” Michael explained, and you smile and listen.
“Oh? What was her name?” you asked, and Michael thought for a moment.
“Camila Valentina.” Michael said and you laughed.
“Bit on the nose?” you said. He shrugged, smiling.
They went through assassins and whales and obscure shapes mapped out in the stars, Michael slumped back into his seat, taking a long sip from his slushie.
“Okay, your turn.” Michael said and you gasp.
“I agreed to this when you said you would make up constellations.”
“Awww, come on. Please?” Michael asked, giving you big puppy eyes.
“Oh fine . You see that small star riiighhht there?” You asked, leaning over into Michaels seat to point to a star where he could see it. He nodded softly, looking at you, your back inches away from his chest.
“Uh…yeah.” He says, tearing his attention away from you to look up at the stars.
“And that one is connected to those which both go all the way up to that one, it makes a kinda diamond shape right?” You said, and Michael nodded along.
“Well back in Yee Medieval Times, a bard had promised the king of the land the best song the king had ever heard, and in return for the beautiful serenade, he would give him a single crown jewel. And the bard was great…but the king had heard better. He had him killed on site.” You said and Michael laughed.
“Little gruesome, huh?” Michael said and you nod.
You just realized how close you were.
“Does that…satisfy your want to hear me tell you constellations…?” You asked, looking up at him. He nodded softly.
“Yeah. It does.” He whispered, and you smiled.
Michael looks over your face softly, and you smirk.
“Do you usually think about kissing someone who broke your nose yesterday?” You asked and his face turned bright red, looking away.
“N-..no…” he whispered, nervously fiddling with the empty bag of snacks in his lap.
“Well, could I kiss the guy who I broke the nose of yesterday?” You asked, and his head whipped around to look at you.
“I-...yeah.” he nodded quickly, and you smiled. You lean over him, holding his face gently, making sure not to hit his nose. You press your lips up and against his and he hums happily, his arms loosely wrapping around you.
It was perfect.
Radio~
“Crank it up!” you say and he smiled, turning the music up, hoping out of the car. He moves to your side, bag of jerky and slushie in hand.
“Careful not to dance too much while drinking that slushie, you’ll get sick!” you said over the radio and Michael smiled and nodded. You both danced together, boping and dancing around, eating snacks in pauses in the song.
A new song came on on the radio and Michael gasped, setting down his slushie
“This is one of my favorite songs!” Michael said, dancing dorkily to the song, belting out the words badly. You laugh and dance with him, not fully able to match his energy.
After the song he laughed tiredly, laying on the concrete.
“Oh god- I’ve danced too much-” he panted heavily, and you laugh, sitting beside him.
“Want me to get you your jerky bag?” You asked and he laughed, shaking his head
“Nah, slushie would be good though.” You lean forward, grabbing his slushie for him.
“Thank youuuuuu.” Michael said, smiling.
“Not a problem.” you said and he drinks it greedily.
The radio changes again, a sappy slow song comes and Michael looked a little bored. You grin and grab his hand.
“My dear sir, would you like to dance?” You asked and he smiled, setting his slushie down, getting up when you pulled him.
“Sorry if I’m bad, I have literally never slow danced…” he said, and you chuckle.
“Cool, neither have I.” You said, and you grabbed his hand, pulling it to your waist. You put your hands on his shoulders, dancing slowly.
The song picked up a little and he moved a little faster, moving you into a spin and you laugh, spinning back into his chest. He held you there, you both giggle together, swaying gently.
“I thought you said you didn’t know how to dance.” You said, you back pressed up against Michaels warm chest.
“Oh, my little sister loves- loved me twirling and dancing with her, just a habit.” A quiet sadness seeped into his voice and you turned around in his arms.
“I think she taught you how to spin someone very well.” you say softly, and he smiled.
“Thanks.” he said quietly.
You sat down on the cold concrete, leaning into the open door of the car.
“So what music do you like y/n?” Michael asked and you think for a moment.
“I like lots of things but…there’s this one station on the edge of town, you can barely hear it, I think it’s from a town over but…it plays all new, interesting music. I’ll ride out of town on my bike and listen to my radio while I watch the sun go down. It’s pretty great.” you said, looking down at your bag of snacks.
“Sorry for rambling, hah.” you said and Michael smiled, shaking his head.
“Not at all, I like hearing you talk.” Michael paused, looking away from you.
“Y’know I hope the cashier was right.” Michael said and you look at him, confused.
“I hope there’s enough room on your bike for the both of us one day.” he said, looking back at you, smiling.
“ Jesus that was cheesy.” You said, smiling. He ducked his head, a little smirk on his lips.
“Yeah, suppose so, don’t worry about it.” Michael said and you shift over, sitting beside him.
“I never said I didn’t like cheese, you know.” You said.
“Good then. I hope you don’t mind being my cheese culprit more often.” Michael said and you laugh, nodding.
“It’s a deal.”
“Cheesy deal.”