Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Michael’s workday started off like any other day. Some thoughts of a certain somebody in his head, an overwhelming feeling of pure guilt on his back, and as always he woke up several hours before he needed to. All of these things he was used to. Especially the guilt. Though he had been feeling a bit better lately.

He rubbed his eyes and looked over at the clock beside his bed. His eyes took a moment to focus from the blur that was left from his previous action. Taking only a few moments to read it he lets out a small sigh, “4 am again really?”

What annoyed him the most about waking up this early, is knowing he wasn’t gonna fall back asleep, no matter how hard he tried.

The boy lifted his upper body. As he did this his vision faded out, this was normal as well. He waited for the grey that flooded his eyes and brain to wash away. The pounding in his head smoothed out and he got onto his feet. The grey returned for a short amount of time but left much faster than it did earlier. This was a sign he needed to take his iron, which he had forgotten to take the past few days.

Michael practically tiptoed to his door to open it, he didn’t wanna bother his mum, even though he was pretty sure she didn’t sleep. Is she even capable of sleeping? If she can’t, does she miss sleeping? Does she miss having a normal body? He silently thought to himself, another list onto the pile of questions he would never ask. Besides she had been coming home late, new friends or something… he didn’t quite grasp the situation. His knowledge was based simply off a note Sunny had left on his lunch bag.

Well, he hopes that they’re nice, whomever they are…

He opened the door and began walking downstairs. He hummed a familiar song in his head but just couldn’t put his finger on what it was, hmm. He would probably remember later. Although if he was being honest with himself, no he wouldn’t.

He should have probably grabbed his iron before getting the orange juice. Whatever, not like he was in any sort of rush. There are some benefits to waking up this early!

When he finally reached the kitchen, he grabbed a cup from the cabinet to put his orange juice in. He definitely wasn’t a fan of orange juice, but Sunny had always told him it made it easier to dissolve. He wasn’t sure if that was true though if he was being honest.

Time to actually get the orange juice. Michael opened the fridge to see no orange juice, but instead a bottle of pills in its place. Wait, was that… HIS IRON? His eyes widened as he immediately grabbed the bottle in his panic. So if that’s where they were, did that mean….? The forgetful boy turned around to the counter. He sighed and took one of the pills out, then placed it in the cup that would normally be holding orange juice. Closing the cap on the bottle he hit it against his forehead.

He spoke through the pills’ loud sound as they rattled to the front, “dunce.”

He kept both the cup and the bottle in his hand and walked back upstairs. What a way to start the day. Wait, does orange juice get like… grosser if it’s left out for too long? He didn’t wanna know, so he started running up the stairs and into the bathroom. The orange juice is laid neatly in the sink. He grabbed it quickly and asked himself a question this time.

The orange juice is warm, but is cold orange juice worth passing out over? He debated for some time. Eh… either way, he wasn’t gonna enjoy the experience. He put the cup with the pill in it on the sink counter. With the iron still in his hand, he opened the medicine cabinet and put the tablets in there. Closing the cabinet he picked back up the cup. He tipped the cup over as he watched the small pill fall in his hand. Once again placing the cup on the counter he picked up the orange juice and poured it into the cup. When he finished that he closed the carton and picked back up the cup.

Throwing the pill in his mouth he washed it down with the citrus juice. The harsh aftertaste left him disgusted.

Time to put everything back in place.

Chapter Text

Michael stared at the ceiling from his bed, picking his shirt sleeves out of boredom. This was a bad habit he had, he wasn’t sure when it started. He’d even pick on his work shirt sometimes. It’s not that he wanted to do it, he just, did it.

He then remembered Jeremy had been nagging him the past few days after noticing the rough sleeves. He stopped himself from picking the threads any further. Trying to distract himself so he wouldn’t start again, he turned to his side looking away from the ceiling to check the time.

(6:27 AM)

It’s a good thing he checked. About an hour and thirty minutes until work started, time to get up, again.

His brain briefly thought about what it would be like if he were to get ready when he initially got up. Though that idea was quickly dismissed.

He walked to his closet and picked out his work shirt.

All right. Let’s do this.

Chapter Text

When he entered the pizzeria it was silent and honestly a bit intimidating, the animatronics stood on stage. There were no kids, not yet. Jeremy had yet to arrive, Michael always got there before him. When you wake up so early it’s hard not to. Of course that didn’t mean he beat everyone, Mr. Guy was there way before him. I mean he is the boss.

His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the door opening. Turning around to face the door he saw his blonde coworker, waving at him with a smile while his car keys jingled in his hands. ‘Fritz’ smiled and waved back, his face heated up ever so lightly. Jeremy began walking towards his locker while Michael followed. The other boy placed all his keys in the locker and closed it then looked over at Mike, who had been looking at him already.

“It’s gonna be a slow day man, hope you’re ready.” Jeremy warned as he pointed at him.

“Oh yeah? Well if you’re gonna be with me all day I’m sure it won’t be.”

“Wh- Hey, Watch it! I’m supposed to be the smooth one, Fritz.”

“Yeah, yeah my bad.” Michael nodded in agreement.

Jeremy started to nod his head back, “Uh-huh that’s what I thought.”

They both broke character and started laughing shortly after that, despite their efforts not to.

Jeremy pushed down his laughter to talk for a moment, “B-but, seriously- no one comes in on Mondays.”

“Well, I guess we’ll have to see if you’re right.” Michael replied as he walked over to the front counter.

———————————————
Michael and Jeremy sat at the table in the break room. Both of their shifts were over, but they were there regardless. The younger boy began to space out.

Jeremy was right. Hardly anyone came in all day, just a few teenagers skipping school or something… Michael avoided them for the most part, they reminded him too much of himself.

Without realizing it, he reached for his sleeve and started to pull on it with his fingers. He could feel the rips he had previously made in between them.

Jeremy broke his hyperfocus with a wave in front of his face.

“Fuck- my sleeves! Sorry.” Michael clasped his hands together in a nervous panic.

Jeremy smiled softly at that, “It’s all good man! I’m not your mom or anything, I just suggested that you didn’t pick on them so much, ya?”

“Yeah, sorry.”

“Actually, it’s pretty nice of you to even try to stop for me. All I said was, ‘hey your sleeves are all torn!’ There’s no reason for you to apologize, Fritz.”

“Heh- yeah you’re right.” They sat in silence for a moment.

“Speaking of your mom…” Jeremy started, even though Michael knew what he was gonna say, he let him continue, “I really wanna meet her- I mean don’t I gotta ask for her permission to marry you or something…?”

GWBSOQ#\~

Chapter Text

When both boys made it into Jeremy’s truck Michael started to get a bit nervous. Not about smoking, he was excited about that if anything. He was just a bit nervous to meet Bell. How had they met anyway? Is she nice?

“You’re zoning out again Fritz.”

“Huh? Oh yeah- sorry I was just thinking.”

“Go on.” Jeremy prompted Michael.

“Well, uhm I was just curious how you meant this person.”

“Bell?”

“Yeah.”

“Oh, that’s a simple story. She was one of my coworkers at the skate park, she’s pretty cool actually. A bit strange though.”

“Strange?”

“Yeah, sometimes she asks me to pay her with fish sticks.”

Michael laughed at that, “Are you serious.”

“Yeah, actually she really likes them for some reason.”

“That’s ridiculous why wouldn’t she just use the money to buy fish sticks vs asking you to pay with them. Wouldn’t they defrost?”

Jeremy pointed behind him to an ice cooler sitting in the back seat.

“Oh my god- Jeremy that is outrageous!”

“I know!” he laughed as he drove.

“How much weed were you getting if you had a whole cooler for her fish sticks!” Michael laughed with him.

“A lot man!”

“And just how much is a lot?!” Michael jokingly asked.

“I’m gonna turn on the radio if you keep interrogating me, Fritz!”

“But-“

Jeremy cut him off, “No!” He reached for the sound and flicked it on.

Michael and Jeremy were still laughing but the noise was drowned out by the music.

I was tired of my lady

We’d been together too long

Like a worn-out recording

Of a favorite song

So while she lay there sleeping

I read the paper in bed

And in the personal columns

There was this letter I read

“Hey! This song was stuck in my head earlier!” Michael shouted over the loud song.

If you like piña coladas-

“This song is pretty catchy!”

“Why are we still yelling!”

“Because I don’t wanna go through interrogation! There’s no chance I’m turning it down!”

“You’re mental Jeremy!”

“Yeah!”

Chapter Text

“We’re here! She’s right there.” Jeremy pointed to a ginger-haired girl wearing Christmas-themed shorts and band tee of a group Michael had never heard of. She must have liked Christmas because it was nowhere near December.

Jeremy looked so happy walking towards her that he might as well be skipping. Michael followed with a nervous smile.

“Is Joan with you?” was the first thing Bell said.

“Pft… I knew you were gonna ask that. No, she is not with us.”

Bell has a sad expression for a moment, “Well that’s fine,” she sighed and then noticed Michael, “But who the hell is this guy?”

Jeremy looked at Michael briefly with a grin plastered on his face and then looked back at Bell, “This is my boyfriend Fritz.”

Michaels’s eyes widened slightly at hearing that as he felt his face heat up slightly. He waved at the girl while he stared at the ground.

“He gets flushed easily, anyway have you got 6 grams and some paper?”

“Yup, come with me inside I restocked like two days ago.” She opened her door for them.

Michael looked back up from the ground when he felt Jeremy grab his hand, leading him inside. He had a habit of doing that. Not that Michael minded, he just noticed it that’s all.

Chapter Text

Jeremy’s apartment. They were at his apartment now. This isn’t the first time he’d been there, but it felt like it was.

The room itself was very simple and plain. A TV, A bed, and a picture of a beach. It had no distinctive smell. Michael would go as far as to say that there was no smell at all. The emptiness of the space was oddly comforting for him.

They sat down on the bed together. Suddenly Jeremy spoke, “Could you hand me the grinder? Please? It’s by the tv.”

Michael grabbed what he assumed was the grinder and handed it to him. Jeremy grabbed it from his hand, “Thanks.”

He watched in awe as Jeremy put a gram in and started to grind it.

“You look amazed and all I have done is start grinding it.” Jeremy laughed a little.

“I like how it spins.”

“Oh yeah? Watch this.” Jeremy then began to start spinning it at a rate Michaels’s eyes couldn’t respond to.

Jeremy stopped the cycle to open it, “Voila.” He said as he grabbed the paper from his pocket.

“Very impressive.”

“Yes, I know I am great,” Jeremy and Michael laughed once again as he started to roll the joint.

When he finished he put it into Michaels’s mouth and lit it for him.

“What a gentleman you are.” Michael mumbled with the joint in his mouth.

“Always! Ok now, try to smoke it like a cigarette, but try to hold it in for a bit longer, not too long though.”

Michael took it out of his mouth and handed it to Jeremy as he continued to hold it in.

“Blow it out Fritz- oh my god you’re gonna get black lung!” Jeremy laughed.

Michael listened to him but started to cough loudly.

“Into the pillow! Into the pillow! My neighbors are gonna hear you!” Jeremy was laughing hysterically at this point.

Michael coughed into the pillow and spoke, “My coughing is nothing compared to that laughing.”

“I wasn’t laughing THAT loud.” Jeremy said still snickering.

“Sure.”

Chapter Text

Michael and Jeremy sit on his bed together with the lights off watching some movie Jeremy had put on with the purpose of not really paying attention to it.

Michael had absolutely no idea what was going on even though he had been focusing on it the whole time. The hyperfocus he had on that screen could never be broken by Jeremy no matter how hard he tried. Not that he would try to this time around anyway, the face Michael was making was particularly perfect at the moment. It was a classic one is staring and the other doesn’t notice moment.

He didn’t look tired, but somehow before Jeremy knew it, Michael was asleep. One minute he was staring at the tv the next he was passed out on his bed.

It worked for him too, that’s good. Not everyone reacts the same way to weed. Michael and him were similar in that way though.

Jeremy laid back still continuing to keep his eye on the other.

“Goodnight Fritz, I love you.” He knew he wasn’t gonna hear him say that, but nonetheless, he said it. That was technically the first time he said I love you to Michael. Putting his arm around the resting boy’s waist he began to fall asleep himself.