**Graduation Day**
Chloe’s POV
I was back in LA and Michael had decided to stay in Sydney. I don’t know what was going on with him lately, but I felt like we were drifting apart. I decide to get on twitter and just check my mentions and scroll through my timeline.
@ChloeFallenAngelz: The bed’s getting cold and you’re not here. The future that we hold is so unclear... </3
I start getting ready and try not to cry. I hear the door open and someone turns me around. I see Ashton standing in front of me and he pulls me into his embrace.
“Everything is gonna be okay.” He assures me.
He sits me down and I take out my phone. I decide to clear everything up with the fans.
@ChloeFallenAngelz: Honestly, I don’t know what Michael and I are anymore. He’s drifting from me and I haven’t seen him in several days. He stayed back in Sydney, while the boys and I flew to LA so I could graduate. This may be the end of Michael and I, guys! :’( </3
I go into the bathroom to get ready. As I start to get ready, I hear Ashton shouting at someone.
“Damn it Michael, quit fucking up!”
“No, I’m not covering for you anymore. Chloe, she- Damn Michael, she’s fucking falling apart because of you. You need to get your shit together. I can’t keep picking up the pieces for you. If you keep this up, I can gurantee she’s gonna leave because she’s gonna be tired of you constantly fucking up and breaking promises.”
“Michael, don’t you get it?! She’s fucking falling apart because of you. I don’t know how much longer I can keep her together before she fucking falls apart completely.”
“Michael, you’re not hearing what I’m saying. She wakes up every fucking night screaming and crying. She has nightmares every fucking night. She’s afraid for you. She’s afraid she’s going to fucking lose you.”
“You can’t hide from us or her forever!”
I then hear something hit the wall. I assume Ashton threw his phone at the wall. That’s when I completely break down. I slid my back down the door and just cry.
I hear a knock on the door, “Chloe, let me in!” Ashton begs.
I open the door and he pulls me into his embrace. He rocks me back and forth, trying to comfort me.
“I promise you’re okay, I’ve got you!” He reassures me.
“I hate feeling this way!” I sob.
“I know.” He coos.
I eventually cry myself out and start fixing my makeup. Ashton watches me to make sure I’m okay. But I wasn’t gonna be okay for a while. I didn’t realize this was just the beginning of Michael’s mayhem and that he was just gonna spin more out of control before he got better.
“Are you okay now?” He asks.
“Yeah, I’m fine.” I reply, smiling.
“No you’re not, it’s okay not to be fine, Chloe.” He says, seeing through my lie.
I put my robe on and we both head downstairs. I stare at my lockscreen and sigh.
“You know, it’s okay to not be okay.” Luke says, causing me to jump.
“Jesus Luke, you scared me!” I scold him.
“Sorry, but seriously, we’re all here for you. Michael just doesn’t want to deal with his problems right now. He’d rather drown his sorrows in alchol than face them head on.” Luke tells me.
“What problems?” I ask.
“Michael’s mum and dad died in a car accident just before we flew out to Australia to get Calum. He’s in so much pain that he’d rather drink away his problems than face his feelings. He doesn’t realize how much he’s hurting us, more specifically you.” He replies.
“I’m sick of feeling this way, the uncertainty is killing me. Even if we get past this, it’s gonna leave an emotional scar.” I tell him.
“I know. We are trying everything we can, but I don’t know if it’s gonna be enough.” Luke says, pulling me into his embrace.
We all decide to head out and get there early to find a good parking spot.
******
“When we were five, they asked us what we wanted to be when we grew up. Our answers were astronaut, president, or in my case, doctor. When we were ten, they asked again. We answered gold medalist, cowboy, or in my case, rock star. But now that we’ve grown up, they wanted a serious answer. Well how about this -- who the hell knows? This isn’t the time to make hard and fast decisions, this is the time to make mistakes. Take the wrong train and get stuck somewhere. Fall in love -- a lot. Major in philosophy because there is no way to make a career out of that. Change your mind and change it again because nothing’s permanent. So make as many mistakes as you can. That way someday when they asked us we wanna be, we won’t have to guess -- we’ll know.”
Everyone claps and I take my seat. I know I should be happy, but with Michael gone, I just feel like crying. And there would be more tears and heartbreak in the future. I just wish he was here to see me graduate. At least, I had the boys to keep me together.
*****
“Congratulations to the class of 2014!” The principal says.
We throw our hats in the air and cheer. Luke runs up to me and picks me up in his arms, spinning me around.
“Congrats!” He shouts, setting me back down.
“Thanks Luke.” I reply.
The other boys give me hugs and Ashton hands me a gift.
“It’s from Michael, shame he can’t be here himself to give it to you.” He says.
I open it to see a necklace. It was a moon necklace with a star dangling off the end of the moon.
“It’s beautiful!” I exclaim, starting to cry.
Luke puts it around my neck and pulls me into his embrace. We stand there until I’m ready to join everyone. After we take pictures, we decide to head out to dinner to celebrate our graduation.
********
Once we return home, I head up to my room. I was still upset about Michael. Today was supposed to be a happy day, but instead Michael had to ruin it and put my mood down. I lock my door and crawl into bed, crying myself to sleep, like I do every night.
Hair: http://cutemakeupideass.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/simple-graduation-makeup.jpg
Makeup: http://tarasfashionblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/235805730459390357IJ4SHkDYc_large.jpg
Chloe’s Graduation Gift: http://www.kay.com/images/products/1729/172999106_MV_LG.jpg
Nicki’s Graduation Gift: http://img0.etsystatic.com/000/0/5401311/il_fullxfull.289024652.jpg
