𝑳𝒐𝒏𝒆𝒍𝒚 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒕 - 𝒎.𝒈.𝒄.

𝑪𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒕𝒆𝒓 2 - 𝑺𝒂𝒇𝒆𝒕𝒚 𝒑𝒊𝒏

«Runaways, we're the long lost children
Running to the edge of the world
Everybody wants to throw us away
Broken boy meets broken girl
[...]
No more waiting, we can save us from falling»

I woke up.
That's the most shocking part.
The second thing that shocked me was the fact that I was in a bed. With a needle in my arm.
I could feel it.
I slowly opened my eyes and I raised my hand, trying to shield myself from the light.
"Lily! Oh, Lily, you're awake too!" shouted a woman. I looked at her, standing on the left of what looked like my hospital bed. She was blonde, probably in her fifties and very elegant. Right beside her in the white room stood a man, around her age. Was it her husband?
"Oh, Lily, dear, you got me so worried!" she said, taking my hand. "When they called me and they said that my Mikey had gotten in an accident with his best friend- Oh, dear! Your mother and I almost went insane! Daryl, go tell Amy and the doctors that our kids are awake! How are you feeling, my dears?" she asked, shooting a glance behind her. I followed her gaze and I noticed a familiar face.
"Michael!"
"Hi, Lily."
"So you remember each other, right? You didn't lose your memory, right?"
"No, mum, we're fine" he complained.
Michael's mum was about to reply when another woman appeared on the door. She was visibly worried and tired. Her long brown hair was a mess. She looked somewhat familiar.
As soon as she saw that I was awake a smile replaced her worried frown. "Lily, dear! Oh my God" she whispered, getting closer to me and taking my hand. "You got me so worried! How are you?"
"I'm... I'm fine, thanks."
"That's great, sweetie. The doctors will check on you and Mikey in a second. We'll be home soon, you'll see!"
Then she looked at Michael and his mother. "Karen, thank you for telling me she was awake. I really owe you one. Mikey, dear, are you okay?"
"Yeah, yeah. Been better, but I'm fine."
"That's great! Somebody listened to my prayers, then!"

A while later, after a quick check up, Michael and I were left alone.
"Michael, hey Michael!" I whispered, to avoid being heard from outside. The door was thin, and if Michael's parents heard...
"I'm here, I'm here. What's wrong?"
"You... You remember how we ended up here, right? Or was it just a hallucination?"
He chuckled. "Of course I remember. I don't jump off bridges and into a portal every day, you know? It's kind of a once-in-a-lifetime thing."
"But... you had wings. I remember them, they were silver. Where are they now?" I asked.
He sighed. "The thing is... You're not the only one who got a second chance at life. I'm alive too, again."
"What do you mean, again?"
"Lily, I had to die to become an angel. You thought I was born to be one?" he laughed.
I shrugged. "Yeah, I guess. I didn't think about it much, you know."
"Well, you were wrong. Not all angels are born like that. We got back to one the most important days in our lives. It's March 31st, 2013. Welcome to the life we could've had!"
"There's just a little problem."
"What is it?" he asked sitting up, visibly concerned.
"I was ugly and in high school in 2013. Tell me I don't have to go through high school again."
Silence.
"Michael. Do we have to go through high school again?"
"... Yes."
"Oh my God."
"Nah, it's not His fault. Leave Him out of this. Also, at least you're not ugly this time."
"I'm going to kill you as soon as we get out of here."
"Are you kidding me?" he yelled. "If you do you'll never go to Heaven, you know that? Also, why would you kill me? I saved you, you tiny idiot!"
"I'm not tiny! I'm 5'6, but I'll keep growing!" I complained.
"Yeah, yeah, of course. You're almost 21, Lily."
"Shut up."
"Mikey?" asked Karen, her head peeking in the room. "I heard you were yelling. Is everything alright?"
"Yes ma'am, we're fine" I answered.
"Oh, dear, you don't need to call me ma'am or Mrs Clifford" she smiled, walking away. "That just makes me feel older than I am! Karen is fine."
Clifford?
As in... Michael Clifford?
That one Australian guitarist and singer?
I waited until she left the room, but then I decided to ask Michael. I mean, I wanted to know if my guardian angel was a worldwide famous singer.
Okay, that sounds insane.
The whole situation seemed like some weird dream.
"Michael... Clifford? Is that your last name?"
He looked at me before answering, his arms crossed on his chest. "Yeah. Why?"
"Because... Weren't you... You really can't remember?"
"Remember... what, exactly?"
"Michael, you... You're my favorite singer" I whispered.
"What? You mean... I made it?" he asked, his green eyes shining with joy. "I would've become famous if I hadn't died?"
"Yeah, but there's something I don't understand."
"What?"
"If you really died, and we haven't lived this second life yet, why do I know that you became famous? I mean, you're not famous in our... normal lives. So why...?"
He stopped to think for a second, his brow furrowed under his fringe. "I don't know. Maybe you could... Nah, that doesn't make sense. But what if... Nope, very unlikely. Well" he sighed, "maybe you know because... Maybe your 'future-you' - the person I saved on the bridge - remembers something that will happen to us soon. That's the only kinda logical explanation."
I tried to process what he had just said. "I don't get it."
"There's no need to get it. We just need to focus on living this life to the fullest. Which means that we need to have fun and do everything we've ever wanted to do, while still respecting the rules!"
"It's our last chance, after all. You have a point."
He smiled. "Course I do."
"Listen, how does this work? Don't they see that we're in our twenties?" I sighed, gesturing to the doorway.
"Nope. We can see each other for what we really are, but other people just see a younger version of us. Don't worry, you don't look ugly. No braces and glasses this time. They didn't make you ugly, anyway."
I was about to reply but the door opened, and the doctor came into the room. "Hi, kids" he smiled. "I've already talked to your parents. You're both alright and healthy, you can leave as soon as you want!"
"Great, thanks. Let's go, Mikey, I wanna get out of here!"

"Okay then, are you both ready?" asked Amy, which was... My new mother, I supposed?
"I am. Lils, how about you?"
"More than ready. Get me out of here, I hate this place."
The adults - was I an adult too, technically? - laughed like I was just joking. By the look he had on his face, though, Michael knew I wasn't.

After a couple of minutes I was in Amy's car. Michael was in the car right behind us. From what I had understood, the Cliffords lived not too far away from my new house.
"So" asked Amy after some minutes of silence, "how's my favorite daughter doing?"
I arched a brow. I didn't know whether she was joking or not. "Favorite?"
"Of course. You're the only one!" she laughed. "So, are you alright?"
I nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine."
"To be honest, I thought you'd be more nervous during the car ride, considering what happened the last time you saw a car."
I assumed it had something to do with the reason I had woken up in a hospital bed. Not the best morning ever. "What really happened? I can't remember everything."
"Well, Mikey told me something and the police tried to come up with a possible explanation. They said you and him were walking down the sidewalk down the Sydney Harbour Bridge and a car almost hit you both. Nobody knows how you stayed on the bridge. The chances of falling in the water were very high. I think it's some kind of a miracle that you're both alive."
"I guess you could call it a miracle, yeah" I smiled.
"Okay, we're finally home!" she said, pulling up on the driveway of a simple, anonymous house. Michael's parents' car stopped right in front of the house on my left.
So that's where he lived.
I left the car before Amy - should I call her mum? - could say anything. I needed to talk with a certain someone.
He had just got out of the car too and I noticed how tall he was. I looked like a 10-year old next to him. "We need to talk."
"Oh." He looked at his parents and smiled. "Go inside, I'll be there in a second!" Then he looked back at me and sighed.
"Listen, if it's about the house, I had no other choice. I need to keep you close to me to prevent you from doing stupid stuff. Like trying to jump off a bridge again, for example."
"It's not only that. What... What was happening on that bridge? Why were we there, according to them? What were we doing?"
"Apparently, we were just walking around. The fact is... Reality changed. We weren't physically on that bridge. Future us were on that bridge. Nobody saw us jumping off and reappearing there around seven years earlier. It's... Weird. And difficult to explain."
"Yeah, I noticed that."
He smiled. "What do you mean?"
"I mean that everything is difficult to explain if it has to do with you."

||In the next chapter...||
"Something weird is about to happen. And it won't be good. I can feel it."
[...]
"Do you believe - he asked, pointing his pen at me - that everyone has a guardian angel?"

Author's note!
Hey everyone! :)
how are you?
this chapter is a bit boring, I know, I promise the next is better.
Thanks for your support, see you soon!
Kira <3