Shy Whispers || Michael Clifford

18

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Chapter 18

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'Do you want to sit with us again?' I text Luke. When he walked into the lunchroom with Calum, he didn't even smile at me. In fact, he didn't even look my way at all. I'm starting to worry about him.

We hung out again after school yesterday and he just seemed very distant. He barely answered me and I found him zoning out throughout the whole night. At one point, he looked like he was going to say something important, but I guess he backed out. He just kind of shook his head and closed his mouth.

'No, sorry,' he replies. I look over at him and he just puts his phone in his pocket and continues to pick at his food with a miserable expression on his face. I see Calum lean over to him and say something in his ear and Luke just shrugs.

"Hey, how's my girl?" Michael says happily as he sets down his stuff and sits down across from me.

"What happened between you and Luke? He's been really distant ever since lunch yesterday," I say, ignoring the butterflies in my stomach after the comment about me being Michael's girl.

"Nothing," he sighs and takes out his food. He rips off half and puts it in front of me, but I shoo his hand away.

"I'm not hungry right now."

"CeCe..," He sighs and puts the food in front of me anyways, "don't start this again. I'm actually starting to see results and I don't want you throwing that away."

"I can't eat. I'm too worried about Luke," I explain and rest my head on my hands.

"He's fine.. he just needs to think a few things over," Michael tells me and reaches for my hand. I let him take it and he intwines our fingers, sending me a warm smile. I return the smile and take a bite of the sandwich.

"Thank you, Michael."

He just nods and lets go of my hand, focussing on his food. I take this opportunity to reach into my bag and take out my phone for a long needed conversation with Julia.

'Hi what's up? Long time no talk eh?' I text her and put it down on the table. I stare at the phone and smile when I hear the familiar ding.

'I'm sorry Cecelia but I'm on a date with Kyle right now I'll talk later okay?'

'Alright. Gee you really like him, huh?'

'Yeah I love him to the moon and back. Bye now!!' She texts and I sigh, putting away my phone.

I guess I'm happy for her; she's too perfect to go through life alone. She's finally found the person that she trusts with all her heart and I have to admit, I'm kind of jealous. Luke's a great boyfriend, don't get me wrong. He says everything I want to hear when I want to hear it, but I always feel like there's something missing.

"Everything okay?" Michael asks when he notices the glum expression on my face.

"Yeah. Julia's just busy on a date," I say and fiddle with my fingers in front of me.

"Stop being depressed," Michael whines in a little girl voice.

"It's not that easy," I sigh.

"Would it help if I told you a joke?" he asks hopefully. I shake my head.

"What if I hugged you?" My eyes lift up from my fingers and a small smile appears on my face.

Michael shoots up from his chair and practically runs around the table to my side, sitting down next to me.

"Aw, come here," he coos and puts his arm around me, pulling me into his chest.

I let out a little sigh of content and snuggle into his baggy sweatshirt. I can feel warmth radiating off his body and it feels nice against my cold skin. He has a feint scent of cologne that makes my smile return to my face. I can feel his hand resting on my shoulder and it moves delicately, drawing little circles. His other hand rests on the back of my head, holding me against his warm chest.

I feel his hand move, and soon enough, my hair falls down from the ponytail onto my back. I remove my face from his body and look up into his eyes, pouting.

"Why'd you take down my hair?" I ask, stretching my hand to reach for my ponytail. His arm moves away slightly, just out of my reach.

"Because you look gorgeous with your hair down," he says softly, slowly lowering his hand and taking a piece of my hair, pushing it behind my left ear.

He lets out a soft breath that tickles my nose and his eyes travel down to mine. Looking into his deep green eyes.. That's when I finally realize.

I like Michael Clifford.

I think I've know for a while now, but sitting here, staring into his eyes, I'm sure of it. I like him. A lot.

"CeCe?" He breathes out, flickering his eyes down to my lips, and back up.

My eyes travel around his face, taking it all in. How have I not noticed how beautiful he is?

"Hm?"

"I just don't understand."

My eyes land on his perfect red lips. How have I not noticed how absolutely kissable they are?

"Understand what?"

"I don't understand how you can hate yourself."

His lips move slowly, like he's afraid of moving too quickly. Like if he moves too suddenly he'll scare me away and I'll never come back.

"Hm?" I say again, not able to form coherent sentences. He hand reaches up and takes a delicate hold of my chin, forcing my eyes up to meet his.

"You're the definition of perfection in the purest form. You're everything any guy could want in a girl and yet you beat yourself up for not being good enough. I just don't understand."

The words process in my brain and I bury my face back into Michael's sweatshirt. He welcomes me back into his arms and leans down. I feel those perfect lips make contact with the top of my head and I just hold him tighter.

I hear a ding sound from the table, signaling that I got a text message. I remove myself from Michael's warmth and sit up in my seat. I pick up my phone and unlock it, reading the text from Luke.

'Meet me at the park after school. We need to talk'

My breath hitches in my throat as I look over to him and realize that he's looking at Michael and I.

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A/N~ Now before you kill me for the feels, just know that I almost had a heart attack while writing this.

Also, I'd just like to dedicate this chapter to _5sosprincess_ and tateradest for just commenting on almost every chapter and just being really awesome people. Ily guys! <3

So what's gonna happen with CeCe and Luke?? I guess you'll just have to wait, won't you? MUAHAHAHA!!!