𝑳𝒐𝒏𝒆𝒍𝒚 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒕 - 𝒎.𝒈.𝒄.

𝑪𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒕𝒆𝒓 17 - 𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒂 𝒇𝒆𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈

«With no way out and a long way down
Everybody needs someone around
But I can't hold you too close now»

Michael dragged me back to the table. I struggled to keep up with his fast pace.
Our friends had noticed that he was upset.
"What's going on?" Ash asked as soon as we sat down.
"Nothing much, it's just the end of the world" Mikey replied. "And apparently it will be my fault."
"What?" Zayn exclaimed. "Why?"
"Explain" Crystal ordered.
I tried to include every detail I could remember. Michael needed to figure out a way to avoid the Apocalypse, and I was sure he thought he could do that by himself. But he wasn't alone this time: he had me and our friends ready to help him as much as we could.
"We're in big trouble" Louis concluded.
"Yeah, you can say that" Michael sighed. "You guys need to stay out of this, it's too complicated and risky."
"No" stated Calum.
"You'll need our help, Michael. Nobody could stop the Apocalypse by themselves" Sierra added.
Michael looked at me, as if to ask for my opinion. I nodded. "They're right. There are only two solutions, and fighting is one of them. The other way would be..." I hesitated. I could already feel my heart starting to break. "... We'd need to go back to being just friends."
Michael shook his head. "Hell no."
"Yeah, exactly" Liam agreed. "After everything you've been through and what we've done to help you two get together, if you break up I'll probably go insane."
Michael's eyes widened a bit. "Wait. There is someone around that could help us."
"Really? Who?" Luke asked.
"It's a girl, she's my boss' daughter. They have permission to come on Earth sometimes, for work" he explained. "They should be here in Sidney if I remember correctly. She knows everything about angelic rules, legends and myths. She could tell us everything we need to know."
"We'll find her" I said, determined to fulfill this promise. "What's her name?"
"Olivia, but everybody calls her Liv."

I was at Michael's house again that afternoon, sitting on his bed while he tried to concentrate long enough to do his homework.
He gave up after five minutes, throwing his pen across the desk.
"Hey, Mikey, what's wrong?" I whispered.
He shook his head, still staring at his open book. "Everything, Lils."
I sighed, getting up to get close to him. I stood behind his chair to hug him, resting my head on his hair. He always smelled like chocolate. "We'll be fine."
"I'm not sure about that this time, love. It's us against the world."
My heart skipped a beat. "What did you call me?"
He looked up at me. "I said love. Is that alright?"
"Yup, definitely. It sounds good." I smiled. "Listen, you can't study well if you're tired and nervous. You'll study later. Or tomorrow. Think of something else" I suggested. He grinned. "Something else? Like what? 'Cause I can think of something we could do and-"
"Oh, shut up!" I laughed. "Just because that happened once-"
"I know, I know, I'm just kidding," he said, turning serious. "I still need to find Liv."
"Yeah. You said she shouldn't be that far, right?"
"I think so, yeah. I'll probably need Ashton and Zayn's help to find her and- can we change the subject?" he asked."I don't want to think about this. I just want to stay with you today."
I smiled. "That's fine by me."

We were sitting at the kitchen table later. We were both hungry, so we had looked for snacks in the fridge. We had found two slices of pizza from the day before.
Michael hadn't mentioned anything about the upcoming Apocalypse but I couldn't stop thinking about it. I felt like it was my fault. It was because of me if he had broken the rules, and now Mr. Collins wanted to ruin everything because Michael and I were together.
Michael noticed that something wasn't okay. "Lils, what are you thinking about?"
"It's nothing. Don't worry" I tried to reassure him, forcing a smile.
He shook his head. "I know you, Lils, and I can feel you're upset. What's wrong?"
I sighed, looking down at my hands. "It's just... I'm sorry."
Michael looked confused. "About what?"
"It's my fault if we're in this situation. You broke the rules because of me, and look at where we are now. I knew I was no good. I've always known."
"No, Lils, no. Look at me" he ordered. His eyes and his thoughts clearly showed how worried he was. "It's not you. It was never your fault. I decided to break the rules, and I asked you to be with me. It was never your fault" he repeated. "Trust me."
I looked back down at the table. "Maybe it's better for you if you let me go."
"Lily, are you telling me that you want me to- you want me to break up with you?" he asked, panicking.
I shook my head. "No, it's the last thing I'd want right now. I'm just saying..." I stopped, my voice shaking. "I'm just saying that you should consider it. For yourself. It would be the easiest way to stop the Apocalypse apparently, and-"
"No. We're not breaking up anytime soon. Unless you want to, I mean. I don't want to let you go."
"Why?"
"Because I don't want to lose the things I love," he smiled, opening his arms, with his red wings spread wide behind his shoulders. "Come here. I need a hug."
Of course, I didn't hesitate.

"I found her!" Niall exclaimed, from the other side of the phone.
"Really? How?" Michael asked.
"I have my sources" Niall explained.
"That's not true. He found her on Instagram, via his fan account" said Louis.
"You have a fan account, Niall?" I laughed.
"No. Forget about that. Act like Lou never said anything."
"What's this fan account for?"
"Nothing. Talking to fans, mostly. Anyway, I found her because I remembered a certain Liv commenting under one of my old posts. So yeah, I talked to her and explained the situation. She didn't believe me at first, but she accepted to see us today, in two hours, next to our school."
"I never thought I'd say this, but..." Michael smiled. "You're amazing, Niall!"
We ended the call after a while. "Well, we have to get up from the couch then" Michael sighed. "We need to get ready."
"Oh, come on, five more minutes. Liv can wait, I'm sure she won't mind" I complained, my head still on his shoulder.
He chuckled, his arm around my shoulders. "She doesn't have the whole day. And we both know that if we don't get up now we'll wake up here tomorrow morning."
"Hm. You're right" I sighed. "So, do you have a jacket I can borrow?"
He shook his head. "You already stole all the jackets and hoodies I had."

"She told me she'd be here at 5 p.m." Niall complained. Michael, One Direction and I were behind our school, waiting for Liv to show up. Cal, Luke, Ash and the girls weren't with us. They were on their dates.
"Niall, it's 5:03, calm down!" I laughed.
"She'll be here soon, don't worry" Michael said, keeping his eyes on the street.
"What if she doesn't show up instead?" Liam asked. "I mean, nobody with a bit of common sense would show up alone to a meeting with people you don't know behind an empty school. Not even if they told you they're One Direction."
"Oh, shut up, Payno. Nobody uses common sense anymore" Lou smiled, his arms crossed while leaning on the wall.
"There she is" Michael interrupted him, pointing to a figure walking towards us.
She wasn't very tall. She hadn't hidden her white wings, which made her look even smaller. Her blonde hair was up in a ponytail, which swayed left and right with her steps.
"Hi. So it's true, you guys are actually One Direction" she smiled, her blue-green eyes shining in the sunlight. "I'm Olivia, but you can call me Liv. Niall, you told me there was an important matter we needed to discuss. What is it?"
"Oh, uhm, right, I... Lils?" he stuttered.
I spoke for him, stiffening a laugh. "Liv, I'm Lily, nice to meet you" I smiled, before I started to explain the whole situation. She interrupted me every once in a while to ask questions, and Michael only intervened to add some details.
"Well, the situation isn't ideal" she commented when I had finished talking. "But there's still something we can do. First of all, Michael is not paying for his actions because he didn't just come on Earth to become your boyfriend. He did all of this to save you. It was an emergency, and he's excused. Breaking the rules is okay if you're in a situation of emergency, most of the time."
I heard Michael sigh, relieved. "That's great!"
"You two are together now, though" Liv continued. "And to be honest, I'm not sure what consequences you'll have to face. It's a tricky matter, and the rules about it are so recent that even I am still not sure about how that works."
"I thought those rules were older" I said, arching a brow. "When did they make them?"
Liv shrugged. "Something like... last year. I don't know. An angel fell in love with his human and decided to stay on Earth, so he got downgraded. He's a fallen angel now."
"Wait. So he was the first one who was downgraded to fallen angel for this, right?" Mikey asked. Liv nodded. "And how many other angels decided to do the same?"
"None. The rules were written to prevent others from imitating him, and they always worked. Until now, at least."
I looked at Michael and I only whispered two words.
"Mr. Collins."

||In the next chapter...||
"Angels will be humans
And the world will be in ruins
When the one who was hurt
Will meet a lonely heart"
[...]
"We're in trouble"

Author's note!
I'm back! :)
I don't have much to say so yeah, I hope you liked this chapter! see you soon!
kira <3