forever // m.c (book 3)

24 - i may be far but never gone

song for the chapter: never be alone by shawn mendes

*six months later*

Michael's POV

There was something that I needed to tell Summer, but I was nervous. We had finally gotten back to a good place and I didn't want to ruin anything. Again. I had sold my apartment and now lived permanently back at Summer's. Hope was ecstatic when we told her I was moving in for good.

We were now sitting at the kitchen table for breakfast before I was to take Hope to school and Summer was to go to her new job. She was now employed at the middle school, giving violin lessons. The school had approached her and Summer describes it as a blessing, giving her something to look forward to. I was proud of her, not because I thought she needed a job but rather because she was doing something that made her happy. I knew she was still upset and regretted getting kicked out of the orchestra, but I could tell she was beginning to move past it.

"What's wrong, babe?" she asked, setting her fork down.

It was a blessing and a curse how well she knew me and could tell when something was bothering me. "Just tired," I lied. She narrowed her eyes at me as Hope shifted her eyesight between us as she spooned her cereal. "I'm fine," I urged, hoping she would take the hint that I didn't want to talk about it in front of our daughter.

"Ok," she nodded, standing up and grabbing the dirty dishes.

"I wasn't done!" Hope screamed, crossing her arms over her chest. Summer jumped at the volume of her voice, spilling a little milk over the side of Hope's bowl. She set it back in front of her, but Hope just pushed it away and sauntered away to her room.

Summer sighed, shaking her head before picking up the bowl again. I grabbed my own dishes and met her by the sink. With her back pressed against the counter, I stood closely in front of her. I grabbed her face in my calloused hands. Pressing a passionate, but quick kiss on her lips, I still felt sparks.

"I'll talk to you when you get home from teaching, ok?" I murmured, my lips still close to hers.

"Ew, gross," Hope spat from the entryway of the kitchen. Summer and I laughed, separating.

"Ready, baby?" I asked, noticing she now had her shoes on and backpack on her shoulders. She nodded. "Did you brush your teeth?" Hope groaned, telling me that she hadn't. "Go do it," I said, giving her a look that showed I meant business. After a moment, she dragged her feet across the floor toward the bathroom.

"She always listens to you," Summer mused.

"She listens to you too," I said.

"Yeah, but it takes her a lot longer to do what I ask," she frowned slightly. "Ok, I need to go or I'm going to be late. See you in a few hours?" A smile was now across her face, causing me to smile back.

"Yes," I pressed another kiss to her lips, dreading what we needed to talk about when she got home.

Summer's POV

The whole time I was giving violin lessons to seventh graders, I couldn't stop thinking about what was bothering Michael. I knew that things weren't going to be sunshine and roses forever, but we were finally happy again. My mind kept going to the worst possible scenarios, like he was terminally ill or he was going to leave us or something else that was equally as awful. I knew I needed to stop thinking negatively, but if it was something good, he wouldn't be keeping it from me.

After parking my car in the lot four hours later, I rushed up the stairs to our apartment. I was out of breath, not sure of the last time I exercised. I set my purse down and slipped out of my shoes.

"Summer? Are you ok?" Michael asked, coming out of our bedroom with his hair a completely different color than when I had left this morning. It was now a silvery blue color and I had to admit that I liked it.

"What did you do to your hair?" I asked, trying to regain composure.

"Thought I needed a change," he shrugged. "So, you're ok?"

I nodded. "Just a little winded," I blushed.

Michael avoided my gaze, clearly contemplating if now was the time that he wanted to talk. "So..." he trailed off.

"Just tell me, please. I thought we decided that we were going to tell each other everything."

Michael nodded, grabbing my hand and leading me to the living room couch. He seemed nervous, his leg bouncing up and down and hands shaking. "I just don't know how you'll react." I squeezed my eyes shut, having a bad feeling about what he was about to say. "First, I just want to say that it's not necessarily a bad thing."

I let out a sigh of relief, but realized that his definition of a good thing could be very different than mine. "Just tell me," I said again, wanting him to say whatever he had to say.

"The guys and I...we've been planning something for a few months."

"You've kept whatever this is from me for that long?" I asked, my eyes widening.

"I didn't want to tell you until it was a for sure thing," he explained, and I nodded. "The band is going on a reunion tour."

"A tour?" I asked. This meant that he was leaving, not for good but for a considerable amount of time. I didn't know if I was ready for that, if I could handle him being gone.

"Yeah. We're announcing it this weekend and that's when the tickets go on sale as well."

"When are you leaving?"

"I'm not leaving, Summer. Just think of it as a business trip and I'm going to visit you whenever I can and you and Hope can come out to some shows."

"When?" I repeated, his words going straight through me. Tears were forming in my eyes, the only thing registering was that Michael was leaving.

"In three weeks to start rehearsals and then the tour starts in two months."

oh my god, i feel like it's been forever. sorry and thanks for being patient. life/school has been crazy the last month and i also had writer's block. i'm hoping to update faster, but i don't want to make any promises. i hope you liked this update and it would make me happy if you voted and commented to let me know you're still interested in the story. xx zoe