Everybody Needs Somebody | M.C.

Eighteen.

Word Count: 2,163

A month has passed since where I left off in the last chapter. You'll understand why when you read :)

I could hear Michael's faint snores as he slept with his head on my chest, the blankets tucked tightly around our intertwined bodies.

I couldn't sleep; I just found my eyes not really wanting to close due to the fact I wasn't really tired. So as I lay there, smiling softly as I looked down at a peaceful, sleeping Michael, I replayed the memories of the last month.

Boom!

Michael's grip on my hand tightened, his eyes shooting a quick, worried glance at me. I smiled at him reassuringly, but he jumped again as another firework exploded in the sky.

"We can leave, Michael," I suggested softly, rubbing my thumb soothingly on the top of his hand as we sat on the hood of his car, his grip on my own hand only tightening even more.

"No, we're gonna sit here and watch this spectacular show!" He waved his free hand up to the dark sky, illuminated only why the twinkling sparkles of fireworks. As another one went off, he flinched, but tried to stay calm.

It was the Fourth of July and I had asked Michael earlier that day if the town had a firework show. He hesitantly nodded, and almost immediately after asked me if I wanted to go.

And after raiding the grocery store for junk food and cans of soda, driving back to Michael's house to retrieve two hoodies, and stopping by a small stand of fireworks and grabbing the last box of sparklers, we made it to the town square to witness the annual firework show. It wasn't until the display of colorful explosions started that I realized I had just found one of Michael's fears: fireworks.

As his grip seemed to get more suffocating and painful, I slipped my hand out of his and instead pulled him into me, him instinctively wrapping his arms around my waist. He smiled up at me, his gleaming eyes sparkling with affection and light from the fireworks, his mind momentarily wondering away from the current situation.

After a little bit, Michael relaxed against me, leaning his head between my shoulder and neck. I tilted my head to lay on his and we stayed like that until the show was over. Happily jumping off the hood and into the safety of the car, Michael didn't even look back as I hopped off too.

"Aw, man! We didn't eat any of our food," Michael cried out as soon as I sat down in the passenger seat.

"Oh, no!" I sarcastically replied, letting out a laugh. Michael rolled his eyes at me, thought for a minute, then looked back to me with a mischievous grin.

"Guess I know what we're doing tonight!" He smirked, raising his eyebrows, "and no I do not mean sex, you dirty girl."

I jokingly dropped my jaw, letting out a gasp, "No sex? Unfair!" I laughed. We hadn't done that since the night he lost his virginity to me, which was only a few days prior to the Fourth. I knew he probably wouldn't be ready for it again so soon, and I was fine with that.

"Okay, fine. We can have sex. But only if we can use pink, fuzzy handcuffs... and rope," He said with a serious expression, and I played along.

"Oh, no. Not the rope again!" I feigned terror, shaking my head frantically.

"Oh, yes, the rope. It's either that or the tape. And I know how you feel about the tape," He continued, trying to stay serious, but a moment later we both burst out laughing.

After recovering from our weird, kinky, pretend sex talk, we went back to Michael's and he owned up to his promise. We spent the rest of the night eating slim jims and processed brownies and any other thing that would inevitably decrease my years of living and increase my risk of a heart attack, and talked about random things. I don't think we fell asleep until it was almost light out again, and when I woke up I felt like absolute shit, but despite that it was one of the best days I'd ever had.