How To Play The Game.

thirteen - michael

To say that Michael was nervous was an understatement.

Lily and Luke picked up Michael, Calum, and Ashton in a limo, which would have been cool if it wasn't taking them to this party. There was too much pressure and Michael was too anxious to freak out about how cool riding in a limo was like Calum and Ashton did.

"Are you okay?" Lily asked, giving Michael's hand a squeeze. They had just arrived at the party and Lily and Michael were walking ahead of the three other boys, who were busy getting to know each other.

"Yeah." Michael nodded quickly. He tried to ignore the flashes going off on the cameras that seemed to surround them. Lily had mentioned to Michael that there was going to be people there taking pictures of them, but he didn't think they'd be this irritating.

"Are you nervous?" Lily asked, turning around to face Michael. They stepped off to the side so Lily was leaning up against a wall and Michael was looking down at her. Luke, Calum and Ashton passed by them, clearly enjoying themselves too much to care about Michael's nervous breakdown.

"Yeah." Michael repeated, swallowing a huge lump in his throat.

"You don't have anything worry about." Lily smiled, reaching up and adjusting Michael's tie for him. "My parents are nice, they'll love you."

"They're not going to love me when they find out that I wrote a book about my penis." Michael scoffed, his stomach doing flips. He wished that he could just go back in time and tell Lily that no, he couldn't come to this party. But that would make him a bad boyfriend.

"Michael, trust me." Lily said, running her hands over Michael's chest. "You're going to be fine. My parents will love you because everyone loves you. You're a very lovable person."

Michael didn't acknowledge the fact that Lily had just indirectly kind of said that she loved him. He was too busy freaking out about all of the people.

"I'm not rich or important or famous like all of your other boyfriends, though. They're probably going to be so disappointed that you've downgraded like this." Michael joked, stepping forward and wrapping his arms around Lily's waist. She was wearing a new dress that he went to the store with her to get, and Michael honestly couldn't wait to take it off of her later.

"I didn't downgrade!" Lily protested, slapping Michael on the shoulder. He smiled down at her, trying to make himself laugh and calm down.

"I was kidding." Michael chuckled. "Maybe."

"Stop it." Lily pouted. She stood on her toes and quickly kissed Michael on the lips. She grabbed his hand, leading him into the room where the party was actually being held. "Come on."

Lily took Michael into the banquet hall, leading him over to a table in the center where a man and a woman were already standing. Michael assumed that they were Lily's parents and he squeezed her hand tighter, not sure if he would even be able to speak to them because of how nervous he was.

"Michael, honestly, calm down." Lily sighed, turning her face towards him as they walked. "You're going to be okay."

Michael was still confused about why he was so nervous about this. He was 26 years old, he'd had a lot of girlfriends before and had met most of their parents, and he'd never gotten this anxious. He wasn't sure if it was just because of the high titles that Mr. and Mrs. Hemmings seemed to have or because he just really liked Lily.

When they approached Mr. and Mrs. Hemmings, Michael gulped, immediately feeling even more intimidated than before. He stepped back, letting Lily speak to them first.

"Mom, Dad! Hi!" She said excitedly, hugging them both tightly. "I didn't think you were going to make it!"

Michael almost spoke up and questioned why Lily didn't think her parents were going to make it to their party, but he decided to stop himself. He knew that Lily's relationship with her parents was pretty rocky at times, so he just stayed quiet.