Happier (Michael x Noah)

Michael

I wake up screaming and crash to the floor, banging my head on the coffee table. Coffee table? Why is there...

Oh.

Right.

I'm at Vanessa's house.

"Holy shit!" I hear Vanessa shout, surprised by my accidental noise. I can hear her thumping footsteps as she rushes from her bedroom and into the living room. "Michael?! Where are you?"

"On the floor," I groan as I try to prop my shoulders underneath me. I fail to do so and just fall flat on my face. I can feel the blood dripping down the side of my face.  I must've cracked my head open on the table. "Fuck. Can you get your First Aid kit?"

"What happened?" she asks worriedly.

"I cracked my head open on the coffee table."

"Shit, Mike, are you okay?"

"Oh, he's fine," Jeremy says as he comes out of his room. "Things like this happen all of the time."

"Is he telling the truth?" Vanessa asks sadly.

"Yeah. He is."

I can hear her sigh and her footsteps recede. Jeremy comes over to me and helps me onto my feet.

"Thanks, kiddo," I mumble. "Sorry to wake you up."

"It's all right. Vanessa doesn't have melatonin, so I'm normally up till two or three in the morning. My dad doesn't have melatonin, either. Only you do." He chuckles. "You wanna sit or stand?"

"I'm fine as I am. Thanks."

Vanessa comes back shortly, wielding a pre-packaged First Aid kit. She tells me to sit down, so I do, and she starts to treat my wound.

Memories of Noah panicking whenever I got hurt flood my mind. I can't count how many times he had tried to rush my kids to treat me faster. It always made me laugh, and it distracted me from the pain of my injuries. It was sweet to see how much he cared about me. It was adorable.

"Mike, what's wrong?" Vanessa asks sadly when I start to cry softly from the memories. "Are you in pain? Do you want some acetaminophen?"

"N-No, it's not th-that," I mumble. "I just... I just miss Noah." I wipe my eyes. "I really miss him."

Jeremy takes hold of my hand. "I don't understand what's going on between you two, but it'll get better. It's going to take time, but it'll get better. I promise."

"Thanks, Jere." I ruffle his hair and he swats my hand away. "I appreciate the motivational words, but it's not going to be that simple."

Vanessa elbows me and I glare at her. "He's just trying to comfort you, dumbass. Be nice!" she exclaims irritably.

"Oh, shut up! I know that. I said that I appreciate his words."

Jeremy laughs. "It's fine, Vanessa. Really. So long as he's appreciative or grateful, it's fine."

"You're not hurt?" Vanessa and I ask in almost perfect unison.

"No, of course not. You understood what I was trying to do and you were grateful for what I did," he explains, laughter filling his words. "You guys understand me better than anyone. So thank you for that."

"Well, it's probably 'cause we all have issues," Vanessa suggests with a shrug.

"Yeah. I mean, I'm a recovering smoker and alcoholic with complex PTSD," I mumble.

"And you were diagnosed with depression," Jeremy adds.

"I guess."

"And I'm a bipolar idiot with DID and a fucking corrupted mine," Vanessa says, laughing.

Jeremy laughs. "Then you've got me, an autistic crossdresser with my own trauma and a corrupted mind, too."

"Just a family of freaks!" Vanessa exclaims.

"A family of freaks!" Jeremy and I join in, laughing.