Devil In Disguise

Phone Calls and Flashbacks

Two weeks.

It had been two weeks since I'd heard from my husband. I had gotten my ring back in the mail days earlier, complete with a note from Luke apologizing for his behavior on the phone and blaming it on being sleep deprived and hungry. Raina had been popping in to check on me nearly every day, making sure to bring food for me that I never actually ate. She'd leave it on my kitchen counter and replace the still full plate the next day with a new plate of food that would never be eaten. Every few days she would bring the plate in to my room and wouldn't leave until I'd eaten it all. Those were the days I was most grateful for my best friend.

Every day I would change into a new outfit that consisted entirely of Michael's clothes. I always slept with a giant pile of his sweatshirts and tshirts arranged to slightly resemble a body on the other side of the bed. I had lost enough weight in the past two weeks that my wedding ring was about a half size too big, allowing it to be able to be twirled around my finger. That's how I spent most hours of my day. The other hours were spent looking through photo albums and pictures on my phone, as well as all our old text messages.

Long story short, I missed my husband.

I wanted to communicate with him somehow; call him to hear his voice or Skype him so I could see his face. But every time I was close to hitting the call button I would hear his ugly voice in my head...

"Michael you're hurting me..."
"Good."

No matter what I did, I couldn't forget what he'd done. Every once in a while, is have myself convinced that it was my fault. That if I hadn't spoken to Ethan, none of this would've happened. Those are the times I almost call him. The times I almost break down and apologize and beg for his forgiveness. But then a tiny voice in my head tells me to stop being ridiculous, that I didn't do anything wrong. He is to blame for all of this. And then I put my phone down and either go sit in my bathtub for two hours or curl up in a ball in my bed and cry for two hours.

My mother, thankfully, hasn't tried to contact me since the day Michael left. I honestly don't feel I'd be able to handle another conversation with her. Raina always tells me that my mother asks her mother to ask Raina how I'm doing. The fact that our mothers are best friends is both a blessing and a curse, I suppose.

I was currently sitting on the couch with Raina. If I had to stare at the walls of my bedroom any longer I think I'd go insane. The tv was on but the volume was low, whatever was on just providing background noise. She was talking about her brother and how he was set to graduate from medical school and start his residency. I was just barely paying attention, just enough to know when to nod or gasp or whatever was appropriate when she paused. She could definitely tell I was out of it, though.

She'd confiscated my phone, placing it on the arm rest beside her. Apparently I'd been fidgeting with it and looking down at it every few seconds, waiting for it to ring. So when it finally did ring, my head snapped towards the sound and my breathing basically stopped. Raina dipped her head to look at the caller ID and gasped as she threw her hand over her mouth.

"Raina?" Nothing. She didn't move, she just looked at the screen.

"Rain!"
"Huh?" She asked, turning to look at me. By then my phone had quit ringing and I was buzzing inside, going crazy trying to figure out who it was.

"Who was calling me?"
"It was..."

The phone started ringing again and Raina remained motionless. The truth was, I'd never seen her like that. Ever. It was honestly quite alarming. Raina was the kind of person who was not-so-quietly confident. She had a sort of spunk about her that immediately drew you in and made you very comfortable with her, but yet you knew rather quickly not to mess with her.

I reached over her to grab my phone and glanced at the screen. I just didn't quite expect to see Michael's name. No wonder Raina reacted the way she did. She must've put two and two together and realized that this was the first time he's tried to contact me in two weeks. Cautiously, I swiped my thumb across to answer the call.

"Hello?" I could hear him breathing on the other end of the call. "Michael?"

"Avery..." His voice cracked, weighed heavily by emotion. "Avery thank god you answered...I miss you so much, love"

The sound of his voice traveled through my ears and straight to my heart, shattering it into a million pieces. I wanted with all my might to sigh with relief and tell him I miss him, too. But of course, my brain has other thoughts.

"Michael Clifford how dare you..." I whispered harshly. I couldn't force my voice to possess any more volume than that.

"Avery please don't be like this...I called to apologize. I miss you. I love you. I want to make this better."

"You think you can make this better, after what you did?" All I could think was "I'd like to see you try"

"Yes... At least I'd like to try..."

"And how do you plan on doing that?"

"Check your email...there should be a confirmation message for two plane vouchers, one for you and one for Raina. The boys and I want you two to join us on the North American leg of the tour. You'll both fly first class to LAX and me and Calum will meet you two there. Your flight leaves in a few days."

So many emotions ran through my head, the first of which was excitement. North America! Flying first class! Getting to spend weeks with my husband! But then the fear set in...

"And what if I don't want to come?..." I could hear him sigh heavily and could imagine him running his hand through his hair, which, by keeping up with his Twitter account, I knew was a strange blue-y silver color.

"Please come...I can't stand to spend any more time away from you. I want to make up for what I've done. I want you to know that I'm NOT that person." I could hear the conviction in his voice and I knew he meant what he said.

"Michael...I'm scared..."

"I don't want you to be scared, baby. I want you to trust me...I want you to love me. To remember why you fell in love with me and for you to feel that way again."

My heart dropped to my stomach and his sincerity. The only other time I'd heard him speak with such emotion was when he was reciting his vows to me...

"I promise to love you with every fiber of my being until the day I die. Even if I'm a thousand miles away, a piece of me will always be with you. You're the only person I could ever imagine loving this much...except maybe Luke." He smiled and Luke, since he was the best man and standing right next to him, had the opportunity to smack him rather harshly on the shoulder.

"Ow! Okay, I definitely love you more than Luke! Avery Lynn, I can't even fathom spending a day of my life without you, and without knowing you're mine forever. Falling in love with you was the best decision I had no choice but to make. Not falling for you was never an option. And if we ever should have a fight, like, a good knock down drag out fight, I want you to remember..." his hands came up and he cradled my head within them. I looked deep into his eyes, and the amount of love I saw was astounding. "Remember that without you I am nothing. Hell, even with you I'm nothing. But I'm a better version of nothing when I'm holding your hand, or kissing your cheek, or laying in bed with your head on my chest while your chainsaw snores rip through the room." The whole church laughed, including me as I turned an intense shade of pink out of embarrassment.

"I love you, Avery Lynn, and I can't wait to spend every second of forever with you."

"Okay, Michael."

"Okay?" he asked, hope flooding his voice.

"Okay. But I have to go so I can start packing."

"Okay. I love you Avery. I love you so much. I can't wait to see you and hold you and kiss you and..."

"Michael I love you too but I really have to go."

"Okay. Goodbye love."

"Bye."

I disconnected the call and looked at Raina, who had an expectant look on her face. "Well?" she asked.

"Pack your bags, Rain. We're going to North America."