Stupid Love || Michael Afton x Reader

thirty eight - meet and greet

June 19th 1993.

I let Michael stay for a while even after repairing the oven. He was in a bit of a miserable state except he did not let his tears fall under any circumstance, it was saddening to watch as he held them back. From that side of him, he hadn't really changed.

He was always going to be the same boy that tries to run away from his feelings.

Now that our cooker and oven was working properly however, I decided to finally make food for the first time in a while. Eating store bought sandwiches and cold coffee at work was probably not something nurses are supposed to do.

I guess when you're a nurse, you can say goodbye to a healthy lifestyle.

I stirred the spaghetti in the pot slowly, Michael was sitting at the table, reading through the latest newspaper.

"There's no new job openings here, the pay I get right now is shit." Michael complained as he flicked through the newspaper frantically. I giggled softly, putting my spoon down and leaning my hands on the counter.

"You really hate being a technician? I thought maybe you would like to come every so often and get a coffee." I teased, Michael smiled at me.

"I don't hate being a technician, and I definitely don't hate getting free food and drink from you, but if I don't earn more money, I might get evicted from my flat." He explained with a sigh, slamming the newspaper shut so that it almost ripped. "I'm twenty five and I'm about to become homeless."

I nodded, smiling reassuringly. I grabbed the newspaper from him, glancing across the front page.

"There's gotta be something, either an electrician or technician... there's a plumber job open, but that's probably not useful for you." I stated as I scanned the pages, quickly searching for some kind of job application. I came across a page advertising birthday materials, making me gasp. "Wait... twenty five? Your birthday-"

"In two days, yes. Oh my god, you remembered!" He joked, chuckling. I giggled myself, rolling my eyes.

"What are you planning to do? Anything special? Twenty six, that's a big number." I questioned with a laugh as I inspected the birthday page more closely. Maybe I could find something I could get Michael, or maybe I should make him something? Two days isn't a lot, well technically one day since I already start my shift straight on Michael's birthday. I had to think fast.

Mike sighed heavily, running his hand through his hair. "Not much like usual, I don't have anyone to spend it with." He grabbed his second mug of coffee from the table, quickly chugging from it. "I usually end up going to the bar with Zach, getting wasted is better than nothing."

I raised my eyebrows. "You're still in contact with Zach? What about Brian?"

Michael rolled his eyes, sipping from his coffee again. "Me and Brian are over, now we're like- mates I guess but we aren't close anymore. When we met up in college, he told me I was acting too 'depressed' and just unfriended me on the spot. Depressed? Who does this guy think he is?" He replied, laughing. I sighed softly, placing the newspaper down.

I wouldn't be surprised if he was, I mean, look at the state he's in. He's still going through shit nobody deserves to experience.

"I can't believe he would give up on you because you were having a hard time... what an asshole." I responded sternly, switching off the heat for the spaghetti.

"It's good that Zach stuck around, so did Anissa but I think she has a husband now. I don't know, longest I stayed in touch with her was less than a day." Michael mentioned with a weak smile, glancing up at me as he finished his coffee. I smiled back, plopping a good portion of spaghetti onto a plate, adding a spoon full of my homemade bolognese on top. Michael stared at in in awe, he was acting as if he hadn't eaten in three days.