Michael Afton x Reader ~ The Boy on The Bus

Chapter Eight - Pasta

Work was boring, as per usual. Michael made sure to walk you to the bus station and wait for the bus with you, which you appreciated. You especially liked his company on cold dreary days, and today was no exception. Every day, you fell for him more and more, even if he wasn't mentally all there.

He seemed to be getting better, which you were glad about. Those few nights he had spent at your house had seemed to help him a ton. He made sure to thank you at least a hundred times for letting him stay.

Now, you were walking home from the bus stop after work. It was cold as balls and the sun was just barely rising. You sighed as you unlocked the door to your small apartment, walking inside and hanging up your coat. Strangely, you didn't see Michael sitting on the couch. He usually was when you got home, just watching TV. You like having him there because instead of paying rent, he would basically clean the whole house.

Today, though, you were surprised to walk in and see Michael at the stove cooking something that smelled amazing. Usually, you would just stop somewhere and pick up some fast food for dinner, but both of you were getting tired of Mcdonald's.

"Hey," You said, leaning against the doorframe, "What are you making?"

"Pasta," He replied, "I thought I'd make something good to eat, y'know, just to say thanks. And to make up for not showing up for our date."

"I already told you, Mike, you don't have to make up for that, it's fine." You walked over to him and watched him cook. You could already tell this was about to be the best pasta you'd ever had.

"I know, but still. I feel bad." He smiled at you.

"I'll tell you what, how about after dinner we watch a few movies and call that a date?"

"Good idea, you plan out the movies, okay? I'll call you when dinner's ready."

You gave him a warm smile before walking out into the living room. You sat down in front of the TV stand, where you stacked a bunch of your DVDs. You only had a few, you weren't a frequent movie watcher. You looked through them and picked out a few of your favorites, most were horror movies. You only grabbed around 3, since watching 4 movies in a row would really be pushing your attention span. You stacked them up on your coffee table and looked at the couch. Michael had been sleeping on it for the past few nights, and you appreciated how he always folded his blankets after he woke up and put them to the side so you two could watch TV together after you got home from work.

After a few minutes of doing nothing, you heard Michael call for you in the kitchen. You got up from your zoned-out state and went to sit down at the dining table. Michael sat across from you, and watched for your reaction as you took a bite of the pasta he had made. As you had been expecting, it was very good.

"Michael, you didn't tell me you could cook so well! This is amazing!"

He smiled sheepishly, "Yeah, I used to help my mom cook sometimes. I'm glad you like it."

The two of you talked all throughout dinner, laughing and joking as you ate. As you talked more, he started to tell you more about his mother and the rest of his family.

"My mom was an amazing cook, let me tell you. She could make just about anything and it would be the best thing you'd ever had. She was real nice, too. I don't know how or why she put up with my dad for so long."

"I'm sure she was beautiful, Michael. I wish I could've met her before... well, you know,"

"Yeah, me too. You would've loved her." He paused, "And she was beautiful. So was my sister. They looked so alike. I think it was mostly their hair."

"Sister? I didn't know you had a sister."

"Oh, I guess I never told you about her. Her name was Elizabeth. My brother was Evan."

"Oh wow, a lot of E names," You smiled.

He gave you a small laugh, "Yeah, I never noticed that before. They were both sweet kids. I used to pick on them a lot,"

"Yeah, but that's just what big brothers do, right?"

"I guess so," He smiled softly, "What was your brother like?"

You thought for a moment, recalling your brother fondly, "His name was Gabriel. He was a real hyper, really active kid. But he was friendly. He had a lot of friends, but I guess that's because he was so trusting. He really did give everybody a chance. I used to pick on him, too. I thought he was annoying."

"I thought my siblings were annoying too. I guess that's just universal big sibling problems."

You smiled, "Yeah, I guess so."

There was a silence after that, a comfortable one, but a silence nonetheless. After a minute you spoke up again.

"Do you know how crazy it is that you're in my house right now eating dinner with me? Before I even talked to you I had like, the biggest crush ever on you."

"No way, really?" He asked.

"Yeah, it was kind of creepy actually. I used to stare at you on the way to work. I was just a little bit obsessed."

Michael laughed, "Y'know, I had a little crush on you, too. I thought you were cute. I still think you're cute."

You could feel the heat rising to your cheeks, "Aw, Michael, thank you. You're too sweet to me, you know that?"

Michael smiled, "Well, you deserve it. You're too nice for your own good. I really appreciate everything you've done for me in the past week."

"It's no problem." You smiled, "Besides, I like having you around anyways. It means I don't have to clean as much."

Michael laughed, and the two of you went back to your old pointless conversation. After dinner, Michael cleaned up, like the gentleman he is, and put the dishes in the sink. You told him you would do them after you woke up later.

The two of you were now in the living room, sitting on the couch and covered up with a blanket. One of the movies you picked was playing on the TV, and you couldn't have been happier. The man you were pretty sure you loved had made you a good dinner and now you were both cuddled up on the couch watching your favorite movie.

You took his hand in yours and leaned your head up against his shoulder, a small smile on your face. You felt like nothing in this world could ever ruin this moment. You felt like nothing would ever go wrong again.

After you had watched all three movies, you were pretty beat and ready to go lay down, but you wanted to talk to Michael about something that had been on your mind for a while now.

"So," You started.

"So?" He repeated, looking at you. Him looking at you made this all the more harder.

"I've been thinking, and I think that, y'know, since we get along so well and since we've known each other for a few weeks now, I think maybe you should consider officially being my boyfriend." You smiled at him, trying to keep your composure. You may have looked all fine and confident on the outside, but on the inside, you were screaming.

Michael looked taken aback for a second, and you were scared he was gonna say no, but then he smiled, "Hmmm, well, I think I really like the idea. You know, as long as you want me to officially be your boyfriend."

"Yes!" You paused, "I mean, yeah, no that'd be cool, I think." You smiled.

"Well, I guess it's a done deal, then." He smiled, too.

There was a moment were both of you just couldn't stop smiling, and you yawned.

"Tired?" He asked.

You nodded, "Yeah, I think I'm gonna head to bed."

"Alright. I'll see you in the morning, okay?" He said. And then something you hadn't been expecting happened. He leaned over and planted a soft kiss right on your cheek.

You blushed and smiled, "Alright," you got up and stretched, walking over to your bedroom doorway, "Goodnight,"

"Goodnight," He replied, a big, goofy smile pasted on his own face.You slept well that night.