𝐬𝐲𝐦𝐩𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐲 | 𝐦. 𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐨𝐧

twelve.

when michael was done rambling about the first time he saw E.T. he looked up to see the movie was already halfway over with. he cursed under his breath and laughed softly. "i guess i was rambling for a long while, i'm sorry," he said, pausing but only for a moment. not long enough to let you answer. "actually y/n i kind of left something out of that story," he said and turned to you. he fell quiet as he saw your head against his shoulder as you slept soundly. he must have been talking your ear off and just talked you right to sleep.

he wasn't sure what to do. he had a lot more he wanted to say but he didn't want to wake you up. he took this as his sign to not tell you about evan. not yet, anyways. it clearly wasn't the right time for it. he sighed to himself and moved carefully to wrap one of his arms around you. he should be heading home. it was getting late and he promised to be home before elizabeth went to bed. he also promised her candy he wrapped one arm around your shoulders and carefully slid the other under your thighs before picking you up bridal style. you briefly stirred in your sleep, michael's breathing hitched as you moved but only laid your head on his chest. his heart melted and he let out the breath he had been holding for only a moment. he carried you to your room and laid you down in your bed.

he looked over you for just a moment, making sure you were comfortable and your breathing was normal. he pulled your blanket over you and carefully tucked you in before getting close to your face and pressing a sweet, gentle kiss to your cheek. "now we're even," he whispered as he stood up straight again. he collected himself, making sure he had everything before leaving your room and walking out of the house. he was sure your parents heard him leave so he didn't worry about that. he would have told them he was leaving but felt that would have been awkward.

before going home, he walked to the gas station just down the road to get candy for elizabeth just as he said he would. m&m's were her favorite so that's what he got for her. he pulled spare change out of his pockets to pay and forked it over to the cashier, letting him keep the few extra pennies as a 'tip'. he left and finally went home with elizabeth's promised candy in his pocket. he crawled up the same way he had gotten down, climbing through his window into his room. he carefully closed and locked it behind himself before taking off his jacket. he grabbed the candy he had gotten for his little sister and walked over to her room. he gently knocked and waited for the sound of her voice before welcoming himself in.

"i told you i would be back before you went to bed," he said and smiled before walking up to the side of her bed. he crouched down so he wasn't standing over her and hiding her in his shadow. the light from the hallway dimly lit up her room so he could see her. she was laying in bed but she wasn't asleep yet. it counted.

"you barely made it in time," she argued and huffed. she pulled the blanket up over herself before rolling over onto her side with her back towards michael. she was a little upset. she had been worried about him ever since he left. she was only awake because he promised he would be back before she went to bed so she waited. it did not count.

michael sighed quietly, moving a hand and rubbing her back. "well i guess since you're upset with me, i get these m&m's all to myself," he said and sighed heavily. he pulled the candy out of his pocket and looked up at elizabeth to see her reaction. she rolled over, snatching the candy from his hands and putting it on the nightstand next to her bed.

"i won't let you off so easily next time," she said, moving her hand to poke his chest. she huffed and narrowed her eyes at him. she said this every time but in the end she couldn't stay mad at him. sometimes she wished she could get away from william the same way michael did. she used to be a daddy's girl but she could hardly stand him these days. he was insufferable.

"i'm sorry, elizabeth," he said and moved a hand, carefully pushing her hair out of her face. her hair was truly a mess. it reminded him of his mom's hair. it was thick, curly and unruly just like clara's hair. michael, however, had only inherited the thickness of his mother's thick hair. evan's hair was the same way. elizabeth just had bad luck. clara used to do her hair but since she'd been gone it hadn't been done the same way. michael tried but he didn't know how to take care of it as clara did.

he was pulled out of his thoughts as elizabeth spoke again. "who were you with?" she asked, sitting up a bit. michael stood up before sitting down on her bed next to her. he fidgeted with her bed sheets, a smile tugging at his lips.

"how do you know i was with someone? i could have been out on my own," he said even though the smile on his face gave him away. he knew elizabeth could see right through him. he was very obvious and elizabeth was good at reading people in the same way their father was. she was observant.

"you're all cleaned up," she said, lifting a hand to motion towards the cleaned up scratches on his face. she then lowered her hands and poked at the colorful bandaids on his arms. "and you smiled at the question," she said and giggled quietly. she could already tell he had a crush.

"i went over to a friend's house. you caught me, kid. you're too smart," he said and chuckled softly. he moved and ran his hands through his hair. "they cleaned me up and afterwards i had dinner with them and we watched movies. i told them all about you as well. damn near talked their ear off," he said, unable to suppress his smile at this point.

"you like them a lot," she said very bluntly as her brow quirked up. "you're so stupidly obvious. i could see it from a million miles away," she teased, poking his arm. she pushed, asking questions about you and trying to learn more about you. he brushed them off and avoided them, standing up after she asked more than enough questions for one night.

"alright, alright. no more, kid. goodnight. i'll see you in the morning. dad will whoop both our asses if he found out i'm keeping you up right now," he said and made his way to the door. she protested for just a moment but michael just waved goodbye before stepping out and crossing the hall back to his own room.

finally he was alone in his room and he was quick to change into pajamas. he laid down in his bed, his hands behind his head as he stared up at the ceiling. once again, he found himself thinking of you before bed. something about you so easily raised his spirits. you enlivened his everyday life. he couldn't get you out of his head. you were so sweet to him and you just seemed so perfect in every way. he fell asleep to the thought of you, his face hidden in his pillow as a big dumb smile played on his lips.