when night comes ━━ mike schmidt

𝟬𝟬𝟮 sorry

WHEN NIGHT COMES / Chapter Two

Zion had searched Mike's entire home from top to bottom. She examined every corner, every inch; left no place unchecked. Mike had followed behind her, sighing every so often. Zion could tell he was annoyed but she wasn't going to finish her search unless it was perfect. She wanted Mía as safe as possible.

Eventually, she stopped with her hands on her hips, heaved in a deep breath and tilted her head, "Is that everything?"

"Yeah, unless you wanna mess up my bedroom as well."

His snark took her by surprise. Every time they'd spoken, he'd been a polite and kind guy. He was a little rough around the edges but never mean. Never outright disrespectful. Zion narrowed her eyes and tilted her head further at him.

"Well, do you?" Mike pressed.

"No," Zion replied, still a little taken aback by his rudeness. She knew she deserved it, which was what stopped her from giving the same energy in return, "Do you have any firearms in the house? And are all dangerous objects kept away from the children? Knives, scissors, that type."

Mike sighed, "No and yes."

"Okay. I'm done, then." Zion nodded and leaned on the wall behind her, letting herself relax a little. She'd spent the entire car ride there sloppily showing Mike the basics of ASL. Her mind wasn't on the task, her thoughts were clouded with anxiety. She'd been overthinking and wondering if leaving Mía with someone she barely knew was a bad idea. But that was basically what a babysitter was, right? Except she didn't have to pay Mike, thankfully.

Zion glanced down at the floor. She sighed, "It's nothing personal. Just wanna make sure Mía's safe, that's all."

"Yeah, I know," Mike shrugged. Zion noticed that he rarely ever spoke above a murmur. "I'm just in a bad mood, had a bad day at work."

Zion groaned at that, "Ugh, tell me about it. My entire body aches."

"Hey, you mentioned that you clean, right?" Mike asked. Zion was surprised he remembered that fact since she'd only mentioned it in passing. "How well does it pay?"

"Decent. Keeps me afloat. But recently, everyone's been letting me go. I clean the homes of the elderly and the disabled when they can't do it themselves. But the problem there is that most of them have gotten carers or no longer have enough money to pay me. So now I'm gonna need another job, unless I'm granted a miracle. Why'd you ask?"

Mike only shrugged in response.

"You're just interested in my life and how boring it is?" Zion scoffed, sarcasm thick in her tone.

Mike shrugged again. He sighed and rubbed the back of his neck in a self conscious way, "I...might have gotten fired today."

"Well, shit." Zion's eyes widened, sympathy filling her heart. "Why?"

Mike sighed once more. He took a few moments to speak, not wanting to answer, "I beat a guy up."

Zion furrowed her eyebrows. It was hard to ignore the sudden anxiety stabbing her chest. She began to twist the wedding ring on her finger around and around, the occasional pain from the chafing grounding her. It was a nervous habit she'd had since she was seventeen.