Bad Attraction | Chris Motionless x Michael Jackson

CHAPTER 16

"Is that all of your personal belongings?"

"Yes."

"Well then..." The officer waved his hand to the left. "Hope that served as a lesson, and we won't see you again."

As he stepped out of the door.. Pressing his lips together as to swallow back disappointment - he had no right to be disappointed, he didn't know why he was - he started walking to the bus stop.

It was fine, he kept telling himself, he had expected it. It had been around two months since Chris had been freed, and Michael didn't think Chris recalled his own release date. To be fair, he probably never mentioned it at all. And well, it was over. Done. Broken apart.

It had been two months.

Two whole, long months.

Two months since that day Michael had spent two months thinking about, wishing he could go back to, wishing he could have done something, said something more, something else.

Shrugging to himself and sitting down on the waiting bench. The bus would be there in a couple of minutes, the prison's computer had told him so -- he had been able to access the computer room, after Chris' departure, and pretty much anywhere he wanted to go, just like Chris had sworn. It had left a bad taste in his mouth, at first, and then he had spent all his afternoons there, with the constant need to cry, but feeling closer to the man who wasn't there anymore.

The ride to his town wasn't exceedingly long, nor was it truly short either. The phone in his back pocket long discharged, dead, and he spotted the various groups of high schoolers outside.

His chest tightened as he got off the bus, (and hoping he'd make it in perfect time walking to the other bus stop), his eyes searching for the familiar faces as he stood a bit farther away. His nieces and nephews attended that high school.

He only needed to catch a glimpse, he promised himself, only one glimpse before he'd have to go back to the apartment and have that discussion with-

"HEY! UNCLE MICHAEL!" Came from his right, snapping him right out of his thoughts as his eyes found the girl across the street. They quickly took in Brandi's overall state, noting the wellness of her stature and the happiness in her eyes.

Before he could say anything, his niece had crossed the street and ran into his arms, wrapping her arms around his shoulders and squeezing tightly enough to make all breath leave his lungs.

"You're back." She murmured in the thin cloth of his shirt, her face pressed against his shoulder, before she took a step back, her nose scrunched and her mouth twisted in a grimace. "Ew. You smell like you've been hiding in a cardboard box in a closet for the past months. Gosh, we missed you! You were gone for so long! Where were you at? Uncle Marlon wouldn't tell me anything. So much happened while you were gone!"

"Really?"

Brandi nodded, humming absentmindedly, before her eyes widened as she searched the crowd of students. "TAJ!" she yelled, "Uncle Michael's here!"

His nephew didn't take long to cross the street as well, clinging to him the same way Brandi had just done. "Hey, wow.." He cleared his throat, his smile dimming slightly, "I'm sorry I missed your birthday, Taj. I'll make it up to you, okay? I know you love presents-"

"It's fine, Uncle Mike." His nephew shrugged. "Are you coming to Hayvenhurst to spend time us?"

Michael sighed, one hand coming out of his niece's hold to scratch at the side of his nose. He wished he would, but "There's something I need to do first.", came first. "I'll come see you all as soon as I can, but I have to talk to Alexi."