I'll Find A New Place To Be Found (Mike Schmidt/Reader)

Warmth of A Family

Just like that, you had a second job. Which was thankfully, easy to get. Abby—which you came to learn was the little sister's name from a text—was ten years old and self-sufficient. At least, that's what Mike said. His texts were also as straight to the point as he was talking. He had walls up that were so high, the redwood forest's trees would cower. However, a deep part of your brain definitely found him attractive. Mike was a quiet man who seemed to be down to earth but also so distant from the world. He looked people in the eye but he seemed to be looking right through them. It was hard to place where his thoughts were. He was like a book with a giant lock on it and hidden in a safe.

You had no idea how long you were staring at his text. It was short and mainly just told you about Abby and then attached directions to his house at the end. The siblings didn't live terribly far from you but you weren't going to risk getting stuck in this cold weather walking. Well, four o' clock was still quite a while away. You decided to take the small time you had to yourself to get dressed in more comfortable clothes. A white and blue striped jumper sweater and some simple blue jeans. It was comfortable and warm and went well with your snowflake and red and white mismatched socks perfectly!

With your now comfortable clothes on, you decided to put away some of your belongings. You didn't really have much. You had a closet that luckily, came with some shelving inside. You organized your clothing by type when it came to your bottoms, however your shirts were messy placed and simply divided by jackets and then other tops. About three boxes down, and several dozen more to go. The more you thought about it, the more the boxes just annoyed you. But, you had to get it done eventually. You wouldn't unbox anything that held knick knacks or anything that required a shelf. You set up your chunky TV in the living room and put a few of the boxes into the hall closet. By the time one rolled around, your home looked rather empty. You figured you could just get some furniture after you went over to Mike's place. You had quite a bit saved and hell, your new jobs would be paying your bills next month. The least you could get is proper furniture.

By the time three forty rolled around, you had put up a few posters around your home and put away your kitchen boxes. You made pretty damn good progress and just in time too. Looking at your phone, you figured now would be a good time to head on over. Slipping back on your parka, you grabbed your keys from a top box and ushered to your car. The air was already several degrees older and the sun made the sky a beautiful orange and pink color. You shuddered as you unlocked your SUV and climbed inside. You started heading down the road, glancing at your phone at stop signs to make sure you were going the right way. Thankfully, they only lived four-ish minutes away from your house. Once you pulled your larger SUV beside a small honda accord. The back left headlight looked as if it smashed in as it was held together loosely with tape and it was quite small compared to your large jeep. You stepped out of the car and trudged over to the door. He wouldn't mind if you were early, would he?

You timidly knocked on the door, your hand recoiling into your sleeve as the wind bit at your hand. You could hear shuffling from behind the door before the lock turned. Standing before you was Mike, wearing the same thing you saw him in earlier. Well, minus the hoodie. "Hey." He greeted me simply. "Hi." You replied before he opened the door for you to come inside. As you stepped inside, the warmth of the house made your parka feel way too hot. You unzipped and shrugged off your large coat and set it on the coat rack. When you looked past, you saw Abby. Her hair was probably wet from a shower and in her pajamas—which was just a white big shirt and teddy bear pants—doing her homework at the table. Mike seemed to have gotten up from next to her as the chair was pushed to the side.

"This is Abby." Mike said after you settled a bit in. He was about to speak, but Abby interrupted him. "Hi." She chimed, her voice pretty quiet but she had quite a large smile spread on her face. Mike quietly sat back down at the table, eyeing a chair as if silently asking you to sit down with them. You obliged, sitting across from the two. THe air was awkward, yet Abby seemed happy to see you. Mike looked nervous but he had mentioned before he struggled to find a good babysitter for Abby. "So.." Mike finally said, cutting the awkwardness, "There are a few rules. No TV past eight thirty. Homework has to be done before she can even think about turning the TV on. Bedtime is at ten. Uh.." He gently itched the scuff of his bread as he thought for a moment. The rules he had listed off were simple enough to follow. Though, Abby just frowned at the reminder of rules.