Clock in || Securitywaiter

4

"I found someone to look after you"
"Really? I though we didn't have money for that"
"We don't, but here's the thing, he doesn't know yet that he'll be the one looking after you"
"Wait.." Abby looked out the window.
"..are you leaving me with Ness?"
"Get your backpack, we're going in"

They stopped by the entrance, Mike fixed his hair, Abby watched him, confused because she had never seen him do that before, he generally didn't give a shit about how he looked, and all of a sudden he cared about his hair looking messy.

"Right so, we're going to go in there, greet Ness, then I'll run out so he doesn't have a chance to say no"
"What if he follows you?"
"He won't, you'll stop him"
"Okay, how long will you be gone?"
"Awhile, kinda hard to tell with this job, they're not very nice to me"
"You should look for a different one," Mike sighed.
"I wish I could, but it's hard for me to find work"
"Because you beat that guy up"
"Yeah..let's just- let's get you inside"

He pushed open the door, letting Abby in first, they snuck their way over to an empty booth just before Ness noticed them.

"Mike, Abby? What are you two doing here? I thought you had work Mike"
"I do, but I need you to watch Abby for me"
"Sorry, what?"
"Thanks, okay, bye!" Mike booked it towards the exit.
"Hey- no, you can't do that! Mike!" He went after him, but Abby got in his way, Ness watched Mike run to his car through the window.

Ness sighed, putting his hands on his hips and shaking his head.

"Did your brother just abandon you?"
"He's coming back"
"When?"
"Later," Abby sat back down.
"When is later? Do you have a time?"
"Maybe six?"
"Great, all I have is a maybe six, that's wonderful, why did he leave you with me?"
"We don't have anyone else and we can't afford someone who can watch me, he trusts you"
"We've known each other for five days and he trusts me with your life apparently?" She shrugged.
"I guess so"
"When he gets back he and I are going to have a long discussion about this, as for now..what do you want to eat?"

~

"So he worked two jobs today?"
"Yeah, I went with him in the morning, then we went back home for a little bit and he changed, then he dropped me off with you to go to the other one"
"I know he's a mechanic, but what's the second job?"
"Construction, he says they're mean," and there it was, the reason Mike looked so upset yesterday.
"How are they mean?"
"They say mean things to him and don't let him have breaks"

Ness bit the inside of his cheek, strongly considering asking for a job for Mike, but he'd really have to show them that he could do this..and well, he'd also have to be up for working there, he'd have to see what Mike thought about the idea first before he went ahead and did anything without his knowledge.

"Say, Abby, do you think Mike might be interested in working here?"
"He says if the pay is good then he'll take it"
"So he'll take anything?"
"Maybe"
"Hm, okay, thank you..hey is that me?" He motioned to Abby's drawing.
"Mhm, with me and Mike, you're holding hands," Ness laughed softly.
"That's cute," he said, although he was freaking out internally, could this mean something or was Abby just shipping them for whatever reason?? He had to know.

~

Abby was right about the time, he came back six thirty-ish, almost six fourty, he looked like someone broke him, all the things Ness had originally planned on telling Mike seemingly vanished, and all he could think about was finding whoever made him like this and yelling the nastiest things he could think of at them until they felt the same, if not worse.

"I'm sorry," Mike said just above a whisper.

Ness shook his head.

"Hey, no, it's- it's fine, I would've appreciated a heads up but she's not a difficult person to look after, if you would've stayed to explain it to me, I would've understood"
"I didn't want another person to say no..Abby, come on, let's go home"
"Okay," she quickly shoved her things into her bag, going to stand by Mike's side.
"Bye, thanks for watching her," Mike went to leave, but Ness stopped him, placing a hand on his shoulder.
"Mike, what happened?" Mike turned back to look at him, tears brimming his eyes.
"Nothing, I'm fine," he offered a false smile, before he continued towards the exit.

He couldn't make Mike share anything with him, so unfortunately he'd have to wait this one out, the sad thing was, he'd probably never tell him, he'd probably just keep this one to himself, and that broke his heart. Maybe he didn't want to burden anyone, but he very clearly needed to talk to someone, Ness didn't care if he wasn't the one he told everything to, he just wanted him to tell someone- anyone, he couldn't watch him carry on like this.

~

The drive home was quiet, neither of them dared to say a word, but as they pulled into the driveway, Abby went ahead and grabbed one of Mike's hands, sniffling could be heard, she looked at Mike's face, seeing tears rolling down his cheeks. She let go of his hand, getting out the car and opening his door, pulling him into a hug.

"I love you," she said softly.
"I-I love you t-too."

Abby made them hot pockets for dinner, it wasn't ideal but it was incredibly sweet, although unfortunate that his little sister had to look after him, he should be the one making them dinner, comforting her when she was upset, not the other way around..it was nice though, he felt loved, for the first time in ages.

"Me and Ness drew together when you were gone, do you want to see?" She asked, already having all the drawing in her hands.
"Of course"
"This is Ness and his cat, Smudge, Mike did you know he has a cat? He's so cute! I want to meet him- oh and this is my drawing of Smudge, Ness said it looks just like him," She giggled, flipping through her papers, it was a bunch of nonsense, but mostly Ness' cat, it seemed as though Abby had a new obsession.

She finally reached the last picture, which she handed to Mike herself, it was him and Ness holding hands, and Abby, with again, Ness' cat..but Smudge looked to be added in later, what was this? Some kind of family portrait? It was cute though, he'd definitely be putting this on his wall.

"We should have Ness over Mike, I could show him my room!..and I guess you could show him yours but there isn't much to look at," Mike laughed softly.
"Yeah, maybe, I'll think about it"