Water Tower

Chapter 22

MICHAEL'S P.O.V.

"Stay."

Did I hear her right? 

She's drunk, she doesn't know what she't talking about.

"Please Michael." She says, her eyes closed.

"You don't really want me to stay." I say, looking down.

"Yes I do Michael." She says, "Just," She says, her voice getting quieter. "Please" She says. 

I want to stay. God, do I really want to stay, but I don't want her to wake up and be confused, because there is no chance in hell that she will remember this conversation. I pace back and forth in the room, wondering what to do.

"Fuck it." I say, walking out the door.

"Kaitlyn, where's the extra blankets?" I whisper. She points to a doorway down the hallway. "Thanks." I walk back to the door and grab a couple of blankets. I walk back into the room and notice that Amanda's head is completely covered by the blanket. I lay out a blanket on the floor beside the bed. "Not there Michael." I tell myself, thinking if she got sick in the middle of the night, I would either get hurt, causing her to get hurt as well, or get thrown up on. I move the cover to the bottom of the bed and lay down on it. "Goodnight Amanda." I say and soon sleep overcomes me.

-------------------------

"Michael?" I hear. I open my eyes, but soon close them from the bright light shining in the room.

"Huh?" I say, putting my arm over my eyes.

"Why did you sleep in the floor?" I move my arm and open one eye and see Amanda standing over me.

"You asked me to stay." I say.

"I remember that, but why in the floor? You could have slept on the bed." She say, sitting down on it.

"I didn't think you'd want me to sleep there." I say, looking down. 

"Michael." She says.

"Anyways, how are you feeling?" I ask her. "Do you need anything?"

"I'm feeling fine. I had to run to the bathroom right when I woke up." She says.

"I should have brought you a bucket." I say, mentally cursing at myself.

"No, I was fine with the medicine and water. Thank you for that, Michael." She says. 

"You're welcome, Mandy." I say, smiling at her. There is a knock on our door. "Come in." 

Kaitlyn's head pokes through the door. "I made breakfast if you guys want any." 

"Thank god!" I say, jumping up. "I'm starving." I start walking towards the door. I grab Amanda's hand. "Let's go eat." We walk out and go into the kitchen. Luke is still half asleep on the couch and Lauren and Ashton are no where to be seen. Calum left half way through the night.

"So I made none of this." Kaitlyn says laughing, "I went down to the diner early this morning."

"Cheater Kaitlyn." I say, sitting down and taking a bite of pancakes.

"Who cares? It's literally the best breakfast ever!" Amanda says, shoving a piece of bacon in her mouth. We sit there and eat for while, talking about anything really. Soon, Lauren and Ashton come into the living room.

"Good morning everyone!" Lauren says, sitting down.

"Someone woke up in a good mood." Kaitlyn says.

"Of course I am." Lauren says, kissing Ashton on the cheek.

"Someone got fucked." I mumble low enough for Amanda to hear, which she did and it earned me a smack on the arm.

"What did Michael do?" Lauren asks.

"Michael did nothing." I say.

"Mandy?" Lauren says. I look over to Mandy with pleading eyes.

"Michael's just being Michael." She says.

"In that case, who knows what he said." Lauren says, sending daggers at me. I raise my hands in the air. We sit there and eat for awhile. Some small talk here and there, until Amanda speaks up.

"I'm going to go out and get some fresh air." She says, standing up and walking towards the door.

"All come with you." I say, standing up as well and follow her. We get outside and sit down on the bench and just stare out into the road.

"Where did you go exactly?" She asks.

"I went to rehab." I say.

"No, where at exactly?" She asks.

"Oh, um, I went to this one in Illinois. I had a trouble pronouncing the name of it." I say, causing her to laugh.

"Who knew?" She asks.

"Only Luke, but then I guess he told Calum." He says.

"Why didn't you tell me? Why'd you think you'd have to go without me knowing? I thought you were gone forever." She says, shaking her head.

"I didn't want you to worry, Mandy. I knew I would be in bad shape first the first couple of weeks. I just didn't want you to see me that way." I say.

"Michael, you just getting up and leaving and I thought no one knew where you were, I worried everyday. I got up every morning, cheeking my phone, hoping there was a text from you or a phone call telling me you were alright. I thought you just vanished." She says, looking at me with tears in her eyes.

"No you know how I felt when you left." I say, turning and looking out ahead of us.

"That's different Michael. We weren't in an argument before that. When Kaitlyn called me and told me you were gone, I came straight to your house. The worse possibilities kept coming to mind. I thought you just left to go, I don't want to say it." She say, looking down. I notice a tear slipped from her eyes.

"Hey, look at me." I say, genitally grabbing her chin and looking her in the eyes. "I'm fine. I'm better. I'm not that druggie that I use to be. I'm finally normal again. You don't have to worry about anything anymore. I'm here and I'm not leaving anytime again soon." I says, wiping a tear that slipped from her eye.

"I can't lose you again Michael!" She says, falling into my arms, wrapping hers around my neck.

"You won't." I say, rubbing her back. "I'm here." 

"We're not leaving each other again. Got it?" She asks me.

"Got it." I smile at her. "Let's go back in. I think it's about to rain." 

"Yeah. Let's go." She say, getting up and grabbing my hand. 

Damn, it's good to feel her touch again.