Broken Home | Michael Afton x Reader

22. a sense of normalcy

It had been about a week since Mike and I spoke to Clay Burke about the missing kids, and everything we had known.

Since then, things have been lowkey for both of us. I couldn't complain, the stress was hard on us. It was nice to not think about dead kids and Mike's murderous father constantly.

My mind had been on other things since we hadn't been worried about Freddy's or William. More specifically the fact that I liked Mike and I hadn't been sure about how to go about it. I was honestly too scared to ruin any relationship I had with him. And I just didn't know if it was still a bad time to say something.

I mean, we lived together in my apartment and did pretty much everything together. I just didn't understand why it was so hard for me to say three simple words: I like you.

But here we were, sat on my couch watching more of The Immortal and the Restless, because what else would we be doing?

"Want a refill on your popcorn?" Mike asks me, breaking me away from my thoughts. I looked down at my bowl to see it had been empty.

"Hmm sure, why not?" I say handing him my bowl.

He walks over to the microwave, popping another bag of popcorn. "So, how would you feel about doing something tomorrow?" He asks.

I look back, over the couch. "Like what?"

He shrugs, looking unsure. "I'm not sure. I just wanna get out and do something."

I nod. Remembering that the weather was supposed to be good, I thought a picnic would be a great idea. "I'm down. I heard the weather is supposed to be nice. We can have a picnic. I have a great place that I used to go with my family."

"Sounds fun." He smiles grabbing the popcorn bag from the microwave. He divvies up the popcorn between the two bowls.

"Oh, it will be. I take picnics very very seriously." I chuckle. "My parents used to take me and my sister when we were younger."

Mike walks back over, handing me my bowl then taking a seat next to me. "I'm sure you do."

I playfully slap his arm. "Oh shut up."

The next day I went to the store preparing for our picnic. I grabbed us a few snacks and drinks, even a small cake for us to split. I wanted this day to be a perfect getaway for us.

"I was wondering where you went," Mike smiles leaning against the door frame as I walk up to him. He must've woken up after I had left for the store.

I walk past him, setting the grocery bags on the counter. "I got us a few things for our day of fun."

He leans up against the counter looking in some of the bags. "So where are we going exactly?"

"It's this spot in the woods where my family and I used to go camping and have picnics. It's not too far away." I say, recalling the location.

"Sounds a little creepy but hey, I'm sure it's nice." He chuckles.

We get packed and drive out to the woods. Once we got there, I laid a blanket out for us and set everything up. Once we got settled in, we decided to dig in.