Broken Home | Michael Afton x Reader

23. star crossed lovers

A/N: Thank you everyone for the support on my update! I still haven't been doing great, I'm slowly trying to move on from everything, but time unfortunately is the only way to get over these kinds of things. Safe to say that I'm working on prioritizing my life again, and although it's hard to not think about what happened, I'm at least trying to work on keeping my mind busy. But that'll probably be my last update on my life for a few. I know y'all are just here for the story and I don't blame ya. But thank you again for the support and heartfelt messages, it really gave a me a boost of motivation :)

I take a deep breath nervously fidgeting with my hands. I was scared of ruining things and if he didn't feel the same way, it could make things awkward or even ruin our friendship.

I know how much stress he's been through the past few months, the last thing I would want to do is make it worse.

"I don't want you to be mad at me. And I especially don't want this to ruin what we have now. I just—"

"It's okay, you can tell me." He reassures me. I take a deep breath. Mike looks at me full of concern.

Just say it. It's better to say it now rather than it coming out later.

"I think I like you— No, I know I like you. And I've been meaning to tell you but I was scared and I didn't want to ruin anything between us." I ramble on, not even realizing I had been. His expression softens, no longer looking as worried. "And with everything going on, I just—"

"Hey, it's okay." He consoles me rubbing my back. "I like you too."

"You— You do?" My eyes widened. I was not expecting that response from him. He never showed any signs, at least any that had been obvious to me.

"I have for a while." He shrugs amused with my cluelessness.

"What? Maybe I'm stupid, but it wasn't obvious to me, at all." I laugh. I couldn't believe this was happening.

"Yeah, you're nice and smart, and beautiful. How could anyone not be in love with you?"

"Well I—" I say feeling my cheeks warm up. I couldn't deny that hearing that made me extremely flustered. I was at a loss for words. "I don't know."

"I was just scared of letting someone into my life. I know my baggage is a lot and it's a lot to ask of someone to take all of that on." He admits. I understood where he was coming from. It also hurt to hear that.

Hell, a murderous father and being haunted by the ghosts of your past, it is a lot to ask of someone.

"I want you, baggage and all." I immediately clarify. "I'm willing to take anything on with you."

His eyes widen. "You would?"

I nod, giving him the reassurance he needs. "Of course. No doubt about it."

"And you're not worried about my father, or Freddy's, or anything of that?" He asks full of concern.

"Of course I'm worried, but you shouldn't let that stop you from being happy. You can live your life for you, and not for your dad and what he's done," I assure him. I could tell he struggled with separating his life from his dad's.

I hated that he felt he couldn't be his own person because of that.

"You're right. I just don't wanna disappoint you." He frowns, looking down. "I've disappointed a lot of people in my life, and I don't want to do that to you. You don't deserve that."

I rest a hand on his shoulder, shaking my head almost immediately. "You won't. I promise. And we can take things as slow as you need. No rush."

"Thank you."