We Were Kids [MIKA Fanfiction]

Forty-Three: Hide

"Ring Ring, is that you on the phone? You think you're clever but you're never saying nothing at all. Hey hey, the way you spin me around, you make me dizzy when you-" My ringtone cut off after Mika had reached over, grabbed my phone off the dresser, and declined yet another call. When Mika said he wanted to seclude himself, he meant it. We've been gone for a whole month and have changed hotels 3 times. Whenever he got sick and tired of the place, we packed up and found another place to stay. He talked about going to America instead, but that was too much.

"Ring Ring, is that you on the phone?" It went off again. This time I snatched my cell phone before he could.

"Please let me answer." I asked. He shook his head no. I hit the button to decline Zuleika's call. "When are you going to let them know that we're okay? This has been going on for far too long."

No one knew where we were. Mika never told his friends or family where we had gone. Ever since then, we'd been getting frantic calls and texts from his mother, his siblings, and even my foster parents. We read their messages sometimes and listened to a few voicemails, but only for updates on Paloma's health. She was doing better, she was fighting it, but was nowhere near getting out of the hospital. Paloma was always on my mind and all I wanted was for her to get better so Mika and I could just go home and stop everyone from worrying about us. I missed Moo and I longed to be able to run my fingers through her golden fur and play with her in the park. I missed Zuleika's cute giggles, Yasmine's sense of humor, and Mrs. Penniman's constant offers to sew me a dress. I wanted to crawl back into our bed at home, with the big Union Jack tacked to the wall. I missed accidentally tripping over Mika's vintage Donald Duck bike every time I walked around. I missed everything.

Each hotel had their own luxuries and their own flaws. But none of them felt like home. We never did much here anyways. We stayed in bed longer than we should, and then moped around all day. The atmosphere was so depressing. Sometimes I could hear Mika quietly crying at night and other times it was me who was spilling tears. We didn't get enough fresh air. Whenever it got too hot in the hotel room, whenever we were bored, or whenever I felt too trapped and confined in the room, I begged Mika to come outside and do something fun.

Mika wasn't handling the accident too well. Neither was I. All I still wanted to do was hole up and cry for however long I needed but I tried my best to keep it together. Mika was torn apart, destroyed, and was letting himself go. I couldn't have that and decided I was going to look out for him. He spent his days sulking in the hotel room and not leaving. I wanted to explore the places we were at but it's not much fun when you're alone.

My phone went off again, with Ring Ring. "CAN YOU SHUT YOUR STUPID PHONE OFF?" Mika suddenly screamed, slamming his hand on the table. It scared me a little; I'd never seen him this moody, but I understood why and wasn't going to call him out for it.

"I'm sorry, that was rude, could you just..." he pointed at my phone. I nodded and switched it off. He sighed and put his head down on the table, his curls messily flopping everywhere. I watched him with tears in my eyes. He was so broken and that kills me. After a few moments of heavy silence, I heard whimpers coming from him. I wrapped my arms around him, causing him to melt in my arms and bury his face into my chest, tears dripping. I pushed his hair back and kissed his forehead lightly. I let him pour out his emotions while holding him. When he finished I dried his tears. His face was red and his eyes were bloodshot. He looked like he hadn't gotten enough sleep, which was because he spent most of his time waking up in the middle of the night with bad memories. I helped him into bed and tucked him in.

I debated curling up into an emotional ball next to him and sleeping away my problems. I was terribly hungry and Mika would probably like something to eat when he woke up. I also just really needed to get out of that small space. I went down to the lobby. It wasn't busy, besides the few tourists checking in. I emerged onto the streets and began walking, I didn't know where. After a few blocks there was a small park with a few fountains and a garden. I found myself a bench away from people and stayed there. My stomach nagged for something to eat but I ignored it and continued to sit there, staring blankly at nothing. There was a difference between sulking in a small uncomfortable hotel room that got very hot during the day and sulking in a park in the fresh air.