Ghost Of You (Michael Berzatto X Black!OC X Eventual Richie Jerimovich)

1. Just Trust Me, You'll Be Fine

2005-Chicago, Illinois

The warm spring air was kissing Angie's brown skin. Under different circumstances, she would've taken the time to soak it in.

"Don't even think about coming back until you've reapplied!" Her father yelled from the front porch. He slammed the door and quickly locked it.

"Shit." Her mind raced trying to think of what to do next. Tears were staining her shirt as they fell from her face. As she put her bags in the trunk, she pulled out her phone and called the one person who could help.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Nat."

"Hey. Are you crying?"

"No." She sniffled. "Yeah."

"What's wrong?"

"Do you think your mom would mind if I stayed with you guys for a few days?"

"Probably not. Why?"

"My dad kicked me out."

"Holy shit. Like for real?"

"He took my fucking key, so yeah."

"Oh my god, Ange. Of course you can come over. I'll talk to Mom."

"Thank you, Nat. Seriously. I don't know what I'd do without you."

"Be homeless, probably."

Even in the situation she was in, Nat still made her laugh.

"I'll see you soon."

🤍

'Knock knock'

"Oh, Angelina!" Donna exclaimed as she opened the door.

"Hi, Donna. I hope this is okay."

"More than okay! You're family!" She pulled Angie into a tight embrace and kissed her cheeks.

"Thank you. I won't be here long."

"You can stay as long as you want, honey."

"I really appreciate it."

"Of course. Sugar just stepped out to get some snacks for you two. Do you need help with your bags?"

"I think I'm okay-"

"Michael!" She yelled into the house. "Get down here!"

"That's really okay. I can handle it."

"It's no trouble for him. Seriously."

The dark haired man came down the stairs and gave her a soft smirk. "Hey, Ange." He placed a cigarette between his lips and took a long drag.

"Hey." She smiled.

Mikey Berzatto was the kind of man who got whatever he wanted. He was confident, funny, and handsome as hell. Which is why Angie had such a hard time focusing whenever he was in the same room as her. Throughout the course of her friendship with Natalie, Angie had a crush on her brother for most of it. And he wasn't like the typical older brother. He was nice to her. She would even go as far as to call him her friend. The problem wasn't even that he was her best friend's brother. It was that she was twenty and he was twenty-five.

"Michael, be a dear and help Angie with her bags."

He nodded and put the cigarette out. "Bags? You staying?" He followed her to her car.

"Uh, yeah. My dad sort of...kicked me out."

"Shit. You okay?"

"I guess." She opened the trunk and grabbed the lighter bags. "Aren't you gonna ask what I did?"

"You want me to ask?"

"I dropped out of college."

"What? Why?"

"Because, I don't wanna be a fucking lawyer."

"Well, what do you wanna do?"

She followed him up the stairs to Nat's room. They both set the bags down on the floor and sat on the bed. "Can I be honest?"

"Of course."

"I have no idea what I wanna do."

"That's okay. You're still young."

She rolled her eyes and leaned back on her elbows. "I'm not that young." Ever since she turned eighteen two years ago, Angie had been trying and failing to convince Mikey she wasn't a little kid anymore.

"Fine. You're not that young. But, you're still young. You've got time to decide."

"Shouldn't you be working?"

"I had to take care of some bills. Richie's running the place for me."

"Uh oh."

"Tell me about it."

They heard footsteps approaching the room. The blonde walked through the doorway and grinned. She dropped the bag of snacks on the bed and leaned down to hug her friend.

"Death grip much?" Angie laughed.

"Sorry." She sat next to them on the bed. "I'm just so glad you're here. I'm not happy that you got kicked out, obviously."

"I know. I'd rather be here than home anyway."

"I gotta get back to some paperwork." Mikey headed towards the door. "But I'll catch you later, Ange."

"Bye."

He winked before walking out and closing the door behind him.

"I'm gonna barf." Nat groaned.

"Why?"

"You and Mikey. It's so sweet that it makes me sick."

"What?"

"The girl falling for her best friend's brother. It's a classic."

"Well, that's definitely not what's happening."

"Yeah it is."

"On my side maybe. He still thinks I'm a kid."

"Can you blame him? He's old."

"He is not."

"If you two get married, you'll be changing his diapers."

"Can you not?"

"Fine. But seriously, you guys would be so cute."

"Don't get your hopes up. It's never gonna happen."

"Hey." She rested her hand on hers. "How about we have a movie night?"

"Can I pick?"

"As long as it's The Notebook."

"Duh."