A single bullet // M.C ✔️

52

"Get ready. I'm taking you out." Blinking slowly at Michael, I tilted my head. It's been a few weeks since everything happened with Mom. I had shut myself in mine and Michael's apartments, not wanting to face the outside world in fear I would bump into her in the streets; I didn't know what I would say.

"Excuse me?" He reached his hand out to me and gently grabbed it, pulling me out of my cocoon I've practically lived in the whole time, making the cool air rush past me, urging me to just fall back into it.

"I said I'm taking you out." A ghost of a smile was present on his lips, confusing me further.

"You never take me out."

"Maybe I'm a changed man." Seeing how much it hurt deep down with what happened, Michael had become softer towards me, less harsh and to the point, and more patient and waiting. It was weird to see and watch, but strangely, I quite liked it. My lips formed a small smile as I nodded, squeezing his hand and closing my eyes, feeling the warmth encase my digits.

"Ok, when do I need to be ready?"

"Now."

He wasn't joking when he said now, as after I threw a warm jacket on and some shoes, he pulled me out of the room and down the hall. Not a word was uttered about where we were going, even after I tried to quiz him on it; his lips were tightly sealed, he kept telling me.

"Where are we going?" I whined as he dragged me to the lift and pressed the door to open the silver, shiny doors, just smiling down at me.

"Not saying." An arm was placed over my shoulders as the door slowly opened and pinged, letting him lead me in and press a single button, '5'.

"We aren't leaving the building?" Now I was allowing myself to be even more confused as the lift descended, as he had told me he was taking me out.

"I never said we're leaving the building Ni, I know you're scared of bumping into your mom or Alex, so we're staying here, just going to a part you haven't seen, my part." Allowing myself to smile wider, I nodded, letting my body collapse into his warmth. I was thankful for that, and he knew it.

A small ping was heard in the small metal chamber before the door opened, revealing LED neon lights lining the walls and soft music filling the air.

"Where are we?" He let me lead the way, not losing grip of my hand as my eyes took in all the bright blinking lights and funky noises. I rounded all the obstacles in the way, letting my eyes flicker over the names of popular machines and games. Pac-Man, Donkey Kong, Daytona. It was a mini arcade. "An arcade? You have an arcade?" Not even trying to hide my excitement, I jumped up and down, eyes shimmering in the lights before looking back at Michael.

His usual blonde hair was changing colours to pinks, blues, yellows, and greens as the lights around him changed and bounced off the strands. His face was almost childlike as he looked at me sheepishly, nodding once and shoving his hands deep into his jeans pockets after dropping my hand.

"More like my games room."

"Michael, this is like a fucking arcade, oh my!" I squealed as I spotted a familiar device hooked up to the tv. Nintendo Switch. "Can I?" It snook into my mind that this was Michael's place, his safe place, his property, and that I can't just run up and grab the Switch to see if my game was on it.

"Go ahead." That was all that was needed to be said before I let myself leg it and grasp the device, unlocking it and letting the games load in.

"Pokémon!" The smile still hadn't left my face as I placed the device down and ran back to Michael, wrapping my arms tightly around his waist and resting my cheek against his shoulder. "Thank you." I didn't fully know what I was thanking him for, but I knew this place was special to him.

"I wanted you to see what I do when I'm not leading the gang, when I need to get away, in fact, haven't been here for a while though..." he trailed off, picking up his pace and walking in front of me, making sure I was following with a few glances behind.

"How come?" If I were him, I would be in here every day to just have a small break. I didn't even fully notice he had stopped and was staring at me, not answering my question, and just letting it hang in the air. It had been years since I was last in an arcade like this, and it reminded me of home, the small weekend trips away up north to the beaches and arcades; putting 2ps in a machine to win crappy keyrings.

"I just haven't needed to get away." I looked over at him, smiling softly and nodding.

"You have been busy."

"No, Nicky. I haven't needed to get away. I haven't been stressed." He spoke slowly and clearly, making sure everything I heard hit me the way it was meant to. "The last time I was in here was before meeting you. I was stressed and nervous about how I felt for you, and no, I'm not there yet, but I do feel like you're my person. You've been my escape from the gang life, just coming home or to your apartment and seeing you there in my clothes, or all dressed up because you're playing about." He rambled, not taking a single breath between each sentence, each word. "You're my safe space, Ni."

Heat rushed up my body and face as tears welded in my eyes, covering my mouth. Out of everything, I thought Michael would say that wasn't on the list. I was just expecting to see a snippet into his life, I don't know, normal Michael, adult Michael. I didn't expect him to ramble.

"I think you're my safe space too, Michael." I barely muttered, taking two huge steps towards him and throwing my arms around his stomach, feeling his own snake wrap around my waist tightly. "So much has happened with Mom, Dad, Alex that the one thing I can rely on is you." I softly kissed the outside of his shirt near his heart, sighing, "even if you are sometimes a pain in my ass." I joked, making him chuckle, moving my head away from him.

"Says you."

"Michael?" My tone had changed as I looked at him seriously, seeing his now change to a confused state. "Don't—don't ever think I'm using Lauren against you if I ask questions." I didn't even let him reply before continuing, not wanting him to cut me off my train of thoughts. "I know what you had with her was different to what we have, but I don't want you to think I'm comparing us or using her against you to get my way with us. I don't want you to be mad at me again when I say the wrong thing about her. Or even mention her; she was part of your life. I want her to be part of mine even if she isn't here."

The small argument we had a few weeks ago was still imprinted in my mind. The way his expression changed and his tone of voice never left my mind, running straight back to the front whenever I even thought of asking him something about her.

"Ok," he spoke carefully. "I can't promise that I won't argue and get upset..." his voice didn't waver, staying at the exact same tone the whole time. "And I can't promise that I won't say the wrong thing and shut down. But I'll introduce you to her, tell you what you want to know..." I felt my face light up as he told me he'll tell me about his past that was deeply hidden from me.

"I'm okay with that." And it was the truth. Nothing was ever going to be 100 percent perfect between us as that's not possible. We will have arguments. We will fall out. But I always feel like we'll be pulled back to each other like magnets. He's my person; my safe space, and nothing is going to ruin it.

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