flowers // michael clifford

sept

Crashing a party wasn't as dramatic as the name of it made it seem like. Michael and Rose literally just walked in to the house where the party was held, and no questions were even asked.

Now what's left was enjoying the party, and Rose was not sure how to. She first of all felt extremely uncomfortable as every girl in here were dressed in all sorts of extravagant clothing. Short dresses seemed to be the dress code for the girls, and Rose did not fit those standards.

If Rose had known that Michael and her would've gone on their small adventure, and finally end up at a party, she probably would've chosen a different attire. Leggings and a big sweater didn't seem to be a crowd-pleaser.

Michael was fine however, boys these days weren't supposed to wear clothes different from their normal ones at parties, it seemed like.

Everything felt so out of place, for Rose, not only was she dressed differently, but the scene was so far out from what she usually did. She wasn't used to this many people cramping together in a house dancing and grinding to music (that she didn't even like in the slightest) and consuming alcohol from left to right. There were people everywhere and the smell of alcoholic drinks filled up the stuffy house. At the back of the room people were even smoking, and Rose almost hoped they were just normal cigarettes, because she wasn't sure she wanted to witness something illegal.

Michael noticed how Rose wasn't in her usual witty mood (like moments earlier at the diner) when they stepped inside, and he promised himself to be by her side at every moment, to make sure she was alright.

"I'll just go back to the car," Rose mumbled and glanced at Michael with and uneasy look on her face, which Michael noticed.

"No, stay here, I promise to be by your side, and to not drink or somke anything." Michael half-joked, even if he was very serious about staying by her side. He even put his hand lightly on her back to make sure neither of them was separating for the time being.

Rose was quiet for a moment, until she decided that being with Michael wasn't that bad, and also because she had promised herself to make him happy after her blunt question about his relationship. And Michael seemed to quite enjoy this get-together.

"Okay," She nodded, with a shy smile on her face when she realized the secure hand on her back. It was a nice gesture of comfort, and she wanted to think that maybe this party wasn't that bad after all.

Rose and Michael later found themselves end up in the kitchen, where the awful music wasn't as loud, with a few of Michael friends and his arm was now around Rose's shoulders instead of on her back.

The conversation between her, Michael and his friends was quite enjoyable, and the discomfort she'd felt earlier that night was almost gone.

That was until one on Michael's friend, Calum, had brought up what technically made them end up at this party in the first place – Holly.

"You know Holly's here, right?" Calum mentioned as he came back from grabbing another beer, and eyed Michael's arm around Rose's shoulder.

"How many guys was she with this time?" Michael tried to joke with a tired tone, like it had happened before. Rose could tell Holly was a rough topic for Michael, and she wondered why. She could assume by Michael statement that their relationship wasn't a steady one, but she didn't really know.

The mention of Holly again made Rose realize that Michael did in fact have a girlfriend, and that being physically as close as they were now, probably wasn't a good idea. It could be interpreted the wrong way by people at this party, and Rose didn't want to ruin things for Michael and his girlfriend (but mostly not for Michael), so she shrugged his arm off of her.