November Dreams (M.C.)

Chapter Thirty-Seven (Michael's POV)

"Do you think we'll be together forever?"

Her eyes found their way up to mine, a path they traveled often. She liked to look at me, but I wasn't sure why. I wasn't much to look at. But I knew very well why I couldn't stop looking at her, and I made sure she knew it too. To me, she was God's most perfect creation. With her, he had done no wring. Every stroke of his brush had created a masterpiece with November. She was the end all, be all; the definition of beauty in my book.

I played with her hair as her head fell back against my shoulder.

"If you let me, ill follow you to the ends of the earth, no questions asked. Just me and you, together, until the end of time."

She snuggled her head deeper into the crook of my neck, her small breaths heating up my skin with every shallow exhale.

"I'd like that."

Her words could do nothing but bring a smile to my face. What I held so close to me was pure perfection in every sense of the word. And I planned to hold on to her until only the sheer strength of the universe could pull us apart. She would always be mine, and I would always be hers. Nothing, and I mean nothing, could ever stop me from loving her with everything I had. She had all of my heart, and there was no going back.

This was where I belonged: with her.

I pulled her into me, holding her tighter and tighter. I think a part of my subconscious knew the reality the blurred around outside of this perfect headspace. And just like clockwork, my time with her was cut so short. I was never ready for these dreams to be over. I was never ready to be sent spiraling back into my world, where no love existed.

I drifted backwards, away from the scene as the universe faded in on itself. I was being sent, spiraling, back to the reality that I had grown to loathe without her. It had all been a dream. Or so I thought.

When I opened my eyes, nothing was going to be as it seemed.

//

Muffled voices pricked at my ears as my head tried to steady itself.

"Shh, guys. He's okay."

"Is he coming to?"

"I don't know, Luke. Why didn't you catch him?! You were right there!"

"Oh my God, is he okay?"

"Is he bleeding at all?"

"Guys, be quiet!"

My head was throbbing as I squinted my eyes tighter, black dots still masking bits of my vision. But as I blinked it away and the blur that had clouded my vision began to fade, I could pick out the outline of several figures knelt down over me. They all stared with worried eyes as I looked up at them, as if they were pleading with me to be okay. It took me a few moments to realize that it was my bandmates who were crowded around, tending to me. Plus two more figures that were unfamiliar for a moment, but when they came into focus more and the spinning finally began to cease, it became all too clear who was sitting before me.

In between Calum and Luke was Czara; the angriness and dread that she had worn on her face earlier had faded into a look of intense worry. I scanned my eyes across the people in front of me as my brain played back their names: Luke, Czara, Calum, Ashton—

But next to Ashton sat the last figure, a figure that I knew every aspect of, inside and out, down to the tiniest, most unimportant detail. I sat up, a little too quickly I might add, just to be close to her. Everyone's hands reached out for me as I began to fall backwards again, overcome by dizziness. Out of all the hands, though, hers were the ones to catch me. Her tiny, perfect hands cradled my head as she pulled me into her lap.

She gazed down at me lovingly as she ran her fingers through my hair lightly, her other hand resting gently on my cheek.

"Hey, guy, do you think I could have a minute with Michael? Um, just us?"

The four of them exchanged glances and got up slowly, Luke patting my foot encouragingly before he stood and followed the others back into the bus.

We looked at each other for a few moments, both uttering not even the smallest of sounds. We sat, alone in the dim light of the moon and stars, just staring into each other's eyes, as if we were studying each flick of color that lay in them. I reminded myself of every freckle, every wrinkle, every line that graced her smooth, ivory complexion. I caught her eyes darting slowly from my eyes, to my mouth, and then back to my eyes once more, where they stayed for what felt like an eternity. It had been so long since we had been this close, but it felt like finally, after all this time, I had that one missing part of me back. Here, close to her, I felt like I was finally home. Where I belonged.

She began to smile, her eyes forming tiny wrinkles near the ends of them as I blinked up at her.

"Hi," she cooed, a smile spreading widely across her face.

"Hi," I breathed out quickly.

She let out a small giggle, her smile growing wider and her eyes crinkling almost to a close.

"Hi," she whispered, pulling me up out of her lap into a sitting position. We were so close that I could see the dreams in her eyes. She stared at me for a second, her expression a bit unreadable. For a moment, I was scared she would realize what she was getting into, what we were getting into, and wise up and run before I even got a chance to touch her. But without warning, she closed her eyes suddenly and brought her forehead to mine, our skin touching ever so gently. The skin-to-skin contact made my heart jump in my chest; all I wanted in that moment was to kiss her, kiss her like I had wanted to for so long.

Her lips parted slightly, small shallow breaths escaping her perfectly curved lips.

"Michael," she exhaled, the sweet smell of her spearmint breath traveling into my nose. Just the sound of her voice made it hard for me to breath.

"Michael I missed you so much," she whispered, her forehead still flush with mine.

"November, I—"

"You don't have to, you know."

I picked my head back up and met her gaze, filled with a mixture of sorrow and gratefulness.

"I do, though. I've put you through so much and I've hurt you. I hurt the one person that loved me for everything I was, no matter what. But I did what I did, that night, and I'm so, so sorry for that. I can never begin to apologize enough for the things I've done," I began to choke up at the thought of everything I had really put her through. This angel, sitting right in front of me; this perfect human being didn't deserve to feel an ounce of pain. And it killed me that all the pain she had been feeling, the pain that caused her to try and take her own life, was because of me and my misguided decisions.

"Michael," she pleaded, but I needed to get it out.

"That day in the parking lot, I was so happy at the thought that I was going to see your face in person again; not through old pictures or my dreams and memories, but your physical, beautiful face in the flesh. But then I started thinking that I would just hurt you all over again, and so I left. But in trying not to hurt you, I did what I feared most. I lost you again. Or any chance that I had to get you back, like I wanted to so badly," the tears started to spill over, as much as I had tried to hold them back.

She scooted closer into my lap; she gingerly grabbed my arms and folded them around her and rested her head on my chest. We sat that way, tangled up in each other like the way we used to be, under the stars we knew so well. She was here, and she was real. And I wasn't sure if I deserved any of this, but feeling her warmth and spirit had brought me back to life.

She was a jump-start to my heart.