City lights | muke |

o n e

songs of the chapter:

Wake Me Up When September Ends- Green Day (no its not september in the book)

Cold Coffee- Ed Sheeran

\^.^/

(michael's pov)

1:08am

i've been walking for about an hour now. it's pretty dark out, yet again i have been taking the long, non-scenic way to Chicago. i need to give myself time to think about what i'm supposed to be doing. i guess it was a pretty shitty and rushed decision but staying there wouldn't have done me any good either. so now i walk alone, semi-p minded, to a place i've only seen in movies. a place i've only dreamt of going to. i listen to the ripples in the water cascade down the stream underneath me as i walk over a bridge. i honestly have no idea where i am, but i can see the dim city lights from this lone path that i'm now on. i grab my phone and switch to another playlist before stuffing my hands back into my pockets and continuing. then i start to think again. about my past life, my parents, where i'm going, and what i'm going to do. it starts as a tropical storm in my brain, soon transforming it's way into a stage 8 hurricane, whisking its way up down and around until i finally break. i stop walking and drop to my knees right on that trail and start sobbing. about everything this time. and also about my new vulnerable due to the fact that i'm crying on a trail this late at night. after i'm sure i have no tears left, i pull myself together and walk over to the edge of the trail. i sit on the rough dirt, most likely staining my pants, and look at the lake not that far from me. i sit there for a while to ease the hurricane.

3:24am

by now i'm decently close to the city and can smell the aroma. the civilians, the buses, the concrete, and the faint smoke of someone who was probably here moments before me. i continue walking, and then i realize something. why didn't i take the bus here the first time? and then i realized again that i wanted to think and that's why. i walked quietly, kicking rocks and pebbles along the way into the street. for the first time in a few hours i passed some other people. mostly young adults i'm assuming that had came from clubs and such based on their appearances. "still on the outskirts of Chicago", i thought, "still not there yet", i thought. i was starting to get very tired, and that was yet another flaw in my amazing plan. i didn't have anywhere to sleep,but i'd guess that i'd just stay at a hotel until further notice. and now i also had to pee, great. but i shook the thoughts and continued on, walking faster to get to my destination.

5:46am

i was there. i was finally fucking there. and the second i arrived all i see are the rush of employees desperately trying to get to their early morning shifts. i walked across the many streets along with everyone else. i looked for somewhere i could get some coffee, and could pee. i walked a little deeper into the city as the sun barely started to rise above me. i sat down on a bench and took my phone out. i wondered if my parents noticed that i left, or if that they did, they missed me. i know they won't. but there was a small sliver of hope left in the deepest reaches of my chest for that to happen. i unlocked my phone and the sliver came out of my chest and vanished into thin air, amongst the breaths of the frantic city-goers. i sighed and locked my phone then put it back. i got up and walked until i saw a promising looking cafe. it was called The Coffee Bean, and i looked into it. i walked inside seeing that is was very empty, not that it wouldn't be considering the time. first, i went to the bathroom and did my business. i looked in the mirror. i looked so sleep deprived, and... just hollow. broken even. i splashed cold water on my face to hopefully awaken my mind and my appearance just a little bit. i sat down at an empty booth and waited for someone to come take my order. soon enough a petite brunette came up to me.

"What would you like sir?"

"Uhh, just a caramel macchiato please."

"Ok coming right up." she said and left.

i sat there, once again, mind blank with no expression on my face. it was empty in there, except me and this older man at a table towards the front with a newspaper in his hands. i was looking down when i heard the door chime. i slowly looked up, uninterested, until i saw a face i could never erase from my brain from that brain forward. he was tall, maybe about 6'4, and blonde. he had a black lip piercing, and was wearing the most precious looking black sweater and black skinny jeans.he was stunning. as he was ordering his drink, a skinny mocha, he caught me staring. we held eye contact for a few moments, and he smiled at me before looking away. after that he left the cafe, and left me thinking about that moment for hours on end as i continued walking to God knows where.

\^.^/

ok so i actually wrote more than 1 chapter whaaaat??? i'm gonna work on the next now, or in a little bit. but still tell me what you think :)

~maui