Michael Clifford Imagines/Preferences

Your Dog Dies

It was New Year's Even and your family decided to drive about an hour and a half away to this small city with a really cool area downtown. When you got there you met up with your aunt, uncle, and cousin, but you only briefly said hi before parting ways. You went to go see a movie with your sibling and Michael and when you were done you went to go meet back up with your parents before midnight. When you were are together you walked around and got an ice cream and watched a small jazz band play. When midnight struck, you all cheered and hollered and hugged. On the way home everyone but your dad, who was driving, fell asleep in the car. As soon as you got home your mom woke you and Michael up, they didn't mind when he slept over so long as he slept on the couch in the living room. You both dragged yourself over to the living room and fell back asleep.

When you woke up later you and Michael decided to hang out in your room since it was more comfortable. He was laying on the floor flipping channels and you were laying on your bed snuggling your stuffed animal.

After about an hour of this your mom walked in slowly. You figured she was just checking in so you didn't look up, "hey mom, happy new year!" She stood at the edge of your bed, "hey," Her voice was weak and quiet, you knew something was wrong. You flipped over onto your stomach and looked at her. She slowly stroked back your hair, "y/n, your dog died last night." You felt your heart drop to your stomach and you didn't know what to feel, "what?" Your mom started tearing up, her eyes were already red and swollen, she had probably already cried about this before she told you. She put a hand on your head, "dad found him in his favorite spot this morning, by the tree, we think he died last night."

Your family had had that dog since before you were born, he was your first pet. He was old, blind, and had trouble walking, but you loved him. You were terrified of dogs when you were younger, and one night your mom made your pet him, and after that, they didn't seem so scary. He was the first dog you had ever pet. You remembered holding him by his paws while he danced around on his hind legs. You remembered how he loved belly rubs, and that one spot on his fur was always softer than the rest.

You couldn't stop yourself from crying. Your mom kissed your forehead and motioned for Michael to go over to you. After she had left the room Michael sat you up and put your face on his chest. You cried on him for what must have been hours. At one point you noticed that he was sniffling, you looked up and saw that he was crying too. You were about to ask him something, but then you felt another wave of sadness come over you and you started crying again. Michael rested your head on his chest again and held you tightly, "I loved him too."

The two of you sat there for another hour and finally you took a deep breath and spoke softly, "I didn't get to tell him goodbye. Mikey, I used to get so angry when he scratched me, what if he died thinking I hated him?" Your eyes started to hurt, and you felt the tears come streaming down your face again. Michael rocked you in his arms, "he knew you always loved him. And you know he loved you too, you gave him the best life a dog could ask for."

After another few minutes you felt yourself getting a headache from crying so much. You felt the pressure building up and finally you leaned away from Michael, "I think I need some aspirin.." Michael stood up and smiled, "stay there, I'll take care of everything." When he came back to your room he handed you to aspirin tablets and some water. You quickly took them both and sat there emotionless, what were you supposed to feel? Michael saw the look on your face and reached into his pocket, "tea tree oil, it's supposed to help with headaches, and I know you like the smell." You reached out your hand to grab it, but Michael put some of the oil on his fingertips and slowly dabbed it on the sides of your face. You felt a bit better, but you still needed time to process it so Michael stayed another night.

About a month later you and Michael were talking about it, "I think I want to get a dog soon, if I do though, I want him to look similar." Michael nodded and smiled, "that's great, he would want you to give another dog a happy life."

The next week you were sitting at home and Michael honked his car from outside, when you ran out to him he smiled, "hop in, I found something you're going to want to see!" You figured it was a cool shirt or something at the mall so you grabbed your bag and then the two of you took off. When Michael pulled up to a pet store you looked at him confused, "are we going to go find a puppy today?" He scrunched his face, "not exactly..,"

As you walked towards the store you saw a woman with empty cages, except for one, that had a small sign that read, "Michael" on it. As you got closer you noticed that the dog inside looked exactly the same as your old dog. The woman smiled as you approached, "You must be y/n, Michael here told me about your dog, and well, this little fella isn't a puppy, he's a rescue, but he's very friendly and-" You knelt down next to the cage and he licked your hand, "he's perfect, I'd like to adopt him." The woman quickly handed you the forms and you filled them out.

You picked him up out of his cage and carried him back to the car, when you got in Michael had a giant grin on his face. "Your dad gave me this, in case you want to use it for your new little angel", he handed you the collar from your old dog, it was a small black braided one that he'd had for years. You put it on your new pup and smiled, "thank you Mikey, but, how did you find this little guy?" He shrugged, "I was just passing by."

Another week later Michael asked you to text the guys from his phone to see if they wanted to grab dinner later. You opened the group text and that's when you saw endless pictures of Luke, Ashton, and Calum with dogs. "Did he look like this?" "What about this dog?" "Is this one too big?" "I don't think this is the right dog, but I'm getting him anyway." There were countless texts between the four of them, turns out, they had scoured the city looking for the perfect dog for you. You turned to Michael and smiled, you could easily tell him that you knew about it, but after thinking about it for a minute you decided you were just going to let it be. You closed the group message and texted them all individually so they wouldn't know that you knew.

After you tossed the phone back to Michael your new pup came running towards you and you hugged and pet him, "hey Michael?"

He paused his game and looked at you, "yeah babe?"

You smiled and kissed the top of your dog's head, "Thanks."