Too Late | m.c [completed]

Chapter 9-The Constellations

Hanna is still mad at me from the other night. She has not answered any of my texts or responded to any of my calls. I'm beginning to worry but I know I shouldn't. Hanna is tough and can save herself.

In my recent calls I never apologized because I thought I didn't need to say sorry. I didn't do anything wrong. All I did was answer the phone to some prick, is what I thought.

But now I realize that the reason she's so upset is because of me answering her phone. I don't think it matters if it was her mom or anybody else.

So I ended up calling her again, lowering my music down and collected my thoughts. Of course, she didn't pick up.

I take in a deep breath when the phone makes a bell sound, indicating for me to record my message for her.

"Hey, Hanna. You're most likely still pissed at me but I just wanted to say that I was sorry. Just..please call me back when you can. I just want to know if you're alright. Okay...um...bye, I guess" and with that, I clicked the red button and waited.

I waited for about 5 minutes and surprisingly I got a call back. "Hello?" I say a little too quickly. "You sound like a sad little kitten on the voicemail. Not knowing where to go. Did you know that you sound like a kitten sometimes?" she asks out of nowhere. My eyes widen at her words. I'm angry that she scared me like that but I chose not to go further into it. "Yes Hanna I totally ask myself that every second of the day" I roll my eyes even though she can't see me.

"All I wanted was an apology, Michael" she changed the subject. "I'm sorry" I say with a long sigh. "I was expecting this long paragraph saying how much you worship me and how much you love me...but I guess that'll do"

"I do love you" I choke on my own words, regretting I confessed that. But, to my surprise she acted like it was in a friendly way.

"It is 9:00 p.m. Can I pick you up?" I ask into the phone. I can't wait all night to see her. If she agrees, I'll promise not to waste the night.

"Of course you can. But where would we be going?" she asks with a scared tone in her voice.

"You'll see" I simply said as I hung up the phone.

I pulled on a sweatshirt and skinny jeans because hey, everybody needs to wear just their boxers for a day.

I tie my converse, grab my phone and keys before heading out. I knew my parents could care less if I said bye or not.

Maybe 10 minutes later I pull up to Hanna's house and get out. I race to her door and knock in a pattern. Seconds later she opens the door. Her hair is blown by the suden rush of wind and she smiles.

"Hello Michael" she greeted, leaning against the door. "Hello Hanna"

I reach out my hand for her to take and she screams a bye to her dad before taking it and leaving with me.

"So where are we going?" I open the car door for her and she kindly accepts the offer and hops in. "You'll see" I say before shutting the door.

***

I get out of the car and open her door when we arrive to the destination I had in mind. "Seriously?" she raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms timidly. "What?"

"You took my to a Liberty Mutual building?" she laughs hysterically.

"What? My friends dad works here. I come here all the time. Plus I know the security guard" I giggle and walk through the swinging doors. "Sup Bob" I wave to the man child sitting behind the desk playing on his phone. "Hey Mikey" he called back.

Bob looked up from his phone and over the desk to see who was with me. "Who's the hot chick" he asked plainly. "One, do not call her that. She is gorgeous, not hot. That's disrespectful. And two, this is Hanna. Hanna, this is Bob" they say hello to each other and Bob apologizes and Hanna responds with an 'It's alright, Bob' and with that said, we headed upstairs.

It was a lot of stairs if we took the stairs so we took the elevator. As the music played in the elevator, neither of us said anything. It seemed quite awkward even though it shouldn't have been.

We got to the top floor and we had to make our way to a flight of stairs to get to the roof.

When I opened the door and revealed the stars and city, Hanna's eyes widened with excitement.

I watched as she slowly walked to the edge and looked around. She scanned her surroundings before saying "Why is everything so beautiful from afar?"

"Not everything is beautiful from a distance. Some things are better up close. Like you"

Hanna looks at me with a wide smile. "How cheesy can you get Michael Clifford?" she asks with that same smile I fell in love with.

"Very" I answer simply with a laugh.

Hanna walked away a couple of feet and layed down on her back. I followed and did the same. "The stars are so beautiful" she whispers. "Yeah" I whisper in agreement.

"I want to be an English teacher, Michael" she says suddenly out of nowhere. "What do you want to be?"

"I dunno" I shrug and stare up at the stars a moment longer before closing my eyes for a second to blink.

"What do you want" she asks in a louder voice, but not that loud because Hanna can be loud sometimes. Even the whole city could hear.

"You" I simply say.

I look at her and see her cheeks blush in the moonlight.

Then silence fills the space we are in for a long time. We just laid there and stared up at the stars and constellations. We thought and I don't know if she thought the same things I did but I thought about kissing her and deciding whether or not it's a good idea. I decided against it and talked about something more serious now.

"I'm living in a broken home" I blurt out.

"I'm living in a broken home with my parents that fight all of the time and I can't do anything to stop it. You keep me happy. You're my leverage. You keep me in a straight line, I'm always on course when I'm with you. You keep me sane. Without you I'd probably kill myself right about now" I chuckle and so does she. "I'm grateful for having you in my life. So, thank you for never letting me down".

She says you're welcome and I knew she meant it but she had some pity in her voice for me. I don't need pity. I need her to love and care for me.

I change the subject because I made it too serious and point to a constellation in the sky. "That's my favorite constellation. It's called the big dipper. I'm gonna call it Hanna instead"