Veto Syndrome// m.c

[8]

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Michael waved goodbye as Daryl drove off. They had agreed that Steph's father would return and pick him up in three hours, which would give Michael enough time to shower, hopefully take a nap, and eat. Honestly, he wasn't planning on doing anything but shower and eat. Even though he was facing extreme exhaustion, he just couldn't fall asleep.

He stepped into the front room, the house alarm beeped, sending a signal throughout the house that a door had opened. Michael cringed, hoping the sound didn't awaken his parents- that is, if they were even home.

That was answered when a door from upstairs creaked open, his mother's head peeping from over the stair railing. "Michael Gordon Clifford!" She whisper-shouted as she made her way downstairs. "Where have you been?"

Michael stared, completely surprised. He couldn't really remember when he had last seen either of his parents. He rolled his eyes at himself when he realized it was only yesterday that he saw them, he actually had breakfast with them in the morning.

"Sorry, mum. I-"

"You didn't even bother to give us a ring? We were worried sick, but then figured you'd gone over to Calum's! Is that where you were?" Her voice was groggy and tired, making him wonder if she'd stayed awake this entire time. That would be horrible, she was most likely going into work in a couple hours. She'd be exhausted, and it would be his fau-

"Not gonna answer me?!"

"I'm sorry, mum!" He was debating what to say. Should he be honest: tell her he got his date admitted into a hospital, or should he just take a much more easier path and claim he was with Cal? He'd take the less humiliating path. "Me and Cal stayed up late. I wasn't planning on staying over, just fell asleep."

"Then why're you here so early?" Karen asked, eyeing her son. She may be tired, but she knew there was something that her son wasn't telling her.

"I couldn't really sleep comfortably, but Cal was knocked out. Didn't wanna bother him with asking for a ride, so I decided I'd kill two birds with one stone: walk home and give myself a chance to clear my head, and get home."

Karen nodded, rising on the tips of her toes to place a kiss on her son's forehead. "Go try to rest, you look like shit, baby." She said with a light smile, turning to return to her room.

Michael chuckled, continuing his way down the hall and stripping himself of his clothes once he was in the privacy of his bedroom, shivering at the cool temperature. His bed looked so wonderful, layered with three different blankets because he loved to cover up and be suffocated with warmth. But he needed to take a shower, be clean for when he finally got to see Steph.

He walked into the bathroom, placing his phone on the counter and turning up the volume to its highest to ensure that he would be able to hear it go off if Daryl or Nicola called to update him on Steph's condition.

His pale hand clutched the knob for warm water and placed his hand in the steady stream falling from the shower head. He stepped in, sighing in content as the warm water surrounded him. His hair fell flat against his face, his fringe covering his eye. He tiredly ran a hand through his hair, pushing it up and away from his face.

Even though water was supposed to wake you up, it wasn't helping much. The water was like a snug blanket, the steady sound of water falling setting him in a daze as he stared ahead and focused his sight on the white tiled walls of the shower.

The sound of his phone going off snapped him out of his trance. He realized he hadn't even washed his hair or body and groaned, not even knowing how long he had been in the shower. He turned the water off, grabbing the towel off the rack, wrapping it around his body and stepping out of the shower to hurry to the phone. He slipped on the tile, catching himself on the counter before he could meet the ground. He grabbed the cellphone, seeing Nicola's number.