hey jealousy // michael clifford

eight

Despite the fact that Michael had been the one to suggest the proximity change Avery noticed that he was sitting way more still than he usually did – and it was obvious that he was trying not to encroach on any of the space that she'd left between them.

Avery felt kind of bad that he was so on edge because of her, but at the same time, and all things considered, she figured it was probably for the best. She was kind of concerned by the way it was so simple for her to let Michael back into her life and even though she'd tried to put some physical and mental distance between them since he'd knocked on her door that night, it was way too easy to pretend that nothing had happened and that things were still the same as they'd been before.

She was done overthinking everything though, it was just too exhausting to worry about every single thing that happened and what that meant for her, or for Michael, or for both of them. So Avery tried her best to just enjoy the movie. Which wasn't exactly simple seeing as horror had never really been her thing but the constant jump scares were pretty good at keeping her distracted.

So good in fact that during one of the scarier parts of the movie she jumped in her seat, and involuntarily reached out for Michael's hand. Avery didn't even register that anything was out of the ordinary until she felt the weight of Michael's stare on their interlocked hands and when she processed what had just happened she pulled her hand away and slid further from him on the couch they were sharing.

Michael's eyes hadn't left her but Avery was doing everything she could to avoid looking at him. She'd tried not to overthink and that seemed to only cause more problems for her to solve.

She stood up abruptly, finally meeting Michael's eyes for just a few seconds before she muttered something about being tired and rushing off to her room – leaving a half eaten plate of food on the table and a very confused boy on the couch.

***

Michael hadn't really known what to do after Avery left the room so suddenly, so he'd left the movie on screen and waited for it to finish up even though he couldn't have paid less attention to what was happening even if he actively tried.

The way she'd grabbed his hand when she was scared had just felt so natural even with all the time that had passed since she'd last done it and Michael couldn't help but wonder if that feeling of normalcy was what had caused her to leave the way she did – because she was scared it felt right when, considering everything, it probably shouldn't have.

Michael wasn't sure when he actually fell asleep, but it felt like virtually no time had passed when he was startled awake by the sound of someone screaming.

Having been woken so suddenly it took him a few moments to register that he was on a couch in an apartment that wasn't his own, and then another few seconds to remember that Avery was the only other person there and it was her that was screaming.

He clambered off the couch, narrowly avoiding tripping over the blanket that had wrapped itself around his ankle while he was asleep, and made his way towards Avery's room. The sound of his knuckles rasping against the hard wood of the door echoed in his sleep-addled mind – mingling with the sound of Avery on the other side, her cries becoming more and more exasperated.

When it became obvious that knocking was getting him nowhere he swore lightly under his breath and pushed the door open. It was dark and he managed to stub his toe on the draws sitting next to her bed before his eyes adjusted enough for him to see that Avery was tossing and turning in her bed.

He tried talking to her, but just like when he'd knocked on the door she couldn't hear him – too enthralled by her dream world to be snapped out of it by his words. Reluctantly, Michael reached out and tried to shake her away.