Michael Clifford Imagines/Preferences

Social Anxiety

Tw: Social anxiety/anxiety

Michael thought it would be a great idea to take you to a karaoke bar for the night. You could watch some people sing, silently judge them, have a drink or two, all your favorite things. You dressed casually and met Michael at the bar. There were already a couple guys on stage singing Bohemian Rhapsody so you decided to just grab a table while Michael got the drinks. When he sat back down he passed you your drink and you took a small sip. Their was bit of small talk between you two, but for the most part you were just watching people sing from your table.

In the middle of your evening, a man went onstage, "Good evening ladies and gents, tonight we'll be having a karaoke showdown, whoever the spot light lands on will be dueling it out for free drinks all month!" You and Michael watched as it landed on a random girl in the corner of the bar who looked fairly confident of herself. And then the spotlight was moving again, and it shined directly on you. You could feel your heart start racing and Michael looked at you worried. You weren't super excited about social settings in general, but you had a big problem being the center of attention. You felt like everyone was staring at you, and your words were caught in your throat. Not knowing what else to do, you ran outside the bar.

Michael ran after you and caught you before you could get to the car. He held out his hand for you to grab, and sure enough, you buried yourself in his chest and clasped onto his tightly. He stroked your hair and tried to calm you down, "You don't have to go up there y/n, nobody is making you, we don't even have to go back in there if you don't want to." You couldn't stop crying and Michael understood that it was hard for you to stop once you had started. Without another word he guided you over to the car, helped you in, and shut the door. He climbed in the other side and once again held out his hand for you. He gently stroked the back of your hand and you started to feel a bit more grounded.

Once you had managed to calm down Michael smiled over at you, "Let's not go back, huh? Let's just grab some ice cream." You got out of the car and held on tightly to Michael as the two of you walked down the street to Ben and Jerry's. When you got inside there were only two other people in there and you felt a slight relief. Michael ordered your favorite and got himself Cherry Garcia. After he paid and handed you your ice cream, he lead you to a small park a little further from the store and silently ate.

You glanced up at him, "S-s-sorry."

He grinned, "It's not your fault, I probably should've thought more about taking you to a karaoke bar."

You were about to apologize again but Michael held up a spoonful of ice cream to you, "I know you don't like talking after you get anxious, so you don't have to."

It was nice to have Michael around to assure you that the things you did weren't irrational. He understood that you had sensory overload after getting particularly anxious, and he knew how to handle it. You sat there eating your ice cream quietly, focusing on the cold made you feel better, and not having a lot of people around made you feel at ease. Every once in a while you'd think about how you had spoiled your evening, but then you'd look over at Michael. He would always catch you looking, and instantly know what you were thinking, "This is a lot better than that loud bar, especially since I get to be with you." An hour after the store had closed, you and Michael were still outside, looking at the stars, still silent, and holding hands.

"Love is when you can sit quietly and know that nothing needs to be said. Love is when you feel accepted. Love is whatever you need it to be."