Michael Clifford Imagines/Preferences

Imaginary

When you were five, your parents were often busy and you wanted someone to play with. You decided to create an imaginary friend named Michael. You imagined him to be about the same age as you, and he loved music. The two of you would sing along to music in the car and he was always happy to play his guitar. As you got older, you found that it was difficult to make friends, so instead of being lie most kids and forgetting your imaginary friends, you still had Michael. When you got into middle school, you began to forget about Michael. You made new friends, and with your new classes, you didn't have time to think about imaginary things. Sometimes you would cry and would imagine that Michael was there to comfort you, but most times he was never around.

When you got into high school, things became much more stressful. If you panicked before a presentation, Michael would be there to calm you down. When you went to a dance without a date, Michael was there while you cried at home. When one of your favorite fictional characters died, Michael was there to tell you everything would be okay. He became your best friend again. You didn't think it was that weird, you were alone a lot and just needed someone to talk to. You knew he wasn't real, but you still liked the thought of having someone around. He became a part of you, and I suppose to an extent, he did feel somewhat real.

You graduated, went to college, and as you got older, you didn't need Michael. He started appearing less and less often. You didn't notice until one day you were crying when your boyfriend dumped you, and Michael wasn't there. You went to go sit in the park, and you thought you probably looked crazy, but you sat down and talked to Michael. You couldn't remember what he looked like as much. His hair was blue and blurry, he had stubble, he was about six feet or higher. "Where have you been?" He shrugged, "You haven't needed me, I just figured I'd leave you alone." Suddenly he began to fade.

"Why are you blurry?"

He looked like he was going to cry, "You don't need me anymore, so you're forgetting about me."

"But I do need you, you've always been there for me!"

You watched as he slowly disappeared before you. You couldn't remember what he looked like at all, you couldn't remember his voice, you just remembered his name.

A few months later you were standing in line at the grocery store buying a few things for dinner. You felt a tap on your shoulder and turned to see a man with blue hair, stubble, and looked to be about six feet or higher.

"Sorry to bother you, but you look really familiar."

You peered at him, "Yeah, you look really familiar too."

He chuckled nervously and held out his hand, "I'm Michael."

You suddenly remembered everything. This man standing next to you was the person you had envisioned for years. You shook his hand, still stunned, "I'm y/n." His face went blank, and he stared at you for a solid two minutes. You waved your hand in front of his face and he blinked a few times while he snapped out of it.

"Sorry, I just - I used to have this friend, well not friend, they were...never mind. I just knew someone with the same name when I was younger."

"Really? I had a friend named Michael when I was younger. When did you guys stop talking?"

"Six months ago, what about you and Michael?"

You felt your heart racing, "Six months ago."

After your first date you couldn't help but notice that a lot of the traits that the real Michael had were similar to the traits that imaginary Michael had. He played guitar, he sang, he liked telling bad jokes, it was uncanny. And Michael couldn't help but notice that you had the same traits as imaginary y/n. Neither of you were about to admit that you had imaginary friends for years, but you both knew there was something strange about you two becoming friends. Suddenly you were flooded with memories from a childhood that didn't look like yours. You could see you and Michael playing cards and coloring, but it wasn't at your house, it was someone else's. You asked your parents if they remembered your imaginary friend, and they said no. Nobody remembered imaginary Michael - but you. Michael asked his parents if they remembered his imaginary friend, and they didn't know what he was talking about, they remembered his other imaginary friends, but not imaginary y/n. You remembered the photo album you had, filled with pictures from your childhood and knew your mom had written a caption about Michael. When you opened the album though, there were no pictures of you playing cards by yourself, or coloring with an open book next to you. The pictures were always you and someone else in your family. The caption that used to read, "Y/n and Michael playing Monopoly" now said, "Y/n and her dad playing Monopoly."