Castaways || Michael Clifford [Completed]

Chapter Fifteen

"I'm seriously so wet right now it isn't even funny and I'm not even done washing her yet," Calum complains, looking down at his soaked clothes. I hold back a laugh as Medusa licks his face and scampers around the yard. "Medusa!"

"You just don't know how to handle her," I say. "Medusa! Here girl." Medusa sits in front of the porch, looking up at me. "See?"

"Don't understand why she likes you so much," Calum grumbles, going back to scrubbing down Medusa.

A crash sounds from the garage followed by a "Shit!" I close my eyes and take a deep breath. I don't know how Michael always manages to knock down something.

"I did not just knock down a whole shelf," Michael shouts, walking out of the garage with arms full of wood planks. Calum laughs and looks up at me then laughs harder.

"Your face," Calum laughs. I give him a confused look but I do enjoy seeing him happy. Seeing anyone happy or laughing even with all of this going on is something that keeps me going. "You look so done with him."

"I just want to know," I start off then say louder so they could hear me out front, "how you manage to knock down a whole shelf!"

"Babe, I love you!" Michael shouts back causing me to blush.

"Awe," Calum coos, "someone has a little crush."

"Say anything and I'll crush your hand," I glare at him but he just smiles while rinsing off Medusa. Medusa sits patiently as she waits for her dismissal to romp around the yard some more.

Everyone finishes their chores with anymore disruptive events happening. Although Luke swears there was a giant demon spider across the street. Michael told him to shut up with a roll of his eyes. Now we're all sitting at the kitchen table as Ashton serves lunch. There were only four chairs for the six of us so Cal and Ash volunteered to sit at the breakfast bar.

"Thanks for the lunch, Ash," Luke says with his sandwich halfway to his mouth. Ashton nods his head with a big smile on his face. I assume he has a mouth full of food which is why he doesn't respond.

"Grilled cheese with ham inside? My taste buds have met heaven," Michael says then takes a huge bite out of his sandwich. He moans with his eyes closed and Calum laughs.

"Woah Mikey, not at the table please," Calum says, holding a hand up and laughing. Michael opens one of his eyes but doesn't say anything. I look at my plate and start eating when I feel Juniper kick my leg.

I glare at her and she motions her head to Michael. I look at Michael and look back at her with a confused expression. She rolls her eyes and mouths 'of course'. Deciding to just question her later, I go back to my food.

"What's our plan of action? We can't just hole up here for the rest of our lives," Ashton asks.

"You have a better plan? You want to live out your life in a mansion? You want to go fight the monsters in hopes of a better world but realize there's no use in trying to better a world so you die of a broken and hopeless heart?" Michael lists. Ashton blushes a little and looks back at his plate.

"Michael, chill out. There's got to be other things we can do. I don't want to rot here either. At least get a bigger place and more food," Juniper says.

"Could you at least be a bit grateful you aren't dead in a ditch?" I ask. Juniper looks ashamed and looks down at the table. "Exactly. Now I don't know about you guys, but I want to find out how all these monsters managed to get out into the world."

"Oh, it'll be like one of those super good movies where the main character has a tragic backstory and then suddenly their world gets flipped upside down. The main character is forced to rebuild their life but find out what possibly went wrong. Along the way, the main character falls in love with a super snarky and sarcastic survivor and then live okay," Michael comments.

"Michael?" I ask. He looks at me and I slowly shake my head. "Nothing like those movies."

Michael pouts and sneakily throws a piece of his sandwich to Medusa who happily took it and left.

Calum raises an eyebrow. "Soooo," he says, dragging out the word. He looks at me when he adds, "how do you propose-"

"Hey, that's my job," Michael interrupts. Calum smiles and puts a finger to his lips, telling him to be quiet.

"Anyways, since Michael got all jealous, I'll rephrase that. How do you suggest we find out more about the monsters?" Calum finishes.

"That part I don't really know," I say slowly, tapping my chin with my finger. "Is there like some science lab around here or something?"

"I thought this wasn't like those cliché movies," Michael says grumpily, staring at his empty plate. I have a feeling he's not mad about the movie thing. Maybe...

"Michael, come with me," I say, pulling him out of his seat. The other four all share a look with smiles on their faces. I pull Michael into the living room and we sit on the couch. "What's wrong, Mikey? I know you're not mad about not being cliché."

"I've given you so many hints and you do not pick up on them whatsoever," Michael complains. What? "Either you are really oblivious or I'm not blunt enough or something. Are you like rejecting me in a silent way?"

"What're you talking about?" I ask, giving him a confused look. Michael stares at me then laughs.

"Okay, you're just oblivious. I feel better," Michael says, smiling. "Wait, maybe I'm still not being blunt enough."

"Michael is so heart eyes for you," Ashton says from the kitchen doorway. We both look at him and he giggles then runs back into the kitchen. "Calum said to make out already!"

I blush so hard that my whole face feels like it has just been engulfed by flames. Michael chuckles as Calum shouts, "Ash! You weren't supposed to tell them that! Clarity will ground me."

"Anyways, ignoring the weirdos out in the kitchen, I'm gonna have to be very blunt about this. Clarity, I like you. Like a lot," Michael says.

"You do?" My eyes must be as wide as they feel.

"Yes," Michael chuckles softly, "I really do. I still don't know how you haven't picked up on it."

I'm speechless at this point. How do I even respond to this? I don't watch any romantic movies for this and my taste in entertainment is some type of dystopian genre.

"Looks like I've left you speechless, 'ey?" Michael says. "Well, I'll just say that you are totally my cliché love interest. Uh, can you say something?"

"Looks like the feelings are mutual," I manage to say. Michael grins. "What are we now?"

"The dystopian power couple is what I would say. Which I just did," Michael says.

I nod in agreement. "We're totally amazing, aren't we?"

"You could say that again," Michael smirks. "Way better than that couple in there."

"Rude!" Juniper comments from the kitchen. 

"Well stop eavesdropping you little-"

"Mikey, shush," I cut him off from whatever he was about to say.

"Sorry," he says then kisses my forehead softly. "Shall we go back and join the others?"