1. close your eyes
Michael doesn't know why he's here. Well, he does. Of course, he does. He's here, sitting on a soaking wet seat in the middle of winter, freezing his balls off, because of Calum. He has been to every one of his best friend's games without fail, and he wasn't going to break the tradition now.
Calum's girlfriend, Grace, sits next to him, mumbling under her breath about the stupidity of the sport. Michael agrees in his head, but never says anything about it out loud, because he doesn't want it to hurt Calum's feelings. He knows what it's like for someone to spit on something you love.
On the other side of him, his very own girlfriend sighs, her arms crossed in one of Michael's jumpers. Michael knows she doesn't want to be here. She whines every fucking time, but still goes in hopes Michael would leave and take her somewhere else. (But Michael never would, and he hopes she knows that.)
"Babe, can you stop sighing? It's only for a little while."
"Why do you go to these stupid fucking games?" Nicole vents, using angry hand gestures. "You don't even know what's going on."
Despite the lack of knowledge to the game, Michael thinks it's polite to go. He can't help but be supportive towards someone that means a lot to him; it's just the type of friend he is – a good one.
"It's – like – two minutes until the games over. Be patient." Michael says, crossing his arms.
Soon enough, the game's over, and Calum looks furious. He shakes the players' hands and walks off the grounds to get changed before Grace can even give him a kiss on the cheek. Grace looks at Michael, almost worried.
"Do you think he's okay?"
"He's probably just angry that that guy from the other team was being an asshole. Nothing that a kiss on the cheek couldn't solve." Michael says to her, almost reassuring, even though he himself is worried.
Grace smiles, and Michael can tell how his best friend fell in love with her. She fidgets with her blond hair until Calum comes out, and she walks over to him, putting a hand on his shoulder. Michael can't hear what they're saying, but Calum looks pissed. He says a few things, kisses her on the cheek, and leaves.
"Don't tell me you're going to go after him." Nicole says, but she already knows the answer as her boyfriend looks at her. "Maybe he just needs some time to himself, Michael."
"Nikki . . ." he says, almost whining because she's already pulling him back to her car. She sits him down in the passenger seat and straddles him. His hands go to her waist, under the fabrics that cover it because he's too cold to think of anything else.
She kisses him, and he sighs, because he's sick of her lips.
"Nikki," he says, turning his face a little, "Nikki," he says again, because she's still kissing him, "Nicole."
She stops, her eyebrows furrowed. "What?"
"Why are we making out?"
She gives him a confused smile, "Because we like each other, and this is what people do to show that. Are you okay?"
He nods. "'m cold. Let's go home."
She gets off him, and she drives him home. They both get out and walk into his two-storey house. Karen – Michael's Mum – sits at the kitchen island, stirring her tea. She smiles through crooked teeth, greeting his son and his girlfriend.
"We're just going to go to bed, Mum." He tells her, not even stopping to talk to her.
"Okay, night."
