thunder -- michael clifford

chapter five

>> five.

When Michael and I pulled up to Anna's house, her car and another were parked in front. I assumed it was the vehicle Luke, Calum, and Ashton were in.

"Oh, hey guys!" Michael said with surprise when he walked in to find the boys on the couch with Beau and Anna.

"Hey, you two! Where've you been?" Anna asked, shooting me a wink when Michael looked away.

"Well, I just took Lia out for breakfast before we got into unpacking her stuff, like we planned on doing yesterday." Michael explained. I looked over to find Beau giving him and I the death glare, but I just brushed it off.

"What about recording, Michael?" Luke asked.

"Lia and I were gonna come by after we finished up her unpacking."

Anna stood up. "We can just head back over if you guys are coming by in a little while, and then whoever wants to come back here can, or you can just do whatever the hell you guys want. I don't give a fuck."

Beau's eyes widened at Anna's suggestion. "We're gonna leave Lia and Michael alone?" He shouted.

"Why not?"

"Are you stupid?!" He screamed.

I stepped in front of Michael. "Literally, Beau, we are right here. Okay? Shut up. You sound like an idiot. Michael and I went to eat breakfast. And he's gonna help me unpack my bags. It's not a big fucking deal!"

"You guys could be fucking the whole time we were gone!" 

My jaw dropped. "Wow. I'm glad to know that's what you think of me. Love you, too, Beau." I ran upstairs to my room before I started getting upset because I could feel my anxiety levels skyrocketing. I mean, Beau was the only one I really had. Anna left when we were younger, and Mom was a good mom and all, but it was mostly just me and Beau. I would have killed for him, to make sure he stayed happy. I never would have believed he would have done something like this to me. My hands began shaking, and I felt my breathing becoming very uneven and forced. I was getting lightheaded, and my heart rate was climbing fiercely.

"Lia? Are you in there?"

I couldn't reply because I was completely unable to speak. The door cracked, and I expected to see Beau, but instead, a striking pair of green eyes met mine.

He apparently noticed my breakdown, because he came over to me and wrapped an arm around my shoulder, pulling me into him tightly.

"Lia, love. Are you okay? I need you to talk to me." He said, a hint of desperation in his voice. Still yet, I was too worked up to speak. "Listen to me, okay? I need you to try your hardest to take deep breaths. In and out, in and out. It sounds hard, and it sounds dumb, but it'll help. Just try it."

I did as he said and tried my hardest to control my breathing, and it helped enough for me to gain my ability to speak back. "I-I-I can't believe he s-s-said that about me. H-h-he thinks I'm a whore. I c-can't help what happened. It wasn't my fault. I'm not a whore. I didn't want that.." I cried softly.

Michael chose not to ask what I was talking about, thankfully. "Just keep working on your breathing. Don't worry about him. They all left for the studio."

"My brother, my b-b-bestfriend.. He thinks I'm a slut, Michael."

Michael's hand stroked over my hair, and he kissed my forehead lightly and comfortingly. "Lia, just breathe. Don't worry about anything else right now. Just breathe."

I closed my eyes softly and nodded.

It took almost thirty minutes, but I finally calmed down. Michael held me close to his chest and helped me control my breathing. 

"Are you alright now, love?" He whispered once I had stopped crying.

"I think so.."

"Okay, good. I was thinking, maybe we could go downstairs, play some FIFA or something, then we could work on unpacking tomorrow. Because you seem pretty tired. And we could run down by the studio in awhile so I can work on recording."

I grinned at him and giggled. "Alright, Clifford. I know what you're doing. You're just finding an excuse to come back over tomorrow."

He smirked. "Maybe I am. Are you complaining any?"

"Not at all. But you might wanna choose a different game because I'll kick your ass at FIFA."

"Oh, really?" He raised an eyebrow.

"Really."

"Guess we'll just have to find out!" 

Michael pulled me off the bed, and the two of us ran downstairs.

***

"YES! FUCKING TOLD YOU! I WHOOPED YOUR ASS!" I cheered, standing up and jumping around. 

He rolled his eyes, laughing. "Maybe I let you win." 

"Uh-huh. Okay. Keep telling yourself that, Michael. I beat your ass, and I'll do it again."

"You sound so positive."

"That's because I am!"

"Fine. Rematch. We'll see who wins."

"But we have to get to the studio." 

"Noooooo," he wailed. "Stay here with meeeee. We'll go later."

"Michaaaaeeeeeel."

He grabbed my waist and pulled me down onto the couch with him. "We'll go later. Now, we're gonna play this and I'm gonna win."

I thought for a minute. "Fine." I sighed. 

"But, before we start, we're gonna make this interesting."

I raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, if you win... I'll unpack all of your bags for you."

"Sounds good." I nodded. "But what if you win?"

Michael smirked again. "If I win.. You have to go on a date with me. Tomorrow."

I grinned. "You're on, Clifford. Have fun unpacking all my shit tomorrow." 

"I don't think I'll have to worry about that."

"We'll see."

As I predicted, I beat Michael. Again.

"Fuck. You're good, McAllister." He said, turning to me.

"I know, I know." I flipped my hair over my shoulder.

"Guess this means I'm not getting that date, huh?"

I mentally frowned at myself. I should have let him win just to go out with him.

"I'll make you a deal, Michael. If you unpack all of my things good enough, I'll go out with you tomorrow night. Sound good?"

He nodded and smiled. "That sounds wonderful. I'll be over early tomorrow to get a good start."

"I'll make sure I'm fully clothed this time."

Michael giggled. "I don't think that's necessary."

"Shut up." I laughed, smacking him playfully. "Now seriously, we need to go down to the studio. You have to record."

"Ugh. Fine." He wailed, and the two of us went outside and piled in his car once again.