fanboy ↦ michael clifford {au}

twenty-four: jokes

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR:

| michael’s pov |

“I got one, I got one!” She exclaimed, holding up her index finger and swinging it around. It was funny how I’ve grown accustomed to this over the past few weeks. 

We weren’t together, but we went out– a little bit too much.

I was beginning to see her in a different light; not the Belle I thought she was, but the Belle she is. She wasn’t confined to my opinion of her– she was her own person. 

I used to think she couldn’t make mistakes. I thought she was the perfect human being, someone who couldn’t do anything wrong. She’d always side with the good and stay there.

But no, she had her own faults. 

And I’ve come to love her that way.

“How do you place a giraffe in a refrigerator?” She asked. Her eyes lit up, and she looked like a child I had to take care of.

“How?” I was expecting another one of her cheesy jokes. That’s what’s been happening this past hour– she was telling me jokes, which most of the time, I didn’t laugh at. But it made the room bright and the two of us happy.

She smiled to herself, making me think it was the best thing she’ll say to me. “You open the door of the refrigerator, and put it in!” 

I guess not.

Belle broke out into the loudest laugh she’s ever done and slapped her thigh.

I shook my head, giving her disappointed expression. “You tried, Belle.”

She pouted, sulking. “I give up. It’s so hard to make you laugh.”

Chuckling, I raised my shoulders. “I don’t want to laugh out of pity, you know?” I told her, jokingly. 

Her expression changed; it was a surprise to me. I was just kidding. 

“Ashton does that a lot,” she murmured, shifting uncomfortably on the couch we were sitting on.  “But let’s not talk about that! Do you wan-“

She started to stand up, but I held her wrist, stopping her. “Let’s talk about it,” I said, a determined look crossing my face. 

The memories of Ashton’s drunken day replayed in my head. As much as possible, it was something I didn’t like looking back on, but now that she brought it up, there was no way I could miss this chance to finally know what happened.

“M-maybe Ashton should be th-“

“No, Belle. You tell me.”