fanboy ↦ michael clifford {au}

forty: another

CHAPTER FORTY:

| michael’s pov |

I fell to my knees. I was such a fucking failure, wasn’t I?

If only I replied to her calls, if only I only made my mind up faster, if only I wasn’t so stupid, I would have Belle with me right now.

I don’t care about rejection anymore. All I wanted was to apologize for being such a jerk to her. I wanted to explain and tell her my feelings.

It didn’t matter if she’d turn away or turn me down; I just wanted her to know. That’s all.

Ashton pulled me up– tried to. I was weighing myself down, and it became hard for him to get me back on my feet. I was too down.

“You didn’t let me finish!” He whined, tugging on my hands.

“I suck, I know,” I replied, losing any hope of anything good.

“Damn it, Michael! She just left for the bathroom. You’re such a fucking drama queen,” he said, releasing his grip on me.

I looked up at him, my eyes widening. “What the fuck did you just say?”

“You’re a fucking drama queen,” he repeated, squinting his eyes, like he was challenging me.

I shook my head, standing up and grabbing his arms. “Before that, idiot!”

“Oh,” he laughed. “She went to the bathroom. You know, nature calls. She doesn’t do well with long travels.”

Sending him a pissed look, I let go of him. “You’re such an asshole– you could’ve just told me she was there in the first place!” I turned around, crossing my arms. Ashton was so stupid sometimes.

But even though I panicked and died inside for a while, there was a huge part of me that was relieved. I was wrong. 

Belle’s still here. She can still hear me out. We can still talk.

“Michael?” I was, in a flash, embraced tightly by a pair of familiar arms. “I thought you weren’t going to come– goodness, I thought we would never speak to each other ever again.”

I didn’t waste any time and cupped her face, kissing her quick. God, her lips were so soft, and I think I was going to explode from all the feels. This was even better than my dreams.

“Holy shit,” she exclaimed, tapping her lips with her finger. 

“Oh, fuck. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to kiss you. I was ju-“ 

I was pulled in for another kiss. 

And another. 

And another. 

And another.

I think my cheeks turned red– the tomato kind of red– because of all of that. 

“Ew, get a room!” Gabrielle and Gwen shrieked, moving away from us. 

“Chastity, please,” Amber scolded, pointing an accusing finger at the two of us.

“I knew you’ll have the hots for him,” August informed, crossing her arms and directing a smug look to me and Belle.

Belle shooed them away to somewhere near Ashton, who was pouting at us. 

I coughed, formulating the right question to ask right now. Why did she kiss me? Did she forgive me? 

No, it doesn’t sound right.

“What do I mean… to you?”

She giggled, taking my hand in hers. “Do I have to kiss you again to answer that?”

“You’re not kidding, right?”

“Michael Clifford, would you fancy Skype dates these coming months?” She asked back, grinning at me.

I was at a loss of words. No fucking way. She couldn’t be serious. This only happened in fairytales– and fanfiction.

“Silence means yes.” 

“I didn’t say no.”

We both smiled at each other. Why did it take so long for this to happen? Well, we both had our own faults and distractions. But I was happy with how this ended. I was happy with the outcome of all my decisions. 

I did something right.

“Hey, August! Kiss me, too!” Ashton shouted, attracting so much attention from the people around us, who were invisible to me earlier.

“Go fuck yourself; I have a girlfriend!” She screamed back, flipping him off. 

Belle and I laughed at them; it was great having some comic relief once in a while. And although August was in a relationship, I still shipped the two of them secretly.

I know Belle did, too.

Once the call for their flight was announced, I frowned, realizing how short the time was. I almost forgot that we were in an airport, and she was leaving for tour. 

Nothing was said when I walked her a bit further away from where we were standing. I slowly let go of her hand, doing my best to make our time together a bit longer than it should be.

I faced Ashton, who was behind me. 

Belle and I just got together, and we were already being separated. It was hard.

“Hey, Michael!” Belle called out, making me look back to see her waving from the distance. It was great how I could still hear her over the sound of all the people here. It soothed me, as if it’d keep me going until I see her again.

“Yeah?” I answered, trying to match the same volume of her voice.

“How does an All Time Low concert in the next five months sound?” 

I paused for a while, realizing what she meant. That was when the concert, of the tickets I gave her, was going to happen.

I smiled so wide that I think it reached my ears.

“Perfect.”

Author's Note: This is basically the last chapter, omg. But yay, I'll have an epilogue up! (You don't hate me anymore, right? Ily all, haha.)