Tell Me You Love Me

Red Flag

"Being sober on a bus is, like, totally different than being drunk on a bus." 

-Ozzy Osbourne

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"Are you sure you don't want me to come with you?" Prince asked as he stopped the car in front of the gates of Hayvenhurst. "You seemed to be dreading this all morning."

Michael smiled halfheartedly and nodded. He unbuckled his seat belt. "I'll be fine," he replied. His voice was filled with uncertainty. He didn't want to walk in there alone, but he knew he had to. He looked at himself in the side mirror one last time. He lifted the collar of his shirt to cover the hickey, but it fell back down and hid nothing. He would just have to cover it with his hand. He looked at his eye and was relieved to see the swelling went down a bit. "I'll just try to avoid everyone. Maybe they won't notice I'm back. Then I'll just hide in my room for a few weeks. Hopefully all of this will be gone by then." He looked over at Prince who was already glaring at him with concern.

"You're welcome to come stay at my house a little while longer until that's healed if you're still scared you'll run into him," Prince offered as he gestured towards Michael's eye.

Michael shook his head. "I have responsibilities here that I cannot neglect," he replied. "Besides, the chances I'll run into Joseph are slim to none." He started to open the door, but Prince grabbed his arm, holding him back.

"If anything happens, give me a call, okay?"

"Nothing will happen." He wasn't sure if he was trying to convince Prince or himself. He grabbed Prince's hand and gave it a small, quick kiss before getting out of the car. He waved goodbye and waited for him to drive off. Once Prince was down the road, he opened the gates and headed toward the house. He covered the hickey with his hand as a precaution in case he ran into anyone. Deep down, he wished the two of them would have spent less time goofing off and more time figuring out how to hide the bruises. It was entirely too late to think of that idea now.

He cracked open the front door and peeked in. Seeing that the coast was clear, he slunk into the house. He crossed the empty foyer and slithered up the stairs. When he reached the top step, he peered down the hall at his bedroom door, and from the corner of his eye, he could see the knob of LaToya's door turning. Within seconds, she was out of her room and heading for the stairs. Michael turned his back to her and stepped into the hall. He covered his left eye with his free hand and walked backwards toward his room. He was hoping his sister would ignore him and continue on, but she had to be a meddlesome brat as usual.

"Hey! About time you got home," LaToya remarked as she stopped beside Michael and pushed his shoulder. Focused mostly on keeping the contusions hidden and disregarding her all together, the push caught him off guard and he toppled to the side, slamming into the wall. He let out a small utterance of pain. LaToya didn't seem bothered by Michael's distress and continued her usual intrusive behavior. "You know, you could have called or something. Mother's been worried about you. Where have you been? Were you at Prince's house this whole time? Why are you covering your neck and face?" She swiveled her neck, leaning forward slightly on one foot to look around Michael's hands. 

He turned his head towards the wall to prevent LaToya's curious eyes from seeing something they shouldn't. "Don't you have some puppies to kick, or something?" he questioned with irritation bubbling into his voice.