Cliché to Original

Chapter 17

Rachel's POV

"Hey, how was work?" Niall asked me as I walked into the kitchen.

"Busy. Nat had a lot of customers today, so I took on more appointments than usual."

"And?"

"And I had a lot of fun."

He smiled. "Good."

"I still feel really bad about leaving you here alone all day."

"Don't worry about it. I usually find some way to entertain myself."

"Did you see Ashley today?"

"Nope. I think she's trying to avoid me now."

"Interesting."

"I have a question."

"Okay?"

"Did Ashley hit on Michael when she first met him?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Just wondering.. What'd you do?"

"I got him out of the house as fast as I could."

"Like what you did with me the first time?"

"Yup. I hate when she hits on guys that are obviously interested in me and I'm obviously interested in them."

He nodded.

I narrowed my eyes. "What are you thinking about?"

"I'm not thinking about anything."

"Yeah you are. You always get really quiet when there's something you aren't telling me."

He shrugged, and glanced behind me. I turned around and probably smiled the biggest smile since I've come back to LA.

"Michael!" I yelled. I ran to him, and wrapped my arms around him. "I missed you so much.." I mumbled against him.

"I missed you too," he sighed.

"Why didn't you tell me you were coming?"

"I wanted to surprise you."

"I'm definitely surprised."

"Good."

I pulled away from him and finally noticed everyone else. "How come I didn't hear any of you coming in?"

"We got here when you were at work, so Niall let us in and we hid upstairs in his room," Kaylee explained.

"Oh," I looked at Niall. "I'm surprised you were able to keep it a secret."

"One of the hardest things ever," he sighed.

I laughed and turned back to Michael. "We should go somewhere and hang out. Talk.."

He nodded. "Yeah. We definitely need to talk."

"Okay, um.. I'm gonna go change and I'll be right back."

"I'll be here."

I smiled and ran up the stairs. I changed into a white t-shirt, black shorts, and white sandals. I felt like it was a little boring, so I added my world necklace, and took my hair out of the messy bun so my hair was wavy. I went back downstairs and Michael was talking to Niall.

"Ready?" I asked him.

"Yup."

He took my hand and we started making our way to one of my favorite places.

~~~~~~~~~

Kaylee's POV

"Cal, look!" I pointed at a magazine that was in a girl's hands. "That's you guys!"

"It's crazy to think about how big we've become."

"And you're only going to get bigger."

He nodded. "Where exactly are we going?" he asked me.

"Just trust me. I'm surprised I remember this place as much as I do."

"How long have you been living in Australia?"

"Two, almost three years."

"Did you move there with your parents?"

"Yeah. My dad got a job transfer so we all moved with him."

"Do you ever miss it here?"

"I miss my friends and family, Rae especially."

"Why Rae?"

"I don't know.. We've gotten close over the past few years so it's almost like we're sisters now and she's the one that I go to for advice."

"So does she visit a lot?"

"Um.. She's probably flown out five times since she's graduated."

"Why doesn't she just move out there then?"

"I don't know. I think now that she has her job, she's not going to. She thought about it a couple times, but there's usually something holding her back."

He nodded slowly, like he was thinking of a plan.

"What?"

"What?"

"You look like you're planning something."

"I'm not."

I frowned.

"Okay, so maybe I'm planning something."

"What is it?"

"Well..."

~~~~~~~~~~

Michael's POV

I watched as Rachel let the sand fall between her fingers. She looked somewhere between peaceful and nervous. Peaceful because we are sitting on a beach, which is her absolute favorite place to be, and nervous because we still haven't talked about where we stand. She glanced at me and picked up some more sand.

"What do you want?" she asked me, her voice just above the sound of the waves crashing along the shoreline.

"I want us to be together again. No space, just fully in a relationship."

"So what's stopping us?"

"I don't know."

"I'm still a little nervous about you living in Australia, and me living here.."

"I'm worried that you'll find someone better.."

"Are you still thinking about Niall?"

"No... Okay, yes."

"Well, stop! I swear we are only friends. We're both completely over each other."

"I see that now, and I talked with Niall earlier and I believe him too."

"Good. So..."

"So where does this leave us?"

"Together?"

"Is that what you want?"

Her eyes scanned my face for a few seconds before they landed back on my eyes. "Yes. Do you want that?"

"Of course," I smiled.

She smiled too, and I pulled her closer to me so I could kiss her. It felt right, being here with her, us being together for sure. No questions about it.