Wake Up Call || 5SOS a.u.

xv| sixteen xv|

"Hey, I have to go but you can stay and if Charlotte and Ashton ask anything just tell them there was an emergency and I had to go somewhere, okay?" I asked Anne.

"Sure." She shrugged.

I was heading home when I bumped into a tall figure.

"Michael!" Luke hugged me. "How are you doing?"

"Hey! I'm fine, how about you?"

"I'm great, I was just going to meet Noemi."

"I thought you would be over her by now." I laughed.

"She's my girlfriend now, you know?"

"Oh, congrats!" I sarcastically replied.

"I heard that you and Charlotte were friends now." He changed the topic.

"Yeah, you could say that. I was just with her and Ashton in the pool but I just had to leave because I was going to puke if I stayed there and watched them shove their tongues in each others throat."

"Wow, that sucks. Do you want to hit McLarens? Who knows, you might find someone."

I didn't. Instead, the only thing I found was a way of fulfilling the emptiness inside me, by filling it with alcohol.

Luke was far gone by this point and I just kept ordering more and more beers. The bar was almost empty so I was talking to Carl.

"So, she was amazing that night, then I hated her, then I was okay with her, now I am jealous of her boyfriend and I think I might like her." I explained the situation the best I could to him.

"Michael, I don't believe in love at first sight, so when I saw you and Charlotte, I thought you already knew each other. You were closer than some couples who have spent years together. It was crazy when you told me that you two had just met. I'm not saying you are soul mates, but you are really close to it."

"You can't say things like that. You can't make me fall for her. She has Ashton and she is perfect for Ashton and they should be together and I should end up alone. It hurts, but that's how life is supposed to be."

"I never met this Ashton guy you are talking about but if you really like her, you should be with her, you bonded so easily, it was meant to be. Nobody is supposed to end up alone and people like you should be together. I know it's hard and you don't want to risk it but sometimes we have to take a chance."

"I want to, but she doesn't like me. She likes Ashton. She likes him, not me." I must've repeated the last sentence a few times, because Carl told me to shut up and pucker up.

"I feel like you are really confused right now. Tomorrow, when you are sober, write your feelings in a paper. Now, we need to close the bar, but I'll make sure you get home safe."

Carl drove me to my house because he said I was in no condition to walk and he took my keys and helped me to my apartment.

"Michael! Where have you been? I was so worried." A female voice, I soon realized was my sister, asked.

"Hi, I'm Carl, I work at a bar and I was making sure your brother got home safe." He introduced himself, helping me get to the couch.

"Thank you so much, I'm going to give you my number, so anytime Michael is in this condition you can call me."

Next thing I remember is waking up with a pounding headache.

"Good morning!" I greeted Anne, who was making a bowl of cereal in the kitchen.

She ignored me and after a few minutes she spoke: "Last night, I got home and you weren't here, so I waited, and waited, and waited, and nothing. I called you about seventy times and left you about one hundred messages but you just ignored me. Do you know how worried I was about you? For all I've known, you could have been killed in an alley somewhere."

"I'm sorry, Anne. I just..."

"You just what? You just wanted to scare me, was it?" She was pissed. Her eyes were red and her hands clenched, she would never hit anyone but sometimes it was too hard to have self control.

"No, I was just trying to forget some things and the alcohol sort of helped."

"You can't bury your problems in alcohol, Jesus! Some of us have problems too, but you don't see us almost passing out at a bar at two a.m." She yelled.

"I'm sorry, Anne. You're the best sister ever and I don't deserve it. I drag you along with my problems when you have your own fair share of them."

"It's fine. I'm sorry for yelling at you." She calmed down.

"I'm sorry for being a jerk." I hugged her.

We never fought like this, we usually kept our problems to ourselves and just supported each other through everything but it gets hard not to argue with someone you live with and have known almost your entire life. I wanted to protect her from everything but I forgot to protect her from myself.