bar soap ➳ m.c. au

quattro

quattro

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"michael, what the fuck," charlotte laughed as he came up behind her. she was currently restocking paper towels, and michael had decided now was a good time to surprise her.

"am i not allowed to surprise you at work?" michael quirked an eyebrow. charlotte giggled and kneeled down to stock the lower shelves.

"how long has it been since we met?" charlotte asked, looking up at him briefly.

"i don't know, three, four months," michael shrugged.

"wow," charlotte breathed.

"yeah, wow," michael repeated.

"do you like know any people, or are you a complete loner, because i've never heard you talk about anyone in your life?" charlotte remarked.

"i could say the same about you, red head," the boy countered.

"my only friend is my sixteen year old sister, don't judge," charlotte chuckled.

"i have a friend," michael told her.

"who?" she raised an eyebrow and pushed herself off of the ground.

"his name is luke, and he's nine feet tall, and he's got a stupid lip piercing, and he has nice hair," michael explained.

"wow," charlotte mused sarcastically.

"i think you'd like him, you'll have to meet each other some time. he's a great guy, just a little awkward is all," michael shrugged. charlotte nodded and looked at her watch.

"would you like to join me as i walk around the aisles aimlessly?" charlotte laughed.

"it'd be my pleasure," michael joked.

the two kids wandered around the store until charlotte's shift was over. she told michael to wait in the dairy aisle while she put her apron in the back. and he did, but he saw someone who looked too familiar to him. charlotte ran back to him and saw him staring at the lady who was looking at the cheeses. she turned around and spotted michael, and her face lit up.

"oh! michael, i haven't seen you in so long, how are you doing?" the lady chuckled. michael laughed nervously and scratched the back of his neck.

"i'm doing fine dr. jones-"

"please call me debby, you haven't been my patient for years," the lady waved it off. her eyes soon landed on charlotte and her smile widened.

"oh, michael who's this?" she asked sweetly.

"oh! right, dr. jones, this is charlotte, my, uh...thing, and charlotte this is dr. jones, the therapist i went to after, you know," michael trailed off. both of the girls looked at him strangely - considering he had just called charlotte his "thing" - until charlotte smacked him lightly.

"i am not your thing," she looked at him in disbelief, which he just shrugged off. charlotte turned to dr. jones and shook her hand.

"it's nice to meet you," charlotte beamed.

"you too, michael clearly trusts you a lot if you know what happened. always so closed off, that boy," dr. jones rolled her eyes and michael scoffed.

"yeah, we met a couple months back and i guess we kind of clicked," charlotte giggled.

"i hate to interrupt, but i did promise a friend that we'd meet him someplace, so we better get going," michael forced a smile and yanked charlotte closer to him.

"okay, tell your mother i said hi," dr. jones called after them and watched as the two that were undeniably in love with each other walk out of the store.

"that's your therapist?" charlotte gaped.

"more like family friend," michael sighed and unlocked the doors to his car. he opened the passenger side for charlotte and ran around to the other side of the car to get in it himself.

the two drove in silence back to michael's apartment, which they had silently agreed to go to, and quickly got out of the car once they got there.

"you seem upset," charlotte remarked.

"i'm not," michael shrugged, pulling out his key.

"yes, you are," she raised her eyebrow, walking into michael's apartment as if it were her own.

"fine, i am," he surrendered. charlotte sighed and walked down the hall to where michael's bedroom was. they had been here a lot, and charlotte felt as if it were her own home. the two had grown this odd bond, one that even married couples didn't have. they would tell each other anything, and they would say anything to the other, even if they thought the other would get angry. though, neither of them got angry at each other, because deep down inside they knew the other was just trying to help. they liked to think it would never change.

charlotte pulled michael down onto the bed by his wrist, which caused him to wince, but charlotte didn't notice. 

"what's bothering you?" charlotte asked as michael laid down. she moved her head to his chest and grabbed his arm with his "to the moon" tattoo, tracing over the words softly. she was slowly becoming his "and back."

"dr. jones just reminds me of my past," michael shook his head, chuckling.

"oh," charlotte said quietly.

"do you ever look back at your life and kind of just remember thinking that it wouldn't ever get better?" michael looked down at charlotte the best he could.

"yeah, all the time," charlotte shook her head at her old self. it wasn't a phase, she still felt that way sometime, but of course, like any teenager, she was being a little over-dramatic.

"you know what, charlotte?" michael smiled goofily at her.

"what?" she mused.

"i've noticed something," he told her.

"and what would that be?" she tilted her head up so she was looking at him.

"there's three things everybody has to learn about life," michael decided.

"and what are those three things?" charlotte laughed and raised her eyebrows.

"well, one, it sucks. like a lot," michael told her.

"i second that," charlotte joked.

"two, it's hard, like really fucking hard," michael mumbled.

charlotte just nodded.

"and three," michael sighed.

"what's three?" charlotte looked up at michael with wide eyes.

"it sucks, it's hard, but in the end, it goes on," michael said softly. charlotte smiled up at him softly and pushed herself off of his chest, kissing him softly on the lips.

"you're pretty wise, michael clifford," charlotte smirked.

"i could say the same to you, charlotte samuels," michael countered and connected their lips again.

{ unedited, but all of them are so...

i wrote the epilogue for this story already bc i have everything planned out.

the next two chapters will be a continuation of this day holla

gonna warn you guys now, and at the beginning of next chapter so...

i don't know what triggers people, but next chapter /may/ be triggering, so i'll sum it up in the note at the end of it if you don't want to read it, but i don't think it will be very triggering but we'll see so ya. :)

ilygsm keep on trucking

xoxoxo mary elizabeth }