muke

02

02

     "right this way, sweetheart"

     michael guided the little girl to the aisle that he was currently searching for and smiled when her eyes lit up. she bounded towards the items that she was talking about earlier and michael walked towards her.

     "what's your favourite colour?"

     "green"

     michael kind of crinkled up his nose and giggled, looking down at the little girl.

     "why do you like the colour green?"

     "because i like flowers"

     "flowers are pink, orange, yellow, you know, all those pretty colours"

     "green is the colour of the stem, and it holds the flower up- it helps the flower be a flower"

     michael looked down at the little girl. you could say he was astounded by what she had just said. he had no idea that little girls were this smart. he thought all they did was whine.

     he took a green crayola hair-colouring hairbrush and handed it to the little girl as he heard his nickname being called.

     "mikey!"

     michael began scratching the back of his head. why did that voice sound so damn familiar? the little girl's eyes widened and she waved to michael.

     "mommy's calling me. thank you, mister for getting me the gween haiwbwush"

    michael smiled uneasily as he watched her scurry away with the crayola hair-colouring hairbrush grasped tightly in between her tiny fingers.

     he scratched the back of his head again and turned to the shelf of hair dye. Without a second glance, he snatched the green hair dye and quickly paced to the checkout desk.

---

     "mike, finally!"

    luke said, rushing to the door where michael had just entered. he dropped the other bags and ran to the bathroom with his hairdye, leaving luke to unload the rest of the groceries.

     "cal! help me dye my hair!"

     michael yelled from the bathroom. calum was confused. he usually got his hair professionally done. he hasn't done it himself in quite a while.

     calum entered the tiny bathroom and laughed when he saw the colour of hair dye that his best mate had chosen.

     "seriously, mike? green?"

     michael nodded and whined, asking calum to help him. eventually, calum quit teasing him and agreed to help.

---

     "get behind me!"

     calum yelled, running around backstage with his iphone in his hands.

     "selfie! selfie! SELFIE NOW!"

     the three other boys ran behind calum and posed for the picture with michael standing in the middle with his tongue stuck out. calum smiled, feeling satisfied with the selfie. he thought he looked pretty good in this one.

     "posting this on instagram!"

     calum yelled again. ashton laughed and shook his head while he put on his red bandana that his mother have him when he was a teen. (ouuuuuu IF YOU READ CHERRY THIS WOULD HAVE BEEN A CONNECTION OOOOO PLOT TWIST MAYBE)

     "boys you have one minute. the opening act is almost finished"

     one of the fat sweaty guys hollered from the curtain, scratching his butt.

     michael's phone vibrated, indicating he had just received a text message. he rose his eyebrows because he hadn't text anyone recently except for the rest of the boys. he glanced at all of them and none of them had their phones out. michael began to panic. what if his phone number had been leaked again?

     michael nervously opened the message and it read,

     'michael, it's carter. we have to talk, like, soon. i heard from a little bird that you're in california so if you have time, meet me at the small café across from walmart. yes, I knew you were there. by the way, it's carter ramirez, in case you forgot already'

     "mike! we have to get out there now!"

     luke yelled while he propped the ear piece in his ear. michael anxiously got up and ran towards the curtains while cracking the most fake grin to the audience as they began singing.

---

     when the concert was over, ashton had michael crying into his shoulder, shaking uncontrollably. all the boys were concerned, (luke may have began crying too) and they all wanted to help him and shoo the issue away but in this case, they couldn't. not with a lady and an innocent little girl involved.

     "mike i think it's best if you go meet up with her. it seems urgent"

     luke said, reading over the text message again. calum nodded and patted michael's back. he pulled away from ashton's shoulder and apologized for the snot and tears on his shirt and ashton just gave him a soft laugh and an 'it's fine, mike'

     michael cleared his throat, hoping that his voice wouldn't give up on him.

     "but I haven't seen her in like, four or five years and she just- she just decides she wants to talk to me?"

     michael's voice was shaky and high-pitched. he was on the verge of tears again, but he kept talking.

     "and what if she brings our daughter? i don't- i'm not ready for that! i don't even know what the kid looks like! and- and- what if, what if she'll stop accepting the money i give her every month? oh god what if-"

     "michael!"

    calum yelled. michael's eyes widened as he looked up at the younger lad. calum's eyes softened.

     "she probably just wants to talk. stop over thinking all of this, mike. you might get another anxiety attack"

     calum was trying his best to keep calm when really, he felt like ripping all his hair out. he couldn't stand seeing his best mate like that, sobbing mess and all. he wanted the sassy, care-bear michael back who cared deeply for daniel. (probably the only-almost-twenty-year-old who still panicked when he misplaced daniel; his stuffed animal.)

very very very short chapter because the last one was way too long and stuff. gif of michael being adorable on the side. anyway, ily x