Stay Together For The Kids - Michael Clifford Fanfiction

Therapist.

I call Michael's phone for the fourth time that day. There is still no response.

I had sat waiting by the phone for an hour after Michael and Luke left, hoping that Michael would call me and we would be able to talk about this rationally. Apparently not.

It's late now, Ruby has started yawning after her bath, and the cartoons on the t.v have finished for the night.

I decide to take her to bed, and she doesn't hesitate too much as I lay her down. She gives me a good night kiss and I leave her bedroom.

I fall into the couch, staring out the window. I am completely exhausted, but I know I won't get a wink of sleep. I can't sleep, I can't think. Not of anything but Michael.

I wonder why this is so hard. Was it meant to be this hard? I was so miserable in our marriage, I wanted to get out. But now I had left, the only thing I want to hear is him tell me he loves me. I don't understand why it's so difficult.

I bring my knees to my chest, hugging up to them in the darkness. I had three missed calls from my lawyer. He wanted to know if I was going to file the papers or not. And I didn't have an answer for him. I didn't even have an answer for myself.

I'm alerted from my thoughts with a buzz from my mobile phone.

I look down to see Michael's name flash on my screen. It's a text.

I sigh in relief. At least he was talking to me.

I click on his message, and the screen takes a few moments to load.

He hasn't sent any words, but a video.

I click play, frowning. What the hell was this?

The video is distorted for a second, and for a second all I have is sound.

Heavy breathing fills the room, and I'm starting to worry.

Until I hear the girl.

"Michael." I hear her moan.

The video is now fully pixelated. The video is hand held, from his phone. The blurry images of a naked woman lay out in front of him come into view.

I gasp as the camera reaches her face.

It's the therapist.

My stomach has turned into knots, a stabbing pain ripping through my insides. But yet I can't turn the video off.

Michael turns the camera around, and I see a malicious look in his face. He smiles, the evil smirk I know too well, flashes across my phone. The video ends.

I sit, stunned. I don't know what to think, what to feel. I don't know how to breathe.

I don't even think anymore, I just run. I run out the front door, tearing down the driveway. It's only when I get to the end that I think about Ruby. I know mum is home, asleep too, so I know she's safe. I needed to be a mother, but I needed to escape.

I throw my hood on, walking down the street in the brisk night air.

I could only replay the images in my head.

I find myself in front of a bar, one I used to go to when I was much younger, and much more foolish. I know it's not the place I should be at this time of night. But I feel like I need to be here.

I step inside, and recognise my surroundings immediately. The bar hasn't changed a bit. The same bartender, the same bar stools, and the same sloppy men drinking on them.

I walk over to the bar, and order a vodka on the rocks. I felt the old, familiar poison slide down my throat, and a warm feeling spread through me.