Be Mine Tonight - Michael Clifford

Chapter 14 - Aftermath

Michael

I woke up to the sun shining in my face. I forgot to close my curtains last night. Riley was going to be in more pain if the first thing she saw when she woke up was the sun. I looked down at the brown haired girl asleep on my chest and smiled. She had a rough night and was a mess when I found her. No doubt it had something to do with her stupid boyfriend. Her makeup was smeared all over her face and her knee was all scraped up.

Riley sturred a little in my arms when I tried to move her from my chest. Slowly, I slipped from under her and tip toed to my curtains. They made little noise when I shut them, which was a plus. She was going to have a huge migrane when she woke up. I tip toed through the rest of my room and quietly shut the door when I exited. "She's here again?" I jumped when I heard Ashton's voice.

"Don't do this. Not today. Some shit went down with her last night. I couldn't just leave her"

He leaned against the wall and crossed his arms. "Why do you always have to be the hero?"

"It's not about being the damn hero, Ashton." I snapped. I was so tired of taking shit from him about Riley. It was almost like he was jealous that he wasn't the one making me turn my life back around. "Hop off your high horse. It's about doing the right thing and being a good person. I don't know what your problem is. You wanted me to be nice, I'm being nice. Why do you hate her so much?"

He scoffed "you can be nice without taking her to bed every night"

That was it. I pulled up the bracelets on my arm. "Look!" I shoved my wrist in his face so he could see the almost healed wounds. "I did that to myself! I was the one having a panic attack at three a.m because my bandmates thought I was being selfish. Riley was there for me! Excuse me for thinking I owe her! Excuse me for caring about what happens to her!

"I don't know why you're jealous, actually, I really don't care. But I do care about how you treat her. I was in a dark place before I met her, Ashton. Finally, I'm feeling like myself."

His eyes darkened and a sad expression took over his face. "You cut yourself?"

"I've been clean for a week thanks to, Riley"

His eyes searched my face, looking for the right response. "I could've helped you. I could've been there for you I-"

"It's not the same. It's different getting help from her.

"But she doesn't know you like I- like we do!"

What he doesn't understand is that's one of my favorite things. I love that she doesn't know me like they do. She doesn't know who I was before. She doesn't expect anything from me. Everyone was always worried about bringing back the old Michael, when in reality, the old Michael was long gone.

"That's the-" my bedroom door squeaked open.

"Michael?" Riley's small voice said.

"I'm sorry did we wake you?" I whispered.