This Year's Love // Michael Clifford

Chapter Ten

Chapter Ten

Brittany Dawson

"Ayoooo. Me say ayoooo," Michael obnoxiously sings.

"Can you please for, like, five seconds, shut the hell up?" I rant, turning down the radio.

"Who pissed in your Cheerios this morning?" Michael grumbles.

I shoot him a glare that shuts him up. Momentarily.

"Sorry," he says.

I sigh, shaking my head. "It's not your fault I'm in such a shit mood."

"You wanna talk about?" he asks.

"Rent is coming up, along with the water bill, the electricity, the trash, the-"

"So you're stressing about bills?" Michael interupts.

I nod. "Basically."

"I can help you, you know," he says.

"No, Michael." I shake my head. "I'm not going to use you like that."

"You wouldn't be using me," he replies. "I care about you and I want you to have all the things you need in order to survive. I can help pay for some of your bills."

I pull into Becca and I's apartment building lot, putting the car into park and shutting it off. I turn to Michael and surprise him by pulling him in for a hug.

"Thank you so much," I whisper, feeling as if I might cry.

It may seem a bit dramatic, but the cost of living is just that: dramatic. In total, our bills are almost two thousand dollars, including the groceries and toiletries. We split the cost in everything, but that's still a lot of money for us. We work a minimum wage job and that's all where our money comes from. Most months, Becca has to borrow from her parents and I from my grandparents.

"It's no big deal, B," Michael says.

I pull away from the hug, wiping my watery eyes. "You don't know how much this means to me; to us."

"Don't cry," Michael says softly, wiping the strolling tear off my cheek.

"It's just so overwhelming," I admit out loud for the first time since living on my own. "You don't really ever think about the cost of living until you're actually living on your own."

"I will always be here to help you, Brittany," Michael says, cupping my face.

I nod. "I know," I whisper.

//////

"Pizza or Chinese?" Michael asks.

"Why not both?" I shrug.

He grins. "That's my girl."

I feel a blush fall upon my cheeks as Michael turns away to call the pizza place. That's my girl, he had said. I wish. Wait, no. I do not like Michael like that.

"Okay, I ordered half pepperoni and half meat lovers because I know pepperoni is your favorite," Michael says, reentering the room. "I got two orders of chicken fried rice and that black pepper chicken you like from the Chinese place."

I smile up at Michael gratefully as he sits beside me and pulls me into him close. I rest my head on his chest, listening to the beat of his heart. A distant sound of a Tardis wooshing on the TV was heard, but I ignored my favorite TV show. I was bundled up against Michael and that was far better.

"I have a question," I speak softly, playing with Michael's oddly small fingers.

"Hmm?" he hums.

"When are you going back?" I ask. "Like, I know you won't be staying here forever. You have a home and family back in Australia."

Michael sighs, "I don't know."

I don't push the concept further, afraid of the answer that awaits. Obviously I know that Michael will leave someday. He has a career and a home to tend to elsewhere. I'm just a pit stop.

"Wherever and whenever I go I'll always have you with me," Michael finally says, breaking the silence.

I look up into his green eyes. "Just don't remember me as just a pit stop, okay?"

"What?" he asks, bewildered. "No, never."

I wasn't sure why, but today I'm very emotional. It could have to do with the fact that I'm on my period, but that's another story.

"B?" Michael asks.

I look back up at him. "Yeah?"

"I want you to go with me to the ends of the world," he says. "I want to take you everywhere and experience everything with you."

My heart swells.

"I'm leaving in three weeks."

My stomach plummets. "What?"

"But that doesn't end whatever this is," Michael promises. "I want you to go with me."

"Michael," I sigh. "I want to go with you, too. I would go in a heartbeat."

"But?"

"But this is the real world. What about my life here?"

"What about it? Brittany, you work a minimum wage job and live in an apartment you can hardly afford."

"I know that," I say, "but..."

"But what?"

I shake my head. "I don't know, Michael."

"You can go on tour with me and I can buy you everything and give you anything you need," he declares. "I want you with me so I know you're cared for and stable."

"Michael."

I feel the tears ready to fall again. Damn it, him.

"I will do anything for you."

Tears begin to fall down my cheeks and I bury my face in Michael's chest. I clench my fingers into his shirt, heart wrenching sobs coming out of my mouth.

"Damn it, Michael," I cry. "I fucking hate you for making me so emotional today."

"I'm sorry," he whispers.

"You came out of nowhere and suddenly I'm this dependent girl and all I can think of is you every second of the day and damn it, you," I sob.

A chime sounds through the apartment, indicating someone was waiting to be buzzed up. I push myself away from Michael, excusing him to go get our food. I can't help but miss him every second he's not holding me or touching me or just around me in general.

"Damn you, Michael," I say to myself, wiping my eyes angrily upon realizing something. "Damn you for making me fall for you."