"Where were you?"
I instantly freeze in my tracks, my keys dropping like weights onto the doormat below me.
In corner of our apartment's living room my roommate Alexa stands, her eyes instantly narrowing. It takes a couple seconds to process that she's not alone; sure enough, one of her "friends" is sitting on our sofa.
At least this time I actually know the guy, and I personally know he wouldn't try anything on Alexa.
He's just a friend.
My ex-boyfriend's best friend, more like it.
"Elle Nickels." Michael Clifford smirks, instantly standing up, one of his hands going to fluff up his colorfully dyed hair. Just like Ashton does. "It's a pleasure."
"Michael?" I gasp, sending a skeptical glance to both him and Alexa. "What are you doing here?"
Michael Clifford is certainly someone I would never expect at my apartment, not since the fallout. By the looks of him, he's still the punk-rock-inspired Michael, with his ripped skinny jeans and oversized plaid flannels. He's gotten a few more tattoos since I'd last seen him, something I definitely would've at least tried to talk him out of had I been there with him when he got them.
Even though his appearance hasn't changed, I still don't know if I can still trust him. Who knows what this Michael is like: is he the one who disappeared for five months when I needed him the most, the one who never called, and the one that still lives in the area?
Or is he the pre-Michael: the one who always played video games with me when Calum was too busy, the one who made me laugh harder than Calum ever could, and the one I could trust with my life?
It's sufficient to say I am almost as mad at him as I am at Calum--only because he stabbed me in the back just as hard.
"He was on the doorstep." Alexa shrugs, sending me a 'sorry-not-sorry' look as she slyly slips towards the door to the hallway. "Said he knew you."
Michael chuckles. "Oh, I know her, all right. What's two, three years of friendship down the drain, eh?"
I clear my throat, trying to remain as stoic as possible until Alexa shuts the door behind her, leaving us completely alone.
After she's gone, I immediately turn to Michael and give him a death stare. "You need to leave."
"Why? I just got here." He gives me a wide-eyed, faux innocent glare. God, I can't believe I ever trusted him.
"Because. Why are you here, anyways?"
Michael simply shrugs. "Hood paid me a twenty. He also gave me a whole speech to read, too, but speeches aren't really your thing; are they, Nicks? Or has your taste changed?"
"Wow. You know me better than my own ex. Congratulations." I say sarcastically, he simply shrugs.
"Hey, what can I say? I was there even when he wasn't." Michael continues, I nod stiffly. That, at least, is true; until Michael completely ditched me after the breakup for Calum's idiot group of... Yeah, idiots. "Besides, he really misses you. I think you should give him another chance."
I laugh bitterly, considering. "Oh, give it up. If Calum really wanted me back, he would be on my doorstep right now. Not you."
"Actually, he wouldn't be." Michael notes, I sigh. "He's still quite upset, if you don't know."
"Oh, like I'm not?" I roll my eyes. "He's the one who broke up with me!"
MIchael nods along, almost sympathetically. "I know. And that's why he's upset."
