AFTER || be more chill oneshot

everyone deserves a little happily ever after...

"Listen." Michael nodded. He, of course, didn't need to be told to listen as he was already listening quite intently to the four foot menace in front of him.

His menace... Michael blushed for no reason. Across from him, Rich rolled his eyes. In a cute way. Michael smiled. Life was pretty good now.

And even though they were the closest they had ever been to a fight, Michael still found Rich absolutely adorable.

The thing was, all of his life Michael listened. To his best friend Jeremy, although Michael wasn't complaining. Maybe just a bit. But in reality, Jeremy was the one who Michael felt most comfortable with, the one Michael could rely on no matter what. Of course, everything changed since last year. Jeremy told Michael he was going to "go for it" with Christine. She did think he was crazy for the first week after the play. But she came around to his curly headed madness and they probably had a great, happily-ever-after-esque future in front of them. Michael truly hoped they did. He was over Jeremy.

Sometimes he remembered the Feeling, the longing for something that wasn't his, but as he looked across the table at Rich's casual position (aka lounged and slouched on the couch, feet resting on the table), he always remembered why it went away.

Rich tapped his slurpee cup impatiently.

"Jesus!" As Michael quickly found out, Rich had a LOT of energy. Like, a hyper cheetah on meth or something. While Michael mostly found rapid tapping and leg shaking annoying (even though he was prone to those things... all the time) on Rich it was endearing.

In reality, Michael wasn't sure he'd ever be over Jeremy. Until Rich came along and taught him that things could change. Michael became more confident, more sure of himself. Less hanging out in bathrooms occurred. Instead, Michael found himself in new problems, like dealing with Rich's asshole friends. Checking up on Jake once in a while. That dude was struggling. But he was trying, which counted.

Jake took it hard after the Incident. All of his life he had popularity naturally coming to him. The guy didn't even need a squip. After the play, when everyone's squips deactivated, Jake couldn't walk again from his broken legs. His life kind of revolved around his legs. He was athletic and everything. Michael felt bad, but he never really got close. Jake had these superhuman ability to talk to anyone. Again, he didn't need a squip.

Michael listened to Brooke a lot after the Incident (they all called it that now, for some strange reason). She told him about Chloe and all of the reasons she should be with Chloe and all of the reasons she shouldn't be. She also told him how everyone wanted Rich to ask him out (The next day, Michael asked Rich out). Brooke and Michael bonded over retro fashions, since vintage became fashionable again. Brooke also told him about how wack his boyfriend was. He agreed.

Chloe and Jenna formed an unsteady friendship. It was different, like everything. They both thought Jeremy was adorable though, and fangirled immensely over him. Jenna gave Chloe advice on Brooke, since she knew all of the gossip ever created, and Chloe gave Jenna her shoes. They were the same size. It was a weird friendship.

And Rich? After he got out of the hospital, him and Michael had bonded. They had gotten back their best friends and both came out. They helped each other out. And for Christmas, Rich got a brand new pair of headphones from the whole group.

"Okay." Michael smiled.

"Soo, remember, winner chooses our next date." Rich clarified. Michael nodded, smiling.

"Okay."

"Your turn."

"Uno." Michael set down the terrifying "plus four card" and watched every ounce of hope drain out of his boyfriend's face.