Stuck On You

July 19, 2015

It was normal now to walk out of the building every morning and be greeted with paparazzi. Of course, they were never there for me, but when they did see me, they never failed to capture a few shots.

Michael was considered news worthy now due to his fame. I, being the woman spotted with him walking home from work every day, was placed in the position of ‘unidentified possibility of relation’. Essentially, they shot photos of me as well.

The questions I could handle as many of them were laughable. The crowding was a bit much. Michael usually wasn’t much help. As he usually kept to himself these days, his head down and sunglasses on, I was left to escort him through the masses. Never having been a person of much strength, being his personal body guard wasn’t my stronghold.

My key card unlocked the door, allowing me inside the studio. Michael had already come in. He rarely walked with me to work anymore, convinced that this was the only place that he could get away from the chaos. Every afternoon, after nearly an hour of convincing, he would walk home with me.

When he did get to his door (which I walked him to), he stepped inside and closed the door without a goodbye. The only thing that kept me from following him was that I knew within a few minutes he would be in my apartment. He always came. Sleeping in his own bed wasn’t an option anymore.

Everything reminded him of her. The only things that didn’t were the studio and my apartment. Most nights he fell asleep in my bed, tears still wet on his cheeks. I held him close, allowing him to grieve over the bitch as much as needed.

Every time this happened I stayed up in wonder. Who would deny Michael Clifford their hand in marriage? Who could kill a person’s love with such a quickly flick of the wrist? It was as if she had been cupid, shooting his heart and yanking out the dagger, leaving him to bleed.

The name Sarah was never spoken. It had been outlawed. The name Calum was open even though it brought on thoughts of guilt.

I had broken things off with Calum after Michael proposed to Sarah. Realizing that I liked Mikey wasn’t fair to Calum, I couldn’t lead him on. I had been broken too many times and I couldn’t hurt him in the same degree.

We were still close, meeting up every few weekends to grab dinner or catch a movie. He had even invited me out to a few of his band practices. He had even been kind enough to invite Michael along as well, but Michael wasn’t up for anything anymore.

The strums of guitar could be heard from one of the recording booths. He must have finished another. How many had he written since the proposal? Eleven?

Postponing the tour had been considered, but it had never became set. Michael blew it off every time they asked when he thought he would be ready. For now, it was still arranged that he would be leaving in three and a half weeks for LA.

“Yea, we did. It was a while ago, maybe a year? But since then-“Michael cut off as I entered the room.

His gaze followed me as I crossed to my desk, never once wavering. I had the theory that I had been a part of the ‘we’ Michael spoke of. Whatever they had been talking about, Michael ended it, confirming that he would talk about it later.

The day went by fairly smoothly, Michael seemed to be interacting well, even smiling and laughing. It was the first time in nearly a month I’d heard him laugh. The sound made me want to hug him.

The day went by fairly slowly, creating too much time to search the internet. It had been almost three years since I had last spoken the members of Skyline, but when I saw the news while browsing, I couldn’t help but get excited. I sent out a tweet, congratulating my best friends on their success. Another world tour was in order for them. The dates were set for a year from now.