It was in front of us - Micah Bell

Time you knew

"I should have known it was you." You snarled as you scowled at the grinning man in the bath.

"(Y/N)! That you?! I didn't know you worked here!" Micah teased.

"You bastard! Who told you!" You snapped at him as you stepped eagerly toward the bath and gripped the rim.

"Nobody. Figured it out." He replied as he rested his head on the back of the bath.

You sighed as you accepted that you had indeed been caught red handed.

"Why'd you insist on keeping this a secret from me? It ain't that bad." Micah asked as he sat up.

"Just cause. Didn't want you to tease me. Or come down here and embarrass me." You said with a laugh.

"Well ain't that charming. You know I'm going to tease you regardless of what you do so, are you gunna give me a bath or not?" He asked.

With a little giggle you shook your head and sat on a stool behind the bath. As you looked at Micah's glistening wet form, you found yourself not knowing where to begin. You'd completely stiffened as you felt the heat rise to your cheeks.

"Shy are we?" Micah teased as he tilted his head back.
His taunt filled you with a vengeance and power. You growled as you gripped the sponge and began to scrub his broad shoulders.

"Whoa, easy tiger." Micah chuckled at your sudden change in pace.

"Agh, I can't win with you. If I'm too gentle you tease, if I'm rough you tease." You complained as you rubbed the shampoo into his blonde locks and gently scrubbed.

"Ahh, I'm only messing with ya. For the record, I actually like seeing your vicious side. Seeing as you're so tender all the time." Micah complimented you.

"Well, thank you I guess. When you've...been through what me and Kieran have, you have to...toughen up." You managed to say. You felt a lump in your throat form as you feared for what Micah would say next. You knew what was coming, you were just terrified of it.

"What have you been through exactly
(Y/N)?" He asked.

You swallowed hard.
Should you tell him?
What will he say?
What will he think?

"Well. A few Years ago, Kieran and I were, mid to late twenties I think. We lived with our parents in a house near Annersberg. We'd always been a close family so Kieran and I didn't wanna move out.
One day, momma was killed. We don't know how, we don't know why. We just came home one day with dad and there she was, dead on the ground. Kieran said it looked like she had been shot. Our home has also been robbed. Daddy, heartbroken and scared, packed up everything the robbers had left, and said we had to leave."

Micah remained completely silent as you continued to bathe and indulge him. You came round to the side of the bath.

"We found another home to live in for quite a while with dad. It was a quiet little area by Moonstone pond. Daddy worked as a craftsman. You know, calving things, building sculptures all that. Well paid job. Kieran and I, we enjoyed that life. We had learned how to hunt, fish and I researched more about herbs from the books momma had. We had our own paying jobs in town too. We were civilised folks once."

Micah's silence continued. He looked at you with curiosity and depth. This was the story he'd been itching to hear since day one.

"Then. Daddy got sick. Sick, and real sad. Kieran and I noticed he'd started to neglect himself. He'd go to work without eating, hardly sleep at night and sometimes not bathe. We worried for him, but whenever we asked, he would smile and tell us to only worry about ourselves.
One day... daddy didn't come home. He had been working on a new sculpture close to the house, but he didn't never came home one night.
The next morning, Kieran and I climbed up to where he was working, to find that he'd hung himself. Looking up what what he'd been working on, it was a beautiful yet familiar face engraved in the rock.
Momma.
In a small chest on the site, was a slip of paper that had written on it, a special recipe for an herbal health cure. The one I used for your ugly mug back in strawberry." You joked.