A Reunion Between A Lost Pair

Chapter 14- Secrets Unvailed

Chapter 14

Ritchie's POV

It all made sense now. The muttering. The odd posture. The absurd excuse. The sudden disappearance. Oh, gods. What's happened to you?

The Michael I know wouldn't do this.

Okay... okay. Time to think. What would he do in this position?

Somethings clearly up, right? So, it's either not him, someone's turned him against me or he has a reason.

Which one though? Those are very different things. Each one with a whole lot of problems.

Never mind, it doesn't matter. What matters is finding him.

Where would Michael go?

The docks?

Nope, too open. Too vulnerable.

His cabin?

Too obvious. Although... no one else would now its him. No one else has ever seen his knife up close. He's careful like that. Maybe then.

Where else is there though? The library?

That's pretty stupid but its possible. He hates people disturbing him while working though, so he brings books back to his cabin. Just because he spends the most time in the library doesn't mean he actually sits in there. So... not likely.

Oh god.

I know where he is.

I'm the only one who knows it's him.

Why didn't I see it before?

That fence by the entrance. The arch thing. Its so obvious. Its our spot for gods' sake.

I sprinted out of that hall as fast as I could, ignoring the agonizing pain oozing from my shoulder. Its not a priority. Michael is. He'd do it for me.

I could hear the horrified gasps as I left but paid them no mind. I was already down the path and away from that building. Far away. I was down the hill and sliding around that fence within seconds.

Turning to face where I stood all those years ago, I spotted him. There he was, curled into a ball, hands grasping at his hair, tears falling down his face. I spotted him... and my heart broke.

Of all the things I thought of... I didn't expect this.

I shakily lowered myself to the floor a few feet away so I was crouching at his level.

I looked up to see the strongest man I've ever met look so broken it physically hurt.

I began slowly, my voice shaking, "M... Michael?"

His hands immediately flung away from his face, his head snapping up on instinct simultaneously. I watched as his face turned from a state of pure panic and pain to one of relief and gratitude. He looked so overwhelmed with emotion that I'm sure my heart broke that last bit.

He looked down slowly to his palms, examining them before letting out of a sigh of relief. It was as if all the energy he had was suddenly drained from his body. He collapsed backward, slamming his head against the fence, his eyes now pouring with tears.

I quickly shuffled forward so I was sitting in front of him, raising my hand to turn his head towards mine, "hey, look at me" No reaction. "Michael, look at me. You're okay. I'm okay." I said softly, "we're okay".

He looked up to stare at he me for a few moments, not saying a word. Then his gaze shifted down to my shoulder before the tears began once again.

I followed his gaze downwards for a moment before returning it back to him where I once again to turned his head to face mine, "hey, its not that bad. It'll heal"

He once again watched my face, only this time I realized he was reading my emotions. Searching for honesty, I assume. I smiled back at him in an attempt at reassurance.

After a moment, he nodded slowly before looking down and beginning to pull at the lose strands of his hoodie. This continued until he'd ripped a huge gash in his hoodie and could now pull off a large piece of fabric. He went to begin wrapping it around my arm but stopped mid-way to instead hand the fabric to me.

I took it from him and began to wrap it up myself before turning to him to tie it off. He shook his head in response before yet again looking down to his hands. I tied it off myself then looked down myself to reach his yes, "I don't blame you; you know? I know you have a reason: a reason I don't even have to hear. Just know I still trust you and that isn't going to change any time soon"

"you shouldn't" was the simple response got from a quiet and somber voice next to me.

"yes, I should. There's no one I trust more and I have no intention of changing that. You have a reason behind everything you do and I know you wouldn't just suddenly disappear then throw a knife at me. Especially when you just left it there, which, by the way, is definitely not you"

"if it wasn't me, then who was it?"

"I don't know but I know we can figure that out"

"no, we can't"

"why not?"

"because I won't let you"

"Michael you're not doing this" I said with well-intended force.

Michael looked back up, "I am"

"No, you're not. I'm not letting you do this again" I said, "I'm not going to let you push everyone away. You've done it once before and I'm not letting it happen again. Michael you didn't let anyone near for months, never mind let them speak to you! You can't live like that!"

"Yes, I can! I'm not going to lose someone I care about again!" he said before whispering, "I'm not going to lose someone I love again"

I was quiet for a moment before deciding that what I've been waiting to say for years, is going to have to wait a little while longer, "Michael, that's not your decision to make-"

"yes, it is! This is my life!"

"it may be your life but your life is also a big part of mine so I care a lot about what happens to it!"

"well done. You just explained why I'm not letting you help!"

"Michael. You better listen to what I'm about to say. I am not leaving your side until the day you die. Not again. So, you better get used to that fact soon or we're going to have a lot of problems"

"seriously?" he replied after a moment, sounding both amazed and amused at the same time.

"seriously" I said, finally lowering my voice.

"I think we're going to have problems either way" he let out a weak smile, "and I also think I've found our first one"

"what do you mean?"

"because I'm losing control" he said, suddenly panicked.

So... its been a while, hasn't it? I never intended for this to take so long to come out, and if I'm honest I've had this wrote since before the last part. I just wasn't ready to post it. I felt awkward about it I guess since I now have a name Ritchie actively recognizes. But, I guess I've gained some confidence. I still love this story and want to finish it. I still have lots of plans and don't want to stop. So, here we are, hopefully updating more regularly. 

So, an update for those who are reading this, Ritchie confirmed on stream, about half an hour ago from when I'm posting this, that Mitchie was a cannon ship for ooo s1, which wow. Did not see that coming. Maybe that's where my confidence came from. But yeah, I feel a lot better writing about a cannon ship so lets get this story going, shall we?