End Up Here (Michael Clifford a.u.)

Chapter 11

"He did WHAT?!" Claire yells.

Everyone murmurs in anger, swearing and threatening more than ever.

"He cheated on me!" Grace says. "Sam cheated on me!"

Sam and Grace dated for several months. They were crazy about each other, and lots of people thought they made a good couple. He was a bit of a troublemaker, but this is almost unexpected.

"How did you find out?" Kaitlyn asks.

"He told me he'd drive me home after school, so I went to his car, and he was making out with another girl!"

"Do you know who it was?" Claire asks.

"No. I don't care either. And then he admitted it's been going on for months now. Probably even most of the time we dated."

"Next time I see him, I'm punching him in the face. I'm not even kidding," I say through gritted teeth.

"Don't," Grace says, sniffling. "I knew he was up to something. He's been acting weird. But I really really liked him."

"I'm so sorry," Kaitlin says, trying to comfort her.

"Is there anything we can do?" Claire asks.

"Tell the boys to come over?" Grace suggests.

"I'm on it," I reply. She smiles as I text the boys.

They arrive at my house shortly after, hugging Grace and apologizing and also swearing and threatening as we were. She explains everything again, and they look angry. Ashton looks ready to completely murder someone.

"What a dick!" Michael exclaims. "You're way too good for him. Don't let it bother you."

"Thanks," Grace says tiredly. "But I just really liked him. I never thought he would..."

"You don't need him," Calum says.

"Yeah," Luke agrees. "Is there anything we can do for you?"

"I just wanted you guys here," Grace says. "That's all."

"What about revenge?" Kaitlyn asks with a small laugh.

"Not today. Soon though."

"We've already got you," I tell her, motioning to Ashton and myself. Grace laughs.

"It's okay. Don't do anything."

"We can't just sit here and do nothing about it!" Ashton exclaims. "I don't know about you, but Makenna and I don't really like what he did."

She grabs his hand. "I don't either. Trust me."

"He pisses me off."

Everyone mumbles their agreement. We eventually finish ranting about people and hang out. We continue our efforts to comfort Grace and just let her say what she needs to. Soon enough she completely crashes and falls asleep.

I look at Michael as everyone slowly drifts off as well. He smiles gently, and I can tell he's trying to keep my mind off of Grace's situation.

It doesn't help much. I still want to take care of it for her. She didn't deserve to get cheated on. Sam didn't deserve her ever.

Michael pulls me closer to him, stroking my hair. I breathe in the scent of his cologne and feel a little better. Eventually I fall asleep to his steady breathing.

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Over the weekend I had planned exactly what I wanted to say to Sam. Ashton and I talked several times about it, deciding how we wanted things to play out.