𝒄𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒏𝒊𝒂 𝒅𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒎𝒊𝒏' ≛ m. kelso ✔

≛ chapter thirteen

JULY 1978

Juniper exhaled softly and contentedly as she watched the bright morning paint her bedroom floor in rays of golden sunshine. The light tickled the top of the blanket before coming into her view, prompting her to close her eyes.

The boy behind her stirred slightly, his fingertips grazing the part of her stomach that had become exposed after her tank-top rode up just slightly. His eyes flickered open, and he pressed his lips to the back of her neck.

A small smile appeared on Juniper's face and she turned to face him. She kissed him softly. "Good morning."

He grinned at her in adoration. "Hi again. How do you think it would feel if I whacked myself in the face with a baseball bat?"

June snorted. "It would hurt."

"Well, I mean, wouldn't it... not hurt? Since I'd be hitting myself."

"Nah, I still think it would hurt."

"Maybe if I tried-"

"Don't."

She snuggled into his body, burying her angular face into the crook of his neck.

Michael shifted. "Shouldn't I go soon?"

"No," June breathed. "Stay for a little while longer."

"Once your parents wake up-"

She lifted her head. "I have to be honest, Mike, I don't care."

"What if they whoop my ass?"

Juniper giggled. "They're too polite for that."

He swallowed. "Okay. I'll stay for just a bit longer."

"Thank you."

He hummed in response, though her request had troubled him. They hadn't even fucked the night before, not like they had done multiple times in the prior two weeks. He had simply come as he routinely did, and they stayed up simply spending time with each other. The farthest they had gone was kissing.

He didn't mind.

≛

"Buggy?"

"Hm?"

"We've been laying here for an hour."

"I wish we could lay here forever."

"C'mon, Buggs."

"What?"

"I have to go!"

"No, you don't."

"Yes, I do."

"No, you-"

Juniper shrieked as Michael pinched her side, tickling her to get her up. She laughed at him to stop, attempting to suppress her giggles.

"Stop it!" she hissed in between laughs. "They'll hear us!"

"Well, then, you have to get out of bed!" Michael retorted, sticking his tongue out.

"Put your tongue away. It's unflattering," she scolded teasingly as she moved to stand.

Before she could leave, he grabbed onto her arm and tugged her down to him so she hovered over him. He brushed his nose against hers and smirked. "No, I think you like my tongue."

Juniper flushed and pushed herself off of him. "Get over yourself."

Michael chuckled as he watched her throw clothes on over her tank-top and sleeping shorts. "Here's the plan," she dictated. "I'm going to go downstairs, get breakfast, wait for my parents and Tommy to go to the park, come back up here, and take you to the cafe."

"Sounds good," he grinned, his eyes still trained on her.

"Good. Get dressed and I'll see you in a bit, yeah?"

"Yeah."

As the door closed with a click, Michael lifted himself out of her bed and shimmied into the clothes he had brought with him to change into.

He wandered to her tall mahogany wardrobe, which was plastered in Beatles and Rolling Stones and The Who posters that continued on the walls of the entire left side of her room. A plastic blue crate sat on its own wooden table and it was filled with vinyl records that would have been paired with the record player beside it. The posters bled onto the right side of her room, and it was clear that the artists pictured there matched with her more recent music taste; Fleetwood Mac and David Bowie and George Harrison and Led Zeppelin dominated that side. A little ukelele rested on her bedside table. Michael didn't know how he hadn't yet noticed that, what with all the time he'd been spending in her bedroom recently.

Then, across from her doorway, he spotted her desk. It matched with the wardrobe. They were the only pieces of furniture that actually went together, but somehow the chaos littering the rest of the room didn't feel so... chaotic. Above the desk, the wall was void of posters. Instead, Polaroid photos had been clipped to a long string of yarn.

Upon closer inspection, Michael noticed that they were her photos- rather, photos that she took. They all seemed to have their own stories behind them, each leading into a different world, in a different place, at a different time. Juniper and her family collecting shells at the beach. Tommy baking cookies with her mother. June and Lucy laying in a field together. Archie sitting across from her and making a goofy face.

Michael's mood dampened slightly as Archie bore into his thoughts. He felt like an asshole for what he was doing. He knew that Archie's heart would break as soon as he found out that his girlfriend had been cheating on him.

But he also knew that Juniper had never looked at Archie the way she looked at him. He knew that she was confused, but he knew that she'd realize who she truly loved eventually.

Would it be too late, though? He couldn't stay in California for much longer. He and Donna needed to go back, to finish school before moving on with their lives.

Michael bit his bottom lip. He could only hope for the best.

That was when he saw it. The corner of an envelope peeking out from behind her pencil cup. He gingerly picked it up and opened the flap that had not been sealed. Inside was a collection of photos, each one a photo of him.

The first was one of him sleeping, his auburn-ish hair spread out on the pillow below him, and the sun casting lines of light on his cheeks. "Sleepy Mike."

The second was of him and Juniper together, snuggled up against each other. He was latched onto her neck and she was giggling gleefully. "Vampire Mike."

The third was a photo of him holding a leaf out to the camera as he leaned in through her bedroom window. "Lovely Mike."

And there were many more.

Michael smiled softly to himself. He assumed those photos were kept in an envelope to prevent Archie from getting suspicious if and when he came over, but he was glad she had even kept them.

He carefully slipped the photos back into the envelope and turned it over to read the label on it. He beamed as he set it in its original spot.

"Photos of Love."

≛

(not) brought to you by june's chaotically aesthetic-ass room that i want for myself

(not) brought to you by michael snooping but in a cute way

(not) brought to you by in spite of all the danger - the quarrymen

brought to you by lissy <3