Imagines and One-Shots (Book Two)

Demons (Michael Clifford) - Part 1 *

Trigger warning: Mentions of depression and suicide attempts

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It was alarming how quickly you went from having a good day – being in a great mood – to being so worried that you physically started feeling ill.

Your lunch bell had just rung and you were trotting to the cafeteria, having been looking forward to pizza day all week. You had the last lunchtime and to say you were hungry was an understatement.

But you ended up skipping the pizza – freezing in your spot when you noticed a familiar blonde sneaking toward the door to the school's roof.

Michael Clifford was in your Chemistry class and the complete opposite to you. You were popular and had tons of friends; he was a nerd everyone picked on and, as far as you could tell, didn't hang out with anybody. You were fine with getting average passing grades; he was one of the top three smartest students in school. He was a pretty shy and quiet kid – never really speaking in class unless the teacher called on him – but you never expected him to be the kind of person who wanted to end their life.

And although you couldn't say with 100% certainty that that's what he intended to do once he made it up to the roof, but you weren't about to sit around wondering.

You hurried down the hallway after Michael and, before the door to the roof closed all the way behind him, you slipped through. You waited for a few moments – you didn't know if he would still be near the opening to the roof, but you decided to hang back so he wouldn't hear you right away.

When you tiptoed up the rest of the stairs, you peeked over the railing and found Michael standing at the edge of the roof. You wanted to wait – you wanted to see if he would try anything, hoping you were wrong – but you weren't given the chance. You hadn't been watching where you were going, going to step up another stair but missing it completely instead.

You let out a sharp gasp as you hit the ground, hearing Michael spin around to see what the sound was. You closed your eyes tightly, hoping he would just think it was his imagination, but he didn't.

"H-Hello?" he asked shakily, "Wh-Who's over there?"

You knew you could easily get away without him ever knowing you were there, but you also knew you absolutely hate yourself for leaving him alone later. So you sucked in a deep breath, put your hand on the concrete beside your hip, and pushed yourself up. You could practically hear Michael's breathing hitch when he saw you but you weren't surprised – the blonde tended to freeze around you, sometimes even treating you as though you weren't even there.

"Y/N..." he stuttered – though he was clearly nervous, you were happy he was at least acknowledging you this time.

"Hi, Michael..." you whispered, lucky your voice was even giving you that.

"What... What a-are you do-doing up here?"

"Following you..." you trailed off, "Seemed like something was wrong..."

"N-Nothing's wrong... I'm... I'm fine..."

"I know the signs, Michael... I see how you've been acting in class..." you said softly, "The distancing yourself... The losing your train of thought when it never used to happen before... I like to tell myself that you'd never actually attempt anything, but when I saw you go toward the door leading up here... I knew it wasn't to enjoy the scenery..."

"How do you know the signs?" he asked, watching you as you slowly approached him. You were quiet until you were standing beside him, looking at him carefully before speaking.