𝐬𝐲𝐦𝐩𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐲 | 𝐦. 𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐨𝐧

fifteen.

throughout the next week, things were a little awkward between the two of you. you couldn’t look at each other without smiling and just looking away again. it made it hard to hold conversations between the two of you. you had small conversations without making eye contact and the both of you stumbling over your words. there was a tension that was beginning to settle between the two of you. the longer you two didn’t say anything to each other, the thicker the tension grew to be. 

it wasn’t much of a bother to you. you just blew it off. you thought it would slowly fade away but it was eating michael alive. you both liked each other. that much was obvious. you knew michael liked you but he had no idea how you felt. hell, you had no idea how you felt. that’s what was putting a slight strain on yours and michael’s relationship. you both had entirely different thoughts on what had happened in the theater last week. you didn’t think anything would come of it but now that michael had kissed you once, his feelings for you grew so much deeper. he wanted – no, he needed much more.

almost a week after you two went to the theater together, michael asked to hang out again. he was nervous when he asked. he was fidgety and he still couldn’t look you in the eye. you could tell there was something up with him. there was something going on with him that he wanted to talk about and you could tell so you easily said yes. on thursday after school you walked home with michael. you couldn’t hang out at your place since your parents would be at work and they would kill you if they found out you were left alone at the house with someone. 

the walk to his place was quiet, as everything else was. you had gotten used to it by now. you both stepped into his house quietly and the one to break the silence was, surprisingly, michael’s father. he called out his name and michael promptly responded, stepping into the living room. you stepped out behind him, waving awkwardly to his dad. 

“who’s this?” he asked, narrowing his eyes at you as if you were some sort of delinquent. you glanced at michael and he jerked his head towards his dad, obviously telling you to introduce yourself. you looked back up to the intimidating man in front of you and parted your lips to speak.

“we weren’t properly introduced but i came by to pick up michael and go to the arcade a couple weeks ago. i wasn’t even able to give you my name,” you said and laughed quietly. you put your hand out and he did the same, taking your hand in a firm grip and briefly shaking it. “i’m y/n.”

“nice to meet you, kid,” he said, pulling his hand away from yours and shooting michael a glare. he would get in trouble later for inviting you over without asking or even telling him first. he looked back to you, his expression blank. like father like son. he didn’t say anything else and you didn’t have anything else to say. 

you left the conversation at that, clearing your throat, nodding, and bouncing on the heels of your feet. you glanced over at michael, waiting for him to lead you to his room. you both walked away and quickly got out of william’s sight. that was definitely the most awkward introduction you’ve ever experienced in your life. once you were both in michael’s room, you set your things down and kicked off your shoes. you sat down on michael’s bed and he sat down next to you. 

“was there any specific reason you invited me over?” you asked, tilting your head. he was staring at the ground so it was hard to meet his eyes. he hadn’t looked at you directly for almost a week. this was just getting painful. 

he slowly nodded in response, sorting through the thoughts in his head and carefully deciding what to say. before he could even get a word out, his door opened to reveal none other than his little sister. there was a second of awkward silence before she finally spoke up. “who are you?” she asked with a suspecting tone that didn’t quite match her expression. a sly smile tugged at her lips and she had an optimistic look in her eye. she already knew who you were since michael only had been talking about one person for the past month . she was easily able to piece it together. 

“i’m y/n, michael’s friend,” you said, mirroring her smile. “what’s your name?” you asked as elizabeth stepped further into the room. the both of you already knew of each other since both of you were important to michael. he always talked to you about elizabeth and he always talked to elizabeth about you.

“i’m elizabeth. i’ve heard all about you! michael talks about you a lot,” she said, smiling innocently. she knew exactly what she was doing. you glanced over at michael with a smile to see him glaring at his sister.

you laughed quietly at yourself before turning back to elizabeth. “i’ve heard a lot about you too. you’re exactly as i imagined you’d be,” you said with a bit of a teasing tone. you were easily able to read michael and elizabeth. she definitely came in here just to tick him off and tease him. 

“hey, what do you mean by that?” she asked, narrowing her eyes at you. before you could elaborate, michael stood up and ushered her out of his room. she protested, pushing at michael but he didn’t budge. “what do they mean by that?” she said, raising her voice this time and talking to michael. he just shrugged before pushing her out and closing the door quickly. he stood there, hearing elizabeth huff from the other side followed by the sound of her retreating footsteps. he let out a sigh of relief before sitting back down next to you.

“you told your little sister about me?” you said, lifting your arm to jab him with your shoulder. he suppressed a smile and pushed you arm away. “you can try to deny it but i know the truth now. besides, it’s cute,” you said in a sing-songy tone as you relentlessly teased him. you leaned close to him and laughed softly as you saw his face tint a light shade of pink.

he remained quiet for a long while and you impatiently waited for him to speak. the suspense was killing you. “i didn’t invite you over just for you to spend the whole time teasing me,” he said. his tone was not at all matching the blushing face he had just a few moments ago. you sat back, scooting over just slightly and giving him a little space. 

you had not expected for whatever this was.you knew he had something he wanted to say you weren’t ready for this aura. his room felt stuffy all of the sudden and you felt awkward. you didn’t like how stoned-faced he looked. it didn’t feel like him. even before he showed some kind of emotion in his eyes and he didn’t look so harsh. this was making you feel bad. you clearly had done something wrong to upset or bother him. you parted your lips to apologize but he continued talking before you could even get a word out. 

“this is about what happened in the theater on friday,” he stated very bluntly, glancing at you briefly before looking down at his lap. he fidgeted with his hands, twirling his thumbs around each other. “what does it mean? for us?” he asked, lifting his head and finally looking at you right on. he stared at you so intensely, making you look away.

“us?” you repeated back to him. he nodded slowly and you fell quiet. you didn’t know what to say. you didn’t know how you felt. what were you supposed to say when he asked you so suddenly? he really had put you on the spot. “what do you mean us?” you asked, just thinking out loud before you could even word it correctly in your head. you realized how your question must have sounded but it was too late to take it back now.

his expression fell and he finally pulled his gaze away from you. initially, you didn’t say anything else because you worried you would only make it worse. “i just thought there was something,” he stopped, cutting himself off. he shook his head as if to just shake it off. “nothing. i just wanted to bring it up. things have just been awkward since then,” his voice seemed to get quieter with every word he spoke. 

here you go again. one step forward. two steps back. your heart sunk and you started backtracking. “no no, michael. really, that’s not what i meant. let’s talk about it,” you said, scooting closer to him and putting your hand on his arm. 

he shook your hand off his arm and let out a sigh. he looked over at you again. “it’s nothing important, y/n. just stop. it’s alright,” he said, with a soft tone that didn’t quite match his expression. despite sitting right next to him he felt so distant now. as though he was a million miles away. he was just out of reach. the tension had already risen and the strain on your relationship was falling into place.

god, why did you say that?