A/N: Thanks for 400 reads!

Jeremy stayed at the hospital all night, waiting for the moment he could see Michael. The doctor reassured him, saying that Michael would fully recover, but it wasn't enough for Jeremy. He wondered what he ever saw in Christine, why he didn't realize how insane she was.

Michael woke up to the blinding bright lights. He looked at his surroundings and a wave of confusion washed over him. He knew where he was, he knew what happened, but he didn't know how he got to the hospital.

The door opened to reveal a rather disheveled looking Jeremy Heere, who looked in and called to someone, presumably a doctor. "He's awake!" Jeremy then came running in hugging Michael.

"Michael! I'm so so so sorry I shouldn't have broken up with Christine and I should have suffered because none of it was as bad as what she did to you. I just can't believe I didn't go after you when you left, I'm a terrible friend. And then I got the text and I'm glad I came over after it or else you could've died!" By the time Jeremy finished ranting rather frantically, a doctor had come to check on Michael.

Michael was about to ask about the aforementioned texts, but he was too shocked by what the doctor said to Jeremy. "Alright, Mr. Heere. Your boyfriend should be ready to go after we go over the results of the tests.

Jeremy and Michael locked eyes, Jeremy blushing profusely. Michael chuckled at his friend, thinking, "Look at how cute Jeremy is! no homo. Scratch that, full homo."

Jeremy was pretty flustered as he started apologizing again. "I'm sorry I just wanted to be able to see you sooner and I-" Michael placed a hand on Jeremy's shoulder. "Jeremy, I promise you, it's okay! I'm not mad!" With that, Michael reached up and ruffled Jeremy's hair, causing the boy to blush even more.

Michael's mind trailed off to a few minutes before. "Oh, yeah! When you were apologizing earlier, what text message were you talking about?" He only vaguely remembered Christine sending a text from his phone. Jeremy sighed and pulled his phone, showing the message to Michael.

Michael looked at his phone as well, seeing that the message was deleted. He quickly checked his blocked contacts and rolled his eyes when he saw Jeremy was blocked. "How mature of her," He muttered, unblocking his friend.

"I hope you realize that none of that was true Jeremy! I could honestly never hate you, in fact I... uh never mind" Michael trailed off sheepishly, thankful when the doctor walked in.

"Alright Michael, you're good to go. Make sure to keep the cuts cleaned until they heal" Michael got up off the bed, trying not to notice the gauze wrapped all around his torso, and walked hand in hand with Jeremy. Michael had grasped onto Jeremy moments before, considering there were a lot of people in the hospital who he felt were judging him.

Jeremy blushed and shook it off, "It's what friends are for," he thought, exaggerating the word 'friends' in his brain. Just friends.

The two took the next day off from school, Michael was recovering and Jeremy was helping tend to his friend's wounds. After that, the two ordered a pizza and played some Apocalypse of the Damned, finally beating level 10 after months. Granted, they didn't play at all when Jeremy was dating Christine, but they decided to forget about that, and they couldn't be happier with that decision.

-

Michael and Jeremy walked into school the next day, pretending not to notice stares and whispers directed towards them. Jeremy stopped to open his locker. "Guess word got around, huh?" Jenna Rolan walked by with Chloe and Brooke, saying something along the lines of, "Out of everyone in this hell hole, I never would have thought Christine would be thrown in jail first." Jeremy faced Michael, his jaw dropping. Michael tried to hold back his smile, admittedly failing to do so. Realized dawned on him, really sinking in. "S-she can't hurt us anymore!"

Jeremy noticed how freaking adorable Michael was in his giddy state, never wanting to see his best friend sad again. The smile on the boy's face was absolutely priceless, and then Michael caught Jeremy staring.

"Take a picture, it'll last longer," Michael said smugly, winking for added effect, before bursting into a fit of laughter. Bystanders probably thought the two were insane, laughing like crazy at eight in the morning, but Jeremy and Michael were lost in the moment. Eventually, they went to their classes, continuing on with their day.

-

Jeremy walked home, thinking about Michael. He liked to think he wasn't, but he couldn't convince himself, so he left it at that.

As soon as he got to his house, Jeremy called Rich and Jake to come over. The two obliged, showing up half an hour later, arms around each other. Jeremy knew he just got out of a highly toxic relationship and should avoid romantic relationships for a while, he couldn't help but to envy Rich and Jake's relationship. The two were so clearly in love and seemed one-hundred percent happier when they were with the other.

Jeremy sat down on his couch, Rich and Jake doing the same before he spoke. "Okay so, this is really random, but I kinda sorta have a crush on Michael?"

Rich huffed, pulling a five dollar bill out of his pocket and handing it to Jake.

"You two bet on me liking Michael?"

Rich and Jake exchanged a glance, bursting out laughing. Jake caught his breath, finally, and spoke. "No, that would be utterly ridiculous! We were betting on who would admit having a crush on the other first, duh."

"Wait, you think Michael likes me too?" Rich continued laughing before responding. "Jeremy! How oblivious are you? Michael totally has heart-eyes for you, as anyone with eyes can clearly see!" Jeremy blushed, not believing a word they said.

"You should confess to him! What do you have to lose? I mean, he'd probably never hate you so..." Jake dragged the 'o' in so out, but Jeremy zoned out when he said it, remembering the other day when Michael said he could never hate him.

"Helloo... Earth to Jeremy," Rich frantically waved his hand in front of Jeremy's face, finally getting the boy to focus.

"I'm sorry, there is no way in hell I could gain the confidence to tell Michael I like him. I'll just wait around like always, perhaps something might happen in the meantime."

Rich and Jake sighed collectively. This was going to be tough.