This isn't really an x reader, but the reader is involved, at least \(•_•)/

Y/n's POV

sat on the carpeted floor of Michael's bedroom, muscles relaxed. My back was pressed against his bed frame, my head leaning back on it and my eyes feeling heavier by the second. The window on the other side of the twin bed was wide open, allowing the smoke to escape the small room and into the cool night air. Michael sat across from me, his back supported by his brown, wooden dresser. The joint stayed between his index and middle finger, smoke emitting from the roll, leaving behind a smell of skunk and herbs on everything in the room. Our bloodshot eyes payed no attention to each other, or anything in particular.

My mind often wandered to multiple subjects, pulling me into a nonexistent world for a moment until a small sound pulled me back to reality. One Drop by Bob Marley and The Wailers played softly in the background from Michael's phone, keeping the both of us from getting anxious, which happened every now and then. Minutes felt like hours, as if everything had been slowed down, which sucked whenever one of us got anxious in this time and waited forever for the marijuana to wear off. I was never really a big fan of Michael smoking weed when I found out, but one thing lead to another, and here I am. Neither of us did it that often, but it was a nice escape from all the recent drama going on with Jeremy and his newfound "coolness".

It was us three since we were children. Michael Mell, Jeremy Heere, and Y/n L/n. It was the three of us who stood by and watched each other go through our phases, not Jeremy, Rich, and Jake. It was us who helped each other out when life got difficult, not Jeremy, Chloe, and Brooke. It was us who cared for each other more than we did ourselves, not Jeremy, Jenna, and Madeline. The lack of the nerdy boy in the both of our lives was giving us a hard time. We couldn't believe what we were watching was true, we wanted it to be a nightmare, we wanted to wake up and realize our old Jeremy was still here with us. But, sadly, that's not how life works. If it was, neither of us would be high off our asses in Michael's bedroom.

"Y/n," Michael mumbled, patting my leg next to his. The heightened sensitivity part of smoking weed was one of my least favorite parts of this experience. During this time, I like to avoid any physical interaction to keep myself from doing something I'll regret, but sometimes Michael will tease me, enjoying the flustered reaction he gets from me.

I raise my head off his bed slowly, prying open my eyes with all my strength. "Hm?" I hum, looking into his red eyes.

He holds out the joint in his hands with a blank face. Leaning forward slightly, I take it from his fingers, placing the roll between my lips, taking in a deep breath. Smoke blows out through my mouth as I exhaled, watching it push towards Michael's direction before getting pulled out the window by the slight wind.

"Is it us?" Michael questioned quietly, leaning his head against his dresser. Looking at him, seeing that frown, reminded me of the past years when Jeremy an I had stayed up all night to make sure he was okay.

"No," I reply, shaking my head slightly. "you know him. He's been obsessed with the idea of being considered something that's not a loser."

Michael is silent for a moment, probably taking his time in letting my words sink in. "So something that doesn't involve us." He states sadly.

I take a moment to think about my next words. I could be comforting or honest. I could tell him that's not what I meant, that we could get the Jeremy we grew up with back, or I could be truthful. I could be truthful and say he hated us, he didn't want to be associated with us anymore. Either one sounded like the bad choice. I didn't want to lie to my best friend, but I didn't want to crush his heart in my palm. He stared at me with sad eyes, making my decision more difficult.

Ignoring his looks, I think of what he would do if the roles were switched. He normally took other people's feelings into consideration before he said anything. He was careful with his words, no matter the mood he was in. Thinking of this situation through Michael's eye's, I decide to go through with the happier route at the skin, but harder part to commit to underneath.

No," I mumble, immediately feeling the guilt pouring down on me. "That's not what I meant. He'll come back, I know he will. We've been his only friends for twelve years, and knowing Jeremy, it won't be long before he comes back."

A faint smile plastered on Michael's face as the thought of Jeremy coming back into our lives flooded his mind. I couldn't help but think about the situation as well. Jeremy running back to us one morning, frantically apologizing for abandoning us, begging to be forgiven. Jeremy, Michael, and I all back together, finally completing level nine of Apocalypse Of The Damned, hanging out after school, doing what we used to before everything changed abruptly. Before Ron and Hermione lost their Harry. It was a fun thought. It was a fun wish. It broke my smile to think Jeremy was never coming back. The porn addicted nerd I grew up with that Michael and I poured our feelings to was never coming back. It was truly a thought I despised.

Though, another thought popped to the front of my mind that I couldn't push away with ease. When Jeremy doesn't return like I told Michael he would, what would I tell him? What would I do to convince him everything would be okay? Yes, the new Jeremy wasn't something I enjoyed, but nothing will compare to how Michael would feel. They were closer than I ever had been to either of them. We were still very close friends, but they were the closer two of us three. Michael and Jeremy basically had the same mind when it came to their knowledge for the other. There wasn't a thing that went untold with them. Jeremy knew everything about Michael and Michael knew everything about Jeremy. Sure, my child self was a little jealous when my only two friends were becoming a living diary for each other, but I learned to get used to it. Though, as we got older, I got closer to the two than I ever had before. Still, I wasn't connected to them the way Jeremy and Michael were.

A gentle hand landed on my leg, just above my ankle, quickly alerting me of my surroundings again. I pull my leg away from Michael's grasp, watching him giggle in amusement at my reaction. I laugh along with him, taking a mental video to remember his smile and laugh to compare to what I've done to his heart in the future. To take the current joy on his face and put it next to the broken expression he'll have when he realizes Jeremy isn't coming back.

I shake the thought out of my head, taking another long breath in with the burning joint between my lips, deciding I need more to relax again and forget what problems are to come.