The blaring sound of my phone ringing woke me from my sleep. It sat on the table beside Michael who I was still curled up to. I sleepily reached over him, collapsing on his chest. I answered the phone without even checking who was calling.

"Hello?" I manage to speak through my tired voice.

"Who's calling you?" Michael suddenly asked, resting his hand on my back. His voice was husky, it was obvious that the noise had woken him up too.

"Maddie, who's at the house?" I heard my mother's stern tone through the other end. I shot up off of Michael's chest and widened my eyes.

"Who is-" I cut him off, placing my hand over his mouth. I gave him a panicked look which he instantly returned.

"Um," I began speaking again. "It's Julia. She woke up from my phone ringing."

"I thought she was on her mission trip?" My mom questioned me. I took my hand off Michael's mouth, putting a finger up to my lips to shush him. 

"Oh yeah, well, uh, she got back early and I let her crash here last night." I lied as my voice became timid. 

There was a short silence which made me worry even more. If she would've found that I was sleeping on our couch with a boy she's met once and who has a bit of "reputation", then she would probably never let me see sunlight again, whether she liked him or not. 

"Alright, well it seems like you girls are tired." She warily said. I breathed a quiet sigh of relief, putting a hand over my chest. "Sorry for the early call, wanted to talk before work. Love you and I'll be home this weekend. I'm excited to come back."

"I'm excited too." I genuinely smiled. "Love you, bye." I hung up quickly and threw my phone to the chair next to me. I groaned loudly, not caring how loud I was now that Michael was awake from the scene.

I had somehow managed to have my legs thrown over his chest, since he was laying on his back. I leaned against the back of the sofa, pushing my fallen hair from my sleep out of my face.

I flinched at the feeling of his cool finger tips trailing up and down the side of my thigh. I peered down at him, slowly picking my head back up from the wall. 

One of his hands was on my leg while the other was tucked behind his head, showing off his tattoo. He kept his focus on the irregular shapes that his fingers were drawing on me. He had a concentrated look on his face. He lightly bit the insides of his lips, occasionally running the tip of his tongue over his bottom one. 

"What was that about?" He questioned after seemingly collecting his thoughts.

"That was my mom." I answered instantly.

"Oh shit."

"Oh shit is right. If she found out you stayed she would've-"

"I thought she liked me?" He looked up at me with the same tired eyes he had last night.

"I didn't mean it like that. She does like you, a lot actually. She's just very protective of me when it comes to guys and stuff. She just doesn't want to see me get hurt like she did." I subtly hinted towards my father. I gazed at the tingling he brought on my leg. 

He didn't reply which I took as he understood what I meant. I liked how simple he made things. I liked how he didn't have to clarify everything. Obviously we did fight over a few things, but those things actually needed to be clarified. 

I clumsily hopped off of him, picking up my phone and trudging to the kitchen. It was already morning so why not get up and start my day? I pulled a bowl from the cabinets and cereal from the pantry, pouring myself some breakfast.

I sat in the usual Monday morning silence, something I was used to since my mom left to go to work every day at a God awful time in the morning. If it could be called that. It was more like late night.

I caught Michael's figure out of the corner of my eye. He repeated the actions I did, getting himself breakfast. He drug out the chair beside me and turned so he could face me. 

"I'm taking you out tonight." 

"Is bonding in my kitchen over two bowls of Frosted Flakes not good enough for you?" I turned myself towards him, acting as if I was offended.

"No, this is perfect actually." He said matter-of-factly. "But I want to properly take you somewhere."

"It depends." I stirred my spoon around, letting the clangs fill some of the silence. "Where are you taking me?" I looked back up at him in a playful manner.

"I don't know." He picked up his elbows and rested them on the table. "Why don't we just head out towards town? Like towards the giant fountain I took you to? We can get a bite to eat, walk around, something casual." 

I stood up and waltzed my way to the sink, placing my bowl at the bottom. 

"Well," I began. I turned around only to be met by Michael's body right in front of me. I stared up at him and the gracious look on his face. I bit my lip to control my smile. "You've got yourself a deal."

"A date." 

"A date." I corrected.

-

I just got off the phone with my boss, calling in 'sick' so I could go out tonight, something I definitely should have thought of before. It was 5 o'clock and Michael had headed home around an hour ago to change and "get a few things", but I expected him to be back here any minute. 

I headed upstairs to my bathroom, raking my fingers though my hair as I looked at my reflection. I decided to start getting ready now since I didn't want to be rushed out of the house.

Usually I wouldn't mind how I looked around Michael, but something about tonight felt a little different. Whether it was because it was labeled at as a date or because we'd be in full blown public, I didn't exactly know. But tonight I did want to look nice.

I pulled out a towel from under my sink and hopped in the shower. I made it quick since I didn't want to waste anytime and headed to my closet with only a towel wrapped around my dripping body. 

I removed my towel, wrapping it around my head to dry my hair. My shorts slid smoothly over legs and I buttoned them with ease. I walked back into my bathroom in nothing but my bra and bottoms I had just put on. I heard a knock at my bedroom door as I let my damp hair fall over my shoulders from unwinding my towel. I was expecting it to be Michael, so I searched for something to cover myself up with as I combed my hair though.

"I'm changing, hold on!" I yelled through the doors.

"That's not a good excuse as to why I shouldn't come in." He said back. Just as I picked up a t-shirt lying around, Michael let himself in.

"Michael!" I scolded as I pulled the shirt over my head. "I could've been naked!" 

"Not like I haven't seen it before." He sarcastically replied back.

"It was pitch black, it doesn't count." I joked, referring to our antics at Ashton's house.

I turned back around to finish getting ready, which between my hair and makeup took around forty-five minutes. After I switched my t-shirt to a simple blouse, I made sure my hair loosely laid behind me, not being able to see one wave. A few strands fell over my shoulder that shaped my face. I added a bit more color to my cheeks than I normally would and made sure I was satisfied with how I looked.

I stepped out, rummaging through my closet for a pair of shoes and slipped a matching pair on my feet. I turned around to see Michael laying on his back on my bed, distracted by his phone which he held above his head.

It was almost seven, which is when we agreed would be a good time to leave.

"Michael?" His eyes changed their direction towards me and he slowly sat up, his smile growing bigger by the second. His eyes trailed up me, but not in a demeaning way. My cheeks flushed at his gesture. "What?" I questioned.

"You look really pretty." He breathed out. He walked over to me and grabbed one of my hands, twirling me in a circle. I giggled at the action and let my hands rest around his neck as I came back around to him. 

"You don't look so bad yourself." I said, messing up his hair with my hand. 

"Aw, Maddie, come on!" He yelled out, smoothing it back over.

"Come on is right." I trotted down the stairs and waited for him at the bottom. "Let's go before it gets too dark."

-

My arms were wrapped around my torso that was now covered by Michael's jacket that he brought along. We had just gotten dinner and were now aimlessly walking around town, not really having a place to go.

Something about this moment had made things different. Different in a good way though. He showed me he was able to keep me stable, I guess. He gave me this sudden sense of stability which is what I've been needing all along. I didn't need all of these material things and cliché moments. I had my mom and my three best friends who tore down my walls and now Michael was here to made sure I stayed put and in place. 

I thought that maybe I didn't want anything more than friends with him. Maybe I just wanted to keep him around and keep me even happier. I didn't know if I was infatuated with with him himself or with the idea of him and what we could be.

"I can't choose between the two, they're too awful." He laughed. He started the childhood game of 'would you rather' and things were starting to get a bit weird. I laughed along with him, knowing my question choice was odd.

"Michael?" I hear an unknown voice yell from the distance. His head snapped up in the direction of the female voice. "Michael!" The voice yelled once again. I saw a figure trailing towards us with two more following.

"Shit." Michael mumbled. He maneuvered his arm under the jacket on me and he gripped at my waist. I watched Michael's expression turn into something unreadable, but it was obvious he was bothered. I switched between his eyes and the girl walking closer towards us.

"Who is that?"

"Just bare with me here." He mumbled into my ear. He put on a fake smile as the three girls approached us. He greeted the tall brunette who was eyeing me. "Hi Stephanie." He said through gritted teeth. I felt his grip on my side tighten, pulling me closer to him.

I nudged him with my shoulder which made him relax a bit more. I was still completely unaware as to what was happening, but it was obvious to everyone except 'Stephanie' that he was not in the mood to put up with this.

"You can still call me Steph, Michael." She flashed a wide smile, stepping closer to him. He shifted uncomfortably, not liking her presence that close to him even though they were about three feet away. "So," She began. She looked me up and down, not caring about the bitchy vibe she was giving off. "Who's this?" She turned back to Michael.

My jaw dropped slightly and the blunt question. My hand that was still wrapped around me searched for Michael's that was on my waist, still gripping tight. I locked my fingers with his just barely, but enough to get the point across to him that I was missing out on the big picture. 

He cleared his throat before he made my shoulder tuck under his. He met my eyes for a brief second. I was able to read his gaze as a mix of apologetic and sorrow. It began to click in my mind as to who this was so I let him continue.

"This is Maddie. My girlfriend."