𝐏𝐀𝐏𝐄𝐑 𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐒 ✧ 𝖬𝗂𝖼𝗁𝖺𝖾𝗅 › 𝖧𝗈𝗅𝗅𝗒

𝐔𝐒.

"Tell me how to breathe in and feel no hurt
Tell me how 'cause I believe in something
I believe in us."
— Us, James Bay

- Are you sure you're okay with this, honey? We don't have to finish the whole moving today. How about we take a break, hum? I brought a bag of pretzels with me just in case, and we have the couch in the right place already! - Holly's round blue eyes analyzed her fiancé with a slight sense of worry that she attempted to hide.

- Yup. Totally fine. Crystal cool. - Michael answered as fast as he could, the anxiety quite transparent on his voice. But at least he was doing a good job with the indifferent face... Or at least he thought so.

Holly leaned closer to him once they sat down, resting her head on his chest, handing him the pretzels, although she did not hear the sound of the bag being open. With a frown, the blonde forced herself into sharpening her senses so she could discretely find out what the heck was goin' on with Michael. And, well, his breath was shallow; almost stopping. Once she peeked at him through her peripheral vision, she caught him staring at the blank wall in front of her, absentmindedly, hyperventilating for no apparent reason.

In fact, he was — lost in his own thought chain, or, to be more realistic, trapped in his mind maze complex. It was going just fine with the big changes in his life and, as impressive as it could sound, Michael was handling things well. Somehow, Holly's present seemed to bring a sense of peace and stability to his life, which was something he needed a lot. But in that specific evening, not even his fiancée was able to contain his sensation of strangeness towards this new life of his.

- ...na Matata"! What do you think?

- Hm?

- I was saying we could hang a "Hakuna Matata" sign at the front door, like a greeting. - The woman frowned. - What do you think?

- Awesome. Y-yeah, we should do it. - Michael nodded, but kept his voice low, even though her voice had caught his partial attention.

Holly bite the inside of her cheek, nervously. Although they had only had a few months together in Scranton before the moving, she understood her fiancé more than he could imagine. She had mapped each expression on his face, every tone of voice, his gestures and what which one of them meant. That's why he worried her so unintentionally; he couldn't even try to hide it. - You don't seem very excited, Mike. Are you sure everything's okay?

- I'm fine, yeah. Just... Not really hungry right now. - He spoke, sounding more frustrated than he was planning to.

- Eh, you're not okay. Tell me what's happening, I promise I will do all in my power to help.

- Oh, I... I don't think it's a good idea to talk to you about it. It's a little embarrassing. - His cheeks flushed with shame, but Holly moved closer to him, her hand caressing the side of his face gently, thumbs rubbing his cheek with kindness as she noticed his eyes become teary. - I miss Scranton... This whole thing, the moving, no job, no friends, a different house... I have nothing here, Holly. I left my entire life back there.

- You're... not alone here. You have someone here. You have me, Michael. Look, I'm also scared, I have basically nothing here either, but as long as you're with me, I feel safe and sound.

- It's different though. You have your parents...

- Yeah, a father with dementia and a mother who doesn't even accept his treatment. Brilliant observation, Sherlock. - She commented sarcastically, rolling her eyes.

Michael slid his hands on top of hers and held them, careful. - What if we hate everything here and nothing works out the way it was supposed to?

- Do you mean as in what would happen if things got between us?