Michael Afton x Reader

officially

recap in case you had to skip the last chapter:

Michael realizes the 'hallucination' you had was actually his little brother Evan's ghost instead of one of the ghosts of the five dead children who he assumed you had seen.

-

"y/n... what if he still hates me?"

his body tensed up beside you and you could feel hot tears dripping onto your shoulder as you hugged him tight.

"Michael, I-" you pause, not knowing how to comfort him anymore. it seems your comforting skills are limited to non-supernatural trauma. to be fair, I think that's the truth for most people.

"I'm sorry." you whisper, not sure what else you could possibly say. "oh Michael don't worry about it, I'm sure the ghost of your brother who you accidentally killed doesn't hate you at all!" I mean really, what the fuck do I say?! of course I don't want Michael to be afraid of this or feel more guilty than he already does, but I don't know what to do. what can you say to someone like him who just learned the things he just learned? this is my fault, isn't it. I should've kept my mouth shut about the whole thing. if I never told him anything, he would be okay!

after a minute though, Michael leans away from you and has stopped crying all together. that was quick.

"aha, sorry about that. that was quite a roller coaster!" Michael says with an awkward chuckle as you stop hugging him, feeling disappointed.

"are you alright?" you ask cautiously. he kisses your forehead and helps you stand up.

"oh, not at all! but the only thing worse than... what just happened is having a mental breakdown on company time!" he replies in a sickly cheerful way.

as you stand, your practically dead legs give up on you and you fall forward, onto Michael. he catches you in his arms and pulls you to his chest, holding you. you can tell by his quickened heartbeat that he is still very much not okay.

"I'm sorry- what?" you ask, confused by his strange and new mannerisms. he's never been excited to work, or to even be here. what is he trying to do?

"I should just go, y'know? we're ah, both very busy and I've already wasted a lot of your time so I don't want to cause any issues for you or-"

"Michael Afton." you interrupt him, making sure to say his name loud enough that he doesn't try to keep finding excuses to leave. "you've done nothing wrong, and you don't need to go. this is serious, I want to help you!" you say, this time softer.

you maintain eye contact while saying all of this, something that is usually hard for you to do. his eyes reflect pain and a sadness that makes your heart break for him, and you wish you could help him carry the weight of his own guilt.

"seriously Michael, I'm here for you." he offers you a genuine, but still sad smile and takes your hand in his.

"that... that means a lot to me. thank you." he practically whispers in response. I guess he doesn't get that a lot.

"hey, why don't you come back with me to parts and service? not to be rude, but this office is painfully boring."

"yeah, I really hate it. lead the way!" you reply with a lighthearted giggle. his mood seems to have improved slightly, as he looks genuinely happy as he drags you through the pizzeria to his work room. or maybe he's just gotten really good after faking over the years. that's always a possibility.

when you get to the parts and services room, Michael opens the door and the two of you slip inside, not paying attention to your surroundings.

"there you are Michael! oh, and hello y/n.." your boss, Henry Emily exclaims when he sees the two of you. his voice trails off after greeting you, and you realize your arm is still wrapped around Michael's in a extremely unprofessional way. well shit.

you immediately slip away from Michael and clasp your hands behind your back, feeling embarrassed. oh for the love of god please don't fire me!

"...and what's going on here?" Henry inquired, sounding slightly nervous.

"Mr. Emily I'm very sorry to-" before you could try to redeem yourself and jeep your job, Michael cut you off.

"right. Henry, this is my partner, y/n."

what the fuck?!

why would he say that? does he want to lose his job? does he want me to lose my job?! you mentally prepared yourself for the worst, but it seems Henry wasn't done surprising you today.

"hm. alrighty then." Henry said with a shrug. "here's the new budget you asked for Michael, let me know if you think anything should be changed. and y/n, don't forget the tasks on the to-do list." he informed you both, then handed Michael a small folder and gave him a gentle pat on the shoulder before walking out.

huh?

Michael walked to his makeshift desk, placed the file on top of a huge clutter and then looked back at you.

"are you just going to stand there doll?" he asked with a small smirk.

you stared at him for a moment before walking to the desk. he let you sit in the only chair, and then sat on the floor and leaned his head against your lap. he looked up at you and beamed a bright smile when you ran a hand through his hair. his eyes closed as he relaxed, and he melted against your body, something quite different from his mood a mere half-hour ago.
finally, you asked him the only thing your mind could think.

"what just happened?"

his eyes opened, and he mirrored your confusion.

"...Henry gave me the budget to look over?" he asked more than stated, making you scoff.

"no idiot, what happened? I thought I was gonna be fired for sure." you explained with a nervous chuckle. his eyes widened a bit more as he nodded his head before closing them again as he understood what you meant. as if it were that difficult to understand.

"me and Henry go way back. he was good friends with my dad, and he basically was my dad. he's seen me do a lot worse than date a co-worker, I knew he wouldn't mind us." he said and you could tell he was trying not to blush when he said 'date a co-worker.'

"oh.. okay." somehow, this left you with more questions than answers.

"wait. wait, okay." you said, trying to form an intelligent thought. "you called me your partner." you stated, your brain finally coming up with something important to say.

"is that alright?" he asks you, concerned.

"of course it is! I guess I'm just surprised you called me that, we never made anything official." you replied.

"y/n, we've said 'I love you.' what's more official than that?" he asks sarcastically. he sigh, relieved that all the overthinking you had done the last few weeks was for nothing, but also relieved his humor had returned.

"yeah, I guess you're right." you reply, feeling content. he continue to play with his hair and he starts to fall asleep against your thigh. before he can however, you have one thing you need to say.

"hey Michael?"

he hums a sleepy response.

"I love you." you say, and he immediately smiles and tries to cover his face with his arm so you can't see him turning red. this makes you both giggle and you pull away his arm so he can't hide. you plant a kiss on his forehead and lean back up to play with his hair more, and he is left a blushing giggling mess.

"m'love you too." Michael responds.

a/n: did i write this at midnight? yes.

is it extremely rushed and poorly written? also yes.

do i still really like it for some reason? again, yes.

have a good day/night!

word count: 1221