coldblood || Michael Afton X Reader

chapter 41 ~ self importance

A satisfied look made it's way over my face after getting off the phone with Masaki. Michael looked at me, his eyes seemingly glimmering. All we had to do now was talk to Jennie and get her on board which I doubted would be much of a challenge considering she's been wanting to move from this place ever since I can remember. I dialed her number and hoped this would go as easy as I was assuming it would. She always wanted to move somewhere extremely "fancy" like New York or California. I hit the call button and it started ringing. Michael had his fingers crossed that she'd agree to this after all of the events that had just happened at Circus Baby's. He knew I wouldn't leave without her.

"Heyyyy!" Jennie picked up the phone. "Hi Jen. You got a minute to talk? It's really important and life changing." I said. "Let me guess. Michael proposed to you didn't he?" She said excitedly while Michael and I began to blush like dorks. "N-no!" I stuttered. "It's about what happened at Circus Baby's." I heard her sigh over the phone. "Don't tell me. If you seriously think you and I are going to work there you've lost your mind." I gasped so loud the neighbors could've heard me. "Hell fucking no!" I exclaimed. "Thank. God. So what is it?" She asked.

"We're thinking about moving and we want you to come with us. It's time that this finally ends for the three of us. After all of the trauma, loss, and all around issues these restaurants have left for us is ridiculous. Now that they're coming back with one having the sole intent to kill us...I can't stay here anymore. I want to live. I want to enjoy my life how I always dreamed of it, and I can't live that dream without you. Obviously if you don't want to that's fi-" My heartfelt speech was interrupted.

"When do I start packing?" Jennie chuckled out. A giant wave or relief washed over me. "Don't you want to know where we're moving though?" I asked. "It doesn't matter to me. Anywhere is better than being stuck here with psychopaths trying to track us down to kill us. That's not the most enjoyable past-time in the universe. Do tell though." Jennie always had really good points.

"We're moving into an apartment complex not too far from Jeremy and Masaki. They also said there's a building for sale that would revive our record store in." I was really feeling excited. A fresh start for all 5 of us? Abso-fucking-lutely. It was a dream finally come true. "That's perfect! I'll talk to you later, my dinner is here." She said in a hurry. "Okay b-" She hung up. Michael started laughing at me from the interaction.

We had to tell everyone tomorrow. I wasn't sure how they'd all take it. Especially Henry. I wanted him to come with us too but I knew he wouldn't. Miya would be hurt for Henry's sake and probably give us dirty looks as we walked out. Marvin would be really upset and probably get emotional. The two of us had really hit it off and got to be really good friends. Dave would be Dave. He'd probably hide the fact he was upset too.

William...I wasn't too sure. Would he be angry? Understanding? Envious? Probably all of those things and then some more. Hopefully he wouldn't snap on our way out and try killing me. That would be awkward. Sakura I knew would act really supportive, but deep down she would be extremely sad. She'd cry about it later most likely to William in hopes to not sway our decision. The only thing was there was no way to convince us. Almost no way.

The only person who could've convinced me to stay at this point would be Henry. The man who stepped up in my life to be the parent that I never got to have. Someone who genuinely did everything he could to direct me in the right path. See to it that I succeeded in life. He was the one who bought the last building for us to start our record store. He was never not there for me. He was the one person I actually had all these years that never left my side. What kind of fucking person would I be to abandon him so easily?

Now that I thought about it deeply, it really would be selfish. I was having second thoughts. The morning came quicker than I wanted it to. Do I really want to move? I don't think I can do this to Henry. I couldn't. He doesn't even know we planned on leaving yet and he's already managed to get me to rethink it. Imagine how much I'll be swayed if he actually does start trying to convince me to stay. We approached the doors of the new version of the place that caused all of our problems. As we opened the doors my gaze met with Henry's and I already felt my eyes begin to sting.

We approached the table and sat down. I sat directly across from Henry. Big mistake. My eyes felt like they were on fire trying to hold back the tears and Henry being Henry, he noticed. "Everything alright kiddo?" Those three words broke me. The word kiddo was ringing throughout my ears. The name he lovingly gave me after taking me in and giving me a better life. I felt disgusting. I felt like I was betraying him. I was a weeping mess. He rushed over to my side and pulled me into one of his fatherly bear hugs.

"Talk to me Y/N. What's the matter? Did something happen?" He asked trying to calm me down. It just made it worse and I snapped. "We're moving and I feel fucking awful for leaving you here to deal with this mess." I yelled in anguish. You could've heard a pin drop. This was not how I wanted to go about telling any one of them about this. It just came out. My emotions overwhelmed me yet again.

He let go and placed a hand on my shoulder with tears forming in his eyes now. "You don't have to worry, I understand. You deserve to leave this mess that I originated. I want you to live in peace. Didn't I tell you that? That's all I've ever wanted for you kiddo, so go get it." He was crying now. We cried together like a parent who's child was moving out of their home. A baby bird leaving the nest.

Miya came and patted me on the back. "You're making the right decision. I'll take care of Henry, don't you worry." She giggled. I wasn't expecting that approval from her. Then again she did the same thing but in a really shitty way so realistically she probably understood how I was feeling better than anyone else.

Marvin had his hands over his face. "I don't want you to feel bad about leaving so just ignore me!!" He said between sobs. He really was a shy guy. I was sure it was really disheartening to have someone who you managed to get close to despite your shy nature leave so soon into the friendship. I appreciated his support in our decisions though.

Dave's reaction took me by surprise. He walked up to me and pulled me into a hug. I didn't expect him to be getting all sappy with me of all the people here. I would've expected even William do to something like this over him. "This town just wasn't big enough for the both of us huh?" He joked while wiping tears from his eyes. "Ven para!" He said. "Ven para." Fist bump.

William sat off to the side trying to give us a smile. I could tell he was upset to see us leaving though. The same man who used to try to murder me was now upset about the news that I'd be leaving. Maybe it was just the sadness that his son would be leaving too after their bond really started getting better after all this time, but I saw him looking at me too. He got up and pulled Michael and I in for a hug. "The next time I see you two in person, you better have rings." He gave Michael a big pat on the back before going back to his seat, staring at the ground.

Sakura. Sakura Tenshi. One of my ride or dies since high school. As soon as William let go of his group hug she bolted up to me and squeezed me, tears running down her face. I knew how much she cared about Jennie and I. She put her life on the line to rescue both of us. She murdered people for us. "I'll miss you guys so much it hurts. Please have fun and don't forget me!!" She cried. "I'll never forget you, you sweet little badass." Jennie pulled her in for a hug.

Emotions were on a high that day. Weeks went by since we told them the news. We had the apartment and it was finally the day before the move. Everyone threw us a big going away party. Emotions never came down. It was a painfully, but necessary departure. I just hoped that I'd never receive a call that anyone we left behind here had been gone forever from the work of my mother.

Goodbye everyone and hello Jeremy, Masaki and Japan! As one chapter of life closes another one begins and I had good feelings about this one. Truthfully I knew in my heart though this wasn't goodbye, this was just a see you all again soon!

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A/N ~ I totally did not cry writing this chapter!! This is a very bittersweet "end" to this book. However, don't worry! This isn't the final chapter. There's going to be some extra chapters after this one that I'm very excited for!

I hope you've all enjoyed, now let's look forward to these important bonus chapters!