coldblood || Michael Afton X Reader

chapter 44 ~ looking forward to it!

After Masaki's big blow up, working on the store usually remained fairly quiet. Jeremy was acting more and more disheartened as days went by. You could tell this toxic relationship he suddenly found himself in, seemingly out of the blue. It was draining the usually smiley guy. Seeing him like this was draining Michael and I too. It was depressing to watch him beat himself up all the time. Especially given that none of this was his fault. That's when I got an idea. Jeremy loved fashion, specifically leather jackets and items like that. However, due to his pay he hadn't really been able to afford those things. I decided we'd treat him today to get some new clothes to hopefully feel a bit better.

"You got any plans after we get done working?" I approached the blonde. He turned and looked at me with a tired look in his eyes. "No. Why? Is there some special occasion?" He asked. "It's a surprise. Just let Michael and I know when you're done working so we can go. No rush!" I winked and walked into the other room to help Michael set some shelves up.

A few more hours went by and we heard footsteps coming up from behind us. "I'm ready when you two are." Jeremy said. Michael spun his keys around on his finger, a smirk forming on his face. "Let's get going then rockstar." He said taking off towards the door. We made our way out to the parking lot. I could tell Jeremy was starting to get nervous.

We got in the car and Michael started to make his way to the shopping center. "Where are we going?" Jeremy asked. "Why do you want to know so bad? It's a surprise for a reason you dork." I teased. A smile made its way across his face. "Fair enough." He shrugged, relaxing into his seat.

We listened to Never Stop Me by (G)I-DLE on the way there per my request. We were honestly having a great time on the road. It was nice to hear Jeremy genuinely laugh again. I was really starting to get worried there for a minute that Masaki really crushed his spirit, but now I could see he'd be just fine in the end.

We arrived to the shopping center, thankful there weren't too many people out today. Rush hour was usually terrible but things seemed somewhat calm today. It was certainly a plus considering the circumstances of why we were here. I'm sure Jeremy wouldn't want to be stuck in a crowd while his mind was already bustling with a crowd of it's own.

"So...what are we doing here?" Jeremy asked with a confused look on his face. A smirk grew across my face as I grabbed his hand and took off running. "You better keep up slowpoke!" I yelled back at Michael who was laughing along with us. We entered a small shop full of clothes I was sure Jeremy would like.

We entered and the smell of leather was extremely prominent. I reached into my pocket and handed Jeremy my debit card. "Go crazy dude." I said. He stared at me puzzled. "What? Is the card expired or something? Funny joke Y/N." He laughed. I stared at him with an expressionless face. "You mean you're not joking?" He asked confused. "Like I said. Go wild. You deserve it." He pulled me in for a quick hug. He put on way too much cologne as per usual. The scent was overwhelming. It was a nice smell though.

We browsed the store with him. He wanted us to help him look, as he didn't quite judge his style in a favorable way. The rack had many different colored jackets. The darkest of blacks, deepest of blues, variations of red, and one that caught my own eye. A pink one. I knew we were here for Jeremy but it wouldn't kill me to get one thing, right? Duh. Of course it wouldn't.

I tried it on and went to look in the mirror. I loved the look on me. Jeremy walked up next to me in a black one. It really complimented him well. "We're really rocking it now huh Y/N?" He gently punched me on the shoulder and laughed. "Damn right." I chuckled. After about another hour of shopping around we were all tired from the fun we just had. Some call that fun, others would call it retail therapy. We really didn't care to ponder over it.

When we arrived to Jeremy's apartment to drop him off, it wasn't soon after we got a phone call from him. "Uhhh hey again!" He awkwardly greeted. "What's up?" I asked. "All of Masaki's stuff is...gone." He sighed the last part out. A sigh of defeat. A sigh of heart break. We knew that was it. "Come over." I blurted out. "You sure?" He was unsure of himself again. It was all Masaki's fault. He broke Jeremy's entire spirit and stabbed his heart.

Time went by and a knock at our door was heard. Jeremy walked in and I motioned him to have a seat if he wanted. He sat on the couch and zoned out. Staring out of the window with a blank look on his face. "There's plenty of fish in the sea Jeremy. Don't let this break you down dude." Michael tried to be reassuring. "That's not the problem. My problem is I don't know why. Y/N, I know what you mean now by feeling like you'll never get closure." He snapped out of his zoned out state and buried his face into his hands.

"It'll get a lot less overwhelming with time. I know that's not the most reassuring thing ever, but it's the truth." I said softy. "I'll look forward to that time then. At least that's something." He giggled out in defeat. It was a good point though. What reason would Masaki have to just...move? It was weird, and my gut told me there was something suspicious about it.

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A/N ~ The mystery continues as relationships fall apart. Everything will come together in the end though. Hehe.

I hope you're all enjoying. :)