The Rock Show--m.g.clifford

14.Jet Black Heart

5 months later

"do you feel fucking bad about it now?" the tallest one yelled.

"do your actions make you think at all michael?" the regretful one whispered.

"how fucking dumb are you." the angry one grit his teeth.

"i never should have trusted you with my best friend." the broken one closed her eyes and let a tear fall down her cheek.

It was all Michael's fault. Everything that had happened over the course of five months. 

To nobody's surprise, Delia left Michael. Left him for someone else on the other side of the country. He was just a weekend play-thing for a girl who had nothing better to do, and not a care in the world.

Michael begged their forgiveness when reality slapped him in the face.

He thought that maybe they could tell him where Miranda was.

But they all had the same answer for him - Miranda Eve Laurel. She was nowhere to be found.

Now that it had been 5 months since the tornado girl Delia made her entrance and exit on the scene, there was finally news of Mir.

She was laying in a hospital bed somewhere near the border. She had gotten sick after she found shelter in a homeless shelter. Caught something from one of the other people living there in the tight quarters. 

She could only remember one phone number and for some reason it was Ashton's. As soon as he heard her voice, although it was weak and breaking, it breathed a sigh of relief over the L.A. house. Maybe things could go back to the way that they used to be.

Nobody thought they would though.

The day the sad girl got out of the hospital it was mid-winter, cold but not too cold.

She arranged that they would pick her up and bring her back to L.A. until she and Blu could get an apartment together. They were going to pick her up on the beach nearest the hospital. 

She stood there, letting the cold sea air soak into her lungs and clean them of the harsh hospital air.

She stood facing the water, imagining herself sailing away on a little boat, going somewhere maybe things could be alright. Maybe they could be okay.

She tried to make herself look presentable in her worn clothes. They hung off her body because there was no meat on her bones now. Her hair was pinned up slightly off her back. Her cheeks were hollow and her knees and hips were bony.

When Michael, Calum, Luke, Ashton, and Blu walked out onto the beach, they didn't see her at first, standing solitary on the sand.

"Miranda!" Blu was the first to scream her name and it echoed out upon the sea. She looked back at them, then back out onto the sea.

Their feet pounded on the sand packing it down harder as the ran to her side, enveloping her into a giant hug as Michael hung back.

Her thin frame was jostled slightly but she tried to smile at them. They pretended to ignore her sickly appearance and empty eyes. Her mouth hung open slightly and she stared at them each before managing a weak smile to comfort them. 

Michael drove them home and it was mostly silent in the car except for the occasional "i'm so glad to see you" or "we missed you so much" or "we were so worried".

Miranda would just respond with a slight smile and she would glance up at the rear-view mirror to meet Michael's eyes, then drop them again to her hands resting on her lap. 

When they arrived back home, Blu gave her some new warmer clothes that hung even looser on her tiny body. She nodded tiredly and went to the guest bedroom, immediately turning off the lights and falling asleep.

"How bad do you feel now." Cal muttered to Michael.

"I wrote a song." Michael ignored him and placed the piece of crumpled paper on the table.

"Jet Black Heart? Sounds accurate." Blu snickers reading the title.

"Wow, must feel really bad." Luke growled at Michael as he went up the stairs. Walking past Mir's bedroom he hears the whimpers of the girl in a nightmare. He puts a hand on the door knob, about to walk in when Ashton stops him.

"Haven't you done enough? Let her alone please for both your sakes. Just go to bed Michael." Ashton puts a hand on his shoulder, to comfort but also serious.

Michael nods robotically and shuffles into his room, shutting the door behind him and fishing the picture of him and Mir out of the trash.