Every Bad Boy Needs A Good Girl (Michael Clifford)

Chapter 21

(A/N: thank you so much for 2k reads, I appreciate it <3)

"Yes, mom. I'll dress nice" I muttered, holding the phone on my shoulder with the side of my head as I worked to clean up the cabin.

"Okay, sweetie. And I get to meet this boyfriend of yours?" She asked on the other line.

"Yeah" I replied, smiling. "His name is Michael." I looked over at Michael who seemed to be staring at me.


Michael's P.O.V.


I stared at Ashley as she struggled to wipe the counters while she talked to her mom. Her long brown hair was tied up in a messy bun and she wore jean shorts along with a crop top. I can't get over how beautiful she looks. I wish I could kiss her but I can't right now. She soon got off the phone and sighed, continuing to wipe. I walked up to her and grabbed her arms, making her put the wipe down.

"Calm down" I said, smiling. "There's no reason for you to rush." She sighed.

"I know, it's just that...my mom is one of those people that need everything clean. I don't know."

I wrapped my arms around her, rubbing her back.

"I'll give you as much help as you need" I said.

"Thanks, Mikey" she replied, standing on her tip toes and kissing me. She then walked over to the bed and sat down, and I figured this would be the appropriate time. I pulled out the mini box that had been wrapped up with the bow on top.

"I got you a little something" I said, smiling and handing it to her. She groaned.

"I don't need anything."

"Too bad, open it." I watched as her delicate fingers removed the bow and tore off the wrapping paper. She slowly opened the box and put a hand over her chest, gasping.


Ashley's P.O.V.


As soon as I saw the necklace, I felt my heart flutter. It was silver and it had a heart on the end. I looked at Michael who grinned.

"Happy birthday, Ash." I pressed my lips against his and he put both hands on either side of my face. I smiled into the kiss and we soon stopped.

"Put it on me?" I asked. He nodded and and I felt him put it around my neck, hooking it.

"By the way, I'm taking you somewhere special later tonight after your mom leaves" he said.

"Where?" I asked.

"It's a surprise" he teased. I poked my tongue out at him and he chuckled lightly. The cabin door bursted open and I looked over to see Jessica, Luke, and Ashton.

"Happy birthday!" They cheered, attacking me with hugs. I giggled. When they stopped, Michael grabbed my hand and intertwined our fingers. I gave him a look because I knew he only did that to show that I was his.

"What do you wanna do today?" Jessica asked.

"Oh, we have plans..my mom's coming in a half hour, then Michael's taking me somewhere."

"Oh, okay" she replied, wiggling her eyebrows. They all pulled out a wrapped up box.

"More presents?" I asked, groaning. "I don't like when people spend their money on me." I opened them all. Jessica had gotten me 5 band t-shirts, Ash got me 3 phone cases and Luke got me money; 20 dollars. "Thank you all so much" I said, hugging all of them. They soon left and me and Michael sat around, waiting for my mom. I had changed into a pair of black tights and a black knee-lengthen skirt, along with a white shirt and a black outer sweater. There was a knock on the door minutes later and I noticed Michael had taken a deep breath, biting on his lip ring.

"Don't be nervous" I said, giving him a quick kiss. I walked to the door and opened it to see my mom standing there, smiling warmly.

"Happy birthday sweetheart" she said, giving me a hug. She carried a birthday cake in her hands and went to put it down on the table, but stopped in her tracks when she saw Michael. She cleared her throat and Michael tapped his fingers on the table.

"Um..who's this young man?" She asked.

"My boyfriend, Michael. Michael, meet my mom." He stood up and she hesitantly shook his hand.

"Nice to meet you, ma'am" he said.

"Please, call me Cindy." He nodded and smiled. She pursed her lips in a thin line. "So..I see you have a lot of tattoos and quite a few piercings.." She trailed off. The tension in the air grew thick.

"Yes, my tattoos have a lot of meaning to them" he replied. Oh. He's never told me that.

"Oh" she said. "And the piercings?"

"I don't know, I sort of just..got them."

"Okay.." She said. I gave my mom a look that told her not to be rude. She cleared her throat again. I sat next to them at the table and grabbed Michael's hand, seeing him give me a small smile. "So Ashley, you're leaving to come back home in around 2 weeks, correct? Then we can go look for a few colleges you can send in an application for."

"Yeah," I replied. I took the spaghetti I cooked and put it on 3 plates. We ate in silence and soon finished.

She pulled off the cover of the cake. It was chocolate ice cream cake, which was my favorite. I got out some plates and silverware as she cut us the cake.

"I can't believe my little girl is 18" she said. I felt my cheeks turn red. We began to eat the cake. "It seems like just yesterday you were peeing all over me whenever you got mad." Michael bursted out laughing and I put my head in my hands.

"Mom" I muttered. She chuckled.

"It's true. She would get so angry that she would literally just pee all over me." Michael started laughing again and I shook my head. "I also remember when you would-" she paused, frowning "-crawl onto the bed with your father and lay under his armpit." I looked at her uneasy expression at the mentioning of my dead dad.

"Mom" I said, softly. "Mom, it's okay." I gave her a reassuring smile and she nodded taking another bite of the cake. She then pulled out a card with 100 dollars in it. "Thanks, mom" I said, hugging her.

For the next 30 minutes, we all sat around and my mom shared some memories of when I was a baby and all the trouble I would get into. Michael got easily amused by them and would look over at me to see my expression every time.

"Well" she said. "I better get going." She stood up and Michael shook her hand again. She smiled at him. "You're growing on me." He grinned and I hugged her as she left. I sighed and plopped down onto the bed.

"I'm sorry if she made you feel uncomfortable."

"Oh, it's fine" he replied. "Do you still want me to take you to the surprise place?"

"Yeah, of course" I replied. "What should I wear?"

"Um...maybe, a dress?" He said. I nodded, walking to my bag of clothes to look for anything fancy. The closest thing I had was a long, red dress. So I pulled it out and walked to the bathroom, changing into it. I guess I looked pretty good. I quickly did my make-up and curled my hair to make it wavier. I slowly stepped out of the bathroom to see Michael wearing a pair of jeans and a formal dress shirt with a tie. He also wore some black converse. He turned around and when he saw me his jaw dropped, looking me up and down. I slid some heels on and he blinked a few times smiling.

"You're so...beautiful" he said, walking over to me.

"You aren't half bad yourself" I said with a wink, putting my arms around his neck. He gave me a quick kiss and held my hand, running out to his car. I chuckled at his excitement as he hopped in and I got into the passenger seat. He drove for a while until he got on a familiar path. A path to the field.

When we got to the field, he smiled nervously. "I wanted to take you here because this is where I first admitted my feelings for you. Sorry, it isn't anything special..." He trailed off, frowning. I smiled.

"It's perfect, Michael." He smiled back.

"Um, I was also hoping you might wanna dance..." He said.

"You dance?" I asked, chuckling and raising an eyebrow in surprise.

"Well I don't necessarily like it but I'll do it for you." He put in a cd and the song 'I Hope You Dance' by Lee Ann Womack came on. He turned it up and we got out of his car, him grabbing my hand. I smiled.

He wrapped his arms around me and I did the same to him. We slowly rocked back in forth as I rested my head on his chest. He rubbed my back. I wanted to stay in this moment forever. Everything just felt completely right and in place. I lifted my head up and looked up at him, staring into his eyes. He took his hand and pushed my hair behind my ear. He slowly placed his lips onto mine and I smiled, feeling my heart race fast and my legs go weak. We soon pulled apart and he rested his chin on my head as I rested my head on his shoulder. Once the song was over, we both lay under the stars, his hand holding mine and our fingers intertwined. That's when I knew for sure that this is where I belong. I belong here with Michael.