I Promise (A Michael Clifford Fanfic)

Chapter 25

I woke up the next morning, feeling someone holding me in their arms and playing with my hair. The events from the previous day came flooding back and I felt instantly guilty. I knew I had to tell Ashton to stop with all of this, it wasn’t fair to Michael. 

“Ash, can I talk to you?” I mumbled, still not opening my eyes.

“Ash? As in Ashton? What the heck Rebecca! Why would Ashton be here? Why would you even think that he’d be the one holding you?”

I jumped at the sound of Michael’s voice. He must have been released before I woke up and came to check on me.

“It’s just.. He was.. Never mind. It doesn’t matter.”

“Yes, Rebecca. It does matter.” Michael said as he released me and sat up.

I replicated his actions, turning to face him so that our knees were touching. There was a hurt look in his eyes, and I knew that he obviously didn’t have a clue as to what was going on.

“Michael, will you please hear me out?” I begged, holding onto his hands. He made no attempt at eye contact, but nodded his head slightly.

“Okay well first off, yes, Ashton was in my room last night, but-“ I was cut off as Michael scoffed. 

“Oh, so Ashton was in your room last night? Let me guess, you two slept together and-“ This time it was my turn to cut Michael off.

“Michael, for heaven’s sake, please listen to me! Nothing happened between Ashton and I, and nothing ever will. We are just friends, I promise.”

“Well he doesn’t seem to think that. Calum and Luke were telling me about the way he talks about you. He obviously thinks of you as more than a friend.” Michael sighed.

“Michael, you don’t understand. He’s like me-“

“Yes, I get it. He’s like you. He’s upset, he’s depressed, I get it!”

“You obviously don’t get it. Michael, he cuts himself. As much as I do. Have you ever wondered why he wears all those bracelets? Yeah, well that’s why.”

Michael looked shocked at the news he has just heard. “I… I… I didn’t know…” He mumbled.

“I didn’t expect you to. He’s pretty good at hiding it, I didn’t know until recently either. Now, the only reason he was here was because he was helping me.. uh… clean up.” I said as my voice trailed off. I had told Michael that I wouldn’t hurt myself anymore, and little did he know I was doing so more than ever.

“Rebecca, look at me.” He said, causing me to stare more intently at my hands.

“Rebecca, show me your wrists. Now.” He said, with a large amount of force.

I slowly held my arms out to him as he pushed up my sleeves. Tears filled Michael’s eyes as I watched him lightly trace over the new and old scars that were present.

We sat there quietly for a long time, before Michael suddenly reached over and pulled me to him, resulting in me sitting in his lap as he hugged me. I buried my face into his chest has his chin rested on the top of my head. He began drawing patterns on my back, knowing that doing so helped me calm down.

“I’m so, so sorry. This is all my fault. I shouldn’t have overreacted when you were with Ashton. I shouldn’t have left you. I should have been the one to stop you all those times, not Ashton. It should have been me. I’m sorry for accusing you of cheating on me last night. I’m just so, so, so sorry.”

“It’s okay, Michael. It’s not your fault.” I mumbled into his t-shirt.

“Yes it is, and I’m going to make it up to you, I promise.