Descending || m.c.

Chapter 9

Michael's POV

"So you two definitely weren't making out?" Luke blurts out the second the door is shut behind me.

"Fuck no, Luke," I snap, taking a seat between him and Calum. 

"God, Mike, okay," Luke says defensively. A bright light erupts from his phone screen, illuminating his face in the dark. I watch as he scrolls through twitter aimlessly tapping away at someone's follow button every few seconds. I force away the lump rising in my throat; maybe we hadn't been making out but I was damn close to kissing her. In my head I silently thank Luke for coming inside otherwise I could have made the biggest mistake of my life; screwing up a friendship wasn't in my plans for today, honestly.

My phone vibrates in my hand as a message from AJ appears: Hey Mikey, what's up? I cringe, groaning as I type in the passcode. 

"Who is it?" Calum asks.

"AJ," I respond as I start typing: Nothing much just sitting outside with Cal and Luke. You?

"Who's AJ?" Luke questions, his eyebrows shooting almost entirely up his forehead.

"Just Hadley's annoying ass friend from back home," I answer.

"Won't she be mad if you call her friends rude?" Cal asks.

"She knows I can't stand AJ," I laugh. "I've never been able to stand AJ, actually. She just comes off as too straightforward. She sticks her nose in everyone's business and all around just doesn't care who she may end up hurting from it. I just put up with her for Hadley's sake."

Just woke up actually. I've been meaning to text you for a few days now.

I roll my eyes, Why is that?

I just wanted to ask you if Hadley has been acting weird or anything, like if she's okay.. I sit up a little straighter; of course Hadley was fine, she was totally fine. When something was wrong she would avoid human contact at all costs and I had hugged her less than ten minutes ago. Yet still, I couldn't avoid the sinking feeling in my stomach as I reread AJ's text over. Mikey?

Sorry just thinking. I don't see where you're getting that from she seems fine to me. We were laughing and joking around less than ten minutes ago and she seemed happy. I tap my foot, waiting impatiently for her reply to come through. This was driving me fucking insane; Hadley had to be fine. I would notice if something were wrong with my best friend.. wouldn't I?

She hasn't replied to my texts in days.. Her text trails off and I scoff; maybe AJ annoyed Hadley just as much as me but I knew that wasn't the case. AJ always replied to texts almost immediately, the only time she didn't, she either let her phone go dead or she was asleep, mostly the latter. You know that isn't like her.. If I could slap this girl and get away with it--

"Mike, you okay?" Calum nudges my shoulder with his and I shrug him off.

"I'm fine, Calum," I lie, my fingers flying over the keys. I'm not sure what to tell you then AJ. She seems perfectly fine to me. What do you want me to do, fly you out here to check on her? I hit send and instantly hit myself in the forehead; that was possibly the stupidest thing I could have said to someone like AJ. "Shit. Shit, shit, shit."

If that's what it takes, then so be it ;) I can be there sometime late tomorrow actually. I reply as quickly as I can, ultimately trying to fix this stupid mistake.

Hadley's POV

I stumble, half asleep, from my room around 4 the next afternoon; I hadn't fallen asleep till around 5 in the morning. I faintly remember a couple of the boys, maybe even Liz opening the door to my room to check on me but ultimately they left me alone. Upon entering the living room, I glance around in search of my dark-haired best friend, but I only find the rest of the boys. 

"Hey, sleepy head," Ashton giggles, his voice floating from the kitchen. "Decided to finally join us I see."

"I had a rough night," I mumble. "Where's Mikey and Liz?"

"Uh.." he trails off, looking a bit troubled. "He--"

"He went out because he has a surprise for you," Calum says, turning his head to speak over the back of the couch to me. "He'll be back soon, actually. He's been gone for most of the day, seems like."

"A surprise?" my stomach knots up. "What kind of surprise?"

"Well you'll either be happy or wonder what the fuck was going on in his head," Calum answers, turning his attention back to the television. 

"Hey, don't swear," Ashton prods and I only shake my head; that boy spent more time swearing than he did telling the others not to swear. 

A surprise. Michael had a surprise for me. If there was one thing that Michael knew about me it was that I hated surprises with a passion. I would get so anxious to the point that my stomach would hurt and it would almost feel like horrendous period cramps rather than just anxiety. Not to mention I would worry myself sick now until he got back to the house. The last time he had surprised me was for my sixteenth birthday; he got with the boys and planned out this big surprise party and when everyone jumped out, I ended up crying. Honestly, it made me feel stupid to say the least, but even after trying to work on it and make it better, nothing worked. Surprises simply made me burst into tears; god, I'm such a loser.

"Hadley," Luke says, waving his hand in front of my face. "You're about as bad as Michael about zoning out. But uh, I think I heard car doors outside."

"What?" I ask, confused.

"You're still half asleep aren't you?" he laughs as I nod. "I think Mike's back."

"Oh," I manage, the knots in my stomach growing bigger by the second. I hear the door open at the end of the hall, Michael's voice trailing to my ears but I can't make out what he's saying. Footsteps fall and echo as he enters the room.

"Hey, you're awake," he smiles as he tugs at his bracelets; oh god, he's nervous too.

"What did you do?" I ask before he can speak.

"I have a, uh, a surprise for you," he laughs slightly, bowing his head down to look at his feet. I notice purple highlights in his hair, replacing the red that it was yesterday. "Promise you won't kill me, please, I know you hate surprises, but honestly this one isn't entirely my fault. Okay, well maybe it is, but please don't kill me, Hadley?"

"Mikey, what did you--"

"Hadley!" a mass of jet black hair runs from behind him, immediately tackling me into a hug and pinning me against the couch. The sweet, intoxicating scent of her perfume floods my senses and my eyes grow wide.

"AJ." 

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hiii this is just a really short filler chapter, i'm sorry but i'm excited about where this fic is going! i have up to chapter 13 wrote out and wow i can't wait till i get there in posting ahhh 

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