Prices to Pay//Michael Langdon

Expectations

*Chapter is inspired by Expectations by Lauren Jauregui*

Several months later...

"Good of you to finally show up," I say as Michael tries to sneak through the door. Right now, I'm like the obsessive mother, I've been waiting for him to come home for hours. I admit that I may be a little tipsy, but that does not take away from my argument.

"Hi, Nat," He says walking towards me, scratching the back of his neck. 

"That's all? No apology?" I slur my words as I roll my eyes. "I have been sitting on the same fucking couch for that past five hours, Michael, five fucking hours!" I say fuming, I'm past the point of tears. I'm so angry and upset with him, tonight was supposed to be our special night, the end of his training. 

"I lost track of time, okay?" He says flustered. "Can we do the lesson tomorrow?" He asks me hoping that I am kind to him.

"Where were you?" I ask in a demanding voice, knowing exactly where he has been. "Don't you dare lie to me, Michael," I say feeling the tears form in my eyes.

"I was-" He begins to say but pauses.

"Where were you! It's not that difficult of a question!" I yell at him and he looks shocked, he really shouldn't be. He knows how much I hate her.

"I was at Miriam's house with the others," He says waiting for the backlash. "I'm so sorry, Natalie. I didn't realize that you were waiting for me," He says walking towards me as soon as he sees a tear slide down my cheek. 

"You told me you were actively trying to run away from the darkness," I say sniffling, I fear that I have already lost him. He reaches down to push the hair out of my face and I extend my arm out. Flying across the room, his back thuds against the wall, "Don't touch me, Michael," I say shedding a few more tears. He picks himself off of the ground and looks just as angry as I am. 

"This is why I'm never here Natalie! I can't stand to be around you when you're like this," He says, becoming more and more aggressive. I understand his frustrations, but I am more reasonable than him; Therefore, I am right. 

"I wouldn't be like this if you ever showed up!" I say screaming back at him. I rub my eyes, I feel so done with the entire situation. 

"Stop yelling," He says calm but aggravated. "We can just do it tomorrow," He says making his way up the stairs. He's so frustrating, I have shit to do other than to deal with him. I have a life apart from revolving around him, and he ceases to remember that. He has no respect for my time, nor the simple things like being at his own house for training! That man-child is so ridiculous. 

Me being me, I begin to pick at the fight even more, "You asked me to mentor you in your training, I don't think it's all that ridiculous of an expectation that you actually show up!" I say running towards the stairs before he reaches the top floor. 

He runs down the stairs, annoyed that we are still talking about it, and gets close to my face, "Remember that I don't need you, Natalie. You're the one who chose to be with me," He says in a lower tone that usually would make him much scarier, but not to me, it infuriates me. 

"You practically begged for me to teach you, Michael! I have literally taught you everything that is in that tiny god damn brain, show some respect for me every once in a while!" I yell in his face. His hand comes up, about to hit me, but I grab it. "Dumb move, Langdon." 

Feeling my body temperature rising, I tilt my head back and concentrate on my thoughts. I feel my hand start to burn Michael's skin, I look down and see his skin come to a charred color. He looks down, clearly feeling pain, and looks at me in my eyes. As mad as he has ever been, he throws me back into the wall and I hit the door. I feel the hot tears stream down my face, this may be the end of Michael, and right now I don't really care. He looks guilty as I look at him on the stairs, I don't move from my position sprawled on the ground. I feel the heat rising, as I stare at him, the curtains set aflame and it quickly spreads to the stairs. He tries to fight my magic with his, and the fire becomes weaker than it once was. 

I can feel our minds battling for dominance, but I hear a spirit call out to us, "Stop what you're doing right this instant!" Constance Langdon yells out from in between us. Both Michael and I stop using our powers and look towards her, "This is my fucking house, and I will not have it burned down to the ground because of a petty argument!" She yells, looking back and forth between Michael and me. "Grow up, Natalie," She says looking towards my direction, pointing her cigarette at me. I feel guilty so the tears slowly trickle down my face, I look towards Michael and he is smirking at me. We are like two kids that were just once fighting but our mother stopped it. "Don't think you're a fucking saint, Michael," She says looking to him, his face drops. "Show your woman common decency every once and a while, she doesn't have to be here. I know if I were her, I would have left long ago, but you are both sick." She says as she disappears in Michael's eyes, but not in mine. "I'd keep an eye on him if I were you," She says winking at me and I nod my head. 

"I'm sorry Natalie," He says looking guilty as he looks at me. 

"I'm not," I say barely loud enough for him to hear it. Constance kicks my leg and I sigh and roll my eyes. "I'm sorry, Michael. I understand that you need other relationships other than me, but I have other things to do than wait for you." I say trying to explain myself calmly. "You know I'm just afraid to lose you," I say feeling jealous of everyone who loves him. 

I'm still sat on the ground, against the door, when Michael walks towards me. He sits down next to me and places his arm around my shoulder, "You know that will never happen, Natalie," He says, and I'm still slightly crying from earlier. Ever since he's been growing stronger and stronger, it's been harder for me to hear and see his thoughts. This certain thought that he has is clear to me, he truly doesn't intend to make me feel bad. "I promise to be on time if you promise not to burn my Grandma's house down." He says smiling and I sniffle and laugh a little bit.

Although we fight frequently, little moments like this make it completely worth it. I place my head on his chest and he strokes my hair. His roots might be evil, but deep down he is not a bad guy. He is literally the most caring person that I have ever met, and it makes me so happy that he shows this side to me. "We can still do the lesson tomorrow," I whisper calming down from earlier. 

He continues to pet my hair and kisses my forehead, "Let's go to bed, huh?" He says quietly and I nod my head. Standing up, he reaches down, he grabs my hands and pulls me off of the ground. Pulling me into a tight embrace, he lets me hear his heartbeat and feel his warmth, somehow he knows this is exactly what I needed right now. After a few moments, he wraps his arm around my waist leading me up the stairs. We reach the bedroom and both crawl into the small bed, sleep following shortly afterward.