Prices to Pay//Michael Langdon

Confrontation

"Let's go, now!" I say in a stern voice to Michael as I walk into the dining room of Ms. Mead's home. At the moment, I feel like a mother walking into the Principle's office because my child got in trouble. He looks back at me with his eyebrows furrowed and his cheeks tear-stained. Miriam is sitting next to him with her hand on his bicep, I can tell she is trying to make him feel better, and I don't like it.

"You are breaking in and entering my home and if I were you I would leave right this instant," She says calmly but clearly annoyed. I roll my eyes, since when does she tell me what to do?

"Oh come on, when was the last time you actually cared for the rules?" I say walking towards Michael and I grab his other bicep, "I said let's go, Michael." I say tugging on him a little bit.

He starts to stand up, but Miriam pulls him back down, "No, Michael. You don't have to go anywhere that you do not want to," She says and he looks into her eyes, he sits back down in his chair not wanting to leave.

"Fine!" I say and let go of Michael's arm, "Please get up willingly and come home with me," I say back to my normal and caring mood. I really hate to be stern with Michael, but lately, he has been pushing all of the wrong buttons- it's really hard to be calm with him right now.

He stands up, "Where are you going?" Miriam asks him pulling his arm back down.

"I have to go, I'll see you soon," He says and untangles himself from her grasp. That was a lot easier than I expected. She gives me a nasty and fake smile and I smirk back at her. I reach my hand out for Michael's and he grabs it, interlocking our fingers, we walk out of the house.

"Thank you," I say to him to be courteous, he didn't have to come willingly, I could have dragged him out of there by the foot.

"For what?" He asks me and I open his door for him.

He crawls into the passenger seat, shutting his door, I get in on the other side, "I know you didn't actually want to leave her, thank you for being patient with me, Michael," I say rubbing his cheek with my fingers, he gives me a small smile. "Now that you're here, let's discuss some things," I say and brace myself for impact. I'm going to talk about it all.

"What is it, Natalie?" He asks me and I start the car beginning to drive down the narrow street.

I sigh, "Hear me out Michael, you're not allowed to be mad at me for this. Do you understand?" I ask and he nods his head.

"If it's about your dream last night, I don't want to talk about it," He says sounding slightly sad and slightly annoyed.

"Well too bad, you really hurt me, Michael!" I say frustrated, sometimes it feels like he doesn't consider my feelings.

"How do you think I feel?" He says throwing his hands up.

"I don't know, when was the last time you thought about how I felt?" I say feeling past the point of annoyment. "How did you even know that stuff?" I ask him in curiosity, he got every single little detail right.

"I know what you want, Natalie. I know you want to have a family someday, it's always been your dream." He says the last part quietly.

"How did you know her name, Michael?" I ask, feeling my eyes water. I really did want to have a beautiful little girl one day, I've been dreaming about her ever since I can remember. I've known her name since I was nine- spelling and all, how did he know? I can't help but feel an overwhelming amount of emotions, she was the one thing that I wanted in life and I couldn't have her.

"Because she's my dream too." He says and I let the tears flow freely, he's a liar.

"Stop lying to me, Michael!" I scream at him, holding onto the wheel firmly. "I'm not an idiot, Michael. She's not what you want," I say and my voice cracks. He knows I can see what he's thinking, I can hear every single thought he contains in his mind, why would he choose to lie to me about this?

"But she is!" He says trying to calm me down. I shake my head in disbelief that he has the audacity to lie to me about something so personal.

"I hope you know I can crash this car at any second and kill the both of us, stop lying to me!" I scream at him, coming to a complete stop on the side of the road, he flies a forward as I stop abruptly. Putting the car in park, I look to him and he looks scared. "Why would you use her against me?" I say looking into his eyes, and he looks almost as hurt as I am. He doesn't speak a word, "That's all? You're not going to say anything?!" I say and punch his chest in anger multiple times, "You did all of that just to torture me?" I scream as I hit his chest. He grabs ahold of my hands and holds them in place, I've run out of energy to fight him. Collapsing, I fall onto his chest and the tears run like a faucet.

He doesn't know what to do with himself, so he just runs his fingers through my hair and lets me use him as a shoulder to cry on. "I just thought that if I showed you what she would have looked like you would have wanted to live your life with me," He says and I can tell he is upset with himself. "I never meant to hurt you," He says and I look up at him, sitting up straight in my chair.

I see a tear fall from his eye and I can't help but lash out on him, "I can't even remember the last time you put anybody's feelings above yours!" I cry out to him and his tears fall from his eyelashes. "Of all of the things, Michael- Of every single thing! You just had to use Layna against me," I say, barely make it through my sentence.

"I just wanted to make you happy, Natalie." He says ashamed of his actions. "More importantly, I want you to live the rest of your days with me. If that means that I have to have a child, I am more than willing to do so." He says and I roll my eyes.

"Having a family shouldn't be a chore, Michael! You should want it with every ounce of your body, and you clearly don't. Why would I choose to have a family with you?" I ask him and he gives me that stupid blue-eyed glare.

"I'd do anything if it meant I got to keep you," He says and I can tell that he was being genuine. A little bit too genuine.

"I know," I say feeling disgusted with myself for being so in love with such a horrible man, I'm trying to calm down now.

"I love you, Natalie," He says quietly, but just loud enough for me to hear. Although the feeling has been present for a very long time for both of us, this is the first time that one of us is saying it out loud. Not sure what to say, I don't speak a word. "Please, I just want to give you everything," He says choking down his emotions, "Please tell me you love me too," He begs for me to say something. Although we are both emotional wrecks at this moment, the love between us has always been there.

I feel myself give into his trap, falling deeper and deeper into the endless abyss, "I love you too, Michael."