Chapter Text
requested by amethystpanda6 and coffeeashawn on tumblr
~
Three weeks later
It had been almost a month since Michael had given you any more trouble – and you weren't going to play dumb as to why. You knew it was because you almost had a breakdown in front of him – you could see it in his face every time he'd glance in your direction when you passed him as he was leaving the building and you were going in – but he never said anything. Not until now, that is.
Michael's POV
Michael was walking up the sidewalk that led to the building when he suddenly heard your voice. The sound made him look over to the tree you were sitting under, only a few feet away from the front door.
"Calum's not home," you informed him softly.
"Oh..." he said, "Well... Do you know when he'll be back?"
You shook your head, and that was when he realized you hadn't looked up at him. He walked over to you, sitting on the bench a about a foot away, wondering why you weren't there in the first place.
"You okay?" Michael asked you.
"Yeah," you whispered again. You could tell – even though you weren't looking at him – that he was about to call you out, so you spoke again, "Thanks for the flowers the other day."
"You're welcome," he replied just as quietly, "I would have gotten you real ones, but Cal said you can't keep them alive so I thought you'd appreciate fake ones more." You couldn't help but laugh under your breath as you nodded, but you didn't say anything else. So Michael continued. "Seriously, Y/N, are you okay?" he asked carefully, not sure exactly how to approach the subject.
"I'm fine," you whispered, but Michael could still see right through you.
"Listen..." he sighed, moving from the bench to sit on the ground next to you, "I'm sure I'm the last person you'd want to talk to about the things that are bothering you – hell, I'm sure Calum has a better shot than me – but I... I've never seen you cry over some dick move I've made when it came to that parking spot, so whatever made you do that the other night isn't nothing." You remained silent, causing him to sigh again, "Look, Y/N, either you can tell me what's wrong or I can awkwardly hug you until you're not angry with me anymore." You tried not to let yourself laugh at the comment, but it was no use. You brought your hand up, wiping your cheeks with the sleeve of your sweater.
"It's stupid," you whispered.
"It's not stupid if it almost got my windshield smashed," Michael shook his head, "Which – unlike the key scratches on the door – I definitely would have made you pay to get fixed." You smiled again, sniffling slightly. You didn't say anything for a few moments, but something told him that you were going to, so he waited. And his patience finally paid off.
"There's this girl at work... Raquel..." you started softly, "She comes in all the time... But all she does is walk around and point out everything I'm doing wrong. She doesn't do it to anybody else and none of the people I work with have a problem with her when I'm not there... I just don't know what I did... I'd never even met her before she started doing it..." You wiped your face again and took a deep, shaky breath in while Michael watched and listened to you intently. "I went into work that day when...you know...only to find out that I'd been 'let go' – or so they told me," you sighed again, "I guess that girl is the guy who owns the place's daughter... She made up some story about how I'm the worst waitress she's ever had because I was making rude comments about the things she ordered every time she came in and I was purposely bringing her the wrong things and ignoring her when she tried fixing it even though none of it is true and she can't prove any of the things she said I did to her..."
"Then why were you fired?" Michael asked lowly. You let out a breathy, humorless laugh.
"Because I can't disprove it either," you shook your head, "The guy's not gonna believe some waitress he's never met over his own daughter." He opened his mouth, but you didn't notice. "I'm really sorry about what happened..." you mumbled just loudly enough for him to hear it.
"It's okay," he assured you. He could tell something else was on your mind and, he didn't know why, but he just had to ask you about it. "Y/N," he said, making you look up at him, "What's bothering you?" You opened and closed your mouth a couple times before finally finding your voice.
"Can I just..." you trailed off, the sound barely even coming out at all, "Never mind."
"What, Y/N?" Michael questioned.
"It's too much," you shook your head, "You've already listened to me complain for too long; I should just-" You went to get up but felt Michael grab your hand instead, pulling you back down. Your other hand landed on his calf in surprise, but neither of you really noticed as he spoke.
Michael looked you right in the eyes with a firm but soft tone, "Do you need a hug?" You could feel the tears well up again as you choked out an almost inaudible 'yes'.
The blonde instantly pulled you onto his lap, letting you wrap your legs around him before releasing your hand to hold your waist tightly. You wrapped your own arms around his neck, burying your face in his shoulder. He could feel your tears soaking his shirt, but as much as he wanted to push you back and wipe them away, he just let you cry.
It didn't take long for you to calm back down – only a few minutes – but for some reason, he just couldn't make himself let go of you yet.
"Do you feel better?" Michael asked when your sobs had turned into sniffles, rubbing your lower back gently.
"No," you answered honestly with a bashful laugh, "But I don't want to fall asleep on you – especially not out here..."
"We could always go inside," he shrugged, "It'll probably be easier to get you into your apartment if you're not sleeping." You couldn't help but giggle, making him smile slightly.
"You're really sweet, Michael," you whispered into his shoulder, "I like you better when you're not being an ass." He hummed under his breath.
"I like you better when I'm not being an ass too," he replied.
~
A few hours later
Michael had left your apartment only an hour and a half later once Calum had gotten back. You – much like you'd predicted – had fallen asleep on his shoulder as the two of you watched a movie. He carried you to bed without disturbing you, went back out to turn off your TV, wrote you a note on a Post-It with his number on it – 'in case you need someone again in the future' – and made sure to lock your front door before leaving and heading to Calum's apartment.
The sun had already set long before the time Michael decided to go home for the night. But he just had one more thing to do before he did.
"Hey, Cal?" Michael said randomly while putting on his jacket to leave.
"Yeah?" Calum returned, coming back from the kitchen.
"Do you know where Y/N works?" he asked, earning himself a cocked eyebrow.
"Mike, you know I've never agreed with your little feud over the parking spot outside this building; I'm not letting you bother her at work too," he stated firmly.
"It's not for that, Calum," Michael sighed, "I just have some business to take care of..."
"Michael, if this ends in you getting arrested-"
"It won't!" he rolled his eyes. Calum looked at him skeptically for a moment before caving.
"I'm pretty sure she works in the diner on 11th."
~
The next day
Michael walked into the diner that evening, simply ordering a donut. He didn't know whether or not the owner's daughter would be there since she'd gotten what she'd wanted with you being fired, but it was worth a shot. And it paid off not long after he sat down.
He was scrolling through his phone, taking periodic bites of his food, when the bell above the door dinged. He didn't pay any mind to it, but he did look up when he felt a new presence sliding into the seat across from him.
"Hello," the girl smiled flirtatiously, "Why haven't I seen you around here before?"
"Not very observant?" Michael suggested, looking back down at his screen as she giggled.
"I think I'd notice someone as handsome as you," she insisted, "What's your name?"
"Michael."
"Michael," she bit her bottom lip, clearly trying to be sexy but failing, "It's nice to meet you. I'm Raquel."
And it was then that it clicked in Michael's brain: this was the girl that got you fired.
"Cute name," he immediately turned on the charm, putting his phone away to give her his undivided attention, "Though I'd expect nothing else."
"Oh, stop," she giggled again, "So how often do you come here?"
"Not very often," he said, "But I was actually hoping to find someone."
"Wouldn't happen to be me, would it?"
"Not unless your name's also Y/N," he said – and he instantly noticed her body tense up.
"Y/N?" she still tried playing it cool, "Not sure I know her." Michael couldn't help but notice the two other waitresses, cook, and dish washer start whispering to each other upon hearing your name.
"She's a waitress here," he replied smoothly, "Decided to finally work up the nerve to ask her out."
"Well, I haven't seen a name tag reading 'Y/N' before," she mentioned, going back into her flirty façade, "So maybe you and I could go out instead."
"Hmm," he hummed, "Rather have Y/N."
"Why's that?" she pouted.
"I'd say it was nothing against you, but that'd be a lie," Michael shrugged, finishing off his donut and leaning back in his seat.
"What's that mean?" Raquel asked, furrowing her eyebrows in confusion.
"I wasn't really being totally honest earlier," he informed her, "You are actually who I'm here to see."
She let out a sharp breath, "What are you talking about?"
"I know about what you did – how you got Y/N fired just because you don't like her," Michael stated, making her tense up for a second time, "So this is the kind of business Daddy's running, huh? Believing the word of a 23-year-old woman who lives off of his money and has no idea that people like Y/N can't live without their jobs? Do you have any idea how much it is to rent a place to live or keep yourself fed when all you're living on is a measly minimum-wage paycheck and shitty tips from a place like this? You know, Y/N may not be the type of person who fights people like you, but believe me, I have no problem with it."
"What are you proposing?" Raquel grumbled, not wanting any attention on her anymore. Michael sat back upright, putting his forearms on the tabletop and leaning in toward her.
"Give Y/N her job back-" He stared her down. "-and maybe I'll keep quiet about what you did to her."
~
Your POV; Two days later
"Does anyone want to explain to me why I got a call from corporate this morning saying there was a mix-up in the system and I didn't lose my job after all?" you asked the moment you walked in the front door of the diner. The three co-workers who were working that day stopped what they were doing to glance at each other, making you cock an eyebrow. "Alright, well, now I definitely know you know something," you stated.
"A guy came in on Thursday and we saw him and Raquel talking," Carl, the cook, said from his window looking out of the kitchen, "Hey, Barb-" He leaned out to look to his right where the other waitress was standing at the cash register, "What did that kid tell Raquel his name was?"
"Uh..." she trailed off, "Marshall? No, Myles!"
"Wasn't it Mitchell?" the dish washer, Joey, chimed in. You were silent for a moment before your eyes widened slightly.
"Michael?" you asked, your gaze flicking between the three as they all perked up.
"Yeah! Michael!" they exclaimed simultaneously while Carl continued, "Kid really gave it to her too – saying she had no idea how hard it was to live on the money you get from here and how messed up it was of her to do what she did since she's still living on 'Daddy's money'." You were listening to his words but you just couldn't wrap your head around the situation.
"Michael?" you repeated with a shake of your head, "Blonde hair, kinda tall, tattoos on his right elbow?"
"Yes, honey!" Barb laughed, "Michael!" They could clearly see the confused expression on your face, but chose not to push it since you'd gone to the back to change into your uniform, clearly not wanting to talk about it anymore.
~
Two hours later
You were wiping down the table used by a couple who had just left. There wasn't anyone else in the diner except for you, Barb, and Carl, so you were all just listening to the music coming from the speakers and the sounds of Joey washing the dishes.
The bell above the door rung and you heard Barb greet someone with an enthusiastic 'Hi, sweetheart!', but you didn't think anything of it – she greeted people she knew like that when they came in all the time – until they started speaking, that is.
"I'm looking for Y/N," you heard a familiar voice say, "Anybody seen her?" And you knew that voice anywhere. You dropped your washrag on the table and spun around just as Michael stopped beside you. "Heard you got your job back," he mentioned with a grin. You didn't waste any time in stepping forward, throwing your arms around his neck and hugging him tightly. You felt him chuckle softly as he hugged you back, neither of you paying any mind to the co-workers watching you with small smiles on their faces.
"Thank you," you whispered, your voice slightly muffled by the fabric your face was pressed to.
"Well, I figured after all the shit I put you through at home, it was the least I could do," he squeezed you.
"There's gotta be something I could do to repay you though," you shook your head, pulling away.
"You could repay me with a free donut," he shrugged. You couldn't keep yourself from smiling at him.
"Which one do you want?" you asked, making your way behind the counter as he took a seat on the barstool in front of the donut case.
"Which one's your favorite?" he returned. You leaned back against the counter to look in the case before pushing yourself up and grabbing a piece of parchment paper to get the donut.
You and Michael talked for a couple minutes while he ate before more customers – three truckers just passing through town and wanting lunch – came in and you were needed to serve them. Michael finished his donut while you were in the middle of taking the truckers' orders, but he stayed in his seat until you were done. You came back around the counter, gave the orders to Carl, and turned back to Michael while you waited for the food.
"I should get going," Michael told you, "Just wanted to wait until you were finished with them to say bye."
"Bye, Michael," you chuckled lowly, "Thanks again."
"Anytime," he smiled back. He pulled out his wallet and grabbed a 20 dollar bill. He leaned over the counter, putting the money in the pocket of the apron you were wearing. "Excellent service," he told you, "Will definitely be coming back again."
"Michael-" You started to take it back out, but he stopped you.
"Keep it," he insisted, "You deserve it after putting up with Daddy's little girl for so long." You couldn't help but laugh softly.
"You're ridiculous," you shook your head, earning yourself a bright smile. Michael got up from his seat, but he only walked about two chairs away before turning back around.
"Oh, and before I forget: I just thought of something else you could do to repay me," he mentioned, making you look up at him, "What are you doing after you get off work?"
"Nothing," you replied, not really thinking anything of it.
"Great," Michael grinned slyly, "Then I'll pick you up at 8." He winked at you before walking out the door, leaving you with a confused smile on your face before you blushed at the realization that he'd indirectly just asked you on a date.
~
inspiration: https://amethystpanda6.tumblr.com/post/170215881721/tokiosunset-people-should-do-more-meet-ugly