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When Michael heard Vanessa tell him that he could have a normal life, he reconsidered things. His father was dead; he would never hear him say that he was proud of him. His sister was the only one he had left, and she was there waiting for him, ready to forget everything he had done to her.
He accepted, while lying to himself that his father would have wanted them to stay together, to have each other for support.
- We'll be in touch, Mike.
- Okay, Vanessa.
Mike and Abby decided not to move, just watch as the two brothers left.
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-I can't believe it's already your birthday. You're going to be taller than me, and then... you'll have to take care of your old brother.
- Don't be so dramatic, Mike. Do you know if Vanessa can come with us...?-
Upon hearing the doorbell, Mike quickly went to the door with a smile that completely vanished when he saw who was with Vanessa: her strange brother with a malicious smile that lit up his face, but at least he was carrying a gift box.
"We're not late, are we?" she said as Abby hugged her.
"No... we were just about to leave. Uhh, Michael, can you leave the gift on the sofa?"
"Sure," he said, his smile widening as he saw Abby's surprised expression at the size of the box containing her gift and Mike's slightly worried expression.
The four of them got into a taxi, which dropped them off at the mall where Mike used to work; the place where they lived didn't really have any amazing places apart from the pizzeria that ruined his life.
Abby quickly ran to the mall entrance while she waited for the others.
- Mike, I have to get back to work, but could you please watch my brother?
- Of course, Vanessa, I'll take care of your psycho brother who tried to kill us.
- Look, he... changed. He decided to do it of his own . We decided to go to therapy. Everything we went through ended up affecting us too much. Also, I need to know how he's going to behave from now on... Do it for me, Mike... for your friend.
-Ugh... I guess I'll keep an eye on him, but... if he tries anything, I'll beat him up.
-Thanks, Mike!! I'll pick him up at 10! - She said, giving him a hug before getting back in the taxi, but heading in a different direction.
Mike turned around and saw Michael and his sister talking about something that excited her a lot
- Tell me what's in the box!!
- No, then it won't be any fun when you open it...
- Please, Michael!
- Fine, then I'll give you a hint... it's related to your old friends...
After saying goodbye to Vannessa He headed towards where they were
-: Are you done flirting yet?
- I wasn't doing that!!... it's just that apparently I'm your babysitter from now on, so behave yourself, okay?
Abby just raised an eyebrow, while Michael clicked his tongue, following the siblings into the mall
First, they went into a cafe for breakfast.
Abby ordered a strawberry milkshake with sprinkles and a chocolate cupcake, Mike ordered pancakes and orange juice, and Michael decided to order the most expensive item on the menu: French toast with all the toppings and a cappuccino.
Mike was startled by what he ordered; he didn't have enough money to pay for all three of them and then buy more things. Noticing this, Michael decided to tease him.
-Pff, don't worry, of course I have the money to pay for it.
-That's great, because otherwise I'd leave you here washing dishes.
Upon hearing his answer, the blue-eyed man's lips curved into a genuine smile. After waiting a few minutes, their food arrived. Mike wondered if Michael would be able to finish everything he ordered, but surprisingly, he finished when Mike was only on his third pancake. When Mike finished, he headed toward the register to pay, but Michael stopped him, grabbing his shoulder.
-"Don't worry, it's on me. You can consider it a small part of my apology..."
After they left the cafe, Abby decided that the next place to visit would be the arcade.
After a few rounds, Michael always was the winner, which was somewhat obvious considering the pizzerias had several arcade machines. But Mike wasn't going to give up so easily; for him, it was a competition. First, he played a basketball machine several times to get at least some points before finally moving on to the game that awarded the most points: "Air Hockey."
First, Michael confidently threw the token, but Mike returned it with great force, almost scoring. They went on like this for a while; each time, the taller man's hair became more misaligned his eyebrows furrowed each time the token slipped away, and his smile appeared and disappeared due to his determination to win. All of this while Mike stared at him, mesmerized but without losing sight of the token. He felt that in this state, he was truly attractive. But the sound of the machine saying "You won" snapped him out of his thoughts. Abby ran to hug him and congratulate him.
-It can't be... I... lost?
-It's pretty obvious, buddy.
-It doesn't matter...-he said as he ran a hand over his face, his strange smile returned, and smoothed his hair.
The three went to exchange their points for prizes. The birthday girl decided to spend hers on a watch that glowed in the dark. Mike didn't know what to spend his points on; he wasn't really interested in the prizes, until he turned his head and saw the tallest one staring deeply at a fox plushie while crushing with his hands his points.
-Take my points, it's clear you really want that stuffed animal.
-Really?......thank you, Mike...-he said as his face went from sad to surprised.
They left the arcade happy, while Mike thought that the former psychopath was really just a facade for a nice guy. Then he remembered that it was his little sister's birthday and not a reconciliation date.
Finally, as a last request, they decided to go to the cinema to see the movie “28 Days Later.” Abby wasn't very interested in the movie and started to fall asleep on her brother's shoulder, while the blue eyed man just watched the movie, not very convinced, but sometimes laughing at some of the deaths he considered stupid.
When the movie was over, he woke his sister up, and as they followed Michael toward the theater exit, they both stretched after sitting for what almost felt like an eternity. Mike glanced at his sister's watch: “9:30.” There were still a few minutes before Vannessa arrived, so they decided to take a walk around the mall, although most of the shops were already closed. When he looked at his watch again, it was 10:10. He thought it was weird, but not strange enough to call her, so he decided to go home instead.
The three of them got into a taxi, but Abby couldn't stay awake and fell asleep. When they arrived at his house, he carried his sister to her room and tucked her into bed. Then she called Vanessa, but got her voicemail. After thinking about it for a while, he decided to give Michael a pillow and a blanket.
“Sorry for the mess i did, Mike,” he said, yawning and rubbing his eyes.
It seemed that when Michael was too sleepy, he became more lucid about what he said.
“You can sleep on the sofa,” he said as he put down the gift box to sit down.
“Are you going to watch me while I sleep...?”
“Of course, what if you try to kill me while I sleep?”
“Pff, i wouldn't do that to someone like you...” he said as he narrowed his eyes.
“What do you mean, someone like me?”
“Someone... like... you....yknow... handsome...” he said before shutting his eyes completely.
A blush appeared on the shorter one's face. Damn, he really wanted to ask him what else he thought of him, but he didn't want to wake him up in the state he was in. He looked so cute holding his fox plushie The more he thought about it, the more sleep began to take over him.
---------------------------------------------------------------------- Vannesa didn't answer Mike's call because she wanted to help her gay brother with his big crush.