Graffiti Girl // Michael Clifford

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Do you ever feel like breaking down? Do you ever feel out of place? Like somehow you just don't belong, and no one understands you?

Do you ever want to run away? Do you lock yourself in your room? With the radio on turned up so loud that no one hears you screaming?

No you don't know what its like when nothing feels alright. You don't know what its like to be like me. To be hurt, to feel lost! To be left out in the dark! To be kicked when you're down! To feel like you've been pushed around! To be on the edge of breaking down, and no one there to save you! No you don't know what it's like! Welcome to my life.

«Welcome to My Life» Simple Plan

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"Should we wake them up?"

"They're so cute, though."

"He better keep his hands to himself."

"Oh, calm down. They're just cuddling."

I take a deep breath as the fog dissipates from my sleepy brain. Ember's voice continues to argue with Michael and R if they should wake us up. I hope they know what's good for them and stay the fuck away. This is the most warm and comfortable I've been in weeks, and I don't even care that it's Ashton's chest under my head. His tee shirt is thin and his heat easily seeps through the fabric, keeping me warm in the sterile air.

"If you keep arguing, it won't matter what you decide, because she'll be already be awake." Ashton's chest rumbles with his words and sends vibrations through my head. It feels oddly soothing and I leave my eyes shut.

"What are you doing?" Michael asks, voice suddenly hushed in a whisper, as if he hadn't been all but shouting moment before.

"What do you mean?" Ash says with a voice rough from sleep.

"Why are you all cuddled up with Andi?" Mike clarifies--not harshly, but certainly stern.

Ash takes a deep breath, and I move with the inhale and exhale of his chest.

"I finished talking to her last night and we fell asleep."

There's a moment of silence, before Michael begins talking in a tone of obvious reluctance.

"Um, yeah... how'd that go?" he questions sheepishly.

"Fine," Ash says. "I told her the story, and answered some of her questions."

"What'd she want to know?" His voice now slightly panicked.

"Well, she actually started the conversation. Not directly, but she did ask me if I thought it was easier not having a dad at all."

"What did you say?"

"That they both suck. But that it'd probably be infuriatingly painful having to love the man reason would lead you to hate. At least I don't have to
love him."

They all sit in silence for a few minutes. I focus on the rise and fall of Ash's chest, reveling in the soothing beat, like how a mother holds her child close to calm their heartbeat.

"This is gonna be hell, isn't it?" Michael finally asks, sounding tired and defeated.

I feel Ashton's muscles move as he nods up and down.

"Yes, so you'd better be ready to dance with the devil for this girl."

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"Open it," Michael says excitedly. I give him an odd look, then turn it down to the shimmery bag overflowing with red and green tissue paper.