Graffiti Girl // Michael Clifford

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You set fire to ashes. You fought through the darkness and brought me back to life, you brought me back to life.

So even if I lose it all, I got so much left to give, I won't give up, no, no. My heart's on the front-line, I'm not afraid.

I will love you, like I've never been hurt! Run through fire for you, like I've never been burned! I'm gonna risk it all like I've never lost. Gonna give it all I've got. I will love you! I will love like I've never been hurt! Never been hurt.

I will love you and forever! I will love you like I never. Like I never heard goodbye. Like I never heard a lie. Like I'm falling into love for the first time!

«Never Been Hurt» Demi Lovato

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"I don't know what the point of lying was," Michael laughs. "Not sure they bought we were going to take a nap. We could've easily napped at the warehouse."

"They're dumb, and I love naps." I bite my lip to hold a smile.

"R's not dumb." He tightens his hands around my waist, thumbs gripping into the pockets of my hips.

"Would they believe us if I'd said the truth?"

"Fair enough," he chuckles. "I can see Ashton asking why we weren't coming in, you casually say 'gonna go hook up', and he laughs, 'oh, okay, enjoy your naps, losers'."

"Idiots."

I let my face split into a bright smile. No point pretending this isn't the lightest I've felt. Michael deserves to know just how wonderful he makes me feel, that I appreciate all of him, but that I'm doing this for more than him, that I'm doing this for myself just as much. Maybe even more, if I let myself think about it long enough.

Regardless, it's us, and no longer up to him to pull our relationship along patiently waiting until I'm ready to catch up. I'm sure it won't always be one hundred percent, but it won't be like it has been.

"Hayden's with Jax, yeah?"

"Spending the night."

His grin turns coquettish, a smirk with a secret, lips bookends to all the beautiful words ever to flow between them.

"Perfect."

We run up the stairs like foolish children galavanting in a world void of thunder, surrounded by sun, unscathed. Every few steps I look back over my shoulder to find Michael close behind, caught up in the same giggly feeling with a bright smile on his face that, in comparison to the stars, will never be rivaled. He keeps his hands on my hips close behind me as I grab the blankets and pillows off my bed. I turn around in his grasp to shove a pile into his arms to carry, and I pick up whatever remains.

As we all but hurriedly skip across the backyard with our arms full, I look up at the evening sky, the sun only beginning to descend into slumber, casting just enough light to fill the air with glowing rays peeking through the trees.

Michael pokes my ass with his foot in a moment of true juvenile joyousness as I ascend the ladder to the wooden landing. I do my best to quickly spread the comforter across the surface evenly. I take the pillows and extra blankets when Michael hands them up to me, throwing them into a somewhat orderly formation at one end. Once everything is up, Michael finishes climbing onto the platform.

There's a smile on his face when he leans in. His lips feel different in the best way. The touch more amorous, not as carefully coy as the kisses I've become accustomed to with Michael. I never realized how much he had been walking on eggshells around me for all those months. How much he had been holding back while he held me together. It must have been exhausting, yet he's still here.