•Valerie•

He arrives sooner than I wanted him to. We both silently walk into the nursery, staring at each other and waiting for the other to speak first.

He sighs, "I should have come by earlier. I stayed behind at a hotel, trying to think of something to say. I'm sorry about everything. You don't deserve any of this and the last thing I ever wanted to do was hurt you and make things difficult for us... I just hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me. I meant what I said when I told you I can't remember anything-"

I stop him from ranting, "Have you been on any social media?"

He slowly shakes his head with a confused expression on his face, "No?"

"Someone leaked a video of you and that girl... I'm guessing management is behind it."

His eyes widen and he carefully sits down in the rocking chair, looking down at his hands, "But why would they do that? They said they wanted me to remain single-"

"It makes sense. It keeps you boys in the spotlight without having to actually release music and gives fans more content. We both know it'll take forever for this to die down and that's exactly what they want... That way when your tour is over, the band will still be talked about, good or bad," I had already thought about this, so I explain to him what I assumed this was all about.

He bites his lip and looks up at me, "Do you think they... spiked my drink or something?"

I shrug and answer quietly, "I don't know Mike... I-I want to think that's the case but if we're being honest... you didn't remember the night we met. And you were drunk then too."

He remains silent, seeing my point on all of this.

"But it's different this time. I knew who you were when I woke up next to you that morning because I remembered meeting you... just not the events that followed. But this time? I can't remember even arriving at the place or how I got in with no ID... It's all blank," he shakes his head in disbelief.

It falls silent and I know that I have to tell him about the dreaded topic... the one I so desperately wanted to avoid.

"I- there's," I take a deep breath before continuing, "I have something I need to tell you."

"Yeah?"

I could tell he was worried because of the tone in his voice. This was definitely going to upset him.

"Don't be mad..." I say to him, which causes him to frown.

"Okay."

"IkissedChance," I rush out as Michael's eyebrows furrow.

"Wait... say that again," he says in denial.

I cough awkwardly, "I kissed Chance last night... It was a mistake but I was hurt and he was there and, well that's also all over social media."

He stares at me expressionless before he begins pacing the room.

"You kissed him or he kissed you?"

I shrug my shoulder slightly because it was kind of mutual and I'm guessing Michael realized that.

He scoffs a laugh, "Well in that case, I'm not too surprised. It's clear he likes you..."

I raise my eyebrows at him but don't comment on it.

"Do you... like him?"

"No," I immediately answer, my voice slightly raised. I let out a breath and shake my head.

He stares at me unsure but nods, "Okay then we can get through this... as long as you can put what I did behind us. I know it'll take a while for you to trust me but we can do this, right?"

I sigh and hold my arms open for him and he rushes into them, wrapping me in the warmest, safest hug in the world.

"I missed you," he whispers into my neck, voice cracking, which tells me he's on the verge of crying.

"I missed you, Mike."

(a/n: it's been a minute. i recommend going back and refreshing lol. i'm sorry for taking so long to update but i'm trying to get back into it. i have so many stories but yeah...

go CHECK OUT Crazy AF if you haven't already! it's amazing yo.)