After Michael dropped Parker off at school the next day he decided to head to the music shop downtown, where Melissa had supposedly gotten him a job.

He was pretty nervous, because the only serious job he'd ever had was when he worked in a grocery store for a few months back in high school. He still figured that he would be fine, though, because working in a music shop couldn't possibly be that hard, right?

Michael walked through the front door of the shop and headed towards the counter, trying to hide the fact that he was so nervous as he approached the man sitting behind it. He felt pretty good about himself, pretty confident, because he'd actually changed into regular clothes today and wasn't just wearing his pajamas.

"Uh, excuse me?" Michael said, clearing his throat and getting the attention of the guy sitting behind the cash register, who was messing around on his phone.

"Hey, man, what's up?" The guy asked, setting his phone down in front of him. It was still pretty early in the day, and there probably hadn't been a lot of business there until Michael walked in, so the guy looked pretty excited to have someone to talk to.

"I'm looking for Matt?" Michael asked, using the name that Melissa had given him, even though he could see that the guy's name tag clearly said 'Matt' and he didn't need to ask for him.

"That's me." Matt chuckled, holding out a hand for Michael to shake.

"Oh, hi." Michael said softly, shaking Matt's hand. "I'm Michael, I'm - "

"Oh, you're Mel's boyfriend, aren't you?" Matt cut him off, and Michael was a bit startled by the word boyfriend. Were Michael and Melissa boyfriend and girlfriend already? Michael didn't even know.

"Erm, I'm something like that, I guess." Michael laughed nervously, rubbing the back of his neck. Part of him just wanted him to walk out and never come back, just because he was so embarrassed and awkward about this whole thing, but he knew that he really needed this job, so he didn't.

"I know what you mean, I dated her too." Matt laughed. He walked around the side of the counter and grabbed a box off of it, gesturing for Michael to follow him into the back of the store.

"Uh, you did?" Michael questioned. He really should have seen that coming.

"Sure did." Matt nodded from his place in front of Michael, finally stopping at a rack of CDs. He began to take even more CDs out of boxes and place them on the shelf, while Michael just watched. "We dated for a pretty long time, actually. Two and a half years, or maybe closer to three? I don't know, she was seventeen when we first got together."

"Oh." Michael said once again, not bothering to ask how old Matt was. He seemed older than Michael, maybe by a few years. Michael wondered how Melissa and Matt had even met, anyway.

"Don't worry, dude, it's over now." Matt assured him, and Michael just let out a sigh.

"I'm not even sure if we're - I mean we're kind of - " Michael stammered, unsure of what to say. "I just need a job."

"Well, then you've come to the right place." Matt said, letting out a small laugh. He gestured for Michael to follow him again and walked over to a desk towards the back of the store that was covered in papers. He picked up one sheet and handed it to Michael. "Here, fill this out."

"This?" Michael said, looking down at the paper. It wasn't even a job application, it was just asking for information about him. Like, phone numbers and stuff.

"Uh, yeah." Matt said, rolling his eyes. He handed Michael a pen. "It's just basic contact information, so we can call you if we need you to pick up a shift or whatever."

"But this is it?" Michael asked, still a bit confused. "There's no interview or anything? I got the job?"

"Michael, do you like music?" Matt asked.

"Yes." Michael nodded. Of course he liked music, he loved music, that's why he had been so excited when Melissa told him he had a chance at getting a job here. He just didn't think it would be this easy.

"Do you know how to put things in alphabetical order?" Matt asked.

"Well, yes." Michael shrugged. (He was actually a pro at the alphabet, because he'd just recently taught it to Parker).

"Then you've got the job." Matt said, patting Michael on the back a few times.

"Oh, thank you." Michael said, still staring down at the paper. He really couldn't believe that it had been this easy to get a job, and he was pretty much in shock right now.

"Just fill that out and leave it here when you're done, you don't have to start until next week." Matt shrugged, slowly walking away from Michael.

"Uh, okay." Michael said quietly. "Thanks again."

"No problem." Matt waved Michael off, walking away from him completely and heading back to the front of the store.

When Michael was done filling out the short form with some basic information about himself he left it on the desk that he was told to and then said goodbye to Matt before leaning, though he seemed too occupied with this girl that had come in to pay attention to Michael.

Then Michael went grocery shopping (which really was not that exciting at all - he basically got lots of cereal and lots of mac n' cheese and frozen pizzas) and after that he went home, where he took a quick nap (he set an alarm this time) before leaving again to pick up Parker from school.

When he got to the school Michael was actually pretty nervous, because he wasn't sure how things between him and Melissa were going to be. He had said maybe two words to Melissa this morning ("Hi" "Bye") because they were both pretty busy, and he hadn't had time to talk to her about anything.

Even though they texted the night before and things seemed okay, he could tell that they were still kind of awkward. Their kiss (kisses) yesterday sort of came out of no where and once Michael though back on it for a while he realized that maybe they weren't ready for that, maybe things were going too fast. Sure, they'd known each other for at least two months now, but it still felt weird to him. And he still felt guilty.

But Michael was actually forced to talk to Melissa now, because she was standing right next to him.

"Hi." Michael said, keeping his hands at his sides today.

"Hey." Melissa nodded back at him, not bothering to move her hands either.

"I got the job." Michael said lamely, feeling really stupid about the way he was acting. He really liked Melissa, she was practically his girlfriend, he shouldn't be so scared of her. He shouldn't be so afraid to just walk up and kiss her like he meant it.

"That's great." Melissa smiled, though she didn't seem very excited.

"Yeah." Michael smiled back at her, actually feeling proud of himself for once.

"We're still on for tomorrow, right?" Melissa asked after a short minute of awkward silence between the two of them.

"Oh, yeah. Totally." Michael nodded, even though things were still almost painfully awkward between him and Melissa and he wasn't sure if they would be able to even sit through a dinner tomorrow night without either of them wanting to die.

"Okay, cool." Melissa said slowly, staring down at the ground.

"Yeah." Michael paused, finally deciding to his come out and say what was bothering him. "You never told me that you and that guy Matt used to date."

"Oh? It must have slipped my mind." Melissa laughed nervously, turning away from Michael a little so she was no longer looking at him.

"Two and a half years just slipped your

mind?" Michael questioned. He didn't really understand why he was so upset, maybe he was jealous, he didn't even know.

"Sorry." Melissa shrugged, her apology not genuine at all.

"I mean, you could have told me." Michael said bitterly, wondering why Melissa hadn't just said 'hey, my ex-boyfriend works at this music store, I can probably get you a job there'. It would have maybe prepared Michael a little more, so he wouldn't have seemed like even more of a stammering idiot.

"Well, he cheated on me, so I don't really like to bring it up." Melissa snapped, turning around and glaring at Michael.

"I - " Michael didn't have time to really think up a way to say sorry to Melissa, because the kids had already started filing out of the school and he could see Parker and Katie walking towards them, neither one of them looking very happy.

"Hey, buddy, what's up?" Michael asked as Parker approached him, instantly grabbing his hand.

"Let's go." Parker said, looking up at Michael, his eyes full of tears.

"Pac-Man," Michael gasped, crouching down so he could be at the same level as Parker, "What's wrong?"

"I want to go home." Parker said, quickly wiping his eyes. "Please can we go home, Daddy. Please."

"Yeah, of course." Michael said, and Parker walked forward into Michael's arms without saying anything more and hugged him, resting his head on Michael's shoulder as he began to cry harder.

Michael just sighed and picked Parker up, deciding that it would be a lot easier to just carry him back to the car. He turned around and tapped Melissa on the shoulder, letting her know that he was leaving.

"Hey, I'll call you later, okay?" Michael said, trying to ignore Parker's loud crying in his ear. "I need to get him home."

"Is he alright?" Melissa asked, get voice full of concern.

"Tough day, I guess." Michael just gave her another small shrug as Parker began to sob more. "I'll see you later."

"Alright, bye." Melissa said, taking Katie's hand as they split up in opposite directions and walked away from each other.

By the time Michael and Parker got back home he'd stopped crying (even though he'd had this huge coughing attack when they got in the car that really freaked Michael out), but Parker still hadn't said anything to Michael about what was really wrong.

They were sitting on the couch watching cartoons now, and Parker was eating some mac n' cheese (Michael really tried to make it the way Beth does) while Michael drank his beer and waited until Parker was ready to talk about what had happened. Parker slowly set his bowl off to the side and crawled over so he was laying on Michael's lap again, still not speaking.

"Hey, bud?" Michael said quietly, poking one of Parker's little chubby cheeks. "You wanna tell me what's up?"

"Kitty does not want to be friends anymore." Parker sniffed, and Michael was afraid that he was going to start crying again.

"Why?" Michael asked, even though he knew why. Katie had clearly not liked how Parker kissed her and now she didn't want anything to do with him. It made sense, because they were only four, but Michael still didn't think it was very fair at all for Katie to say that she didn't even want to be Parker's friend.

"I kissed her." Parker brought his hands up and covered his eyes to stop more tears from falling. "I just thought it would be nice, I didn't know that she would hate me so much for it. I'm sorry."

"You don't need to apologize to me." Michael said softly, letting out a small laugh. He ran his fingers through Parker's hair, which was hopefully calming him down a little.

"I like her." Parker said. "I just thought that I could kiss her to show her."

"Yeah, and that's okay, Park, but you should really ask the person you're kissing if it's alright first, or at least make sure that they're okay with it." Michael explained. He understood why Parker had kissed Katie, and he knew that his son was just a curious little four year old, but he still felt that it would be easier to just explain this to him now rather than later. Consent was always a good thing, even for four year olds.

"I know." Parker nodded.

"I don't think Katie will be upset with you forever, little man." Michael assured Parker, who had stared to cry again. "Just give her some time."

"I miss her." Parker cried, "She was so fun."

"I know, I know." Michael sighed, continuing to rake his fingers through Parker's hair to try and comfort him.

"I just thought I was supposed to kiss girls." Parker said through his tears, once again bringing his hands up to wipe his eyes.

"Well, yeah, I guess." Michael said, "But remember what Uncle Cal said yesterday? You should just focus on being a kid for now."

"Uh huh." Parker nodded.

"And when you're older, buddy, and you know you're ready, you can kiss whenever you want, girl or boy." Michael said, even though he wasn't sure that Parker would totally understand what he meant.

"Why would I kiss a boy?" Parker sniffled, using the hem of Michael's shirt to wipe his nose.

"I don't know, dude." Michael shrugged. "Love is love."

Parker didn't say anything after that and it didn't take him long to fall asleep, which didn't surprise Michael because Parker usually fell quickly asleep after he cried like that. So Michael scooped Parker up into his arms and tucked him into bed, because he knew that he'd be a lot more comfortable there than the couch.

Just as Michael sat down again his phone started to ring in his pocket, and his first thought was that it was Melissa, considering the fact that they'd agreed to talk on the phone later, but Michael was startled when he saw that it was Beth.

"Hello?" He asked, and suddenly remembered that it was actually Beth's weekend to take Parker and she hadn't even picked him up yet.

"Hi, Michael." Beth said, and Michael could tell that she was smiling.

"Hey, what's up? Weren't you supposed to pick Parker up tonight?" Michael questioned, feeling dumb that he'd just completely forgotten. He forgot for a good reason, though.

"Well yeah, about that..." Beth laughed.

"Yeah?" Michael questioned, wondering what she was getting at. He didn't mind the fact that she hadn't come to pick up Parker yet, he'd be fine with him staying home all weekend, he just didn't like the fact that Beth hadn't called to let him know.

"So I've been thinking..." Beth said, trailing off.

"Uh oh." Michael joked, because he knew from past experiences that when Beth got thinking there was never a good outcome.

"Do you want to go out to dinner sometime soon?" Beth asked, ignoring Michael's little joke. "Like, just the two of us?"

"What would we do?" Michael asked. He's been fine with Beth's idea of having her, Michael, and Parker going out to eat somewhere (even though they never went through with that), but he wasn't sure how he felt about just being alone with Beth.

"I don't know, just talk. Catch up on things." Beth sighed.

"I mean... I guess." Michael shrugged. He didn't really see any harm in just casually going out with Beth to catch up on things. They hadn't really sat down and talked with each other for a while, it might be nice for them to just have a nice dinner together.

"Is tomorrow night good?" Beth asked. "You can have Parker go over to Sara and Luke's or something and then I'll take him with me when we're done with dinner."

"Yeah - " Michael started to say, but he stopped himself when he remembered the plans he'd made with Melissa. She'd understand, wouldn't she? This was Beth, Michael couldn't just turn down Beth. "Well, I mean, I kind of had plans - "

"Please, Michael?" Beth begged, and Michael knew that if she was with him now she'd be doing her puppy dog eyes, and he really couldn't resist that.

"Okay, yeah, tomorrow night's good." Michael nodded, even though he could already feel a huge knot forming in the pit of his stomach.

"Yay!" Beth cheered, "I'll see you tomorrow then, okay? I'll text you all the details later."

"Okay." Michael nodded again. He was such a bad person.

"Bye, see you later!" Beth said excitedly.

"Yeah, goodbye." Michael said, hanging up the phone.

Michael sat on the couch and stared blankly ahead of him for a few minutes before he finally decided to just call Melissa, because he wanted to get this over with. He knew that she would be a little upset, but he was going to do his best to explain the whole thing and hopefully she would understand.

"Hi." Melissa answered on one of the first rings, sounding much happier than she had earlier that afternoon. "I was actually just about to call you, I wanted to talk about tomorrow."

"Oh, so did I." Michael said blankly, starting to feel worse about this whole thing.

"Katie's parents are actually being decent for once and they're planning to take her to this thing, I'm not really sure what it is, upstate, and they're going to be sleeping over in a hotel, so I won't have to worry about her all night. And I was thinking that you could - "

"Mel?" Michael asked, trying to cut her off politely.

"What?" She asked, seeming very unamused by the way Michael had interrupted her.

"Can we maybe, um, do this some other time?"

"What, like you want me to call you back?" Melissa asked, chuckling to herself.

"No, the dinner. I'm asking if we can just do dinner some other time." Michael said slowly, already knowing that Melissa was going to get mad at him. He was mentally preparing to be yelled at over the phone, he just hoped that she didn't make him cry again.

"Why?" Was all Melissa asked, in a very bored and blank tone.

"Well, Beth wants me to go have dinner with her, just to catch up a little on things, and I think that tomorrow night is the only time she's really free." Michael explained, trying to keep his voice calm because he knew that Melissa was probably going to freak out.

"So you're ditching me for Beth?" She asked.

"No, no, I'm not ditching you." Michael assured her. "I'm asking to reschedule, I guess. I want to go out to dinner with you, I really do, I just... Beth..."

"Yeah.. That's fine. We can just try and go out another time. You know, the next time we're both free on the same night. Alone. Without the kids. Which might be, like, four years from now." Melissa said sarcastically.

"Funny." Michael said, trying to lighten up the mood a little.

"I know." Melissa deadpanned.

"Are you mad?" Michael asked, because he couldn't really tell.

"No, Michael, I'm not mad. I'm... I'm fucking disappointed. I don't know." Melissa sighed, her words making Michael feel even worse. He really hated to disappoint people, especially people that he really cared about.

"Don't be upset with me, please." He begged.

"How could you possibly ask me not to be upset with you?" Melissa scoffed. Michael understood why she was so mad, though, because it was silly of him to ask her not to be upset with him after he pulled such a dick move like this.

He was basically rescheduling their date so he could go on a date with someone else instead.

"Mel, please - "

"It's fine, Michael, really, just go." She said, sounding too tired to even want to continue this. "Have fun with Beth, I don't care."

"Melissa, please don't do this." Michael pleaded with her. He didn't want to end the phone call in a fight, he wanted to figure this out. "I'm sorry."

"Fuck off, Michael." Melissa snapped, her voice fading. "Fuck off."

Then she hung up on him, and Michael groaned and threw his phone across the room, not caring where it landed. He slid off of the couch and onto the floor, laying there for a moment before he decided to stumble back into his room and lay down there.

He had to push Parker over just a little so he could fit on the bed, and when he finally did he just rolled over and buried his face into a pillow. He was pretty glad that Parker was such a deep sleeper, because Michael really didn't want him see his dad cry like a little baby again.

God, he was so pathetic. He'd cried over Melissa twice now and they weren't even dating. Beth had made him cry maybe once in their entire relationship and they were together for almost six years. Michael felt so stupid, like he was such an idiot, and he had no one to blame but himself.

-

poor michael omg

and poor parker like wow katie u bitch

idk if I like the chapter or not but I started writing it at 4am this morning so sorry for any mistakes lol idk

this was kinda the drama I was talking about but I dunno there's still some more

I hope you liked this lol