Michael was surprised when Ashton gave him some time off of work a few days later. For the last couple weeks he had been running around like crazy, trying to fulfill all of the small tasks that Ashton gave him and Michael was happy when he didn't have to go in to work at 6:30 AM every morning for a few days.

It was Wednesday morning now and Michael was in the kitchen, trying to make some breakfast for Parker before Melissa and Katie showed up. Recently they'd developed a routine that was working out much better than what they were doing before.

Instead of Melissa and Katie sleeping over and Michael's apartment every night and risking getting yelled at by Katie's mom, they just came over in the morning before school and stayed until pretty late at night. That way Michael still got to see Melissa as much as possible.

Michael let out a big sigh and set down the box of cereal that he'd gotten down for Parker, realizing that he still hasn't come out of his room. Michael walked out of the kitchen and down the hall, wishing that for once Parker would just listen to him.

"Parker." Michael said sternly, knocking on his bedroom door. He opened it to find Parker still sleeping in his bed, even though Michael was sure that he had woken him up just a few minutes before. "Parker, you need to get up."

"No." Parker mumbled, burying his face into a pillow.

"Melissa and Katie are going to come over soon and I would like you to be ready when they get here." Michael said, folding his arms over his chest.

He didn't mean to be such an asshole to Parker, he was just so frustrated. He seemed to be frustrated 24/7 lately. Parker used to listen to him so well, but things were changing and Michael was getting very irritated.

"I'm not going to preschool today." Parker said, rolling over. He coughed a few times, making sure to cover his mouth. "I'm too tired."

"You fell asleep last night at 8:30, I don't see how you could possibly be tired still." Michael rolled his eyes and sat down on the edge of Parker's bed. He knew that Parker had been tired last night because he almost fell asleep while brushing his teeth.

"I woke up last night." Parker whined, rubbing his eyes with his hands. "I couldn't fall sleep again."

"Why didn't you come get me?" Michael questioned. Usually if Parker woke up in the middle of the night he would go straight to Michael and stay with him until they fell asleep again.

"I don't know." Parker shrugged, slowly sitting up again. He rubbed his eyes, realizing he actually did have to get up and get ready now.

"Why did you wake up? Did you have a nightmare?" Michael asked, suddenly concerned.

"Yeah." Parker nodded. "The dark scares me."

"You could have gotten into bed with me." Michael said, remembering that only a few weeks ago Parker wouldn't even think about sleeping on his own and lately he hadn't been asking to sleep with Michael at all.

"You said I wasn't allowed to do that anymore." Parker said and shrugging innocently again, crawling to the other side of the bed. He hopped off of it and ran out of the room without saying another word.

Michael sighed again and stood up from Parker's bed, walking down the hallway and into the kitchen again. As soon as he opened the fridge to get out some orange juice he heard the front door open and Melissa and Katie came in the apartment.

"Hey, I'm in the kitchen!" Michael called to them, going that they wouldn't mind that the kitchen was so messy.

Melissa entered the kitchen, carrying Katie in her arms. Michael could hear Katie crying softly as she rested her head on Melissa's shoulder. He looked up from what he was song and furrowed his eyebrows at Katie, wondering what was doing on.

"What's wrong?" Michael questioned. Katie usually didn't cry, especially in front of other people. If she was upset about something she tended to keep it to herself, so Michael knew that this must be serious.

"Her mom was being a B-I-T-C-H." Melissa said, spelling out the word so Katie wouldn't try to repeat it. "She's been crying all morning and I haven't been able to calm her down."

Michael held out his arms for Katie and took her from Melissa, holding her close to him. He quickly leaned down and kissed Melissa on the cheek to say hello before walking over to the kitchen counter and sitting Katie down on it.

"Babe, can you go make sure that Parker's getting himself ready for school and not sleeping again?" Michael said over his shoulder to Melissa as he brushed pieces of hair away from Katie's eyes. She was quiet, but the constant stream of tears going down her cheeks showed that Katie was still upset about something.

"Yeah." Melissa nodded and then turned out of the room, walking down the hallway to go find Parker. Michael really appreciated that Melissa tried to help out as much as she could with Parker, especially in the mornings when he didn't want to cooperate.

"Alright, sweetheart, can you tell me what's got you all upset?" Michael asked and tried to wipe away the tears from Katie's eyes, even though it was no use.

Katie slowly shook her head and sniffed once before bursting into tears again. She reached forward and wrapped her arms around Michael's neck, hugging him tightly. Michael had no idea what to do at this point, so he just hugged Katie back.

After a few minutes Michael picked Katie up again and carried her into the living room, sitting her down on the couch. He could hear Parker and Melissa talking in his room, and Michael really hoped that Parker wasn't giving Melissa a hard time about this.

"I can't help you feel better if you don't tell me what's making you so upset, Katie." Michael said softly, turning towards Katie again and cupping her face in his hands.

"I'm sad." Katie sniffed, finally speaking.

"I know, sweetie." Michael said, because that was pretty obvious. "Can you tell me why?"

Michael rubbed his thumbs under Katie's eyes, doing his best to get rid of all of her tears. She seemed to be calming down now and was actually able to talk to him without bursting into a new set of tears every few minutes.

"Mommy yelled at me." Katie said, wiping under her nose with the back of her hand. Michael refrained from blowing up right then and there, he should have known that this had something to do with Katie's mother.

"Your mommy yelled at you?" Michael questioned, trying to understand. "Why? What didn't she say?"

"I don't know." Katie shrugged, her eyes welling up with tears again. Michael couldn't tell if Katie was lying and just not telling him what her mom said or if she genuinely didn't remember, but he decided not to push her to say anything else.

"It was very mean of your mommy to yell at you and I promise she won't do it again." Michael said, because he planned to go have a word with Katie's mother and get this all straightened out. "I know you're upset, babe, but you have to go to school so I'm going to need to you try and stop crying for me. Do you think you can do that?"

"Uh huh." Katie nodded slowly, wiping her eyes. She hiccuped again, her bottom lip quivering as she tried to keep all of her tears in.

"I love you." Michael said softly, leaning forward and kissing Katie on the forehead. "You're going to be okay, don't worry."

"Okay." Katie sniffed. Michael grabbed her again and picked Katie up off of the couch, realizing that it was getting late and he needed to get her and Parker to school.

"Parker, you have to come eat your breakfast!" Michael yelled, wondering what was taking him so long.

"He's coming!" Melissa yelled back, and a few seconds later Parker's tiny footsteps were heard running down the hall.

"Can you make your own cereal, please?" Michael asked Parker as he ran into the kitchen, past Michael and Katie.

"Uh huh." Parker nodded quickly. Melissa followed shortly behind him and also entered the kitchen, helping Parker make himself some breakfast.

By now Katie had started crying again and was burying her face in the crook of Michael's neck, refusing to stop crying or even look up at what was going on around her. Michael just let out a deep sigh and continued to rub her back.

"Katie, come on, it's okay." Michael said softly in her ear, trying his best to get Katie to calm down. He thought that she was okay, but she was too worked up at this point to stop crying.

"Michael, where are Parker's shoes?" Melissa asked. She'd helped Parker with his bowl of cereal and was now running around trying to get the kids ready to leave. Michael appreciated that she was actually trying to be productive and not just standing in the middle of the kitchen like he was.

"They might be under the couch." Michael shrugged. Melissa nodded and walked out of the kitchen, searching for Parker's converse high tops.

"I don't like this cereal." Parker pouted, looking down at the bowl in his hands.

"Here." Michael said and walked over to the fridge, taking out a leftover piece of pizza from the night before. He handed it to Parker with his free hand, still carrying Katie in his other.

"Mommy says it's not good to have - "

"Mommy's not here, and pizza's good for breakfast." Michael said, already knowing what Parker was going to say.

"Okay." Parker smiled, shrugging innocently. "Yay."

"Park, I found your shoes!" Melissa said, sounding just a little too excited about it, walking back into the kitchen with Parker's high tops in her hands.

"I need help with them." Parker said, his mouth full of pizza. He ran over to Melissa and sat down on the floor, making her put the shoes on for him.

"Are you eating pizza?" Melissa questioned, then looked up at Michael again. "Is he eating pizza?"

"Pizza is practically a vegetable." Michael shrugged. For some reason, maybe it was just coincidental, Katie started to cry even harder at the mention of pizza.

"Did you talk to her?" Melissa asked while she tied Parker's shoes. She helped him up off of the floor and began to lead everyone out of the kitchen, trying to get them to hurry up.

"Yeah, and she's still upset." Michael said, shaking his head.

"She's tired, I had to wake her up early this morning because I needed to drive her mom to the airport and I couldn't leave her in the house alone." Melissa explained.

Parker reached up and grabbed Michael's free hand, and he considered passing Katie off to Melissa again but he was scared that she'd start crying even more. They walked out of the apartment and down to hall, heading towards where the car was parked.

"I just don't want her to be crying like this when we get to school." Michael said quietly, assuming that Katie wouldn't even pay attention to what he was saying.

"It'll be okay, I'll talk to her again." Melissa assured him. They reached the car and Michael opened the door for the backseat, pausing for a second, struggling to get both Parker and Katie in the car.

"Stay here." Michael instructed Parker and he nodded, patiently stepping off to the side and waiting as Michael got Katie buckled up in her carseat. She was still crying quietly, and Michael really hoped that she would be able to pull herself together before school started. He didn't want any of the other kids to give Katie a hard time about being so upset.

"Why is she so sad?" Parker asked after Michael had shut the car door. Melissa was already in the passenger seat and was now turned around, trying to talk to Katie.

"Katie's just having a bad day, she'll be alright." Michael shrugged, taking Parker's hand again and pulled him over to the other side of the car.

"Aw." Parker sighed, looking down at his feet. "I'm sad when she's sad."

"I know, bud." Michael chuckled softly, ruffling Parker's hair a little. It was finally getting longer again after Beth so rudely cut it without asking Michael. "Katie will be okay."

Michael got Parker all buckled up in his carseat and then they were finally ready to go, and for once they weren't actually running late. They'd make it to the preschool with a few minutes to spare.

When they arrived at the school, Michael got Parker out of the car and Melissa got Katie, who was still crying. They walked over to the front door, where all of the other parents were saying goodbye to their kids. Michael kneeled down to talk to Parker.

"Hey, I want you to look after Katie today at school." Michael said, putting his hands on Parker's shoulders. "Make sure she doesn't get too upset and if someone says something to her you can beat them up. Got it?"

"Got it." Parker confirmed, giving Michael a thumbs up. "Can I really beat someone up?"

"Uh... No." Michael said slowly, shaking his head. He didn't need Parker to get in trouble for fighting again.

"Oh, okay." Parker shrugged. "I'll watch Kitty. I'll protect her."

"Good boy." Michael nodded and pat Parker on the back, standing up again. "I love you, Pac-Man, have a good day at school."

Parker nodded and then stood off to the side, quietly waiting for Katie to finish talking with Melissa.

"I know that you're sad now but I really need you to be a big girl and calm down." Melissa was saying, brushing pieces of hair away from Katie's eyes. "I know that your mom was mean to you but I want you to have a good day at school, don't be upset."

"Okay." Katie nodded, wiping under her nose with her sleeve.

Michael leaned down and picked up Katie again, wanting to say a few last words to her before the kids had to go inside. He wiped under Katie's eyes for her, trying to get rid of the tears once again.

"Try to have a good day at school, Katie." Michael said quietly, kissing Katie on the forehead. "I love you, alright? Just remember that."

"Okay." Katie nodded again and Michael kissed her on the cheek once more before setting her down again, sending her off to where Parker was standing.

Parker held out his hand for Katie and she hesitantly took it, following him into the school. Michael turned towards Melissa, who had stood up all the way and was staring back at Michael with an impressed look on her face.

"What?" Michael questioned, not seeing why Melissa was looking at him like that.

"Nothing." She shrugged, taking Michael's hand in hers and intertwining their fingers. They walked back over to the car together and got in, not saying a word.

"What did Katie's mom say to her?" Michael finally asked as he started up the car, immediately turning down the volume on the radio.

"It really wasn't anything specific." Melissa said softly, looking down at her lap. "She just yelled at Katie for anything, it was like she was in a bad mood and took it out on everyone around her."

"Yeah, I know that feeling." Michael sighed. He started to drive, reaching one hand over and lacing his fingers together with Melissa's.

"You know Katie always says that she wishes you were her dad? She said it in the car today, 'I wish Mikey was my daddy'. And at first I was like TRUE," Melissa paused, waiting as Michael burst out laughing and then calmed himself down again. "But then I realized how sad that was. Like, she'd rather have you as a dad than her own father."

"Is that a bad thing? Me being a father figure for her?" Michael asked, slightly misunderstanding what Melissa said, his feelings slightly hurt.

"No, no, not at all." Melissa said, shaking her head. "I just-I don't know, it makes me sad that she doesn't love her real dad nearly as much as she loves you."

"I know, I get it." Michael sighed. Melissa was right, it did feel kind of wrong to have Katie already think about these things at such a young age. "I don't think it really matters who her real dad is, though, her father doesn't appreciate her at all and I do, you and I help take care Katie more than her own parents. Therefore, I think it's okay for her to like us more."

"Wow, you use big words like therefore now. That new job has really changed you." Melissa teased, changing the subject. Michael knew that Melissa sometimes didn't like to talk about things like this, she hated Katie's situation with her parents just as much as he did.

"Shut up." Michael laughed, giving Melissa's hand a small squeeze.

The rest of the car ride was pretty normal. Melissa talked about something that happened the last time she went to the grocery store and Michael told her about his latest dream, which involved pizza and aliens (the usual). They arrived back to Michael's apartment in only a few minutes.

"Do you have to do anything today?" Michael asked, kicking off his shoes by the front door as they walked inside.

"Nope." Melissa smiled. "Katie's mom will be gone for the next 3 days so I really don't have to do anything."

"Yeah, I don't have to do anything for Ashton until tomorrow." Michael said, looking Melissa up and down. "We have the whole place to ourselves."

They hadn't actually had a lot of time alone in a while. Michael had been super busy with his new job and trying to spend as much time with Parker as possible. Melissa was also running around with errands like she normally was, and even if they did end up alone at some point during the day they were usually too tired to do anything.

They stood there in silence for what seemed like a few minutes to Michael but was probably only about 10 seconds, both of them staring at each other. Then, at the same time, both of them stepped forward.

Michael wrapped his arms around Melissa's waist, pulling her closer until her chest was pressed up against his. Melissa brought her hands to the nape of Michel's neck and pulled him down so he was able to finally press his lips to hers.

Their lips moved roughly against each other's, neither one of them able to control themselves as they kissed passionately. Michael's hands had already started to go up the sides of Melissa's shirt, running over her smooth skin.

"Couch or bedroom?" Melissa asked breathlessly, already tugging at the bottom of Michael's shirt.

"Couch." He responded quickly, pulling away for just a second so Melissa could lift the shirt over his head and let it drop to the floor.

Michael began to walk forward, pushing Melissa backwards and leading her into the living room. They both fell back onto the couch, Melissa landing on top of Michael.

"Are you sure you don't have anything to do today?" Melissa asked, leaning down and kissing along Michael's neck and jaw, biting down softly. He yanked harshly at the hem of Melissa's shirt and practically tearing it off of her.

"Uh huh." Michael nodded quickly, the tightness in his jeans becoming more and more unbearable the longer they waited to get things started.

Melissa sat up and tied her hair back into a ponytail, Michael admired the lacy black bra that she had on underneath her shirt.

"That looks so great on you." Michael said, running his hands up her back, his fingers playing with the clasp of Melissa's bra.

"Oh yeah?" Melissa smirked, raising an eyebrow. She let out a small moan as Michael began to kiss across her chest, his teeth tugging at her skin. "I wonder who bought it for me."

"I wonder." Michael repeated and chuckled softly, because they both knew that he had taken a shirt trip into Victoria's Secret to get a matching bra and underwear set for Melissa. She was still protesting the sexy maid costume.

"Oh my God, you're already so hard." Melissa laughed loudly, reaching down to palm Michael through his jeans. He tried to stop himself from blushing, even though it was no use.

"Shut up, we haven't done this in a really long time." Michael whined, swatting Melissa's hand away. "I'm excited."

"I can tell." Melissa laughed again and Michael just shook his head.

"You're awful." Michael scoffed, continuing to run his hands up and down Melissa's back. His mind was still racing with lots of different thoughts, such as 'do we have a condom', 'is Melissa still on birth control or not', and 'I really hope we don't fall off of the couch because Parker left a toy truck on the floor and it would hurt to land on'.

"Michael, can we flip over?" Melissa asked innocently, biting down on her bottom lip.

"I-I thought you liked to be on top." Michael said nervously. They usually switched it up a bit, but most of the time Melissa would end up riding Michael. That's how he liked it and that's how she liked it, so Michael thought it was perfect.

"Well I want you to be on top this time." Melissa shrugged. Michael nodded and wrapped his arms around Melissa's waist again, ungracefully flipping them over to Michael was hovering over her on the couch.

Michael's lips left kisses all over Melissa's chest against, his hands moving up and down her sides. Michael brought his lips back up to Melissa's nece, leaving a few hickeys before kissing her again.

"I really love you so much." Michael mumbled into the kiss, his hands squeezing at Melissa's hips.

"I love you too." Melissa nodded, pulling Michael forward to keep him close to her.

Just as he was about to make the next move and unbutton her jeans, the sound of the front door opening was heard and Michael froze. He felt like that were always being interrupted.

Michael slowly sat up and turned around, rolling his eyes when he saw Luke standing in the entrance to the living room. Michael always forgot that he had given Luke a key.

Luke honestly looked awful. His eyes were red and puffy, he'd obviously just been crying, and his shirt was all wrinkled, like he'd literally just thrown it on. He wasn't even wearing matching shoes, he had one Van and one Converse. Michael would have felt bad if he hadn't been trying to have sex with his girlfriend only seconds before.

Michael's eyes traveled down to Luke's hands, which were holding a suitcase and the key to Michael's. He had a backpack slung over his broad shoulders. Michael immediately expected the worst and let out a big groan.

"Hey, um, I'm really sorry for just bursting in like this." Luke sniffed, wiping under his nose. "I know you guys are obviously busy."

"Uh, yeah." Michael nodded, still kind of pissed that Luke had ruined this.

"I just-I didn't know what else to do." Luke choked out, his eyes welling up with tears again.

"What's wrong, Luke?" Melissa asked, not seeming nearly as upset as Michael was about this. She didn't seem to care at all about the fact that she was half naked and Luke, a guy that she barely knew, was staring at her.

"I-I don't- I think I need to stay with you for a couple days." Luke said, pushing his hair up off of his forehead. "Sara kicked me out. We're over."

-

this chapter was such a filler I'm sorry but yayyyy Luke's going to be living with them now that'll be exciting