A\N: The picture on the media is the cover for Michael's book. How does it look? :)

The end of this book is now approaching fast, so hope you enjoy this chapter!

And don't forget to comment your thoughts! Thank you ♡

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Twenty five:

The park was quieter this time.

I shut the car door behind me and strolled across the path which curved aimlessly between the trees.

The air was damp, signalling the beginning of Spring. I could spot the first glimpses of flowers onto the tree's crowns, their fragile petals gently opened outwards.

Their pastel colours made the park look less sinister. Even more alive.

I could feel the sun's warmth against my back as it descended across the sky, its rays like a soft blanket settled over me.

I took the next turn and entered the park, my feet catching a higher pace as I didn't want to be late this time.

I passed by the empty benches and scanned the vast tree-filled area for a potential Michael.

The image of the last time I'd been here flashed in my mind; seeing Michael and Marie Elizabeth kissing on the bench, birds singing and flowers blooming all over them, embracing their new-found eternal love.

Okay, maybe without the last part.

My stomach tied in knots at the thought. I shook the image from my head, and continued my walk.

Luckily, I caught a glimpse of Michael in the eastern part of the park not too far away, his earphones tucked in his ears as his eyes were trained to his phone.

I sighed in relief. He was alone.

I turned in my heels and headed towards him, my gaze never leaving his face.

He seemed oblivious to his surroundings.

And he was definitely oblivious to my very own self, slowly approaching him. His eyes were still fixed to his phone screen. As I got closer to him, I could hear the guitar solo blasting through his earphones.

I quickly creeped up behind him and hid before the bench. I counted to three in my head, and then placed my hands on his shoulders, yelling a loud, "Boo!"

Michael's reaction was indeed worth filming.

He jumped off the bench and took off his earphones, all while screaming in a high pitched voice.

"Jesus, Bree! You scared the bejesus out of me," he said, trying to gain both his breath and his cool back again. He shot me a death glare, which I have to say, did look pretty terrifying.

I bit my lip. "Uh, I'm sorry... But I still have to say, your face was worth a million dollars," I admitted, my lips tugging into a smile.

Michael's cheeks turned the color of ketchup. "Ha-ha." He averted my gaze and took his seat back on the bench, placing his earphones inside his jacket pocket along with his phone.

I sat on the wooden surface beside him, a gap of merely a few inches between us. The close proximity made a couple more butterflies pass through my stomach.

"So, how have you been?" He offered in a rather shy tone.

I cleared my throat and gazed at him. "Good. No special event took place in my life ever since I last saw you at the reunion."

"That pretty much sums it up for me, too," he pursed his lips, nodding.

"Fair enough," I chuckled.

I let the silence fall between us, the echo of the wind resonating across the park.

I could sense the slight tension still present between us, hanging around like a bad cold. I knew a small part of Michael was still mad at me, but that was okay. Quite frankly, I hadn't even expected him to be able to keep talking to me.

I'd pretty much believed it was over for us when he'd found out about my blog. I was positive he'd hate me.

And yet, he didn't hate me.

I guess there really was a God out there.

But then again, I'd also had a crush on Michael back when he was acting like a douche to me, and somehow I was still able to look at him like he was some sort of deity.

So, I guess we were both messed up in our own ways.

And I wouldn't change that for the world.

If anything, I think it was our quirks that had brought us closer.

"Oh wait," I frowned, reaching my hand to scratch my chin as if a sudden thought suddenly passed through my mind, "I guess there is something interesting that happened to me since I last saw you, after all."

Michael knit his eyebrows, looking surprised. "Really? What?"

A smile formed on my face. "You... You haven't checked Wattpad lately, haven't you?"

He eyed me with confusion. "Uh, no... Why?"

"Open the app."

"What? Why should I open it now?"

"Please...?"

"But I don't underst -"

"Just shut up and open it, Langwood."

"Okay, okay," he raised his arms in surrender and reluctantly fished his phone from his pocket.

I gazed at him with intent eyes as he unlocked his phone and tapped on the orange Wattpad logo on the menu.

My pulse beat fast inside my veins. I chewed on my lower lip as the app sprung to life on his screen, the home page filled with reading recommendations.

"Okay, what do I do now?"

"Check your notifications," I offered.
The frown deepened on his face but he tapped on the notifications button nevertheless.

Dozens of unread comments and new votes on his book from different readers appeared before his eyes.

But there was only one thing that stood up between that pile of notifications.

Only one notification from a certain account that made something light up into his dark eyes.

"What's this...?" He demanded, inching his head closer to the phone screen.

"Check it," I simply answered, stifling down my smile.

He tapped on @_screamer's username and it led him to a new chapter of her book, which was entitled simply with Must read.

I moved closer to him, and together we read the first part of her chapter.

Hey, guys! I have a new book for you to read, it's called "Just Another Life" by @MichaelL99 and it's absolutely amazing! A friend recommended it to me, and I have to say, I did spend some time binge-reading it lol. Please show some support to my friend and take a look at the book! I guarantee you won't regret it :)

Also if you check it out, let me know in the comments, and I might reward you with a free follow for your support ;)

Michael's eyes fogged up with confusion. "Bree, I don't get it... I-I don't understand, I mean... How...?"

He looked so confused, staring at me, then back at the phone and so on, that I almost started to feel bad for him.

"I did this, Michael," I spoke, amusement filling my voice, "I asked Screamer to make a shoutout for your book."

He turned toward me, his eyes growing wide with utter surprise. "Ar-are you serious...? You actually talked to this person to make a shoutout for my crappy book?"

"Oh, but not just any person. She just happens to have reached five million views on her book. The very same book she posted the shoutout into," I smiled, "So... Surprise!"

"Oh my god..." Michael blinked, his face collecting with dozens of emotions one by one.

He turned in his spot so as to face me completely. I could notice his hand trembling ever so slightly onto his phone as it held it tight. His eyes locked within mine as a sudden smile decorated his face.

"Bree, that's... Amazing!" He beamed, "I can't believe you actually did that for me!" His eyes glistened with pure joy as the realization that he'd probably get more reads on his book from now on finally settled into his mind.

I bit my lip, trying to calm down the wide smile from my face. But it was nearly impossible. "Well, I did mess things up pretty bad, didn't I? So it's the least I could do. To make everything right again."

The grin persisted onto his face. "Well, you can definitely consider yourself forgiven."

I nodded, my insides filling with warmth at the mention of that. "Thank you."

"But I still don't get it, I mean... How did you even think about doing something like this for me?"

"I read your book, Michael."

"Woah, hold on a second... I mean, I know I did ask you to read my book back when I followed you on Wattpad... In fact, that's how we got to talk there in the first place... But that was when I didn't know it was really you whom I was asking that!"

"Yeah, well, putting your very annoyingly persisting request aside, I decided to read it anyway. In fact, I only started reading your book yesterday. And I finished it. Well, those few published chapters, anyway. And to be honest, I genuinely enjoyed it!"

"Oh, God..." He shook his head, and buried his face into his hands. When he exposed it back again, his face wore a strange combination between a shade of sand and the color of tomatoes. "What you read... It's not true, okay? I made it up, it's only fiction, it's not tru - "

"Oh, chill," I chuckled. "You're busted, Michael. You can't undo it."

He opened his mouth to protest, but thought otherwise. He looked at me with so many emotions imprinted into his eyes, that his gaze was almost too heavy for me to carry.

All the walls around him had now broken. He was exposed. And he was terrified of it. I could see it just by looking at him.

"You're Jack Haden... aren't you?"

To be honest, I wasn't one hundred percent confident that everything in Michael's book was true.

But I was certain that his character was completely based on him.

I just wanted Michael to admit it on his own.

He swallowed, his vision blocked to his shoes. He opened his mouth once again, and slowly nodded his head. "Yeah..."

"How did you manage to resist like that for so long?" I demanded. "Living in a lie at school, hiding who you really were, just for the sake of a stupid reputation...?"

"It's not just a stupid reputation... Well, it didn't use to be like that for me, the very least. I don't know Bree..." he shook his head. "I guess I've always had a low self esteem. And if you read my book, then you pretty much know that already."

I slowly nodded and he continued.

"To be honest... Middle school was hell for me. I used to be the bullied one. I simply feared the moment I had to wake up at seven and go back to school to those kids... I just didn't want highschool to be the same... You know? I wanted to make something good out of it. I wanted to be liked. I needed that..."

"I get it," I said.

He turned toward me, his eyebrow arching upwards. "Really?"

"Of course. Everyone needs validation sometimes. It's in the human nature. And your past years in school obviously made you crave that validation. And trust me, I get that."

"Oh. Okay." He sighed in relief, the fear of being judged dissapearing from within him. "Thank you."

"What for?"

"For not judging. For not being mad at me. And also for doing that awesome shoutout thing for my book. I know shoutouts from popular writers can do major changes when it comes to a book's reads."

"It's my pleasure," I smiled.

Michael passed me a kind smile in return, one that I hadn't seen in a while. He swallowed and reluctantly inched forward.

My heart skipped a beat as he leaned closer to me and wrapped his arms around my body into a hug.

I pressed my head on his shoulder, enjoying the warmth of his body around me.

"Thanks again, Bree." He said that in a hushed tone, and squeezed me even tighter. "Also, prepare yourself for a dedication on my next chapter."

I let out a loud chuckle. I could feel my cheeks burning with a thousand shades of red all at once, but I didn't care. Probably for the first time in a while, I didn't care about anything else.

'Cause for the third time, the storm was gone.

Yes, everything was finally going to be okay. At least in the crush department.

I was sure of that.

And that was enough to bring me peace for now.

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Ugh I'm a sucker for emotional endings :p Hope you guys don't mind :3

There is only ONE more chapter left, plus one epilogue. If no changes are made, the book should end in about two weeks, so embrace yourselves for the end 😅

I know I'll miss Michael and Bree...

They've really made my days more fun, as strange as that may sound. So yeah, I'll miss these guys.

So don't forget to vote and comment, and share this book if it also made your days more fun! :)

Thank you! xx

See ya to the next update!

Cheers ✌